bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Interpersonal conflicts at work as a predictor of self-reported health outcomes and occupational mobility
Authors: De Raeve L , Jansen N W H , van den Brandt P A , Vasse R , Kant IJ 
Published: December 2008

Objectives:The aim of this prospective study was to examine the relationship between interpersonal conflicts at work and subsequent self-reported health outcomes (self-reported general health, need for recovery, and prolonged fatigue) and occupational mobility (internal mobility ie, changing job function, and external mobility ie, changing employers).Methods:Data from the Maastricht Cohort Study on fatigue at work (n = 5582 for co-worker conflict; n = 5530 for supervisor conflict) were used. Interpersonal conflict with either co-workers or supervisors was assessed between baseline and 1-year follow-up. Outcomes were studied every 4 months between 1-year and 2-year follow-up. Logistic regression analyses using generalised estimating equations were conducted for each of the dichotomous outcomes, while controlling for demographic factors, the presence of a long-term illness, other workplace stressors, coping, and outcome at baseline. Analyses were conducted for men only.Results:At baseline, conflicts with co-workers occurred in 7.2% of the study population, while conflicts with supervisors occurred in 9.5% of the study population. In general, this study showed that co-worker conflict was a statistically significant risk factor for the onset of an elevated need for recovery, prolonged fatigue, poor general health and external occupational mobility. Supervisor conflict was a significant risk factor for the onset of an elevated need for recovery, prolonged fatigue, external occupational mobility, and internal occupational mobility.Conclusions:The results of this study indicate a possible causal relationship between interpersonal conflicts at work and self-reported health and occupational mobility. Given the considerable impact of interpersonal conflicts at work on the individual worker and on the organisation, and the fact that interpersonal conflicts at work are highly prevalent, these findings underline the need for interventions aimed at preventing the occurrence of interpersonal conflicts at work, or at least reducing the harmful effects on both the employee and the organisation.
Heat-shock-induced oxidative stress and antioxidant response in Aspergillus niger 26
Authors: Abrashev Radoslav I. , Pashova Svetlana B. , Stefanova Lilyana N. , Vassilev Spassen V. , Dolashka-Angelova Pavlina A. , Angelova Maria B. 
Published: December 2008

To extend the knowledge about the relationship between heat shock and oxidative stress in lower eukaryotes, the filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger 26 was chosen as a model system. Here, the response of A. niger cells to heat shock is reported. The temperature treatment significantly increased the levels of reactive oxygen species, superoxide anions (O2•–), and hydrogen peroxide and the rate of cyanide-resistant respiration as a marker of oxidative stress. Enhanced reactive oxygen species generation coincided with an increase in the content of oxidative damaged protein and in the accumulation of the storage carbohydrates trehalose and glycogen. Thermal survival of the A. niger cells corresponded to a significant increase in the levels of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase and catalase for all variants. These observations suggest that heat and oxidative stress have a common cellular effect.
Effects of xanthotoxin treatment on trichothecene production inFusarium sporotrichioides
Authors: Alexander Nancy J. , McCormick Susan P. , Blackburn Judith A. 
Published: December 2008

There are 4 P450 oxygenases involved in the biosynthesis of T-2 toxin in Fusarium sporotrichioides . Exactly how these enzymes react to antimicrobial plant defense compounds is unknown. Xanthotoxin (8-methoxypsoralen) is a phototoxic furanocoumarin that acts as a P450 oxygenase inhibitor. The current study shows that the addition of concentrations of 1.0 mmol/L or less of xanthotoxin to liquid cultures of F. sporotrichioides NRRL3299 can effectively block T-2 toxin production and cause an increase in accumulation of trichodiene, the hydrocarbon precursor of trichothecenes. The addition of xanthotoxin to liquid cultures of a trichodiene-accumulating F. sporotrichioides Tri4–mutant caused a 3- to 10-fold increase in trichodiene accumulation, suggesting that xanthotoxin not only blocks trichothecene oxygenation reactions, but may in some way also promote the synthesis of trichodiene. Feeding studies showed that 2 of the 4 P450 oxygenases, TRI4 and TRI1, were more sensitive to xanthotoxin, while oxygenases TRI11 and TRI13 were unaffected. Quantitative reverse-transcriptase PCR indicated that several of the genes in the toxin biosynthetic pathway were upregulated by xanthotoxin, with Tri4 showing the highest increase in expression. These results indicate that while xanthotoxin inhibits specific P450 oxygenase activity, it also has an effect on gene expression.
Genetic parameter estimates for growth traits of black spruce in northwestern Ontario
Authors: Lu Pengxin , Charrette Paul 
Published: December 2008

