bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Detergent protease exposure and respiratory disease: case–referent analysis of a retrospective cohort
Authors: Brant A , Upchurch S , van Tongeren M , Zekveld C , Helm J , Barnes F , Newman Taylor A J , Cullinan P 
Published: June 2009

Objectives:To examine the relationship between protease exposure and respiratory disease in a cohort of detergent enzyme manufacturers.Methods:Case–referent analysis of a cohort of employees working in a European detergent factory between 1989 and 2002. Cases with new lower or upper respiratory disease were ascertained by examination of occupational health records and matched to referents on date of first employment. Personal exposures to airborne detergent protease were estimated, using a job exposure matrix, from >12 000 measurements taken in the factory during the period of study.Results:We found clear, monotonic relationships between estimated protease exposure and both lower and upper respiratory disease. After control for age, sex and smoking, the odds ratio of lower respiratory disease was significantly elevated (1.98, 95% CI 1.04 to 3.79) in those employees working in jobs in the highest quartile of protease exposure (geometric mean 7.9 ng.m−3). For employees with upper respiratory disease, the risk was significantly elevated at a lower level of estimated protease exposure (geometric mean 2.3 ng.m−3).Conclusions:These findings provide strong evidence of an association between detergent enzyme exposure and the development of respiratory disease in an occupational setting. Using the routinely collected information on specific sensitisation and the close attention to workplace exposures that are characteristic of this industry, it should be possible to derive meaningful occupational exposure standards for most detergent enzymes.
Interview with David Brailsford
Authors: Atzenbeck Claus 
Published: June 2009

David Brailsford is the John Dunford Emeritus Professor of Computer Science at the University of Nottingham, UK. In 1986 he co-founded the Computer Science department and he was appointed to the Dunford chair in 1990. He served as Head of Department from 1990 to 1998. Since 1982 his research interests have focused on digital documents and on document engineering. He was General Chair for the first of the biennial "EP" conferences, which was held in Nottingham in 1986. This conference series then transformed into the annual, ACM-sponsored, Document Engineering Symposium from 2001 onwards. He has been on the program committee for these conferences since 1986 and he served as Program Chair for DocEng2006.
In 1988 he founded the Wiley journal "Electronic Publishing" which he edited for 10 years. Arising from this journal John Wiley Ltd funded a long-running research project, at Nottingham, on the automated internal hyperlinking of journals in PDF format. This led to a further collaboration with Wendy Hall, at the University of Southampton, on the more general hyperlinking of journal articles in a variety of formats.
David has collaborated with Adobe Systems Inc. on digital document research for more than 20 years. His research group became the first UK beta test site for Adobe Acrobat in 1992 and, over the years, six of his graduate students have supplemented their research training by undertaking summer internships at Adobe. Most of the joint research has centered around structured document components in PDF but more recently interest has turned to the possibilities for rich media documents in Adobe's AIR.
Since 2003 his Document Engineering Research Group has also collaborated with HP Laboratories on research topics ranging from XSLT transformations through to Variable Data Printing and eBooks.
Churchman's inquirers as design templates for knowledge management systems
Authors: Parrish James L. , Courtney James F. 
Published: June 2009

Introduction
A number of years ago, Peter Keen implored information systems researchers to develop theory they could call their own, which would build a cumulative tradition in the area, while maintaining close ties to practice; as it is central to the field, not peripheral. Even before that, Herbert Simon called for the development of a rigorous science of design that would also be relevant to the practice of computer science, information systems, business and engineering.

