bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Gross and fine anatomy of the respiratory vasculature of the mudskipper, Periophthalmodon schlosseri (Gobiidae: Oxudercinae)
Authors: Gonzales Tomas T. , Katoh Masaya , Ghaffar Mazlan Abd. , Ishimatsu Atsushi
Published: February 2011

To illustrate vascular modification accompanying transition from aquatic to amphibious life in gobies, we investigated the respiratory vasculatures of the gills and the bucco‐opercular cavities in one of the most terrestrially‐adapted mudskippers, Periophthalmodon schlosseri, using the corrosion casting technique. The vascular system of Pn. schlosseri retains the typical fish configuration with a serial connection of the gills and the systemic circuits, suggesting a lack of separation of O2‐poor systemic venous blood and O2‐rich effluent blood from the air‐breathing surfaces. The gills appear to play a limited role in gas exchange, as evidenced from the sparsely‐spaced short filaments and the modification of secondary lamellar vasculature into five to eight parallel channels that are larger than red blood cell size, unlike the extensive sinusoidal system seen in purely water‐breathing fishes. In contrast, the epithelia of the bucco‐opercular chamber, branchial arches, and leading edge of the filaments are extensively laden with capillaries having a short (<10 μm) diffusion distance, which strongly demonstrate the principal respiratory function of these surfaces. These capillaries form spiral coils of three to five turns as they approach the epithelial surface. The respiratory capillaries of the bucco‐opercular chamber are supplied by efferent blood from the gills and drained by the systemic venous pathway. We also compared the degree of capillarization in the bucco‐opercular epithelia of Pn. schlosseri with that of the three related intertidal‐burrowing gobies (aquatic, non‐air‐breathing Acanthogobius hasta; aquatic, facultative air‐breathing Odontamblyopus lacepedii; amphibious air‐breathing Periophthalmus modestus) through histological analysis. The comparison revealed a clear trend of wider distribution of denser capillary networks in these epithelia with increasing reliance on air breathing, consistent with the highest aerial respiratory capacity of Pn. schlosseri among the four species. J. Morphol. 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Coupling enhancement of waveguide‐fed dielectric resonator antenna
Authors: Abdulla P. , Singh Yatendra K. , Chakrabarty A.
Published: February 2011

In this article, a novel method is presented to improve the coupling of dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) excited by a waveguide slot at the shorted end.A rectangular DRA is excited by a thick ground plane slot, which is fed by a capacitive waveguide junction (CWJ)‐coupled waveguide end. The objective of using a CWJ is to substantially increase the power coupling to the DRA. Measurements were carried out to verify the design, and a reasonable agreement between them is obtained. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:769–770, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.25819
Active‐inductor‐matched 6‐GHZ duplexer‐less LNA/PA design incorporated with a bondwire‐antenna
Authors: Ahmed Abdulhakim
Published: February 2011

This article presents a correction to a previously published duplexer‐less LNA/PA circuit incorporating a bondwire antenna showing the comparison between the calculated, simulated, and measured results of the gain, radiated power, radiation pattern, and the transmitter to receiver link‐budget for a bondwire‐antenna for short‐range radio communications in the 6‐GHz frequency range.The correction is given in the radiation efficiency and power transmitted by the PA. The LNA and PA were matched to the 50‐Ω ports of the measuring instruments via an active inductor. Besides the inductive bondwire antenna, the LNA and PA are designed to be completely inductor‐less, thus, saving the silicon chip area. The transceiver range is calculated to be about 4.72 m, ideal for applications such as remote controls, biomedical monitoring equipment, or RFID tags. Both front end blocks are designed with low‐power, low cost, and high yield considerations for production in industry. The inductorless LNA parameters at 6 GHz are S21 of 14 dB for both the LNA and PA, a deduced NF of 4.9 dB for the LNA, S11 and S22 less than −10 dB, with 10‐mW TX, and 15‐mW RX power consumption for a 1.2 V supply. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:761–766, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.25823
A multifunctional all‐fiber device with a magnetic nanoparticles core mode blocker for wavelength bandpass filtering and multi‐to‐single mode conversion
Authors: Zhu Yong , Li Xiaoqin , Mei Hao , Wang Chao , Zhu Tao
Published: February 2011

A multifunctional all‐fiber device that can simultaneously serve as a multimode‐to‐single mode converter and a wavelength filter is presented in this article. The device has a concatenated structure consisting of a multimode fiber, a hollow core fiber, a single‐mode core mode blocker (made of magnetic nanoparticles), and a long period fiber grating fabricated in a single mode fiber. A quantitative theoretical analysis and experiments are carried out. A device with an extinction ratio of 25.7 dB and an insertion loss of −6.8 dB is obtained, and its performance should be able to be further improved by optimizing the fabrication process in future. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:740–744, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.25834
Measurements of the thermally induced phase‐retardation changes in an optical polarization‐sensitive instrument
Authors: Twu Ruey‐Ching , Hong Hao‐Yang
Published: February 2011

