bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Integrated Metrics for Improving the Life Cycle Approach to Assessing Product System Sustainability
Authors: Ingwersen Wesley , Cabezas Heriberto , Weisbrod Anne , Eason Tarsha , Demeke Bayou , Ma Xin , Hawkins Troy , Lee Seung-Jin , Bare Jane , Ceja Manuel
Published: March 2014

Life cycle approaches are critical for identifying and reducing environmental burdens of products. While these methods can indicate potential environmental impacts of a product, current Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methods fail to integrate the multiple impacts of a system into unified measures of social, economic or environmental performance related to sustainability. Integrated metrics that combine multiple aspects of system performance based on a common scientific or economic principle have proven to be valuable for sustainability evaluation. In this work, we propose methods of adapting four integrated metrics for use with LCAs of product systems: ecological footprint, emergy, green net value added, and Fisher information. These metrics provide information on the full product system in land, energy, monetary equivalents, and as a unitless information index; each bundled with one or more indicators for reporting. When used together and for relative comparison, integrated metrics provide a broader coverage of sustainability aspects from multiple theoretical perspectives that is more likely to illuminate potential issues than individual impact indicators. These integrated metrics are recommended for use in combination with traditional indicators used in LCA. Future work will test and demonstrate the value of using these integrated metrics and combinations to assess product system sustainability.
Socio-Economic Survey as a Support Tool during the Scaling Up of Improved Stoves in the Logone Valley (Chad/Cameroon)
Authors: Vitali Francesco , Vaccari Mentore
Published: March 2014

Field assessment plays a key role in the evaluation of the energy access modalities and of the socio-economic features that may influence the beneficiaries’ choices and preferences in the adoption and use of an energy technology. This work presents the findings of a survey conducted during the implementation of a cooperation project in the Logone Valley (Chad/Cameroon). After an initial period of promotion of an improved cookstove (ICS), a survey was conducted that was aimed at identifying different beneficiary groups, matching their preferences and cooking habits to the technology proposed, in order to best tailor the scaling-up strategy. In-depth analysis of the data gathered identified two household-user behaviors and the relative influencing features: in the urban area, the increased adoption rates confirmed the appropriateness of the technology proposed and its sustainability, whereas in the rural area, ICS use was not perceived by the final users as advantageous and lower adoption rates were observed. Thus, due to the outcome of the survey, the project action was re-oriented in order to achieve a higher impact on the territory and on the population.
Methods for Assessing Basic Particle Properties and Cytotoxicity of Engineered Nanoparticles
Authors: Kalantzi Olga-Ioanna , Biskos George
Published: March 2014

The increasing penetration of materials and products containing engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) to the market is posing many concerns regarding their environmental impacts. To assess these impacts, there is an urgent need of techniques for determining the health-related properties of ENPs and standards for assessing their toxicity. Although a wide number of systems for characterizing nanoparticles in different media (i.e., gases and liquids) is already commercially available, the development of protocols for determining the cytotoxicity of ENPs is still at an infant stage, drawing upon existing knowledge from general toxicology. In this regard, differences in the preparation of ENP-containing solutions for cytotoxicity testing, as well as in the steps involved in the tests can result in significant deviations and inconsistencies between studies. In an attempt to highlight the urgent need for assessing the environmental impacts of nanotechnology, this article provides a brief overview of the existing methods for determining health-related properties of ENPs and their cytotoxicity.
HCMV Infection of Human Trophoblast Progenitor Cells of the Placenta Is Neutralized by a Human Monoclonal Antibody to Glycoprotein B and Not by Antibodies to the Pentamer Complex
Authors: Zydek Martin , Petitt Matthew , Fang-Hoover June , Adler Barbara , Kauvar Lawrence , Pereira Lenore , Tabata Takako
Published: March 2014

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is the major viral cause of congenital infection and birth defects. Primary maternal infection often results in virus transmission, and symptomatic babies can have permanent neurological deficiencies and deafness. Congenital infection can also lead to intrauterine growth restriction, a defect in placental transport. HCMV replicates in primary cytotrophoblasts (CTBs), the specialized cells of the placenta, and inhibits differentiation/invasion. Human trophoblast progenitor cells (TBPCs) give rise to the mature cell types of the chorionic villi, CTBs and multi-nucleated syncytiotrophoblasts (STBs). Here we report that TBPCs are fully permissive for pathogenic and attenuated HCMV strains. Studies with a mutant virus lacking a functional pentamer complex (gH/gL/pUL128-131A) showed that virion entry into TBPCs is independent of the pentamer. In addition, infection is blocked by a potent human neutralizing monoclonal antibody (mAb), TRL345, reactive with glycoprotein B (gB), but not mAbs to the pentamer proteins pUL130/pUL131A. Functional studies revealed that neutralization of infection preserved the capacity of TBPCs to differentiate and assemble into trophospheres composed of CTBs and STBs in vitro. Our results indicate that mAbs to gB protect trophoblast progenitors of the placenta and could be included in antibody treatments developed to suppress congenital infection and prevent disease.
Super-Resolution Microscopy: A Virus’ Eye View of the Cell
Authors: Grove Joe
Published: March 2014