Relating to design, C. West Churchman's work on the design of inquiring systems1 has had a profound influence on research in management information systems over the years. Mason and Mitroff8 introduced this work into the MIS literature early on effectively making it endogenous to the field. Working both together and independently they went on to publish a host of articles based on inquiring systems and other books and papers by Churchman. They have inspired other IS researchers to follow in their footsteps. Ulrich has a website dedicated to Churchman and his work (http://www.geocities.com/csh_home/cwc_appreciation.html). His inquiring systems have been used as the basis for learning organizations, for knowledge management systems11 and proposed as kernel theories for knowledge management systems in general.
Despite all the work following on Churchman's original inquiring systems, Mason and Mitroff wrote recently: "To say that Singerian and Churchmanian systems are underrepresented is putting it kindly. They are virtually nonexistent." We believe that there are several reasons for this. First, the book is out of print and inaccessible. In addition, it is admittedly a difficult read, especially the passages on the Singerian inquirer. Even in lieu of the work that has been done on inquiring systems, perhaps many IS researchers believe the concepts are passé. After all, it's over 35 years old now! On the contrary, we believe that continued development of inquiring systems theory can provide continuity in IS research, serve as a theory that IS researchers can call their own, and contribute to the practice of information systems design.
The objective of this article is, first and foremost, to gain additional recognition for inquiring systems theories themselves, and to suggest ways in which they can provide the basis for contemporary design research. Essentially we argue that the inquirers can serve as logical design templates for various forms of information systems. We use an object oriented approach to describe the inquirers themselves, and then indicate how the inquirers can be viewed as logical design templates for instantiations or physical designs.
Unbalanced expanders and randomness extractors from Parvaresh--Vardy codes
Authors: Guruswami Venkatesan , Umans Christopher , Vadhan Salil 
Published: June 2009

We give an improved explicit construction of highly unbalanced bipartite expander graphs with expansion arbitrarily close to the degree (which is polylogarithmic in the number of vertices). Both the degree and the number of right-hand vertices are polynomially close to optimal, whereas the previous constructions of Ta-Shma et al. [2007] required at least one of these to be quasipolynomial in the optimal. Our expanders have a short and self-contained description and analysis, based on the ideas underlying the recent list-decodable error-correcting codes of Parvaresh and Vardy [2005].
Our expanders can be interpreted as near-optimal “randomness condensers,” that reduce the task of extracting randomness from sources of arbitrary min-entropy rate to extracting randomness from sources of min-entropy rate arbitrarily close to 1, which is a much easier task. Using this connection, we obtain a new, self-contained construction of randomness extractors that is optimal up to constant factors, while being much simpler than the previous construction of Lu et al. [2003] and improving upon it when the error parameter is small (e.g., 1/poly(n)).
Quantifying inefficiency in cost-sharing mechanisms
Authors: Roughgarden Tim , Sundararajan Mukund 
Published: June 2009

In a cost-sharing problem, several participants with unknown preferences vie to receive some good or service, and each possible outcome has a known cost. A cost-sharing mechanism is a protocol that decides which participants are allocated a good and at what prices. Three desirable properties of a cost-sharing mechanism are: incentive-compatibility, meaning that participants are motivated to bid their true private value for receiving the good; budget-balance, meaning that the mechanism recovers its incurred cost with the prices charged; and economic efficiency, meaning that the cost incurred and the value to the participants are traded off in an optimal way. These three goals have been known to be mutually incompatible for thirty years. Nearly all the work on cost-sharing mechanism design by the economics and computer science communities has focused on achieving two of these goals while completely ignoring the third.
We introduce novel measures for quantifying efficiency loss in cost-sharing mechanisms and prove simultaneous approximate budget-balance and approximate efficiency guarantees for mechanisms for a wide range of cost-sharing problems, including all submodular and Steiner tree problems. Our key technical tool is an exact characterization of worst-case efficiency loss in Moulin mechanisms, the dominant paradigm in cost-sharing mechanism design.
Certificate translation for optimizing compilers
Authors: Barthe Gilles , Grégoire Benjamin , Kunz César , Rezk Tamara 
Published: June 2009