The thermally induced phase‐retardation changes between two orthogonal polarizations of a propagating light while passing through some optical components have been investigated in an optical polarization‐sensitive instrument. The measurements were performed in a dual‐channel common‐path polarization interferometer based on optical homodyne method. We study temperature dependent phase‐retardation variations when the lights pass through a heated quarter‐wave plate at different azimuth angles. By the way, we also successfully measure the path dependent phase‐retardation changes when the lights pass through the different kinds of beam splitters under the same thermal impacts. These results show that the variations of ambient temperature will easily cause the systematical measurement errors in the optical polarization‐sensitive instrument. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:771–773, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.25838
A novel microstrip‐fed dual band‐notched ultrawideband antenna with a defected ground structure
Authors: Yan Yadong , Zhou Xilang , Wu Linsheng , Yin Wenyan
Published: February 2011

A novel microstrip‐fed ultrawideband antenna with dual band‐notched performance is proposed and fabricated. A pair of L‐shaped slots is etched in the ground plane to obtain the notched function in the 3.3–4 GHz WiMAX band. An eccentric ring and a stub with an arc structure are designed for rejecting the 5–6 GHz WLAN band. The obtained results show that the designed antenna satisfies the voltage standing wave ratio requirement of less than 2.5 at the frequency range from 3 to 32 GHz, except the dual notched bands of 3.3–4 and 5–6 GHz. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:704–706, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.25840
Noise sensor based on a fiber Bragg grating and a Piezo‐electric transducer
Authors: Cheng Chin‐Hsing , Lai Lung‐Hui , Liu Wen‐Fung
Published: February 2011

This article demonstrates an optical fiber sensor using fiber Bragg grating (FBG) and a Piezo‐electrical transducer (PZT) to measure noise.Mounting an FBG on a PZT bar, a dynamic strain simulator was constructed. The voltage produced by noise level applied on PZT was converted to the dynamic variation of FBG Bragg wavelength. The experiments showed that the sensitivity of center‐wavelength variations is 0.0129 nm/dB for noise measurement between 85.3 and 105.2 dB. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:958–961, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.25844
A tunable Ti:Sapphire laser using prism‐dispersion cavity
Authors: Ma Yufei , Yu Xin , Fan Rongwei , Fan Wei
Published: February 2011

In this letter, a tunable Ti:sapphire laser pumped by a frequency‐doubled Q‐switched Nd:YAG laser at a repetition rate of 10 Hz is demonstrated. By using two dense flint glass prisms as dispersion element, a tuning range from 745 to 855 nm with a linewidth of 0.8 nm (FWHM) was achieved. At an incident pump energy of 40 mJ, the maximum output energy was 5.5 mJ at 800 nm with a pulse width of 23.8 ns (FWHM), which led to a slope efficiency of 36.4% from the 532 nm pump laser to the Ti:sapphire laser. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:855–856, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.25860
Dual‐band bandpass filter with tunable upper passband
Authors: Feng Li‐Ying , Zheng Hong‐Xing , Sun Cheng‐Guang , Cheng Dan
Published: February 2011

A microstrip dual‐band bandpass filter is developed in this article. Using a pair of square open‐loops coupled with a symmetric ladder‐shaped resonator, frequencies of this filter are operated at 1.57 and 2.45 GHz. The lower resonance frequency is decided by the length of the square resonators, and the higher one is done by the ladder‐shaped resonator. Therefore, both frequency and bandwidth of the upper passband can be controlled flexibly, whereas those of the lower band are fixed. Finally, a filter is fabricated based on the design topology. Measured results have shown very good performance of the filter. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:888–890, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.25866
Widely tunable optical source hybrid‐integrated with wavelength‐selective double‐ring‐resonator reflector
Authors: Lee Youngsik , Lee Ho , Kim Gunwoo , Lee Seunghyun , Chung Youngchul
Published: February 2011

A hybrid‐integrated tunable optical source composed of a wavelength‐selective reflector, which is based on a polymer double‐ring‐resonator followed by a loop‐back mirror, and a reflective semiconductor optical amplifier is proposed and fabricated.Hybrid‐integration is realized using an active alignment method. The tuning range is about 40 nm with a maximum tuning current of 42 mA. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:924–927, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.25871
Compact, deep, and wide rejection bandwidth low‐pass filter using open complementary split ring resonator
Authors: Karthikeyan S. S. , Kshetrimayum Rakhesh S.
Published: February 2011

A deep and wide rejection bandwidth, sharp cutoff and compact low‐pass filter design using open complementary split ring resonator (OCSRR), and open stub is presented in this article.OCSRR is counterpart of the open split ring resonator. The proposed low‐pass filter consist of two OCSRR connected in series. The open stubs are attached on both sides of the OCSRR. At the 3 dB cutoff frequency of 1.08 GHz, the proposed filter offers a sharp rejection and wide rejection bandwidth of more than 20 dB up to six times the cutoff frequency. The filter size is very small as 0.22 λg × 0.18 λg, where λg is the guided wavelength at the cutoff frequency. The proposed filter is fabricated and tested; the experimental results are found to be in good agreement with the simulation results. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:845–848, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.25874
Design of V‐shaped microstrip patch antenna at 2.4 GHz
Authors: Murmu Sudip Kumar , Misra Iti Saha
Published: February 2011

