bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Drug-Induced Autoimmune Hepatitis: Clinical Characteristics and Prognosis
Authors: Björnsson Einar , Talwalkar Jayant , Treeprasertsuk Sombat , Kamath Patrick S. , Takahashi Naoki , Sanderson Schuyler , Neuhauser Matthias , Lindor Keith
Published: April 2010

Drug-induced autoimmune hepatitis (DIAIH) has been reported to be caused by several drugs. There is a lack of data comparing these patients with other patients with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). A search was performed using the Mayo Clinic diagnostic medical index for AIH patients and DIAIH patients identified over 10 years. Individuals with overlap syndromes and decompensated liver disease were excluded. Overall, 261 patients (204 females, median age 52) were identified, and 24 (9.2%) were DIAIH cases with a median age of 53 (interquartile range, 24-61). Two drugs, nitrofurantoin (n = 11) and minocycline (n = 11), were the main causes. A similar proportion of DIAIH patients had positive antinuclear antibodies (83% versus 70%) and smooth muscle antibodies (50% versus 45%) as compared with AIH patients. Histological grade and stage were similar in patients with DIAIH versus AIH; however, none of the DIAIH patients had cirrhosis at baseline; this was present in 20% of matched AIH cases. Liver imaging was normal in all minocycline cases. Eight of 11 (73%) nitrofurantoin patients had abnormalities on hepatic imaging (mainly liver atrophy), a finding seen in only 8 of 33 (24%) of a random sample of the rest of the AIH group (

P

= 0.0089). Corticosteroid responsiveness was similar in DIAIH and the AIH patients. Discontinuation of immunosuppression was tried and successful in 14 DIAIH cases, with no relapses (0%), whereas 65% of the AIH patients had a relapse after discontinuation of immunosuppression (

P

< 0.0001).

Conclusion:

A significant proportion of patients with AIH have drug-induced AIH, mainly because of nitrofurantoin and minocycline. These two groups have similar clinical and histological patterns. However, DIAIH patients do not seem to require long-term immunosuppressive therapy. (Hepatology 2010;)
Entry kinetics and cell–cell transmission of surface‐bound retroviral vector particles
Authors: O'Neill Lee S. , Skinner Amy M. , Woodward Josha A. , Kurre Peter
Published: April 2010

Background

Transduction with recombinant HIV‐1 derived lentivirus vectors is a multi‐step process initiated by surface attachment and subsequent receptor‐directed uptake into the target cell. We previously reported the retention of vesicular stomatitis virus G protein pseudotyped particles on murine progenitor cells and their delayed cell–cell transfer.

Methods

To examine the underlying mechanism in more detail, we used a combination of approaches focused on investigating the role of receptor‐independent factors in modulating attachment.

Results

The investigation of synchronized transduction reveals cell‐type specific rates of vector particle clearance with substantial delays during particle entry into murine hematopoietic progenitor cells. The observed uptake kinetics from the surface of the 1° cell correlate inversely with the magnitude of transfer to 2° targets, corresponding with our initial observation of preferential cell–cell transfer in the context of brief vector exposures. We further demonstrate that vector particle entry into cells is associated with the cell‐type specific abundance of extracellular matrix fibronectin. Residual particle–extracellular fibronectin matrix binding and 2° transfer can be competitively disrupted by heparin exposure without affecting murine progenitor homing and repopulation.

Conclusions

Although cellular attachment factors, including fibronectin, aid gene transfer by colocalizing particles to cells and disfavoring early dissociation from targets, they also appear to stabilize particles on the cell surface. The present study highlights the inadvertent consequences for cell entry and cell–cell transfer. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Betulin and its natural resource as potential anticancer drug candidate seen by FT‐Raman and FT‐IR spectroscopy
Authors: Fǎlǎmaş A. , Pînzaru S. Cîntǎ , Dehelean C. A. , Peev C. I. , Soica C.
Published: April 2010

The Fourier transform Raman and IR spectra of betulin (lup‐20(29)‐ene‐3β,28‐diol) crystalline powder were recorded and analyzed. The vibrational wavenumbers and the corresponding vibrational assignments were theoretically studied using the Gaussian 03 package. The calculated vibrational wavenumbers with the B3LYP density functionals are generally consistent with the observed spectra. A complete vibrational characterization of betulin modes has been proposed here for the first time. Based on the vibrational analysis, two direct applications of the results have been described. It was shown that the outer bark of Betula Pendula Roth (the birch tree) contains betulin as a major component along with minor amounts of betulinic acid (BA), lupeol and other pentacyclic triterpenes derivatives. Since the major disadvantage of betulin is its low solubility, giving rise to serious problems in making pharmaceutical formulations, several guest–host type of complexes of betulin–cyclodextrins have been prepared and analyzed using FT‐Raman spectroscopy. Based on the vibrational analysis, it was concluded that the OH and CH2OH functional groups are free from chemical interactions with the cyclodextrin cavity. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Absolute measurement of internal volume changes inside the pulse damper: Discrepancy between delay and dwell volumes
Authors: Rogatsky Eduard , Zheng Zheng , Stein Daniel
Published: April 2010

