bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Emerging Themes in the Ecology and Management of North American Forests
Authors: Sharik Terry L. , Adair William , Baker Fred A. , Battaglia Michael , Comfort Emily J. , D'Amato Anthony W. , Delong Craig , DeRose R. Justin , Ducey Mark J. , Harmon Mark , Levy Louise , Logan Jesse A. , O'Brien Joseph , Palik Brian J. , Roberts Scott D. , Rogers Paul C. , Shinneman Douglas J. , Spies Thomas , Taylor Sarah L. , Woodall Christopher , Youngblood Andrew
Published: February 2010

The 7th North American Forest Ecology Workshop, consisting of 149 presentations in 16 oral sessions and a poster session, reflected a broad range of topical areas currently under investigation in forest ecology and management. There was an overarching emphasis on the role of disturbance, both natural and anthropogenic, in the dynamics of forest ecosystems, and the recognition that legacies from past disturbances strongly influence future trajectories. Climate was invoked as a major driver of ecosystem change. An emphasis was placed on application of research findings for predicting system responses to changing forest management initiatives. Several “needs” emerged from the discussions regarding approaches to the study of forest ecosystems, including (1) consideration of variable spatial and temporal scales, (2) long-term monitoring, (3) development of universal databases more encompassing of time and space to facilitate meta-analyses, (4) combining field studies and modeling approaches, (5) standardizing methods of measurement and assessment, (6) guarding against oversimplification or overgeneralization from limited site-specific results, (7) greater emphasis on plant-animal interactions, and (8) better alignment of needs and communication of results between researchers and managers.
Recurrence of Discordant Congenital Heart Defects in Families
Authors: �yen Nina , Poulsen Gry , Wohlfahrt Jan , Boyd Heather A. , Jensen Peter K.A. , Melbye Mads
Published: February 2010

Background—

Variation within a single gene might produce different congenital heart defects (CHDs) within a family, which could explain the previously reported familial aggregation of discordant CHDs. We investigated whether certain groups of discordant CHDs are more common in families than others.

Methods and Results—

Using Danish national population and health registers, we identified CHDs among all singletons born in Denmark during 1977–2005 and their first-degree relatives. In a cohort of 1 711 641 persons, 16 777 had CHDs, which we classified into 14 phenotypes. We estimated relative risks of discordant CHDs by history of specific CHDs in first-degree relatives. The relative risk of any dissimilar CHD given the specified CHD in first-degree relatives was as follows: heterotaxia, 2.00 (95% CI, 0.96 to 4.17); conotruncal defects, 2.78 (95% CI, 2.12 to 3.66); atrioventricular septal defects, 2.25 (95% CI, 1.39 to 3.66); anomalous pulmonary venous return, 1.76 (95% CI, 0.66 to 4.64); left- and right-ventricular outflow tract obstruction, 2.55 (95% CI, 1.87 to 3.48) and 3.09 (95% CI, 2.03 to 4.71), respectively; isolated atrial septal defects, 2.76 (95% CI, 2.11 to 3.61); isolated ventricular septal defects, 2.27 (95% CI, 1.75 to 2.94); persistent ductus arteriosus, 1.92 (95% CI, 1.32 to 2.79); other specified CHDs, 3.29 (95% CI, 2.51 to 4.32); and unspecified CHDs, 2.30 (95% CI, 1.76 to 3.00). Relative risks for all pairwise combinations of discordant CHD phenotypes gave no indications that certain constellations of CHDs cluster more in families than others.

Conclusion—

We documented strong familial aggregation of discordant CHD phenotypes. However, we observed no excess clustering of specific CHD phenotypes among the first-degree relatives.
Aid Effectiveness and the Politics of Personalism
Authors: Wright Joseph
Published: February 2010

This article examines how political institutions that provide an incentive to cultivate a personal vote condition the relationship between foreign aid and economic growth in developing country democracies. Politicians in aid-recipient countries with high levels of personalism are more likely to pursue corruption and target government spending to narrow constituencies. Because personalism affects these outcomes, it provides incentives to use foreign aid for politically motivated spending at the expense of investing foreign aid in growth-promoting public goods. Using panel data from 61 aid-recipient democracies from 1961 to 2001, the author finds that aid increases growth in democracies with less personalist institutions but decreases growth in countries with high personalism. The author also shows that personalism conditions the relationship between aid and the composition of government spending: Aid increases spending on public goods (relative to narrow, particularistic goods) in countries with low personalism but has the opposite effect in highly personalist countries.
To Pay or Not to Pay: Competing Theories to Explain Individuals’ Willingness to Pay for Public Environmental Goods
Authors: Liebe Ulf , Preisendörfer Peter , Meyerhoff Jürgen
Published: February 2010

Several theories have been proposed in an attempt to explain individuals’ willingness to pay (WTP) for public environmental goods. While most studies only take into account a single theory, this article discusses competing theories. These include, in addition to a basic economic model, the theory of public goods, Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior, and Schwartz’s norm-activation model. Empirical results are based on a contingent valuation study of biodiversity in German forests. Multivariate analyses demonstrate that studies using single theories omit crucial explanatory variables and, hence, might be misleading. Economic models of WTP have proven to be incomplete, that is, they have restricted explanatory power and need to be supplemented by psychological and sociological models. Furthermore, a general finding is that factors influencing WTP are different for “in-principle WTP” on the one hand and “amount of WTP (given in-principle WTP)” on the other. Income, for example, does not affect whether individuals are willing to pay at all, but significantly influences how much they are willing to pay.
Hierarchical path planning of mobile robots in complex indoor environments
Authors: Seder Marija , Mostarac Petar , Petrović Ivan
Published: February 2010

Inspired by the Hierarchical D* (HD*) algorithm of Cagigas (Robotics and Autonomous Systems 52, 190—208, 2005), in this paper we introduce a novel hierarchical path planning algorithm called the Focussed Hierarchical D* (FHD *). Unlike the original HD* algorithm, the FHD* algorithm guarantees the optimality of the global path, and requires considerably less time for the path replanning operations. This is achieved by several modifications: (1) optimal placement of the so-called bridge nodes needed for hierarchy creation, (2) focusing the search around the optimal path, which reduces the search area without loss of optimality, and (3) introduction of partial starts and partial goals, which further reduce computational time of replanning operations. The FHD* algorithm was tested in a multi-room indoor environment and compared with the original HD* algorithm, non-hierarchical D* algorithm, and Focussed D* algorithm under the same conditions. The FHD* algorithm significantly outperforms other algorithms with respect to the computational time. Furthermore, it can be easily extended to the problem of path planning between different floors or buildings.
A probabilistic framework for geometry and motion reconstruction using prior information
Authors: Wende Zhang  , Tsuhan Chen
Published: February 2010

In this paper, we propose a probabilistic framework for reconstructing scene geometry and object motion utilizing prior knowledge of a class of scenes, eg, scenes captured by a camera mounted on a vehicle driving through city streets. In this framework, we assume the video camera is calibrated, ie, the intrinsic and extrinsic parameters are known all the time. While we assume a single camera moving during the capture, the framework can be generalized to multiple stationary or moving cameras as well. Traditional approaches match the points, lines or patches in multiple images to reconstruct scene geometry and object motion. The proposed framework also takes advantage of each patch’s appearance and location to infer its orientation and motion direction using prior information based on statistical learning from training data. The prior information hence enhances the performance of geometry and motion reconstruction. We show that the prior-based 3D reconstruction outperformed traditional 3D reconstruction with synthetic data and real data, especially in textureless areas for geometry estimation and faraway areas for motion estimation.
A new camera calibration method from vanishing points in a vision system
Authors: He B.W. , Zhou X.L. , Li Y.F.
Published: February 2010

The problem of finding intrinsic parameters of a camera is extremely important for practical applications. In this paper, we present an approach for automatic estimation of intrinsic parameters from images by using the vanishing points in orthogonal directions. Firstly, image lines are extracted and clustered into groups corresponding to three dominant vanishing points. Secondly, the intrinsic parameters of the camera are determined by using the vanishing points in each image. The rotation matrix of the projection matrix is computed from the vanishing points and image edges while the translation matrix is obtained with additional translation motion between the viewpoints. Our approach does not need any prior information about the cameras being used. Experiments with real images show that our new technique is robust and accurate.
Fault-tolerant attitude computation for unmanned aerial vehicles
Authors: Jagadish Chirag , Chang Bor-Chin
Published: February 2010

Attitude information is essential in the control of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). One way of defining attitude is through Euler angles. These angles can be determined based on the measurements of the projections of the gravity and earth magnetic fields on the three body axes of the vehicle. Twenty-five methods have been developed to compute the Euler angles and each of these methods employ a subset of the six measurements. The capability of computing the Euler angles in multiple ways provides a diversified redundancy required for fault tolerance. The proposed approach can identify the sensor failures and even separate the reference fields from the disturbances. A bank-to-turn manoeuvre of the NASA GTM UAV is used to show how to determine the correct Euler angles despite interferences by inertial acceleration.
Wind-field reconstruction from flight data using an unbiased minimum-variance unscented filter
Authors: Palanthandalam-Madapusi Harish J. , Girard Anouck , Bernstein Dennis S.
Published: February 2010

Although guidance of all aircraft is affected by wind disturbances, micro-unmanned aerial vehicles are especially susceptible. To estimate unknown wind disturbance, we consider two illustrative scenarios for planar flight. In the first scenario, we assume that measurements of the heading angle are available, while, in the second scenario, we assume that measurements of the heading angle are not available. Since the disturbance estimation problem is non-linear, we develop an extension of the unscented Kalman filter that provides an estimate of the unknown wind disturbance. Furthermore, we show through simulations that, when the heading angle is not measured, a kinematic ambiguity is introduced. However, when the initial heading angle is known and the subsequent heading angle is not measured, this kinematic ambiguity is resolved and accurate estimates of the wind velocity are obtained.
Effects of Restless Legs Syndrome on Quality of Life and Psychological Status in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes
Authors: Merlino Giovanni , Valente Mariarosaria , Serafini Anna , Fratticci Lara , Del Giudice Angela , Piani Antonella , Noacco Claudio , Gigli Gian Luigi
Published: February 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of restless legs syndrome (RLS) on quality of life (QoL), anxiety, and depression in people with type 2 diabetes.

Methods

One hundred twenty-four patients with type 2 diabetes were enrolled in this study. RLS was diagnosed by a neurologist masked on psychological evaluation. Data on severity, frequency, and duration of the sleep disorder were collected. The Italian version of the SF-36 was used to assess QoL. Psychological status was investigated by a neuropsychologist masked on RLS diagnosis. Patients with a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) were considered affected by anxiety and depression, respectively. A modified version of the Hamilton Anxiety and Depression Rating Scales (HARS and HDRS) was also administered.

Results

RLS was an independent predictor for several mental domains of the SF-36 and for the mental component summary. Multivariate analysis showed that RLS was an independent predictor of anxiety and depression. RLS severity correlated with HARS and HDRS scores, whereas frequency per week of RLS had a significant correlation only with HARS score.

Conclusions

Among individuals with diabetes, RLS can impair mental health, increasing the risk for anxiety and depression. Since RLS consequences on nocturnal rest and psychological status may impair glycemic control in this population, diabetologists and diabetes educators should investigate for the presence of RLS in their patients and treat them.
Foggy Faithfulness: Relationship Quality, Religiosity, and the Perceptions of Dating Infidelity Scale in an Adult Sample
Authors: Mattingly Brent A. , Wilson Karen , Clark Eddie M. , Bequette Amanda W. , Weidler Daniel J.
Published: February 2010

The goals of the current study were to (a) replicate the factor structure of the Perceptions of Dating Infidelity Scale (PDIS) with a sample of older adults, (b) examine whether religiosity and relational variables (e.g., satisfaction, commitment) were correlates of perceptions of infidelity, and (c) examine unique predictors of ratings of infidelity. As expected, three factors emerged from the PDIS: Ambiguous, Deceptive, and Explicit Behaviors. Satisfaction, quality of alternatives, and religiosity were correlated with ratings on the Ambiguous Behaviors factor. Furthermore, ratings on the Ambiguous Behaviors factor were uniquely predicted by satisfaction and religiosity.
Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation
Authors: Peterson Lars , Vasiliadis Haris S. , Brittberg Mats , Lindahl Anders
Published: February 2010

Background: The medium-term results of autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) have shown good to excellent outcomes for the majority of patients. However, no long-term results 10 to 20 years after the surgery have been reported.

Hypothesis: Autologous chondrocyte implantation provides a durable solution to the treatment of full-thickness cartilage lesions of the knee, maintaining good clinical results even 10 to 20 years after implantation.

Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4.

Methods: In this uncontrolled study, questionnaires with the Lysholm, Tegner-Wallgren, Brittberg-Peterson, modified Cincinnati (Noyes), and Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) scores were sent to 341 patients. Preoperative Lysholm, Tegner-Wallgren, and Brittberg-Peterson scores were also retrieved when possible from patients’ files. The patients were asked to grade their status during the past 10 years as better, worse, or unchanged. Finally, they were asked if they would do the operation again.

Results: There were 224 of 341 patients who replied to our posted questionnaires and were assessed. The mean cartilage lesion size was 5.3 cm2. Ten to 20 years after the implantation (mean, 12.8 years), 74% of the patients reported their status as better or the same as the previous years. There were 92% who were satisfied and would have the ACI again. The Lysholm, Tegner-Wallgren, and Brittberg-Peterson scores were improved compared with the preoperative values. The average Lysholm score improved from 60.3 preoperatively to 69.5 postoperatively, the Tegner from 7.2 to 8.2, and the Brittberg-Peterson from 59.4 to 40.9. At the final measurement, the KOOS score was on average 74.8 for pain, 63 for symptoms, 81 for activities of daily living (ADL), 41.5 for sports, and 49.3 for quality of life (QOL). The average Noyes score was 5.4. Patients with bipolar lesions had a worse final outcome than patients with multiple unipolar lesions. The presence of meniscal injuries before ACI or history of bone marrow procedures before the implantation did not appear to affect the final outcomes. The age at the time of the operation or the size of lesion did not seem to correlate with the final outcome.