A V‐shaped microstrip patch antenna for 2.4 GHz is designed, fabricated, and experimentally measured. The proposed antenna is designed on glass‐epoxy substrate. Here, coaxial probe feed is used to provide the RF power to the patch. The proposed design provides 50 MHz impedance bandwidth determined from 10 dB return loss for 2.4 GHz frequency band, respectively. The design is simulated using the Ansoft HFSS simulation tool. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:806–811, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.25877
Erratum: Dual‐antenna diversity‐gain improvements for even‐odd mode feed network at 755 MHz
Authors: Kim J. , Kim M. , Jeon S.
Published: February 2011

Originally published Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53: 304–306, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53: 962, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.25955

(Original article DOI 10.1002/mop.25696)
A combined BDF‐semismooth Newton approach for time‐dependent Bingham flow
Authors: De Los Reyes J. C. , González Andrade S.
Published: February 2011

This article is devoted to the numerical simulation of time‐dependent convective Bingham flow in cavities. Motivated by a primal‐dual regularization of the stationary model, a family of regularized time‐dependent problems is introduced. Well posedness of the regularized problems is proved, and convergence of the regularized solutions to a solution of the original multiplier system is verified. For the numerical solution of each regularized multiplier system, a fully discrete approach is studied. A stable finite element approximation in space together with a second‐order backward differentiation formula for the time discretization are proposed. The discretization scheme yields a system of Newton differentiable nonlinear equations in each time step, for which a semismooth Newton algorithm is used. We present two numerical experiments to verify the main properties of the proposed approach. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2011
Application of SnO2/MWCNTs nanocomposite for SF6 decomposition gas sensor
Authors: Dai HongFa , Xiao Peng , Lou Qing
Published: February 2011

Chemical byproducts analysis have been recognized as a powerful diagnosis method for SF6 gas‐insulated switchgear (GIS). Tin dioxide/multiwall carbon nanotubes (SnO2/MWCNTs) nanaocomposite was synthesized by a wet chemical method at room temperature, from which highly sensitive H2S sensors that can operate at room temperature were fabricated. The samples' morphology and structure were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscope (FE‐SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X‐ray diffraction (XRD). The formation mechanism of SnO2/MWCNTs was analyzed. The results showed SnO2 was successfully incorporated on the carbon nanotubes and the sensor can detect the concentration of H2S down to the 20 ppm level at room temperature.
Issues of design and statistical analysis in controlled clinical acupuncture trials: an analysis of English‐language reports from Western journals
Authors: Shuai Ping , Zhou Xiao‐Hua , Lao Lixing , Li Xiaosong
Published: February 2011

Objective: To investigate major methods of design and statistical analysis in controlled clinical acupuncture trials published in the West during the past six years (2003–2009) and, based on this analysis, to provide recommendations that address methodological issues and challenges in clinical acupuncture research.

Method: PubMed was searched for acupuncture RCTs published in Western journals in English between 2003 and 2009. The keyword used was acupuncture.

Results: One hundred and eight qualified reports of acupuncture trials that included more than 30 symptoms/conditions were identified, analyzed, and grouped into efficacy (explanatory), effectiveness (pragmatically beneficial), and other (unspecified) studies. All were randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs). In spite of significant improvement in the quality of acupuncture RCTs in the last 30 years, these reports show that some methodological issues and shortcomings in design and analysis remain. Moreover, the quality of the efficacy studies was not superior to that of the other types of studies. Research design and reporting problems include unclear patient criteria and inadequate practitioner eligibility, inadequate randomization, and blinding, deficiencies in the selection of controls, and improper outcome measurements. The problems in statistical analysis included insufficient sample sizes and power calculations, inadequate handling of missing data and multiple comparisons, and inefficient methods for dealing with repeated measure and cluster data, baseline value adjustment, and confounding issues.

Conclusion: Despite recent advancements in acupuncture research, acupuncture RCTs can be improved, and more rigorous research methods should be carefully considered. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Analysis of a composite endpoint with longitudinal and time‐to‐event data
Authors: Tseng Chi‐hong , Wong Weng Kee
Published: February 2011

We propose a new nonparametric test to compare treatment effects using a composite endpoint comprising a longitudinal continuous measurement and multiple time‐to‐event outcomes. The composite endpoint incorporates the severity of each outcome as measured against the whole cohort in the entire study. This new proposed test is conceptually simple and computationally easy to implement. Unlike many currently available methods, our strategy is very flexible and can be applied to many types of clinical settings including the situation where we have multiple time‐to‐event outcomes. We apply our method to reanalyze two clinical trials for Scleroderma patients and also use simulation studies to show that the performance of our method is compatible with the results from a popular method proposed by Finkelstein and Schoenfeld (Statist. Med. 1999; 18:1341–1354). Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A functional multiple imputation approach to incomplete longitudinal data
Authors: He Yulei , Yucel Recai , Raghunathan Trivellore E.
Published: February 2011

