bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Impacts of Representing the Correlation of Errors in Radar Data Assimilation. Part II: Model Output as Background Estimates
Authors: Jacques Dominik , Zawadzki Isztar 
Published: March 2015

Abstract
In data assimilation, analyses are generally obtained by combining a “background,” taken from a previously initiated model forecast, with observations from different instruments. For optimal analyses, the error covariance of all information sources must be properly represented. In the case of radar data assimilation, such representation is of particular importance since measurements are often available at spatial resolutions comparable to that of the model grid. Unfortunately, misrepresenting the covariance of radar errors is unavoidable as their true structure is unknown. This two-part study investigates the impacts of misrepresenting the covariance of errors when dense observations, such as radar data, are available. Experiments are performed in an idealized context. In Part I, analyses were obtained by using artificially simulated background and observation estimates. For the second part presented here, background estimates from a convection-resolving model were used. As before, analyses were generated with the same input data but with different misrepresentation of errors. The impacts of these misrepresentations can be quantified by comparing the two sets of analyses. It was found that the correlation of both the background and observation errors had to be represented to improve the quality of analyses. Of course, the concept of “errors” depends on how the “truth” is considered. When the truth was considered as an unknown constant, as opposed to an unknown random variable, background errors were found to be biased. Correcting these biases was found to significantly improve the quality of analyses.
Time to Competency, Reliability of Flexible Transnasal Laryngoscopy by Training Level
Authors: Brook Christopher D. , Platt Michael P. , Russell Kimberly , Grillone Gregory A. , Aliphas Avner , Noordzij J. Pieter 
Published: March 2015

ObjectiveTo determine the progression of flexible transnasal laryngoscopy reliability and competency in otolaryngology residency training.Study DesignProspective case control study.SettingAcademic otolaryngology department.SubjectsMedical students, otolaryngology residents, and otolaryngology attending physicians.MethodsFourteen otolaryngology residents from PGY‐1 to PGY‐5 and 3 attending otolaryngologists viewed 25 selected and digitally recorded flexible transnasal laryngoscopies. The evaluators were asked to rate 13 items relating to abnormalities in the oropharynx, hypopharynx, larynx, and subglottis. The level of concern and level of comfort with the diagnosis were assessed. Intraclass correlations were calculated for each topic and by level of training to determine reliability within each class and compare competency versus attending interpretations.ResultsIntraclass correlation of residents compared to attending physicians demonstrated significant improvements by year for left and right vocal fold immobility, subglottic stenosis, laryngeal mass, left and right vocal cord abnormalities, and level of concern. Additionally, pooled vocal cord mobility and pooled results in categories with good attending reliability demonstrated stepwise improvement as well. For these categories, resident reliability was found to be statistically similar to attending physicians in all categories by PGY‐3. There were no trends for base of tongue abnormalities, pharyngeal abnormalities, and pharyngeal and hypopharyngeal masses.ConclusionsResident competency for flexible transnasal laryngoscopy progresses during residency to reliability with attending otolaryngologists by the PGY‐3 year over key facets of the examination.
Experimental design approach to the optimization of PAHs bioremediation from artificially contaminated soil: application of variables screening development
Authors: Ravanipour Masoumeh , Kalantary Roshanak Rezaei , Mohseni-Bandpi Anoushiravan , Esrafili Ali , Farzadkia Mahdi , Hashemi-Najafabadi Samireh 
Published: March 2015

Abstract

Background
The effectiveness of bioremediation systems for PAH-contaminated soil may be constrained by physicochemical properties of contaminants and environmental factors. Information on what is the most effective factor in bioremediation process is essential in the decision of what stimulations can be taken to assist the biodegradation efficacy.

Methods
In this study, four factors of surfactant (Tween 80), humic acid (HA), salinity and nutrients in a 24 full factorial design were screened in bioremediation of phenanthrene contaminated soil by using a consortium of bacteria.

