bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The relationship of dementia prevalence in older adults with intellectual disability (ID) to age and severity of ID
Authors: Strydom A. , Hassiotis A. , King M. , Livingston G.
Published: April 2008

Background

Previous research has shown that adults with intellectual disability (ID) may be more at risk of developing dementia in old age than expected. However, the effect of age and ID severity on dementia prevalence rates has never been reported. We investigated the predictions that older adults with ID should have high prevalence rates of dementia that differ between ID severity groups and that the age-associated risk should be shifted to a younger age relative to the general population.

Method

A two-staged epidemiological survey of 281 adults with ID without Down syndrome (DS) aged ⩾60 years; participants who screened positive with a memory task, informant-reported change in function or with the Dementia Questionnaire for Persons with Mental Retardation (DMR) underwent a detailed assessment. Diagnoses were made by psychiatrists according to international criteria. Prevalence rates were compared with UK prevalence and European consensus rates using standardized morbidity ratios (SMRs).

Results

Dementia was more common in this population (prevalence of 18.3%, SMR 2.77 in those aged ⩾65 years). Prevalence rates did not differ between mild, moderate and severe ID groups. Age was a strong risk factor and was not influenced by sex or ID severity. As predicted, SMRs were higher for younger age groups compared to older age groups, indicating a relative shift in age-associated risk.

Conclusions

Criteria-defined dementia is 2–3 times more common in the ID population, with a shift in risk to younger age groups compared to the general population.
Social, political and cultural layers of transparency Can glass allow both security and openness?
Authors: Wainwright Edward
Published: April 2008

Columbia University's recent interdisciplinary conference on transparency aimed, according to the convenors, to ‘bring an ordinarily extraordinary material back before our eyes’.
The lure of the Orient: Scharoun and Häring's East-West connections
Authors: Jones Peter Blundell
Published: April 2008

Among Hugo Häring's papers in the Häring archive of the Akademie der Künste in Berlin are the minutes of six meetings entitled Discussions about Chinese Architecture held on Fridays and once on a Saturday dating from November 1941 to May 1942. The persons involved are Hugo Häring, Hans Scharoun, Chen Kuan Lee and John Scott. Of Scott, a Germanised American, we know little: it seems his wife Gerda worked at Häring's art school. But Chen Kuan Lee is a key figure in this story. Born in Shanghai in 1919, he had arrived in Berlin in 1935 to study architecture under Hans Poelzig, completing the course in 1939. He then became Scharoun's assistant until 1941, working on the private houses that provided a limited creative opportunity under the Nazis. Lee returned to Scharoun's office in 1949, remaining there until 1953, one of only four assistants during the crucial period of 1951/1952 when Scharoun's new architecture was under development with key projects such as the Darmstadt School and Kassel Theatre. In between, Lee served as an assistant to Ernst Boerschmann (1873–1949), the great German investigator of Chinese culture and author of several books on Chinese architecture. Boerschmann had visited China from 1906 to 1909, when he was sent by the German government to make a comprehensive cultural study, rather as Hermann Muthesius had been sent to England in 1896. To complete Lee's biography, in 1954 he set up as an architect on his own account, building several Chinese restaurants, more than 30 private houses and some apartment blocks in a Scharoun-like manner [1], some spatially very interesting, but this kind of work went out of fashion with the advent of postmodernism in the 1980s and Lee died quite recently in obscurity.
‘A terrible battle with architecture’: Denys Lasdun in the 1950s, part 2
Authors: Calder Barnabas
Published: April 2008

By 1957, Denys Lasdun was bored:

‘We must try to get away from the sameness of English architecture. If you look at modern Italian work, for example, it is at least clear that architects have engaged in a terrible battle with architecture and certainly many of them have been disastrously defeated; but most English architects seem to have reached a gentlemanly understanding with their art that they should leave each other strictly alone.’
A Microscale Yeast Cell Disruption Technique for Integrated Process Development Strategies
Authors: Wenger Marc D. , DePhillips Peter , Bracewell Daniel G.
Published: April 2008

Miniaturizing protein purification processes at the microliter scale (microscale) holds the promise of accelerating process development by enabling multi‐parallel experimentation and automation. For intracellular proteins expressed in yeast, small‐scale cell breakage methods capable of disrupting the rigid cell wall are needed that can match the protein release and contaminant profile of full‐scale methods like homogenization, thereby enabling representative studies of subsequent downstream operations to be performed. In this study, a noncontact method known as adaptive focused acoustics (AFA) was optimized for the disruption of milligram quantities of yeast cells for the subsequent purification of recombinant human papillomavirus (HPV) virus‐like particles (VLPs). AFA operates by delivering highly focused, computer‐controlled acoustic radiation at frequencies significantly higher than those used in conventional sonication. With this method, the total soluble protein release was equivalent to that of laboratory‐scale homogenization, and cell disruption was evident by light microscopy. The recovery of VLPs through a microscale chromatographic purification following AFA treatment was within 10% of that obtained using homogenization, with equivalent product purity. The addition of a yeast lytic enzyme prior to cell disruption reduced processing time by nearly 3‐fold and further improved the comparability of the lysate to that of the laboratory‐scale homogenate. In addition, unlike conventional sonication methods, sample heating was minimized (≤8 °C increase), even using the maximum power settings required for yeast cell disruption. This disruption technique in combination with microscale chromatographic methods for protein purification enables a strategy for the rapid process development of intracellularly expressed proteins.
Aktuelle Aspekte zur Therapie des Nierenzellkarzinoms
Authors: Heynemann H.
Published: April 2008