In designed longitudinal studies, information from the same set of subjects are collected repeatedly over time. The longitudinal measurements are often subject to missing data which impose an analytic challenge. We propose a functional multiple imputation approach modeling longitudinal response profiles as smooth curves of time under a functional mixed effects model. We develop a Gibbs sampling algorithm to draw model parameters and imputations for missing values, using a blocking technique for an increased computational efficiency. In an illustrative example, we apply a multiple imputation analysis to data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and the Child Development Supplement to investigate the gradient effect of family income on children's health status. Our simulation study demonstrates that this approach performs well under varying modeling assumptions on the time trajectory functions and missingness patterns. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The determination of elements in welding fume by X‐ray spectrometry and UniQuant
Authors: Hurst James A. , Volpato John A. , O'Donnell Gregory E.
Published: February 2011

Welding is a hazardous process with an associated risk of health effects related to the fume arising from the core metal, flux components and welding surface. X‐ray fluorescence (XRF) is commonly used to determine elemental concentrations as part of occupational hygiene investigations using conventional calibrations. A method is proposed to determine elements in welding fume using XRF and a fundamental parameter software package known as UniQuant®. This was found to remove the need for special dust standards being prepared as the calibration used was based on a series of standards supplied with UniQuant that would cover all sample types. A conventional calibration and UniQuant calibration were set up and elements found in welding fume were determined from tin to titanium. Samples obtained from the Health and Safety Laboratory Workplace Analysis Scheme for Proficiency (WASP) programme were also analysed by both methods for nickel, iron, manganese and chromium. For the normal calibration, average recovery results for the WASP samples were between 92 and 103% of the target value with relative standard deviations of 3‐7%. For the UniQuant calibration, average recovery results for the WASP samples were between 97 and 112% of the target value with relative standard deviations of 3‐10%. These results are well within analytical performance expectations for the type of welding fume matrix analysed. The method was applied to real welding fume samples collected from workplaces. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Analysis of hydrothermally formed corrosion layers in Ni‐base alloy 625 by combined FE‐SEM and EDXS
Authors: Habicht Wilhelm , Boukis Nikolaos , Hauer Elena , Dinjus Eckhard
Published: February 2011

During experiments simulating the destruction of organic waste or the conversion of biomass with water at supercritical water conditions (SCW, T > 374 °C, p > 22.1 MPa), severe corrosion phenomena were observed. Depending on the experimental conditions applied, scale formation and precipitation of corrosion products occurred. The harsh conditions and the chemical properties of the feed solutions lead to consecutive chemical reactions with the materials involved. To study such hydrothermal reactions on simplified model systems, tubular reactors made of Ni‐based alloys were exposed to feed solutions composed of water, methanol and alkaline salts. After each experiment, the reaction tubes were cut and examined by optical microscopy. Hydrothermally formed corrosion layers were studied by field emission electron microscopy and combined energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy. Element line scans and mappings were performed which depicted selective dissolution of alloying elements (dealloying of Ni, Fe, Mo). The formation of the corrosion layers was accompanied by a subsequent reduction of the tube wall diameter. Atomic force microscopy gained additional morphological information; a Monte Carlo programme was applied to simulate X‐ray line scans. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Effect of Family Member Migration on Education and Work Among Nonmigrant Youth in Mexico
Authors: Halpern-Manners Andrew
Published: February 2011

While academic and policy circles have given much attention to the assimilatory experiences of Mexican immigrants in the United States, less is known about those who stay behind—an especially unfortunate oversight given the increasing number of Mexican youth with migrant family members. Of the studies on this topic, most have sought to identify the effect that migration has on youths’ migratory and educational aspirations, often using qualitative methods in individual sending communities. The present article supplements this research in two ways: (1) in addition to assessing educational outcomes, the scope of the analysis is expanded to include nonmigrants’ interaction with another homeland institution of upward mobility: the labor market; and (2) using a large demographic data set, statistical techniques are employed to adjust for unobserved selectivity into the migrant family-member population, thus accounting for a potentially serious source of bias. The results suggest that youth in migrant-sending families are less likely to complete the educational transitions leading up to postsecondary school and have a lower probability of participating in the local economy. The results also indicate that unobserved factors play a “nonignorable” role in sorting youth into migrant and nonmigrant families.
A randomised controlled trial of carer-focussed multi-family group psychoeducation in bipolar disorder
Authors: Madigan K. , Egan P. , Brennan D. , Hill S. , Maguire B. , Horgan F. , Flood C. , Kinsella A. , O’Callaghan E.
Published: February 2011

In a RCT of family psychoeducation, 47 carers of 34 patients were allocated to one of three groups; Multifamily Group Psychoeducation, Solution Focussed Group Therapy or Treatment as Usual. Carers in both the MFGP intervention and the SFGP arm demonstrated greater knowledge and reduction in burden than those in the TAU arm.
Expression of GAP‐43 in fibroblast cell lines influences the orientation of cell division
Authors: Zhao Junpeng , Yao Yajuan , Xu Changlei , Cheng Bei , Xu Qunyuan
Published: February 2011