Results
Between the employed levels of the factors only salinity had not significant effect. Optimal concentrations of surfactant, HA and nutrient were obtained by a response surface design. For phenanthrene biodegradation, a central composite face centred design (CCFD) showed that nutrient, surfactant and HA concentrations had highly significant, significant and insignificant effects, respectively. The best conditions with 87.1% phenanthrene biodegradation were 150 mg HA/Kg soil, 12.68 μg/L surfactant, and nutrients as K2HPO4, 0.8; KH2PO4, 0.2 and KNO3, 1 g/L. A high similarity was between the model prediction and experimental results.

Conclusions
This study showed that nutrient with 81.27% efficiency could be considered as the most effective factor for practical implications of bioremediation process for PAHs contaminated soil cleanup strategies.
Investigation on up-flow anaerobic sludge fixed film (UASFF) reactor for treating low-strength bilge water of Caspian Sea ships
Authors: Emadian Seyyed Mohammad , Rahimnejad Mostafa , Hosseini Morteza , Khoshandam Behnam 
Published: March 2015

Abstract

Background
In order to meet the International Maritime Organization (IMO) objectives, the main purpose of this study was using the cheap and practical wastewater treatment system for low-strength bilge water of Caspian Sea ships; therefore, the low-strength bilge water of the Caspian Sea ships has been treated by up-flow anaerobic sludge fixed film (UASFF) reactor at the ambient temperature.

Results
The reactor operated at two hydraulic retention times (HRTs) of 10 h and 8 h. The organic loading rates (OLR) ranged (0.12-0.6) g chemical oxygen demand (COD)/l.day. At the beginning of the experimental procedure, the sludge was immobilized on the surface of the support materials. After 10 days of batch feeding of the reactor with the wastewater as an acclimation period (with COD removal of 59%), the reactor operated continuously. At the end of the experiment, with the HRT of 8 h and OLR of 0.6 g COD/l.day, the COD and total suspended solid (TSS) removal efficiencies reached the amounts of 75% and 99%, respectively. In addition to the good features of the reactor in removing COD and TSS, the effluent oil concentration was significantly lower than the standard value (15 ppm) which has been laid down for the discharge of the bilge water from ships by the IMO.

Conclusions
The obtained data demonstrated that UASFF reactor is an appropriate system for treatment of a low-strength bilge water.
Influence of Ecological Factors on Population Morbidity Indicators
Authors: Рисник  , Risnik D. , Барабаш  , Barabash A. , Левич  , Levich A. , Булгаков  , Bulgakov N. , Фурсова  , Fursova P. 
Published: March 2015

On the Tambov region example a research related to deep-well drinking waters’ composition influence on able-bodied
population morbidity in 16 classes of diseases on the international classification has been performed. Correlation analysis,
contingency tables analysis, local environmental standards calculation method (LES method) have been used for this
purpose. Environment quality control in-situ-technology bases have been presented. Normal range limits of deep-well
waters’ physical and chemical factors, as well as of morbidity in different classes of diseases have been calculated by means
of the LES method.
Modern Oxidizing and Photo Oxidative Methods of Complexons Destruction in Liquid Radioactive Waste
Authors: Камруков  , Kamrukov A. , Новиков  , Novikov D. 
Published: March 2015

State-of-the-art analysis for oxidizing technologies related to destruction of complexons and metalloorganic complexes in
liquid radioactive waste has been carried out. Ways already put into practice, as well as the experimental ones have been
considered. Oxidation by potassium permanganate and hydrogen peroxide and also ozonization and photo oxidation have
been considered in detail. It has been shown that oxidation by potassium permanganate with subsequent filtration leads to
decrease of isotopes activity, but hereby a considerable volume of manganese dioxide is formed. The ozonization application
allows reduce considerably the liquid radioactive waste (LRW) volume, but along with this ozone is the extremely toxic and
explosive substance demanding a special equipment for its production. Efficiency of oxidation by hydrogen peroxide and photo
oxidation without catalysts is low. The special attention has been paid to combined oxidizing methods (AOP) based on use of
ultra-violet (UV) radiation together with ozone and/or hydrogen peroxide. Such methods allow apply the strongest oxidizer –
hydroxyl radical – for LRW processing. Efficiency of AOP-methods and their technological capabilities are substantially defined
by characteristics of used UV radiation sources. A detailed analysis for a wide range of UV radiation possible sources (low
and average pressure mercury lamps, amalgamate lamps, excimer lamps, light-emitting diodes and pulse xenon lamps) has
been carried out, their comparative assessment has been executed. Great potential opportunities for the pulse xenon lamps
providing a continuous range of radiation in UV area and high intensity for a stream of high-vigorous photons have been noted.
Recovery of a mining-damaged stream ecosystem
Authors: Mebane Christopher A. , Eakins Robert J. , Fraser Brian G. , Adams William J. 
Published: March 2015

