bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Climate model simulation visualization from a visual studies perspective
Authors: Schneider Birgit 
Published: March 2012

AbstractThe article gives an overview on the visualization of climate model data simulation from a visual studies perspective. On one hand the question is raised of what it means culturally when global images are used to communicate scenarios of a changing climate future beyond the field of climate research itself. The product of this process is one of the most widespread ‘icons’ of climate change, the image of the blue planet that has turned red. On the other hand insights into how these visualizations are designed in the studio of a computer designer are given. The focus here is on the way in which specific visualization software shapes images of a changing global climate. The article takes as its starting point the perspective of visual and media studies, because images have become so crucial in communicating research results of climate science and convincing policy agents and the public. What is special about scientific images depicting climate change is that they have implicitly also become political images. As today various actors and recipient groups are making use of pictures depicting climate change, the article concerns climate science, media studies, computer visualization, cultural studies, and politics alike. WIREs Clim Change 2012, 3:185–193. doi: 10.1002/wcc.162This article is categorized under:

Climate Models and Modeling > Knowledge Generation with Models
Social Status of Climate Change Knowledge > Knowledge and Practice
Application of probabilistic wind power forecasting in electricity markets
Authors: Zhou Z. , Botterud A. , Wang J. , Bessa R.J. , Keko H. , Sumaili J. , Miranda V. 
Published: March 2012

ABSTRACTThis paper discusses the potential use of probabilistic wind power forecasting in electricity markets, with focus on the scheduling and dispatch decisions of the system operator. We apply probabilistic kernel density forecasting with a quantile‐copula estimator to forecast the probability density function, from which forecasting quantiles and scenarios with temporal dependency of errors are derived. We show how the probabilistic forecasts can be used to schedule energy and operating reserves to accommodate the wind power forecast uncertainty. We simulate the operation of a two‐settlement electricity market with clearing of day‐ahead and real‐time markets for energy and operating reserves. At the day‐ahead stage, a deterministic point forecast is input to the commitment and dispatch procedure. Then a probabilistic forecast is used to adjust the commitment status of fast‐starting units closer to real time, on the basis of either dynamic operating reserves or stochastic unit commitment. Finally, the real‐time dispatch is based on the realized availability of wind power. To evaluate the model in a large‐scale real‐world setting, we take the power system in Illinois as a test case and compare different scheduling strategies. The results show better performance for dynamic compared with fixed operating reserve requirements. Furthermore, although there are differences in the detailed dispatch results, dynamic operating reserves and stochastic unit commitment give similar results in terms of cost. Overall, we find that probabilistic forecasts can contribute to improve the performance of the power system, both in terms of cost and reliability. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Validation of the Beddoes–Leishman dynamic stall model for horizontal axis wind turbines using MEXICO data
Authors: Pereira Ricardo , Schepers Gerard , Pavel Marilena D. 
Published: March 2012

ABSTRACTThe aim of this study is to assess the load predicting capability of a classical Beddoes–Leishman dynamic stall model in a horizontal axis wind turbine environment, in the presence of yaw misalignment. The dynamic stall model was tailored to the horizontal axis wind turbine environment and validated against unsteady thick airfoil data. Subsequently, the dynamic stall model was implemented in a blade element‐momentum code for yawed flow, and the results were compared with aerodynamic measurements obtained in the MEXICO (Model Rotor Experiments under Controlled Conditions) project on a wind turbine rotor placed in a large scale wind tunnel. In general, reasonable to good agreement was found between the blade element‐momentum model and MEXICO data. When large yaw misalignments were imposed, poor agreement was found in the downstroke of the movement between the model and the experiment. Still, over a revolution, the maximum normal force coefficient predicted was always within 8% of experimental data at the inboard stations, which is encouraging especially when blade fatigue calculations are being considered. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Blood pressure-lowering effects of beetroot juice and novel beetroot-enriched bread products in normotensive male subjects
Authors: Hobbs Ditte A. , Kaffa Nedi , George Trevor W. , Methven Lisa , Lovegrove Julie A. 
Published: March 2012