The orientation (vertical or horizontal) of cell division is known to be critical for neural cell fate determination during neurogenesis. At the onset of neurogenesis, neurogenic progenitor cells are dividing with the cleavage plane parallel to the ventricular surface (horizontal division), which would lead to critical apical components being unequally distributed to both their two daughter cells. The daughter cells lack of inheritance is going to differentiate into the neuron. Recent studies have shown that GAP‐43 is highly expressed in horizontally dividing neural progenitor cells in the forebrain of mammals. Based on findings from in vivo studies, GAP‐43 is locally associated with the centrosome and is required for centrosome positioning, suggesting that GAP‐43 may be involved in neurogenesis through regulating the orientation of cell division. With a fibroblast cell model, our results show that both GFP expressing and control cells had the same potential (p > 0.05) with regard to dividing orientation (either vertical or horizontal to the cells long axis). On the other hand, we found that GAP‐43 was localized on the membrane instead of the centrosome during all phases of mitosis within GAP‐43 transgenic cells, but expressing of GAP‐43 could make the cells dividing more likely along their long axis (p < 0.05). Our observations suggest that GAP‐43 might link the cell membrane and spindle pole and consequently participate in controlling cleavage orientation during cell division.
Prefrontal cortical network connections: key site of vulnerability in stress and schizophrenia
Authors: Arnsten Amy F.T.
Published: February 2011

The symptoms of schizophrenia involve profound dysfunction of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). PFC networks create our “mental sketch pad”, and PFC dysfunction contributes to symptoms such as cognitive deficits, thought disorder, delusions and hallucinations. Neuropathological studies of schizophrenia have shown marked loss of dendritic spines in deep layer III, the sublayer where PFC microcircuits reside. The microcircuits consist of recurrent excitatory pyramidal cell networks that interconnect on spines, and excite each other via NMDA receptor signaling. The pyramidal cell persistent firing is sculpted by lateral inhibition from GABAergic basket and chandelier cells, thus creating tuned, persistent firing needed for accurate representational knowledge (i.e., working memory). The strength of pyramidal cell network connections is markedly and flexibly altered by intracellular signaling pathways in dendritic spines, a process called dynamic network connectivity (DNC). DNC proteins such as HCN channels are concentrated on dendritic spines in deep layer III. Under optimal conditions, network inputs to pyramidal cells are strengthened by noradrenergic alpha‐2A inhibition of cAMP–HCN channel signaling, and sculpted by dopamine D1‐cAMP–HCN channel weakening of inappropriate inputs. However, with stress exposure, high levels of cAMP–HCN channel signaling produces a collapse in network firing. With chronic stress exposure, spines reduce in size and are lost, and this process involves increased PKC signaling. Importantly, molecules that normally strengthen PFC networks connections and/or reverse the stress response, are often genetically altered in schizophrenia. As exposure to stress is a key factor in the precipitation of schizophrenic symptoms, these dysregulated signaling pathways in deep layer III may interact with already vulnerable circuitry to cause spine loss and the descent into illness.
Terrestrial sensitivity to abrupt cooling recorded by aeolian activity in northwest Ohio, USA
Authors: Campbell Melinda C. , Fisher Timothy G. , Goble Ronald J.
Published: February 2011

Optically stimulated luminescence dated sand dunes and Pleistocene beach ridges in northwest Ohio are used to reconstruct landscape modification more than 5000 yr after deglaciation. Four of the OSL ages (13.3–11.1 ka) cluster around the Younger Dryas cold event, five ages (10.8–8.2 ka) cluster around the Preboreal, one young age (0.9–0.7 ka) records more recent aeolian activity, and one age of 15.1–13.1 ka dates a barrier spit in Lake Warren. In northwest Ohio, both landscape instability recorded by aeolian activity and a vegetation response recorded by pollen are coeval with the Younger Dryas. However, the climate conditions during the Preboreal resulting in aeolian activity are not recorded in the available pollen records. From this, we conclude that aeolian dunes and surfaces susceptible to deflation are sensitive to cooler, drier episodes of climate and can complement pollen data. Younger Dryas and Preboreal aged aeolian activity in northwestern Ohio coincides with aeolian records elsewhere in the Great Lakes region east of the prairie–forest ecotone.
Non-normality and its consequences in active control of thermoacoustic instabilities
Authors: KULKARNI RAHUL , BALASUBRAMANIAN KOUSHIK , SUJITH R. I.
Published: February 2011

Non-normality can cause transient growth of perturbations in thermoacoustic systems with stable eigenvalues. This can cause low-amplitude perturbations to grow to amplitudes high enough to make nonlinear effects significant, and the system can become nonlinearly unstable, even though it is stable under classical linear stability. In this paper, we have demonstrated that this feature can lead to the failure of the traditional controllers that were designed on the basis of classical linear stability analysis. We have also shown in a simple model that it is possible to prevent ‘nonlinear driving’ by controlling transient growth, using linear controllers. The analysis is performed in the context of a horizontal Rijke tube.
Universal size and shape of viscous capillary jets: application to gas-focused microjets
Authors: GAÑÁN-CALVO A. M. , FERRERA C. , MONTANERO J. M.
Published: February 2011