We have developed a novel technique for the absolute determination of the mobile phase volume stored inside of a variable volume pulse damper at different pressures. Using an Agilent HPLC pulse damper we found a linear volume increase of ∼1 μL/bar. We found that pump pressurization is a relatively slow process and takes ∼1 min to reach 90% and takes ∼2 min to reach 99% equilibration at flow rates below 1 mL/min. During pump pressurization, column flow rate will be less than the pre‐set, since part of the mobile phase is retained inside of the pulse damper. During our experiments we observed a discrepancy between data obtained by UV techniques and direct absolute measurements. This difference can be explained by a fundamental difference between the gradient delay volume and dead (dwell) volume.
Bounding the error for approximate solutions of almost linear complementarity problems using feasible vectors
Authors: Alefeld Götz , Wang Zhengyu
Published: April 2010

In this paper we use the concept of a feasible vector in order to bound a solution x* of an almost linear complementarity problem in a certain set. This set delivers also componentwise error bounds for an approximation to a solution x*. In the special case that the problem is defined by a so‐called H‐matrix, we prove that the error bounds are more accurate than the corresponding bounds recently obtained. By numerical examples it will be demonstrated that the new bounds can be better by several orders of magnitude. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Synthesis, characterization of naphthalene‐based polyimides, and their use as immobilized enzyme membrane
Authors: Paşahan Aziz , Köytepe Süleyman , Ekinci Ergun
Published: April 2010

A new monomer, 1,5‐bis(p‐dimethylaminophenylimino)naphthalene, was prepared through Schiff‐base condensation reaction of 1,5‐diaminonaphthalene and 4‐(dimethylamino)benzaldehyde in the presence of ethanol. A series of aromatic polyimides bearing naphthalene and CHN groups were synthesized from the diamine with five kinds of commercial dianhydrides via a conventional one‐stage process. The resulting naphthalene based polyimides (NBPs) showed good solubilities in N‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidone and m‐cresol. NBPs had glass‐transition temperatures at 139–174°C and 10% weightloss temperatures above 430 °C in nitrogen atmospheres. Excellent properties of NBPs are attributed to the incorporation of the naphthalene and CHN group in 1,5‐bis(p‐dimethylaminophenylimino)naphthalene. Moreover, chemically prepared polyimides were used for immobilization of glucose oxidase (GOx). The amperometric responses of the NBPs‐GOx‐Pt electrodes toward glucose were examined at a potential of 0.7 V in PBS solution by means of time‐base (TB) technique. Results show that NBPs bearing O group membrane (PI‐3) has many advantages in the immobilization of glucose oxidase because of its strong adherence to electrode surface and chemical stability and selectivity. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Childhood, adolescent, and young adult cancer survivors research program of British Columbia: Objectives, study design, and cohort characteristics
Authors: McBride Mary L. , Rogers Paul C. , Sheps Sam B. , Glickman Victor , Broemeling Anne‐Marie , Goddard Karen , Hu Joan , Lorenzi Maria , Peacock Stuart , Pritchard Sheila , Rassekh Shahrad Rod , Siegel Linda , Spinelli John J. , Teckle Paulos , Xie Lijing
Published: April 2010

Background

The Childhood, Adolescent, and Young Adult Cancer Survivors Research Program (CAYACS) has been established in the province of British Columbia (BC), Canada, to carry out research into late effects and survivor care in multiple domains, and to inform policy and practice.

Procedure

This program identifies a survivor cohort and comparison groups from population‐based registries and links their records to population‐based files of outcomes and outcome determinants, to create a research database and conduct studies of long‐term outcomes and care.

Results

The initial cohort consisted of all 5‐year survivors of cancer or a tumor diagnosed under age 25 years from 1970 to 1995, who were residents in BC at the time of diagnosis, and followed till 2000 (3,841 subjects). Seven percent have died, and 77% have treatment information available. Data on death and second cancer occurring in BC are available. Late morbidity and healthcare utilization information is available for 68% of survivors (79% of those diagnosed from 1981). Education outcomes are available for 71% of those born during 1978–1995 and diagnosed under age 15 years.

Conclusions

Use of registries, administrative databases, and record linkage methodologies is a cost‐effective and comprehensive means to conduct survivorship research. This program should add to knowledge of risks of late effects and impacts on care, inform development of strategies to manage risks, evaluate the effects of surveillance and interventions, and assess new risks as the cohort ages, more recent survivors enter the cohort, and treatments change. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2010;55:324–330. © 2010 Wiley–Liss, Inc.
Simultaneous analysis of three bioactive compounds in Artemisia annua hairy root cultures by reversed‐phase high‐performance liquid chromatography–diode array detector
Authors: Zhai Dan‐Dan , Zhong Jian‐Jiang
Published: April 2010

Introduction – Artemisia annua is a rich source of biologically active substances such as terpenoids, coumarins and polyacetylenes. These chemicals have been reported to show beneficial pharmacological properties such as antitumor and antibacterial activities. In genetically transformed root cultures of A. annua, three bioactive metabolites, namely, ponticaepoxide (an insecticidal polyacetylene, 1), drimartol A (an anticancer sesquiterpene coumarin, 2) and (Z)‐7‐acetoxy‐methyl‐11‐methyl‐3‐methylene‐dodeca‐1,6,10‐triene (a new anticancer sesquiterpene, 3) were isolated and identified in our recent work. However, no quantitative analysis methods for any of them are yet available, nor for their simultaneous analysis.

