bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Sticks, stones and the bones of a concept
Authors: Platt Christopher
Published: August 2008

The relationship between the creation and experience of architecture is a little discussed topic. If architectural ideas are only fully understood with the illumination of construction, what are the implications of teaching architectural design in the academic studio? Linked to this is the issue of time: how do materials weather and age and how in this youth-obsessed era (in both architectural society as well as society generally) can we rediscover the importance (and beauty) of building buildings which are enhanced as they grow old. Three small (in one case tiny) built projects are examined to consider these relationships.
Education for the creative act
Authors: Maxwell Robert
Published: August 2008

Architects are, with few exceptions, ‘school trained’. This paper traces the history of the relationship between architectural education and practice. It describes the approaches developed at Cambridge and the Bartlett in the 1960s - and the theories that each embodied: one based on architecture as a cultural manifestation and the other governing the science of building. The paper concludes with the view that we need to be more realistic in our attitude to artistic aspiration as a component of studying architecture while strengthening the ways by which building performance can be tested.
Defining a relevant architecture in South Africa
Authors: Sanders Paul
Published: August 2008

Architecture in South Africa is at a crossroads. After years of repression and isolation during which contemporary architecture lost its way, there is now a desperate need for architects to respond to the social and cultural challenges of a society riven by massive material contrasts. Within architecture schools, a student body more representative of society than hitherto is engaged in projects which reflect the very diverse needs of the community. Central to the effectiveness of such teaching programmes is the presence of teachers fully engaged in practice, creating a responsible architecture for a renewed nation.
Palladio's wooden bridges
Authors: Heyman Jacques
Published: August 2008

In Book 3 of his Four Books on Architecture (1579), Palladio gives alternative designs for a wooden trussed bridge to span a river 100ft wide. The designs are ingenious, and analysis of Palladio's proposals shows that the bridges would have been effective. Some of the details, however, seem to be at variance with the expected structural action of the bridges, and there remain problems (not fully answered here) of practical construction.
An unsugared pill
Authors: Fawcett William
Published: August 2008

The controversial book Design by Competition by Jack L. Nasar (1999) is a challenge to designers (it must qualify as controversial after the stinking review in arq 3/4). It's a tacky production - banal cover, messy text layout, photos taken without a perspective control lens - and it also claims to speak for the people in a crusade against ‘high architecture’. Clearly, neither form nor content is calculated to stimulate enthusiasm in the architectural community.
Influence without anxiety: Jørn Utzon, Silkeborg Museum and Le Corbusier
Authors: Weston Richard
Published: August 2008

Although hailed by Sigfried Giedion as the leader of the Third Generation of modern architects, Jørn Utzon has generally been interpreted as a Nordic regionalist, in succession to Asplund and Aalto. Drawing on both familiar and unpublished material, taken from a monograph to be published by Edition Bløndal later this year, the paper explores striking, but previously neglected or ignored parallels between the work of Utzon and Le Corbusier. A comprehensive assessment of Utzon's work is long overdue, and should situate him in the mainstream of international modern architecture.
Architecture, narrative and promenade in Benson + Forsyth's Museum of Scotland
Authors: Psarra Sophia , Grajewski Tadeusz
Published: August 2008

Interaction between the contents and the architecture lies at the heart of the Museum of Scotland's presentation of the story of the land and its people. The design accordingly raises questions concerning the relation between architecture, the viewer and the educational message. Space syntax techniques suggest that this relation is based on a configurational logic combining informality and a clear structure. This study also examines the curatorial interpretation of the collections and demonstrates that the building forms a coherent setting for objects and exhibition themes.
What is the point of saving old buildings?
Authors: Cooke Catherine
Published: August 2008

This paper was written for a special issue of the Ekaterinburg Architecton devoted to the rich Constructivist heritage of that hitherto closed city beyond the Urals. Docomomo-Russia has an active working party there, but the combination of public poverty and vigorous real-estate pressures is making the fate of these buildings uncertain. This paper sought to offer some fundamental structuring ideas to the debate. We publish it here to stimulate discussion of problems also current elsewhere, but the author stresses that it should be read with its original purpose and audience in mind.
The structure of pattern languages
Authors: Salingaros Nikos A.
Published: August 2008

Pattern languages help us tackle the complexity of a variety of systems ranging from computer software, to buildings and cities. Each ‘pattern’ represents a rule governing one working piece of a complex system, and the application of pattern languages can be done systematically. Design that wishes to connect to human beings needs the information contained in a pattern language. This paper describes how to validate existing pattern languages, how to develop them, and how they evolve. The connective geometry of urban interfaces is derived from the architectural patterns of Christopher Alexander.
Flashing blades: the lighting requirements for fencing
Authors: Steane Mary Ann
Published: August 2008

The necessity for lighting guidelines to be rewritten is becoming increasingly obvious, particularly as far as daylighting design is concerned. In this study, current lighting recommendations for the sport of fencing are examined alongside the typical environmental conditions in which it has been practised. A detailed review of the visual environment of a daylit building designed in the '30s, Luigi Moretti's fencing academy in Rome, demonstrates that a broad range of criteria need to be taken into account when lighting requirements are defined.
Research, design and Popper
Authors: Brawne Michael
Published: August 2008