The size and shape of capillary microjets are analysed theoretically and experimentally. We focus on the particular case of gas-focused viscous microjets, which are shaped by both the pressure drop in the axial direction occurring in front of the discharge orifice, and the tangential viscous stress caused by the difference between the velocities of the co-flowing gas stream and liquid jet behind the orifice. The momentum equation obtained from the slender approximation reveals that the momentum injected into the jet in these two regions is proportional to the ratio of the pressure drop to the orifice diameter. Thus, the liquid-driving forces can be reduced to a single term in the momentum equation. Besides, the size and shape of gas-focused microjets were experimentally measured. The experiments indicated that the Weber number has a minor influence on the jet diameter for steady, stable jets, while both the axial coordinate and the Reynolds number affect its size significantly. When the experimental results are expressed in terms of conveniently scaled variables, one obtains a remarkable collapse of all measured jet diameters into a single curve. The curve matches a universal self-similar solution of the momentum equation for a constant driving force, first calculated by Clarke (Mathematika, vol. 12, 1966, p. 51) and not yet exploited in the field of steady tip-streaming flows, such as flow focusing and electrospray. This result shows that the driving force or motor mentioned above attains a rather homogeneous value at the region where the gas-focused microjet develops. The approach used in this work can also be applied to study other varied microjet generation means (e.g. co-flowing, electrospray and electrospinning).
Research on language teaching and learning in Austria (2004–2009)
Authors: Dalton-Puffer Christiane , Faistauer Renate , Vetter Eva
Published: February 2011

This overview of six years of research on language learning and teaching in Austria covers a period of dynamic development in the field. While all the studies reviewed here illustrate research driven by a combination of local and global concerns and theoretical frameworks, some specific clusters of research interest emerge. The first of these focuses on issues connected with multilingualism in present-day society in terms of language policy, theory development and, importantly, the critical scrutiny of dominant discursive practices in connection with minority and migrant languages. In combination with this focus, there is a concern with German as a second or foreign language in a number of contexts. A second cluster concerns the area of language testing and assessment, which has gained political import due to changes in national education policy and the introduction of standardized tests. Finally, a third cluster of research concerns the diverse types of specialized language instruction, including the introduction of foreign language instruction from age six onwards, the rise of academic writing instruction, English-medium education and, as a final more general issue, the role of English as a dominant language in the canon of all foreign and second languages in Austria.
Comparison of Motivational Interviewing with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: A Conceptual and Clinical Review
Authors: Bricker Jonathan , Tollison Sean
Published: February 2011

Background:Motivational Interviewing (MI) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) are two emerging therapies that focus on commitment to behavior change.Aim:The aim was to provide the first systematic comparison of MI with ACT.Method:A systematic comparison was undertaken of MI and ACT at the conceptual level, with a focus on their philosophical and theoretical bases, and at the clinical level, with a focus on the therapeutic relationship, use of language in therapy, and use of values in therapy.Results:Conceptually, MI and ACT have distinct philosophical bases. MI's theoretical basis focuses on language content, whereas ACT's theoretical basis focuses on language process. Clinically, ACT and MI have distinct approaches to the therapeutic relationship, fundamentally different foci on client language, and different uses of client values to motivate behavior change. ACT, but not MI, directly targets the willingness to experience thoughts, feelings, and sensations.Conclusions:Despite their conceptual and clinical differences, MI and ACT are complementary interventions. Collaborations between MI and ACT researchers may yield fruitful cross-fertilization research on core processes and clinical outcomes.
Second-Order Factor Structure of the Vancouver Obsessive Compulsive Inventory (VOCI) in a Non-Clinical Sample
Authors: Chiorri Carlo , Melli Gabriele , Smurra Rosa
Published: February 2011

Background: The Vancouver Obsessive Compulsive Inventory (VOCI) is a self-report measure of the severity of obsessive-compulsive problems such as contamination, checking, obsessions, hoarding, needing things to be just right, and indecisiveness. In the seminal paper a six-correlated-factor structure was found in a sample of OC patients, but the issue of the factor structure of the VOCI in non-clinical populations was not addressed. Aim: This study assesses the psychometric properties and the factor structure of the Italian version of the VOCI in a non-clinical sample. Method: The VOCI was administered to a large community sample (n = 445). Some participants also completed a battery including measures of OC behaviour, worry, anxiety and depression (n = 89) and were administered the VOCI twice at an 8-week interval (n = 46). Results: Confirmatory factor analyses replicated the six-correlated-factor structure originally found in a patient sample, but a more parsimonious, second-order-factor model showed a statistically higher fit, suggesting that VOCI subscales can be considered as facets of a higher-order OCD factor. The whole item pool and each of the subscales showed good internal consistency, unidimensionality, test-retest reliability and convergent construct validity. As in the original version, limited support for discriminant validity was found. Scores were weakly associated with age, gender and education. Conclusions: Although some key issues still need to be investigated (e.g. sensitivity to change), the VOCI seems to be a psychometrically sound instrument for the assessment of OCD-related behaviours and thoughts and can be used in cultural contexts different from the original.
Fruit and vegetable intake in the Czech child population
Authors: Jakubikova Marie , Dofkova Marcela , Ruprich Jiri
Published: February 2011

Objective

To describe fruit and vegetable intake of pre-school and school children in the Czech Republic and to provide information about their preferences and dietary habits.