Die organerhaltende Tumorexzision ist bei kleinen Nierentumoren (4– 7 cm) zum Standard geworden. Beim metastasierten Nierenzellkarzinom ist die Nephrektomie, ggf. Tumor-Exzision in Kombination mit einer zytokinbasierten (klarzelliger Typ) u./o. targeted Therapie mit Angiogenese- Inhibitoren bei einem Karnofsky- Index > 70% sinnvoll. Nicht mehr ein chirurgisches Standardverfahren beim organbegrenzten Nierenzellkarzinom und eine immunologische Standardtherapie beim metastasierten Nierenzellkarzinoms sind massgebend, vielmehr existiert nun ein Spektrum effizienter Therapiekonzepte. Die Metastasenchirurgie ist dann indiziert, wenn sie begründet die Lebensqualität beeinflusst.
Abaisser la pression artérielle: urgent ou pas urgent?
Authors: Ardigo S. , Rutschmann O. , Waeber B. , Pechère-Bertschi A.
Published: April 2008

Die schwere arterielle Hypertonie ist ein häufiges Problem in der Hausarztpraxis. Es gilt zu entscheiden, ob der Blutdruck möglichst schnell (hypertensiver Notfall) oder über mehrere Stunden gesenkt und im Verlauf einiger Tage normalisiert werden muss (hypertensive Krise). Anhand von Anamnese und klinischer Untersuchung müssen diejenigen Patienten identifiziert werden, bei welchen der erhöhte Blutdruck zu unmittelbaren Organschäden führen kann oder die bei fehlender Blutdruckkontrolle gar in Lebensgefahr schweben. Die hypertensive Krise kann meist oral behandelt werden (Nifedipin als Retardpräparat, Nitroglyzerin, Labetolol, Captopril). Der hypertensive Notfall erfordert vor dem Transport auf die Notfallstation manchmal bereits eine orale Therapie, anschliessend wird parenteral behandelt (Nitroprussidnatrium, Nitroglyzerin, Labetolol).
Arbeiten unter erschwerten Bedingungen
Authors: Vetter Ch. , Robert-Tissot L. , Cottagnoud P. , Stucki A.
Published: April 2008

Aus medizinischer Sicht sind die Probleme der Untersuchungs- und Strafgefangenen insbesondere im Bereich der Drogen und Alkoholerkrankungen, übertragbaren Krankheiten (HIV,Hepatitis B und C, Tuberkulose) und psychischen Erkrankungen zu sehen. Diese zunehmend komplexen Krankheitsbilder bedürfen einer engmaschigen und intensiven Betreuung jedes einzelnen Patienten und stellen aus medizinischer Sicht das eigentliche Problem während der Inhaftierung dar. Durch den Ausbau des Gesundheitswesens könnte zum einen den Ansprüchen und Erfordernissen jedes einzelnen Gefangenen entsprochen und zum anderen ein kostenbewusstes Handeln im Umgang mit den vorhandenen Ressourcen im Gesundheitswesen ermöglicht werden. Im Kanton Bern leben auf einer Gesamtfläche von 5959 km2 957197 Einwohner. Die Polizei- und Militärdirektion betreibt die Regional- und Bezirksgefängnisse sowie den Transportdienst im Kanton Bern für eingewiesene Personen. Hierfür stehen den Behörden im Kanton insgesamt 327 Plätze zur Verfügung. Seit Mai 1971 können spitalbedürftige Personen aus den Regional- und Bezirksgefängnissen und den Vollzugsanstalten stationär auf einer speziell hierfür eingerichteten Bewachungsstation im Inselspital Bern aufgenommen und dort vollumfänglich medizinisch betreut werden. Die Gefangenen profitieren als Patienten vollumfänglich von der gesamten Bandbreite der universitären Einrichtungen.
Tägliche Stressfaktoren und Lebenszufriedenheit türkischstämmiger Mütter in Deutschland
Authors: Jäkel Julia , Leyendecker Birgit
Published: April 2008

Zusammenfassung. Die vorliegende Studie untersucht mit dem Everyday Stressors Index ( Hall, 1983 ), welche täglichen Stressfaktoren die Lebenssituation türkischstämmiger Mütter (n = 100) von Kindergartenkindern im Vergleich zu deutschen Müttern (n = 105) mit ähnlichem Bildungshintergrund kennzeichnen. Insbesondere interessierte uns, inwieweit die Bildung der Mütter deren alltägliche Stresserfahrungen und Lebenszufriedenheit moderiert. Türkischstämmige Mütter mit 10-11 Jahren Schulbildung erreichten höhere Belastungswerte als deutsche Mütter derselben Bildungsgruppe. Wir fanden keine Unterschiede in der Stressbelastung türkischstämmiger und deutscher Mütter mit mehr als zwölf Jahren Schulbildung. Die Zahl der Bildungsjahre in Deutschland, die bei türkischstämmigen Müttern ein Indikator für den individuellen Zugang zu Kultur und Sprache ist, fungierte als protektiver Faktor für die psychosoziale Belastung. Je länger die türkischstämmigen Mütter eine deutsche Schule besucht hatten, desto höher war ihre Lebenszufriedenheit. Die Lebenszufriedenheit der türkischstämmigen Mütter korrelierte negativ mit deren psychosozialer Belastung. Darüber hinaus fanden wir einen Zusammenhang zwischen dem Aufenthaltsstatus der türkischstämmigen Mütter und ihrer Lebenszufriedenheit.
Gibt es einen Zusammenhang zwischen Bewegungsaktivität und psychischem Befinden im Alltag?
Authors: Schwerdtfeger Andreas , Eberhardt Ragna , Chmitorz Andrea
Published: April 2008

