bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
An evangelical Christian on Franklin's last expedition: Lieutenant John Irving of HMSTerror
Authors: Lloyd-Jones Ralph 
Published: October 2009

AbstractThis brief analysis of the life and personal outlook of one of the officers on Sir John Franklin's Northwest Passage expedition (1845–1848) begins a long-overdue process of reconstructing the background, attitudes, and motivation of those serving onErebusandTerror. A great deal of recent research and speculation has considered the reasons behind the failures of Franklin's last expedition, but, although forensic science may prove useful in helping to discover what happened to Captain Crozier and his companions, it is equally important to understand those men's beliefs while they lived. This article looks at the career and religious background of John Irving, the Third Officer of HMSTerror.
Laboratory simulation of thermal erosion: possible application to pollution problems
Authors: Makhloufi N. , Costard F. , Puente J. Aguirre , Costard J. , Cano R. Posado , Guillemet G. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractIn the Arctic, thermal erosion results from ground thawing produced by heat transfer when water is flowing upon the frozen ground. A mathematical model has been proposed to determine the efficiency of the process and the rate of thermal erosion. Considering a constant heat-transfer coefficient, the resulting thermal flux at the groundsurface produces ground thaw, and the unfrozen sediments can be removed by the water flow. A particular case of an ablation model consists of an immediate removing of sediments by a strong flow and by the action of gravity. An experimental hydraulic device was built to test the authors' theoretical ablation model, describing a fluvial thermalerosionprocess. The effect of different parameters (Reynolds number, water temperature, ground-ice temperature) on the rate of thermal erosion for samples of frozen sand was investigated. Results from the experiments are in agreement with theoretical estimates using the mathematical model. Moreover, this study shows a hierarchy of parameters in terms of efficiency of the fluvial thermal-erosion process.A discussion of the possible effects of the contaminants on the erosion rate leads the authors to propose two kinds of experiments: a contaminated frozen sample eroded by a water flow, varying in this case the thermophysical properties of the sample (density, specific heat capacity, a latent heat, and change of phase), and an experiment consisting of erosion of a frozen sample by contaminated flow. This second case is also complex due to many mechanical, hydrodynamic and thermal interactions at the ground surface. This paper reports results of thermal erosionfrom experiments with icesaturated sand. A pure ice sample is used to determine the heat-transfer coefficient.
Hydrology of Tierney Creek, Vestfold Hills, Antarctica
Authors: Bronge Christian 
Published: October 2009

AbstractThe discharge in Tierney Creek from proglacial Chelnok Lake was recorded during the summer of 1987–1988. In addition, air temperature, water temperature, and radiation were recorded. Multiple linear regressions revealed that discharge could be predicted from recorded radiation and air temperature in late summer. In early summer, other factors such as wind must also be taken into account. Long-term discharge fluctuations displayed response times that decreased during the runoff season due to the opening of the meltwater channels on the ice-margin. During parts of the runoff season, flow variations were modulated by nocturnal freezing in the creek, a phenomenon still more pronounced in Onyx River in the Dry Valleys of Victoria Land. Hydrologically, Tierney Creek resembled Onyx River, but, in the Onyx, the flow pattern was more exclusively determined by low air temperatures than it was in Tierney Creek. In the Dry Valleys, streams whose lengths, gradients, and discharges are of the same magnitude as those of Tierney Creek, also display similar recession coefficients and time lags between flow peak and insolation peak.
Professor Frank Debenham Founder and First Director of the Scott Polar Research Institute-An Appreciation
Authors: Mill Hugh Robert 
Published: October 2009

The highest good that life can confer upon anyone is to see a piece of work, begun in a moment of inspiration, prepared on a wall-considered plan, and completed to perfection by one's own efforts, and on this rare and happy achievement we offer our heartiest congratulations to Professor Debenham.In No. 29 of The Polar Record he has told the whole story of the inception, rise and progress of the Scott Polar Research Institute of the University of Cambridge. It is a prose saga of high ideals and great deeds modestly stated in the graceful flow of words of which he is a master.Many of us had deplored the waste of effort in so many great polar expeditions, each undertaken afresh with scant help from the scattered original records of earlier work, each ending with its members dispersed and the accumulated data scattered once more; but it was Frank Debenham alone who formulated the remedy.
Radiation hazard to man and animals from fallout in the Arctic
Authors: Smith C. L. 
Published: October 2009

The radiation hazards to humans in certain northern regions, and to reindeer, caribou and moose, due to radioactive materials from fallout in their diets, have been discussed recently in numerous publications. The following factors make this problem of particular interest:i. The peculiarity of lichens to absorb and retain larger quantities of radioactive fallout than other plants. This peculiarity of lichens is exemplified by some measurements of Paakkiola and Miettinen made during 1960 and 1961. They found that the strontium-90 content of lichens in northern Finland varied between 350 and 4500 SU, whereas for grass and other plants from the same area the figures varied between 43 and 273 SU.
Big Cabinets, Big Governments? Grand Coalitions and Public Policy in the German Laender
Authors: Schniewind Aline , Freitag Markus , Vatter Adrian 
Published: October 2009

AbstractThe inauguration of Germany's grand coalition of Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democrats (SPD) raises questions about the public policy performance of a coalition of ideological opposite. This paper turns attention to influence of coalition governments on the size of government in the German Laender from 1992 to 2005. We investigate whether grand coalitions at the sub-national level in Germany systematically affect government spending for education (including cultural affairs) and internal security. The article argues that the effects of grand coalitions on the size of the public sector are moderated by partisan politics but sometimes in unexpected ways. For example, government spending in the field of education is reduced when leftist parties are powerful in the Laender.
Process Sequencing Policy Dynamics: Beyond Homeostasis and Path Dependency
Authors: Howlett Michael 
Published: October 2009

AbstractStudies of policy change have advanced to the point where the basic contours and factors driving policy sequences are now reasonably well identified and understood with a great deal of empirical evidence pointing to the prevalence of punctuated equilibrium processes in many policy fields. However the reasons why such processes occur is less well understood. Most attention to date has focused upon homeostatic models in which exogenously-driven shocks undermine institutionally entrenched policy equilibria. This article addresses the difficulties this account faces and the conceptual challenges which must be overcome to provide a solid grounding for the understanding and analysis of long-term policy dynamics. It focuses on the merits and demerits of alternative explanations featuring either random junctures and ‘positive-return’ sequences – path dependency – or embedded junctures and ‘reactive’ sequences – process sequencing. Models of policy-making over time using the latter two concepts, it is argued, are more likely to account for the large majority of policy dynamic than the former.
Coping with traumatic memories: Second World War veterans' experiences of social support in relation to the narrative coherence of war memories
Authors: BURNELL KAREN J. , COLEMAN PETER G. , HUNT NIGEL 
Published: October 2009

ABSTRACTThis paper reports a qualitative study that used narrative analysis to explore how social support helps many armed-services veterans cope with traumatic memories. The analysis was carried out on two levels, that of narrative form (level of narrative coherence), argued to be indicative of reconciliation, and narrative content (themes of social support), which allowed exploration of the types of social support experienced by veterans with coherent, reconciled and incoherent narratives. Ten British male Second World War veterans were interviewed regarding their war experiences, presence of traumatic memories, and experiences of social support from comrades, family and society. Different patterns of support were qualitatively related to coherent, reconciled and incoherent narratives. Veterans with coherent narratives were no less likely to have experienced traumatic events than those with reconciled or incoherent narratives, but they reported more positive perceptions of their war experience and of the war's outcomes, more positive experiences of communication with family in later life, and more positive perceptions of societal opinion. The results are discussed in relation to how veterans can be supported by family and friends to reconcile their traumatic memories, thus to lessen the burden in later life when vital support resources may be unavailable.
State care provision, societal opinion and children's care of older parents in 11 European countries
Authors: HABERKERN KLAUS , SZYDLIK MARC 
Published: October 2009

ABSTRACTDependent older people are predominantly cared for by family members, mostly partners and children, but not every parent in need is cared for by a child, and intergenerational care varies widely across Europe. Previous studies have used care regimes to explain these differences, but because of the lack of large comparative surveys, the prevalence of intergenerational care has rarely been related directly to the institutional and cultural context, including state care provision, legal obligations between family members, and societal opinion about the role of the state in elderly care. This paper reports an analysis of variations in intergenerational care among European countries and the reasons for these differences using data from theSurvey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europefor Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Results from logistic multilevel models show that care by children is influenced by the individual characteristics of both parents and children, and by family structures, welfare-state institutions and cultural norms. Intergenerational care is more prevalent in southern and central European countries, where children are legally obligated to support parents in need, and care is perceived as a responsibility of the family, whereas in northern Europe, the wider availability of formal care services enable adult children, particularly daughters, have more choice about their activities and use of time.
Hybrid ant colony and immune network algorithm based on improved APF for optimal motion planning
Authors: Mingxin Yuan , Sun'an Wang , Canyang Wu , Kunpeng Li 
Published: October 2009

SUMMARYInspired by the mechanisms of idiotypic network hypothesis and ant finding food, a hybrid ant colony and immune network algorithm (AC-INA) for motion planning is presented. Taking the environment surrounding the robot and robot action as antigen and antibody respectively, an artificial immune network is constructed through the stimulation and suppression between the antigen and antibody, and the antibody network is searched using improved ant colony algorithm (ACA) with pseudo- random-proportional rule and super excellent ant colony optimization strategy. To further accelerate the convergence speed of AC-INA and realize the optimal dynamic obstacle avoidance, an improved adaptive artificial potential field (AAPF) method is provided by constructing new repulsive potential field on the basis of the relative position and velocity between the robot and obstacle. Taking the planning results of AAPF method as the prior knowledge, the initial instruction definition of new antibody is initialized through vaccine extraction and inoculation. During the motion planning, once the robot meets with moving obstacles, the AAPF method is used for the optimal dynamic obstacle avoidance. The simulation results indicate that the proposed algorithm is characterized by good convergence property, strong planning ability, self-organizing, self-learning, and optimal obstacle avoidance in dynamic environments. The experiment in known indoor environment verifies the validity of AAPF-based AC-INA, too.
Using information graphics in health technology assessment: Toward a structured approach
Authors: Pitt Martin , Stahl-Timmins Will , Anderson Rob , Stein Ken 
Published: October 2009

Objectives: This study investigates the use of information graphics to display the outputs of health technology assessment (HTA) in the United Kingdom and proposes a more structured approach founded in an analysis of the decision-making requirements of the key stakeholders.Methods: A scoping review of HTA reports was conducted to investigate current practice in the use of information graphics in HTA literature. A classification framework using dimensions of report section, graphical type, and originating research center was devised and used for a full content analysis of the graphical figures in the fifty most recent reports produced for the UK National Health Service's HTA process.Results: Our survey shows that graphical tools are used extensively in HTA reports although less frequently than tables. Use of information graphics varies widely between different report sections and tends to follow conventional lines with little evidence of variance from established practice. The largest variance was found between the quantities of graphics used by different research centers responsible for authoring the reports.Conclusions: HTA makes extensive use of graphics; however, there is little evidence of a systematic or standardized approach, or of much innovation. Significant potential exists to explore the application of information graphics in this field, but there are many research challenges. A contextually based, structured approach to the design of effective information graphics in HTA is proposed as a basis both to investigate the application of existing graphical tools in HTA, and to explore the considerable scope for innovation.
Cost-effectiveness of interventions based on physical exercise in the treatment of various diseases: A systematic literature review
Authors: Roine Eija , Roine Risto P. , Räsänen Pirjo , Vuori Ilkka , Sintonen Harri , Saarto Tiina 
Published: October 2009

Objectives:The aim of this study was to review studies reporting cost-effectiveness of exercise-based interventions in treatment of various diseases.Methods:Systematic literature search using several databases. Abstracts initially screened independently by two authors, full-text articles again evaluated by two authors, who decided whether an article should be included. Included were scientifically valid articles describing controlled studies that included an exercise-based intervention in the treatment of an established medical condition, and also reported on the cost-effectiveness of the intervention, or its effect on the utilization of health services. Quality was assessed with an established approach.Results:A total of 914 articles were identified, of them 151 were obtained for closer review. Sixty-five articles describing sixty-one studies were included. Most (82 percent) were randomized trials. Twenty-eight studies dealt with musculoskeletal disorders, fifteen with cardiology, four with rheumatic diseases, four with pulmonary diseases, three with urinary incontinence, and two with vascular disorders. There was one study each in the fields of oncology, chronic fatigue, endocrinology, psychiatry, and neurology. Exercise interventions in musculoskeletal disorders were deemed to be cost-effective in 54 percent, in cardiology in 60 percent, and in rheumatic diseases in 75 percent of the cases. There was some evidence that exercise might be cost-effective in intermittent claudication, breast cancer patients, diabetes, and schizophrenia.Conclusions:The number of studies assessing cost-effectiveness of exercise interventions in various diseases is still limited. The results show large variation but suggest that some exercise interventions can be cost-effective. Most convincing evidence was found for rehabilitation of cardiac and back pain patients; however, even in these cases, the evidence was partly contradictory.
Costs and effects of using specialized breast technologists in prereading mammograms in a clinical patient population
Authors: van den Biggelaar Frank J. H. M. , Kessels Alphons G. H. , van Engelshoven Jos M. A. , Flobbe Karin 
Published: October 2009

Objectives:The aim of this study was to assess the costs and effects of using specialized breast technologists in prereading mammograms to reduce the increasing workload of radiologists in daily clinical practice. Mammography is the most widely used imaging modality for early detection and diagnosis of breast cancer.Methods:A total of 1389 mammograms of consecutive patients were evaluated by two technologists trained in mammogram interpretation. The costs and effects of four different experimental strategies of prereading mammograms by technologists were analyzed by decision analytic modeling and compared with the conventional strategy of standard evaluation by the radiologist on duty.Results:Overall, the employment of technologists in this patient population resulted in a potential time saving up to 73 percent (1019/1389) for the radiologist. No additional false-negative imaging results were found as compared to the conventional strategy. The total diagnostic costs in the conventional strategy were determined at €150,602. The experimental strategies resulted in cost savings up to 17.2 percent (range, €122,494–€139,781).Conclusions:The employment of technologists in prereading mammograms in a clinical patient population could be effective to reduce the workload of radiologists without jeopardizing the detection of malignancies. Furthermore, diagnostic costs can be reduced considerably.
Ethics in Canadian health technology assessment: A descriptive review
Authors: DeJean Deirdre , Giacomini Mita , Schwartz Lisa , Miller Fiona A. 
Published: October 2009

Background: Despite the mandate to examine the medical, ethical, and economic implications of the development and use of health technology, health technology assessment (HTA) reports often emphasize the epidemiologic and economic aspects, and omit ethical considerations. This study examines both whether and how ethical issues are incorporated into HTA.Objectives: We aim to (i) review a set of Canadian HTA reports for ethics content, (ii) describe the strategies used to incorporate ethically relevant information into HTA, and (iii) determine the presence of implicit ethical issues in a sample of HTA reports.Methods: Descriptive and qualitative content analysis of 608 HTA reports produced by six Canadian HTA agencies from January 1997 to December 2006.Results: We found that (i) a minority (17 percent) of Canadian HTA reports addressed ethical issues, (ii) secondary research predominates while primary analysis is rare, (iii) implicit ethical issues are present in HTA reports that do not purport to address ethics.Conclusions: Canadian HTA reports rarely explicitly, and then only superficially, address ethics, though implicit ethical issues abound.
Magnetic resonance imaging, knee arthroscopy, and clinical decision making: A descriptive study of five surgeons
Authors: Derrett Sarah , Walley Gayle D. , Bridgman Stephen A. , Richards Paula , Maffulli Nicola 
Published: October 2009

Objectives:A randomized controlled trial (RCT) showed magnetic resonance imaging for patients waiting for knee arthroscopy did not reduce the number of arthroscopies. Our study aimed to identify decisions made by orthopedic surgeons about whether patients on a waiting list should proceed to arthroscopy, and to describe surgeons’ decisions.Methods:Five surgeons were asked to Think Aloud (TA) as they made their decisions for twelve patients from the original RCT. Audiotapes of the decision making were transcribed for analysis.Results:For five patients, surgeons agreed about proceeding with arthroscopy, although reasoning differed. In no cases did surgeons agree about not proceeding to arthroscopy. Agreement was more likely in patients with clinically diagnosed meniscal abnormality, and less likely in patients with osteoarthritis.Conclusions:Surgeons’ decisions were influenced by patient wishes. For some patients, the decision to proceed with arthroscopy was based solely on clinical diagnosis; MRI may not be advantageous in these instances. Surgeons disagreed more often than they agreed about the decision to proceed with arthroscopy, particularly when OA was diagnosed. This has implications for decision making in the current NHS patient choice environment. Patients may choose a treatment provider from a list of available providers at time of original clinical assessment and diagnosis. The treating surgeon does not necessarily re-examine the patient until the day of surgery. Given the variation between surgeons about the merits of proceeding with arthroscopy, surgeons may end up in the invidious position of providing surgery to patients whom they do not believe will benefit from arthroscopy.
Self-report versus care provider registration of healthcare utilization: Impact on cost and cost-utility
Authors: Hoogendoorn Martine , van Wetering Carel R. , Schols Annemie M. , Rutten-van Mölken Maureen P. M. H. 
Published: October 2009

Objectives: This study aims to compare the impact of two different sources of resource use, self-report versus care provider registrations, on cost and cost utility.Methods: Data were gathered for a cost-effectiveness study performed alongside a 2-year randomized controlled trial evaluating the effect of an INTERdisciplinary COMmunity-based management program (INTERCOM) for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The program was offered by physiotherapists, dieticians and respiratory nurses. During the 2-year period, patients reported all resource use in a cost booklet. In addition, data on hospital admissions and outpatient visits, visits to the physiotherapist, dietician or respiratory nurse, diet nutrition, and outpatient medication were obtained from administrative records. The cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) was calculated in two ways, using data from the cost booklet or registrations.Results: In total, 175 patients were included in the study. Agreement between self-report and registrations was almost perfect for hospitalizations (rho = 0.93) and physiotherapist visits (rho = 0.86), but above 0.55, moderate, for all other types of care. The total cost difference between the registrations and the cost booklet was 464 euros with the highest difference for hospitalizations 386 euro. Based on the cost booklet the cost difference between the treatment group and usual care was 2,444 euros (95 percent confidence interval [CI], −819 to 5,950), which resulted in a cost-utility of 29,100 euro/QALY. For the registrations, the results were 2,498 euros (95 percent CI, −88 to 6,084) and 29,390 euro/QALY, respectively.Conclusions: This study showed that the use of self-reported data or data from registrations effected within-group costs, but not between-group costs or the cost utility.