Design

Cross-sectional dietary survey conducted by the method of repeated 24 h recall on two non-consecutive days. Usual intakes were calculated for three age categories (4–6, 7–10 and 11–14 years).

Setting

The whole area of the Czech Republic.

Subjects

A subgroup of 602 children aged 4–14 years was extracted from the representative sample of respondents participating in a national dietary survey (SISP) realized in the years 2003 and 2004.

Results

Estimated average usual intakes of fruit and vegetables were 209 (sd 69) g/d in children aged 4–6 years, 230 (sd 84) g/d in children aged 7–10 years, and 284 (sd 133) g/d and 261 (sd 140) g/d respectively in boys and girls aged 11–14 years. Only 22 % of children had total daily intake of fruit and vegetables of five or more servings on the day of the survey. Fruits were consumed almost two times more often than vegetables in all age groups studied. The majority of fruit consumption comprised apples and bananas, which made up more than 60 % of the whole fruit intake. Fruiting vegetables were the most frequently consumed group of vegetables.

Conclusions

Fruit and vegetable intakes in all age categories were under recommended levels and the diversity of fruit and vegetables consumed by the Czech children was relatively low.
Automatic music composition using answer set programming
Authors: BOENN GEORG , BRAIN MARTIN , DE VOS MARINA , FFITCH JOHN
Published: February 2011

Music composition used to be a pen and paper activity. These days music is often composed with the aid of computer software, even to the point where the computer composes parts of the score autonomously. The composition of most styles of music is governed by rules. We show that by approaching the automation, analysis and verification of composition as a knowledge representation task and formalising these rules in a suitable logical language, powerful and expressive intelligent composition tools can be easily built. This application paper describes the use of answer set programming to construct an automated system, named Anton, that can compose melodic, harmonic and rhythmic music, diagnose errors in human compositions and serve as a computer-aided composition tool. The combination of harmonic, rhythmic and melodic composition in a single framework makes Anton unique in the growing area of algorithmic composition. With near real-time composition, Anton reaches the point where it can not only be used as a component in an interactive composition tool but also has the potential for live performances and concerts or automatically generated background music in a variety of applications. With the use of a fully declarative language and an “off-the-shelf” reasoning engine, Anton provides the human composer a tool which is significantly simpler, more compact and more versatile than other existing systems.
Instrumentation for structure measurements on highly non-equilibrium materials
Authors: Weber J. K. R. , Benmore C. J. , Wilding M. C. , Neuefeind J. , Parise J. B.
Published: February 2011

Containerless techniques (levitation) completely eliminate contact with the sample. This unique sample environment allows deep supercooling of many liquids and avoids contamination of high-temperature melts. Recent experiments at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) high-energy beamline 11 ID-C used aerodynamic levitation with laser beam heating and acoustic levitation with cryogenic cooling. By using these two methods, liquids were studied over much of the temperature range from −40 to +2500°C. This paper briefly describes the instrumentation and its use and is illustrated with examples of measurements on molten oxides and low-temperature liquids.
Impact of the capillary fringe in vertically integrated models for CO2 storage
Authors: Nordbotten J. M. , Dahle H. K.
Published: February 2011

This paper investigates vertically integrated equilibrium models for CO2 storage. We pay particular attention to the importance of including the effect of fine‐scale capillary forces in the integrated equations. This aspect has been neglected in previous work, where the fluids are segregated by a sharp interface. Our results show that the fine‐scale capillary forces lead to qualitative and quantitative alterations of the integrated equations. Interestingly, while such forces are dispersive on the fine scale, they lead to self‐sharpening of the solution on the integrated scale. We discuss these aspects for injection, leakage, and long‐term migration through the application by comparison to common sharp interface models proposed in the literature.
On the prediction of channel heads in a complex alpine terrain using gridded elevation data
Authors: Orlandini Stefano , Tarolli Paolo , Moretti Giovanni , Dalla Fontana Giancarlo
Published: February 2011

