bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The effect of an intervening interview on children's ability to remember one occurrence of a repeated event
Authors: Powell Martine B. , Thomson Donald M.
Published: June 2011

The effect of an intervening interview on 4–5‐ and 6–8‐year‐old children's ability to remember an occurrence of a repeated event at six‐weeks' delay was examined. The timing of the interpolated interview and the final test were also systematically examined. Children experienced six occurrences of an event which were highly similar; each occurrence had the same underlying structure but included unpredictable variations in the specific exemplars of items or ‘instantiations’ across the series. All children were required to recall the instantiation of each item that was included in the final occurrence in the series. The results indicated that inclusion of a one‐week interpolated interview enhanced the number of correct instantiations that could be recalled about the occurrence in a six‐week interview compared to when there was no interpolated interview. However, the effect of the interpolated interview on subsequent recall was reduced when the second interview was extended to three months. In fact, the decline in performance of children who were interviewed at a one‐week delay and again at a three‐month delay was such that these children received no more benefit from the initial interview than children who received their first interview at a six‐week delay. Interestingly, the performance of the latter children improved rather than declined in the second interview. The implications of the findings for children's eyewitness testimony are discussed.
Locus of control and its relationship to treatment change and abuse history in child sexual abusers
Authors: Fisher Dawn , Beech Anthony , Browne Kevin
Published: June 2011

Purpose and method. A locus of control (LC) scale was given to a child molester sample before and after treatment for sexual offending. The scale measures the extent to which a person feels that events are contingent on their behaviour or the extent to which they feel events are externally controlled. It was hypothesized that LC would become more internal through treatment and those with a more internal LC prior to treatment would respond better in therapy. The relationship between LC, childhood sexual or physical abuse and offending patterns was also examined. It was hypothesized that victims of abuse would have a more external LC than individuals who had not been abused.

Results. It was found that LC became more internal in men who had benefited from treatment and having an internal LC prior to treatment was an important predictor of ‘treatment success’. In contrast, men who did not benefit from treatment either did not change or became more external. Offenders who had been physically abused as children were more externally controlled than those who were not. No difference was found between those who had been sexually victimized and those who were not. External LC was found to be related to higher risk of reconviction for future sexual offending.

Conclusions. The findings that there was a significant improvement on LC in men who had responded to treatment, and that having an internal LC prior to treatment was an important predictor of ‘treatment success’, indicate that owning responsibility for actions is an important component of treatment change. This suggests that one of the tasks of treatment with externally controlled men is to encourage them to take responsibility for their behaviour. The finding that it is physical abuse rather than sexual abuse which leads to a more external locus of control may be because sexual abuse victims often report feeling responsible for their abuse. It is likely that this is a function of the messages given by abusers who seek to silence victims by placing blame and responsibility onto them.
Police personnel as eyewitnesses to a violent crime
Authors: Christianson Sven‐Åke , Karlsson Ingemar , Persson Leif G. W.
Published: June 2011

Purpose. The aim of this study was to explore whether police personnel are more correct in their observations of a violent crime in comparison to civilians. It was hypothesized that if policemen have a talent for and interest in observation, recruits and experienced police officers should be more accurate than civilians (the selection for admittance hypothesis). Alternatively, if policemen during their education and experience as police officers, improve their ability for observation, then police personnel should perform better than recruits and civilians (the hypothesis of professionalization).

Methods. Sixty‐one university students, 31 teachers, 60 police recruits and 59 police officers with at least three years' professional experience were presented with a series of slides depicting a simulated crime (a woman going for a walk in a park and eventually being assaulted by a man with a knife). After the presentation of the slides, the four groups were tested on what they remembered of different aspects of the crime and their ability to recognize the perpetrator.

Results. The overall results showed that police officers were more accurate at remembering details of the crime than police recruits, civilian students, and teachers. This difference was not related to age, general working experience, or a better memory capacity per se among the police officers.

Conclusions. It is suggested that police officers, on the basis of their professional knowledge and experience of violent crime events, might have acquired an improved ability to sort out and analyse information from a crime‐relevant situation.
Reliability of criteria‐based content analysis of child witness statements: Cohen's kappa doesn't matter
Authors: Tully Bryan
Published: June 2011

The recent attempt by Horowitz, Lamb, Esplin, Boychuk, Orit & Reiter‐Lavery (1997) to establish reliabilities of evaluators applying criteria‐based content analysis (CBCA) leads to misleading conclusions about the reliability of CBCA as a protocol. The history and procedure of statement validity assessment (SVA) of which CBCA is a component, has not established CBCA as the equivalent of a psychometric type instrument or method with any particular level of instrinsic reliability. There are many reasons why certainty as to whether given criteria are agreed to fit a slice of narrative may be high or low. The adequacy of that particular slice of narrative for such criterion fitting is as important as the evaluators agreeing they mean the same thing and are trying to do the same thing on one or more occasions. The outcome reliabilities statistically computed are a composite of both. Professional evaluators do not need to rely on the results of forcing themselves to decide without adequate certainty whether any or all criteria are ‘present’ or ‘absent’. Their reliability when they make a decision with adequate certainty is what matters. Horowitz et al.'s recommendations that certain criteria should be further defined ‘more clearly’ or dropped is particularly erroneous. This would lead to the loss of important if infrequently found instances of presence or absence of criteria which are telling because of what is known about how children recall sexual victimization, and not because a statistical manual sets an empirical threshold.
Visiting the scene of the crime: Effects on children's recall of alleged abuse
Authors: Hershkowitz Irit , Orbach Yael , Lamb Michael E. , Sternberg Kathleen J. , Horowitz Dvora , Hovav Meir
Published: June 2011

Purpose. The study was designed to determine whether the contextual cues provided by visits to the scene of alleged incidents would facilitate the recall of information by alleged victims of child sexual abuse.