It is difficult to observe the molecular choreography between viruses and host cell components, as they exist on a spatial scale beyond the reach of conventional microscopy. However, novel super-resolution microscopy techniques have cast aside technical limitations to reveal a nanoscale view of virus replication and cell biology. This article provides an introduction to super-resolution imaging; in particular, localisation microscopy, and explores the application of such technologies to the study of viruses and tetraspanins, the topic of this special issue.
Integration of a Hydrological Model within a Geographical Information System: Application to a Forest Watershed
Authors: Fotakis Dimitris , Sidiropoulos Epameinondas , Loukas Athanasios
Published: March 2014

Watershed simulation software used for operational purposes must possess both dependability of results and flexibility in parameter selection and testing. The UBC watershed model (UBCWM) contains a wide spectrum of parameters expressing meteorological, geological, as well as ecological watershed characteristics. The hydrological model was coupled to the MapInfo GIS and the software created was named Watershed Mapper (WM). WM is endowed with several features permitting operational utilization. These include input data and basin geometry visualization, land use/cover and soil simulation, exporting of statistical results and thematic maps and interactive variation of disputed parameters. For the application of WM two hypothetical scenarios of forest fires were examined in a study watershed. Four major rainfall events were selected from 12-year daily precipitation data and the corresponding peak flows were estimated for the base line data and hypothetical scenarios. A significant increase was observed as an impact of forest fires on peak flows. Due to its flexibility the combined tool described herein may be utilized in modeling long-term hydrological changes in the context of unsteady hydrological analyses.
Developing a New Revenue Business Model in Social Network
Authors: Chen Te Fu
Published: March 2014

This chapter focuses on a new business model in social networking, uses platform strategy to discuss possible business models, evaluates the optimal model for partnering with social networking service providers. This research develops a new revenue business model in social networking with a case study and discusses its potential monetization business model. The chapter reviews five business models including: 1) social media startups; 2) challenges social networks face: must monetize or die; 3) a case study of the new effective social business model – Facebook; 4) monetization: Facebook revenue and business model; and 5) a discussion of monetizing social networks: the four dominant business models and how you should implement them in the future. Through a comprehensive review, the chapter proposes a social media monetization model as the reference for firms to implement new business models of social networking.
A Practical Approach to Enhancement of Accuracy of Similarity Model Using WordNet towards Semantic Service Discovery
Authors: Surianarayanan Chellammal , Ganapathy Gopinath , Ramasamy Manikandan Sethunarayanan
Published: March 2014

Semantic Web service discovery provides high retrieval accuracy. However, it imposes an implicit constraint to service clients that the clients must express their queries with the same domain ontologies as used by the service providers. Fulfilling this criterion is very tedious. Hence, a WordNet (general ontology)-based similarity model is proposed for service discovery, and its accuracy is enhanced to a level comparable to the accuracy of computing similarity using service specific ontologies. This is done by optimizing similarity threshold, which refers to a minimum similarity that is required to decide whether a given pair of services is similar or not. The proposed model is implemented and results are presented. The approach warrants clients to express their queries without specifying any ontology and alleviates the problem of maintaining complex domain ontologies. Moreover, the computation time of WordNet-based model is very low when compared to specific ontology-based model.
Web Services in China
Authors: Dong Dong , Sun Lizhe , Sun Zhaohao
Published: March 2014

This chapter examines Web services in China. More specifically, it examines the state-of-the-art of China's Web services in terms of cloud services, mobile services, and social networking services through exploring several leading Web service providers in the ICT industry, including Alibaba, Tencent, China Mobile, and Huawei. This research reveals that the Chinese culture has played an important role in the success of China's Web services. The trade-off ideology and communication conventions from Chinese traditional culture, as well as Mao Zedong thought, greatly influenced the development of China's Web services. The findings of this chapter might facilitate the research and development of Web services and better understanding of the growth in China's ICT industry, as well as future trends.
E-Business in Education
Authors: Achugbue Edwin Iroroeavwo
Published: March 2014

This chapter is anchored on previous research to examine e-business in education, with emphasis on the Delta State University Abraka, Delta State, Nigeria. The study focused on the concept of e-business, e-business in education, and explored the various educational routines, such as e-learning, tele-learning, research, and administration. The study examined classification of e-business, e-business tools, such as e-mail, Websites, message boards, online catalogs, and telephone and e-business activities in education. It also focused on e-payment of fees, students' registration, checking of results, and online application as part of e-business routines in administration. Finally, the study looked at the barriers to e-business adoption in education using diffusion theory of innovation. A conclusion and recommendations are then made.
Emergency contraception amongst female college students – knowledge, attitude and practice
Authors: Nibabe Wendwosen T. , Mgutshini Tennyson
Published: March 2014