Threshold conditions for channel initiation are evaluated by using gridded elevation data derived from a lidar survey, a reliable algorithm for the determination of surface flow paths, and field observations of channel heads for a study area located in the eastern Italian Alps. These threshold conditions are determined by considering the channel heads observed across a portion of the study area and computing the related values of (1) drainage area A, (2) area‐slope function AS2, with S being the local slope, and (3) Strahler order of surface flow paths extracted from gridded elevation data. Attention is focused on the dependence of the obtained threshold values on the size of grid cells involved and on the ability of the identified threshold conditions to provide reliable predictions of channel heads across the entire study area. The results indicate that the threshold values of A, AS2, and are all significantly dependent on grid cell size, and the uncertainty in the determination of threshold values of is significantly smaller than that affecting the determination of threshold values of A and AS2. The comparison between predicted and observed channel heads indicates that the considered methods display variable reliability and sensitivity over different drainage basins and grid cell sizes, with a general tendency to predict more channel heads than can be observed in the field. Acceptable predictions are normally obtained where channel heads are formed essentially by surface runoff. More comprehensive methods seem, however, to be needed to predict channel heads affected by groundwater seeping upward.
Malignant potential of H22 hepatocarcinoma cells increases after recovery from IFN‐γ‐mediated inhibition
Authors: Gong Wei , Ma Ke‐Zhong , Liang Xinjun , Liu YanYan , Zhou Qing , Zhang JiuLiang , Chen HuaiYun , Liu Wen‐Wei
Published: February 2011

IFN‐γ (interferon γ) can effectively suppress tumours, but it has also been found to promote tumour progression. However, the underlying mechanisms by which it enhances malignancy have not been fully elucidated. By using a mouse model that expresses IFN‐γ locally in muscle, we found that the growth potential of tumours was increased after a quick decrease of IFN‐γ. Furthermore, the up‐regulation of IRF‐2 (IFN regulatory factor 2) and down‐regulation of IRF‐1 were also found in the tumour cells. Along these lines, IFN‐γ led to down‐regulated expression of cyclin‐D1, Bcl‐2 and Bcl‐xL and up‐regulated expression of p21WAF1 and Bax in tumour cells. Yet, the expression of these genes, as well as activation of ERK (extracellular signal‐regulated kinase) and NF‐κB (nuclear factor‐κB), was also reversed shortly after a decrease in IFN‐γ, all of which resulted in increase tumour cell proliferation and apoptosis resistance. These findings indicate that the malignant potential of tumour cells may be suppressed by interfering with IRF‐2 signalling pathways during and after decreased IFN‐γ in tumour microenvironments.
The suppressive effect of CD25+Treg cells on Th1 differentiation requires cell—cell contact partially via TGF‐β production
Authors: Shen Erxia , Zhao Kai , Wu Changyou , Yang Binyan
Published: February 2011

CD25+Treg cells (CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells) play a central role in the maintenance of peripheral self‐tolerance and immune homoeostasis. A previous study showed that CD25+Treg cells suppressed the differentiation and function of Th1 cells in vivo and in vitro. However, the mechanism of suppressing Th1 cell differentiation mediated by CD25+Treg cells remains unclear. In the present study, we found that CD25+Treg cells could reduce the production of IFN (interferon)‐γ and the percentage of IFN‐γ‐, IL‐2 and TNF‐α‐producing cells by CD25−T cells under Th1 cell culture conditions and suppress the differentiation of CD25−T cells into Th1 cells in a dose‐dependent manner. Moreover, these CD25+Treg cells could inhibit the activation of CD25−T cells by down‐regulating the expression of activation markers CD69 and CD25 and suppress the division and proliferation of CD25−T cells using CFSE (carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester)‐labelling and BrdU (5‐bromo‐20‐deoxyuridine) incorporation, respectively. Further studies showed that the suppressive effects of CD25+Treg cells on Th1 cell differentiation required cell—cell contact and was partially restored by the addition of anti‐TGF‐β mAb (monoclonal antibody) but not anti‐IL‐10 mAb, indicating that the suppression mechanism of CD25+Treg cells was cell—cell contact dependent and partially via TGF‐β. This finding strongly indicates a therapeutic role for CD25+Treg cells in Th1‐mediated diseases.
Epigenetic inactivation of PCDH10 in human prostate cancer cell lines
Authors: Li Zesong , Li Wenjie , Xie Jun , Wang Yong , Tang Aifa , Li Xianxin , Ye Jiongxian , Gui Yaoting , Cai Zhiming
Published: February 2011

PCDH10 (protocadherin‐10), a novel tumour suppressor gene, is down‐regulated in several human cancers due to hypermethylation of promoter CGIs (CpG islands). Here, we investigated the expression of PCDH10 in different normal adult tissues and in a panel of prostate cancer cell lines. PCDH10 was widely expressed in normal tissues with higher levels in the prostate. The expression of PCDH10 was markedly reduced or silenced in prostate cancer cell lines compared with normal adult prostate tissue. Decreased PCDH10 expression was correlated with the methylation status of the PCDH10 promoter. Furthermore, the DNA demethylating agent 5′‐azacytidin restored PCDH10 expression by suppressing PCDH10 promoter methylation in prostate cancer cell lines. Treatment with Trichostatin A alone had no significant effect on the expression of PCDH10 but enhanced the effect of 5′‐azacytidin. In conclusion, we found that the decreased PCDH10 expression in prostate cancer cells was associated with the aberrant methylation of PCDH10 promoter CGI. Our results may contribute to the understanding of the role of PCDH10 inactivation in the progression of prostate cancers.