bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Convergence Within National Diversity: The Regulatory State in Finance
Authors: LÜTZ SUSANNE
Published: July 2004

The international political economy literature often expects that states end up in regulatory races to the bottom while competing for the most mobile segments of capital. While multilateralism argues that states are able to overcome prisoner dilemma situations by converging on international standards of regulation, comparative historical institutionalists assume ongoing diversity of regulatory frameworks. The paper shows that reforms of banking regulation in the U.S., Britain and Germany exemplify a pattern of ‘convergence within national diversity’. It is argued that a combination of comparative institutionalism with a multilateral perspective captures the causes and patterns of regulatory reform in finance. While convergence on a certain ‘hegemonic regulatory model’ is due to intergovernmental coordination on the regime level, national diversity with respect to timing and the extent of regulatory change depends to a large extent on the existence or absence of institutional veto points in the domestic political system.
Valuing Agriculture: Balancing Competing Objectives in the Policy Process
Authors: BOTTERILL LINDA COURTENAY
Published: July 2004

In an era of increasing emphasis on free trade and market deregulation, agricultural policy in advanced industrialized countries remains an anomaly, with many countries continuing to intervene in markets for farm produce. Since the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations the scrutiny of these interventions has made clear that governments have a range of objectives for their agricultural policies, some unrelated to economic factors. Concern about the future of rural communities, preservation of the countryside, the environment, food safety and animal welfare goals feature to varying degrees in agricultural policy settings. This paper explores the values influencing the formulation of agricultural policy and proposes a policy map of the combination of values reflected in particular policy settings. The map can give a better understanding of why particular policy approaches emerge in some polities and not others.
Editorial: Health technologies and the life course of women
Authors: Kazanjian Arminée
Published: July 2004

Women's health issues have in recent years become the focus for an unprecedented degree of sophisticated technologic incursion. While much of rapid technologic advances, confined as it largely is to the richest societies of the globe, has perhaps enabled women to hold their place in the workforce, it has also taken the natural biological processes from the quiet path of individual lives and put them into the hands of expert management. Women's health is now similar to other consumer goods, available for purchase alongside the many commodities of the modern urban lifestyle.
Intervening to reduce depression after birth: A systematic review of the randomized trials
Authors: Lumley Judith , Austin Marie-Paule , Mitchell Creina
Published: July 2004

A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials of nonpharmaceutical and nonhormonal interventions to reduce postnatal depression was carried out to summarize the effectiveness of interventions grouped in terms of the nature and timing of the intervention and whether the trial population was universal, selective, or indicated.
Differences between systematic reviews and health technology assessments: A trade-off between the ideals of scientific rigor and the realities of policy making
Authors: Rotstein Dalia , Laupacis Andreas
Published: July 2004

Objectives: To elucidate important differences between a health technology assessment (HTA) and a systematic review, using an HTA of positron emission tomography (PET) as an example.

Methods: Interviews with seventeen individuals who were authors or users of the PET HTA.

Results: Those interviewed identified seven areas in which HTAs often differ from traditional systematic reviews: (i) methodological standards (HTAs may include literature of relatively poor methodological quality if a topic is of importance to decision-makers), (ii) replication of previous studies (relatively common for HTAs but not systematic reviews), (iii) choice of topics (more policy oriented for HTAs, while systematic reviews tend to be driven by researcher interest), (iv) inclusion of content experts and policy-makers as authors (policy-makers more likely to be included in HTAs, although there are potential conflicts of interest), (v) inclusion of economic evaluations (more often with HTAs, although economic evaluations based upon poor clinical data may not be useful), (vi) making policy recommendations (more likely with HTAs, although this must be done with caution), and (vii) dissemination of the report (more often actively done for HTAs).

Conclusions: This case study of an HTA of PET scanning confirms that HTAs are a bridge between science and policy and require a balance between the ideals of scientific rigor and the realities of policy making.
Cost-effectiveness of fracture prevention treatments in the elderly
Authors: Fleurence Rachael L.
Published: July 2004

Objectives:The cost-effectiveness of fracture prevention treatments (vitamin D and calcium and hip protectors) in male and female populations older than seventy years of age in the United-Kingdom was investigated.

Methods:A Markov model was developed to follow up, over lifetime, a hypothetical cohort of males and females at high-risk and general risk of fracture. Patients could sustain hip, wrist, vertebral, and/or other fractures. Fracture rates were obtained from population surveys in the United Kingdom. Effectiveness and quality of life data were identified from the clinical literature. Costs were those incurred by the UK National Health Service, and were obtained from several published sources. Uncertainty was explored through probabilistic sensitivity analysis.

Results:In the general-risk female (male) population, the incremental cost per Quality Adjusted Life Year (QALY) was $11,722 ($47,426) for hip protectors. In the male high-risk population, the incremental cost per QALY was $17,017 for hip protectors. In the female high-risk population, hip protectors were cost-saving. Vitamin D and calcium alone was dominated by hip protectors in all four subgroups.