Methods. Fifty‐one 4‐ to 13‐year‐old children who had reported being victims of sexual abuse were interviewed in an investigator's office and then at the scene of the alleged abuse. Analyses focused on the effects of age, number of reported incidents, familiarity of the scene, familiarity of the alleged perpetrator and delay between incident and interview on the number of details provided in the office interview and at the scene.

Results. On average, the children reported 304.1 details, with 23 per cent of these provided at the scene. Contrary to prediction, contextual cues were not more effective for younger children, when the scene or alleged perpetrator were unfamiliar, or when the delay between alleged incident and interview was longer.

Conclusions. Physical context reinstatement did appear to elicit additional details from alleged victims and facilitated the investigators' efforts to visualize and understand the alleged events. Many specific predictions about the role of contextual cues were not supported by the data, however.
The weapon focus effect revisited: The role of novelty
Authors: Mitchell Karen J. , Livosky Marilyn , Mather Mara
Published: June 2011

Purpose. The relationship between novelty, self‐reported affect, and the weapon focus effect was investigated.

Methods. In two experiments, college students watched a videotaped scene in which either: no item, a novel item (celery) or a gun was brandished. The context of the gun presentation (friendly vs. crime) was also manipulated. A forced‐choice questionnaire assessed memory for details of the scene, including the ‘perpetrator’. A self‐report of affect was also included.

Results. In both experiments, reliably poorer memory for details of the perpetrator's appearance was demonstrated by participants who viewed the scene with the novel item (i.e. the ‘celery’ group). A traditional weapon focus effect was obtained in Expt 2 only.

Conclusions. These data suggest that novelty/salience may be sufficient to produce reliable deleterious memorial consequences in an eyewitness situation, while arguing against the idea that any unique features of a weapon are necessary for the effect. Although self‐reports of affect varied between groups in both experiments, there was little relationship between self‐reports of affect and memory. It is suggested that the term weapon focus effect may be a misnomer for a more general attentional effect.
Memory for central and peripheral actions and props after varied post‐event presentation
Authors: Heath Wendy P. , Erickson James R.
Published: June 2011

Purpose. The effects of varying post‐event information (information was unchanged from the original event, misleading or added an incorrect detail) on memory for central and peripheral actions and props in a crime scene were examined.

Methods. After pre‐testing 105 undergraduates to obtain centrality ratings for target items (actions and props), 300 additional undergraduates were presented with slides of a crime followed by a narrative in which one target item was unchanged from the original presentation, one was changed (misleading), and one had an incorrect detail added. Participants were tested using one of four memory tests: item recognition, source recognition, cued recall or sentence completion (an indirect memory test).

Results. Misinformation effects were found for all four dependent measures. People were more resistant to misleading central than peripheral information, and readily accepted incorrect added details in recognition tests, but rarely generated them in recall or sentence completion.

Conclusions. Two major conclusions can be drawn. Peripheral items are more strongly influenced by misleading information than are central items, and those who provide a free account of what they witness are unlikely to include details, but may accept incorrect details when questioned. Implications for eyewitness testimony and future research in eyewitness memory are discussed.
Optimum Performance of a Regenerative Gas Turbine Power Plant Operating With/Without a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell
Authors: Haseli Y.
Published: June 2011

Optimum pressure ratios of a regenerative gas turbine (RGT) power plant with and without a solid oxide fuel cell are investigated. It is shown that assuming a constant specific heat ratio throughout the RGT plant, explicit expressions can be derived for the optimum pressure ratios leading to maximum thermal efficiency and maximum net work output. It would be analytically complicated to apply the same method for the hybrid system due to the dependence of electrochemical parameters such as cell voltage on thermodynamic parameters like pressure and temperature. So, the thermodynamic optimization of this system is numerically studied using models of RGT plant and solid oxide fuel cell. Irreversibilities in terms of component efficiencies and total pressure drop within each configuration are taken into account. The main results for the RGT plant include maximization of the work output at the expenses of 2–4% lower thermal efficiency and higher capital costs of turbo-compressor compared to a design based on maximum thermal efficiency. On the other hand, the hybrid system is studied for a turbine inlet temperature (TIT) of 1 250–1 450 K and 10–20% total pressure drop in the system. The maximum thermal efficiency is found to be at a pressure ratio of 3–4, which is consistent with past studies. A higher TIT leads to a higher pressure ratio; however, no significant effect of pressure drop on the optimum pressure ratio is observed. The maximum work output of the hybrid system may take place at a pressure ratio at which the compressor outlet temperature is equal to the turbine downstream temperature. The work output increases with increasing the pressure ratio up to a point after which it starts to vary slightly. The pressure ratio at this point is suggested to be the optimal because the work output is very close to its maximum and the thermal efficiency is as high as a littler less than 60%.
Characterization of Mixing in a Simple Paddle Mixer Using Experimentally Derived Velocity Fields
Authors: Bohl Douglas , Mehta Akshey , Santitissadeekorn Naratip , Bollt Erik
Published: June 2011