Objective – To develop an HPLC‐PAD method for simultaneous determination of 1, 2 and 3 in hairy root cultures of A. annua.

Methodology – HPLC operating conditions were optimised and the chromatographic separation was performed on a C18 column with a gradient acetonitrile : water as mobile phase.

Results – Linear relationships within the range of investigated concentrations were observed for the three metabolites with their correlation coefficients greater than 0.997. The method was validated for repeatability (RSD <3.59%) and intra‐ and inter‐day precision (RSD <3.1%) with recovery between 94.8 and 107.6% and the RSD less than 3.40%. The method was successfully applied to the time‐course of accumulation of the bioactive compounds in genetically transformed root cultures of A. annua.

Conclusion – The HPLC‐PAD method developed for the simultaneous determination of three bioactive metabolites 1, 2 and 3 was simple, reproducible and sensitive. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Exploring global meaning in Greek breast cancer patients: validation of the Life Attitude Profile—Revised (LAP‐R)
Authors: Anagnostopoulos Fotios , Slater Julie , Fitzsimmons Deborah , Kolokotroni Philippa
Published: April 2010

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the factor structure and the psychometric properties of the Life Attitude Profile—Revised (LAP‐R) among a sample of Greek breast cancer patients, and to test the fit of a structural equation model with one latent factor underlying the measured LAP‐R dimensions.

Methods: A total of 153 patients with breast cancer completed the LAP‐R. Convergent validity was assessed by examining the correlations between the LAP‐R subscales and measures of perceived stress, intrusiveness, mental health, and coping styles. Known‐groups validity was also assessed.

Results: Principal axis factor analysis with promax rotation yielded four factors: purpose–coherence–vacuum, choice, death acceptance, and goal seeking. Internal consistency reliability of the subscales and convergent validity of LAP‐R were satisfactory. LAP‐R was able to detect differences in meaning between different age groups. Confirmatory factor analysis provided support for a single‐factor model including a latent meaning‐variable indicated by the observed subscales.

Conclusions: The LAP‐R is a reliable and valid measure of global meaning in life, when administered to breast cancer patients. The use of LAP‐R in evaluating meaning‐centered psychotherapy interventions for patients with cancer is emphasized. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Magnetotunneling into Fock–Darwin‐like quantum dot states: Lateral matrix elements and the role of selection rules
Authors: Kießlich Gerold
Published: April 2010

We study theoretically the magnetotunneling transport through quantum dots formed by thermal diffusion of charged manganese interstitials in the vicinity of a GaAs quantum well [Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 226807 (2008)]. In particular, we examine the lateral matrix elements between Landau subbands in the contact and Fock–Darwin‐like states of an individual dot at high magnetic fields. We explicitly demonstrate the effect of spatial deformation of the dot on the wave function's overlap. The comparison with measured data suggests a selection rule similar to angular momentum conservation for tunneling into perfect Fock–Darwin states. (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Clinical significance of early (< 20 weeks) vs. late (20–24 weeks) detection of sonographic short cervix in asymptomatic women in the mid‐trimester
Authors: Vaisbuch E. , Romero R. , Erez O. , Kusanovic J. P. , Mazaki‐Tovi S. , Gotsch F. , Romero V. , Ward C. , Chaiworapongsa T. , Mittal P. , Sorokin Y. , Hassan S. S.
Published: April 2010

Objective

The aim of this study was to determine whether the risk of early spontaneous preterm delivery (PTD) in asymptomatic women with a sonographic cervical length of ≤ 15 mm in the mid‐trimester changes as a function of gestational age at diagnosis.

Methods

This cohort study included 109 asymptomatic patients with a sonographic cervical length of ≤ 15 mm diagnosed at 14–24 weeks of gestation. Women with a multifetal gestation, cerclage and a cervical dilatation of > 2 cm were excluded. The study population was stratified by gestational age at diagnosis (< 20 weeks vs. 20–24 weeks) and by cervical length (≤ 10 mm vs. 11–15 mm). The primary outcome variables were PTD at < 28 and < 32 weeks of gestation and the diagnosis‐to‐delivery interval.

Results

The median gestational age at diagnosis of a short cervix before 20 weeks and at 20–24 weeks was 18.9 and 22.7 weeks, respectively. Women diagnosed before 20 weeks had a higher rate of PTD at < 28 weeks (76.9% vs. 30.9%; P < 0.001) and at < 32 weeks (80.8% vs. 48.1%; P = 0.004), and a shorter median diagnosis‐to‐delivery interval (21 vs. 61.5 days, P = 0.003) than those diagnosed at 20–24 weeks. The rate of amniotic fluid sludge was higher among patients diagnosed with a short cervix at < 20 weeks of gestation than in those in whom it was diagnosed between 20 and 24 weeks (92.3% vs. 48.2%; P < 0.001).