Conclusions:Current information available on interventions to prevent fractures in the elderly in the United Kingdom, suggests that, at the decision-maker's ceiling ratio of $20,000 per QALY, hip protectors are cost-effective in the general female population and high-risk male population, and cost-saving in the high-risk female population, despite the low compliance rate with the treatment.
Reassessment of the CAGE questionnaire by ROC/Taguchi methods
Authors: Taner Mehmet Tolga , Antony Jiju
Published: July 2004

Objectives:The clinical assessment efficiency of the CAGE questionnaire for alcohol abuse based on diagnostic accuracy has not been fully established to date because of the varied and inconclusive gold standards used as diagnostic criteria. CAGE has also been highlighted to miss almost half of the risk-drinkers due to the use of inadequetly set criteria for the positive recognition of alcohol abuse. This study aims to establish the diagnostic accuracy of CAGE at different treatment settings.

Methods:A hybrid of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and the Taguchi method was used, as this approach proved to evaluate the diagnostic performance and accuracy in hypothetical clinical settings. Data were used from three cross-clinical treatment settings, i.e., general medicine outpatients, medical inpatients, and psychiatric inpatients, and analyzed by means of a step-wise application of managable number of statistical indices such as the area under the ROC curve (AUC), leveling factor (p′), and signal-to-noise ratios (S/N; standardized S/N [SS/N]).

Results:The selected settings yielded similar AUCs but portrayed different trade-offs on the ROC curves signaling the presence of different critical CAGE scores. Analysis of the sensitivity and specificity data of i, ii, iii by p′, S/N, SS/N and their dependent relation resulted in the critical CAGE scores of 1,1, and 2; and high diagnostic accuracy levels of 76.84 percent, 86 percent, and 76.84 percent, respectively.

Conclusions:By setting these critical CAGE scores as the minimum detection levels of alcohol abuse, early intervention before the onset of serious alcohol-related problems is possible. This will decrease the health-care costs of the patient and, in addition, reduce the psychological and social burdens inherent to alcohol abuse both on the patient and society. Having its critical scores reliably identified and diagnostic accuracy fully determined, CAGE can now improve the detection rate of problem drinking individuals substantially.
Neurotransmitter actions on transient amacrine and ganglion cells of the turtle retina
Authors: Vigh Jozsef , Witkovsky Paul
Published: July 2004

We obtained intracellular recordings from transient, On–Off amacrine and ganglion cells of the turtle retina. We tested the ability of neurotransmitter agonists and antagonists to modify the responses to light stimuli. The metabotropic glutamate agonist, 2-amino-phosphonobutyric acid (APB), selectively blocked On responses, whereas the amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-proprionic acid (AMPA) receptor antagonist, GYKI, blocked both On and Off responses. Although GYKI appeared to block excitation completely, suggesting an absence of N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA)-mediated responses, it was found that in the presence of ionotropic gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) blockers, the excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) was prolonged. The late component of the EPSP was blocked by the NMDA antagonist, D-2-amino-5-phosphopentanoic acid (D-AP5). Picrotoxin (PTX) and bicuculline (BCC) induced a mean hyperpolarization of −6.4 mV, suggesting a direct effect of GABA on transient amacrine and ganglion cells, since antagonism of a GABA-mediated inhibition of release of glutamate by bipolars would depolarize third-order neurons. The acetylcholine agonist, carbachol, or the nicotinic agonist, epibatidine, depolarized all On–Off neurons. This action was blocked by d-tubocurarine. Cholinergic inputs to On–Off neurons increase their excitability without altering the pattern of light responsiveness.
Visual experience promotes the isotropic representation of orientation preference
Authors: COPPOLA DAVID M. , WHITE LEONARD E.
Published: July 2004

Within the visual cortex of several mammalian species, more circuitry is devoted to the representation of vertical and horizontal orientations than oblique orientations. The sensitivity of this representation of orientation preference to visual experience during cortical maturation and the overabundance of cardinal contours in the environment suggest that vision promotes the development of this cortical anisotropy. We tested this idea by measuring the distribution of cortical orientation preference and the degree of orientation selectivity in developing normal and dark-reared ferrets using intrinsic signal optical imaging. The area of the angle map of orientation preference representing cardinal and oblique orientations was determined; in addition, orientation selectivity indices were computed separately for cardinal and oblique difference images. In normal juvenile animals, we confirm a small, but statistically significant overrepresentation of near horizontal orientations in the cortical angle map. However, the degree of anisotropy did not increase in the weeks that followed eye opening when orientation selectivity matured; rather, it decreased. In dark-reared ferrets, an even greater cortical anisotropy emerged, but angle maps in these animals developed an apparently anomalous overrepresentation of near vertical orientations. Thus, the overrepresentation of cardinal orientations in the visual cortex does not require experience with an anisotropic visual environment; indeed, cortical anisotropy can develop in the complete absence of vision. These observations suggest that the role of visual experience in cortical maturation is to promote the isotropic representation of orientation preference.
Pedagogic aspects of the design and content of an online course for the development of lexical competence: ADELEX
Authors: PÉREZ BASANTA CARMEN
Published: July 2004