Proof Carrying Code provides trust in mobile code by requiring certificates that ensure the code adherence to specific conditions. The prominent approach to generate certificates for compiled code is Certifying Compilation, that automatically generates certificates for simple safety properties.
In this work, we present Certificate Translation, a novel extension for standard compilers that automatically transforms formal proofs for more expressive and complex properties of the source program to certificates for the compiled code.
The article outlines the principles of certificate translation, instantiated for a nonoptimizing compiler and for standard compiler optimizations in the context of an intermediate RTL Language.
Distinguishing Pronounced Droughts in the Southwestern United States: Seasonality and Effects of Warmer Temperatures
Authors: Weiss Jeremy L. , Castro Christopher L. , Overpeck Jonathan T. 
Published: June 2009

Abstract
Higher temperatures increase the moisture-holding capacity of the atmosphere and can lead to greater atmospheric demand for evapotranspiration, especially during warmer seasons of the year. Increases in precipitation or atmospheric humidity ameliorate this enhanced demand, whereas decreases exacerbate it. In the southwestern United States (Southwest), this means the greatest changes in evapotranspirational demand resulting from higher temperatures could occur during the hot–dry foresummer and hot–wet monsoon. Here seasonal differences in surface climate observations are examined to determine how temperature and moisture conditions affected evapotranspirational demand during the pronounced Southwest droughts of the 1950s and 2000s, the latter likely influenced by warmer temperatures now attributed mostly to the buildup of greenhouse gases. In the hot–dry foresummer during the 2000s drought, much of the Southwest experienced significantly warmer temperatures that largely drove greater evapotranspirational demand. Lower atmospheric humidity at this time of year over parts of the region also allowed evapotranspirational demand to increase. Significantly warmer temperatures in the hot–wet monsoon during the more recent drought also primarily drove greater evapotranspirational demand, but only for parts of the region outside of the core North American monsoon area. Had atmospheric humidity during the more recent drought been as low as during the 1950s drought in the core North American monsoon area at this time of year, greater evapotranspirational demand during the 2000s drought could have been more spatially extensive. With projections of future climate indicating continued warming in the region, evapotranspirational demand during the hot–dry and hot–wet seasons possibly will be more severe in future droughts and result in more extreme conditions in the Southwest, a disproportionate amount negatively impacting society.
Monthly Characterization of the Tropospheric Circulation over the Euro-Atlantic Area in Relation with the Timing of Stratospheric Final Warmings
Authors: Ayarzagüena Blanca , Serrano Encarna 
Published: June 2009

Abstract
In recent decades, there has been a growing interest in the study of a possible active role of the stratosphere on the tropospheric climate. However, most studies have focused on this connection in wintertime. This paper deals with the possible relationship between variations in the timing of stratospheric final warmings (SFWs, observed in springtime) and monthly averaged changes in the Euro-Atlantic climate. On the basis of the date on which the SFW occurs, two sets of years have been selected for the period of study (1958–2002): “early years” and “late years,” reflecting a very early or a very late breakup of the polar vortex. The statistical significance of the early-minus-late differences in the analyzed fields has been established by applying a nonparametric test based on a Monte Carlo–like technique. Using data from 40-yr European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Re-Analysis (ERA-40), a dynamical study for March and April has shown important differences between both sets of years in stationary waves, especially ultralong ones (waves with k = 1 in March and k = 2 in April). Furthermore, the interannual variations in the stratospheric zonal wind seem to propagate downward as the spring progresses, in such a way that they reach tropospheric levels in April. Relevant differences between “early” and “late” years have been found in tropospheric monthly fields in the Euro-Atlantic area (geopotential, zonal wind, and storm-track activity), being at their most extensive in April.
The Use of Coherency to Improve Signal Detection in Dual-Polarization Weather Radars
Authors: Ivić Igor R. , Zrnić Dušan S. , Yu Tian-You 
Published: June 2009