AbstractThis paper presents a 30+ year record of changes in benthic macroinvertebrate communities and fish populations associated with improving water quality in mining-influenced streams. Panther Creek, a tributary to the Salmon River in central Idaho, USA suffered intensive damage from mining and milling operations at the Blackbird Mine that released copper (Cu), arsenic (As), and cobalt (Co) into tributaries. From the 1960s through the 1980s, no fish and few aquatic invertebrates could be found in 40 km of mine-affected reaches of Panther Creek downstream of the metals contaminated tributaries, Blackbird and Big Deer Creeks.Efforts to restore water quality began in 1995, and by 2002 Cu levels had been reduced by about 90%, with incremental declines since. Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were early colonizers, quickly expanding their range as areas became habitable when Cu concentrations dropped below about 3X the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s biotic ligand model (BLM) based chronic aquatic life criterion. Anadromous Chinook Salmon (O. tshawytscha) and steelhead (O. mykiss) have also reoccupied Panther Creek. Full recovery of salmonid populations occurred within about 12-years after the onset of restoration efforts and about 4-years after the Cu chronic criteria had mostly been met, with recovery interpreted as similarity in densities, biomass, year class strength, and condition factors between reference sites and mining-influenced sites. Shorthead Sculpin (Cottus confusus) were slower than salmonids to disperse and colonize. While benthic macroinvertebrate biomass has increased, species richness has plateaued at about 70 to 90% of reference despite the Cu criterion having been met for several years. Different invertebrate taxa had distinctly different recovery trajectories. Among the slowest taxa to recover were Ephemerella, Cinygmula and Rhithrogena mayflies, Enchytraeidae oligochaetes, and Heterlimnius aquatic beetles. Potential reasons for the failure of some invertebrate taxa to recover include competition, and high sensitivity to Co and Cu.
Splitting the soul: Spanish conservatives, anti-secularism and the ‘enemizing’ of Islam
Authors: Weisz Martina L. 
Published: March 2015

Abstract
As elsewhere, perceptions of Muslims and Islam suffered a negative impact in Spain as a consequence of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. This trend was particularly noticeable among the conservatives, who traditionally combined the support for Catholic hegemony with an exceptionally warm approach towards Islam and the Arab world. By focusing on the image of Muslims as constructed by the traditionalist newspaper ABC, this article exposes the dynamics underlying the dramatic shift in the perception of Islam among Spanish conservatives at the turn of the twenty-first century, in the context of changing domestic and global scenarios.
A radio of ‘Voces gitanas’: Issues of media identity and self-representation in Barcelona
Authors: Freire Juliana Luna 
Published: March 2015

Abstract
This article addresses the use of media for self-representation by the Roma community in Spain, and their process of negotiating a local, national, and transnational ethnic and political identity. I focus on Voces gitanas: Rromane glasura/Roma Voices, a radio programme created in the city of Barcelona in 2005, using as its frame of reference cultural studies and urban theory, including David Harvey and Manuell Castells. Based on radio shows transmitted online and through FM radio, I discuss how the programme constitutes a tool for promoting culture, conducting political activism and discussing issues important to local communities. Through constant performances that translate as definitions of culture, I argue, the Roma community is able to restore and participate in the dialogue on self-determination and minority rights in a different sphere of discourse, both locally and globally, at the same time that they also influence their own (and others’) understanding of their ethnic identity.
The violence in the spectacle of excessive signification: Shooting Dogs (1995) and the Rwandan genocide
Authors: Vambe Maurice Taonezvi , Khan Khatija Bibi 
Published: March 2015