A number of vegetables have a high nitrate content which after ingestion can be reduced to nitrite by oral bacteria, and further to vasoprotective NO endogenously. In the present study, two separate randomly controlled, single-blind, cross-over, postprandial studies were performed in normotensive volunteers. Ambulatory blood pressure (BP) was measured over a 24 h period following consumption of either four doses of beetroot juice (BJ), 0, 100, 250 and 500 g (n18), or three bread products, control bread (0 g beetroot), red beetroot- and white beetroot-enriched breads (n14). Total urinary nitrate/nitrite (NOx) was measured at baseline, and at 2, 4 and 24 h post-ingestion. BJ consumption significantly, and in a near dose-dependent manner, lowered systolic BP (SBP,P < 0·01) and diastolic BP (DBP,P < 0·001) over a period of 24 h, compared with water control. Furthermore, bread products enriched with 100 g red or white beetroot lowered SBP and DBP over a period of 24 h (red beetroot-enriched bread,P <0·05), with no statistical differences between the varieties. Total urinary NOxsignificantly increased following the consumption of 100 g (P < 0·01), 250 g (P <0·001) and 500 g BJ (P <0·001) and after red beetroot-enriched bread ingestion (P <0·05), but did not reach significance for white beetroot-enriched bread compared with the no-beetroot condition. These studies demonstrated significant hypotensive effects of a low dose (100 g) of beetroot which was unaffected by processing or the presence of betacyanins. These data strengthen the evidence for cardioprotective BP-lowering effects of dietary nitrate-rich vegetables.
Effect of dietary fibre of barley variety ‘Rihane’ on azoxymethane-induced aberrant crypt foci development and on colonic microbiota diversity in rats
Authors: Lahouar Lamia , Pochart Philippe , Salem Hichem Ben , El Felah Mouledi , Mokni Moncef , Magne Fabien , Mangin Irène , Suau Antonia , Pereira Ester , Hammami Mohamed , Achour Lotfi 
Published: March 2012

Many epidemiological and experimental studies have suggested an important role for dietary fibre (DF) of cereals in the prevention of colon cancer. The objective of the present study was to explain the effects of the DF of barley Rihane (BR) on azoxymethane (AOM)-induced aberrant crypt foci (ACF) and colonic bacterial diversity in rats. Following an acclimatisation period, rats were divided into four groups and fed a control (C) diet or experimental diet containing 30 % of BR. DF content in the experimental diet was twice that of the C diet (total DF was 8·69 % in the C diet and 15·24 % in the BR diet). At 7 and 8 weeks of age, rats received two successive subcutaneous injections of AOM at 20 mg/kg body weight. At 12 weeks after the first injection, ten animals from each group were killed. The BR diet decreased colonic pH (P < 0·05) compared with the C diet. The total number of ACF observed decreased considerably in the BR/AOM group compared with the C/AOM group (P < 0·05). Comparison of similarity coefficients showed variability of colonic microbiota species between the different groups. In addition, we showed inter-individual variability within the same group. This similarity was affected by BR and AOM. The present results show that bifidobacteria numbers were lower in rats fed the BR diet compared with those fed the C diet. However, the number of enterobacteria in colonic content was increased (P < 0·05) in the BR group compared with the C group. The results from the present study show that the DF of BR reduced the incidence of AOM-induced ACF and increased microbiota biodiversity.
Differential effects of low-dose resveratrol on adiposity and hepatic steatosis in diet-induced obese mice
Authors: Cho Su-Jung , Jung Un Ju , Choi Myung-Sook 
Published: March 2012