This paper presents an online course for assessing and developing lexical competence which grew out of
one simple question: How many words do our students have? We start by highlighting the importance of vocabulary teaching in
the second language learning process and the beneficial effects of multimedia on developing lexis. The first response to the
aforementioned query took the shape of a research study which evaluated the lexical competence of students in their final year of
an English Philology degree course. As a result, the lecturers involved in the
project undertook a further study entitled ADELEX
– ‘Assessing and Developing
Lexical Competence through the Internet’ – aiming to develop a web-based course that would improve the vocabulary
levels of our students (http://www.ugr.es/~inped/index.htm). The instructional design of the online vocabulary project, ADELEX,
developed through Web Course Tools (WebCT), is detailed in the second part of the paper. First we set out its pedagogical objectives
and describe the main characteristics of this modular course. We then address the issue of syllabus design describing its
lexicographical, lexicological, semantic and discoursal contents, and offer a brief profile of its nine modules. Needless to say,
we establish some methodological guidelines for the implementation of a virtual course which may help students control their
own learning and provide constant feedback and interaction. In fact, learner autonomy is one of its main objectives. In addition,
its teaching procedures are examined, emphasizing the tools of WebCT: online assignments, forums, online vs. on campus sessions,
students’ projects, grading, test design, etc. An unavoidable research question is also addressed: how to assess lexical
competence both at the diagnostic level, to obtain initial feedback, and at the achievement level, i.e. when a word can be said
to be acquired in a web-based environment. The answer to this question has been to develop a complex system of computer-based
tests (CBTs). Finally, we draw some pedagogic conclusions.
Increasing accessibility by pooling digital resources
Authors: CUSHION STEVE
Published: July 2004

There are now many CALL authoring packages that can create interactive websites and a large number of
language teachers are writing materials for the whole range of such packages. Currently, each product stores its data in
different formats thus hindering interoperability, pooling of digital resources and moving between software packages based in
different technology. The use of Extensible Mark-up Language (XML) for data storage goes a long way to solve this problem
and allows for the easy conversion of exercises. Starting from a desire to develop a common format between Hot Potatoes,
WELTS (part of the WELL project) and the Interactive Language Learning package from London Metropolitan University,
a new version of the Interactive Language Learning software, now renamed Guildhall Interactive Software for Multimedia
On-line (GISMO), has made such conversion possible. Given the immense resources required to develop the critical mass of
material required to make online CALL relevant to an individual’s teaching practice, such a common approach is
required to facilitate the pooling of resources. Should a bureaucratic or financial decision in an institution result in
a change of software, teachers need to be able to easily convert their legacy material. XML technology can facilitate
interoperability, thereby increasing potential accessibility by allowing teachers and students to have the use of a
greater amount of pedagogical material. It is further proposed, using these developments, to create a large pool of exercises
for practice and assessment that is independent of the delivery approach employed. This will obviate the need for
teachers to keep reproducing basic language learning material and allow for the expansion of online CALL into more
imaginative areas. This possibility introduces the question of standards within XML and whether it is necessary to
further specify how the material is stored, perhaps using a standard such as
the ‘IMS Question & Test Interoperability Specification’ or whether XML is a sufficient standard in itself.
Coaching Academic English through voice and text production models
Authors: GREENMAN CAROLINE
Published: July 2004

We report on how technological developments have enabled us to change our concepts and practices
regarding voice and text coaching and how this in turn has raised the level of literary competence among non-native
doctoral students seeking publication in English in scientific journals. We describe models for marking, peer reviewing and
coaching spoken delivery and written text. Our models spring from our dedicated physical CALL environment and take into
account learner expectations and further develop tangible learner strategies. As our models are applied in an open learning
platform they are accessible, interactive and facilitate both differentiated progressive feedback and student profiling.
The four skills are revisited through very traditional means in a methodological
paradigm requiring some ‘new literacy’. Between 1997 and 2000 we were devoted to developing and testing our
dedicated physical CALL classroom model; in the period 2000–2003 we have focused on both sustaining this and improving
our procedures. Refining the coaching and interactive feedback procedures for both text and voice development within
the virtual classroom model (established at the Institute for Living Languages at KULeuven in 1997) informs the focus of
our research. During the latter period, the resulting models have been rigorously tested by about three hundred KULeuven
students, half of whom are post graduates and half of whom are undergraduates. The specific need for refined coaching
and feedback for doctoral students is first defined, then the concept, procedure and results of three models are outlined
and illustrated. The models include a text marking and coaching model, a speech marking and coaching model and a model
to contextualise and manage the interactive cycle of learner, peer and coach writing and speaking processes. Key to our
findings is the fact that our models help us to help learners differentiate between passive and active retrieval, plus
transfer issues versus knowledge gap issues. The discussion centres on further model development integration.
Delivering an online translation course
Authors: CAMPBELL DERMOT F.
Published: July 2004