Conclusion: Autologous chondrocyte implantation has emerged as an effective and durable solution for the treatment of large full-thickness cartilage and osteochondral lesions of the knee joint. Our study suggests that the clinical and functional outcomes remain high even 10 to 20 years after the implantation.
Mathematical Performance of Students With Disabilities in Middle School Standards-Based and Traditional Curricula
Authors: Bouck Emily C. , Kulkarni Gauri , Johnson Linley
Published: February 2010

This study investigated the impact of mathematics curriculum (standards based vs. traditional) on the performance of sixth and seventh grade students with disabilities on multiple-choice and open-ended assessments aligned to one state’s number and operations and algebra standards. It also sought to understand factors affecting student performance on assessments: ability status (students with and without disabilities), curriculum (standards based vs. traditional), and assessment type (multiple choice vs. open ended). In all, 146 sixth grade students and 149 seventh grade students participated in the study. A linear mixed model for each grade revealed students with disabilities did not perform better in either curriculum. Furthermore, curriculum type was not a significant factor affecting student performance; however, ability status, time, and assessment type were. The implications of these results are discussed.
Asymptotic confidence interval construction for proportion difference in medical studies with bilateral data
Authors: Tang Nian-Sheng , Qiu Shi-Fang , Tang Man-Lai , Pei Yan-Bo
Published: February 2010

Bilateral dichotomous data are very common in modern medical comparative studies (e.g. comparison of two treatments in ophthalmologic, orthopaedic and otolaryngologic studies) in which information involving paired organs (e.g. eyes, ears and hips) is available from each subject. In this article, we study various confidence interval estimators for proportion difference based on Wald-type statistics, Fieller theorem, likelihood ratio statistic, score statistics and bootstrap resampling method under the dependence or/and independence models for bilateral binary data. Performance is evaluated with respect to the coverage probability and expected width via simulation studies. Our empirical results show that (1) ignoring the dependence feature of bilateral data could lead to severely incorrect coverage probabilities; and (2) Wald-type, score-type and bootstrap confidence intervals based on the dependence model perform satisfactorily for small to large sample sizes in the sense that their empirical coverage probabilities are close to the pre-specified nominal confidence level and are hence recommended. A real data from an otolaryngologic study is used to illustrate the proposed methods.
Moral stress, moral climate and moral sensitivity among psychiatric professionals
Authors: Lützén Kim , Blom Tammy , Ewalds-Kvist Béatrice , Winch Sarah
Published: February 2010

The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between work-related moral stress, moral climate and moral sensitivity in mental health nursing. By means of the three scales Hospital Ethical Climate Survey, Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire and Work-Related Moral Stress, 49 participants’ experiences were assessed. The results of linear regression analysis indicated that moral stress was determined to a degree by the work place’s moral climate as well as by two aspects of the mental health staff’s moral sensitivity. The nurses’ experience of ‘moral burden’ or ‘moral support’ increased or decreased their experience of moral stress. Their work-related moral stress was determined by the job-associated moral climate and two aspects of moral sensitivity. Our findings showed an association between three concepts: moral sensitivity, moral climate and moral stress. Despite being a small study, the findings seem relevant for future research leading to theory development and conceptual clarity. We suggest that more attention be given to methodological issues and developing designs that allow for comparative research in other disciplines, as well as in-depth knowledge of moral agency.
Perception of ethical climate and its relationship to nurses’ demographic characteristics and job satisfaction
Authors: Goldman Anny , Tabak Nili
Published: February 2010

In this study, we examined the perception of actual and ideal ethical climate type among 95 nurses working in the internal medicine wards of one central hospital in the state of Israel. We also examined whether nurses’ demographic characteristics influence that perception and if a relationship between perceptions of an actual and an ideal ethical climate type influences nurses’ job satisfaction. A questionnaire composed of three subquestionnaires was administered and the responses analyzed using multiple linear regressions, analysis of variance and Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The results demonstrated that demographic characteristics (such as: gender, job tenure and level of education) partially influence the perception of an ideal ethical climate. Incongruence in perceptions of ‘caring’ and ‘independence’ climate types indicated a decline in nurses’ job satisfaction, while perception of actual ‘caring’ and ‘service’ climates positively influenced all aspects of job satisfaction. We recommend constructing training programs emphasizing the ethics of nursing practice and also to help lead nurses to clarify an ethical framework and guide nursing staff in dealing with ethical dilemmas.
Utilitarian and common-sense morality discussions in intercultural nursing practice
Authors: Hanssen Ingrid , Alpers Lise-Merete
Published: February 2010

Two areas of ethical conflict in intercultural nursing — who needs single rooms more, and how far should nurses go to comply with ethnic minority patients’ wishes? — are discussed from a utilitarian and common-sense morality point of view. These theories may mirror nurses’ way of thinking better than principled ethics, and both philosophies play a significant role in shaping nurses’ decision making. Questions concerning room allocation, noisy behaviour, and demands that nurses are unprepared or unequipped for may be hard to cope with owing to physical restrictions and other patients’ needs. Unsolvable problems may cause stress and a bad conscience as no solution is ‘right’ for all the patients concerned. Nurses experience a moral state of disequilibrium, which occurs when they feel responsible for the outcomes of their actions in situations that have no clear-cut solution.
Health, Religion, and Meaning: A Culture-Centered Study of Druze Women
Authors: Yehya Nadine A. , Dutta Mohan J.
Published: February 2010