Zusammenfassung. Mit diesem Beitrag wollen wir illustrieren, wie mit Hilfe der Technik des ambulanten Monitoring gesundheitspsychologische Fragestellungen im Alltag untersucht werden können. Dazu wurde der Zusammenhang von körperlicher Aktivität und Wohlbefinden im Alltag analysiert. Mit Hilfe von Beschleunigungssensoren wurden Bewegungsdaten über einen Zeitraum von 12 Stunden an 124 Probanden zwischen 18 und 73 Jahren aufgezeichnet. Energetische Aktiviertheit/positiver Affekt (EA/PA) und Anspannung/negativer Affekt (WA/NA) wurden etwa stündlich mittels Pocketcomputer erfasst. Die Daten wurden mit Mehrebenenmodellen ausgewertet. Bewegungsepisoden, die vor der Befindensabfrage auftraten, waren positiv mit EA/PA assoziiert. Zusammenhänge mit WA/NA konnten hingegen nicht beobachtet werden. Weiterhin waren BMI und EA/PA negativ miteinander assoziiert, wobei dieser Zusammenhang vor allem auf die Männer zurückzuführen war. Weiterhin zeigte sich, dass mit zunehmendem BMI der Zusammenhang zwischen Bewegung und EA/PA anstieg. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Untersuchung gesundheitspsychologischer Fragestellungen im Feld viel versprechend ist und die Befunde bisheriger Untersuchungen erweitern.
Magnetization of 0–26.5 Ma seafloor at the ultraslow spreading Southwest Indian Ridge, 61°–67°E
Authors: Sauter Daniel , Cannat Mathilde , Mendel Véronique
Published: April 2008

We investigate the magnetic signature of volcanic and nonvolcanic seafloor areas along the Southwest Indian Ridge between 61°E and 67°E and analyze their relationship with crustal thickness variations and past to present ridge segmentation. This part of the Southwest Indian Ridge is an end‐member for the global ridge system in terms of low melt supply, thin crust, and ultraslow spreading rates. It is characterized by large expanses of seafloor that show no evidence for a volcanic upper crustal layer. We find that variations of intrinsic magnetization and thickness of the basaltic extrusive layer, where it is present, dominate the present‐day along‐axis crustal magnetization. Off‐axis, the magnetization contrast is on average higher for volcanic seafloor than for smooth nonvolcanic topography, indicating that the contribution of the basaltic upper crustal layer to the production of magnetic anomalies remains important. However, magnetic anomalies that record past magnetic polarity events are found almost everywhere in the survey area, even over domains that lack a volcanic upper crustal layer, arguing thus for the contribution of other sources. We propose that both gabbros and serpentinized peridotites contribute to these anomalies. Although not systematic, and weak over most parts of the survey area, an induced component of magnetization is clearly present in some nonvolcanic seafloor domains. Serpentinized peridotites are the likely carriers of this induced magnetization component.
Main controlling factors of coral skeletal carbon isotopic composition and skeletal extension rate: High‐resolution study at Hainan Island, South China Sea
Authors: Shimamura Michiyo , Irino Tomohisa , Oba Tadamichi , Xu Guoqiang , Lu Bingquan , Wang Luejiang , Toyoda Kazuhiro
Published: April 2008

To understand the main controlling factors of coral skeletal carbon isotope ratio (δ13Cc), we undertook high‐temporal‐resolution (∼1.5 d) measurements of δ13Cc for Porites lutea collected from the east coast of Hainan Island, China. The results were compared with factors that have previously been proposed to control coral δ13Cc: skeletal extension rate, carbon isotope composition of dissolved inorganic carbon in seawater (δ13Cw), and light availability to the coral colony. Hainan Island is characterized by strong summer and winter monsoons that result in distinctive seasonal variations in environmental and coral growth conditions. Compared with other tropical/subtropical areas, this climate is advantageous in evaluating the effects of different environmental factors on δ13Cc. We found that δ13Cc varied in phase with solar radiation. Increased total suspended matter (TSM) in the water column was found to reduce δ13Cc. These data suggest that light availability, the interplay between solar intensity and attenuation of light by TSM in the water column, is the main controlling factor of δ13Cc in the studied coral. In addition, slower skeletal extension was found during periods of lower solar radiation and high turbidity than other periods of similar temperature conditions, suggesting that both factors influence skeletal growth. Seasonal variations in δ13Cw were not only too narrow in range to explain the observed δ13Cc, but also showed an opposite trend to that of δ13Cc. We also failed to detect δ13Cc variations due to the kinetic isotope effect (i.e., the discrimination of heavier isotopes during CO2 hydration and hydroxylation and the resulting simultaneous negative shifts of δ13Cc and δ18Oc from equilibrium values), despite large variations in the measured skeletal extension rate. This outcome probably reflects the high skeletal extension rates of the studied coral (average, 15 mm/a; minimum, 4 mm/a).
Association of 34S‐depleted pyrite layers with negative carbonate δ13C excursions at the Permian‐Triassic boundary: Evidence for upwelling of sulfidic deep‐ocean water masses
Authors: Algeo Thomas , Shen Yanan , Zhang Tonggang , Lyons Timothy , Bates Steven , Rowe Harry , Nguyen T. K. T.
Published: April 2008