Abstract
The Rwandan genocide (1994) was a catastrophic mass killing in which nearly one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus perished at the hands of Hutu extremists. Several critical works have explored the Rwandan genocide in film but none reaches the multiple levels of conceptual analysis that reflects the many levels of discursive violence involved in depicting the tragedy through film. The aim of this article is to depict the levels of conceptualizing the Rwandan genocide through the tropological figure of the ‘dog’ in the film Shooting Dogs (1995). On a literal level, Shooting Dogs is viewed as representing, first, the actual failed attempt at shooting and killing the dogs (animals) that were feeding on the corpses of the dead Tutsis and moderate Hutus. Second, as a metaphor, Shooting Dogs (1995) uncannily reflects the debased and stereotypic reference to Tutsis and moderate Hutus as ‘dogs’ who ‘deserved’ to be gunned down as dogs because they are depicted as dastardly cowards. Third, Shooting Dogs is taken to mean the cinematographic action of ‘shooting’ images of dogs to represent the dogs who feasted on corpses during the genocide. Fourth, the film Shooting Dogs is viewed as a cultural mission to represent, through the camera’s ‘eye’, the insensitivity and cruelty of Hutu extremists and of the international community whose lack of respect for human life allowed the genocide to happen. It is argued that the symbolic violence manifested in Shooting Dogs constitutes a spectacle of excessive signification that attempts to inhibit imagining other, pro-life depictions, but fails dramatically because not all the Tutsis were killed in the genocide. The fact is that the Tutsis who survived the genocide are equally worthy of representation with their differentiated range of emotions and responses, and this could have been depicted in the film without minimizing the horror of the genocide. Such an argument forces us to realize that the ways in which art significantly translates known realities into telling stories can be a violent process that distorts human truths.
Filming violence in Kenya: From the everyday to the spectacular in Hillary Ng’weno’s documentaries
Authors: Okong’o Joseph Basil , Waliaula Solomon 
Published: March 2015

Abstract
Hillary Ng’weno’s documentary series The Making of a Nation is a reconstruction of significant events in the development of Kenya from colonialism to post-independence. The authorial vision underlines the role of violence in the formation of the colonial and postcolonial Kenyan State. This is cinematically presented through techniques that distance the viewer from the pathos of the images’ violence, such as political assassinations, mass demonstrations, incarcerations and attempted coups. The thesis of the article is that Ng’weno’s work is framed within the oral narrative tradition. This can be related to the observation of Tomaselli and Eke (1995: 115) that Third Cinema involves African themes and forms of oral story-telling. Significantly, the voice-over rendition in Ng’weno’s documentaries employs the oral narrative technique of mediating the horror of violence in an aesthetically and emotionally acceptable manner. As such, the visual images coupled with the omniscient voice of the narrator distance the viewer from the spectacle while also projecting the recurrent cycle of violence in the making of the nation. Drawing from Fanon’s (2004) concept of violence and Foucault’s (1980) analysis of power as both coercive and emancipative, we therefore argue that Ng’weno’s work presents the paradox of violence as both a means of dismantling and constructing the fabric of a nation.
We Must Overcome: Genealogy and Evolution of Female Slavery in West Africa
Authors: Robertson Claire 
Published: March 2015