Against the backdrop of contesting the mainstream biomedical models of health communication, the culture-centered approach suggests dialogic research methodologies to coconstruct meanings of health through direct engagement with cultural communities. In this project, we engaged in in-depth interviews and informal conversations with elderly Druze women and their caregiver daughters to develop an understanding of the intersections of religion and health meanings in the context of aging women in this Lebanese community. Attending to the cultural constructions of health, particularly in religious contexts, opens up the discursive spaces of health communication to alternative cosmologies of health, illness, healing, and curing. Four themes emerged as a result of our grounded theory analysis: health as faith; mistrust, privacy, and modern medicine; polymorphic health experiences; and health as structure. These themes serve as the backdrop for playing out the competing tensions between the local and the global in the realm of interpretations of health meanings.
Who Isn’t a Special Learner? A Survey of How Music Teacher Education Programs Prepare Future Educators to Work With Exceptional Populations
Authors: Salvador Karen
Published: February 2010

As music educators are faced with an increasing number of students with various exceptionalities, their ability to differentiate instruction for those with special needs becomes paramount. The purpose of this survey was to investigate how music teacher preparation programs addressed the topic of differentiation for exceptional populations at the undergraduate level. Specifically, the survey asked if NASMaccredited universities that granted doctoral or master’s degrees in music education (a) required a course, (b) offered a course, or (c) in some other significant way systematically addressed the topic of teaching music to special populations. A link to a brief online survey was e-mailed to representatives of 212 institutions. Of 109 respondents, 29.6% required a course in teaching music to special populations, 38.9% indicated that this type of course was available, and 59.8% reported purposefully integrating the teaching of exceptional populations throughout their coursework. Respondent comments led to further literature review and discussion of the lack of consistent instruction with regard to this topic in undergraduate music education programs.
Using the Child Behavior Checklist With African American and Caucasian American Adopted Youth
Authors: Tyson Edgar H. , Teasley Martell , Ryan Scott
Published: February 2010

The purpose of this study is to examine the cross-ethnic measurement equivalence of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) for 6- to 18-year-olds (2001, parent version) using a sample of African American special needs adopted children, along with a comparison group of Caucasian American special needs adopted children. Reliability and multiple sources of postdictive criterion-related validity were analyzed, and a confirmatory factor analysis of the CBCL within and between participating groups was performed. The results indicate that for practical purposes, the CBCL items appear reliable but not valid in terms of assessing the mental health profiles of both African American and Caucasian youth. These findings are significant because they have important implications for the practical utility of the CBCL in the field for adopted youth.
Inquiry as Answerability: Toward a Methodology of Discomfort in Researching Critical Public Pedagogies
Authors: Burdick Jake , Sandlin Jennifer A.
Published: February 2010

In this article, the authors argue that inquiry into critical public pedagogies, public sites of counterhegemonic educational activity, requires that researchers’ epistemological, representational, and ethical obligations extend to examine how their practices might undermine the political possibilities of these sites, diminish the transformative potential that public pedagogies hold, and ultimately reinscribe normative, limiting notions of educational possibility. Interweaving a framework from postcolonial thought, poststructural feminist and performative methodologies, and the literary contributions of Mikhail Bakhtin, the authors posit that critical public pedagogies offer us glimpses of the pedagogical Other—forms and practices of education that exist independently of, even in opposition to, the commonsense of education. Without this careful approach to researching sites of learning outside of the known, researchers risk adopting an institutionalized, colonial gaze, applying reductive logics to or even failing completely to experience phenomena that are not easily resolved in existing cultural meanings of teaching and learning.
Consuming security?
Authors: Goold Benjamin , Loader Ian , Thumala Angelica
Published: February 2010

How does our understanding of private security alter if we treat security consumption as consumption? In this article, we set out the parameters of a project which strives—theoretically and empirically—to do just this. We begin with a reminder that private security necessarily entails acts of buying and selling, and by indicating how the sociology of consumption may illuminate this central—but overlooked—fact about the phenomenon. We then develop a framework for investigating security consumption. This focuses attention on individual acts of shopping; practices of organizational security that individuals indirectly consume; and social and political arrangements that may prompt the consumption of, or themselves be consumed by, security. This way of seeing, we contend, calls for greater comparative enquiry into the conditions under which markets for security commodities flourish or founder, and close analysis of the social meanings and trajectories of different security goods. By way of illustration we focus on four such categories of good—those we term commonplace, failed, novel and securitized. The overarching claim of the article is that the study of private security currently stands in need of greater conceptual and empirical scrutiny of what is going on when ‘security’ is consumed.
Professional Growth in Turbulent Times
Authors: Baum Nehami , Ramon Shulamit
Published: February 2010

• Summary: This article examines professional growth among Jewish and Arab social workers in Israel in the wake of the Second Intifada. The paper is based on a further in-depth analysis of data from semi-structured face to face and telephone interviews with 58 social workers.

• Findings: The findings show professional growth, in the form of increased skills and knowledge, improved professional identity, and greater team cohesion. The major facilitators of these developments were the recognition and resources the workers received from their society and the support provided by and within their place of employment for coping with their distress and with the tasks they had to perform. Such growth was found among two-thirds of the Jewish workers, and none among the Arab workers. The data analysis outlines likely reasons for these main findings, as well as what facilitates pride in one’s work within the context of violent political conflict, and what does not.

• Applications : Implications for future practice and research are highlighted.
Combined Interrogation using an Encapsulated FBG Sensor and a Distributed Brillouin Tight Buffered Fiber Sensor in a Tunnel
Authors: Chuan Li  , Zhao Yong-gui , Hao Liu  , Zhang Zhi-lin , Zhou Wan  , Yan Chen  , Xu Xiao-ping , Xu Jiang-chun
Published: February 2010

Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) makes excellent optical strain gauge with high sensitivity and lead-in fiber insensitivity and Brillouin OTDR offers a distributed sensing method along a sensing fiber. Considering the mismatch in the thermal expansion coefficients between fiber and host structure, the optothermo-mechanical equations of FBG sensor and Brillouin tight buffered fiber are conducted. By using temperature-compensated grating and fiber, FBG, and Brillouin measurement systems provide two independent ways to demodulate strain and temperature. The cross-check of redundancy strain and temperature proves the validity of measurement. According to the exploration of Bai Ni-jing No.3 Tunnel by using seismic CT, 110 gratings are installed on 10 monitoring cross sections; additionally, the four distributed Brillouin fibers are mounted along the three axis directions and 10 transects, and the coils of fiber are placed to independently measure the temperature at intervals of ∼24 m. The long-term measurements indicate that the thermal strain is closely related to the local temperature, but the pressure strain of the wall rock is derived from the deflective pressure of slide slope and rainfall.
Embedded Water-based Surface Heating Part 1: Hybrid 3D Numerical Model
Authors: Karlsson Henrik
Published: February 2010

A numerical simulation tool that assesses the transient operation of embedded water based surface heating systems is developed. Embedded surface heating systems and especially floor heating systems are, by far, the most common heat supply system in newly built residential buildings in, for example, Scandinavia and central Europe. The thermal system operation is influenced by the transient interaction between embedded elements, zones, construction elements, systems, gains, and weather. Thus, an integrated modeling principle, based on the International Building Physics Toolbox in Simulink©, is applied where the embedded surface heating model is represented by a module. The integrated tool is suitable for thermal system analysis of whole buildings. In particular, the embedded surface heating model simultaneously calculates the transient heat conduction that occurs within the embedded element, based on the finite control volume method, and the fluid temperature decline based on a local quasi steady state assumption. The numerical model, which represents a section plane of the embedded construction, is verified against a commercial 2D heat transfer software in the case of a typical floor heating application.
Critical Events and Reception of Foreign Culture
Authors: Volz Yong , Lee Francis L.F. , Ge Xiao  , Xianglin Liu
Published: February 2010

/ This study examines the impact that critical historical events might have on a society’s acceptance of foreign culture. It focuses on whether the 9/11 attacks in 2001 have changed Americans’ reception of foreign-language films. Drawing upon the concept of cultural discount from media economics, the article first postulates that movies of low-context genres and from a less culturally distant market should perform better at the box office. It then asks if the impact of such cultural factors varied before and after 9/11. Analysis of the data of 594 foreign-language movies shown in the US between 1984 and 2006 reveals that the expectations derived from the cultural discount thesis receive empirical support only after 9/11. The findings have important implications for the cultural discount thesis and illustrate that critical events like 9/11 can bring about sudden historical shifts in a society’s cultural attitudes.
The Global Citizen and the International Media
Authors: Moyo Last
Published: February 2010

/ This article uses cosmopolitanism as a theoretical basis for the investigation and analysis of the global corporate and state media’s normative roles in human rights and democracy. Through the case studies of CNN and Xinhua’s reportage of the Tibetan protests in 2008, the article observes patterns of ideological coalescence between western capitalist hegemony and the big western media conglomerates such as CNN. It argues that, as a good global corporate citizen, CNN undoubtedly made contributions in exposing human rights abuses in Tibet, but also unwittingly worked to advance the interests of a manipulative and unjust neoliberal international order that uses human rights as a political tool. This is demonstrated not only through CNN’s selective articulation of human rights, but also the worrying coincidence between its ideological construction of the Tibet story and the rebuke of China’s human rights record by the western governments and other western institutions. While Xinhua provided an alternative discourse to that of human rights, it was observed that whereas nationalism arguably protects China’s revolutionary legacy and its modernization project, the discourse was also largely authoritarian and acted in contradiction to some of the constitutionally entrenched civil and political liberties of minorities while also raising cynicism about the Chinese government’s commitment to international human rights laws that it ratified and acceded to.
RUNX1/core binding factor A2 regulates platelet 12-lipoxygenase gene (ALOX12): studies in human RUNX1 haplodeficiency
Authors: Kaur Gurpreet , Jalagadugula Gauthami , Mao Guangfen , Rao A. Koneti
Published: February 2010

Haploinsufficiency of RUNX1 (also known as CBFA2/AML1) is associated with familial thrombocytopenia, platelet dysfunction, and predisposition to acute leukemia. We have reported on a patient with thrombocytopenia and impaired agonist-induced aggregation, secretion, and protein phosphorylation associated with a RUNX1 mutation. Expression profiling of platelets revealed approximately 5-fold decreased expression of 12-lipoxygenase (12-LO, gene ALOX12), which catalyzes 12-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid production from arachidonic acid. We hypothesized that ALOX12 is a direct transcriptional target gene of RUNX1. In present studies, agonist-induced platelet 12-HETE production was decreased in the patient. Four RUNX1 consensus sites were identified in the 2-kb promoter region of ALOX12 (at −1498, −1491, −708, −526 from ATG). In luciferase reporter studies in human erythroleukemia cells, mutation of each site decreased activity; overexpression of RUNX1 up-regulated promoter activity, which was abolished by mutation of RUNX1 sites. Gel shift studies, including with recombinant protein, revealed RUNX1 binding to each site. Chromatin immunoprecipitation revealed in vivo RUNX1 binding in the region of interest. siRNA knockdown of RUNX1 decreased RUNX1 and 12-LO proteins. ALOX12 is a direct transcriptional target of RUNX1. Our studies provide further proof of principle that platelet expression profiling can elucidate novel alterations in platelets with inherited dysfunction.
Defective ubiquitin-mediated degradation of antiapoptotic Bfl-1 predisposes to lymphoma
Authors: Fan Gaofeng , Simmons Matthew J. , Ge Sheng , Dutta-Simmons Jui , Kucharczak Jérôme , Ron Yacov , Weissmann David , Chen Chiann-Chyi , Mukherjee Chandreyee , White Eileen , Gélinas Céline
Published: February 2010

The antiapoptotic Bcl-2 family member Bfl-1 is up-regulated in many human tumors in which nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) is implicated and contributes significantly to tumor cell survival and chemoresistance. We previously found that NF-κB induces transcription of bfl-1 and that the Bfl-1 protein is also regulated by ubiquitin-mediated proteasomal degradation. However, the role that dysregulation of Bfl-1 turnover plays in cancer is not known. Here we show that ubiquitination-resistant mutants of Bfl-1 display increased stability and greatly accelerated tumor formation in a mouse model of leukemia/lymphoma. We also show that tyrosine kinase Lck is up-regulated and activated in these tumors and leads to activation of the IkappaB kinase, Akt, and extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase signaling pathways, which are key mediators in cancer. Coexpression of Bfl-1 and constitutively active Lck promoted tumor formation, whereas Lck knockdown in tumor-derived cells suppressed leukemia/lymphomagenesis. These data demonstrate that ubiquitination is a critical tumor suppression mechanism regulating Bfl-1 function and suggest that mutations in bfl-1 or in the signaling pathways that control its ubiquitination may predispose one to cancer. Furthermore, because bfl-1 is up-regulated in many human hematopoietic tumors, this finding suggests that strategies to promote Bfl-1 ubiquitination may improve therapy.
Germ band retraction as a landmark in glucose metabolism during Aedes aegypti embryogenesis
Authors: Vital Wagner , Rezende Gustavo Lazzaro , Abreu Leonardo , Moraes Jorge , Lemos Francisco JA , Vaz Itabajara da Silva , Logullo Carlos
Published: February 2010

Background

The mosquitoA. aegyptiis vector of dengue and other viruses. New methods of vector control are needed and can be achieved by a better understanding of the life cycle of this insect. Embryogenesis is a part ofA. aegyptylife cycle that is poorly understood. In insects in general and in mosquitoes in particular energetic metabolism is well studied during oogenesis, when the oocyte exhibits fast growth, accumulating carbohydrates, lipids and proteins that will meet the regulatory and metabolic needs of the developing embryo. On the other hand, events related with energetic metabolism duringA. aegyptiembryogenesis are unknown.

Results

Glucose metabolism was investigated throughoutAedes aegypti(Diptera) embryonic development. Both cellular blastoderm formation (CBf, 5 h after egg laying - HAE) and germ band retraction (GBr, 24 HAE) may be considered landmarks regarding glucose 6-phosphate (G6P) destination. We observed high levels of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) activity at the very beginning of embryogenesis, which nevertheless decreased up to 5 HAE. This activity is correlated with the need for nucleotide precursors generated by the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP), of which G6PDH is the key enzyme. We suggest the synchronism of egg metabolism with carbohydrate distribution based on the decreasing levels of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) activity and on the elevation observed in protein content up to 24 HAE. Concomitantly, increasing levels of hexokinase (HK) and pyruvate kinase (PK) activity were observed, and PEPCK reached a peak around 48 HAE. Glycogen synthase kinase (GSK3) activity was also monitored and shown to be inversely correlated with glycogen distribution during embryogenesis.