Consumption of a high-fat diet (HFD) enriched in saturated fat induces excessive weight gain due to adiposity, which can lead to metabolic complications, as well as increased risk of fatty liver disease and CVD. The present study investigated the underlying mechanism and dose–response effects of resveratrol (RV) on obesity, hepatic steatosis and dyslipidaemia in mice fed a HFD. Male C57BL/6J mice were fed a normal diet or a HFD (20 % fat, w/w) combined with 0·005 or 0·02 % (w/w) RV for 10 weeks. As expected, mice fed a HFD developed obesity, as shown by increased body weight gain, visceral fat, hepatic fat and plasma cholesterol. RV significantly reduced visceral fat and plasma NEFA. In the liver of HFD-fed mice, RV significantly reduced TAG and cholesterol, as well as lipid droplet number and size. A low dose of RV (0·005 %) appeared to be more effective than a higher dose of RV (0·02 %) for suppressing adiposity and hepatic steatosis development with a significant decrease in body weight gain, plasma TAG and total cholesterol levels. These changes were seemingly attributable to a suppression of the fatty acid (FA) synthase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, and phosphatidate phosphohydrolase and/or an activation of FA oxidation in the liver and epididymal adipose tissue. In conclusion, daily consumption of a low dose of RV is effective for protecting against diet-induced obesity, hepatic steatosis and dyslipidaemia in HFD-fed mice.
Dogs and Concepts
Authors: Crary Alice 
Published: March 2012

AbstractThis article is a contribution to discussions about the prospects for a viableconceptualism, i.e., a viable view that represents our modes of awareness as conceptual all the way down. The article challenges the assumption, made by friends as well as foes of conceptualism, that a conceptualist stance necessarily commits us to denying animals minds. Its main argument starts from the conceptualist doctrine defended in the writings of John McDowell. Although critics are wrong to represent McDowell as implying that animals are mindless brutes, it is difficult to see what is wrong with this critical unless we depart from McDowell's technical terminology and introduce a notion of a concept flexible enough to apply to the lives of some non-rational animals. The article closes with a discussion of observations that speak for attributing concepts, flexibly understood, to dogs.
Hume on the Passions
Authors: Buckle Stephen 
Published: March 2012

AbstractHume's account of the passions is largely neglected because the author's purposes tend to be missed. The passions were accepted by early modern philosophers, of whatever persuasion, as the mental effects of bodily processes. The dualist and the materialist differed over whether reason is a higher power able to judge and control them: thus Descartes affirms, whereas Hobbes denies, this possibility. Hume's account lines up firmly behind Hobbes. Although he shies away from Hobbes's dogmatic physiological claims, he affirms all the key elements of the psychology Hobbes based on them: the nature of the will, the compatibility of freedom and necessity, the subservience of reason to passion, and the motivating power of pleasure and pain. Hume's account is thus best regarded as implicitly materialist. It is not, however, merely disinterested analysis: it aims at criticism of orthodox religious values. The passions are not threats to morality, but virtuous or vicious according to their pleasurable or painful nature. Thus the status of pride and humility is reversed. Hume's account of the passions underpins a rejection of orthodox religious morals, and endorses the values of antiquity – of pagan virtue.
Linguistic skills and speaking fluency in a second language
Authors: DE JONG NIVJA H. , STEINEL MARGARITA P. , FLORIJN ARJEN , SCHOONEN ROB , HULSTIJN JAN H. 
Published: March 2012

ABSTRACTThis study investigated how individual differences in linguistic knowledge and processing skills relate to individual differences in speaking fluency. Speakers of Dutch as a second language (N = 179) performed eight speaking tasks, from which several measures of fluency were derived such as measures for pausing, repairing, and speed (mean syllable duration). In addition, participants performed separate tasks, designed to gauge individuals’ second language linguistic knowledge and linguistic processing speed. The results showed that the linguistic skills were most strongly related to average syllable duration, of which 50% of individual variance was explained; in contrast, average pausing duration was only weakly related to linguistic knowledge and processing skills.
Phonological short-term and working memory in bilinguals' native and second language
Authors: KAUSHANSKAYA MARGARITA , YOO JEEWON 
Published: March 2012