This presentation is a discursive treatment of the migration of a classroom based translation class to
online delivery using the Virtual Learning Environment WebCT. The main focus is not on the VLE itself, but on the pedagogical
challenges posed by the move to online delivery and the course structure developed to retain as many of the advantages of face-to-face
delivery as possible. Key to this is the use of an innovative colour-coding system of error analysis combined with constructivist
comments designed to promote reflection on the translation process. The application of colour-coded feedback to categories
relevant to translation training is flexible and can be adapted to other disciplines where essay-type answers are appropriate
and differentiated comment by the tutor is expected. Since translation is a process-heavy activity rather than content rich,
special attention has been paid to pedagogical considerations. Emphasis is also placed on using the VLE to build up a durable
learning resource. The advantages and weaknesses of both forms of delivery are compared.
Supporting a course in new literacies and skills for linguists
with a Virtual Learning Environment. Results from a staff/student collaborative action-research project
at Coventry University
Authors: ORSINI-JONES MARINA
Published: July 2004

This paper reports on the results of an action research project at Coventry University that consisted of
the evaluation of a curriculum innovation supported by the use of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) WebCT, i.e. a new
module (course): Academic and Professional Skills for Language Learning. The
project was carried out collaboratively by staff – all
the linguists teaching level 1 modules in EFL, French, German, Italian, Russian
and Spanish – and students over a period of
ten months in 2002–2003. The module aims at engaging students actively with
the new literacies and skills required by the ‘knowledge
society’. The provisional hypothesis was that skills-based teaching and learning activities that are aligned
with the needs of language learners would raise confidence in academic and professional skills and increase motivation and
proficiency in language learning. The use of the Virtual Learning Environment Web Communication Tools (WebCT), available within
the online learning portal both on and off campus for students at Coventry University, would be instrumental in testing the
hypothesis, as it provided an interactive reflective forum for both staff and students involved. Both qualitative and
quantitative data were collected. The paper will show how the use of the Virtual Learning Environment facilitated the creation
of exercises that developed both ICT skills and language-specific ones. On a less positive note, the results confirmed the
outcomes of other research in the field, i.e. that students find it challenging to become reflective, autonomous learners and
that we cannot assume that the use of technology automatically leads to autonomy. Many students also found it challenging to see
the relevance to their studies of skills and literacies that went beyond the four basic language skills. The paper will conclude
by illustrating both the positive and the negative outcomes of the project and outlining the staff/student-agreed way forward
in the light of the issues encountered.
A multivariate analysis of secondary students’ experience of web-based language acquisition
Authors: FELIX USCHI
Published: July 2004

This paper reports on a large-scale project designed to replicate an earlier investigation of tertiary
students (Felix, 2001) in a secondary school environment. The new project was carried out in five settings, again investigating
the potential of the Web as a medium of language instruction. Data was collected by questionnaires and observational procedures
to ascertain student perceptions of the usefulness of Web-based learning, their views on its advantages and disadvantages,
their personal comfort and enjoyment when working with the Web, their preferred mode of delivery, their evaluation of the quality
of resources used, and their learning styles and study preferences. Results of both studies showed that students were on the
whole positively inclined to working with the Web and found it useful, with the majority preferring to use the Web as an add-on
to face-to-face teaching. Reported advantages in both studies outweighed disadvantages. The secondary students felt significantly
more comfortable on the Web, worked longer hours and reported more evenly distributed study preferences. Most favoured a kinesthetic
learning style and significant relationships between learning style and mode preference were found. Differential findings related
to gender emerged in the two studies.
Modern pastoral landscapes on the island of Sardinia (Italy). Recent pastoral practices in local versus macro-economic and macro-political contexts
Authors: Mientjes Antoon C.
Published: July 2004

Archaeological interest in pastoralism – i.e. the predominant reliance on herded animals such as sheep and cattle for the production of food and other items for domestic consumption and (market) exchange – is gradually growing in the Mediterranean region and elsewhere. Ethno-archaeological studies in particular have paid attention to recent historical and contemporary pastoral economies as a consequence of the difficulties in recognizing pastoral material culture in the archaeological evidence. This paper will present an ethno-archaeological case study of recent pastoral economies in a mountain region in Sardinia (Italy), which have been investigated from a landscape perspective. I argue that the archaeologically visible features of pastoral and rural landscapes generally should be considered the outcome of both spatially and temporally diverse rural practices on the local level and their interaction with wider economic and political structures.
The past of the present. Archaeological memory and time
Authors: Olivier Laurent
Published: July 2004

Several recent publications on ‘the past in the past’ raise the issue that remains from older pasts existed in younger pasts, just like the fabric of our present-day world is made up of materials from the past. Archaeology in fact studies material culture that exists in the present; it deals with memory recorded in matter and not with events or moments from the past. This essay explores the consequences of this for archaeology's understanding of time. It argues that historic time should not be viewed as the ‘empty and homogeneous’ time of historicism – the time of dates, chronologies and periods – but on the contrary as the full and heterogeneous time of the fusion between the present and the past.
The cosmology of the early medieval emporia?
Authors: Hodges Richard
Published: July 2004