Background: Unwanted teenage pregnancies have a notable detrimental impact on the learners’ trajectory and have been associated with jeopardising the students’ educational progress and future career prospects. These pregnancies are mostly unplanned and unintended and many are terminated, either legally or illegally.Aim: The aim of this study was to explore the contributory role played by the knowledge, attitude and practices of female college students with respect to the utilisation of emergency contraceptives.Setting: Three tertiary institutions in Dessie, Ethiopia.Methods: Quantitative self-administered questionnaires were used to collect descriptive data from 352 female college students.Results: The study revealed that there was a high percentage (78.3%) of unwanted pregnancies amongst those engaging in sex. Significantly, nearly half (43.3%) of these unwanted pregnancies resulted in abortion. Only 10% of the students sampled admitted to ever having used emergency contraception. Even though more than half (69.9%) of the students knew about emergency contraception, only 27% of them felt confident that they understood when it was most effective.Conclusion: These and other observed findings confirm the need for improvement of female college students’ knowledge and timely utilisation of emergency contraception.
Extended-spectrum beta-lactamases producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniaei: A Multi-centric Study Across Karnataka
Authors: Rao Sridhar PN , Rama Prasad Subba , Gurushanthappa Vishwanath , Manipura Radhakrishna , Srinivasan Krishna
Published: March 2014

Background: There are sporadic reports on detection of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) producers from Karnataka; hence, this is a first multicentric study across Karnataka state to determine the prevalence of ESBL production among clinical isolates of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniaei.

Aims and objectives: To determine the prevalence of ESBL producing clinical isolates of E. coli and K. pneumoniae from five geographically distributed centers across Karnataka, to study the susceptibility of ESBL producing isolates to other beta-lactam and beta-lactam-beta-lactamase inhibitors and to demonstrate transferability of plasmids coding for ESBL phenotype.

Materials and Methods: Two hundred isolates of E. coli and K. pneumoniae each were collected from each of the five centers (Bellary, Dharwad, Davangere, Kolar and Mangalore). They were screened for resistance to screening agents (ceftazidime, cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, aztreonam) and positive isolates were confirmed for ESBL production by test described by Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute . Co-production of ESBL and AmpC beta-lactamase was identified by using amino-phenylboronic acid disk method. Susceptibility of ESBL producers to beta-lactam antibiotics and beta-lactamase inhibitors was performed. Transferability of plasmids was performed by conjugation experiment.

Results: Overall prevalence of ESBL production among E. coli and K. pneumoniae across five centers of the state was 57.5%. ESBL production was found to be 61.4% among E. coli and 46.2% among K. pneumoniae. ESBL production was significantly more among E. coli than K. pneumoniae. Significant variations in distribution of ESBL across the state was observed among E. coli isolates, but not among K. pneumoniae isolates. All ESBL producers demonstrated minimum inhibitory concentration levels ≥2 μg/ml towards cefotaxime, ceftazidime and ceftriaxone.

Conclusion: Overall prevalence of ESBL production among clinical isolates of E. coli and K. pneumoniae across Karnataka state was high. The prevalence of ESBL production was significantly higher with E. coli than K. pneumoniae isolates. Higher rates of resistance to ceftriaxone and cefotaxime than to ceftazidime suggests the possibility of presence of CTX-M type ESBLs. Of all the beta-lactam/beta-lactamase inhibitor combinations tested, cefepime-tazobactam demonstrated highest in-vitro activity against ESBL producers. There was no statistical difference in the transferability of plasmids among E. coli and K. pneumoniae.
Comparison of Three Blood Culture Techniques in the Diagnosis of Human Brucellosis
Authors: Mangalgi Smita , Sajjan Annapurna
Published: March 2014

Background: Isolation of Brucellai is the gold standard in the laboratory diagnosis of brucellosis. As Brucellai is intracellular and the number of circulating bacteria is usually low, removal/dilution of antibacterial substances, concentration of bacteria and optimal culture conditions may enhance the rate of isolation.

Aims and Objectives: The objective of the following study was to compare the lysis concentration (LC), clot culture and conventional Castaneda blood culture techniques for the isolation rate and recovery time in the diagnosis of human brucellosis.

Materials and Methods: Blood cultures by LC, clot culture and conventional method were performed in 169 patients who had antibody titers ≥160 international units by the serum agglutination test.

Results: Overall blood culture positivity was found to be 24.8%, 43.1% and 34.9% by conventional, LC and clot culture techniques in that order. The mean recovery time by LC and clot culture techniques was significantly less than conventional method, resulting in an overall difference of nearly 6 and 4 days respectively.

Conclusions: For the isolation of Brucellai from blood, LC and clot culture techniques are better than the conventional technique.
Schistosomiasis of the Appendix in a Tertiary Hospital in Northern Nigeria: A 22-Year Review
Authors: Ahmed Saad A , Mohammed Umar , Sanda Robert B , Makama Jerry , Shehu Mohammed S , Ameh Emmanuel A , Mayun Ahmed A
Published: March 2014

Background: Schistosomiasis is one of the neglected tropical diseases caused by a trematode, Schistosoma spp, and affects many systems in the body including the gastrointestinal tract. Schistosomiasis of the appendix is a well-recognized disease and presents as a chronic granulomatous inflammation. This study aims to document the frequency and pattern of distribution of schistosomal appendicitis in our environment.

Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective histopathological review of schistosomiasis of the appendix in the Department of Pathology, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria - Nigeria, between January 1, 1991 to December 31, 2012.

Results: Within the study period, there were 1,464 appendectomy specimens histologically examined in the Pathology Laboratory. Thirty of these, representing 2.1%, were diagnosed as schistosomiasis of the appendix. The male:female ratio was 6.5:1 and peak age incidence was in the 20-29 years age group. Abdominal pains, vomiting and fever were seen in 23 (76.7%) and altered bowel motion in seven (23.3%) patients.

Conclusion: This study showed that schistosomiasis of the appendix is not rare and that its presentation is similar to other forms of appendicitis. There is a need to focus on the prevention of schistosomiasis in order to reduce morbidity among these economically viable age groups.
Quality and Quantity of Extracted Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) from Preserved Soft Tissues of Putrefied Unidentifiable Human Corpse
Authors: Pooniya Shashank , Lalwani Sanjeev , Raina Anupuma , Millo Tabin , Dogra Tirath Das
Published: March 2014

Context: The appropriate collection and preservation of soft tissues from putrefied unidentifiable human corpse for the purpose of identification using DNA profiling technique is critically important especially in developing countries like India having different levels of health-care set ups with largely varying facilities and varying climatic conditions.

Aims: The present study was carried out, mainly focusing on quality and quantity of extracted DNA from the soft tissues of putrefied unidentifiable human corpse stored upto 4 weeks at 4°C and at −80°C for DNA analysis.

Materials and Methods: The present study was conducted on 16 different putrefied unidentifiable human corpses after getting approval from institutional ethical committee. Around 2 g of four different tissues (brain, kidney, heart and muscle) were collected and preserved for one month followed by DNA extraction using the organic method, the quality and quantity of high molecular weight-DNA was estimated using the spectrophotometer and gel electrophoresis. Further, the amplification polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was also performed (AmpFLSTR® Indentifiler™ PCR Amplification kit for multiple loci, of Applied Biosystems, Lab India) and was checked using continuous PAGE.

Results: The yield of DNA was significantly higher at −80°C for all the four tissues collected and was best for brain followed by heart, kidney and worst for muscles in all cases.

Conclusions: It is suggested that the brain tissue preserved at −80°C is the best among soft issues for DNA extraction. Refrigeration or deep freezing facility should be available at all the centers.
Multilocular Cystic Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Rare Entity with Review of Literature
Authors: Wahal Shailja Puri , Mardi Kavita
Published: March 2014

Multilocular cystic renal cell carcinoma (MCRCC) represents a rare variant of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC). MCRCC has been recognized as a separate subtype of RCC in the 2004 World Health Organization (WHO) classification of adult renal tumors. MCRCC is diagnosed on the basis of strict histological criteria according to 2004 WHO classification. The chief differentials diagnosis to be considered include cystic nephroma, cystic clear cell carcinoma, clear cell papillary renal cell carcinoma and tubulocystic carcinoma. Only few cases of MCRCC are reported in literature. This case is being highlighted for its rarity and so as to avoid a misdiagnosis as conventional RCC.
Design and multicentric Implementation of a generic Software Architecture for Patient Recruitment Systems re-using existing HIS tools and Routine Patient Data
Authors: Köpcke F. , Leusch T. , Majeed R.W. , Schreiweis B. , Wenk J. , Bergh B. , Ohmann C. , Röhrig R. , Prokosch H.U. , Dugas M. , Trinczek B.
Published: March 2014

Objective: (1) To define features and data items of a Patient Recruitment System (PRS); (2) to design a generic software architecture of such a system covering the requirements; (3) to identify implementation options available within different Hospital Information System (HIS) environments; (4) to implement five PRS following the architecture and utilizing the implementation options as proof of concept.

Methods: Existing PRS were reviewed and interviews with users and developers conducted. All reported PRS features were collected and prioritized according to their published success and user’s request. Common feature sets were combined into software modules of a generic software architecture. Data items to process and transfer were identified for each of the modules. Each site collected implementation options available within their respective HIS environment for each module, provided a prototypical implementation based on available implementation possibilities and supported the patient recruitment of a clinical trial as a proof of concept.

Results: 24 commonly reported and requested features of a PRS were identified, 13 of them prioritized as being mandatory. A UML version 2 based software architecture containing 5 software modules covering these features was developed. 13 data item groups processed by the modules, thus required to be available electronically, have been identified. Several implementation options could be identified for each module, most of them being available at multiple sites. Utilizing available tools, a PRS could be implemented in each of the five participating German university hospitals.

Conclusion: A set of required features and data items of a PRS has been described for the first time. The software architecture covers all features in a clear, well-defined way. The variety of implementation options and the prototypes show that it is possible to implement the given architecture in different HIS environments, thus enabling more sites to successfully support patient recruitment in clinical trials.

