bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
SHANNON ENTROPY OF THE WIGNER FUNCTION AND POSITION-MOMENTUM CORRELATION IN MODEL SYSTEMS
Authors: LAGUNA HUMBERTO G. , SAGAR ROBIN P.
Published: February 2011

Shannon entropies of the Wigner function are calculated for ground and excited stationary states of the Particle-In-A-Box and Harmonic Oscillator model systems and examined as a measure of the localization of the phase-space distribution. We show that their behavior is consistent with that of the sum of the position and momentum space entropies as a function of quantum number. Position-momentum correlation is then analyzed in these systems by defining mutual information between position and momentum variables. This mutual information yields non-zero values, in contrast to the quantum covariance, and increases with quantum number.
NOVEL QUANTUM COMPRESSOR DESIGNS USING NEW GENETIC ALGORITHM-BASED SIMULATOR, ANALYZER AND SYNTHESIZER SOFTWARE IN NANOTECHNOLOGY
Authors: HAGHPARAST MAJID , MOHAMMADI MAJID
Published: February 2011

Quantum and reversible logic circuits have found emerging attentions in nanotechnology, optical computing, quantum computing, and low power CMOS design. In this paper, we propose some new quantum and reversible compressors using our new genetic algorithm-based simulator, analyzer, and synthesizer software. The proposed quantum 4:2 and 6:2 compressor circuits are compared with the existing counterparts in terms of number of constant inputs, number of garbage outputs, delay and the quantum cost (QC). We have also designed quantum 7:2 compressor for the first time. The proposed quantum compressors are optimized in terms of QC and delay. The proposed designs can be used as a basic block in complex systems like multipliers, and can execute complicated operations better than the existing designs in literature.
LINEAR OPTICAL PROTOCOL FOR GENERATION OF W STATE WITHIN A NETWORK
Authors: LU PEI-MIN , XIA YAN , SONG JIE , SONG HE-SHAN
Published: February 2011

We demonstrate a linear optical protocol to generate W state in terms of optical elements within a network. The proposed setup involves simple linear optical elements, N-photon polarization entangled state, and conventional photon detectors that only distinguish the vacuum and nonvacuum Fock number states. We show that with local operations, single-photon measurement, and one way classical communication, the protocol can be successfully realized with a certain probability.
FIXED-POINT SEARCH WITH TWO ARBITRARY EQUAL PHASE SHIFTS FOR ANY NUMBER OF ITERATIONS
Authors: LI XIANGRONG , LI DAFA , HUANG HONGTAO , LI XINXIN
Published: February 2011

In this paper, we investigate the convergence behavior of the fixed-point search algorithm with two arbitrary equal phase shifts for any number of iterations. We show that no matter what the initial deviation is, the algorithm converges to the target state with certainty for phase shifts between 0 and π∕2, and to the target state with the success probabilities of at least 80% and at least 66% for phase shifts between π∕2 and arccos(-1/4) and between arccos(-1/4) and 2π/3, respectively, while the algorithm does not converge for phase shifts between 2π/3 and π.
QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT TRANSFER BETWEEN SPIN PAIRS
Authors: MENG QING-YOU , ZHANG FU-LIN , CHEN JING-LING
Published: February 2011

The transfer of entanglement from source particles (SPs) to target particles (TPs) via the Heisenberg interaction H = s1 ⋅ s2 has been investigated. In our research, TPs are two qubits and SPs are two qubits or qutrits. When TPs are two qubits, we find that no matter what state the TPs are initially prepared in, at the specific time t = π the quantity of entanglement of the TPs can attain 1 after interaction with the SPs which stay on the maximally entangled state. When TPs are two qutrits, the maximal quantity of entanglement of the TPs is proportional to the quantity of entanglement of the initial state of the TPs and cannot attain 1 for almost all the initial states of the TPs. Here we propose an iterated operation which can make the TPs go to the maximal entangled state.
ENTANGLEMENT DYNAMICS AND COHERENCE OF A TWO-LEVEL ATOM COUPLED TO TWO FIELD MODES IN THE DISPERSIVE APPROXIMATION
Authors: ZHANG JIAN-SONG , YU PING , CHEN AI-XI
Published: February 2011

We investigate the entanglement dynamics and coherence loss of a two-level atom dispersively interacting with two coherent fields in a dissipative cavity by using the concurrence and linear entropy, respectively. It is shown that the atomic coherence can lead to entanglement between the atom and one mode while the two modes are always separable. We also find that there is long-lived coherence loss as the system evolves.
CONDITIONS FOR BIPARTITE GENERAL BELL STATES
Authors: WANG ZHEN , TIAN LI-JIE , CAO WENZHEN
Published: February 2011

Utilizing the notation in Refs. 10 and 11, we revisit general bipartite Bell state for any (d × d) dimensional systems. In particular, we bring out the conditions for general bipartite Bell state and find out the relation between general Bell states and the u(d) group. Furthermore, we construct local unitary complete set for quantum dense coding based on general Bell states.
MULTICLONES QUANTUM CLONING OF QUTRITS
Authors: ZHANG WEN-HAI , DAI JIE-LIN , CAO ZHUO-LIANG , YANG MING
Published: February 2011