This characteristically thoughtful essay by Frans Theuws illustrates how far our analysis of central places in the early Middle Ages has advanced. Like his study of Maastricht (2001), it reveals a close reading of the archaeological and historical sources. Indeed, as Michael McCormick's encyclopaedic volume (2001) on the origins of the medieval economy shows with stunning authority, as archaeologists we have taken huge strides since Philip Grierson quipped, ‘It has been said that the spade cannot lie, but it owes this merit in part to the fact that it cannot speak’ (1959, 129). Hence it comes as no surprise that Theuws is exploring the ‘relationship between forms of exchange and the imaginary world from which “value” is derived’ (p. 121).
Erratum
Authors: Own Christopher S. , Subramanian Arun K. , Marks Laurence D.
Published: July 2004

The following shows the correction to Figure 8 that appeared on page
103 of Microscopy and Microanalysis, 10:1, February 2004, in the
article by Own et al. The three sections of Figure 8 were previously
labeled as a, c, and c. The corrected figure below has the sections correctly
labeled as a, b, and c.

The Editor and Cambridge University Press regret the inconvenience that
this inadvertent error may have caused.
The Third Biennial International Conference on Twentieth-Century Music, University of Nottingham, 26–29 June 2003
Authors: Taylor-Jay Claire
Published: July 2004

The great stylistic diversity of the music written during the twentieth century (and beyond) would seem to make the organization of any conference devoted to it a formidable task: can one really hope to cover a representative selection? While a decade ago such an event might well have covered only art music (a disparate enough field in itself), nowadays one would expect to see some attention given to jazz, popular music, and film. The organizers of the Third Biennial International Conference on Twentieth-Century Music at the University of Nottingham made a conscious attempt at inclusivity, selecting papers that might have been better put together under the title of ‘Twentieth-Century Musics’. The diversity of music represented by the papers was reflected in the plurality of approaches and methodologies. Indeed, one central feature of the conference was its concern not only with musical works, or with twentieth-century composers, but with musical practices. Alongside the statutory selection of more or less canonical art composers and their music, there were several sessions on popular music, jazz, and perspectives from ethnomusicology.
The frontal area at the eastern edge of the western equatorial Pacific warm pool in April 2001
Authors: Eldin Gérard , Delcroix Thierry , Rodier Martine
Published: July 2004

The western part of the equatorial Pacific Ocean is characterized, on average, by a relatively warm, fresh, and oligotrophic near‐surface water mass, the warm pool. On its eastern side the warm pool joins cooler, saltier, and richer waters from the equatorial upwelling. Previous works have shown that the boundary between these two water masses is highly variable in zonal location and structure, depending on large‐scale climatic conditions and/or local atmospheric forcing. This paper reports results from an oceanographic cruise carried out in April 2001, dedicated to the study of that boundary. By combining physical and biogeochemical data, the frontal area could unambiguously be found close to 157.5°E, in the far‐western equatorial Pacific, in accordance with La Niña climatic conditions. Some characteristics of the frontal zone were similar to the scarce previous observations: a sharp pCO2 step of about 40 ppm and a variation of NO3 concentration from about 1 μM to complete depletion. Other features were not previously reported, particularly the unexpected lack of a noticeable surface salinity front. Additional data from the Tropical Atmosphere‐Ocean/Triangle Trans‐Ocean Buoy Network (TAO/TRITON) moorings array provide a tentative explanation for that lack of salinity gradient: It appears that at the time of our observations the eastern part of the warm pool presented anomalously high surface salinity, about 0.5 above normal. The local evaporation‐precipitation budget did not explain this high salinity. Rather, it was associated with an anomalous northward extension of the South Pacific high‐salinity tongue in the upper thermocline.
Two‐point studies of fast Z‐mode waves with dipoles in the ionosphere
Authors: Horita R. E. , James H. G.
Published: July 2004

An HF transmitter and synchronized receiver, both connected to dipoles, were operated during the tethered rocket experiment OEDIPUS C. On the flight downleg after the tether had been cut, direct bistatic propagation experiments were carried out with the transmitter in one subpayload and the receiver in the other subpayload. Medium‐frequency Z‐mode transmissions were observed to be strong compared with the adjoining wave modes. This fast Z mode is the left‐hand polarized mode propagating between its cutoff frequency fZ and the local plasma frequency fp. The Z mode is of particular theoretical interest because its refractive index surface evolves from a simple ellipsoid to an ellipsoid with inflections as the frequency is swept through the band. The Z‐mode signal was strongest at frequencies just below fp, at relatively low fp values. At higher values of fp, the Z‐mode signals were strongest at frequencies just above fZ. Details of these characteristics and of the measurements are presented. The magnitudes of transmitted signals predicted by a cold‐plasma theory for short dipoles are found generally to be in good agreement with the measurements. The exceptions were at the highest frequencies where the inflected shape of the refractive index surface leads to three separate wave vector directions for a single group direction. A possible explanation for the relatively strong Z‐mode signal is that the transmitting dipole impedance in the fZ − fp frequency range provides a better match to the output of the transmitter than in the bands of other wave modes swept.
Titan's 2 μm surface albedo and haze optical depth in 1996–2004
Authors: Gibbard S. G. , de Pater I. , Macintosh B. A. , Roe H. G. , Max C. E. , Young E. F. , McKay C. P.
Published: July 2004