ABSTRACTThe goal of the current study was to examine bilinguals' phonological short-term and working memory performance in their native/first (L1) and second (L2) languages. Korean–English bilinguals were tested in both Korean (L1) and English (L2). Short-term memory (STM) was measured via a nonword repetition task, where participants repeated nonwords that increased in length. Working memory (WM) was measured via a complex task, where the nonword repetition task was combined with an animacy judgment task. In general, bilinguals performed better on the STM task than on the WM task, and with shorter nonwords than with longer nonwords. Results also revealed that L1 STM performance was superior to L2 STM performance, but only for the longest nonwords, whereas L1 WM performance was superior to L2 WM performance across all length levels. In addition, correlation analyses between bilinguals' L1 and L2 performance revealed stronger cross-linguistic associations for the WM task than for the STM task. Together, the findings suggest that WM tasks may engage domain-general central executive processes in bilinguals, whereas STM skills may depend on language-specific knowledge in the L1 and the L2.
Spiritual perspectives of Black Caribbean and White British older adults: development of a spiritual typology in later life
Authors: SADLER EUAN , BIGGS SIMON , GLASER KAREN 
Published: March 2012

ABSTRACTSpirituality is positively linked to health and well-being in later life, particularly among older adults of black ethnic groups. However, definitions of spirituality in the literature have largely been theoretically informed, rather than based on the views of older people themselves. We examined the spiritual perspectives of Black Caribbean and White British older adults based on in-depth interviews with 34 individuals aged between 60 and 95 years. Our aim was to develop a spiritual typology to add to an understanding of the process of spirituality in later life. Findings showed that Black Caribbean older individuals mostly defined spirituality in relation to their belief in a transcendent God, whereas White British older individuals tended to draw upon a wider range of spiritual, religious or secular notions. A spirituality typology in later life captured four categories of relationship, between ‘God to self’, ‘self to God’, ‘self to universe’ and ‘self to life’. The typology highlights the central role of ethnicity in shaping spiritual perspectives in later life, and identifies the multidimensional nature of spirituality among older adults, reflecting in part a developmental process, although a process which is socially and culturally constructed.
Deep-sea and pelagic rod visual pigments identified in the mysticete whales
Authors: BISCHOFF NICOLE , NICKLE BENJAMIN , CRONIN THOMAS W. , VELASQUEZ STEPHANI , FASICK JEFFRY I. 
Published: March 2012

AbstractOur current understanding of the spectral sensitivities of the mysticete whale rod-based visual pigments is based on two species, the gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) and the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) possessing absorbance maxima determined from difference spectra to be 492 and 497 nm, respectively. These absorbance maxima values are blueshifted relative to those from typical terrestrial mammals (≈500 nm) but are redshifted when compared to those identified in the odontocetes (479–484 nm). Although these mysticete species represent two of the four mysticete families, they do not fully represent the mysticete whales in terms of foraging strategy and underwater photic environments where foraging occurs. In order to better understand the spectral sensitivities of the mysticete whale rod visual pigments, we have examined the rod opsin genes from 11 mysticete species and their associated amino acid substitutions. Based on the amino acids occurring at positions 83, 292, and 299 along with the directly determined dark spectra from expressed odontocete and mysticete rod visual pigments, we have determined that the majority of mysticete whales possess deep-sea and pelagic like rod visual pigments with absorbance maxima between 479 and 484 nm. Finally, we have defined the five amino acid substitution events that determine the resulting absorbance spectra and associated absorbance maxima for the mysticete whale rod visual pigments examined here.
The value of the Black HarrierCircus maurusas a predictor of biodiversity in the plant-rich Cape Floral Kingdom, South Africa
Authors: JENKINS JULIA , SIMMONS ROBERT E. , CURTIS ODETTE , ATYEO MARION , RAIMONDO DOMATILLA , JENKINS ANDREW R. 
Published: March 2012