A marine Permian‐Triassic boundary (PTB) section at Nhi Tao, Vietnam, contains a series of at least 9 pyritic horizons characterized by concurrent decreases in pyrite S‐ (δ34Spy) and carbonate C‐isotopic compositions (δ13Ccarb). The first and largest of the events that precipitated these pyritic horizons was coincident with the Late Permian mass extinction, while subsequent events were generally smaller and occurred at quasiperiodic intervals of ∼20 to 30 ka. A near complete lack of organic carbon to drive bacterial sulfate reduction in sediment pore waters, among other considerations, argues against a diagenetic control for these relationships. Rather, the covariant patterns documented herein are most easily explained as the product of recurrent upwelling of anoxic deep‐ocean waters containing 34S‐depleted hydrogen sulfide and 13C‐depleted dissolved inorganic carbon. The sulfide δ34S record of the study section represents a mixture of a small amount of isotopically heavy authigenic pyrite (formed via in situ bacterial sulfate reduction) with a generally larger quantity of isotopically light syngenetic pyrite precipitated within the water column during upwelling episodes. Although upwelling of toxic deepwaters has been invoked in earlier studies as a mechanism for the Late Permian marine mass extinction, this is the first study to (1) document patterns of pyrite‐δ13Ccarb covariation that strongly support upwelling as a major process at the PTB and (2) provide evidence of multiple, quasiperiodic upwelling events that may reflect reinvigoration of global‐ocean overturn following a prolonged interval of Late Permian deep‐ocean stagnation.
Reply to comment by K. Gajewski on “Abrupt environmental change in Canada's northernmost lake”
Authors: Antoniades Dermot , Crawley Catherine , Douglas Marianne S. V. , Pienitz Reinhard , Andersen Dale , Doran Peter T. , Hawes Ian , Pollard Wayne , Vincent Warwick F.
Published: April 2008

We welcome the opportunity to respond to Gajewski's [2008] comments on our study [Antoniades et al., 2007, hereinafter referred to as A07]. We demonstrate here that his assertions are not supported by the evidence and that the conclusions in A07 are based on a sound interpretation of the data.
Analysis of ice crystal habits derived from MISR and MODIS observations over the ARM Southern Great Plains site
Authors: McFarlane Sally A. , Marchand Roger T.
Published: April 2008

We have developed a look‐up table approach for retrieving cloud phase (water or ice) and best‐fit ice crystal scattering model from coincident Multiangle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data. We present statistics of cloud phase and radiatively effective ice crystal habit for 5 years of Terra overpasses of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program's Southern Great Plains (SGP) site. This analysis focuses on clouds which have optical depth >2 and are single‐layer (or have an optically thick upper layer). For this subset of clouds, 48% were best fit by a liquid droplet scattering model. The rough aggregate scattering model was the most commonly retrieved ice crystal habit (27% of all retrieved clouds; 51% of retrieved ice clouds). The results indicate that the distinction between water and ice clouds is more robust than the distinction between individual ice crystal habits. For ice clouds, the strongest distinctions were found between aggregate‐like and plate‐like habits. Comparison with MODIS operational cloud property retrievals (MOD06) illustrates the strong dependence of retrieved optical depth and effective radius on habit assumptions.
Changes in North American extremes derived from daily weather data
Authors: Peterson Thomas C. , Zhang Xuebin , Brunet‐India Manola , Vázquez‐Aguirre Jorge Luis
Published: April 2008

Detailed homogeneity assessments of daily weather observing station data from Canada, the United States, and Mexico enabled analysis of changes in North American extremes starting in 1950. The approach used a number of indices derived from the daily data, primarily based on the number of days per year that temperature or precipitation observations were above or below percentile thresholds. Station level indices were gridded to produce North American area‐averaged time series. The results indicated that the increase in the number of days exceeding the 90th percentile is about the same magnitude as the decrease in the number of days below the 10th percentile. Analysis of extremes farther out on the tails of the distribution (e.g., 95th and 97.5th percentiles) reveals changes very similar to the 90th and 10th percentiles. Annual extreme lowest temperatures are warming faster than annual extreme highest temperatures when the index assessed is the actual temperature, but cold and hot extremes are changing about the same when examined on a normalized basis. On the basis of several measures, heavy precipitation has been increasing over the last half century, and the average amount of precipitation falling on days with precipitation has also been increasing. These observed changes since the late 1960s, decrease in cold extremes, increases in warm extremes, and increases in heavy precipitation, are consistent with a warming planet.
New Databases Reveal 200 Years of Change on the Mississippi River System
Authors: Remo Jonathan , Pinter Nicholas , Ickes Brian , Heine Rueben
Published: April 2008

Over the past two centuries, the Mississippi River system (MRS) has been dramatically altered to facilitate commercial navigation and provide flood control. Because of its long history of modification, rigorous measurements including maps, charts, surveys, and other data concerning the MRS are available from the past 200 years or longer. Comparison between historical reference conditions and modern conditions can document changes related to natural processes, human impacts, and river management practices and policies.