In this paper, we present the explicit transformations of the optimal 1 → 3 universal quantum and the phase-covariant cloning in 3 dimensions (qutrits). The fidelities of two types of cloners reach the theoretical bounds.
Aggregation behavior and UV-vis spectra of tetra- and octaglycosylated zinc phthalocyanines
Authors: Lyubimtsev Alexey , Iqbal Zafar , Crucius Göran , Syrbu Sergey , Taraymovich Ekaterina S. , Ziegler Thomas , Hanack Michael
Published: February 2011

Several tetra- and octaglycosylated PcZn 's 1a, 2a–2d, 3a-b and 4 were investigated for their aggregation behavior using different concentrations of the PcZn -species in pure DMSO, water and in various DMSO/water mixtures by comparing their UV-vis spectra. The PcZn 's 1–4 are independent of the concentration in pure DMSO and in up to 25 vol.% water/DMSO mixtures are non aggregated. Increasing amounts of water leads to higher aggregation ratios. The aggregation behavior is influenced by the nature and the position of the sugar substituents on the Pc-ring. PcZn 4 was found the least aggregated compound even in pure water.
Constraints on the Dark Side of the Universe and Observational Hubble Parameter Data
Authors: Zhang Tong-Jie , Ma Cong , Lan Tian
Published: February 2011

This paper is a review on the observational Hubble parameter data that have gained increasing
attention in recent years for their illuminating power on the dark side of the universe: the dark
matter, dark energy, and the dark age. Currently, there are two major methods of independent
observational H(z) measurement, which we summarize as the “differential age method” and the
“radial BAO size method.” Starting with fundamental cosmological notions such as the spacetime
coordinates in an expanding universe, we present the basic principles behind the two methods. We
further review the two methods in greater detail, including the source of errors. We show how the
observational H(z) data present itself as a useful tool in the study of cosmological models and
parameter constraint, and we also discuss several issues associated with their applications. Finally,
we point the reader to a future prospect of upcoming observation programs that will lead to some
major improvements in the quality of observational H(z) data.
Murine Models of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Authors: Perry Daniel , Sang Allison , Yin Yiming , Zheng Ying-Yi , Morel Laurence
Published: February 2011

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multifactorial autoimmune disorder. The study of diverse mouse models of lupus has provided clues to the etiology of SLE. Spontaneous mouse models of lupus have led to identification of numerous susceptibility loci from which several candidate genes have emerged. Meanwhile, induced models of lupus have provided insight into the role of environmental factors in lupus pathogenesis as well as provided a better understanding of cellular mechanisms involved in the onset and progression of disease. The SLE‐like phenotypes present in these models have also served to screen numerous potential SLE therapies. Due to the complex nature of SLE, it is necessary to understand the effect specific targeted therapies have on immune homeostasis. Furthermore, knowledge gained from mouse models will provide novel therapy targets for the treatment of SLE.
Engineering Judgment and Natural Circulation Calculations
Authors: Ferreri J. C.
Published: February 2011

The analysis performed to establish the validity of computer code results in the particular field of natural circulation flow stability calculations is presented in the light of usual engineering practice. The effects of discretization and closure correlations are discussed and some hints to avoid undesired mistakes in the evaluations performed are given. Additionally, the results are presented for an experiment relevant to the way in which a (small) number of skilled, nuclear safety analysts and researchers react when facing the solution of a natural circulation problem. These results may be also framed in the concept of Engineering Judgment and are potentially useful for Knowledge Management activities.
Winter Persistence Barrier of Sea Surface Temperature in the Northern Tropical Atlantic Associated with ENSO
Authors: Ding Ruiqiang , Li Jianping
Published: February 2011

This study investigates the persistence characteristics of the sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) in the northern tropical Atlantic (NTA). It is found that a persistence barrier exists around December and January. This winter persistence barrier (WPB) is prominent during the mature phase of strong ENSO events but becomes indistinct during weak ENSO and normal (non-ENSO) events. During strong El Niño events, the NTA SSTA shows a reversal in sign and a rapid warming during December and January. It is possible that this SSTA sign reversal reduces the persistence, leading to the occurrence of the NTA WPB. The present analyses indicate a dynamic relationship among the Pacific ENSO, the NTA SSTA, and the NTA WPB on a quasi-biennial time scale: a strong El Niño event is usually preceded by a strong La Niña event, which leads to a sign reversal of the NTA SSTA in winter as a delayed response to ENSO, finally resulting in the NTA WPB. Analyses also suggest that the NTA WPB is affected by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The NAO enhances the persistence of the NTA SSTA during winter, tending to weaken the NTA WPB.
Cool-Season Sea Level Anomalies and Storm Surges along the U.S. East Coast: Climatology and Comparison with the 2009/10 El Niño
Authors: Sweet William V. , Zervas Chris
Published: February 2011

Climatologies of sea level anomalies (>0.05 m) and daily-mean storm surges (>0.3 m) are presented for the 1960–2010 cool seasons (October–April) along the East Coast of the United States at Boston, Massachusetts; Atlantic City, New Jersey; Sewells Point (Norfolk), Virginia; and Charleston, South Carolina. The high sea level anomaly and the number of storm surges, among the highest in the last half century during the 2009/10 cool season, are comparable during strong El Niño cool seasons. High numbers of daily storm surges occur in response to numerous East Coast extratropical cool-season storms and have a positive correlation with the El Niño phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Patterns of anomalously high sea levels are attributed to El Niño–related changes to atmospheric pressure over the Gulf of Mexico and eastern Canada and to the wind field over the Northeast U.S. continental shelf.
Meaning of Work in Dalit Autobiographies
Authors: Upadhyay Shashi Bhushan
Published: February 2011

There have been varying perceptions of manual labour in different societies, cultures and thought systems. However, in most pre-modern stratified societies, manual work was considered demeaning. In pre-colonial India, despite various dissenting traditions and protest movements, the dominant ideology continued to privilege non-manual work while degrading manual labour. Thus, the Dalits, most of whom were poor manual workers, remained at the receiving end of this ideology. The colonial regime, owing to its peculiar inherent contradictions, created a dual labour regime for the Dalits whereby their subjection was further strengthened in the rural areas while they experienced some measure of freedom in the cities. The consequent contradictory experiences gave impetus to Dalit movements which sharply attacked the caste system. The Dalit autobiographies emerged in the post-independence period as the most important component of Dalit literature which was a product of the Dalit movement. This article endeavours to analyze some of these texts for their explicit and underlying ideas and notions about work.
Assessing Sleep Architecture in Dementia Caregivers at Home Using an Ambulatory Polysomnographic System
Authors: Fonareva Irina , Amen Alexandra M. , Zajdel Daniel P. , Ellingson Roger M. , Oken Barry S.
Published: February 2011

Findings from previous research assessing sleep quality in caregivers are inconsistent due to differences in sleep assessment methods. This study evaluated sleep in dementia caregivers using a comprehensive sleep assessment utilizing an ambulatory polysomnography (PSG) device. A total of 20 caregivers and 20 noncaregivers rated their perceived sleep quality, stress, and depressive symptoms; provided samples of cortisol and inflammatory biomarkers; and completed an objective sleep assessment using a portable PSG device. Caregivers reported greater perceived stress than noncaregivers. Next, the groups had different sleep architecture: caregivers spent less proportion of their sleep in restorative sleep stages compared to noncaregivers. Further, levels of C-reactive protein and awakening salivary cortisol were greater in caregivers than in noncaregivers, and these measures were related to sleep quality. Our findings indicate that sleep disruption is a significant concomitant of caregiving and may affect caregiver’s health. Sleep quality of caregivers might be a useful target for a clinical intervention.
Who Pays for Obesity?
Authors: Bhattacharya Jay , Sood Neeraj
Published: February 2011

Adult obesity is a growing problem. From 1962 to 2006, obesity prevalence nearly tripled to 35.1 percent of adults. The rising prevalence of obesity is not limited to a particular socioeconomic group and is not unique to the United States. Should this widespread obesity epidemic be a cause for alarm? From a personal health perspective, the answer is an emphatic “yes.” But when it comes to justifications of public policy for reducing obesity, the analysis becomes more complex. A common starting point is the assertion that those who are obese impose higher health costs on the rest of the population—a statement which is then taken to justify public policy interventions. But the question of who pays for obesity is an empirical one, and it involves analysis of how obese people fare in labor markets and health insurance markets. We will argue that the existing literature on these topics suggests that obese people on average do bear the costs and benefits of their eating and exercise habits. We begin by estimating the lifetime costs of obesity. We then discuss the extent to which private health insurance pools together obese and thin, whether health insurance causes obesity, and whether being fat might actually cause positive externalities for those who are not obese. If public policy to reduce obesity is not justified on the grounds of external costs imposed on others, then the remaining potential justification would need to be on the basis of helping people to address problems of ignorance or self-control that lead to obesity. In the conclusion, we offer a few thoughts about some complexities of such a justification.
Lessons from the Kibbutz on the Equality–Incentives Trade-off
Authors: Abramitzky Ran
Published: February 2011

The first kibbutzwas established southwest of the Sea of Galilee in 1910, but the vast majority of kibbutzim were established in the 1930s and 1940s, shortly before the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. Founders aimed to create a “new human being” who cared about the group more than about himself, a homo sociologicus who would challenge the selfish homo economicus. This idealistic view can explain many of the key features of kibbutzim: equal sharing in the distribution of income; no private property; a noncash economy; communal dining halls where members ate their meals together; high provision of local public goods for use by kibbutz members; separate communal residences for children outside their parents homes, which were supposed to free women from their traditional role in society and allow them to be treated equally with men; collective education to instill socialist and Zionist values; communal production, whereby kibbutz members worked inside their kibbutzim in agriculture or in one of the kibbutz plants; and no use of hired labor from outside kibbutzim—because hiring labor was considered “exploitation” under the reigning socialist ideology. To an economist, steeped in thinking about incentives that self-interested individuals face, there are three reasons why an equal-sharing arrangement of this sort seems unlikely to last. First, high-ability members have an incentive to exit equal sharing arrangements to earn a wage premium—so-called “brain drain.” Second, low-ability individuals have an incentive to enter equal-sharing arrangements so that they can be subsidized by more-able individuals—so-called adverse selection. Third, in context of equal sharing, shirking and free-riding are likely to be prevalent. However, kibbutzim have survived successfully for the past century and currently consist of 120,000 members living in 268 kibbutzim. In a number of ways, the kibbutzim offer an exceptional environment to examine the potential trade-off between equality and incentives.
Behavior under Extreme Conditions: The Titanic Disaster
Authors: Frey Bruno S , Savage David A , Torgler Benno
Published: February 2011

During the night of April 14, 1912, the RMS Titanic collided with an iceberg on her maiden voyage. Two hours and 40 minutes later she sank, resulting in the loss of 1,501 lives—more than two-thirds of her 2,207 passengers and crew. This remains one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history and by far the most famous. For social scientists, evidence about how people behaved as the Titanic sunk offers a quasi-natural field experiment to explore behavior under extreme conditions of life and death. A common assumption is that in such situations, self-interested reactions will predominate and social cohesion is expected to disappear. However, empirical evidence on the extent to which people in the throes of a disaster react with self-regarding or with other-regarding behavior is scanty. The sinking of the Titanic posed a life-or-death situation for its passengers. The Titanic carried only 20 lifeboats, which could accommodate about half the people aboard, and deck officers exacerbated the shortage by launching lifeboats that were partially empty. Failure to secure a seat in a lifeboat virtually guaranteed death. We have collected individual-level data on the passengers and crew on the Titanic, which allow us to analyze some specific questions: Did physical strength (being male and in prime age) or social status (being a first- or second-class passenger) raise the survival chance? Was it favorable for survival to travel alone or in company? Does one's role or function (being a crew member or a passenger) affect the probability of survival? Do social norms, such as “Women and children first!” have any effect? Does nationality affect the chance of survival? We also explore whether the time from impact to sinking might matter by comparing the sinking of the Titanic over nearly three hours to the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915, which took only 18 minutes from when the torpedo hit the ship.
Fire Sales in Finance and Macroeconomics
Authors: Shleifer Andrei , Vishny Robert
Published: February 2011

Analysts of the recent financial crisis often refer to the role of asset “fire sales” in depleting the balance sheets of financial institutions and aggravating the fragility of the financial system. The term “fire sale” has been around since the nineteenth century to describe firms selling smoke-damaged merchandise at cut-rate prices in the aftermath of a fire. But what are fire sales in broad financial markets with hundreds of participants? As we suggested in a 1992 paper, a fire sale is essentially a forced sale of an asset at a dislocated price. The asset sale is forced in the sense that the seller cannot pay creditors without selling assets. The price is dislocated because the highest potential bidders are typically involved in a similar activity as the seller, and are therefore themselves indebted and cannot borrow more to buy the asset. Indeed, rather than bidding for the asset, they might be selling similar assets themselves. Assets are then bought by nonspecialists who, knowing that they have less expertise with the assets in question, are only willing to buy at valuations that are much lower. In this paper, we selectively review some of the research on fire sales, emphasizing both concepts and supporting evidence. We begin by describing our 1992 model of fire sales and the related findings in empirical corporate finance. We then show that models of fire sales can account for several related phenomena during the recent financial crisis, including the contraction of the banking system and the failures of arbitrage in financial markets exemplified by historically unprecedented differences in prices of very similar securities. We then link fire sales to macroeconomics by discussing how such dislocations of security prices and the reduction in balance sheets of banks can reduce investment and output. Finally, we consider how the concept of fire sales can help us think about government interventions in financial markets, including the evidently successful Federal Reserve interventions in 2009. Fire sales are surely not the whole story of the financial crisis, but they are a phenomenon that binds together many elements of the crisis.
A Macroprudential Approach to Financial Regulation
Authors: Hanson Samuel G , Kashyap Anil K , Stein Jeremy C
Published: February 2011

Many observers have argued that the regulatory framework in place prior to the global financial crisis was deficient because it was largely “microprudential” in nature. A microprudential approach is one in which regulation is partial equilibrium in its conception and aimed at preventing the costly failure of individual financial institutions. By contrast, a “macroprudential” approach recognizes the importance of general equilibrium effects, and seeks to safeguard the financial system as a whole. In the aftermath of the crisis, there seems to be agreement among both academics and policymakers that financial regulation needs to move in a macroprudential direction. In this paper, we offer a detailed vision for how a macroprudential regime might be designed. Our prescriptions follow from a specific theory of how modern financial crises unfold and why both an unregulated financial system, as well as one based on capital rules that only apply to traditional banks, is likely to be fragile. We begin by identifying the key market failures at work: why individual financial firms, acting in their own interests, deviate from what a social planner would have them do. Next, we discuss a number of concrete steps to remedy these market failures. We conclude the paper by comparing our proposals to recent regulatory reforms in the United States and to proposed global banking reforms.
Over the Cliff: From the Subprime to the Global Financial Crisis
Authors: Mishkin Frederic S
Published: February 2011

The financial crisis of 2007 to 2009 can be divided into two distinct phases. The first and more limited phase from August 2007 to August 2008 stemmed from losses in one relatively small segment of the U.S. financial system—namely, subprime residential mortgages. Despite this disruption to financial markets, real GDP in the United States continued to rise into the second quarter of 2008, and forecasters were predicting only a mild recession. In mid-September 2008, however, the financial crisis entered a far more virulent phase. In rapid succession, the investment bank Lehman Brothers entered bankruptcy on September 15, 2008; the insurance firm AIG collapsed on September 16, 2008; there was a run on the Reserve Primary Fund money market fund on the same day; and the highly publicized struggle to pass the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) began. How did something that appeared in mid-2008 to be a significant but fairly mild financial disruption transform into a full-fledged global financial crisis? What caused this transformation? Did the government responses to the global financial crisis help avoid a worldwide depression? What challenges do these government interventions raise for the world financial system and the economy going forward?
A Year of Living Dangerously: The Management of the Financial Crisis in 2008
Authors: Reinhart Vincent
Published: February 2011

There are many reasons to regret the decision of U.S. financial authorities to insert the government into the resolution of the investment bank Bear Stearns in March 2008. The Federal Reserve's use of its discount window built up false hope of future rescues. Paying off the uninsured creditors of Bear Stearns overcompensated them at the time and invited speculative attacks on the equity of similarly situated firms. I will argue that the market seizure after Lehman Brothers' decision to seek the protection of bankruptcy was an echo of the prior official decision to protect Bear Stearns.
“Here I have prepar’d my Paschal Lambe”: Reading and Seeing the Eucharistic Presence in Aemilia Lanyer’s Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum
Authors: Mascetti Yaakov
Published: February 2011

The dedicatory poem Aemilia Lanyer wrote for Queen Anne invites the reader to see the verses as a Eucharistic mirror. Despite the volume of critical literature on Salve Deus , Lanyer’s uses of sight in the definition of feminine cognition and religious devotion have been ignored. In this article I place Lanyer’s use of scopic metaphors within the context of early seventeenth century Protestant idioms of devotion and sight — I thus argue that the aim of Lanyer’s work was not only to rewrite Christ’s passion or the Original Sin, nor merely to make bid for patronage — it was a femnine re-conception of seeing, reading, and believing which clashed with contemporary ideas of vision and cognition. What Lanyer was doing in her poems was to reconceive both her role as poet and that of the reader’s as the two sides of an optic and Eucharistic encounter.
“A Common Humanity Is Not Yet Enough”: Shadows of the Coming Race in George Eliot’s Final Fiction
Authors: de Graef Ortwin
Published: February 2011

It has been said that without George Eliot’s last novel, Daniel Deronda (1876), “the state of Israel might not exist.” In the novel itself, at any rate, the state of Israel only appears as a hazy hypothesis entertained by its narratorial consciousness from within the confines of an implicit European regionalism predicated on English common sense. In Eliot’s final fiction, Impressions of Theophrastus Such (1879), the sinister anxieties affecting that common sense in the face of a lurid fantasy of judaeo-techno-capitalist “alienism” of its own making bleed back, generating complications of voice and vision, challenging Eliot’s authorship and authority, and straining her text into rhetorical reaction formations indicative of a new crisis in the imagination of human community that all her writing had worked to refine.
Bringing History to Fiction: Joseph Conrad and the Holocaust
Authors: Hawthorn Jeremy
Published: February 2011

The article considers cases in which the reader’s knowledge of historical events enters into his or her reading of works of fiction published before these events took place, and explores the critical, ethical, and theoretical issues that arise in such instances. The topic is investigated with reference to the fiction of Joseph Conrad, and in particular to his works Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim . Conrad twice went on record in declaring that the writer “writes only half the book; the other half is with the reader,” and yet what exactly the reader’s “writing” of a fictional work can or ought to consist of is a notoriously vexed topic. How may we distinguish “legitimate” from “illegitimate” readerly “writings”? What ethical objections to the incorporation of knowledge of actual historical events into our reading of fictional texts that predate these events must we take seriously? Should certain topics such as the Holocaust be treated as off-limits in the reader’s “writerly” experience of works of fiction?

The article builds on a suggestion by the historian David Wootton that the writer creates a space within which readers may think, and asks whether literary critics should be more willing to add “thinking” to activities such as “responding,” “interpreting,” and “appreciating” when discussing what literary works allow, encourage, and enable readers to do. It concludes that although seeing the world through our reading of fiction, and enriching our reading of fiction with our knowledge of the world, are both activities that involve ethical challenges and responsibilities, they are activities that are a natural part of the common reader’s engagement with works of fiction. They should, accordingly, be made open to discussion rather than subject to taboo and denial.
Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and the risk of hip and nonspine fractures in older men
Authors: Cauley Jane A , Parimi Neeta , Ensrud Kristine E , Bauer Douglas C , Cawthon Peggy M , Cummings Steven R , Hoffman Andrew R , Shikany James M , Barrett-Connor Elizabeth , Orwoll Eric
Published: February 2011

The association between vitamin D levels and incident fractures in older men is uncertain. To test the hypothesis that low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [(25(OH)D] levels are associated with an increased risk of fracture, we performed a case-cohort study of 436 men with incident nonspine fractures, including 81 hip fractures, and a random subcohort of 1608 men; average follow-up time 5.3 years. Serum vitamin D2 and vitamin D3 were measured on baseline sera using mass spectrometry and summed for total vitamin D. Modified Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) of fracture with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Multivariable models included age, clinic, season, race, height, weight, and physical activity. The mean (SD) total 25(OH)D was 24.6 (7.8) ng/mL in nonspine fracture subjects, 21.5 (7.9) ng/mL in hip fracture subjects, and 25.2 (7.8) ng/mL in controls (nonspine fracture subjects versus nonpatients, p = .14; hip fracture subjects versus controls, p < .0001). 25(OH)D levels were unrelated to nonspine fractures. One SD decrease in total 25(OH)D was associated with an increased risk of hip fracture (multivariate HR = 1.60; 95% CI 1.18–2.17). Compared with men in the top quartile of total 25(OH)D (≥28), the HR of hip fracture was 2.36 (95% CI 1.08–5.15) for men in the lowest quartile (<20) (p = .009 for trend). Adjusting for hip bone mineral density attenuated the association by more than 50% (p = .065 for trend). Low serum 25(OH)D concentrations are associated with a higher risk of hip fracture in older men. Measurement of 25(OH)D may be useful in identifying men at high risk of hip fracture. © 2010 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
Atrial fibrillation and bisphosphonate therapy
Authors: Pazianas Michael , Compston Juliet , Huang Christopher L-H
Published: February 2011

Bisphosphonates are the most commonly used treatment for osteoporosis and have proven efficacy in the reduction of vertebral and nonvertebral fractures. Recently, concerns have been raised about a possible association between bisphosphonate therapy and atrial fibrillation (AF) following the report of a significant increase in risk of serious AF in women treated with zoledronic acid in the HORIZON study. Subsequent studies have produced conflicting results but have not excluded the possibility of such an association. Currently there is no direct evidence that bisphosphonates exert either acute or chronic effects on cardiac electrophysiology. Nevertheless, altered intracellular electrolyte homeostasis and proinflammatory, profibrotic, and antiangiogenic effects provide potential mechanisms by which atrial conduction could be affected in patients treated with bisphosphonates. In studies in which an increase in risk of AF has been identified, there is no evidence that this translates into increased mortality or increased risk of stroke, and the risk-benefit balance of bisphosphonate therapy in patients with osteoporosis and other forms of metabolic bone disease remains strongly positive. © 2010 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research
Formação de cobertura vegetal e manejo de plantas daninhas na cultura da soja em sistema plantio direto
Authors: Nunes A.S , Timossi P.C , Pavani M.C.MO.D , Costa Alves A.P.L
Published: February 2011

Objetivou-se com este trabalho avaliar a formação de cobertura vegetal por Brachiaria brizantha e B. decumbens, bem como as interações entre as coberturas vegetais, as dosagens do herbicida glifosato e a aplicação da mistura fluazifop-p-butil + fomesafen, no manejo das plantas daninhas e na produção da soja MG/BR 46 - Conquista em sistema plantio direto. Utilizou-se delineamento experimental de blocos ao acaso, num esquema de parcelas subsubdivididas, com quatro repetições. Testaram-se duas espécies de braquiária (B. brizantha e B. decumbens), duas dosagens do herbicida glifosato (1,44 e 2,16 kg e.a. ha-1) e duas dosagens da mistura fluazifop-p-butil + fomesafen (0 e 0,25 + 0,25 kg i.a. ha-1). Foram realizadas avaliações de matéria seca das coberturas, eficácia do glifosato, rebrote das coberturas, altura das plantas de soja, número de vagens, altura de inserção da primeira vagem, acamamento, dificuldade de colheita, massa de 100 grãos e produtividade. Concluiu-se que B. decumbens e B. brizantha proporcionaram adequada cobertura do solo durante todo o ciclo da cultura, que a dosagem de 1,44 kg e.a. ha-1 de glifosato foi suficiente para o controle das duas espécies de braquiária e que a produtividade da cultura da soja não foi alterada significativamente pela palhada das duas espécies estudadas nem pela dosagem do glifosato, enquanto a aplicação de fluazifop-p-butil + fomesafen como controle complementar refletiu em maior produtividade e em menor dificuldade de colheita.
Cultivo hidropônico de plântulas de sorgo sob estresse salino com sementes envelhecidas artificialmente e osmocondicionadas
Authors: Oliveira Alexandre Bosco de , Gomes Filho Enéas
Published: February 2011

Este trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar o crescimento inicial de plântulas de sorgo, provenientes de sementes submetidas e não ao envelhecimento e ao osmocondicionamento, sob condições de estresse salino. O delineamento experimental foi o inteiramente casualizado com quatro repetições, no esquema fatorial 2x2x3, constando de 12 tratamentos: dois lotes de sementes (envelhecidas e não); dois tipos de sementes (osmocondicionadas e não) e três níveis de salinidade (0, 100 e 200mM de NaCl). O osmocondicionamento com polietilenoglicol 6000 ou priming de sementes não envelhecidas promoveu um aumento de 25% na sobrevivência das plântulas sob condições de alta salinidade (200mM de NaCl), mas, quando essa técnica foi aplicada em sementes envelhecidas, ocorreram incrementos de 31,3 e 50% na taxa de mortalidade de plântulas cultivadas na presença de NaCl a 100 e 200mM. Quanto à manutenção do crescimento das plântulas, o osmocondicionamento proporcionou atenuação dos efeitos negativos da salinidade (NaCl a 100mM) naquelas oriundas de sementes envelhecidas, sendo tal fato confirmado por meio da manutenção da produção de biomassa vegetal.
Cavity expansion analysis with non-linear failure criterion
Authors: Yang, Xiao-Li , Zou, Jin-Feng
Published: February 2011

The conventional calculation of an expanding cavity is formulated in terms of a linear failure criterion. However, experiments show that failure criteria are non-linear for most geomaterials. This paper investigates the cavity expansion problem in an isotropic and homogeneous medium using a non-linear failure criterion. A procedure for analysing the expansion of cylindrical and spherical cavities is described, with effects of dilatancy considered. The solutions for stress and displacement around the cavity are presented in the elastic and plastic zones. A study is carried out to illustrate the effects of various parameters on the behaviour of the expanding cavity.
Mass behaviour of embedded improved soil raft in an excavation
Authors: Yang Haibo , Tan Thiam Soon , Leung Chun Fai
Published: February 2011

In deep excavation in soft soils, a layer of soil below formation level is often improved to stabilise the excavation. The improvement, usually by deep cement mixing or jet-grout piling, will result in the construction of a raft of overlapping short columns (termed an ‘embedded improved soil raft'). Soil investigation carried out will usually provide information on vertical cores from such columns. But during excavation, the columns are loaded laterally by the inward-moving retaining wall: thus the mobilised mass properties in the lateral direction are of importance in the design. This paper examines the mechanisms of how mass properties are mobilised and their relation to the elemental properties, the variation of properties within a column, and how the columns are arranged. The analysis and the simulation of a reported field case history show that for soil-cement columns arranged just in contact with each other, the mobilised mass stiffness is less than 28% of the elemental material stiffness. The analysis also shows that the properties of the outer layer have a greater impact on the mass behaviour of the embedded improved soil raft than those of the inner layer, and this ought to be considered in any site investigations.
Life history benefits of residency in a partially migrating pond‐breeding amphibian
Authors: Grayson Kristine L. , Bailey Larissa L. , Wilbur Henry M.
Published: February 2011

Species with partial migration, where a portion of a population migrates and the other remains residential, provide the opportunity to evaluate conditions for migration and test mechanisms influencing migratory decisions. We conducted a five‐year study of two populations of red‐spotted newts (Notophthalmus viridescens), composed of individuals that either remain as residents in the breeding pond over the winter or migrate to the terrestrial habitat. We used multistate mark–recapture methods to (1) test for differences in survival probability between migrants and residents, (2) determine if migrants breed every year or skip opportunities for reproduction, and (3) estimate the frequency of individuals switching migratory tactic. We used estimates of life history parameters from the natural populations in combination with previous experimental work to evaluate processes maintaining partial migration at the population level and to assess mechanisms influencing the decision to migrate. Based on capture–recapture information on over 3000 individuals, we found that newts can switch migratory tactics over their lifetime. We conclude that migrants and residents coexist through conditional asymmetries, with residents having higher fitness and inferior individuals adopting the migrant tactic. We found that newts are more likely to switch from residency to migrating than the reverse and males were more likely to remain as residents. Migration differences between the sexes are likely driven by reproduction benefits of residency for males and high energetic costs of breeding resulting in lower breeding frequencies for females. Environmental conditions also influence partial migration within a population; we found support for density‐dependent processes in the pond strongly influencing the probability of migrating. Our work illustrates how migration can be influenced by a complex range of individual and environmental factors and enhances our understanding of the conditions necessary for the evolution and maintenance of partial migration within populations.
Changes in Antipsychotic Medication in Clients of Assertive Community Treatment in Japan: A One-Year Follow Up
Authors: Satake Naoko , Hazama Kyoko , Sono Tamaki , Takahashi Makoto , Ito Junichiro
Published: February 2011

The purpose of the present one-year follow-up study was to describe and investigate the change in the amount of antipsychotic drugs prescribed for ACT (assertive community treatment) clients in Japan. Subjects were 52 clients of ACT from January 2009 to December 2009. Prescription data were collected each month from the time the clients entered into ACT. The results of a Wilcoxon signed-rank test show that the dosage of antipsychotics significantly decreased from 1,131.3 mg to 731.3 mg over the course of the 12 months (Z = -2.505, p = 0.012).
Modified Solution Approach in Modeling of Separation of Gaseous Hydrocarbons using Nanostructure MFI Zeolite Membranes with M-S Formulation and DSL and IAST Assumptions
Authors: Mohammad Nezami Hossein , Babaluo Ali Akbar , Bayati Behruz
Published: February 2011

In this study, Maxwell-Stefan (M-S) formulation was used to describe the behavior of diffusion in steady state of light (gaseous) hydrocarbons in nanostructure MFI zeolite membranes. Also, ideal adsorbed solution theory (IAST) and dual site Langmuir (DSL) for evaluating sorbate loading were used. A new solution method was used to calculate fluxes through zeolite membranes. For a mixture of methane, ethane, propane and n-butane, the proposed method was used and showed the same behavior as predicted in the literature using single site Langmuir adsorption theory. Then, for a binary mixture of methane and propane, this method showed that the predicted permeation selectivity of gaseous hydrocarbons through nanostructure MFI zeolite membranes has better agreement with literature experimental data compared to that of the models presented in the literature.
Electoral Endorsements and Campaign Contributions
Authors: Panova Elena
Published: February 2011