SummaryDetermining the efficacy of using indicator species to predict the spatial location of biodiversity hotspots is one way of maximising the conservation of biodiversity in already threatened habitats. Recent evidence from Europe suggests raptors can play such an indicator role, so we tested this approach with a globally threatened southern hemisphere species, the Black HarrierCircus maurus. We asked if this species, found in South Africa’s mega-diverse Cape Floral Kingdom, breeds in habitat fragments that were more diverse in terms of small mammals, birds and plants than unoccupied fragments of similar size. Renosterveld is a highly fragmented habitat that has lost > 90% of its original extent and remains only on privately-owned lands. Surveys of small mammals, birds and plants undertaken in 20 fragments in the Overberg region, South Africa, revealed nine with breeding harriers and 11 without harriers. Harrier-occupied fragments were associated with a 3.5 fold higher number of bird species and higher small mammal species richness than unoccupied ones. There was a lower abundance of most plants in occupied patches, except for red grassThemeda triandrawhich is an indicator of pristine renosterveld. Vegetation structure was significantly different, with harriers nesting on patches with taller, more open vegetation. While the diversity trends were not statistically significant, a positive trend between the presence of harriers and higher abundance of red grass – as an indicator of the more pristine state of the patch, suggests that harriers might allow biodiversity managers a heuristic approach for selecting the remaining patches of pristine renosterveld. The need for intensive sampling of several taxa leads to small samples and a lack of clear-cut trends for these top predators as indicators of plant diversity.
Forecasting the 2012 French Presidential Election
Authors: Foucault Martial , Nadeau Richard 
Published: March 2012

AbstractWho will win the next French presidential election? Forecasting electoral results from political-economy models is a recent tradition in France. In this article, we pursue this effort by estimating a vote function based on both local and national data for the elections held between 1981 and 2007. This approach allows us to circumvent the small N problem and to produce more robust and reliable results. Based on a model including economic (unemployment) and political (approval and previous results) variables, we predict the defeat, although by a relatively small margin, of the right-wing incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy in the second round of the French presidential election to be held in May 2012.
Document ranking refinement using a Markov random field model
Authors: VILLATORO ESAÚ , JUÁREZ ANTONIO , MONTES MANUEL , VILLASEÑOR LUIS , SUCAR L. ENRIQUE 
Published: March 2012

AbstractThis paper introduces a novel ranking refinement approach based on relevance feedback for the task of document retrieval. We focus on the problem of ranking refinement since recent evaluation results from Information Retrieval (IR) systems indicate that current methods are effective retrieving most of the relevant documents for different sets of queries, but they have severe difficulties to generate a pertinent ranking of them. Motivated by these results, we propose a novel method to re-rank the list of documents returned by an IR system. The proposed method is based on a Markov Random Field (MRF) model that classifies the retrieved documents as relevant or irrelevant. The proposed MRF combines: (i) information provided by the base IR system, (ii) similarities among documents in the retrieved list, and (iii) relevance feedback information. Thus, the problem of ranking refinement is reduced to that of minimising an energy function that represents a trade-off between document relevance and inter-document similarity. Experiments were conducted using resources from four different tasks of the Cross Language Evaluation Forum (CLEF) forum as well as from one task of the Text Retrieval Conference (TREC) forum. The obtained results show the feasibility of the method for re-ranking documents in IR and also depict an improvement in mean average precision compared to a state of the art retrieval machine.
Unsupervised dependency parsing without training
Authors: SØGAARD ANDERS 
Published: March 2012

AbstractUsually unsupervised dependency parsers try to optimize the probability of a corpus by revising the dependency model that is assumed to have generated the corpus. In this paper we explore a different view in which a dependency structure is, among other things, a partial order on the nodes in terms of centrality or saliency. Under this assumption we directly model centrality and derive dependency trees from the ordering of words. The result is an approach to unsupervised dependency parsing that is very different from standard ones in that it requires no training data. The input words are ordered by centrality, and a parse is derived from the ranking using a simple deterministic parsing algorithm, relying on the universal dependency rules defined by Naseem et al. (Naseem, T., Chen, H., Barzilay, R., Johnson, M. 2010. Using universal linguistic knowledge to guide grammar induction. In Proceedings of Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing, Boston, MA, USA, pp. 1234–44.). Our approach is evaluated on data from twelve different languages and is remarkably competitive.