Conclusions

The results herein support the hypothesis that glucose metabolic fate changes according to developmental embryonic stages. Germ band retraction is a moment that was characterized as a landmark in glucose metabolism duringAedes aegyptiembryogenesis. Furthermore, the results also suggest a role for GSK3 in glycogen balance/distribution during morphological modifications.
Comparative genomics of VirR regulons in Clostridium perfringens strains
Authors: Frandi Antonio , Mengoni Alessio , Brilli Matteo
Published: February 2010

Background

Clostridium perfringens is a Gram-positive anaerobic bacterium causing severe diseases such as gas gangrene and pseudomembranosus colitis, that are generally due to the secretion of powerful extracellular toxins. The expression of toxin genes is mainly regulated by VirR, the response regulator of a two-component system. Up to now few targets only are known for this regulator and mainly in one strain (Strain 13). Due to the high genomic and phenotypic variability in toxin production by different strains, the development of effective strategies to counteract C. perfringens infections requires methodologies to reconstruct the VirR regulon from genome sequences.

Results

We implemented a two step computational strategy allowing to consider available information concerning VirR binding sites in a few species to scan all genomes of the same species, assuming the VirR targets are at least partially conserved across these strains. Results obtained are in agreement with previous works where experimental validation of the promoters have been performed and showed the presence of a core and an accessory regulon of VirR in C. perfringens strains with three target genes also located on plasmids. Moreover, the type E strain JGS1987 has the largest predicted regulon with as many as 10 VirR targets not found in the other genomes.

Conclusions

In this work we exploited available experimental information concerning the targets of the VirR toxin regulator in one C. perfringens strain to obtain plausible predictions concerning target genes in genomes and plasmids of nearby strains. Our predictions are available for wet-lab researchers working on less characterized C. perfringens strains that can thus design focused experiments reducing the search space of their experiments and increasing the probability of characterizing positive targets with less efforts. Main result was that the VirR regulon is variable in different C. perfringens strains with 4 genes controlled in all but one strains and most genes controlled in one or two strains only.
The molecular basis of beta-thalassemia intermedia in southern China: genotypic heterogeneity and phenotypic diversity
Authors: Chen Wanqun , Zhang Xinhua , Shang Xuan , Cai Ren , Li Liyan , Zhou Tianhong , Sun Manna , Xiong Fu , Xu Xiangmin
Published: February 2010

Background

The clinical syndrome of thalassemia intermedia (TI) results from the β-globin genotypes in combination with factors to produce fetal haemoglobin (HbF) and/or co-inheritance of α-thalassemia. However, very little is currently known of the molecular basis of Chinese TI patients.

Methods

We systematically analyzed and characterized β-globin genotypes, α-thalassemia determinants, and known primary genetic modifiers linked to the production of HbF and the aggravation of α/β imbalance in 117 Chinese TI patients. Genotype-phenotype correlations were analyzed based on retrospective clinical observations.

Results

A total of 117 TI patients were divided into two major groups, namely heterozygous β-thalassemia (n = 20) in which 14 were characterized as having a mild TI with the Hb levels of 68-95 g/L except for five co-inherited αααanti-3.7 triplication and one carried a dominant mutation; and β-thalassemia homozygotes or compound heterozygotes for β-thalassemia and other β-globin defects in which the β+-thalassemia mutation was the most common (49/97), hemoglobin E (HbE) variants was second (27/97), and deletional hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin (HPFH) or δβ-thalassemia was third (11/97). Two novel mutations, Term CD+32(A→C) and Cap+39(C→T), have been detected.

Conclusions

Chinese TI patients showed considerable heterogeneity, both phenotypically and genotypically. The clinical outcomes of our TI patients were mostly explained by the genotypes linked to the β- and α-globin gene cluster. However, for a group of 14 patients (13 β0/βN and 1 β+/βN) with known heterozygous mutations of β-thalassemia and three with homozygous β-thalassemia (β0/β0), the existence of other causative genetic determinants is remaining to be molecularly defined.
The 4q27 locus and prostate cancer risk
Authors: Tindall Elizabeth A , Hoang Hoa N , Southey Melissa C , English Dallas R , Hopper John L , Giles Graham G , Severi Gianluca , Hayes Vanessa M
Published: February 2010

Background

Chronic inflammation is considered to be implicated in the development of prostate cancer. In this study we are the first to investigate a potential association between variants in an autoimmune related region on chromosome 4q27 and prostate cancer risk. This region harbors two cytokine genes IL-2 and the recently described IL-21.

Methods

We genotyped six variants previously associated with autoimmune disease (namely rs13151961, rs13119723, rs17388568, rs3136534, rs6822844 and rs6840978) and one functional IL-2 promoter variant (rs2069762) for possible association with prostate cancer risk using the Australian Risk Factors for Prostate Cancer case-control Study.

Results

Overall, our results do not support an association between the seven variants at position 4q27 and prostate cancer risk. Per allele odds ratios (ORs) were not significantly different from 1 (all P-values = 0.06). However, we found suggestive evidence for a significant association between the presence of the rs13119723 variant (located in a protein of unknown function) and men with a family history of prostate cancer in first-degree relatives (P-value for interaction 0.02). The per allele OR associated with this variant was significantly higher than 1 (2.37; 95% C.I. = 1.01-5.57).

Conclusions

We suggest that genetic variation within the chromosome 4q27 locus might be associated with prostate cancer susceptibility in men with a family history of the disease. Furthermore, our study alludes to a potential role of unknown protein KIAA1109 in conferring this risk.