This paper models information transmission in an electoral campaign. The voters have conflicting policy interests, but they are congruent in their desire to elect a competent politician. They hold private information about the candidates for office, and they use endorsements and campaign contributions to signal their information, so as to advertise their most preferred candidates. Endorsements are cheap talk, but campaign contributions are costly, hence, contributions are stronger signals than endorsements. Therefore, contributions help to transmit information when voter interests are relatively divergent (however, not so much that campaigning is useless).
Asymptotic expansion for the sum of inverses of arithmetical functions involving iterated logarithms
Authors: Belbachir Hacène , Berkane Djamel
Published: February 2011

A generalized formula is obtained for the sum of inverses of the prime
counting function for a large class of arithmetical functions related to the
iterated logarithms.
Testing of residual monomer content reduction possibility on acrilic resins quality
Authors: Kostic Milena , Krunic Nebojsa , Nikolic Ljubisa , Nikolic Vesna , Najman Stevo , Kostic Ivan , Rajkovic Jelena , Manic Miodrag , Petkovic Dusan
Published: February 2011

Poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is material widely used in dentistry.
Despite the various methods used to initiate the polymerization of acrylic
resins, the conversion of monomer to polymer is not complete thus leaving
some unreacted methyl methacrylate (MMA), known as residual monomer (RM), in
denture structure. RM in dental acrylic resins has deleterious effects on
their mechanical properties and their biocompatibility. The objective of the
work was to test the residual monomer reduction possibility by applying the
appropriate postpolymerization treatment as well as to determine the effects
of this reduction on pressure yields stress and surface structure
characteristics of the acrylic resins. Postpolymerization treatments and
water storage induced reduction of RM amount in cold-polymerized acrylic
resins improved their mechanical properties and the homogenized surface
structure. After the polymerization of heat-polymerized acrylic resins the
post-polymerization treatments for improving the quality of this material
type are not necessary.
The synthesis of tungsten trioxide gel by dissolution of tungsten in hydrogen peroxide and its transformations during the heat treatment in oxidation and reduction atmospheres
Authors: Georgijevic Radovan , Mentus Slavko
Published: February 2011

The structure and the thermal behavior of WO3 samples in air and in reduction
atmosphere were studied. The sample I was prepared by the dissolution of fine
metallic tungsten powder in hydrogen peroxide followed by solvent evaporation
in the air at 60?C. Sample II was obtained by draining a part of the sample I
at 60?C and then heating it up to 430?C. By the means of X-ray
diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy and thermal analysis it was
evidenced that the sample I was the amorphous hydrated gel, with the
WO3?1.5H2O composition, while the second one was the anhidrous monoclinic WO3
with the mean particle size of 100 nm. Additionally, using the
thermogravimetric and the differential thermal analysis simultaneously in the
reduction atmosphere, both samples types were examined. After reduction the
distribution of the metal particles number in respect to the diameters of the
anhidrous sample was examined using the electron microscopy.
Density functional theory (DFT) calculations of conformational energies and interconversion pathways in 1,2,7-thiadiazepane
Authors: Haghdadi Mina , Farokhi Nahid
Published: February 2011

The molecular structure and conformational analysis of 1,2,7-thiadiazapane
conformers were investigated by density functional theory (DFT) calculations
at the B3LYP/cc-pVDZ level of theory. Four twist-chair (TC), six twist-boat
(TB), two boat (B), two chair (C) and four twist (T) conformers were
identified as minima and transition states for 1,2,7-thiadiazepane. The TC1
conformer is the most stable conformer and the twist-chair conformers are
predicted to be lower in energy than their corresponding boat and chair
conformations. DFT predicts a small barrier to pseudo-rotation and a
remarkable activation barrier for the conformational interconversion of the
twist-chair conformers to their corresponding boat conformers. The simplest
conformational process and the one with the lowest barrier is the degenerate
interconversion of the twist-chair 3 (TC3) conformation with itself via the
CS symmetric chair (C2) transition state. The calculated strain energy
barrier for this process is 2.41 kJ mol-1. The highest conformational
interconversion barrier is between TC2 and twistboat 3 (TB3) forms, which was
found to be 75.62 kJ mol-1.
Geography of log models: theory and applications
Authors: Shokurov Vyacheslav , Choi Sung
Published: February 2011

This is an introduction to geography of log models with applications to positive cones of Fano type (FT) varieties and to geometry of minimal models and Mori fibrations.
Hyperholomorphic connections on coherent sheaves and stability
Authors: Verbitsky Misha
Published: February 2011

Let M be a hyperkähler manifold, and F a reflexive sheaf on M. Assume that F (away from its singularities) admits a connection ▿ with a curvature Θ which is invariant under the standard SU(2)-action on 2-forms. If Θ is square-integrable, such sheaf is called hyperholomorphic. Hyperholomorphic sheaves were studied at great length in [21]. Such sheaves are stable and their singular sets are hyperkähler subvarieties in M. In the present paper, we study sheaves admitting a connection with SU(2)-invariant curvature which is not necessary L
2-integrable. We show that such sheaves are polystable.