bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Assessment of lifetime exposure to trihalomethanes through different routes
Authors: Villanueva C M , Cantor K P , Grimalt J O , Castaño-Vinyals G , Malats N , Silverman D , Tardon A , Garcia-Closas R , Serra C , Carrato A , Rothman N , Real F X , Dosemeci M , Kogevinas M 
Published: March 2006

Objectives:To evaluate lifetime exposure to trihalomethanes (THM) through ingestion, inhalation, and dermal absorption in a hospital based case-control study of bladder cancer conducted between 1998 and 2001 in five areas of Spain. The study base was comprised of subjects living in the catchment areas of the participating hospitals.Methods:Individual information on water related habits was obtained from personal interviews of 1219 cases and 1271 controls: residential and occupational history, drinking water source at each residence and job, amount of water consumption, frequency and duration of showering, bathing, and swimming pool attendance. THM levels, water source history, and year when chlorination started in study areas were ascertained through measurements in drinking water samples and questionnaires to water companies and local authorities. Estimates of THM levels covered 79% of the subjects’ person-years of exposure.Results:Current and historical average THM levels in water were correlated. Control subjects reported that drinking water source in the last residence was municipal for 63%, bottled for 22%, private well for 2%, and other sources for 13%. For the time window between age 15 and the time of interview, average residential THM level was 32.2 μg/l. THM exposure through ingestion was 23.7 μg/day on average, and was correlated with the ingestion THM level in the workplace. Overall, 79% usually took showers, 16% usually took baths, and 13% had ever attended a swimming pool. Between 21% and 45% of controls unexposed to THM through ingestion were evaluated as moderately or highly exposed through showering or bathing, and 5–10% were exposed through swimming in pools.Conclusion:The importance of evaluating different routes is underscored by findings from experimental studies showing substantial differences in THM uptake and internal distribution by route.
Intervention development in occupational research: an example from the printing industry
Authors: Brown T P , Rushton L , Williams H C , English J S C 
Published: March 2006

Background:Intervention development research is an essential prerequisite of any study that attempts to determine whether specific interventions work to prevent work related injury and illness.Methods:Focus groups (n = 5) and direct observational studies (n = 21) of printers were used to elicit key issues that would aid the development of subsequent interventions. Transcripts from these were analysed by standard qualitative methods to identify common and related themes.Results:The views of managers differed significantly from those of print workers in a number of areas, and working practices did not always follow policy. The majority of printers did not perceive dermatitis to be a major problem, although many complained of dry hands. Other key results included: the lack of skin care policy in most companies; poor understanding of the nature, causes, and treatment of dermatitis; low priority of dermatitis within health and safety concerns; little or no provision of occupational health services, particularly skin checks; variability in provision of and access to appropriate skin protection; and lack of accessible washing facilities.Conclusions:As a result it was decided to evaluate the implementation of four interventions: provision of (1) skin checks and treatment advice; (2) gloves of the correct type and size, and use of an after-work cream; (3) information on dermatitis within the printing industry; and (4) development of best practice skin care policy.
An evaluation of hospital discharge records as a tool for serious work related injury surveillance
Authors: Alamgir H , Koehoorn M , Ostry A , Tompa E , Demers P 
Published: March 2006

Objectives:To identify and describe work related serious injuries among sawmill workers in British Columbia, Canada using hospital discharge records, and compare the agreement and capturing patterns of the work related indicators available in the hospital discharge records.Methods:Hospital discharge records were extracted from 1989 to 1998 for a cohort of sawmill workers. Work related injuries were identified from these records using International Classification of Disease (ICD-9) external cause of injury codes, which have a fifth digit, and sometimes a fourth digit, indicating place of occurrence, and the responsibility of payment schedule, which identifies workers’ compensation as being responsible for payment.Results:The most frequent causes of work related hospitalisations were falls, machinery related, overexertion, struck against, cutting or piercing, and struck by falling objects. Almost all cases of machinery related, struck by falling object, and caught in or between injuries were found to be work related. Overall, there was good agreement between the two indicators (ICD-9 code and payment schedule) for identifying work relatedness of injury hospitalisations (kappa = 0.75, p < 0.01). There was better concordance between them for injuries, such as struck against, drowning/suffocation/foreign body, fire/flame/natural/environmental, and explosions/firearms/hot substance/electric current/radiation, and poor concordance for injuries, such as machinery related, struck by falling object, overexertion, cutting or piercing, and caught in or between.Conclusions:Hospital discharge records are collected for administrative reasons, and thus are readily available. Depending on the coding reliability and validity, hospital discharge records represent an alternative and independent source of information for serious work related injuries. The study findings support the use of hospital discharge records as a potential surveillance system for such injuries.
SPECTRA OF RECURRENCE DIMENSION FOR DYNAMICALLY DEFINED SUBSETS OF RAUZY FRACTALS
Authors: SIRVENT VÍCTOR F. 
Published: March 2006

We compute the spectra of the recurrence dimension for dynamically defined subsets of Rauzy fractals, in the case when these sets are totally disconnected. These subsets of the Rauzy fractals are defined by subadic systems, therefore there is a well-defined dynamical system defined on them. The spectra of the recurrence dimension for adic and subadic systems was computed by the author in Sirvent,1and in the present article we extend those results to the dynamical systems mentioned before, which are geometrical realizations of these symbolic systems.This dimension is characterized by the Poincaré recurrence of the system, and the corresponding spectrum is invariant under bi-Lipschitz transformations.We also address the question, when the dynamically defined subsets of Rauzy Fractals are totally disconnected.
An Approach for Calculation of Turbulent Transfer Coefficient for Momentum inside Vegetation Canopies
Authors: Mihailovic D. T. , Lalic B. , Eitzinger J. , Malinovic S. , Arsenic I. 
Published: March 2006

Abstract
A method for calculating the profile of turbulent transfer coefficient for momentum inside a vegetation canopy for use in land surface schemes is presented. It is done through the following steps. First, an equation for the turbulent transfer coefficient for momentum inside a vegetation canopy using the “sandwich” approach for its representation is derived. Second, it is examined analytically to determine whether its solution is always positive. Third, the equation for the turbulent transfer coefficient is solved numerically, using an iterative procedure for calculating the attenuation factor in the expression for the wind speed inside a vegetation canopy that is assumed to be a linear combination of an exponential function and a logarithmic function. The proposed method is tested using 1) the observations for the wind profiles in a Japanese larch plantation and a pine forest and 2) the outputs for surface fluxes and total soil water content obtained by the Land–Air Parameterization Scheme (LAPS) with the forcing data and observations in a soybean field at the Caumont site in France during the 1986 growing season. Also, a test is performed that compares the proposed method with the method for calculating the turbulent transfer coefficients for momentum inside a vegetation canopy commonly used in land surface schemes.
On the Influence of Assumed Drop Size Distribution Form on Radar-Retrieved Thunderstorm Microphysics
Authors: Brandes Edward A. , Zhang Guifu , Sun Juanzhen 
Published: March 2006

Abstract
Polarimetric radar measurements are used to retrieve drop size distributions (DSD) in subtropical thunderstorms. Retrievals are made with the single-moment exponential drop size model of Marshall and Palmer driven by radar reflectivity measurements and with a two-parameter constrained-gamma drop size model that utilizes reflectivity and differential reflectivity. Results are compared with disdrometer observations. Retrievals with the constrained-gamma DSD model gave better representation of total drop concentration, liquid water content, and drop median volume diameter and better described their natural variability. The Marshall–Palmer DSD model, with a fixed intercept parameter, tended to underestimate the total drop concentration in storm cores and to overestimate significantly the concentration in stratiform regions. Rainwater contents in strong convection were underestimated by a factor of 2–3, and drop median volume diameters in stratiform rain were underestimated by 0.5 mm. To determine possible DSD model impacts on numerical forecasts, evaporation and accretion rates were computed using Kessler-type parameterizations. Rates based on the Marshall–Palmer DSD model were lower by a factor of 2–3 in strong convection and were higher by about a factor of 2 in stratiform rain than those based on the constrained-gamma model. The study demonstrates the potential of polarimetric radar measurements for improving the understanding of precipitation processes and microphysics parameterization in numerical forecast models.
A Simple, Efficient Solution of Flux–Profile Relationships in the Atmospheric Surface Layer
Authors: Pleim Jonathan E. 
Published: March 2006

Abstract
This note describes a simple scheme for analytical estimation of the surface-layer similarity functions from state variables. What distinguishes this note from the many previous papers on this topic is that this method is specifically targeted for numerical models in which simplicity and economic execution are critical. In addition, it has been in use in a mesoscale meteorological model for several years. For stable conditions, a very simple scheme is presented that compares well to the iterative solution. The stable scheme includes a very stable regime in which the slope of the stability functions is reduced to permit significant fluxes to occur, which is particularly important for numerical models in which decoupling from the surface can be an important problem. For unstable conditions, simple schemes generalized for varying ratios of aerodynamic roughness to thermal roughness (z0/z0h) are less satisfactory. Therefore, a simple scheme has been empirically derived for a fixed z0/z0h ratio, which represents quasi-laminar sublayer resistance.
The Retrieval of Ice Water Content from Radar Reflectivity Factor and Temperature and Its Use in Evaluating a Mesoscale Model
Authors: Hogan Robin J. , Mittermaier Marion P. , Illingworth Anthony J. 
Published: March 2006

Abstract
Ice clouds are an important yet largely unvalidated component of weather forecasting and climate models, but radar offers the potential to provide the necessary data to evaluate them. First in this paper, coordinated aircraft in situ measurements and scans by a 3-GHz radar are presented, demonstrating that, for stratiform midlatitude ice clouds, radar reflectivity in the Rayleigh-scattering regime may be reliably calculated from aircraft size spectra if the “Brown and Francis” mass–size relationship is used. The comparisons spanned radar reflectivity values from −15 to +20 dBZ, ice water contents (IWCs) from 0.01 to 0.4 g m−3, and median volumetric diameters between 0.2 and 3 mm. In mixed-phase conditions the agreement is much poorer because of the higher-density ice particles present. A large midlatitude aircraft dataset is then used to derive expressions that relate radar reflectivity and temperature to ice water content and visible extinction coefficient. The analysis is an advance over previous work in several ways: the retrievals vary smoothly with both input parameters, different relationships are derived for the common radar frequencies of 3, 35, and 94 GHz, and the problem of retrieving the long-term mean and the horizontal variance of ice cloud parameters is considered separately. It is shown that the dependence on temperature arises because of the temperature dependence of the number concentration “intercept parameter” rather than mean particle size. A comparison is presented of ice water content derived from scanning 3-GHz radar with the values held in the Met Office mesoscale forecast model, for eight precipitating cases spanning 39 h over southern England. It is found that the model predicted mean IWC to within 10% of the observations at temperatures between −30° and −10°C but tended to underestimate it by around a factor of 2 at colder temperatures.
Cirrus Classification at Midlatitude from Systematic Lidar Observations
Authors: Keckhut P. , Borchi F. , Bekki S. , Hauchecorne A. , SiLaouina M. 
Published: March 2006

Abstract
Systematic cirrus lidar measurements performed in the south of France during 2000 are analyzed statistically to search for cloud classes. The classes are based on cloud characteristics (cloud thickness, light backscattering efficiency, and its variance), cloud absolute geometric height, cloud height relative to the tropopause, and the temperature at the cloud level. The successive use of principal component analysis, cluster methods, and linear discriminant analysis allows the identification of four cirrus classes. Almost all the cirrus detections correspond to three classes with similar proportion of the total cirrus detected (around 30%). The absolute geometric height and the thickness are found to be the main discriminant variables. The first cirrus class corresponds to thin clouds above the local tropopause (absolute geometric height: 11.5 km), or at least around the tropopause, while another class corresponds also to thin clouds but at a lower altitude range in the troposphere (absolute geometric height: 8.6 km). The third class corresponds to thick clouds (thickness of 3.2 km) located below the tropopause, in an altitude range between the two first classes (absolute geometric height: 9.8 km). As expected, the high-altitude cirrus class is characterized with the lowest mean temperature. It is noted that the temperature is closely related to the altitude and so the role of temperature in the cirrus classes cannot be disentangled from the role of the altitude.
Plotting Positions in Extreme Value Analysis
Authors: Makkonen Lasse 
Published: March 2006

AbstractPlotting order-ranked data is a standard technique that is used in estimating the probability of extreme weather events. Typically, observations, say, annual extremes of a period of N years, are ranked in order of magnitude and plotted on probability paper. Some statistical model is then fitted to the order-ranked data by which the return periods of specific extreme events are estimated. A key question in this method is as follows: What is the cumulative probability P that should be associated with the sample of rank m? This issue of the so-called plotting positions has been debated for almost a century, and a number of plotting rules and computational methods have been proposed. Here, it is shown that in estimating the return periods there is only one correct plotting position: P = m/(N + 1). This formula predicts much shorter return periods of extreme events than the other commonly used methods. Thus, many estimates of the weather-related risks should be reevaluated and the related building codes and other related regulations updated.
Long-term Results of Extracorporeal Shockwave Treatment for Plantar Fasciitis
Authors: Wang Ching-Jen , Wang Feng-Sheng , Yang Kuender D. , Weng Lin-Hsiu , Ko Jih-Yang 
Published: March 2006

Background Extracorporeal shockwave treatment has shown mixed short-term results for plantar fasciitis. However, the long-term results are not available. Hypothesis Long-term results of shockwave treatment are comparable with short-term results. Study Design Randomized controlled clinical trial; Level of evidence, 1. Methods This prospective study consisted of 149 patients (168 heels) with an established diagnosis of chronic plantar fasciitis, including 79 patients (85 heels) in the shockwave treatment group and 70 patients (83 heels) in the control group. In the shockwave group, patients received 1500 impulses of shockwaves at 16 kV to the affected heel in a single session. Patients in the control group received conservative treatment consisting of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, orthotics, physical therapy, an exercise program, and/or a local cortisone injection. Patients were evaluated at 60 to 72 months (shockwave group) or 34 to 64 months (control group) with a 100-point scoring system including 70 points for pain and 30 points for function. The clinical outcomes were rated as excellent, good, fair, or poor. Results Before treatment, the groups showed no significant differences in the scores for pain and function. After treatment, the shockwave group showed significantly better pain and function scores as compared with the control group. The overall results were 69.1% excellent, 13.6% good, 6.2% fair, and 11.1% poor for the shockwave group; and 0% excellent, 55% good, 36% fair, and 9% poor for the control group (P< .001). The recurrence rate was 11% (9/81 heels) for the shockwave group versus 55% (43/78 heels) for the control group (P< .001). There were no systemic or local complications or device-related problems. Conclusion Extracorporeal shockwave treatment is effective and safe for patients with plantar fasciitis, with good long-term results.
p38 MAPK plays a role in IL-4 synthesis in jacalin plus CD28-stimulated CD4+ T cells—II
Authors: Tamma Seetha M Lakshmi , Chung Kun Wook , Patel Tejal , Balan Satya Priya , Pahwa Savita 
Published: March 2006

Abstract
We have previously shown that jacalin, a CD4+ T cell lectin, induces phosphorylation of intracellular events, moderate levels of interleukin (IL)-2 secretion. We have also shown that in the presence of CD28 costimulation, jacalin induces IL-4 secretion. In the present study, we showed that stimulation of normal CD4+ T cells with jacalin plus CD28 cross-linking (CD28XL) resulted in phosphorylation of signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)-6 and expression of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL, which were inhibited significantly when cells were cultured in the presence of the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitor SB203580. We further generated jacalin-induced CD4+ T cell blasts, examined the effects of CD28XL, and observed enhanced up-regulation of p38 and activation of STAT-6, Bcl-2, and Bcl-xL. Engagement of CD28 alone induced a marked degree of phosphorylation of p38 MAPK and IL-4 secretion in memory T cells (jacalin blasts), whereas in naïve T cells, jacalin plus CD28XL was required to induce these molecules. Incubation of cells with p38 inhibitor prior to CD28XL resulted in down-modulation of all these molecules. Further treatment with IL-4 has not reversed this trend. Our studies imply that p38 MAPK may play an important role in induction of these molecules and a putative role in protecting cells from undergoing apoptosis.
Chronic ethanol feeding increases activation of NADPH oxidase by lipopolysaccharide in rat Kupffer cells: role of increased reactive oxygen in LPS-stimulated ERK1/2 activation and TNF-α production
Authors: Thakur Varsha , Pritchard Michele T , McMullen Megan R , Wang Qifang , Nagy Laura E 
Published: March 2006

Abstract
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) contribute to the development of chronic ethanol-induced liver injury. Although ROS modulate the activity of many signal transduction pathways, the molecular targets of ROS during ethanol exposure are not well understood. Here, we investigated whether specific ROS-sensitive signal transduction pathways contribute to increased tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) production by Kupffer cells after chronic ethanol feeding to rats. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) rapidly increased ROS production, measured by dihydrorhodamine fluorescence, in Kupffer cells from ethanol- and pair-fed rats, and ROS production was 2.5-fold greater in ethanol-fed compared with pair-fed. Pretreatment with diphenyleneiodonium (DPI), which inhibits reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase, normalized ROS production in Kupffer cells from ethanol-fed rats. LPS rapidly increased Rac1-guanosinetriphosphatase (GTPase) activity and p67phox translocation to the plasma membrane in Kupffer cells from pair-fed rats. After ethanol feeding, Rac1-GTPase activity was already increased over pair-fed at baseline and remained elevated over pair-fed after LPS stimulation. Further, LPS-stimulated p67phox translocation to the plasma membrane was enhanced after chronic ethanol feeding. LPS-stimulated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1/2 and p38 phosphorylation, two signaling pathways regulated by ROS, were increased twofold in Kupffer cells from ethanol-fed rats compared with pair-fed controls. However, only LPS-stimulated ERK1/2 phosphorylation was inhibited by DPI, which also reduced LPS-stimulated TNF-α production in Kupffer cells from pair- and ethanol-fed rats. These results demonstrate that chronic ethanol feeding increases LPS-stimulated NADPH oxidase-dependent production of ROS in Kupffer cells. Further, ERK1/2 is an important target of NADPH oxidase-derived ROS in Kupffer cells, contributing to enhanced LPS-stimulated TNF-α production by Kupffer cells after chronic ethanol feeding.
Light-Induced DNA Cleavage by Bis-9-acridinyl Viologen Derivative
Authors: Takenaka Shigeori , Ihara Toshihiro , Takagi Makoto 
Published: March 2006

Abstract
A bis-9-acridinyl derivative containing a viologen linker chain (3) forms an intercalation complex with DNA, and was found to cleave the double chain DNA strand effectively under irradiation by visible light, due to the photosensitized intramolecular electron transfer from the acridine to viologen moieties within 3.
Preparation of Mesophase Pitch-Based Thin Carbon Tape
Authors: Mochida Isao , Yoon Seong-ho , Korai Yozo 
Published: March 2006

Abstract
A particular mesophase pitch of 100% anisotropy prepared from methylnaphthalene using HF/BF3 spun through the slit-shaped nozzle, stabilized in air under strain, carbonized at 1300 °C and graphitized at 2500 °C into very thin slit-shaped carbon and graphite tapes of 1.6 μm thickness and 12 μm width. The graphite tape provided excellent mechanical properties of tensile strength of 365 kg/mm2, Young’s modulus of 8.1 × 104 kg/mm2, and compressive strength of 71 kg/mm2.
A Long-Lived Intermediate with a Unidentate Dmbpy Ligand in the Photosubstitution of [Ru(bpy)2(dmbpy)]2+ (dmbpy = 3,3′-dimethyl-2,2′-bipyridine)
Authors: Tachiyashiki Satoshi , Nakamaru Katsumi , Mizumachi Kunihiko 
Published: March 2006

Abstract
Photoirradiation of a solution of [Ru(bpy)2(dmbpy)]2+ for a short moment produced an intermediate with a unidentate dmbpy ligand having a long half-life of 0.2–10 min in neutral to 1 mol dm−3 acid solutions at 25 °C.