Abstract
Currently, signal detection and censoring in operational weather radars is performed by using thresholds of the estimated signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and/or the magnitude of the autocorrelation coefficient at the first temporal lag. The growing popularity of polarimetric radars prompts the quest for improved detection schemes that take advantage of the signals from the two orthogonally polarized electric fields. A hybrid approach is developed based on the sum of the cross-correlation estimates as well as the powers and autocorrelations from each of the dual-polarization returns. The hypothesis that “signal is present” is accepted if the sum exceeds a predetermined threshold; otherwise, the data are considered to represent noise and are censored. The threshold is determined by the acceptable rate of false detections that is less than or equal to a preset value. The scheme is evaluated both in simulations and through implementation on time series data collected by the research weather surveillance radar (KOUN) in Norman, Oklahoma.
Extended Application of a Novel Phase Calibration Approach of Multiple-Frequency Range Imaging to the Chung-Li and MU VHF Radars
Authors: Chen Jenn-Shyong , Su Ching-Lun , Chu Yen-Hsyang , Hassenpflug Gernot , Zecha Marius 
Published: June 2009

Abstract
Multiple-frequency range imaging (RIM), designed to improve the range resolution of radar echo distribution, is now available for the recently upgraded Chung-Li VHF radar (24.9°N, 121.1°E). To complete the RIM technique of this radar, a novel phase calibration approach, proposed initially for the Ostsee Wind (OSWIN) VHF radar, was employed to examine the effects of phase bias and the range-weighting function on the received radar echoes. The estimated phase bias indicated a time delay of ∼1.83 μs for the signal in the radar system. In contrast, such a time delay is more difficult to determine from the phase distribution of two-frequency cross-correlation functions. The same calibration approach was also applied successfully to the middle and upper atmosphere (MU) radar (34.85°N, 136.11°E) and revealed a time delay of ∼0.33 μs for the radar parameters employed. These calibration results for various radars demonstrate the general usability of the proposed calibration approach. With the high-resolution performance of RIM, some small-scale Kelvin–Helmholtz (KH) billows, double-layer structures, and plumelike structures in the troposphere that cannot be seen in height–time intensity plots have been recognized in present observations. The billows and double layers were found to be closely related to strong vertical wind shear and small Richardson number, supporting the hypothesis of a dynamic process of KH instability. On the other hand, the plumelike structures were observed to grow out of a wavy layer and could be attributed to saturation and breaking of gravity waves. These fine structures have shown some remarkable features resolved by the RIM method applied to VHF radars in the lower atmosphere.
Cloud Determination of All-Sky Images under Low-Visibility Conditions
Authors: Huo Juan , Lu Daren 
Published: June 2009

Abstract
The threshold method is commonly used to determine cloud in a sky image. This paper evaluates the method by numerical simulation and shows that the aerosol optical depth (AOD) is a key factor that influences the accuracy. Particularly when the visibility is low, a single threshold method is inappropriate. To improve the accuracy of cloud determination from low-visibility sky images, an integrated cloud-determination algorithm is presented that is based on the fast Fourier transform, symmetrical image features, and threshold methods. The preliminary comparison tests show that the new integrated method improves the ability to determine cloud under lower-visibility conditions.
Data Sensitivity of the ECCO State Estimate in a Regional Setting
Authors: Douglass Elizabeth , Roemmich Dean , Stammer Detlef 
Published: June 2009

Abstract
The Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO) consortium provides a framework in which the adjoint method of data assimilation is applied to a general circulation model to provide a dynamically self-consistent estimate of the time-varying ocean state, which is constrained by observations. In this study, the sensitivity of the solution to the constraints provided by various datasets is investigated in a regional setting in the North Pacific. Four assimilation experiments are performed, which vary by the data used as constraints and the relative weights associated with these data. The resulting estimates are compared to two of the assimilated datasets as well as to data from two time series stations not used as constraints. These comparisons demonstrate that increasing the weights of the subsurface data provides overall improvement in the model–data consistency of the estimate of the state of the North Pacific Ocean. However, some elements of the solution are degraded. This could result from incompatibility between datasets, possibly because of hidden biases, or from errors in the model physics made more evident by the increased weight on subsurface data. The adjustments to the control parameters of surface forcing and initial conditions necessary to obtain the more accurate fit to the data are found to be within prior error bars.
Developments in end-of-life and palliative care social work
Authors: Payne Malcolm 
Published: June 2009