We observed Titan in 1996–2004 with high‐resolution 2 μm speckle and adaptive optics imaging at the W. M. Keck Observatory. By observing in a 2 μm broadband filter we obtain images that have contributions from both Titan's surface and atmosphere. We have modeled Titan's atmosphere using a plane‐parallel radiative transfer code that has been corrected to agree with 3‐D Monte Carlo predictions. We find that Titan's surface albedo ranges from ≤0.02 in the darkest equatorial region of the trailing hemisphere to ≃0.1 in the brightest areas of the leading hemisphere. Over the past quarter of a Saturnian year haze optical depth in Titan's Southern hemisphere has decreased substantially from a value of 0.48 in 1996 down to 0.18 in 2004, while the northern haze has been increasing over the past few years. As a result of these changes, in 2004 the North/South haze asymmetry at K' band has disappeared.
Evidence for active subduction at the New Guinea Trench
Authors: Tregoning P. , Gorbatov A.
Published: July 2004

Recent seismic tomography imaging shows clear evidence for southwestward subduction along the entire length of the New Guinea Trench (NGT) in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Viewed in conjunction with the occurrence of large (Mw > 7) thrust earthquakes that are known to have occurred on the trench, this confirms conclusions of earlier studies that the NGT is an active, inter‐plate boundary. The ∼650 km long slab is visible to a depth of about 300 km and subducts with a dip angle that varies from ∼30° at 136°E to ∼10° at 143°E. The improved clarity of the seismic tomography in this region stems from the use of a more accurate data set of P‐ and S‐wave arrival times and hypocentral locations.
Thellier paleointensity theory and experiments for multidomain grains
Authors: Xu Song , Dunlop David J.
Published: July 2004

We extend theories of thermoremanent magnetization (TRM) and partial TRM (pTRM) in multidomain (MD) grains to model thermal demagnetization and pTRM acquisition steps in Thellier paleointensity determination. Because of the interleaving of zero‐field and in‐field heating‐cooling steps to increasing temperatures the initial state for any step is complex, and theoretical modeling is more intricate than for pTRM production or thermal demagnetization separately. At low to moderate temperature T, TRM lost exceeds pTRM regained, causing convex down Arai plots sagging below the ideal single‐domain (SD) line. At moderate to high T, pTRM acquisition outweighs TRM loss. As T approaches TCurie, pTRM gain exactly equals TRM loss, and the Arai plot becomes ideal. When pTRMs are produced perpendicular to the original TRM and measured directly rather than by differencing field‐on and field‐off results, there is less deviation from ideality at low to moderate T. Our theory agrees semiquantitatively with results for parallel and perpendicular pTRMs for large MD magnetites (135 μm). Smaller MD magnetites (6 and 20 μm) have less curved Arai plots, and the smallest magnetites (0.6 and 1 μm) have almost linear plots. Positive pTRM checks demonstrate that curved Arai plots of MD grains are reproducible, unlike curved plots for rocks that alter physicochemically in the Thellier experiment, while negative pTRM tail checks indicate undemagnetized pTRM residuals. Low‐temperature demagnetization improves linearity only slightly. Practical applications of this work include using the predicted threshold T below which no net pTRM is produced in a parallel Thellier experiment to screen data used for paleointensity fits. Straight line fits through low‐ and medium‐T points in Arai plots of MD (135 μm) grains overestimated the paleofield by as much as 100% and for small pseudo‐single‐domain (PSD) (0.6 and 1 μm) grains overestimated by about 25%. However, by using linear segments of medium‐ to high‐T data with f values ≥0.5 it may be possible to obtain reasonable paleointensity estimates even for larger PSD (6 and 20 μm) and MD grains. Middle‐ to high‐T fits for 0.6 μm grains gave paleointensities within 4% of the correct value, utilizing essentially the entire data set (f > 0.9). Perpendicular data always gave superior linear fits. Orienting samples with their natural remanent magnetizations perpendicular to the laboratory field is therefore recommended for rocks containing PSD and MD grains. However, double heatings are preferable to single heatings because they allow pTRM tail checks to be carried out.
Diffusion of seismic waves in a thick layer: Theory and application to Vesuvius volcano
Authors: Wegler U.
Published: July 2004

Multiple scattering of seismic waves in an inhomogeneous layer over a homogeneous half‐space is studied. A new model using an analytical solution of the diffusion equation with absorbing boundary condition is presented and compared to existing models with radiation boundary condition and to numerical solutions of the radiative transfer equation. A thick layer condition for the validity of the approach is derived showing that the thickness of the layer must be much larger than the transport mean free path times an averaged reflection coefficient. The theory is much simpler than existing ones and especially useful at volcanoes, where the thick layer condition is generally met. With this model the data set of the TomoVes active seismic experiment at Vesuvius volcano is analyzed, where strong multiple scattering occurs within the heterogeneous shallow material and no scattering is assumed within the less heterogeneous underlying crust. The analytical expression for the coda decay rate includes a trade‐off between intrinsic attenuation and leakage of energy from the scattering layer to the homogeneous half‐space. As a consequence of this trade‐off problem, only an upper bound for intrinsic attenuation and a lower bound for the thickness of the layer can be derived. The thickness of the strongly heterogeneous region is estimated to be larger than 1.5 km. Therefore, as a physical model it is suggested that the observed multiple scattering is caused by the whole inhomogeneous edifice of the stratovolcano above the basement rocks. The value for the diffusivity D is independent of the trade‐off between intrinsic attenuation and leakage loss and takes values of around D = 0.1 km2 s−1. This corresponds to a transport mean free path for S waves as low as l ≈ 200 m, which is about 3 orders of magnitude smaller than for usual Earth's crust.
A Note on the Asymptotic Properties of Affected‐sib‐pair Linkage Tests
Authors: Wang K.
Published: July 2004

This article concerns the asymptotic properties of linkage tests for affected‐sib‐pair data under the null hypothesis of no linkage. We consider a popular single‐locus analysis model where the unknown parameters are the disease allele frequency, the three penetrances for the three genotypes at the disease locus, and the recombination fraction between the marker locus and the disease locus. These parameters are completely confounded under the null hypothesis of no linkage. We show that 1) If the total variance of the trait (i.e., the additive variance plus the dominance variance) is “separated” from 0, then the likelihood ratio statistic has an asymptotic 0.5χ20+ 0.5χ21 distribution; 2) If the prevalence of the trait is “separated” from 0 and the recombination fraction is fixed at 0, then the likelihood ratio statistic has an asymptotic distribution which is a mixture of χ20, χ21 and χ22. The implications of these results are discussed.
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in the Coding Region of the Apolipoprotein H (β2‐Glycoprotein I) Gene and their Correlation with the Protein Polymorphism, Anti‐β2Glycoprotein I Antibodies and Cardiolipin Binding: Description of Novel Haplotypes and Their Evolution
Authors: Kamboh M. Ilyas , Sanghera Dharambir K. , Mehdi Haider , Nestlerode Cara S. , Chen Qi , Khalifa Osama , Naqvi Asma , Manzi Susan , Bunker Clareann H.
Published: July 2004

Apolipoprotein H (APOH), also known as β2‐glycoprotein I, is a major autoantigen for the production of antiphospholipid antibodies (APA) in autoimmune diseases. APA is also recognized by a cryptic epitope generated following the interaction of APOH with anionic phospholipids (PL). The prevalence of APA in the general U.S. white population is about 10%, but it ranges from 30–70% in patients with lupus and antiphospholipid syndrome. Since the structural characterization of APOH from different mammalian species is important to identify the evolutionary conserved regions that may be critical for its function, we have previously determined the chimpanzee APOH gene structure and the prevalence of APA. There are only two amino acid differences between the chimpanzee and human wild type APOH proteins. Chimpanzees have an unusually high prevalence (64%) of APA. There is a common protein polymorphism in the human APOH gene, with the occurrence of four alleles APOH*1, APOH*2, APOH*3 and APOH*4, the latter being present only in blacks. Based on its differential reactivity with an APOH monoclonal antibody, the APOH*3 allele is further divided into APOH*3W (present only in whites) and APOH*3B (present only in blacks). In this study we have screened a large African population (n = 755) to determine the prevalence of APA and the molecular basis of the protein polymorphism. Almost 50% of the Africans were found to be positive for APA. The APOH*3B allele was found to be identical to the chimpanzee's wild type APOH. Novel two‐site or three‐site haplotypes, encoded in the third domain of APOH, explained the molecular basis of the APOH*3B, APOH*3W and APOH*4 alleles. Based on the comparison of the human and chimpanzee APOH DNA sequences, we suggest that the APOH*3W and APOH*4 alleles arose on the ancestral APOH*3B haplotype after the split of human races. We also found that these haplotypes are associated with the occurrence of APA. Recombinant APOH haplotypes, expressed in COS‐1 cells, showed that these mutations also affect the binding of APOH to anionic PL.
Mutagenesis by Transient Misalignment in the Human Mitochondrial DNA Control Region
Authors: Malyarchuk B. A. , Rogozin I. B.
Published: July 2004