This paper is intended as a contribution to the discussion of the declared topic of this journal, architectural research. It stems partly from the author's book From Idea to Building and is mainly an analysis of the similarity between architectural design and scientific research based on Karl Popper's hypothetico-deductive theory, and in particular the sequence from problem recognition through tentative solution and error elimination to an explanation which may become the problem in the next sequence of research.
Design thinking: the studio as a laboratory of architectural design research
Authors: Parry Eric
Published: August 2008

This paper looks at the case for studio design work taught in a unit system at Diploma/RIBA Part II level to be considered as a fundamental tool of research with a direct contribution to contemporary architectural practice. A case study of unit proposals for one year at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London and its subsequent adoption by practitioners is used to illustrate the discussion.
Three projects, Calver, Derbyshire
Authors: Light Russell
Published: August 2008

This essay explores the problem of creating a contemporary architecture for a rural setting with a strong indigenous character. It focuses on a series of three inter-related projects, designed by a team which includes the author, for the village of Calver in the Derbyshire Peak District. One of these projects, ‘The Orchard’ is presented in some detail to illustrate the investigation of an architecture that can be simultaneously cognisant of both broad cultural ideas and rooted to the specifics of a local cultural context.
The Art of Reading: a new library and image for Cork Regional Technical College
Authors: Olley John
Published: August 2008

This paper explores how the new library for Cork Regional Technical College, Ireland, by de Blacam and Meagher, becomes a critique of the contemporary architecture and institution of the library. Its relationship with the evolving typology is excavated.
The influence of Hans Scharoun
Authors: Behnisch Günter , Jones Peter Blundell
Published: August 2008

In connection with the Scharoun Exhibition held at the RIBA last February, Peter Blundell Jones and Nasser Golzari organised a one-day symposium about Scharoun and his influence. Among the invited speakers were Friedrich Mebes, whose contribution we published in the first issue of arq, and Günter Behnisch, the leader of the most distinguished German firm that could be said to follow the Scharounian spirit today. Behnisch & Partners first rose to world fame with the Munich Olympic buildings of 1972, but it has gone on to complete such prestigious works as the new Bonn Parliament, the Frankfurt Post-museum and the University Library in Eichstätt. Behnisch was invited to speculate on his relationship with Scharoun, and more generally on the master's influence in Germany today.
Sudden death and the LCC: accommodation for inquests in London before the First World War
Authors: Graham Clare
Published: August 2008

Developing a new building type raises questions of accommodation appearance and cost. This paper sets in context the emergence, development and decay of one highly specialised and localised building type – the purpose-built coroner's court which appeared in the metropolis in the 1870s. Surviving references suggest how far the existence and the details of the coroner's courts owed to a particular and short-lived combination of procedural requirements, administrative wrangles and social pressures.
Requirements for Virtual Design Review
Authors: Shelden Dennis , Bharwani Seraj , Mitchell William , Williams John
Published: August 2008

The students and faculty affiliated with the Design Studios at MIT have conducted several experiments in geographically distributed design activities as part of the Design Studio of the Future research and education initiatives. Some of these experiments have involved collaboration among the studios within the institute while others have involved faculty and students in academic institutions from as far East as Singapore, Australia and Hong Kong. The goal of this paper is to describe our experiences to date with synchronous distributed collaborative design over the Internet, the World Wide Web, and other commercially available communication systems. In particular, we will outline technical and social requirements for successfully conducting remote design reviews. Such reviews require a shift in design content from physical to electronic media which brings with it associated changes in roles, responsibilities, tools, and feature set. These changes are identified in this paper. Finally, we provide helpful suggestions for others who want to try the virtual review format in their organisations.
Architecture: functional approach or the case for user research
Authors: Fawcett William
Published: August 2008

Architects rely on conceptual models of users during the design process, but if these models are inadequate the buildings may fail to meet user needs. User research, carried out by architects themselves or by specialist researchers, can improve architects' understanding of user needs. The dissemination of specialists' research findings to practising architects is crucial. Examples of user research on five topics are summarised.
Building constructs: Richard Murphy Architects
Authors: Rattray Charles
Published: August 2008

This paper reviews the relationship between architectural intent and constructional realisation in the work of the Edinburgh practice Richard Murphy Architects. It focuses on a small built project in Edinburgh, the conversion of a building in Royal Terrace Mews.
‘A springboard towards something better…’
Authors: Gezelius Jan
Published: August 2008

Outside Sweden, Jan Gezelius is perhaps best known for three museums: the little migratory birds museum at Öland, 1961; the ethnographic museum at Stockholm, 1972–78; and the archaeological museum at Eketorp, 1977–82. Here he talks about his houses and his architectural ideals. This paper is a translated and edited version of part of an interview in Jan Gezelius edited by Claes Caldenby and Åsa Walldén and published by Arkitektur Förlag/Arkus in 1989.
Climatic responsive atrium design in Europe
Authors: Ho Dennis
Published: August 2008

This paper considers the relationship between atrium design and different climatic conditions in Europe. The analyses may be used to inform design proposals for buildings which seek to optimise the thermal buffering characteristics of atria. Particular attention is given to certain parameters witl a potential to form climatic responsive and energy efficient atrium buildings.
Cantilevered staircases
Authors: Price Sam
Published: August 2008

This paper describes the structural principles of cantilevered staircases. A brief history is given of stone staircases built in England, and a number of particularly interesting examples are discussed in detail. Four new staircases, built during the last decade, are described, demonstrating the relevance of these long established principles to contemporary construction.
The last drawing on the famous blackboard – relating studio teaching to design research
Authors: Porter David
Published: August 2008

The history of the relationship of studio teaching to research since the Oxford Conference has been one of babies thrown out with bathwater. Nearly 40 years on the need for research to underpin and invigorate the acts of designing is ever more keenly felt. This paper starts from a belief that the fruitful linkage of the two requires new approaches to both – that the past 40 years shows that it does not happen automatically. Designing is considered as a series of tangible acts where the nature of each operation affects not just the outcome of the project but also the intention of the designer. This puts a renewed emphasis on the means and tools of designing, on the need for operative theories which avoid reductivism and to explore the difficulty of transforming an intention into an architectural hypothesis.
Reflections on the competition for National Centre for Popular Music, Sheffield
Authors: Jones Peter Blundell
Published: August 2008

For many years, architects in the United Kingdom have looked enviously at the competition system in the German speaking countries and Scandinavia. Now, with the introduction of a major public buildings programme partially funded by the new National Lottery, competitions are becoming more common in Britain. This paper opens with some reflections on the advantages and disadvantages of competitions. It then describes the conduct and outcome of a single Lottery-funded competition for the design of a building for which there were no precedents and in which issues of content and image were major preoccupations for both designers and assessors.
Criteria and instruments of urban development in the expansion and reconstruction of a city
Authors:   MBM Architects
Published: August 2008

This statement came to be written as an introduction to our proposal to ‘repair’ the urban design and city plan of Salerno, Italy. It was based on three sources: first, the inadequacy of town planning as an instrument to give form to the city, a proposal and experience already applied by Oriol Bohigas as city architect for Barcelona and later carried out by ourselves with the Olympic Village and Port; second, our vocation as architects to see a close relationship between the architecture of buildings and the architecture of the city so much so that many of our earlier buildings were conceived and assembled manipulating metaphors of urban reference and vice versa; third, as a result of working on urban designs in Cardiff and Breda, the text has been further modified to accommodate the different cultural problems involved in Northern European cities.
‘MA’: composition and reflex in the work of Frank Lloyd Wright
Authors: Sergeant John
Published: August 2008

Wright's approach to design comprised a polarity of modes, ranging from axial symmetry, employed in public buildings, to free and spontaneous expression of use, route and place, in the private house. Together these showed a deep awareness of the Classical tradition, and personal study, unusual for his time, of oriental place-making. An idiosyncratic attitude to nature and existence lay behind this, often embodied in a ‘high place’.
The architecture of justice: iconography and space configuration in the English law court building
Authors: Hanson Julienne
Published: August 2008

A series of changes is identified in the iconography of the English courtroom, which seems to indicate a gradual liberalisation in the architecture of justice. However, it is suggested that this masks a deeper continuity in the layout and space configuration of the law court building, which relates to the fundamental social programme which it has to fulfil. Configurationallyspeaking, the space of the courtroom, which appears so powerfully to integrate the actors in the courtroom drama, turns out to be ‘virtual’. Although the actors can see and hear each other perfectly well, they actually inhabit separate and mutually-exclusive physical domains. The locus of spatial integration is to be found in the backstage corridors of the law court which, it is argued, is the place where legal negotiations take place. Thus, though it would be theoretically possible to reproduce the social programme of the law court in a virtual reality courtroom, this would be at the expense of a vital generative function served by the building, which is to ensure that specific legal conflicts are resolved in the interests of a wider social justice.
Cooling without air conditioning – lessons from India
Authors: Ford Brian , Hewitt Mark
Published: August 2008

This paper describes the results of measurements taken in a number of step wells, well houses, and bath houses in northern India, between March and April 1995. There is a discussion of the combination of thermally massive structures and evaporative cooling effects which characterise the buildings (some of which are over 500 years old). All of the structures examined continue to provide comfortably cool interiors in the heat of summer.
Parametric design and the Sagrada Familia
Authors: Burry Mark
Published: August 2008

Parametric design is a paradigm for the more effective use of computers in architectural design and practice. Rather than focus on design as a holistic process of formal synthesis, the more localised issue of design development will be discussed, especially with regard to the resolution of complex geometry. The triforium of Gaudí's Sagrada Familia is taken as a case study. Parametric variation is used to define surface geometry consistent with the surviving fragments of plaster models, and what we know of Gaudí's technique.
The cost and value of design
Authors: Lawson Bryan , Pilling Simon
Published: August 2008

At a time when the architectural profession in the United Kingdom and elsewhere is undergoing considerable change, a clear understanding of the relationship between the services that architects can, and want to, provide and those desired and valued by our clients is vital. The architect's unique skill has been described as that of design. What does that mean today? We may all believe in the value of design but we must be sure that we can afford to offer such services at a realistic cost if we are to stay in business. This paper seeks to discover the linkages between the cost of design and its value.
Themenschwerpunkt
Authors: Arnold Karl-Heinz , Neber Heinz
Published: August 2008

«Aktiver Wissenserwerb» schließt eine Reihe von Aktionsformen ein, die einerseits für die Generierung von Wissen und andererseits zur Kontrolle der Erwerbsprozesse erforderlich sind. Unterrichtliches Lernen lässt sich durch Förderung des aktiven Wissenserwerbs optimieren. Dies wird in vier Forschungsarbeiten zu diesem Thema demonstriert. Die Integration der Beiträge wird durch ein multiples Rahmenmodell erleichtert, das die kognitiven Aktionsformen (Strategien des Zuhörens, Strategien der Textbearbeitung, lernbegleitendes Schreiben und Kommunizieren, Fragenstellen, Experimentieren) mit den beeinflussenden Merkmalen der Lernumgebung und der Person des Lerners verknüpft sowie Effektmerkmale spezifiziert.
Kognitive Aktivierung im Mathematikunterricht
Authors: Pauli Christine , Drollinger-Vetter Barbara , Hugener Isabelle , Lipowsky Frank
Published: August 2008

Ausgehend von einem konstruktivistischen Lernkonzept wurde die Unterrichtsqualität in 38 videografierten Unterrichtseinheiten (je 3 Mathematikstunden deutscher und schweizerischer Lehrpersonen, Sekundarstufe I, N = 773 Schüler/innen) anhand von drei für die kognitive Aktivierung der Lernenden relevanten Dimensionen erfasst und auf den Lernerfolg bezogen. Dabei wurde aufgrund des methodischen Vorgehens beim Begriffsaufbau in der Einführungsphase (fragend-entwickelndes Lehrgespräch/Lehrervortrag vs. explorativ-entdeckendes Vorgehen) zwischen zwei Gruppen von Unterrichtseinheiten unterschieden. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Ausprägung der drei Qualitätsmerkmale vom methodischen Vorgehen beim Begriffsaufbau unabhängig ist und dass die fachlich-inhaltliche Qualität des Unterrichts (inhaltlich-strukturelle Klarheit) sowie die Qualität des Klassengesprächs (substanzielle Schülerbeteiligung) zur Erklärung des Lernerfolgs beitragen.
Functions of the left and right posterior temporal lobes during segmental and suprasegmental speech perception
Authors: Meyer Martin
Published: August 2008

This manuscript reviews evidence from neuroimaging studies on elementary processes of speech perception and their implications for our understanding of the brain-speech relationship. Essentially, differential preferences of the left and right auditory-related cortex for rapidly and slowly changing acoustic cues that constitute (sub)segmental and suprasegmental parameters, e. g. phonemes, prosody, and rhythm. The adopted parameter-based research approach takes the early stages of speech perception as being of fundamental relevance for simple as well as complex language functions. The current state of knowledge necessitates an extensive revision of the classical neurologically oriented model of language processing that was aimed at identifying the neural correlates of linguistic components (e. g. phonology, syntax and semantics) more than at substantiating the importance of (supra)segmental information during speech perception.
Aufmerksamkeitsdiagnostik
Authors: Schmidt-Atzert Lothar , Krumm Stefan , Bühner Markus
Published: August 2008

Ziel dieses Beitrags ist es, die im deutschen Sprachraum verfügbaren Aufmerksamkeitstests einzelnen Aufmerksamkeitskomponenten zuzuordnen und zu charakterisieren. Zur Klärung des Konstrukts Aufmerksamkeit werden konzeptuelle Überlegungen angestellt, eine Arbeitsdefinition vorgelegt und eine Abgrenzung von verwandten Konstrukten wie Konzentration, Arbeitsgedächtnis und Wahrnehmungsgeschwindigkeit herausgearbeitet. Rationale und faktorenanalytische Ansätze zur Struktur der Aufmerksamkeit werden dargestellt und daraus ein Modell zur Aufmerksamkeitsstruktur mit den Komponenten Alertness, Selektion, Daueraufmerksamkeit und Focus-Execute / Konzentrierte Aufmerksamkeit abgeleitet. Anhand des Modells wird die angestrebte Klassifikation der Tests vorgenommen. Insgesamt wird deutlich, dass eine reine Messung der einzelnen Aufmerksamkeitskomponenten noch nicht möglich ist, weil die Testleistungen mit anderen Fähigkeiten konfundiert sind und die Struktur der Aufmerksamkeit noch nicht befriedigend geklärt ist. Empfehlungen zur Entwicklung und Auswahl von Aufmerksamkeitstests werden gegeben.
Net biological oxygen production in the ocean: Remote in situ measurements of O2 and N2 in surface waters
Authors: Emerson Steven , Stump Charles , Nicholson David
Published: August 2008