Genetic parameters of growth traits were estimated for first-generation selections of black spruce ( Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP) in northwestern Ontario from 720 open-pollinated families and more than 42 000 trees. Unbiased estimates of narrow-sense heritability for tree height growth averaged 0.19, 0.18, and 0.14 at ages 6, 11, and 19 years, respectively, from combined-site analyses compared with 0.25, 0.23, and 0.16 for the same ages from single-site analyses. Heritability estimates for diameter at breast height and stem volume were lower than that of height at age 19, suggesting that tree height is a more desirable trait for selection in black spruce. The moderately high estimates of type B genetic correlations implied limited operational importance of genotype × environment interactions. Estimates of age–age genetic correlation were high (>0.88) among cumulative tree height growth at 6, 11, and 19 years but lower between height increments from different age intervals. Estimates of type B age–age genetic correlation were more than 0.2 lower than their type A counterparts, suggesting strong effects of common environments on the estimates of type A genetic correlations. Based on the relative selection efficiencies, selection on cumulative tree height between ages 6 and 11 was more efficient than at age 19.
Financial compensation and uncertainty: using mean-variance rule and stochastic dominance to derive conservation payments for secondary forests
Authors: Knoke Thomas , Hildebrandt Patrick , Klein Daniel , Mujica Rodrigo , Moog Martin , Mosandl Reinhard 
Published: December 2008

The expected opportunity costs of conserving a specific land use are usually considered adequate as financial compensation. However, a “conservation premium” is sometimes proposed as an added incentive, i.e., compensation greater than the expected opportunity costs. This paper discusses various methodological opportunities for deriving effective compensation under uncertainty. Based on cumulative distribution functions of possible opportunity costs (a Douglas-fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) plantation was considered the alternative to conserving a Chilean secondary forest), generated through Monte Carlo simulations, we derived an inclusive range of possible compensations from 77 up to 375 US$·ha–1·year–1. If we assumed that the two land-use alternatives were mutually exclusive and independent from other risky investments, a compensation of 375 US$·ha–1·year–1 was necessary to convince every decision maker to maintain the secondary forest. However, only 77 US$·ha–1·year–1 was enough for a risk-averse decision maker (given average opportunity costs of 113 US$·ha–1·year–1). Yet, it turned out that the greatest possible opportunity costs would already be compensated for with 199 US$·ha–1·year–1, given an error probability of 0.05. Compensating for the last 5% of possible opportunity costs would thus require an additional 176 US$·ha–1·year–1. Our approach had two main limitations, namely we did not consider portfolio effects, which would allow diversifying away unsystematic risks, and we did not take into account the different systematic risks of the compared alternatives. These limitations may have led to an overestimation of effective compensation.
Impacts of fire and fire surrogate treatments on ecosystem nitrogen storage patterns: similarities and differences between forests of eastern and western North America
Authors: Boerner R. E.J. , Huang Jianjun , Hart Stephen C. 
Published: December 2008