Conclusions

Asymptomatic women with a sonographic cervical length of ≤ 15 mm diagnosed before 20 weeks of gestation have a dramatic and significantly higher risk of early preterm delivery than women diagnosed at 20–24 weeks. These findings can be helpful to physicians in counseling these patients, and may suggest different mechanisms of disease leading to a sonographic short cervix before or after 20 weeks of gestation. Copyright © 2010 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Preface
Authors: Eliasson B. , Stenflo L. , Bingham R. , Mendonça J. T. , Mamun A. A. , Shaikh D.
Published: April 2010

It is our great pleasure to dedicate this special issue of Journal of Plasma Physics to our dear friend and colleague Professor Padma Kant Shukla on the occasion of his 60th birthday on 7th July 2010. Padma is one of the most prominent and productive scientists in plasma physics and in neighboring fields, and has published more than 1300 papers in scientific journals. It has for some time been the aim of his friends to honor him on this occasion, and earlier this year we sent out invitations to distinguished scientists who have collaborated with Padma over the years. The response has been overwhelming, and we collected 43 manuscripts, covering a diverse range of topics in plasma physics, which are now published in this issue. We believe that these papers reflect some of the impact of Padma's research in plasma physics.
Actor, structure, process: transcending the state personhood debate by means of a pragmatist ontological model for International Relations theory
Authors: FRANKE ULRICH , ROOS ULRICH
Published: April 2010

The following article refers to the current debate about state personhood opened by Wendt's claim for a treatment of states as real persons in order to prevent the reductionist argument that states only are treated ‘as if’ they were persons. By understanding phenomena like states consistently as structures – as ‘structures of corporate practice’ – we argue that there is a possibility to escape from the situation dually framed by Wendt. This alternative is constituted by a tripartite pragmatist ontological model that consists of actors, structures of corporate practice, and processes. After having presented our view of the debate and its central problems in a first step, we will set forth our model and its implications for the study of international relations in a second and third step.
Turkey and Europe: culture, capital and corruption
Authors: JACOBY TIM
Published: April 2010

This article argues that current discourses on Turkish corruption are marked by a disproportionate emphasis on culture and can thus be understood as part of a broader relationship with Europe's perennial ‘other’. Having traced elements of this within European political elites' response to Turkey's prospective accession to the Union, the article goes on to suggest that the association of corruption with a different cultural orientation represents a useful means of legitimising the extraneous guidance of administrative and economic change. The ultimate aim of such reforms are, the article concludes, to extend the penetrative capacity of European capital, to reduce the transaction costs involved in acquiring Turkish assets and to disable domestic resistance to further marketisation.
EMPIRICAL LIKELIHOOD CONFIDENCE INTERVALS FOR DEPENDENT DURATION DATA
Authors: El Ghouch Anouar , Van Keilegom Ingrid , McKeague Ian W.
Published: April 2010

Three types of confidence intervals are developed for a general class of functionals of a survival distribution based on censored dependent data. The confidence intervals are constructed via asymptotic normality (Wald’s method), the empirical likelihood (EL) method, and the blockwise EL method in which sample means over blocks of observations are used in place of the original data. Asymptotic results are derived to accurately calibrate the various procedures, and their performance is evaluated in a simulation study. The problem of the choice of the block size is also discussed.
Acute gastrointestinal illness in New Zealand: a community study
Authors: ADLAM S. B. , PERERA S. , LAKE R. J. , CAMPBELL D. M. , WILLIMAN J. A. , BAKER M. G.
Published: April 2010

We report the results of the New Zealand Acute Gastrointestinal Illness (AGI) Community Study, a representative cross-sectional community telephone survey of 3655 participants conducted over a 12-month period. Respondents were asked questions about vomiting and diarrhoea in the previous 4 weeks. At least one episode of diarrhoea and/or vomiting was reported by 8·6% of respondents, an incidence of 1·11 episodes/person per year. Prevalence was highest in children aged <5 years and lowest in those aged >64 years. The mean duration of illness was 2·5 days and most common symptoms were diarrhoea (82·5%), stomach cramps (75·7%), nausea (56·9%) and vomiting (49·0%). Extrapolation of the adjusted estimates indicates there are about 4·66 million episodes of AGI per year in New Zealand, nearly 1 million visits to the general medical practitioner, in excess of 300 000 courses of antibiotics being dispensed and more than 4·5 million days of paid work lost due to AGI. This represents a significant burden of disease.
Twenty Years
Authors: ASPDEN SUZANNE , HUEBNER STEVEN
Published: April 2010

Twenty years of Cambridge Opera Journal: in view of the journal's place in the discipline, the occasion seemed worth marking. When Roger Parker and Arthur Groos founded Cambridge Opera Journal in 1989, it offered the first forum to the musical community for serious opera criticism that took into account changing orientations in literary studies and seriously engaged with ideology, reception history, and representations of race, class and gender. Subsequent editors – Mary Hunter, Mary Ann Smart, and Emanuele Senici – continued to foster this wide intellectual perspective and to engage with an extraordinary variety of methodologies. For the current issue, we gave carte blanche to authors who contributed in the first two years of publication to reflect on their past work, or on opera studies, or on the journal, either informally as an opinion piece or through new scholarship – and so to measure time by developments in the discipline itself.
Cambridge Opera Journal at Twenty
Authors: McCLARY SUSAN
Published: April 2010

Twenty years of Cambridge Opera Journal: in view of the journal's place in the discipline, the occasion seemed worth marking. When Roger Parker and Arthur Groos founded Cambridge Opera Journal in 1989, it offered the first forum to the musical community for serious opera criticism that took into account changing orientations in literary studies and seriously engaged with ideology, reception history, and representations of race, class and gender. Subsequent editors – Mary Hunter, Mary Ann Smart, and Emanuele Senici – continued to foster this wide intellectual perspective and to engage with an extraordinary variety of methodologies. For the current issue, we gave carte blanche to authors who contributed in the first two years of publication to reflect on their past work, or on opera studies, or on the journal, either informally as an opinion piece or through new scholarship – and so to measure time by developments in the discipline itself.
Source Studies and Opera History
Authors: GOSSETT PHILIP
Published: April 2010

Twenty years of Cambridge Opera Journal: in view of the journal's place in the discipline, the occasion seemed worth marking. When Roger Parker and Arthur Groos founded Cambridge Opera Journal in 1989, it offered the first forum to the musical community for serious opera criticism that took into account changing orientations in literary studies and seriously engaged with ideology, reception history, and representations of race, class and gender. Subsequent editors – Mary Hunter, Mary Ann Smart, and Emanuele Senici – continued to foster this wide intellectual perspective and to engage with an extraordinary variety of methodologies. For the current issue, we gave carte blanche to authors who contributed in the first two years of publication to reflect on their past work, or on opera studies, or on the journal, either informally as an opinion piece or through new scholarship – and so to measure time by developments in the discipline itself.
Les Conventions de Genève de 1949: une percée décisive
Authors: Rey-Schyrr Catherine
Published: April 2010

At the outbreak of the Second World War, international humanitarian law was made up of the various Hague Conventions of 1907 and the two 1929 Geneva Conventions, none of which dealt in a satisfactory manner with the risks faced by the civilian population. Experience during the war made a major revision of international humanitarian law a priority after 1945. This article traces the history of that endeavour up to the adoption by a diplomatic conference, on 12 August 1949, of the four Geneva Conventions for the Protection of War Victims. Particular emphasis is laid on the link between the ICRC's wartime experience with the inadequate law of the day and the negotiations for new legal provisions. The second part of the article identifies the major advances represented by the 1949 Geneva Conventions, one of the more important being the fact that the law's scope was extended to non-international armed conflicts. Though making no claim to perfection, the new Geneva Conventions nevertheless laid a sound basis on which adequate solutions may be found when military considerations and humanitarian exigencies clash.
La recherche des Allemands prisonniers ou portés disparus au cours de la
Seconde Guerre mondiale–Une page de l'histoire du Service de recherches de
la Croix-Rouge allemande
Authors: Ampferl Monika
Published: April 2010

The Second World War was responsible for the death and disappearance of
millions of Germans. Soon after the outbreak of hostilities the German Red
Cross set up a tracing service in accordance with the 1929 Geneva Convention
on prisoners of war. During the war, the tracing activity of the German Red
Cross was expanded to include the search for civilian victims of the
conflict. This article examines the activities of the tracing service both
during the war and after it was over: restoring links between members of
families, searching for lost children, establishing contact with prisoners,
determining the whereabouts of displaced persons, etc. With the end of the
Cold War, German reunification and a new relationship with Russia made it
possible for the German Red Cross Society to intensify its search for
missing persons.
Evaluating spatial variability of free‐phase gas in peat using ground‐penetrating radar and direct measurement
Authors: Strack M. , Mierau T.
Published: April 2010

Several recent studies have estimated that peatlands may have substantial quantities (up to 15–20% by volume) of biogenic free‐phase gas (FPG) below the water table. The presence, distribution, and release of this FPG play important roles in peatland hydrology and biogeochemistry. Despite its importance, investigation of FPG is difficult because most measurement techniques involve disturbance of the peat, potentially altering gas volume in the process. Ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) provides a noninvasive approach to quantify gas content in peat; however, its use for investigating variability in gas content at the microform scale across a peatland and with depth has been limited to date. We investigated variability in subsurface CH4 stock and FPG content between peatland microforms using (1) GPR and the common midpoint method to determine subsurface electromagnetic wave velocity and (2) direct measurement in order to estimate FPG content at three ridges and three hollows in a peatland in northern Alberta, Canada. Higher volumes of FPG were associated with higher CH4 concentrations, suggesting that a reliable estimate of gas volume could also serve as an estimate of stored CH4. In general, both methods found higher volumes of gas under ridges than hollows. When electromagnetic wave velocity was considered, a significant correlation was present with direct measurement of FPG volume. Zones with FPG content up to 20% of peat volume were observed throughout the peat profile including within the upper 1.5 m of peat. Further research is needed to determine physical, chemical, and biological controls on the variability of FPG volume in peat.
Climatic controls of interannual variability in regional carbon fluxes from top‐down and bottom‐up perspectives
Authors: Desai Ankur R. , Helliker Brent R. , Moorcroft Paul R. , Andrews Arlyn E. , Berry Joseph A.
Published: April 2010