Abstract
Women’s slavery continues in the contemporary world, especially in West Africa. This article seeks a history useful for abolishing contemporary slavery and reviews the evolution of scholarly perspectives on women and slavery in West Africa in order to determine the roots of contemporary slavery and put forms of contemporary slavery on the same analytical plane as historical ones. The literature on women and slavery in West Africa challenges much conventional wisdom about slavery by showing that lineage rather than chattel slavery was common; most slaves kept in West Africa were female (with local and temporal variations); the African demand for women slaves determined the skewed sex ratio in the Atlantic slave trade; women slaves were more highly valued than men because of their productive and reproductive functions; free and freed women were preeminent in owning and using women slaves; women slaves contributed to culture and identity formation in critical ways; for most women slaves, harems were more about domestic drudgery than sex; and the abolition of slavery failed for women slaves more than men for reasons relevant to the continuation of slavery for women and children in West Africa. Authoritarian family structures and colonialism subordinated West African women, and that subordination has been exacerbated by a world capitalist economy that continues the demand for slaves used in West Africa and elsewhere. If slave status historically has often been marked by race or ethnicity, contemporary slavery is gendered female in most societies.
The Marriages of Abina Mansah: Escaping the Boundaries of “Slavery” as a Category in Historical Analysis
Authors: Getz Trevor R. , Ehrisman Lindsay 
Published: March 2015

Abstract
This article (re)examines the testimony of Abina Mansah, a young Akan-speaking woman who brought charges and testified against her former master, Quamina Eddoo, for her illegal enslavement in 1876. Both inside the judicial Assessor’s Court in Cape Coast Castle and within subsequent scholarly interpretations of her testimony, the label “slave” functioned as the primary marker of Abina’s identity and the analytic lens through which we understand her experiences and motivations. In this rereading of her testimony, however, we explore the centrality of her status as a married woman to her identity, and argue that her decision to take Quamina Eddoo to court was actually a strategy that she pursued to ensure her spiritual and physical health and to safeguard her.
A Cost-Effective Electric Vehicle Charging Method Designed For Residential Homes with Renewable Energy
Authors: Lie T. T. , Liang Xiuli , Haque M. H. 
Published: March 2015

AbstractMost of the electrical infrastructure in use around the world today is decades old, and may be illsuited to widespread proliferation of personal Electric Vehicles (EVs) whose charging requirements will place increasing strain on grid demand. In order to reduce the pressure on the grid and taking benefits of off peak charging, this paper presents a smart and cost effective EV charging methodology for residential homes equipped with renewable energy resources such as Photovoltaic (PV) panels and battery. The proposed method ensures slower battery degradation and prevents overcharging. The performance of the proposed algorithm is verified by conducting simulation studies utilizing running data of Nissan Altra. From the simulation study results, the algorithm is shown to be effective and feasible which minimizes not only the charging cost but also can shift the charging time from peak value to off-peak time.
Effect of daily drinking of Aloe vera gel extract on plasma total antioxidant capacity and oral pathogenic bacteria in healthy volunteer: a short-term study
Authors: Prueksrisakul Titipong , Chantarangsu Soranun , Thunyakitpisal Pasutha 
Published: March 2015

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Aloe vera gel extract on plasma total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and oral pathogenic bacteria in healthy volunteer.

Methods: Fifty-three healthy volunteers were participated and interviewed for history of allergy, current systemic diseases and medications. Participants were received 250 mL of A. vera gel extract daily for 14 consecutive days. At days 0 and 15 of the experiment, blood samples were collected and analyzed for biochemical markers. The plasma TAC was evaluated by ferric reducing ability of plasma technique. The biochemical markers, including aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total protein (TP), serum albumin (ALB), serum globulin (GLB), total bilirubin (TB), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine (Cr) and creatinine clearance (CrCl) were measured. The antibacterial effect of A. vera gel extract against Lactobacillus spp. and Streptococcus mutans was also investigated. Statistical analysis was performed using paired t-test to compare between baseline and 14 days post-intervention.

Results: Neither allergy nor side effects of A. vera gel extract was detected. After 14 days of A. vera gel extract consumption, plasma TAC was significantly greater than that of baseline (p=0.001). ALP, TB, TP and GLB were significantly increased (p<0.05) which were still within normal range. AST, ALT, ALB, BUN, Cr and CrCl were not significantly different. A. vera gel extract significantly reduced the number of Lactobacillus spp. (p<0.05), not S. mutans.

Conclusions: Our data revealed that A. vera gel extract significantly increased plasma TAC, and decreased the number of Lactobacillus spp. without any clinical side effects.