The flow field in a cylindrical container driven by a flat bladed impeller was investigated using particle image velocimetry (PIV). Three Reynolds numbers (0.02, 8, 108) were investigated for different impeller locations within the cylinder. The results showed that vortices were formed at the tips of the blades and rotated with the blades. As the blades were placed closer to the wall the vortices interacted with the induced boundary layer on the wall to enhance both regions of vorticity. Finite time lyapunov exponents (FTLE) were used to determine the lagrangian coherent structure (LCS) fields for the flow. These structures highlighted the regions where mixing occurred as well as barriers to fluid transport. Mixing was estimated using zero mass particles convected by numeric integration of the experimentally derived velocity fields. The mixing data confirmed the location of high mixing regions and barriers shown by the LCS analysis. The results indicated that mixing was enhanced within the region described by the blade motion as the blade was positioned closed to the cylinder wall. The mixing average within the entire tank was found to be largely independent of the blade location and flow Reynolds number.
Transversely Isotropic Elasticity Imaging of Cancellous Bone
Authors: Shore Spencer W. , Barbone Paul E. , Oberai Assad A. , Morgan Elise F.
Published: June 2011

To measure spatial variations in mechanical properties of biological materials, prior studies have typically performed mechanical tests on excised specimens of tissue. Less invasive measurements, however, are preferable in many applications, such as patient-specific modeling, disease diagnosis, and tracking of age- or damage-related degradation of mechanical properties. Elasticity imaging (elastography) is a nondestructive imaging method in which the distribution of elastic properties throughout a specimen can be reconstructed from measured strain or displacement fields. To date, most work in elasticity imaging has concerned incompressible, isotropic materials. This study presents an extension of elasticity imaging to three-dimensional, compressible, transversely isotropic materials. The formulation and solution of an inverse problem for an anisotropic tissue subjected to a combination of quasi-static loads is described, and an optimization and regularization strategy that indirectly obtains the solution to the inverse problem is presented. Several applications of transversely isotropic elasticity imaging to cancellous bone from the human vertebra are then considered. The feasibility of using isotropic elasticity imaging to obtain meaningful reconstructions of the distribution of material properties for vertebral cancellous bone from experiment is established. However, using simulation, it is shown that an isotropic reconstruction is not appropriate for anisotropic materials. It is further shown that the transversely isotropic method identifies a solution that predicts the measured displacements, reveals regions of low stiffness, and recovers all five elastic parameters with approximately 10% error. The recovery of a given elastic parameter is found to require the presence of its corresponding strain (e.g., a deformation that generates ɛ12 is necessary to reconstruct C1212), and the application of regularization is shown to improve accuracy. Finally, the effects of noise on reconstruction quality is demonstrated and a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 40dB is identified as a reasonable threshold for obtaining accurate reconstructions from experimental data. This study demonstrates that given an appropriate set of displacement fields, level of regularization, and signal strength, the transversely isotropic method can recover the relative magnitudes of all five elastic parameters without an independent measurement of stress. The quality of the reconstructions improves with increasing contrast, magnitude of deformation, and asymmetry in the distributions of material properties, indicating that elasticity imaging of cancellous bone could be a useful tool in laboratory studies to monitor the progression of damage and disease in this tissue.
Technical Note: Extension of van Herk's treatment margin model for anisotropic systematic positioning errors in Cartesian coordinate systema)
Authors: Yoda Kiyoshi , Nakagawa Keiichi
Published: June 2011

Purpose: A coefficient of a treatment margin model for anisotropic systematic positioning errors has been calculated in Cartesian coordinate system based on van Herk's analytical formulation.Methods: Three‐dimensional (3D) patient population distribution was formulated in Cartesian coordinate system to model anisotropic systematic positioning errors. Analytical 3D integration with anisotropic standard deviations Σ's and the following Newton's method yielded the coefficient of van Herk's systematic positioning error model in Cartesian coordinate system.Results: The treatment margins for the anisotropic systematic errors in Cartesian coordinate system were 2.1 Σ for 90% patient population coverage and 2.4 Σ for 95% patient population coverage.Conclusions: It was found that the treatment margins for anisotropic systematic positioning errors in Cartesian coordinate system were smaller than those for the isotropic model in spherical coordinate system for a given patient population coverage probability.
Electret accelerometers: Physics and dynamic characterization
Authors: Hillenbrand J. , Haberzettl S. , Motz T. , Sessler G. M.
Published: June 2011

Electret microphones are produced in numbers that significantly exceed those for all other microphone types. This is due to the fact that air-borne electret sensors are of simple and low-cost design but have very good acoustical properties. In contrast, most of the discrete structure-borne sound sensors (or accelerometers) are based on the piezoelectric effect. In the present work, capacitive accelerometers utilizing the electret principle were constructed, built, and characterized. These electret accelerometers comprise a metallic seismic mass, covered by an electret film, a ring of a soft cellular polymer supplying the restoring force, and a metallic backplate. These components replace membrane, spacer, and back electrode, respectively, of the electret microphone. An adjustable static pressure to the seismic mass is generated by two metal springs. The dynamic characterization of the accelerometers was carried out by using an electrodynamic shaker and an external charge or voltage amplifier. Sensors with various seismic masses, air gap distances, and electret voltages were investigated. Charge sensitivities from 10 to 40 pC/g, voltage sensitivities from 600 to 2000 mV/g, and resonance frequencies from 3 to 1.5 kHz were measured. A model describing both the charge and the voltage sensitivity is presented. Good agreement of experimental and calculated values is found. The experimental results show that sensitive, lightweight, and inexpensive electret accelerometers can be built.
Comparison of methods for calculating the sound field due to a rotating monopole
Authors: Poletti M. A. , Teal P. D.
Published: June 2011

A spherical harmonic expansion for the sound field due to a rotating oscillating point source has recently been derived. This paper provides further confirmation of the expansion results by comparing it with two known numerical approaches to determining the sound field. In the advanced time approach—applicable for Mach numbers below 1—the sound at transmission time determines the field at an observation point from the distance from source to observation point at the transmission time. In the retarded time approach the field at the observation point at the observation time is determined by solving for the retarded transmission times. The results from all three approaches are shown to be in good agreement. Expressions for the far-field instantaneous frequency are also derived and shown to agree with previous work.
Adipose Triglyceride Lipase Contributes to Cancer-Associated Cachexia
Authors: Das Suman K. , Eder Sandra , Schauer Silvia , Diwoky Clemens , Temmel Hannes , Guertl Barbara , Gorkiewicz Gregor , Tamilarasan Kuppusamy P. , Kumari Pooja , Trauner Michael , Zimmermann Robert , Vesely Paul , Haemmerle Guenter , Zechner Rudolf , Hoefler Gerald
Published: June 2011

Ablation of a gene controlling fat breakdown can protect mice from cancer-associated uncontrolled loss of fat and muscle.

10.1126/science.1198973
Analysis of Antigenically Important Residues in Human Influenza A Virus in Terms of B-Cell Epitopes
Authors: Lees William D. , Moss David S. , Shepherd Adrian J.
Published: June 2011

In this paper we undertake an analysis of the antigenicity of influenza A virus hemagglutinin. We developed a novel computational approach to the identification of antigenically active regions and showed that the amino acid substitutions between successive predominant seasonal strains form clusters that are consistent, in terms of both their location and their size, with the properties of B-cell epitopes in general and with those epitopes that have been identified experimentally in influenza A virus hemagglutinin to date. Such an interpretation provides a biologically plausible framework for an understanding of the location of antigenically important substitutions that is more specific than the canonical “antigenic site” model and provides an effective basis for deriving models that predict antigenic escape in the H3N2 subtype. Our results support recent indications that antibodies binding to the “stalk” region of hemagglutinin are found in the human population and exert evolutionary pressure on the virus. Our computational approach provides a possible method for identifying antigenic escape through evolution in this region, which in some cases will not be identified by the hemagglutinin inhibition assay.
Roles of the Fusion and Hemagglutinin-Neuraminidase Proteins in Replication, Tropism, and Pathogenicity of Avian Paramyxoviruses
Authors: Kim Shin-Hee , Subbiah Madhuri , Samuel Arthur S. , Collins Peter L. , Samal Siba K.
Published: June 2011

Virulent and moderately virulent strains of Newcastle disease virus (NDV), representing avian paramyxovirus serotype 1 (APMV-1), cause respiratory and neurological disease in chickens and other species of birds. In contrast, APMV-2 is avirulent in chickens. We investigated the role of the fusion (F) and hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) envelope glycoproteins in these contrasting phenotypes by designing chimeric viruses in which the F and HN glycoproteins or their ectodomains were exchanged individually or together between the moderately virulent, neurotropic NDV strain Beaudette C (BC) and the avirulent APMV-2 strain Yucaipa. When we attempted to exchange the complete F and HN glycoproteins individually and together between the two viruses, the only construct that could be recovered was recombinant APMV-2 strain Yucaipa (rAPMV-2), containing the NDV F glycoprotein in place of its own. This substitution of NDV F into APMV-2 was sufficient to confer the neurotropic, neuroinvasive, and neurovirulent phenotypes, in spite of all being at reduced levels compared to what was seen for NDV-BC. When the ectodomains of F and HN were exchanged individually and together, two constructs could be recovered: NDV, containing both the F and HN ectodomains of APMV-2; and APMV-2, containing both ectodomains of NDV. This supported the idea that homologous cytoplasmic tails and matched F and HN ectodomains are important for virus replication. Analysis of these viruses for replication
in vitro
, syncytium formation, mean embryo death time, intracerebral pathogenicity index, and replication and tropism in 1-day-old chicks and 2-week-old chickens showed that the two contrasting phenotypes of NDV and APMV-2 could largely be transferred between the two backbones by transfer of homotypic F and HN ectodomains. Further analysis provided evidence that the homologous stalk domain of NDV HN is essential for virus replication, while the globular head domain of NDV HN could be replaced with that of APMV-2 with only a minimal attenuating effect. These results demonstrate that the F and HN ectodomains together determine the cell fusion, tropism, and virulence phenotypes of NDV and APMV-2 and that the regions of HN that are critical to replication and the species-specific phenotypes include the cytoplasmic tail and stalk domain but not the globular head domain.
Disruption of Nuclear Organization during the Initial Phase of African Swine Fever Virus Infection
Authors: Ballester Maria , Rodríguez-Cariño Carolina , Pérez Mónica , Gallardo Carmina , Rodríguez Javier M. , Salas María L. , Rodriguez Fernando
Published: June 2011

African swine fever virus (ASFV), the causative agent of one of the most devastating swine diseases, has been considered exclusively cytoplasmic, even though some authors have shown evidence of an early stage of nuclear replication. In the present study, an increment of lamin A/C phosphorylation was observed in ASFV-infected cells as early as 4 h postinfection, followed by the disassembling of the lamina network close to the sites where the viral genome starts its replication. At later time points, this and other nuclear envelope markers were found in the cytoplasm of the infected cells. The effect of the infection on the cell nucleus was much more severe than previously expected, since a redistribution of other nuclear proteins, such as RNA polymerase II, the splicing speckle SC-35 marker, and the B-23 nucleolar marker, was observed from 4 h postinfection. All this evidence, together with the redistribution, dephosphorylation, and subsequent degradation of RNA polymerase II after ASFV infection, suggests the existence of sophisticated mechanisms to regulate the nuclear machinery during viral infection.
Reassortment between Seasonal H1N1 and Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Influenza Viruses Is Restricted by Limited Compatibility among Polymerase Subunits
Authors: Octaviani Cássio Pontes , Goto Hideo , Kawaoka Yoshihiro
Published: June 2011

Reassortment is important for influenza virus evolution and the generation of novel viruses with pandemic potential; however, the factors influencing reassortment are still poorly understood. Here, using reverse genetics and a replicon assay, we demonstrated that a mixed polymerase complex containing a pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza virus PB2 on a seasonal H1N1 virus background has reduced polymerase activity, leading to impaired virus viability. Adaptation of viruses containing the mixed polymerase complex resulted in compensatory mutations in PB1. Taken together, our results identify the cooperation between PB2 and PB1 as an important restricting factor for reassortment of influenza viruses.
Is There a Role for Acupuncture in the Symptom Management of Patients Receiving Palliative Care for Cancer? A Pilot Study of 20 Patients Comparing Acupuncture with Nurse-Led Supportive Care
Authors: Lim Jan T W , Wong Erin T , Aung Steven K H
Published: June 2011

Purpose

A pilot study to document changes in symptoms after acupuncture or nurse-led supportive care in patients with incurable cancer.

Methods

Patients receiving palliative care with estimated survival of at least 3 months were screened with the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS). Patients (n=20) with significant symptoms were randomised to receive weekly acupuncture or nurse-led supportive care for 4 weeks. ESAS scores were obtained before and after each treatment, and weekly for 6 weeks after treatment by telephone.

Results

42 of 170 patients screened were eligible. 20 gave consent for recruitment. The compliance rate was 90% for acupuncture and 80% for nurse-led supportive care. Total symptom scores were reduced by an average of 22% after each acupuncture visit and by 14% after each supportive care visit. Compared with baseline, ESAS scores at the end of the follow-up period were reduced by 19% for the acupuncture arm and 26% for nurse-led supportive care.

Conclusion

Patients appear to benefit from incorporating acupuncture in the treatment of advanced incurable cancer. Acupuncture was well tolerated with no significant or unexpected side effects. Acupuncture had an immediate effect on all symptoms, whereas nurse-led supportive care had a larger impact 6 weeks after the final session. Both interventions appear helpful to this population and warrant further study.
Indoor air pollution (PM2.5) due to secondhand smoke in selected hospitality and entertainment venues of Karachi, Pakistan
Authors: Nafees Asaad Ahmed , Taj Tahir , Kadir Muhammad Masood , Fatmi Zafar , Lee Kiyoung , Sathiakumar Nalini
Published: June 2011

Objective

To determine particulate matter smaller than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) levels at various hospitality and entertainment venues of Karachi, Pakistan.

Methods

This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted at various locations in Karachi, during July 2009. Sampling was performed at 20 enclosed public places, including hospitality (restaurants and cafés) and entertainment (snooker/billiard clubs and gaming zones) venues. PM2.5levels were measured using an aerosol monitor.

Results

All entertainment venues had higher indoor PM2.5levels as compared to the immediate outdoors. The indoor PM2.5levels ranged from 25 to 390 μg/m3and the outdoor PM2.5levels ranged from 18 to 96 μg/m3. The overall mean indoor PM2.5level was 138.8 μg/m3(±112.8). Among the four types of venues, the highest mean indoor PM2.5level was reported from snooker/billiard clubs: 264.7 μg/m3(±85.4) and the lowest from restaurants: 66.4 μg/m3(±57.6) while the indoor/outdoor ratio ranged from 0.97 to 10.2, highest being at the snooker/billiard clubs. The smoking density ranged from 0.21 to 0.57, highest being at gaming zones. The indoor PM2.5concentration and smoking density were not significantly correlated (Spearman's correlation coefficient=0.113; p=0.636).

Conclusions

This study demonstrates unacceptably high levels of PM2.5exposure associated with secondhand smoke (SHS) at various entertainment venues of Karachi even after 8 years since the promulgation of smoke-free ordinance (2002) in Pakistan; however, better compliance may be evident at hospitality venues. The results of this study call for effective implementation and enforcement of smoke-free environment at public places in the country.
A SCATTER SEARCH FOR MULTI-DEPOT VEHICLE ROUTING PROBLEM WITH WEIGHT-RELATED COST
Authors: ZHANG JUN , TANG JIAFU , FUNG RICHARD Y. K.
Published: June 2011

The multi-depot vehicle routing problem (MDVRP) is a variant of the classical vehicle routing problem (VRP). Most research on MDVRP and its extensions often do not consider the effect of the freight's weight on the total cost. In this paper, the multi-depot vehicle routing problem with weight-related cost (MDVRPWRC) is introduced. MDVRPWRC considers the cost incurred by the weight of freight to determine the vehicle routine with the objective of minimizing the total cost. A scatter search (SS) for the MDVRPWRC is proposed. The sweep algorithm and the optimal splitting procedure are used to construct the initial trial solutions. An iterative descending algorithm and an arc choosing method are adopted in the SS to improve and combine the solutions, respectively. Computational experiments on a range of test datasets show that the MDVRPWRC can reduce the total cost more efficiently compared with the general MDVRP. Moreover, the proposed SS can solve the MDVRPWRC effectively.
AN INFEASIBLE SSLE FILTER ALGORITHM FOR GENERAL CONSTRAINED OPTIMIZATION WITHOUT STRICT COMPLEMENTARITY
Authors: SHEN CHUNGEN , XUE WENJUAN , PU DINGGUO
Published: June 2011

In this paper, we propose a new sequential systems of linear equations (SSLE) filter algorithm, which is an infeasible QP-free method. The new algorithm needs to solve a few reduced systems of linear equations with the same nonsingular coefficient matrix, and after finitely many iterations, only two linear systems need to be solved. Furthermore, the nearly active set technique is used to improve the computational effect. Under the linear independence condition, the global convergence is proved. In particular, the rate of convergence is proved to be one-step superlinear without assuming the strict complementarity condition. Numerical results and comparison with other algorithms indicate that the new algorithm is promising.
NON-MINIMAL RβF2-COUPLED ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS TO GRAVITY AND STATIC, SPHERICALLY SYMMETRIC SOLUTIONS
Authors: DERELI TEKIN , SERT ÖZCAN
Published: June 2011

We investigate non-minimal RβF2-type couplings of electromagnetic fields to gravity. We derive the field equations by a first-order variational principle using the method of Lagrange multipliers. Then we present various static, spherically symmetric solutions describing the exterior fields in the vicinity of electrically charged massive bodies.
SYSTEMATIC IMPLEMENTATION OF IMPLICIT REGULARIZATION FOR MULTILOOP FEYNMAN DIAGRAMS
Authors: CHERCHIGLIA A. L. , SAMPAIO MARCOS , NEMES M. C.
Published: June 2011

Implicit Regularization (IReg) is a candidate to become an invariant framework in momentum space to perform Feynman diagram calculations to arbitrary loop order. In this work we present a systematic implementation of our method that automatically displays the terms to be subtracted by Bogoliubov's recursion formula. Therefore, we achieve a twofold objective: we show that the IReg program respects unitarity, locality and Lorentz invariance and we show that our method is consistent since we are able to display the divergent content of a multiloop amplitude in a well-defined set of basic divergent integrals in one-loop momentum only which is the essence of IReg. Moreover, we conjecture that momentum routing invariance in the loops, which has been shown to be connected with gauge symmetry, is a fundamental symmetry of any Feynman diagram in a renormalizable quantum field theory.
NEW BOUND STATES OF HEAVY QUARKS AT LHC AND TEVATRON
Authors: DAS C. R. , FROGGATT C. D. , LAPERASHVILI L. V. , NIELSEN H. B.
Published: June 2011