We describe a method for determining net annual biological oxygen production in the euphotic zone of the ocean using remote in situ measurements of oxygen and nitrogen gas. Temperature, salinity, oxygen, and total dissolved gas pressure were measured every 2 hours at 10‐m depth on a mooring at the Hawaii Ocean time series during the year 2005. Since dissolved N2 is effectively inert to biological processes it can be used as a tracer for the physical mechanisms affecting the O2 concentration in an upper ocean model of gas concentrations. We determine a net biological oxygen production in the surface mixed layer of 4.8 ± 2.7 mol m−2 yr−1. The most important term in the mixed‐layer mass balance other than biological oxygen production is the flux of oxygen across the air–water interface to the atmosphere. Simultaneous glider surveys of the O2 field measured in a companion paper (Nicholson et al., 2008) yield net biological oxygen production below the mixed layer of 0.9 ± 0.1 mol O2 m−2 yr−1. The upper‐ocean mass balance also includes a potential contribution from diapycnal mixing of O2 into the pycnocline of 0–0.8 mol O2 m−2 yr−1. Assuming that the net biological oxygen production over a period of a year or longer is stoichiometrically related to net biological carbon production and export via ΔO2/ΔC = 1.45, the biological carbon flux from the euphotic zone at HOT is 4.1 ± 1.9 mol C m−2 yr−1 in 2005, with roughly 80% of the carbon production originating in the mixed layer. Annual estimates of this flux (the ocean's “biological carbon pump”) have been determined experimentally in only a few locations of the ocean because of the labor and expense involved in repeated ship board measurements. With this new in situ method, it may now be possible to better quantify the global distribution of the net annual biological carbon export, a prominent mechanism of carbon cycle feedback in response to climate change, both in the past and future.
Assessing the sensitivity of modeled air‐sea CO2 exchange to the remineralization depth of particulate organic and inorganic carbon
Authors: Schneider Birgit , Bopp Laurent , Gehlen Marion
Published: August 2008

To assess the sensitivity of surface ocean pCO2 and air‐sea CO2 fluxes to changes in the remineralization depth of particulate organic and inorganic carbon (POC, PIC), a biogeochemical ocean circulation model (PISCES) was run with different parameterizations for vertical particle fluxes. On the basis of fluxes of POC and PIC, productivity, export, and the distributions of nitrogen (NO3), dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), and alkalinity, a number of indices defined to estimate the efficiency of carbon transport away from the atmosphere are applied. With differing success for the respective indices the results show that the more efficient the vertical transport of organic carbon toward depth, the lower the surface ocean pCO2, the higher the air‐sea CO2 flux, and the stronger the increase in the oceanic inventory of DIC. Along with POC flux it is important to consider variations in PIC flux, as the net effect of particle flux reorganizations on surface ocean pCO2 is a combination of changes in DIC and alkalinity. The results demonstrate that changes in the mechanistic formulation of vertical particle fluxes have direct and indirect effects on surface ocean pCO2 and may thus interact with the atmospheric CO2 reservoir.
Modeling the energy balance in Marseille: Sensitivity to roughness length parameterizations and thermal admittance
Authors: Demuzere M. , De Ridder K. , Van Lipzig N. P. M.
Published: August 2008

During the ESCOMPTE campaign (Experience sur Site pour COntraindre les Modeles de Pollution atmospherique et de Transport d'Emissions), a 4‐day intensive observation period was selected to evaluate the Advanced Regional Prediction System (ARPS), a nonhydrostatic meteorological mesoscale model that was optimized with a parameterization for thermal roughness length to better represent urban surfaces. The evaluation shows that the ARPS model is able to correctly reproduce temperature, wind speed, and direction for one urban and two rural measurements stations. Furthermore, simulated heat fluxes show good agreement compared to the observations, although simulated sensible heat fluxes were initially too low for the urban stations. In order to improve the latter, different roughness length parameterization schemes were tested, combined with various thermal admittance values. This sensitivity study showed that the Zilitinkevich scheme combined with and intermediate value of thermal admittance performs best.
Errors in determination of soil water content using time domain reflectometry caused by soil compaction around waveguides
Authors: Ghezzehei Teamrat A.
Published: August 2008

Application of time domain reflectometry (TDR) in soil hydrology often involves the conversion of TDR‐measured dielectric permittivity to water content using universal calibration equations (empirical or physically based). Deviations of soil‐specific calibrations from the universal calibrations have been noted and are usually attributed to peculiar composition of soil constituents, such as high content of clay and/or organic matter. Although it is recognized that soil disturbance by TDR waveguides may have impact on measurement errors, to our knowledge, there has not been any quantification of this effect. In this paper, we introduce a method that estimates this error by combining two models: one that describes soil compaction around cylindrical objects and another that translates change in bulk density to evolution of soil water retention characteristics. Our analysis indicates that the compaction pattern depends on the mechanical properties of the soil at the time of installation. The relative error in water content measurement depends on the compaction pattern as well as the water content and water retention properties of the soil. Illustrative calculations based on measured soil mechanical and hydrologic properties from the literature indicate that the measurement errors of using a standard three‐prong TDR waveguide could be up to 10%. We also show that the error scales linearly with the ratio of rod radius to the interradius spacing.
Detecting characteristic hydrological and biogeochemical signals through nonparametric scatter plot analysis of normalized data
Authors: Green Mark B. , Finlay Jacques C.
Published: August 2008

Analysis of multisite data sets is often limited by the prevalence of site‐specific phenomena or obscured by interactions among many variables. We outline two techniques for extracting characteristic hydrological and biogeochemical signals from large data sets using data normalization and nonparametric scatterplot analyses. Both techniques use data normalization to minimize the site‐specific signal on hydrological or biogeochemical variables, allowing many localities to be analyzed together. Nonetheless, normalized data are often noisy, masking characteristic hydrological and biogeochemical signals. We employed nonparametric scatterplot smoothing and thinning techniques to extract signals from normalized data. To illustrate this approach, we applied these techniques to a data set for stream chemistry and discharge consisting of 57 minimally impacted watersheds from the contiguous United States. Using the entire data set, our analyses showed characteristic seasonal trends of stream discharge (Q) and total nitrogen (TN) concentration. The influence ofQonTNwas evaluated with scatterplot thinning. Subsets of the data, sorted by watershed area and mean annual precipitation, were analyzed with smoothing and thinning techniques, demonstrating characteristic dynamics in watershed classes. Overall, these data analysis techniques uncovered some trends that were intuitive and others that were not. The techniques are useful for synthesizing large watershed data sets and identifying general trends of watershed variables at regional scales, which can be used in concert with other literature or data synthesis methods to describe fundamental watershed processes.
Effects of handling, storage, and chemical treatments on δ13C values of terrestrial fossil organic matter
Authors: Gauthier Caroline , Hatté Christine
Published: August 2008

With the need to interpret small isotopic variations, δ13C analyses of sedimentary organic matter are more and more widespread in the field of (paleo)climatology. Recent developments require an evaluation of the reliability and reproducibility of the whole data acquisition chain. Literature abounds in protocols for sediment pretreatment prior to physical measurements. These procedures differ at every step: from sampling, handling, and storage conditions to leaching procedure, without cross evaluation. In this study, we focus on two sediment samples: a modern temperate soil and a 70 ka typical loess. We review different protocols that characterize each step of the sediment pretreatment. Handling and storage conditions are tested, e.g., finger skin contact, mild‐ to high‐temperature oven‐dry, and freeze‐drying. Likewise, different decarbonation protocols are compared: wet decarbonation under cold 0.6 N HCl, 2 N HCl and boiling 1 N HCl, and acid fuming with 36% HCl. This study identifies up to 1.5‰ isotopic shifts linked to experimental bias. This large bias might be at the origin of erroneous paleoclimatic interpretation. On the basis of these results, we propose specific treatments adapted to the sample type.
Magnetic effect on CO2 solubility in seawater: A possible link between geomagnetic field variations and climate
Authors: Pazur Alexander , Winklhofer Michael
Published: August 2008

Correlations between geomagnetic‐field and climate parameters have been suggested repeatedly, but possible links are controversially discussed. Here we test if weak (Earth‐strength) magnetic fields can affect climatically relevant properties of seawater. We found the solubility of air in seawater to be by 15% lower under reduced magnetic‐field (20 μT) compared to normal field conditions (50 μT). The magnetic‐field effect on CO2 solubility is twice as large, from which we surmise that geomagnetic field variations modulate the carbon exchange between atmosphere and ocean. A 1% reduction in magnetic dipole moment may release up to ten times more CO2 from the surface ocean than is emitted by subaerial volcanism. This figure is dwarfed in front of anthropogenic CO2 emissions.
Background Love and Rayleigh waves simultaneously generated at the Pacific Ocean floors
Authors: Nishida Kiwamu , Kawakatsu Hitoshi , Fukao Yoshio , Obara Kazushige
Published: August 2008

Earth's background free oscillations known as Earth's hum have been interpreted as the Earth response to vertical pressure loads due to atmospheric and/or oceanic disturbances. Such excitation mechanisms, however, can hardly excite Love waves. Here we show clear evidence of background Love waves from 0.01 to 0.1 Hz, based on the array analysis of tiltmeters in the Japanese islands. The observed kinetic energy of Love waves is as large as that of Rayleigh waves through the whole period of analysis. The predominant incident azimuths are common to the Love and Rayleigh waves, the strongest in directions along ocean‐continent borders, next from deep ocean floors and the weakest from continents. These observations indicate that background Love and Rayleigh waves are largely generated by the same mechanisms other than vertical pressure loading. We suggest that the most likely excitation source is shear traction acting on a sea‐bottom horizon due to linear topographic coupling of infragravity waves.
Rupture process of the 2007 Niigata‐ken Chuetsu‐oki earthquake by non‐linear joint inversion of strong motion and GPS data
Authors: Cirella A. , Piatanesi A. , Tinti E. , Cocco M.
Published: August 2008

We image the rupture history of the 2007 Niigata‐ken Chuestu‐oki (Japan) earthquake by a nonlinear joint inversion of strong motion and GPS data, retrieving peak slip velocity, rupture time, rise time and slip direction. The inferred rupture model contains two asperities; a small patch near the nucleation and a larger one located 10 ÷ 15 km to the south‐west. The maximum slip ranges between 2.0 and 2.5 m and the total seismic moment is 1.6 × 1019 Nm. The inferred rupture history is characterized by rupture acceleration and directivity effects, which are stable features of the inverted models. These features as well as the source‐to‐receiver geometry are discussed to interpret the high peak ground motions observed (PGA is 1200 gals) at the Kashiwazaki‐Kariwa nuclear power plant (KKNPP), situated on the hanging‐wall of the causative fault. Despite the evident source effects, predicted PGV underestimates the observed values at KKNPP by nearly a factor of 10.
A new finite‐frequency shear‐velocity model of the European‐Mediterranean region
Authors: Peter D. , Boschi L. , Deschamps F. , Fry B. , Ekström G. , Giardini D.
Published: August 2008

We invert a global phase‐anomaly database of intermediate‐ to long‐period Rayleigh waves, recently updated with increased coverage in the European‐Mediterranean region, on a global scale with a higher resolution parameterization in the region of interest. We first compare phase‐velocity inversions based on ray and finite‐frequency theory and derive for each a corresponding set of local phase‐velocity dispersion curves (one per model pixel) between 35 s to 300 s period. Effects of the two different theories on the three‐dimensional upper‐mantle structure are investigated by inverting each dispersion curve for radial shear‐velocity profiles. The combination of a gradient‐descent method and a random‐Monte‐Carlo model search provides an estimated shear‐velocity model with associated uncertainties for depths between 40 km to 400 km. While differences between ray‐theoretical and finite‐frequency models are small compared to model uncertainty, comparisons with independent models favor the finite‐frequency one.
The overall configuration of the interplanetary magnetic field upstream of Saturn as revealed by Cassini observations
Authors: Jackman C. M. , Forsyth R. J. , Dougherty M. K.
Published: August 2008

The Cassini spacecraft approached Saturn during the declining phase of the solar cycle, at a time when the heliosphere was highly structured by compressions and rarefactions associated with corotating interaction regions (CIRs). We examine in detail the hourly averaged interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) data prior to Saturn Orbit Insertion and during one subsequent orbit of Cassini closer to solar minimum, where the spacecraft spent several months in the solar wind. We observe the effects of CIRs on IMF structure and show examples of where this structure is disturbed by the passage of strong coronal mass ejections and by solar cycle effects. We examine the field directions and find that in general, they correspond well to the predictions of the Parker model, but with several notable deviations, which we discuss.
A method for computing infiltration and redistribution in a discretized moisture content domain
Authors: Talbot Cary A. , Ogden Fred L.
Published: August 2008

A new one‐dimensional infiltration and redistribution method is proposed as an alternative to the Richards equation (RE) for coupled surface and subsurface models. The proposed method discretizes soil water content into hypothetical hydraulically interacting bins. The entry and propagation of displacement fronts in each bin are simulated by means of explicit infiltration and drainage approximations based on capillary and gravitational driving forces. Wetting front advances within bins create water deficits that are satisfied by capillary‐driven interbin flow. The method inherently provides numerical stability by precluding the need to directly estimate nonlinear gradients through numerical schemes. Comparisons of the performance of this method against RE solutions for theoretical, laboratory, and field data in both well‐drained and high water table conditions are presented. The new method produces infiltration flux estimates with errors less than 10% compared to a widely used RE solution in tests on multiple soil textures with and without high water table conditions while providing unconditionally guaranteed conservation of mass.
A blind method for the estimation of the Hurst exponent in time series: Theory and application
Authors: Esposti Federico , Ferrario Manuela , Signorini Maria Gabriella
Published: August 2008

Nowadays many methods for the estimation of self-similarity (Hurst coefficient, H) in time series are available. Most of them, even if very effective, need some a priori information to be applied. We analyzed the eight most used methods for H estimation (working both in time and in frequency). We tested these methods on data generated with four kinds of time series models (fBm and fGn generated iteratively with Feder algorithm, 1∕fα, and the fractional autoregressive integrated moving-average) in the range 0.1⩽H⩽0.9. We evaluated the performances of each method in terms of accuracy (bias) and precision [standard deviation (STD)] of the deviation from the expected value. The paper proposes a procedure useful for a reliable estimation of H, using these existing methods, without any assumptions on the stationarity/nonstationarity of the time series, where for these types of processes the “nonstationarity” is mainly caused by the divergence of the variance with time. This procedure suggests that one performs, as a first step, the detrended fluctuations analysis, which provides an indication about stationarity of the series and is related to the properties of self-similarity and long correlations. The procedure then identifies the best method for the estimation of H, depending on this first estimation. As an example application, we use our procedure to evaluate the Hurst coefficient in microelectrode array neuronal recordings.
Bergmann's rule and climate change revisited: Disentangling environmental and genetic responses in a wild bird population
Authors: Teplitsky Céline , Mills James A. , Alho Jussi S. , Yarrall John W. , Merilä Juha
Published: August 2008

Ecological responses to on-going climate change are numerous, diverse, and taxonomically widespread. However, with one exception, the relative roles of phenotypic plasticity and microevolution as mechanisms in explaining these responses are largely unknown. Several recent studies have uncovered evidence for temporal declines in mean body sizes of birds and mammals, and these responses have been interpreted as evidence for microevolution in the context of Bergmann's rule—an ecogeographic rule predicting an inverse correlation between temperature and mean body size in endothermic animals. We used a dataset of individually marked red-billed gulls (
Larus novaehollandiae scopulinus
) from New Zealand to document phenotypic and genetic changes in mean body mass over a 47-year (1958–2004) period. We found that, whereas the mean body mass had decreased over time as ambient temperatures increased, analyses of breeding values estimated with an “animal model” approach showed no evidence for any genetic change. These results indicate that the frequently observed climate-change-related responses in mean body size of animal populations might be due to phenotypic plasticity, rather than to genetic microevolutionary responses.
Dehydration of main-chain amides in the final folding step of single-chain monellin revealed by time-resolved infrared spectroscopy
Authors: Kimura Tetsunari , Maeda Akio , Nishiguchi Shingo , Ishimori Koichiro , Morishima Isao , Konno Takashi , Goto Yuji , Takahashi Satoshi
Published: August 2008

Kinetic IR spectroscopy was used to reveal β-sheet formation and water expulsion in the folding of single-chain monellin (SMN) composed of a five-stranded β-sheet and an α-helix. The time-resolved IR spectra between 100 μs and 10 s were analyzed based on two consecutive intermediates, I
1
and I
2
, appearing within 100 μs and with a time constant of ≈100 ms, respectively. The initial unfolded state showed broad amide I′ corresponded to a fluctuating conformation. In contrast, I
1
possessed a feature at 1,636 cm
−1
for solvated helix and weak features assignable to turns, demonstrating the rapid formation of helix and turns. I
2
possessed a line for solvated helix at 1,637 cm
−1
and major and minor lines for β-sheet at 1,625 and 1,680 cm
−1
, respectively. The splitting of the major and minor lines is smaller than that of the native state, implying an incomplete formation of the β-sheet. Furthermore, both major and minor lines demonstrated a low-frequency shift compared to those of the native state, which was interpreted to be caused by hydration of the C

O group in the β-sheet. Together with the identification of solvated helix, the core domain of I
2
was interpreted as being hydrated. Finally, slow conversion of the water-penetrated core of I
2
to the dehydrated core of the native state was observed. We propose that both the expulsion of water, hydrogen-bonded to main-chain amides, and the completion of the secondary structure formation contribute to the energetic barrier of the rate-limiting step in SMN folding.
Neural correlates of access to short-term memory
Authors: Nee Derek Evan , Jonides John
Published: August 2008

Behavioral research has led to the view that items in short-term memory can be parsed into two categories: a single item in the focus of attention that is available for immediate cognitive processing and a small set of other items that are in a heightened state of activation but require retrieval for further use. We examined this distinction by using an item-recognition task. The results show that the item in the focus of attention is represented by increased activation in inferior temporal representational cortices relative to other information in short-term memory. Functional connectivity analyses suggest that activation of these inferior temporal regions is maintained via frontal- and posterior-parietal contributions. By contrast, other items in short-term memory demand retrieval mechanisms that are represented by increased activation in the medial temporal lobe and left mid-ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. These results show that there are two distinctly different sorts of access to information in short-term memory, and that access by retrieval operations makes use of neural machinery similar to that used in long-term memory retrieval.
Strain-specific sequences required for yeast [
PSI
+
] prion propagation
Authors: Chang Hsiang-Yu , Lin Jia-Yu , Lee Han-Chung , Wang Hui-Ling , King Chih-Yen
Published: August 2008

Amyloid polymorphism underlies the prion strain phenomenon where a single protein polypeptide adopts different chain-folding patterns to form self-propagating cross-β structures. Three strains of the yeast prion [
PSI
], namely [VH], [VK], and [VL], have been previously characterized and are amyloid conformers of the yeast translation termination factor Sup35. Here we define specific sequences of the Sup35 protein that are necessary for
in vivo
propagation of each of these prion strains. By sequential substitution of residues 5–55 of Sup35 by proline and insertion of glycine at alternate sites in this segment, specific mutations have been identified that interfere selectively with the propagation of each of the three prion strains in yeast: the [VH] strain requires amino acid residues 7–21; [VK] requires residues 9–37; and [VL] requires residues 5 to at least 52. Minimal polypeptide segments capable of encoding prion conformations were defined by assembly of recombinant Sup35 fragments on purified prion nuclei to form amyloid fibers
in vitro
, whose infectivity was assayed in yeast. For the [VK] and [VL] strains, the minimal fragments approximately coincide with the strain-specific sequences defined by mutations of the N-terminal portion of the intact Sup35 (1–685); and for the [VH] strain, a longer Sup (1–53) fragment is required. Polymorphic structures of other amyloids might similarly involve different stretches of polypeptides to form cross-β amyloid cores with distinct molecular recognition surfaces.