Citation: Trinczek B, Köpcke F, Leusch T, Majeed RW, Schreiweis B, Wenk J, Bergh B, Ohmann C, Röhrig R, Prokosch HU, Dugas M. Design and multicentric implementation of a generic software architecture for patient recruitment systems re-using existing HIS tools and routine patient data. Appl Clin Inf 2014; 5: 264–283 http://dx.doi.org/10.4338/ACI-2013-07-RA-0047
Text Prediction on Structured Data Entry in Healthcare
Authors: Hua L. , Wang S. , Gong Y.
Published: March 2014

Background: Structured data entry pervades computerized patient safety event reporting systems and serves as a key component in collecting patient-related information in electronic health records. Clinicians would spend more time being with patients and arrive at a high probability of proper diagnosis and treatment, if data entry can be completed efficiently and effectively. Historically it has been proven text prediction holds potential for human performance regarding data entry in a variety of research areas.

Objective: This study aimed at examining a function of text prediction proposed for increasing efficiency and data quality in structured data entry.

Methods: We employed a two-group randomized design with fifty-two nurses in this usability study. Each participant was assigned the task of reporting patient falls by answering multiple choice questions either with or without the text prediction function. t-test statistics and linear regression model were applied to analyzing the results of the two groups.

Results: While both groups of participants exhibited a good capacity of accomplishing the assigned task, the results were an overall 13.0% time reduction and 3.9% increase of response accuracy for the group utilizing the prediction function.

Conclusion: As a primary attempt investigating the effectiveness of text prediction in healthcare, study findings validated the necessity of text prediction to structured date entry, and laid the ground for further research improving the effectiveness of text prediction in clinical settings.

Citation: Hua L, Wang S, Gong Y. Text prediction on structured data entry in healthcare: A two-group randomized usability study measuring the prediction impact on user performance. Appl Clin Inf 2014; 5: 249–263 http://dx.doi.org/10.4338/ACI-2013-11-RA-0095
Welfare against Growth Gains in Post-Transition Countries. What are the Consequences for Stability?
Authors: Lissowska Maria
Published: March 2014

This paper discusses the underpinnings of the financial crisis of the last decade in posttransition countries. It explores the endogenous reasons of this crisis, and in particular a possible link between delayed and unequal growth of household incomes on the one hand and the instability of the growth and depth of recession after the financial crisis on the other. It indicates possible factors underpinning the rapidly growing indebtedness of households, enabling faster, but unsustainable growth in consumption. Furthermore, it claims also that the artificially boosted growth of consumption and a favourable proportion between wages and profits could attract investment (also FDI), possibly searching for short-term gains. It underlines that while the inflow of financial funds was the major reason for unstable growth in this region, endogenous factors also contributed.
Aqueous-phase photochemical oxidation and direct photolysis of vanillin – a model compound of methoxy phenols from biomass burning
Authors: Li Y. J. , Huang D. D. , Cheung H. Y. , Lee A. K. Y. , Chan C. K.
Published: March 2014

Abstract. We present here experimental results on aqueous-phase (A) photochemical oxidation (with UV and OH radicals generated from H2O2 photolysis) and (B) direct photolysis (with only UV irradiation) of a methoxy phenol, vanillin (VL), as a model compound from biomass burning. Both on-line aerosol mass spectrometric (AMS) characterization and off-line chemical analyses were performed. AMS analyses of dried atomized droplets of the bulk reacting mixtures showed that VL almost entirely evaporates during the drying process. Large amounts of organic mass remained in the particle phase after reactions under both conditions. Under condition (A), AMS measured organic mass first increased rapidly and then decreased, attributable to the formation of non-volatile products and subsequent formation of smaller and volatile products, respectively. The oxygen-to-carbon (O : C) ratio of the products reached 1.5 after about 80 min, but dropped substantially thereafter. In contrast, organic mass increased slowly under condition (B). The O : C ratio reached 1.0 after 180 min. In off-line analyses, small oxygenates were detected under condition (A), while hydroxylated products and dimers of VL were detected under condition (B). Particle hygroscopic growth factor (GF) and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity of the reacting mixtures were found to depend on both organic volume fraction and the degree of oxygenation of organics. Results show that (1) aqueous-phase processes can lead to the retention of a large portion of the organic mass in the particle phase; (2) once retained, this portion of organic mass significantly changes the hygroscopicity and CCN activity of the aerosol particles; (3) intensive photochemical oxidation gave rise to an O : C ratio as high as 1.5 but the ratio decreased as further oxidation led to smaller and more volatile products; and (4) polymerization occurred with direct photolysis, resulting in high-molecular-weight products of a yellowish color. This study demonstrates that aqueous-phase reactions of a methoxy phenol can lead to substantial amount of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation. Given the vast amount of biomass burning input globally, model representation of either the SOA budget or their subsequent effects would not be adequate if the contribution of SOA formation from aqueous-phase reactions of methoxy phenols is not considered.
Organic aerosol concentration and composition over Europe: insights from comparison of regional model predictions with aerosol mass spectrometer factor analysis
Authors: Fountoukis C. , Megaritis A. G. , Skyllakou K. , Charalampidis P. E. , Pilinis C. , Denier van der Gon H. A. C. , Crippa M. , Canonaco F. , Mohr C. , Prévôt A. S. H. , Allan J. D. , Poulain L. , Petäjä T. , Tiitta P. , Carbone S. , Kiendler-Scharr A. , Nemitz E. , O'Dowd C. , Swietlicki E. , Pandis S. N.
Published: March 2014