To show these changes, we have assembled a hydrologic database of approximately 7 million measurements and a geospatial database consisting of 4878 map sheets dating back to 1765. The databases include nearly all available data sources for the navigable Mississippi River, the lower Missouri River, and the Illinois River (>4500 kilometers of waterways; see Figure 1, in the electronic supplement to this Eos issue; http://www.agu.org/eos_elec). We have digitized all 81 map sets and georeferenced 48 of those map sets, meaning that the maps have been referenced in physical space for use in a geographic information system. The purpose for constructing these databases is to centralize and standardize these data sources and to make them broadly available for research and management. In this article we describe the data, the databases, and their dissemination.
Ocean Acidification's Effects on Marine Ecosystems and Biogeochemistry: Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry Scoping Workshop on Ocean Acidification Research; La Jolla, California, 9–11 October 2007
Authors: Fabry Victoria J. , Langdon Chris , Balch William M. , Dickson Andrew G. , Feely Richard A. , Hales Burke , Hutchins David A. , Kleypas Joan A. , Sabine Christopher L.
Published: April 2008

Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration is causing global warming and ocean acidification. Nearly one third of the total anthropogenic CO2 produced in the past 200 years has been taken up by the oceans. While oceanic uptake of anthropogenic CO2 may lessen the extent of global warming, evidence suggests that effects of anthropogenic CO2 on ocean chemistry have profound consequences for marine organisms, potentially altering ecosystem structure, food webs, and biogeochemical processes.

An assemblage of 93 scientists participated in a 3‐day workshop to develop research strategies that address present and future ocean acidification impacts. The Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry program (http://www.us‐ocb.org) sponsored this workshop, with support from the U.S. National Science Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA, U.S. Geological Survey, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Toward Reducing Uncertainties in Arctic Climate Simulations
Authors: Proshutinsky Andrey , Dethloff Klaus , Doescher Ralf , Gascard Jean Claude , Kauker Frank
Published: April 2008

The coincidence of rapid change in Arctic climate (the extreme 2007 decline in sea ice and recent unprecedented warming) and enhanced observational activities during the International Polar Year (IPY; 2007–2008) offers hope that these changes will be documented in great detail. However, in order to explain changes in the Arctic and predict its future dynamics, models of the Arctic climatic system are needed to reproduce past and present states and to predict future transformations. Results from existing models are not always satisfactory [e.g., Stroeve et al., 2007] because there are significant uncertainties in model forcing, parameterization of physical processes, and internal model parameters.
Climate Over Landscapes: Workshop on Atmospheric Sciences and Surface Processes; Boulder, Colorado, 1–3 October 2007
Authors: Galewsky J. , Roe Gerard , Anderson Robert , Meyer Grant , Flowers Gwenn
Published: April 2008

Some of the most exciting advances in geomorphology over the past 20 years have come through exploring the links among the Earth's atmosphere, surface, and interior. Through this integration, the scientific community is redefining paradigms for the growth and decay of mountain ranges, the response of landscapes to changing climate, and the coupling between atmospheric and land surface processes at spatial and temporal scales ranging from cloud microphysics to crustal deformation.

A workshop on the links between atmospheric sciences and geomorphology was held at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), in Boulder, Colo. The workshop was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) as part of a series of workshops designed to inform a National Research Council (NRC) study on the future of Earth surface processes research in the United States.
Data Position Statement to be Updated
Authors: Von Holle Kate
Published: April 2008

AGU members have an opportunity to provide comments to a panel preparing to update a position statement for Council consideration in May 2008 concerning the archiving and availability of scientific data. There is currently a risk of losing important data that have been collected over the years, and these data need to be preserved and made publicly available where possible to help future generations understand the various Earth systems. The panel is being asked to address a broad range of data issues that affect Earth and space scientists globally. The current statement can be found at http://www.agu.org/sci_soc/policy/sci_pol.html#positions under the heading “The importance of archiving and availability of geophysical data.”
Outstanding Student Paper Awards
Authors: Anonymous
Published: April 2008

The following members received Outstanding Student Paper Awards at the 2007 AGU Fall Meeting, in San Francisco, Calif.
Introduction to Planetary Science: The Geological Perspective
Authors: Rothery David A.
Published: April 2008

The authors' stated intention is that this book should be used as the basis for a capstone course for senior undergraduates and beginning graduate students majoring in the Earth sciences. The authors argue, and I agree, that a planetary science course like this can provide excellent opportunities to revisit and apply, in an appealing and engaging manner, many of the themes encountered during an Earth sciences degree. It is disappointing that this attractive book misses many opportunities to do so.

The book unfolds in a methodical fashion, beginning with some cultural and astronomical scene‐setting before discussing the origin of the solar system and the origin and evolution of the Earth. There is then an excursion into orbits and seasons, before dealing with meteorites and cratering, the Moon, and then Mercury, Venus, Mars, the asteroids, and thence via Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and their satellites to the Kuiper belt and Oort cloud. The final chapters deal with the Earth as a cradle of life and with extrasolar planets.
A new satellite‐based census of precipitating and nonprecipitating clouds over the tropics and subtropics
Authors: Liu Qi , Fu Yunfei , Yu Rucong , Sun Liang , Lu Naimeng
Published: April 2008

Cloud properties retrieved from TRMM VIRS measurements are analyzed for PR‐determined precipitating clouds (P‐PCs) and nonprecipitating clouds (PN‐PCs), respectively. The total cloud amount (CA) averaged across the tropics and subtropics in boreal summer is about 55.9 and 40.1, over ocean and land, respectively, with P‐PCs contributing less than 10% to the total CA. Low P‐PCs that have cloud top lower than 680 mb are extremely scanty, while low PN‐PCs account for near half of total PN‐PCs. The mean cloud optical thickness (COT) of P‐PCs exceeds 60, approximately 10 times that of PN‐PCs. According to ISCCP cloud classification, four primary cloud types of PN‐PCs, cumulus, stratocumulus, altocumulus and cirrus are revealed, whereas deep convective clouds and cirrostratus are proved to be the first and second primary cloud type of P‐PCs, implying a considerable amount of P‐PCs with high cloud top but moderate COT.
Fast teleconnections to the tropical Atlantic sector from Atlantic thermohaline adjustment
Authors: Chiang John C. H. , Cheng Wei , Bitz Cecilia M.
Published: April 2008

We examine the first decade of adjustment of the North Atlantic climate following an abrupt freshening of the high North Atlantic and resulting slowdown of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) in a coupled model, with reference to previously proposed teleconnection mechanisms. After an initial ocean‐driven cooling at the subtropical‐subpolar gyre boundary, subsequent equatorward progression is dominated by an atmosphere‐surface ocean mechanism driving evaporative cooling in the tropical North Atlantic, and resulting in an anomalous southward ITCZ displacement by year 2. The tropical cooling is countered by fast ocean baroclinic adjustment to the reduced overturning that increases the volume of tropical surface waters, as well as ocean circulation changes to the increased northeasterly trades. However, it is the atmosphere‐surface ocean teleconnection that explains the hemispheric asymmetric nature of the tropical Atlantic surface climate impact to AMOC slowdown, underlining its crucial importance in high‐to‐low latitude teleconnections.
Oblique impacts and peak ring position: Venus and Chicxulub
Authors: McDonald Matthew A. , Melosh H. Jay , Gulick Sean P. S.
Published: April 2008

The circular peak ring of the Chicxulub impact crater is not concentric with the outer rim of the structure, as defined by both gravity and seismic data. Although this has been attributed to an oblique impact, and used to define the direction of impactor approach, different groups have suggested radically different approach azimuths based on the same data sets. We investigate the putative correlation between peak ring offset and impactor azimuth by examining a suite of 19 peak ring craters on Venus, for which the impactor's approach direction is known from their asymmetric external ejecta. We find no statistically significant correlation between peak ring offset and the azimuth of the impactor's approach.
A thermal test of the post‐subduction tectonic evolution along the California transform margin
Authors: Erkan Kamil , Blackwell David D.
Published: April 2008

The heat flow pattern along the transform margin of western North America reflects the nature of the tectonic evolution following the cessation of subduction. Whereas the high heat flow in the California Coast Ranges shows post‐subduction heating, the low heat flow in the Great Valley and Sierra Nevada still reflects the Cenozoic subduction thermal regime. We analyzed a combined heat flow dataset from these regions and compared the thermal implications of the proposed two end member tectonic models, namely the slab window and the stalled slab models. The results show that persistence of low heat flow in a wide region agrees better with the stalled slab model. The Coast Range thermal anomaly could be due to combined effects of thermal relaxation of the stalled slab; viscous heating in the ductile zone; and/or an apparent high surface heat flow due to rapid erosion.
Demystifying the development of dendritic cell subtypes, a little
Authors: Naik Shalin H
Published: April 2008

The broadest definition of dendritic cells (DCs) is white blood cells that can take up antigen, process it and then present antigen‐derived peptides to activate cognate naive T cells. Although this definition is by no means perfect, it is nevertheless now textbook. The source of frustration more recently has focused on other issues, including the distinction of the DC subtypes, their differential roles in the immune system, their lineage relationship to each other (and other leukocytes) and whether the mouse and human DC findings overlap. Here, I condense the classification of DCs in both the steady state versus infection, with primary focus in the mouse. Emphasis is then given to debates surrounding the in vivo pathways of DC differentiation in different conditions, which culture models best represent these processes (fms‐like tyrosine kinase 3 ligand versus granulocyte‐macrophage colony‐stimulating factor), and what the human and mouse DC subtype equivalents might be. In addition, a model termed ‘graded’ commitment is proposed that, as a departure from the classic binary models of hematopoiesis, attempts to explain the recent clonal data where subtype‐specific DC precursors branch from this pathway.
Prolactin can modulate CD4+ T‐cell response through receptor‐mediated alterations in the expression of T‐bet
Authors: Tomio Ayako , Schust Danny J , Kawana Kei , Yasugi Toshiharu , Kawana Yukiko , Mahalingaiah Shruthi , Fujii Tomoyuki , Taketani Yuji
Published: April 2008

Low‐dose prolactin induces proinflammatory responses and antibody production, whereas high‐dose prolactin suppresses these responses. Mechanisms for these opposing effects remain incompletely defined. We have previously demonstrated that T‐bet, a key transcription factor directing T helper type 1 inflammatory responses, is regulated by female steroid hormones in human mucosal epithelial cells via Stat1 and 5 pathways. T‐bet was also modulated in a CD4+ T cell line by prolactin exposure. Prolactin rapidly induced T‐bet transcription through phosphorylation of JAK2 and Stat5, but not Stat1. Phosphorylated Stat5 then bound to the T‐bet regulatory region. These effects were weaker with high‐dose prolactin exposures. Upon long‐term prolactin exposure, low‐dose prolactin induced T‐bet expression, whereas high‐dose prolactin tended to suppress it. Prolactin induced the suppressors of cytokine signaling (SOCS) 1 and 3 in a dose‐dependent manner. With high‐dose exposure, this was associated with an inhibition of the phosphorylation of T‐bet regulatory region‐bound Stat5. Further, the dose‐dependent prolactin effects on T‐bet expression were confirmed in murine primary CD4+ T cells. These data suggest that the divergent immune effects of low‐ and high‐dose prolactin may involve modulation of T‐bet and alterations in the balance of the prolactin/JAK2/Stat5 and the prolactin/SOCS1 and 3 pathways.
The Influence of Physical Activity, Socioeconomic Status, and Ethnicity on the Weight Status of Adolescents
Authors: McMurray Robert G. , Harrell Joanne S. , Deng Shibing , Bradley Chyrise B. , Cox Lori M. , Bangdiwala Shrikant I.
Published: April 2008

Objective: This study examined the effects of physical activity, television viewing, video game play, socioeconomic status (SES), and ethnicity on body mass index (BMI).