The Fire and Fire Surrogates (FFS) network is composed of 12 forest sites that span the continental United States, all of which historically had frequent low-severity fire. The goal of the FFS study was to assess the efficacy of three management treatments (prescribed fire, mechanical thinning, and their combination) in reducing wildfire hazard and increasing ecosystem sustainability. This paper describes the impact of the FFS treatments on nitrogen (N) storage and distribution. At the network scale, total ecosystem N averaged 4480 kg·ha–1, with ∼9% in vegetation, ∼9% in forest floor, ∼2% in deadwood, and ∼80% in soil. The loss of vegetation N to fire averaged (±SE) 25 ± 11 kg·ha–1, whereas the mechanical and combined mechanical and fire treatments resulted in N losses of 133 ± 21 and 145 ± 19 kg·ha–1, respectively. Western coniferous forests lost more N from each treatment than did eastern forests. None of the manipulative FFS treatments impacted >10%–15% of total N of these ecosystems. Management strategies that maximize ecosystem carbon (C) gain by minimizing loss of N should be a focus in western forests, where C and N cycling are tightly linked, but perhaps not in those eastern forests where atmospheric N deposition has decoupled C and N cycles.
Abrupt Transitions and Hysteresis in Thermohaline Laboratory Models
Authors: Whitehead J. A. 
Published: December 2008

AbstractAs a driving parameter is slowly altered, thermohaline ocean circulation models show either a smooth evolution of a mode of flow or an abrupt transition of temperature and salinity fields from one mode to another. An abrupt transition might occur at one value or over a range of the driving parameter. The latter has hysteresis because the mode in this range depends on the history of the driving parameter. Although assorted ocean circulation models exhibit abrupt transitions, such transitions have not been directly observed in the ocean. Therefore, laboratory experiments have been conducted to seek and observe actual (physical) abrupt thermohaline transitions. An experiment closely duplicating Stommel’s box model possessed abrupt transitions in temperature and salinity with distinct hysteresis. Two subsequent experiments with more latitude for internal circulation in the containers possessed abrupt transitions over a much smaller range of hysteresis. Therefore, a new experiment with even more latitude for internal circulation was designed and conducted. A large tank of constantly renewed freshwater at room temperature had a smaller cavity in the bottom heated from below with saltwater steadily pumped in. The cavity had either a salt mode, consisting of the cavity filled with heated salty water with an interface at the cavity top, or a temperature mode, in which the heat and saltwater were removed from the cavity by convection. There was no measurable hysteresis between the two modes. Possible reasons for such small hysteresis are discussed.
Seasonal Ensemble Forecasts: Are Recalibrated Single Models Better than Multimodels?
Authors: Weigel Andreas P. , Liniger Mark A. , Appenzeller Christof 
Published: December 2008

AbstractMultimodel ensemble combination (MMEC) has become an accepted technique to improve probabilistic forecasts from short- to long-range time scales. MMEC techniques typically widen ensemble spread, thus improving the dispersion characteristics and the reliability of the forecasts. This raises the question as to whether the same effect could be achieved in a potentially cheaper way by rescaling single model ensemble forecasts a posteriori such that they become reliable. In this study a climate conserving recalibration (CCR) technique is derived and compared with MMEC. With a simple stochastic toy model it is shown that both CCR and MMEC successfully improve forecast reliability. The difference between these two methods is that CCR conserves resolution but inevitably dilutes the potentially predictable signal while MMEC is in the ideal case able to fully retain the predictable signal and to improve resolution. Therefore, MMEC is conceptually to be preferred, particularly since the effect of CCR depends on the length of the data record and on distributional assumptions. In reality, however, multimodels consist only of a finite number of participating single models, and the model errors are often correlated. Under such conditions, and depending on the skill metric applied, CCR-corrected single models can on average have comparable skill as multimodel ensembles, particularly when the potential model predictability is low. Using seasonal near-surface temperature and precipitation forecasts of three models of the Development of a European Multimodel Ensemble System for Seasonal-to-Interannual Prediction (DEMETER) dataset, it is shown that the conclusions drawn from the toy-model experiments hold equally in a real multimodel ensemble prediction system. All in all, it is not possible to make a general statement on whether CCR or MMEC is the better method. Rather it seems that optimum forecasts can be obtained by a combination of both methods, but only if first MMEC and then CCR is applied. The opposite order—first CCR, then MMEC—is shown to be of only little effect, at least in the context of seasonal forecasts.
Impact of the Intraseasonal Variability of the Western North Pacific Large-Scale Circulation on Tropical Cyclone Tracks
Authors: Chen Tsing-Chang , Wang Shih-Yu , Yen Ming-Cheng , Clark Adam J. 
Published: December 2008