The present paper is based on the assumption that heavy quarks bound states exist in the Standard Model (SM). Considering New Bound States (NBS) of top–antitop quarks (named T-balls) we have shown that: (1) there exists the scalar 1S-bound state of [Formula: see text]; (2) the forces which bind the top-quarks are very strong and almost completely compensate the mass of the twelve top–antitop-quarks in the scalar NBS; (3) such strong forces are produced by the Higgs–top-quarks interaction with a large value of the top-quark Yukawa coupling constant gt≃1. Theory also predicts the existence of the NBS [Formula: see text], which is a color triplet and a fermion similar to the t'-quark of the fourth generation. We have also considered the "b-quark-replaced" NBS, estimated the masses of the lightest fermionic NBS: M NBS ≳300 GeV , and discussed the larger masses of T-balls. We have developed a theory of the scalar T-ball's condensate and predicted the existence of three SM phases. Searching for heavy quark bound states at the Tevatron and LHC is discussed. We have constructed the possible form-factors of T-balls, and estimated the charge multiplicity coming from the T-ball's decays.
THE SCALAR BOX INTEGRAL AND THE MELLIN–BARNES REPRESENTATION
Authors: VALTANCOLI P.
Published: June 2011

We solve exactly the scalar box integral using the Mellin–Barnes representation. First we recognize the hypergeometric functions resumming the series coming from the scalar integrals, then we perform an analytic continuation before applying the Laurent expansion in ϵ = (d-4)/2 of the result.
THERMOFIELD DYNAMICS FOR TWISTED POINCARÉ-INVARIANT FIELD THEORIES: WICK THEOREM AND S-MATRIX
Authors: LEINEKER MARCELO , QUEIROZ AMILCAR R. , SANTANA ADEMIR E. , DE ASSIS SIQUEIRA CHRYSTIAN
Published: June 2011

Poincaré invariant quantum field theories can be formulated on noncommutative planes if the statistics of fields is twisted. This is equivalent to state that the coproduct on the Poincaré group is suitably twisted. In the present work we present a twisted Poincaré invariant quantum field theory at finite temperature. For that we use the formalism of thermofield dynamics (TFD). This TFD formalism is extend to incorporate interacting fields. This is a nontrivial step, since the separation in positive and negative frequency terms is no longer valid in TFD. In particular, we prove the validity of Wick's theorem for twisted scalar quantum field at finite temperature.
SUMMARIZATION OF SURVEILLANCE VIDEO SEQUENCES USING FACE QUALITY ASSESSMENT
Authors: NASROLLAHI KAMAL , MOESLUND THOMAS B. , RAHMATI MOHAMMAD
Published: June 2011

Constant working surveillance cameras in public places, such as airports and banks, produce huge amount of video data. Faces in such videos can be extracted in real time. However, most of these detected faces are either redundant or useless. Redundant information adds computational costs to facial analysis systems and useless data makes the final results of such systems noisy, unstable, and erroneous. Thus, there is a need for a mechanism to summarize the original video sequence to a set of the most expressive images of the sequence. The proposed system in this paper uses a face quality assessment technique for this purpose. The summarized results of this technique have been used in three different facial analysis systems and the experimental results on real video sequences are promising.
SPATIAL-TEMPORAL VIDEO QUALITY ASSESSMENT BASED ON TWO-LEVEL TEMPORAL POOLING
Authors: YANG FUZHENG , WAN SHUAI
Published: June 2011

In this paper, a video quality assessment method based on two-level temporal pooling is proposed. By dividing a video sequence into groups of frames (GOFs) with variable lengths, a short-term temporal pooling is performed first at the eye fixation level to obtain the GOF quality. The determination of the GOF size is based on empirical observations from subjective tests that evaluate the duration of successive frames based on which steady quality judgment can be made by the human visual system. The video quality is further obtained by a second level of long-term temporal pooling using the GOF quality. The impact of strong impairment in part of the video on the cognitive system is incorporated in the proposed method for video quality assessment. Extensive experimental results have demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed method for spatial-temporal distortion evaluation considering both regular and irregular frame loss.
Failed heart rate recovery at a critical age in 5-HT-deficient mice exposed to episodic anoxia: implications for SIDS
Authors: Cummings Kevin J. , Commons Kathryn G. , Hewitt Julie C. , Daubenspeck John A. , Li Aihua , Kinney Hannah C. , Nattie Eugene E.
Published: June 2011

Mice deficient in the transcription factor Pet-1−/− have a ∼70% deficiency of brainstem serotonin [5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)] neurons and exhibit spontaneous bradycardias in room air at postnatal day (P)5 and P12 and delayed gasping in response to a single episode of anoxia at P4.5 and P9.5 (Cummings KJ, Li A, Deneris ES, Nattie EE. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 298: R1333–R1342, 2010; and Erickson JT, Sposato BC. J Appl Physiol 106: 1785–1792, 2009). We hypothesized that at a critical age Pet-1−/− mice will fail to autoresuscitate during episodic anoxia, ultimately dying from a failure of gasping to restore heart rate (HR). We exposed P5, P8, and P12 Pet-1−/− mice and wild-type littermates (WT) to four 30-s episodes of anoxia (97% N2-3% CO2), separated by 5 min of room air. We observed excess mortality in Pet-1−/− only at P8: 43% of Pet-1−/− animals survived past the third episode of anoxia while ∼95% of WT survived all four episodes ( P = 0.004). No deaths occurred at P5 and at P12, and one of six Pet-1−/− mice died after the fourth episode, while all WT animals survived. At P8, dying Pet-1−/− animals had delayed gasping, recovery of HR, and eupnea after the first two episodes of anoxia ( P < 0.001 for each); death ultimately occurred when gasping failed to restore HR. Both high- and low-frequency components of HR variability were abnormally elevated in dying Pet-1−/− animals following the first episode of anoxia. Dying P8 Pet-1−/− animals had significantly fewer 5-HT neurons in the raphe magnus than surviving animals ( P < 0.001). Our data indicate a critical developmental window at which a brainstem 5-HT deficiency increases the risk of death during episodes of anoxia. They may apply to the sudden infant death syndrome, which occurs at a critical age and is associated with 5-HT deficiency.
The Regulation and Physiology of Mitochondrial Proton Leak
Authors: Divakaruni Ajit S. , Brand Martin D.
Published: June 2011

Mitochondria couple respiration to ATP synthesis through an electrochemical proton gradient. Proton leak across the inner membrane allows adjustment of the coupling efficiency. The aim of this review is threefold: 1) introduce the unfamiliar reader to proton leak and its physiological significance, 2) review the role and regulation of uncoupling proteins, and 3) outline the prospects of proton leak as an avenue to treat obesity, diabetes, and age-related disease.
Vascular Effects of Exercise: Endothelial Adaptations Beyond Active Muscle Beds
Authors: Padilla Jaume , Simmons Grant H. , Bender Shawn B. , Arce-Esquivel Arturo A. , Whyte Jeffrey J. , Laughlin M. Harold
Published: June 2011

Endothelial adaptations to exercise training are not exclusively conferred within the active muscle beds. Herein, we summarize key studies that have evaluated the impact of chronic exercise on the endothelium of vasculatures perfusing nonworking skeletal muscle, brain, viscera, and skin, concluding with discussion of potential mechanisms driving these endothelial adaptations.
A Novel SLM Scheme for PAPR Reduction in OFDM Systems
Authors: Ma Tian-Ming , Shi Yu-Song , Wang Ying-Guan
Published: June 2011

Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is an attractive transmission technique for high-bit-rate communication systems. One major drawback of OFDM is the high peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) of the transmitter's output signal. A novel selected mapping (SLM) scheme is proposed, which employs matrix transformation, cyclically shifting, and linear combining algorithm to generate new candidates. The novel scheme requires only one IFFT and gets more candidate transmission signals throughout the entire process. The complexity analysis and simulation results show that this algorithm can dramatically reduce computational complexity comparing with the conventional SLM scheme as in Hill et al., 2000; Yang et al., 2009; Wang and Ouyang, 2005; Li et al., 2010; and Heo et al., 2007 under the similar PAPR reduction performance.
Latent or Manifest Observers: Two Dichotomous Approaches of Surveillance in Mental Health Nursing
Authors: Salzmann-Erikson Martin , Eriksson Henrik
Published: June 2011

Background. Surveillance is a central activity among mental health nursing, but it is also questioned for its therapeutic value and considered to be custodial.Aim. The aim of this study was to describe how mental health nurses use different approaches to observe patients in relation to the practice of surveillance in psychiatric nursing care.Methods. In this study, Spradley's twelve-step ethnographic method was used.Results. Mental health nurses use their cultural knowing to observe patients in psychiatric care in various ways. Two dichotomous approaches were identified: the latent and the manifest approach.Discussion. Different strategies and techniques for observing patients are structured along two dichotomies. The underlying relationships between these two different dichotomous positions transform the act of observing into surveillance. This is further developed in a theoretical model called the powerful scheme of observation and surveillance (PSOS).
p‐Carleson Measures for a Class of Hardy‐Orlicz Spaces
Authors: Sehba Benoît Florent
Published: June 2011

An alternative interpretation of a family of weighted Carleson measures is used to characterize p‐Carleson measures for a class of Hardy‐Orlicz spaces admitting a nice weak factorization. As an application, we provide with a characterization of symbols of bounded weighted composition operators and Cesàro‐type integral operators from these Hardy‐Orlicz spaces to some classical holomorphic function spaces.
Effects of hypoxia on sterol synthesis, acyl-CoA:cholesterol acyltransferase activity, and efflux of cholesterol in cultured rabbit skin fibroblasts.
Authors: Mukodani J , Ishikawa Y , Fukuzaki H
Published: June 2011

To elucidate the mechanisms of cholesterol accumulation in cells under hypoxic conditions, we tested the effects of hypoxia on sterol synthesis, on the activity of acyl-CoA:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT), and on the efflux of cholesterol in cultured rabbit skin fibroblasts. Sterol synthesis was measured by the incorporation of 14C-acetate into sterol, and ACAT activity, by the incorporation of 14C-oleate into cholesteryl ester. Hypoxia suppressed both sterol synthesis and the efflux of cholesterol but increased ACAT activity. These results suggest that hypoxia disturbs the balance of cholesterol metabolism in cells and induces intracellular lipid accumulation.