Research Methods and Procedures: The sample was 2389 adolescents, 10 to 16 years of age (12.7 ± 1.0 years); 1240 (52%) females and 1149 (48%) males; 77% white and 23% African American; from rural (77%) and urban (23%) settings. BMI and skinfolds were directly assessed. All other data were obtained from questionnaires.

Results: Watching television on non‐school days was related to being overweight (p < 0.005). However, when BMI analyses were adjusted for ethnicity and SES, there were no significant effects of television viewing on BMI (p > 0.061). Increased hours of video game play enhanced the risk of being overweight for both genders when analyses were adjusted for ethnicity and SES (p < 0.019). In males, participation in as little as one high‐intensity physical activity 3 to 5 days a week decreased the ethnic‐ and SES‐adjusted relative risk of being overweight (RR = 0.646; CI: 0.427 to 0.977). For females, the ethnic‐ and SES‐adjusted relative risk for being overweight was not significantly altered by physical activity. The logistic analyses further indicated the influence of low SES and African American ethnicity overshadowed any direct effect of television or videos.

Discussion: Because weight status of male adolescents appears to be more related to exercise habits than to television or video game habits, increased participation in high‐intensity exercise appears to be important. For females, neither videos nor exercise habits appear to be related to risk of being overweight. However, ethnicity and SES may be important factors that can influence body weight status, while television viewing may be of some importance. Thus, programs to reduce obesity in female adolescent should focus their efforts in lower SES communities.
Evidence of Pleiotropic Loci for Fasting Insulin, Total Fat Mass, and Abdominal Visceral Fat in a Sedentary Population: The HERITAGE Family Study
Authors: Hong Yuling , Després Jean‐Pierre , Rice Treva , Nadeau André , Province Michael A. , Gagnon Jacques , Leon Arthur S. , Skinner James S. , Wilmore Jack H. , Bouchard Claude , Rao D. C.
Published: April 2008

Objective:To examine whether there is a major gene effect on fasting insulin and pleiotropic loci for fasting insulin, total fat mass (FM), and abdominal visceral fat (AVF).

Research Methods and Procedures:A major gene hypothesis for fasting plasma insulin levels was assessed using segregation analyses of data on 495 members in 98 normolipidemic sedentary families of white descent who participated in the HERITAGE Family Study.

Results:Segregation analyses were performed on insulin adjusted for age, on insulin adjusted for age and FM, and on insulin adjusted for age and AVF. Before adjustment for AVF and FM, a major gene effect on fasting insulin levels was indicated. The putative locus accounted for 54% of the variance under a recessive inheritance pattern, affecting 11% of the sample (i.e., allele frequency = 0.33). However, after adjusting for the effects of AVF or FM, neither a major effect alone nor a multifactorial component alone could be rejected, and support for a major gene was equivocal, i.e., neither the hypothesis of Mendelian τ values or that of the equal τs were rejected and the equal τ model fit the data better than the Mendelian τ model. This pattern (i.e., major gene evidence for insulin before but not after adjustment for AVF or FM) suggests that there is a putative locus with pleiotropic effects on both insulin and FM and another pleiotropic locus for both insulin and AVF.

Discussion:Although these data do not directly support an additional major gene for insulin independent of AVF and FM, such support cannot be ruled out because there is still a significant major effect on FM‐ or AVF‐adjusted insulin (albeit the Mendelian nature of this effect is ambiguous).
The Effects of Drugs Used to Treat Obesity on the Autonomic Nervous System
Authors: Hirsch Jules , Mackintosh Ronald M. , Aronne Louis J.
Published: April 2008

Objective:Body fatness is partly under hypothalamic control with effector limbs, which include the endocrine system and the autonomic nervous system (ANS). In previous studies we have shown, in both obese and never‐obese subjects, that weight increase leads to increased sympathetic and decreased parasympathetic activity, whereas weight decrease leads to decreased sympathetic and increased parasympathetic activity. We now report on the involvement of such ANS mechanisms in the action of anti‐obesity drugs, independent of change in weight.

Research Methods and Procedures:Normal weight males (ages 22 to 38 years) were fed a solid food diet, carefully measured to maintain body weight, for at least 2 weeks, as inpatients at the Rockefeller University General Clinical Research Center. In a single‐blind, placebo/drug/placebo design, eight subjects received dexfenfluramine, seven phentermine (PHE), and seven sibutramine (SIB). ANS measures of parasympathetic and sympathetic activity included: determination of amount of parasympathetic control (PC) and sympathetic control (SC) of heart period (interbeat interval), using sequential pharmacological blockade by intravenous administration of atropine and esmolol. These autonomic controls of heart period are used to estimate the overall level of parasympathetic and sympathetic activities. Norepinephrine, dopamine, and epinephrine levels in 24‐hour urine collections were measured and also resting metabolic rate (RMR).

Results:Sufficient food intake maintained constant body weight in all groups. PHE and SIB produced significant increases in SC but no change in PC or in RMR. In contrast, dexfenfluramine produced marked decreases in SC, PC, and RMR. For all three drugs, the effects on urine catecholamines directly paralleled changes in cardiac measures of SC.

Discussion:ANS responses to PHE and SIB were anticipated. The large, and unanticipated, response to dexfenfluramine suggests further study to determine whether there could be any relation of these ANS changes to the adverse cardiovascular effects of treatment with dexfenfluramine.
The Relationship of Childhood Adiposity to Parent Body Mass Index and Eating Behavior
Authors: Whitaker Robert C. , Deeks Cindy M. , Baughcum Amy E. , Specker Bonny L.
Published: April 2008

Objective: To better understand risk factors for the development of obesity in early childhood, we examined the association between children's adiposity and their parents' eating behavior and body mass index (BMI).

Research Methods and Procedures: Parents of 85 white children 36 months of age (49 boys and 36 girls) completed the Three‐Factor Eating Questionnaire measuring three dimensions of parent eating behavior: disinhibited eating, cognitive restraint of eating, and susceptibility to hunger. Parent BMI (kg/m2) was calculated using self‐reported height and weight. The children's percentage body fat was assessed by dual energy X‐ray absorptiometry analysis.

Results: Twenty‐six percent of parents were obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2). Both maternal and paternal BMI were associated with higher scores for disinhibition (r = 0.69 and r = 0.68, p < 0.001), and maternal BMI was also associated with higher scores for hunger (r = 0.51, p < 0.001). There were no significant relationships between children's percentage body fat and parent eating scores, and the correlation between children's percentage body fat and parent BMI was significant only between mothers and daughters (r = 0.35, p = 0.04). Obese parents were no more likely to have a child who was fatter (upper quintile of percentage body fat for gender).

Discussion: Among 36 month‐old white children, parent eating behavior was related to parent BMI, but not to children's adiposity. There was only a weak relationship between parent BMI and child adiposity. Despite the aggregation of adiposity within families due to shared genes and environments, children may not express differences in susceptibility to obesity by 3 years of age.
Overweight, Obesity, and Blood Pressure: The Effects of Modest Weight Reduction
Authors: Mertens Ilse L. , van Gaal Luc F.
Published: April 2008

Several large epidemiological studies have shown an association between body mass index and blood pressure in normal weight and overweight patients. Weight gain in adult life especially seems to be an important risk factor for the development of hypertension. Weight loss has been recommended for the obese hypertensive patient and has been shown to be the most effective nonpharmacological treatment approach. However, long‐term results of weight loss programs are disappointing with people often regaining most of the weight initially lost. In recent years, a modest weight loss, defined as a weight loss of 5% to 10% of baseline weight, has received increasing attention as a new treatment strategy for overweight and obese patients. A more gradual and moderate weight loss is more likely to be maintained over a longer period of time. Several studies have confirmed the blood pressure‐lowering effect of a modest weight loss in both hypertensive and nonhypertensive patients. A modest weight loss can normalize blood pressure levels even without reaching ideal weight. In patients taking antihypertensive medication, a modest weight loss has been shown to lower or even discontinue the need for antihypertensive medication. In patients with high normal blood pressure, a modest weight loss can prevent the onset of frank hypertension. The blood pressure‐lowering effect of weight loss is most likely a result of an improvement in insulin sensitivity and a decrease in sympathetic nervous system activity and occurs independent of salt restriction. In conclusion, a modest weight loss that can be maintained over a longer period of time is a valuable treatment goal in hypertensive patients.
Fibrinogen, Other Putative Markers of Inflammation, and Weight Gain in Middle‐aged Adults—The ARIC Study
Authors: Duncan Bruce B. , Schmidt Maria Ines , Chambless Lloyd E. , Folsom Aaron R. , Carpenter Myra , Heiss Gerardo ,   for the ARIC Investigators
Published: April 2008

Purpose: Weight gain is an important risk factor for the development of the metabolic syndrome, and inflammatory mediators are strongly associated with this syndrome. Our aim was to investigate whether inflammation predicts the development of weight gain in populations.

Research Methods and Procedures: We investigated selected markers of inflammation in the prediction of weight gain over an approximately 3‐year period in a biethnic cohort of 13,017 men and women, 45 to 64 years of age, using multiple linear and logistic regression modeling.

Results: In adjusted models, those in the highest quartile of fibrinogen gained, during the first 3 years of follow‐up, an estimated 0.23 kg/year more than those in the lowest quartile (p < 0.001). Adjusted odds of a large (greater than the 90th percentile) weight gain for those in the highest quartile of fibrinogen were 1.65 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.38 to 1.97) times those in the lowest quartile. Similarly adjusted odds ratios for a large weight gain for those with high levels of white blood cell count, factor VIII, and von Willebrand factor were 1.38 (1.14 to 1.67), 1.28 (1.08 to 1.53), and 1.28 (1.08 to 1.51), respectively.

Discussion: Fibrinogen and other putative markers of inflammation predict weight gain in middle‐aged adults. Given the known links between the inflammatory response and intermediary metabolism and the methodological strengths of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) cohort, these findings, though without immediate clinical applicability, suggest that inflammatory processes play a role in the development of the metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease in part through stimulation of weight gain.