Abstract
The life cycle of the Southeast Asian–western North Pacific monsoon circulation is established by the northward migrations of the monsoon trough and the western Pacific subtropical anticyclone, and is reflected by the intraseasonal variations of monsoon westerlies and trade easterlies in the form of an east–west seesaw oscillation. In this paper, an effort is made to disclose the influence of this monsoon circulation on tropical cyclone tracks during its different phases using composite charts of large-scale circulation for certain types of tracks.
A majority of straight-moving (recurving) tropical cyclones appear during weak (strong) monsoon westerlies and strong (weak) trade easterlies. The monsoon conditions associated with straight-moving tropical cyclones are linked to the intensified subtropical anticyclone, while that associated with recurving tropical cyclones is coupled with the deepened monsoon trough. The relationship between genesis locations and track characteristics is evolved from the intraseasonal variation of the monsoon circulation reflected by the east–west oscillation of monsoon westerlies and trade easterlies. Composite circulation differences between the flows associated with the two types of tropical cyclone tracks show a vertically uniform short wave train along the North Pacific rim, as portrayed by the Pacific–Japan oscillation. During the extreme phases of the monsoon life cycle, the anomalous circulation pattern east of Taiwan resembles this anomalous short wave train.
A vorticity budget analysis of the strong monsoon condition reveals a vorticity tendency dipole with a positive zone to the north and a negative zone to the south of the deepened monsoon trough. This meridional juxtaposition of vorticity tendency propagates the monsoon trough northward. The interaction of a tropical cyclone with the monsoon trough intensifies the north–south juxtaposition of the vorticity tendency and deflects the tropical cyclone northward. In contrast, during weak monsoon conditions, the interaction between a tropical cyclone and the subtropical high results in a northwestward motion steered by the intensified trade easterlies. The accurate prediction of the monsoon trough and the subtropical anticyclone variations coupled with the monsoon life cycle may help to improve the forecasting of tropical cyclone tracks.
Phonetics and Phonology of Thematic Contrast in German
Authors: Braun Bettina 
Published: December 2008

It is acknowledged that contrast plays an important role in understanding discourse and information structure. While it is commonly assumed that contrast can be marked by intonation only, our understanding of the intonational realization of contrast is limited. For German there is mainly introspective evidence that the rising theme accent (or topic accent) is realized differently when signaling contrast than when not. In this article, the acoustic basis for the reported impressionistic differences is investigated in terms of the scaling (height) and alignment (positioning) of tonal targets. Subjects read target sentences in a contrastive and a noncontrastive context (Experiment 1). Prosodic annotation revealed that thematic accents were not realized with different accent types in the two contexts but acoustic comparison showed that themes in contrastive context exhibited a higher and later peak. The alignment and scaling of accents can hence be controlled in a linguistically meaningful way, which has implications for intonational phonology. In Experiment 2, nonlinguists' perception of a subset of the production data was assessed. They had to choose whether, in a contrastive context, the presumed contrastive or noncontrastive realization of a sentence was more appropriate. For some sentence pairs only, subjects had a clear preference. For Experiment 3, a group of linguists annotated the thematic accents of the contrastive and noncontrastive versions of the same data as used in Experiment 2. There was considerable disagreement in labels, but different accent types were consistently used when the two versions differed strongly in F0 excursion. Although themes in contrastive contexts were clearly produced differently than themes in noncontrastive contexts, this difference is not easily perceived or annotated.
Retinal architecture predicts pupillary reflex metrics in MS
Authors: Salter AR , Conger A , Frohman TC , Zivadinov R , Eggenberger E , Calabresi P , Cutter G , Balcer L , Frohman EM 
Published: December 2008

Objective To study the relation of retinal nerve fiber layer thinning to clinical and physiologic measures of visual function in patients with MS or neuromyelitis optica and unilateral optic neuropathy. Methods We studied a cohort of control subjects ( n = 64) and patients ( n = 24) with evidence of unilateral thinning of their average retinal nerve fiber layer as measured by optical coherence tomography in order to characterize the relationship between ganglion cell axonal degeneration and its impact upon vision and pupillary light reflex metrics using infrared pupillometry. Results When compared to the normal fellow eye, and with respect to normal subjects’ eyes, we confirmed significant abnormalities in retinal nerve fiber layer thickness, total macular volume, low-contrast letter acuity, and pupillary reflex metrics in the eye with the thinner retinal nerve fiber layer. For each −5% change in pupil diameter, there was a corresponding 7.1 µm reduction in the average retinal nerve fiber layer thickness. There was a significant difference between the pupillary metric of percent change in diameter and a decrease in low-contrast letter acuity ( P < 0.001). Each −5% change in pupil diameter was associated with a substantial 3.4 line loss of low-contrast letter acuity ( P < 0.001). Each −5% change in pupil diameter was associated with a 0.2 mm2 decrease in total macular volume ( P < 0.001). Conclusion These findings further corroborate the hypothesis that the retina can be utilized as a model to advance our understanding of the mechanisms of axonal and neurodegeneration, and the corresponding impact of these processes upon the pathophysiology of MS and related disorders.
The role of illocutionary operators in the emerging grammars of bilingual children
Authors: Hulk Aafke , van der Linden Elisabeth 
Published: December 2008

In this paper, we bring together recent discussions about the role of function words in emerging monolingual grammars with the discussion about role of these words in mixed utterances in emerging bilingual grammars. Recently several linguists have addressed the question of determining the organizing principles of early syntax in developing grammars of monolingual children. Van Kampen (this volume), Tracy (2002), among others, note that in early two-word utterances certain “function” words occur very frequently and play a special role: they appear as illocutionary operators and seem to have a bootstrapping function with respect to the development of syntactic structure. In this article, we consider spontaneous production data from three bilingual Dutch/French children and seek to answer the question whether the role of “function” words is the same in these bilingual developing grammars as in monolingual grammars. We show that this indeed appears to be the case. We then examine the claim by Deuchar and Quay (2000) that “function words” are mixed more readily than other words. We argue that our data do not present convincing arguments in favor of such a hypothesis.
The interactional and syntactic importance of prosody in Spanish-English bilingual discourse
Authors: Shenk Petra Scott 
Published: December 2008

This paper highlights prosody as a fundamental feature of bilingual conversation. My data show that syntactic structure does not impose constraints on codeswitching, as one prevalent line of inquiry regarding codeswitching claims, but rather certain discourse structures make codeswitching at any given point more or less cognitively and interactionally profitable according to conversationalists' ability to produce and comprehend information. My corpus consists of one hour of conversational data from four competent bilinguals of Mexican heritage living in Southern California yielding a total of 782 analyzable units. Using the transcription methods developed by Du Bois, Schuetze-Coburn, Paolino, and Cumming, (1993) wherein each line of transcription consists of one Intonation Unit (Chafe, 1979, 1987, 1993, 1994), the prevalent pattern which emerged was one in which speakers overwhelmingly switched at Intonation Unit boundaries. Using what I have termed the Switch-Boundary Intonation Unit (SBIU) as my unit of analysis and adapting the notion of completion points (Ford and Thompson, 1996; Sacks, Schegloff, & Jefferson, 1974), I examine intonation contour type, syntactic completion and constituency, and pragmatic completion in order to best characterize the codeswitching frame.