Observations of regional net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of CO2 for 1997–2007 were analyzed for climatic controls on interannual variability (IAV). Quantifying IAV of regional (104–106 km2) NEE over long time periods is key to understanding potential feedbacks between climate and the carbon cycle. Four independent techniques estimated monthly regional NEE for 104 km2 in a spatially heterogeneous temperate‐boreal transition region of the north central United States, centered on the Park Falls, Wisconsin, United States, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration tall tower site. These techniques included two bottom‐up methods, based on flux tower upscaling and forest inventory based demographic modeling, respectively, and two top‐down methods, based on tall tower equilibrium boundary layer budgets and tracer‐transport inversion, respectively. While all four methods revealed a moderate carbon sink, they diverged significantly in magnitude. Coherence of relative magnitude and variability of NEE anomalies was strong across the methods. The strongest coherence was a trend of declining carbon sink since 2002. Most climatic controls were not strongly correlated with IAV. Significant controls on IAV were those related to hydrology, such as water table depth, and atmospheric CO2. Weaker relationships were found with phenological controls such as autumn soil temperature. Hydrologic relationships were strongest with a 1 year lag, potentially highlighting a previously unrecognized predictor of IAV in this region. These results highlight a need for continued development of techniques to estimate regional IAV and incorporation of hydrologic cycling into couple carbon‐climate models.
Significance of higher moments for complete characterization of the travel time probability density function in heterogeneous porous media using the maximum entropy principle
Authors: Gotovac Hrvoje , Cvetkovic Vladimir , Andricevic Roko
Published: April 2010

The travel time formulation of advective transport in heterogeneous porous media is of interest both conceptually, e.g., for incorporating retention processes, and in applications where typically the travel time peak, early, and late arrivals of contaminants are of major concern in a regulatory or remediation context. Furthermore, the travel time moments are of interest for quantifying uncertainty in advective transport of tracers released from point sources in heterogeneous aquifers. In view of this interest, the travel time distribution has been studied in the literature; however, the link to the hydraulic conductivity statistics has been typically restricted to the first two moments. Here we investigate the influence of higher travel time moments on the travel time probability density function (pdf) in heterogeneous porous media combining Monte Carlo simulations with the maximum entropy principle. The Monte Carlo experimental pdf is obtained by the adaptive Fup Monte Carlo method (AFMCM) for advective transport characterized by a multi‐Gaussian structure with exponential covariance considering two injection modes (in‐flux and resident) and lnK variance up to 8. A maximum entropy (MaxEnt) algorithm based on Fup basis functions is used for the complete characterization of the travel time pdf. All travel time moments become linear with distance. Initial nonlinearity is found mainly for the resident injection mode, which exhibits a strong nonlinearity within first 5IY for high heterogeneity. For the resident injection mode, the form of variance and all higher moments changes from the familiar concave form predicted by the first‐order theory to a convex form; for the in‐flux mode, linearity is preserved even for high heterogeneity. The number of moments sufficient for a complete characterization of the travel time pdf mainly depends on the heterogeneity level. Mean and variance completely describe travel time pdf for low and mild heterogeneity, skewness is dominant for lnK variance around 4, while kurtosis and fifth moment are required for lnK variance higher than 4. Including skewness seems sufficient for describing the peak and late arrivals. Linearity of travel time moments enables the prediction of asymptotic behavior of the travel time pdf which in the limit converges to a symmetric distribution and Fickian transport. However, higher‐order travel time moments may be important for most practical purposes and in particular for advective transport in highly heterogeneous porous media for a long distance from the source.
Soluble sulfate in the martian soil at the Phoenix landing site
Authors: Kounaves Samuel P. , Hecht Michael H. , Kapit Jason , Quinn Richard C. , Catling David C. , Clark Benton C. , Ming Douglas W. , Gospodinova Kalina , Hredzak Patricia , McElhoney Kyle , Shusterman Jennifer
Published: April 2010

Sulfur has been detected by X‐ray spectroscopy in martian soils at the Viking, Pathfinder, Opportunity and Spirit landing sites. Sulfates have been identified by OMEGA and CRISM in Valles Marineris and by the spectrometers on the MER rovers at Meridiani and Gusev. The ubiquitous presence of sulfur has been interpreted as a widely distributed sulfate mineralogy. One goal of the Wet Chemistry Laboratory (WCL) on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander was to determine soluble sulfate in the martian soil. We report here the first in‐situ measurement of soluble sulfate equivalent to ∼1.3(±0.5) wt% as SO4 in the soil. The results and models reveal SO42− predominately as MgSO4 with some CaSO4. If the soil had been wet in the past, epsomite and gypsum would be formed from evaporation. The WCL‐derived salt composition indicates that if the soil at the Phoenix site were to form an aqueous solution by natural means, the water activity for a dilution of greater than ∼0.015 g H2O/g soil would be in the habitable range of known terrestrial halophilic microbes.
Does a Graduate Course in Fluency Disorders Make a Difference?
Authors: Klein Evelyn R. , Amster Barbara J.
Published: April 2010

A study by Yaruss and Quesal (2002), based on responses from 134 of 239 ASHA accredited graduate programs, indicated that approximately 25% of graduate programs in the United States allow students to earn their degree without having coursework in fluency disorders and 66% of programs allow students to graduate without clinical experience treating people who stutter (PWS). It is not surprising that many clinicians report discomfort in treating PWS. This cross-sectional study compares differences in beliefs about the cause of stuttering between freshman undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory course in communicative disorders and graduate students enrolled and in the final weeks of a graduate course in fluency disorders.
Overluminous supernovae push the Chandrasekhar limit
Authors: Miller Johanna
Published: April 2010

Their explosion mechanism may involve two white dwarfs rather than one.
The nearly perfect Fermi gas
Authors: Thomas John E.
Published: April 2010

To probe strongly interacting, ultracold fermionic atoms, experimenters view the size and oscillations of a gas cloud when it is trapped and the rotation of the cloud when it is released.
Creating the perfect liquid in heavy-ion collisions
Authors: Jacak Barbara , Steinberg Peter
Published: April 2010

Expecting to find a very weakly coupled gas of quarks and gluons created in energetic collisions at Brookhaven’s Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, experimenters found instead a strongly coupled liquid with almost no viscosity.
Effect of short- and long-term phosphate stress on the non-phosphorylating pathway of mitochondrial electron transport in Arabidopsis thaliana
Authors: Vijayraghavan Vivek , Soole Kathleen
Published: April 2010

Wild-type Arabidopsis thaliana L. seedlings generated in liquid culture were subjected to long- and short-term phosphate (Pi) stress to assess the response of the non-phosphorylating pathway of mitochondrial electron transport, comprising the internal (NDin) and external (NDex) non-phosphorylating NAD(P)H dehydrogenases and the alternative oxidase (AOX). Tissue Pi levels decreased but anthocyanin levels increased in both short- and long-term Pi stress. Oxidative damage was either lower or unchanged in response to short- and long-term Pi term stress. NDin and AOX capacity were elevated only in response to long-term Pi stress whereas NDex capacity was elevated only in response to short-term Pi stress. The only ND genes with elevated transcript levels in response to both short- and long-term Pi stress were Atnda2 (an NDin) and Atndb2 (an NDex). The binding site for PHR1, a transcription factor involved in the Pi stress response, was found in the promoter regions of Atnda2 and Atndb2. Results of this study indicate that a non-phosphorylating mitochondrial electron transport chain consisting of NDA2, NDB2 and AOX is synthesised to maintain respiratory electron flow through the mitochondrial electron transport chain during Pi stress.
A quantitative genetics approach to nitrogen use efficiency in sugarcane
Authors: Whan Alex , Robinson Nicole , Lakshmanan Prakash , Schmidt Susanne , Aitken Karen
Published: April 2010

The economic and environmental consequences of inefficient use of nitrogen (N) fertiliser in agricultural crops is of concern worldwide, so new crop varieties with improved nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) are sought. Here, we report the first study of mapping quantitative trait loci (QTL) for nitrogen physiology traits in sugarcane. QTL analysis was undertaken for each parent of a segregating bi-parental sugarcane mapping population. We grew 168 progeny under limiting (0.2 mM NH4NO3) and non-limiting (5.0 mM NH4NO3) N supplies in two glasshouse experiments. Significant marker-trait associations (MTA) were detected in each treatment for shoot dry weight, root dry weight, total shoot N, shoot internal NUE (iNUE; measured as units shoot dry weight per unit N), leaf protein content and glutamine synthetase (GS) activity. MTA for GS activity did not co-locate with other traits except leaf protein content, indicating that variation in GS activity is not linked to plant size or iNUE during early growth. Under high N, there were no significant MTA for iNUE among markers from the male parent, Q165, an Australian commercial cultivar, but six MTA were found for markers inherited from the female parent, IJ76–514, a Saccharum officinarum ancestral variety. The results indicate that variation for iNUE under high N may be lower in commercial varieties than unimproved genotypes. Further, four MTA were consistent with previous field-based research on sugar and biomass production. Our study provides initial evidence that QTL may be incorporated in sugarcane breeding programs targeting improved NUE.
Do changes in light direction affect absorption profiles in leaves?
Authors: Brodersen Craig R. , Vogelmann Thomas C.
Published: April 2010

Leaf anatomy plays a functional role in propagating light through the leaf; palisade mesophyll has been shown to facilitate the channelling of collimated light deeper into the spongy mesophyll. Direct measurements of the propagation of diffuse light into the leaf, however, are absent. Using chlorophyll fluorescence imaging of leaf cross-sections, we measured light absorption profiles in leaves under direct (collimated), diffuse and low-angle monochromatic light. Low-angle and diffuse light was absorbed closer to the irradiated surface than direct light perpendicular to the surface. The shapes of internal absorption profiles indicated that leaves were influenced by the directional quality of the incident light. In addition, absorption profiles revealed that leaves were not simple light absorbing objects and that cellular anatomy influences the direction of light travelling into the mesophyll. These findings also suggest a mechanism for previously measured differences in leaf level photosynthesis under opposing light regimes.
Plant cell walls: the skeleton of the plant world
Authors: Doblin Monika S. , Pettolino Filomena , Bacic Antony
Published: April 2010

Plants are our major source of renewable biomass. Since cell walls represent some 50% of this biomass, they are major targets for biotechnology. Major drivers are their potential as a renewable source of energy as transport fuels (biofuels), functional foods to improve human health and as a source of raw materials to generate building blocks for industrial processes (biobased industries). To achieve sustainable development, we must optimise plant production and utilisation and this will require a complete understanding of wall structure and function at the molecular/biochemical level. This overview summarises the current state of knowledge in relation to the synthesis and assembly of the wall polysaccharides (i.e. the genes and gene families encoding the polysaccharide synthases and glycosyltransferases (GlyTs)), the predominant macromolecular components. We also touch on an exciting emerging role of the cell wall–plasma membrane–cytoskeleton continuum as a signal perception and transduction pathway allowing plant growth regulation in response to endogenous and exogenous cues.
The Use of Sales Promotion Competitions in Social Marketing
Authors: Peattie Sue
Published: April 2010

It has been suggested that many social marketing campaigns fail because they assign advertising the primary role and fail to develop and use all of the available marketing mix tools.