Abstract. A detailed three-dimensional regional chemical transport model (PMCAMx) was applied over Europe focusing on the formation and chemical transformation of organic matter. Three periods representative of different seasons were simulated, corresponding to intensive field campaigns. An extensive set of AMS measurements was used to evaluate the model and, using factor analysis results, gain more insight into the sources and transformations of organic aerosol (OA). Overall, the agreement between predictions and measurements for OA concentration is encouraging with the model reproducing two thirds of the data (daily average mass concentrations) within a factor of two. Oxygenated OA (OOA) is predicted to contribute 93% to total OA during May, 87% during winter and 96% during autumn with the rest consisting of fresh primary OA (POA). Predicted OOA concentrations compare well with the observed OOA values for all periods with an average fractional error of 0.53 and a bias equal to −0.07 (mean error = 0.9 μg m−3, mean bias = −0.2 μg m−3). The model systematically underpredicts fresh POA in most sites during late spring and autumn (mean bias up to −0.8 μg m−3). Based on results from a source apportionment algorithm running in parallel with PMCAMx, most of the POA originates from biomass burning (fires and residential wood combustion) and therefore biomass burning OA is most likely underestimated in the emission inventory. The model performs well at all sites when the PMF-estimated low volatility OOA is compared against the OA with C* ≤ 0.1 μg m−3 and semivolatile OOA against the OA with C* > 0.1 μg m−3 respectively.
First results from a rotational Raman scattering cloud algorithm applied to the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) Ozone Mapping Profiler Spectrometer (OMPS) nadir mapper
Authors: Vasilkov A. , Joiner J. , Seftor C.
Published: March 2014

Abstract. This paper reports initial results from an Ozone Mapping Profiler Suite (OMPS) nadir mapper cloud pressure and cloud fraction algorithm. The OMPS cloud products are intended for use in OMPS ozone or other trace-gas algorithms. We developed the OMPS cloud products using a heritage algorithm developed for the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA's Aura satellite. The cloud pressure algorithm utilizes the filling-in of ultra-violet solar Fraunhofer lines by rotational Raman scattering. The OMPS cloud products are evaluated by comparison with OMI cloud products that have been compared in turn with other collocated satellite data including cloud optical thickness profiles derived from a combination of measurements from the CloudSat radar and the MODIS imaging radiometer. We find that the probability density functions (PDFs) of effective cloud fraction retrieved from OMPS and OMI measurements are very similar. The PDFs of the OMPS and OMI cloud pressures are comparable. However, OMPS retrieves somewhat higher pressures on average. The current NASA total ozone retrieval algorithm makes use of a monthly gridded cloud pressure climatology developed from OMI. This climatology captures much of the variability associated with the relevant cloud pressures. However, the use of actual cloud pressures retrieved with OMPS in place of the OMI climatology appears to improve OMPS total column ozone estimates slightly.
Dynamics of auto- and heterotrophic picoplankton and associated viruses in Lake Geneva
Authors: Parvathi A. , Zhong X. , Pradeep Ram A. S. , Jacquet S.
Published: March 2014

Abstract. Microbial dynamics have rarely been investigated in Lake Geneva, known as the largest lake in western Europe. From a 5-month survey, we report dynamic patterns of free-living virus, bacteria and small phytoplankton abundances in response to a variety of environmental parameters. For the first time, we fractionated the primary production to separate the contribution of different size-related biological compartments and measured both bacterial and viral production in addition to experiments conducted to quantify the virus-induced bacterial mortality. We observed marked seasonal and vertical variations in picocyanobacteria, bacteria and virus abundances and production. The contribution of picoplankton and nanoplankton production to the total primary production was high (reaching up to 76% of total primary production) in November and the spring–summer transition period, respectively. The impact of viral lysis on both bacteria and picocyanobacteria was significantly higher than grazing activities. Virus-induced picocyanobacterial mortality reached up to 66% of cell removal compared to virus induced (heterotrophic) bacterial mortality, which reached a maximum of 34% in July. Statistical analyzes revealed that temperature and top-down control by viruses are among important factors regulating the picocyanobacterial dynamics in this lake. More generally speaking, our results add to the growing evidence and accepted view nowadays that viruses are an important actor of freshwater microbial dynamics and more globally of the functioning of the microbial food webs.
Medicanes in an ocean–atmosphere coupled regional climate model
Authors: Akhtar N. , Brauch J. , Dobler A. , Béranger K. , Ahrens B.
Published: March 2014

Abstract. So-called medicanes (Mediterranean hurricanes) are meso-scale, marine, and warm-core Mediterranean cyclones that exhibit some similarities to tropical cyclones. The strong cyclonic winds associated with medicanes threaten the highly populated coastal areas around the Mediterranean basin. To reduce the risk of casualties and overall negative impacts, it is important to improve the understanding of medicanes with the use of numerical models. In this study, we employ an atmospheric limited-area model (COSMO-CLM) coupled with a one-dimensional ocean model (1-D NEMO-MED12) to simulate medicanes. The aim of this study is to assess the robustness of the coupled model in simulating these extreme events. For this purpose, 11 historical medicane events are simulated using the atmosphere-only model, COSMO-CLM, and coupled model, with different setups (horizontal atmospheric grid-spacings of 0.44°, 0.22°, and 0.08°; with/without spectral nudging, and an ocean grid-spacing of 1/12°). The results show that at high-resolution, the coupled model is able to not only simulate most of medicane events but also improve the track length, core temperature, and wind speed of simulated medicanes compared to the atmosphere-only simulations. The results suggest that the coupled model is more proficient for systemic and detailed studies of historical medicane events, and that this model can be an effective tool for future projections.
Homogenisation of a gridded snow water equivalent climatology for Alpine terrain: methodology and applications
Authors: Jörg-Hess S. , Fundel F. , Jonas T. , Zappa M.
Published: March 2014

Abstract. Gridded snow water equivalent (SWE) data sets are valuable for estimating the snow water resources and verify different model systems, e.g. hydrological, land surface or atmospheric models. However, changing data availability represents a considerable challenge when trying to derive consistent time series for SWE products. In an attempt to improve the product consistency, we first evaluated the differences between two climatologies of SWE grids that were calculated on the basis of data from 110 and 203 stations, respectively. The "shorter" climatology (2001–2009) was produced using 203 stations (map203) and the "longer" one (1971–2009) 110 stations (map110). Relative to map203, map110 underestimated SWE, especially at higher elevations and at the end of the winter season. We tested the potential of quantile mapping to compensate for mapping errors in map110 relative to map203. During a 9 yr calibration period from 2001 to 2009, for which both map203 and map110 were available, the method could successfully refine the spatial and temporal SWE representation in map110 by making seasonal, regional and altitude-related distinctions. Expanding the calibration to the full 39 yr showed that the general underestimation of map110 with respect to map203 could be removed for the whole winter. The calibrated SWE maps fitted the reference (map203) well when averaged over regions and time periods, where the mean error is approximately zero. However, deviations between the calibrated maps and map203 were observed at single grid cells and years. When we looked at three different regions in more detail, we found that the calibration had the largest effect in the region with the highest proportion of catchment areas above 2000 m a.s.l. and that the general underestimation of map110 compared to map203 could be removed for the entire snow season. The added value of the calibrated SWE climatology is illustrated with practical examples: the verification of a hydrological model, the estimation of snow resource anomalies and the predictability of runoff through SWE.
The Determinants of Entrepreneurial Act in the Moroccan Textile Sector: A Logistic Regression Approach
Authors: TAOUAB Omar
Published: March 2014

Entrepreneurship and business creation is a key factor to enhance the vitality and development of the Moroccan economy especially when undertaken in areas of high economic impact including the textile sector.To delineate the main determinants of entrepreneurial activity factors, we mobilized the theoretical model of planned behavior (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1991), and the model of Shapero (1993) who consider the desirability of the act of undertake as a dependent variable of demographic variables and personality traits. Our results have directed us to the proposal of some actions to be taken to increase the likelihood of undertaking in this area. Each proposed action is accompanied by an approximation of the expected positive effects on endogenous variable due to a variation of a factor
Some inequalities of Hermite-Hadamard type for $r$-$\varphi$-preinvex functions
Authors: Jiang Wei-Dong , Niu Da-Wei , Qi Feng
Published: March 2014

In the paper, the authors introduce a new concept of $r$-$\varphi$-preinvex functions and establish some new integral inequalities of Hermite-Hadamard type.
Approximation methods in the theory of hybrid differential equations with linear perturbations of second type
Authors: Dhage Bapurao Chandrabahan
Published: March 2014

In this paper, some existence theorems for the extremal solutions are proved for an initial value problem of nonlinear hybrid differential equations via constructive methods. The monotone iterative techniques for initial value problems of first order hybrid differential equations are developed and it is shown that the sequences of successive iterations defined in a certain way converge to the minimal and maximal solutions of the hybrid differential equations.
How Should Journal Quality be Ranked?An Application to Agricultural, Energy, Environmental and Resource Economics
Authors: Chang Chia-Lin , McAleer Michael
Published: March 2014

The Thomson Reuters ISI Web of Science citations database (hereafter ISI) category of Economics has one of the largest numbers of journals, at 304 (as of 2011) and 333 (as of 2013), of any ISI discipline, and hence has wide coverage. The paper analyses the leading international journals in the Economics sub-disciplines of Agricultural, Energy, Environmental and Resource Economics using quantifiable Research Assessment Measures (RAMs),and highlights the similarities and differences in alternative RAMs.The RAMs are based on alternative transformations of citations and influence taken from the ISI database. Alternative RAMs may be calculated annually or updated daily to answer the perennial questions as to When, Where and How (frequently) published papers are cited. The RAMs include the most widely used RAM, namely the classic 2-year impact factor including journal self citations (2YIF), 2-year impact factor excluding journal self citations (2YIF*), 5-year impact factor including journal self citations (5YIF), Immediacy (or zero-year impact factor (0YIF)), Eigenfactor, Article Influence, C3PO (Citation Performance Per Paper Online), h-index, PI-BETA (Papers Ignored - By Even The Authors), 2-year Self-citation Threshold Approval Ratings (2Y-STAR),HistoricalSelf-citation Threshold Approval Ratings (H-STAR), Impact Factor Inflation (IFI), and Cited Article Influence (CAI). As data are not available for 5YIF, Article Influence and CAI for one of the 20 journals considered, 13 RAMsare analysed for 19 highly-cited journals in Agricultural, Energy, Environmental and Resource Economics in the ISI category of Economics. The harmonic mean of the ranksof the 13 RAMs for the 19 highly-cited journals are also presented. It is shown that emphasizing the 2-year impact factor of a journal, which partly answers the question as to When published papers are cited, to the exclusion of other informative RAMs, which answer Where and How (frequently) published papers are cited, can lead to a distorted evaluation of journal impact and influence relative to the harmonic mean of the ranks. The 'age' effect of journals, that is, the number of years for which the journals have been included in ISI, on the RAMs is also examined to check whether the RAMs are being compared fairly.
National Economics
Authors: Hughes James H.
Published: March 2014

With the slow recovery from the Global Economic Recession that began in 2008 and its lingering high unemployment in the United States and Europe, in spite of the best efforts of governments and central banks to remedy it, it may be helpful to suggest some adjustments in current economic thinking.One adjustment may be found in the introduction of National Economics, in addition to macro and micro-economic theory, to better engage issues of free trade, the international outsourcing of manufacturing and research and development known as globalization, protectionism, Chinese mercantilism, and national investment policies, which may accompany the preparation of economic stimulus packages.While free trade is generally acknowledged as a positive factor in contributing to economic growth, it has been used by mercantilists, both countries and corporations, as a cloak to achieve a National Income redistribution to enrich themselves at the expense of reducing employment, and wages and salaries within a country, and to substitute poorly made or low quality goods for goods of better quality. One issue of National Economics that stands to be addressed is the contribution of Chinese mercantilism to the Global Economic Recession and its effect on unemployment rates. A major trading partner with the United States, Europe, and other countries, China uses a substantially undervalued currency compared to the U.S. dollar to increase its export of manufactured goods and economic growth rate, while suppressing the manufacturing sector in its trading partners. Within many countries, large trade imbalances with China play a role in the distribution of National Income by depressing employment, wages, salaries, and investment. While mercantilists claim that these reductions in employment, wages, and salaries are offset by the proliferation of inexpensive Chinese goods, low quality goods do not compensate for reductions in employment and investment. A second issue of National Economics that stands to be addressed, at least within the United States, is the need to prepare economic stimulus packages that represent a balance of new spending along with adjustments in entitlement programs and a reworking of the current regulatory environment, which policymakers use to reward corporate dinosaurs and financial manipulators, while the constrict the ability of small banks and lending institutions such as credit unions to make consumer loans and finance mortgages, with the effect of repressing the nation's economy. Finally, some thoughts are given regarding the effect of Chinese mercantilism on Taiwan's economy, and Japan's effort to renew its economy.
Molecular insights into the origin of the Hox-TALE patterning system
Authors: Hudry Bruno , Thomas-Chollier Morgane , Volovik Yael , Duffraisse Marilyne , Dard Amélie , Frank Dale , Technau Ulrich , Merabet Samir
Published: March 2014

Despite tremendous body form diversity in nature, bilaterian animals share common sets of developmental genes that display conserved expression patterns in the embryo. Among them are the Hox genes, which define different identities along the anterior–posterior axis. Hox proteins exert their function by interaction with TALE transcription factors. Hox and TALE members are also present in some but not all non-bilaterian phyla, raising the question of how Hox–TALE interactions evolved to provide positional information. By using proteins from unicellular and multicellular lineages, we showed that these networks emerged from an ancestral generic motif present in Hox and other related protein families. Interestingly, Hox-TALE networks experienced additional and extensive molecular innovations that were likely crucial for differentiating Hox functions along body plans. Together our results highlight how homeobox gene families evolved during eukaryote evolution to eventually constitute a major patterning system in Eumetazoans.
The Hox-TALE has been wagging for a long time
Authors: Ferrier David EK
Published: March 2014

Hox and TALE proteins interact in a sea anemone, just as they do in flies and mice, indicating that the Hox-TALE system originated very early in animal evolution.
Boarder control on the IFT train
Authors: Fort Cécile , Bastin Philippe
Published: March 2014

New details are revealed about the system that transports proteins to the tip of flagella during growth.