To study spontaneous base substitutions in human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), we reconstructed the mutation spectra of the hypervariable segments I and II (HVS I and II) using published data on polymorphisms from various human populations. Classification analysis revealed numerous mutation hotspots in HVS I and II mutation spectra. Statistical analysis suggested that strand dislocation mutagenesis, operating in monotonous runs of nucleotides, plays an important role in generating base substitutions in the mtDNA control region. The frequency of mutations compatible with the primer strand dislocation in the HVS I region was almost twice as high as that for template strand dislocation. Frequencies of mutations compatible with the primer and template strand dislocation models are almost equal in the HVS II region. Further analysis of strand dislocation models suggested that an excess of pyrimidine transitions in mutation spectra, reconstructed on the basis of the L‐strand sequence, is caused by an excess of both L‐strand pyrimidine transitions and H‐strand purine transitions. In general, no significant bias toward parent H‐strand‐specific dislocation mutagenesis was found in the HVS I and II regions.
TNR/11q#1 Trinucleotide (GCC)n Repeat Alleles and Predisposition to Acute and Chronic Leukemia
Authors: Klinkov A. A. , Nikitin E. A. , Maiorova O. V. , Ivanov M. A. , Strelnikov V. V. , Babenko O. V. , Zemlyakova V. V. , Kuznetsova E. B. , Zaletayev D. V.
Published: July 2004

TNR/11q#1 is a polymorphic trinucleotide (GCC)n repeat located within the minimal region of the 11q deletion in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). It was recently shown that certain alleles of this repeat are associated with a worse prognosis in CLL patients. To investigate the role of TNR/11q#1 variants as risk‐modifying factors in leukemogenesis, we conducted a case‐control study on 113 acute lymphotic leukemia (ALL) patients, 82 CLL patients and 146 healthy controls of Russian origin. Comparison of allele and genotype distributions in the control, ALL and CLL groups, performed by Fisher's exact test with two‐sized P‐value, showed significant decrease in the presence of the GCC6 allele in the ALL and CLL groups compared to controls. Moreover, ‘rare' alleles GCC7‐8 and GCC13‐14 were significantly overrepresented in the ALL group versus controls. We found that CLL risk genotypes were those with both alleles containing more than 6 GCC repeats (P = 0,0212, odds ratio = 1,68 (95% CI, 1 121… 2,531)). ALL risk genotypes include three allele combination variants: 1) both alleles containing more than 6 GCC repeats (P = 0,0019, odds ratio = 1,756 (95% CI 1,223…2,502)); 2) one of the alleles containing 7 or 8 repeats (P = 0,0155, odds ratio = 18,22 (95% CI 1,93…136.37)); 3) one of the alleles containing more than 12 repeats (P = 0,0209, Odds ratio = 2,599 (95% CI 1,161…5,815)). Association of certain alleles and genotypes of the TNR/11q#1 repeat with both acute and chronic lymphocytic leukemia suggests the presence of a cancer related gene, involved in a wide spectrum of neoplasia, in the vicinity of this repeat.
Analyzing Perceptual Organization in Information Graphics
Authors: Wattenberg Martin , Fisher Danyel
Published: July 2004

We propose a new method for assessing the perceptual organization of information graphics, based on the premise that the visual structure of an image should match the structure of the data it is intended to convey. The core of our method is a new formal model of one type of perceptual structure, based on classical machine vision techniques for analyzing an image at multiple resolutions. The model takes as input an arbitrary grayscale image and returns a lattice structure describing the visual organization of the image. We show how this model captures several aspects of traditional design aesthetics, and we describe a software tool that implements the model to help designers analyze and refine visual displays. Our emphasis here is on demonstrating the model's potential as a design aid rather than as a description of human perception, but given its initial promise we propose a variety of ways in which the model could be extended and validated.
Mapping Nominal Values to Numbers for Effective Visualization
Authors: Rosario Geraldine E , Rundensteiner Elke A , Brown David C , Ward Matthew O , Huang Shiping
Published: July 2004

Data sets with a large numbers of nominal variables, including some with large number of distinct values, are becoming increasingly common and need to be explored. Unfortunately, most existing visual exploration tools are designed to handle numeric variables only. When importing data sets with nominal values into such visualization tools, most solutions to date are rather simplistic. Often, techniques that map nominal values to numbers do not assign order or spacing among the values in a manner that conveys semantic relationships. Moreover, displays designed for nominal variables usually cannot handle high cardinality variables well. This paper addresses the problem of how to display nominal variables in general-purpose visual exploration tools designed for numeric variables. Specifically, we investigate (1) how to assign order and spacing among the nominal values, and (2) how to reduce the number of distinct values to display. We propose a new technique, called the Distance-Quantification-Classing (DQC) approach, to preprocess nominal variables before being imported into a visual exploration tool. In the Distance Step, we identify a set of independent dimensions that can be used to calculate the distance between nominal values. In the Quantification Step, we use the independent dimensions and the distance information to assign order and spacing among the nominal values. In the Classing Step, we use results from the previous steps to determine which values within the domain of a variable are similar to each other and thus can be grouped together. Each step in the DQC approach can be accomplished by a variety of techniques. We extended the XmdvTool package to incorporate this approach. We evaluated our approach on several data sets using a variety of measures.