In addition, social advertising has to compete for the public's attention with increasingly costly and sophisticated commercial marketing campaigns. This has led to a growing interest in sates promotion techniques for social marketing.

Despite the increasing use of sales promotion techniques in the commercial sector, they have never received the academic scrutiny given to advertising. These techniques have traditionally been “bundled” together, with the research conducted being dominated by value-increasing promotions (those which alter the product/price “deal”) involving money-off, coupons or “x % extra for free.” These promotional techniques are the least appropriate for social marketing campaigns, which rarely involve either a tangible product or an economic price. Value adding campaigns (those which introduce benefits not directly connected to the core product or its price) such as promotional competitions (also known as contests and sweepstakes) or give-aways, are the most suitable for social campaigns but the least well understood in terms of research.

This paper discusses alternative “below-the-line” promotional tools and demonstrates how promotional competitions - in particular - can help with the distinctive communication challenges faring social marketers. Experience and research from the commercial sector is used to suggest guidelines for planning competitions.
Smokers' Responses to Anti-Smoking Advertisements by Stage of Change
Authors: Donovan Robert J. , Leivers Susan , Hannaby Leonard
Published: April 2010

Prochaska and DiClemente's stages of change concept has been readily adopted by health promoters and social marketers. These stages have been recommended as a segmentation variable in health promotion and social marketing campaigns, while a recent social marketing text proposes the Prochaska stages as a core element of the social marketing approach.

For any marketing segmentation base to be meaningful, it must be shown that the different segments respond differentially to some aspects of the communication and marketing mixes directed at the segments. Hence the utility of the stages of change approach in social marketing is dependent on evidence that individuals in the various stages of change do respond differentially to elements of the social marketing mix. Given that information is the primary component of many social marketing campaigns, and that this information is often carried in the form of paid advertisements or public service announcements (PSAs), it would be useful to determine whether individuals in the different stages of change respond differentially to the same message, and hence require separate communications.
Toward a Model of Satisfaction Processing in Social Marketing: The Role of Knowledge among Maintenance Stage Consumers
Authors: Goldberg Marvin E. , Alden Dana L. , Dharm Bhawuk P. , Holden Stephen J. , Taylor Steven A.
Published: April 2010

Despite agreement on the importance of satisfaction processes to the adoption and maintenance of pro-social behaviors (Andreasen, 1995), social marketing theory in this area is limited. This paper proposes a model that integrates mainstream and social marketing theories in order to better understand how increasing knowledge within the “maintenance stage” affects the ways that; contraceptive social marketing clients reach satisfaction judgements. The model's research propositions are currently being tested in a four-country study involving Nepal, Australia, the US and Vietnam. Preliminary results will soon be available. The paper concludes with a discussion of the proposed model's potential applications for social marketing managers.
The Impact of Multiple Channel Delivery of Nutrition Messages on Student Knowledge, Motivation and Behavior: Results from the Team Nutrition Pilot Study
Authors: Lefebvre R. Craig , Olander Carol , Levine Elyse
Published: April 2010

The USDA School Meals Initiative for Healthy Children, published in 1995, is a comprehensive plan that aims to ensure that children have healthy meals at school. A major part of this plan is an update of nutrition, standards that requires school meals to meet the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Recognizing that simply publishing a regulation is not likely to change children's diets, USDA established Team Nutrition to ensure that schools are able to implement the plan, and that students avail themselves of the healthier meals offered. The goals of Team Nutrition include: eating less fat; eating more fruits, vegetables, and grains; and eating a variety of foods.
Ethnic Social Marketing for Elderly Minorities: Challenges and Opportunities
Authors: Sabogal Fabio , Cordingley-Klein Jane
Published: April 2010

Social marketers are facing major challenges as the United State's aging population becomes increasingly ethnically diverse. Social marketers are interacting with more elderly immigrants, refugees, and multiethnic populations who hold varying world views and health practices. In the face of the dramatic demographic shift toward diversity, concurrent with major changes in healthcare and Medicare, social marketers need to design effective interventions to reduce racial/ethnic and educational/socioeconomic discrepancies in health. Social marketers are also faced with the cultural adaptation of emerging interactive health communication technologies for minority elders who have two major barriers to achieving this communication: low literacy levels and little access to new technologies. It is imperative that social marketers develop culturally competent skills to work with the unique needs of seniors from diverse cultural backgrounds by understanding their needs, beliefs, and behaviors. Culturally appropriate adaptations and extensive pretesting of health messages for literacy and cultural sensitivity will be essential.