English Palliative care social work has developed primarily as a specialist health-related form of clinical social work. However, the resource-intensive modernist medicalized practice of Western countries has been culturally inappropriate elsewhere. Broader end-of-life care and community education outside healthcare settings offers opportunities to develop palliative care social work in the direction of social development practice. French Le travail social de soin palliatif s’est au départ développé en tant que forme particulière de travail social clinique en relation avec la santé. Toutefois, la pratique médicalisée moderniste et intensément dotée en ressources des pays occidentaux, a parfois été culturellement inappropriée ailleurs. Plus largement le soin de fin de vie et l’éducation communautaire en dehors des dispositifs de soins de santé offrent des opportunités de développer le travail social de soin palliatif dans le sens des pratiques de développement social concernées. Spanish El trabajo social en el campo del cuidado paliativo se ha desarrollado primariamente como una especialidad del trabajo social clínico relacionado con la salud. Sin embargo, la práctica medicalizada y muy cara de las sociedades occidentales, no es apropiada culturalmente en otros lugares. Un cuidado al final de la vida más amplio, conectado a la educación de la comunidad, y al margen de las organizaciones médicas, ofrece oportunidades de desarrollar un trabajo social de cuidado paliativo que conduzca a una práctica de desarrollo social.
Developing a health equality imagination
Authors: Giles Roslyn 
Published: June 2009

English Critical reflection on hospital social work practices opens the door to question the profession’s response to growing international health inequalities. The development of a health equality imagination provides a driver to challenge and reframe practice that promotes comprehensive actions in both direct practice and education. French La réflexion critique sur les pratiques du travail social hospitalier ouvre la porte à la question de la réponse que peut apporter la profession face aux inégalités croissantes dans l’accès aux soins de santé. Le développement d’une ‘imagination pour l’accès égalitaire à la santé’ propose un outil pour défier et recadrer la pratique qui promeut des actions globales orientées tant vers la pratique que vers la formation. Spanish Una reflexión crítica sobre el trabajo social en los hospitales interroga a la profesión acerca de sus prácticas, dadas las cada vez mayores desigualdades a nivel internacional en cuestiones de salud. El desarrollo de una imaginación que acomode igualdad en la salud constituye una fuerza motora que reta y reenmarca un tipo de práctica que promueve acciones comprensivas tanto en la práctica directa como en la educación.
Bivalirudin anticoagulation during cardiac surgery: a single-center experience in 141 patients
Authors: Koster A , Buz S , Krabatsch T , Yeter R , Hetzer R 
Published: June 2009

The feasibility of bivalirudin for anticoagulation during cardiac surgery has been confirmed in four multicenter clinical trials. Here, we report our single-center experience with bivalirudin anticoagulation in “on-pump” and “off-pump” cardiac surgery in a large number of patients with and without heparin antibodies. Data of patients who underwent cardiac surgery with bivalirudin anticoagulation between 06/2003 and 12/2007 at our institution were reviewed. Assessment included procedural success, blood loss, transfusion requirements, re-exploration rates and drug-related complications during the procedures. There were 141 patients treated with bivalirudin, of whom 40 had heparin antibodies. In 26 patients, “off-pump” coronary artery bypass grafting was performed and the remaining 115 patients had surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). The procedural success rate after 7 days and after 30 days was 99.4%. The mean blood loss after “off-pump” surgery was 833 ± 310 ml, with a transfusion rate of 30%. The mean blood loss after “on-pump” surgery was 750 ± 494 ml, with a transfusion rate of 56%. Two patients needed re-exploration due to persistent hemorrhage. Overall transfusion rates were increased in patients with heparin antibodies. The current investigation demonstrates that, in experienced hands, bivalirudin anticoagulation can be performed with excellent procedural success and low complication rates during “on-pump” and “off-pump” cardiac surgery. Recent problems associated with the production of heparin have emphasized the urgent need for an alternative for use beyond the limited indication of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia.