bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Selective elimination of hepatic natural killer T cells with Concanavalin A improves liver regeneration in mice
Authors: Huang Wen , Dong Zhongjun , Wei Haiming , Ding Chen , Sun Rui , Tian Zhigang 
Published: February 2006

Abstract: Background: Although concanavalin A (Con A) as a T cell stimulant can cause natural killer T (NKT) cell‐mediated liver injury in mice and a nonhepatotoxic dose of Con A can trigger innate immune cells including NKT cells to prevent tumor metastasis in the liver, little is known about the role of Con A‐primed NKT cells in liver repair. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of pretreatment with a nontoxic dose of Con A on subsequent liver regeneration in mice.Methods: A nontoxic dose of Con A was injected intravenously 24 h before partial hepatectomy (PHx), which was used as a model of liver regeneration. Ratios of remnant liver mass to body weight, bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) labeling were used to assess liver regeneration.Results: Hepatic mononuclear cells were isolated and analyzed by flow cytometry. After PHx, the ratios of liver weight to body weight, PCNA‐positive hepatocytes and BrdU‐positive hepatocytes in Con A‐pretreated mice were significantly higher than that of phosphate‐buffered saline‐treated mice, indicating that Con A pretreatment can accelerate liver regeneration. Flow cytometric analysis showed that NKT cells were significantly activated and selectively eliminated after the Con A administration. Moreover, NKT cells expressed more apoptosis‐related molecules, Fas and Annexin V.Conclusions: Taken together, Con A accelerates liver regeneration in mice by eliminating hepatic NKT cells via activation‐induced cell death.
Automated flicker perimetry in glaucoma using Octopus 311: a comparative study with the Humphrey Matrix
Authors: Matsumoto Chota , Takada Sonoko , Okuyama Sachiko , Arimura Eiko , Hashimoto Shigeki , Shimomura Yoshikazu 
Published: February 2006

Abstract.Purpose:  We evaluated the clinical usefulness of flicker perimetry in glaucoma and glaucoma suspect patients using the new Octopus 311 automated perimeter. Methods:  A total of 52 eyes of 52 glaucoma patients, 26 eyes of 26 glaucoma suspect patients and 61 eyes of 61 normal subjects were examined using standard automated perimetry (SAP), flicker perimetry and frequency doubling technology (FDT) perimetry. Flicker perimetry was performed using the Octopus 311 and its remote software package. Suprathreshold four‐zone probability strategy was used to classify the critical fusion frequency probability level. The classified levels were set at 5% and 1% of probability of normality and 5 Hz. Frequency doubling technology perimetry was performed using 24‐2‐5, 24‐2‐1, N‐30–5, N‐30–1 screening programs using Humphrey Matrix perimetry. Standard automated perimetry was performed using the Humphrey field analyser program 24–2 full threshold. Optical coherence tomography using Stratus OCT was used for evaluating the retinal nerve fibre layer thickness in all glaucoma and glaucoma suspect patients. Results:  Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were calculated. In the early stage of glaucoma, the areas under the ROC curve (AUCs) were 0.96 in flicker and 0.90 in Matrix perimetry. In the moderate and advanced stages of glaucoma, the AUCs were almost 1.0 in all tests. In glaucoma suspect patients, the AUC of the 5% probability level in flicker was significantly higher than in Matrix perimetry. Conclusion:  The four‐zone probability strategy using the Octopus 311 is a useful method for evaluating the flicker field in early glaucoma and glaucoma suspect patients.
Effects of a physical exercise intervention on subjective physical well‐being, psychosocial functioning and general well‐being among office workers: A cluster randomized‐controlled cross‐over design
Authors: Sjögren T. , Nissinen K. J. , Järvenpää S. K. , Ojanen M. T. , Vanharanta H. , Mälkiä E. A. 
Published: February 2006

The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of a workplace physical exercise intervention on subjective physical well‐being, psychosocial functioning and general well‐being.The study was a cluster randomized‐controlled trial with the department (n=4) as the unit of randomization. The subjects (n=90) were office workers [mean age 45.7 (SD 8.5) years]. Psychosocial functioning and well‐being variables were measured by descriptive visual rating scales. The cross‐over design consisted of one 15‐week intervention period of light resistance training and guidance and another 15‐week period of no training and no guidance. The statistical analysis was based on linear mixed models.The active component of the intervention, light resistance training, resulted in a slight, but statistically significant, increase in subjective physical well‐being (P=0.015). At the average training time of 5 min/working day (25 min/week) the average increase during the 15‐week period was 4 units (95% confidence interval (CI) 1–7) and 5% (95% CI 1–9). The physical exercise intervention had no effect on somatic symptoms, anxiety, self‐confidence, mood, mental stress at work, working atmosphere, life satisfaction or meaning of life.Daily light resistance training, conducted during the working day, had a positive direction on subjective physical well‐being among office workers.
Berkeley's Half‐Way House
Authors: Hight Marc 
Published: February 2006

AbstractGeorge Berkeley's New Theory of Vision is frequently read as a simple precursor or “half‐way house” to his later metaphysics. As a result, some allege the value of the New Theory has been overlooked as critics judge it by its association with immaterialism. In this piece I examine the ongoing debate over the nature of the connection between Berkeley's early work on perception and his later immaterialist tracts. I identify four principal positions on the nature of the connection that have been advanced in the scholarly literature, critically engage the evidence for and against them, and finally weigh in by arguing that an excellent case can be made for thinking that the New Theory is a half‐way house to immaterialism after all.
P SYSTEMS WITH INPUT IN BINARY FORM
Authors: LEPORATI ALBERTO , ZANDRON CLAUDIO , GUTIÉRREZ-NARANJO MIGUEL A. 
Published: February 2006

Current P systems which solve NP–complete numerical problems represent the instances of the problems in unary notation. However, in classical complexity theory, based upon Turing machines, switching from binary to unary encoded instances generally corresponds to simplify the problem. In this paper we show that, when working with P systems, we can assume without loss of generality that instances are expressed in binary notation. More precisely, we propose a simple method to encode binary numbers using multisets, and a family of P systems which transforms such multisets into the usual unary notation. Such a family could thus be composed with the unary P systems currently proposed in the literature to obtain (uniform) families of P systems which solve NP–complete numerical problems with instances encoded in binary notation.We introduce also a framework which can be used to design uniform families of P systems which solve NP–complete problems (both numerical and non-numerical) working directly on binary encoded instances, i.e., without first transforming them to unary notation. We illustrate our framework by designing a family of P systems which solves the 3-SAT problem. Next, we discuss the modifications needed to obtain a family of P systems which solves the PARTITION numerical problem.
TOPOLOGICAL STABLE RANK OF INCLUSIONS OF UNITAL C*-ALGEBRAS
Authors: OSAKA HIROYUKI , TERUYA TAMOTSU 
Published: February 2006

Let 1 ∈ A ⊂ B be an inclusion of C*-algebras of C*-index-finite type with depth 2. We try to compute the topological stable rank of B (= tsr (B)) when A has topological stable rank one. We show that tsr (B) ≤ 2 when A is a tsr boundedly divisible algebra, in particular, A is a C*-minimal tensor product UHF ⊗ D with tsr (D) = 1. When G is a finite group and α is an action of G on UHF, we know that a crossed product algebra UHF ⋊α G has topological stable rank less than or equal to two. These results are affirmative data to a generalization of a question by Blackadar in 1988.
HEURISTIC APPROACH TO THE SCHWARZSCHILD GEOMETRY
Authors: VISSER MATT 
Published: February 2006

In this article I present a simple Newtonian heuristic for motivating a weak-field approximation for the spacetime geometry of a point particle. The heuristic is based on Newtonian gravity, the notion of local inertial frames (the Einstein equivalence principle), plus the use of Galilean coordinate transformations to connect the freely falling local inertial frames back to the "fixed stars." Because of the heuristic and quasi-Newtonian manner in which the specific choice of spacetime geometry is motivated, we are at best justified in expecting it to be a weak-field approximation to the true spacetime geometry. However, in the case of a spherically symmetric point mass the result is coincidentally an exact solution of the full vacuum Einstein field equations — it is the Schwarzschild geometry in Painlevé–Gullstrand coordinates. This result is much stronger than the well-known result of Michell and Laplace whereby a Newtonian argument correctly estimates the value of the Schwarzschild radius — using the heuristic presented in this article one obtains the entire Schwarzschild geometry. The heuristic also gives sensible results — a Riemann flat geometry — when applied to a constant gravitational field. Furthermore, a subtle extension of the heuristic correctly reproduces the Reissner–Nordström geometry and even the de Sitter geometry. Unfortunately the heuristic construction is not truly generic. For instance, it is incapable of generating the Kerr geometry or anti-de Sitter space. Despite this limitation, the heuristic does have useful pedagogical value in that it provides a simple and direct plausibility argument (not a derivation) for the Schwarzschild geometry — suitable for classroom use in situations where the full power and technical machinery of general relativity might be inappropriate. The extended heuristic provides more challenging problems — suitable for use at the graduate level.
Simulating the Delaware Bay Buoyant Outflow: Comparison with Observations
Authors: Whitney Michael M. , Garvine Richard W. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractCoastal buoyant outflows from rivers and estuaries previously have been studied with field research, laboratory experiments, and numerical models. There is a dire need to evaluate model performance in light of coastal current observations. This research simulates the Delaware Bay outflow and compares results with observations of estuarine and shelf conditions. Observations include an estuarine salinity climatology, a record of freshwater delivery to the shelf, coastal current salinity mappings, and surface drifter data. Simulation efforts focus on spring 1993 and spring 1994, the primary field study period. The simulation is forced with river discharge, winds, and tides; only tidal-averaged results are discussed. Estuarine salinity results are consistent with the observed lateral salinity pattern, vertical structure, and response to river discharge. Salinities within the lower bay agree with observations, but the simulation overestimates the along-estuary salinity gradient. Observed and simulated freshwater delivery exhibit the same amplitude of response to river discharge and winds. The simulation produces a buoyant outflow that is generally consistent with the observed buoyancy signature, width, length, and vertical structure over a variety of river discharge and wind conditions. The simulated coastal current, however, tends to be somewhat shorter and fresher than observed. Simulated surface drifter paths exhibit the observed onshore advection during downwelling winds as well as offshore transport and current reversals during upwelling winds. A statistical evaluation based on shelf salinity mappings indicates that the model reproduces the observed variance and has only a small bias (less than 10% of plume buoyancy signature). The rms error of 1.2 psu is linked to the shorter and fresher nature of the simulated coastal current. Observational comparisons discussed in this paper indicate that the model can simulate many coastal current features and its response to river discharge and wind forcing.
Changes in the CFC Inventories and Formation Rates of Upper Labrador Sea Water, 1997–2001
Authors: Kieke Dagmar , Rhein Monika , Stramma Lothar , Smethie William M. , LeBel Deborah A. , Zenk Walter 
Published: February 2006

Abstract
Chlorofluorocarbon (component CFC-11) and hydrographic data from 1997, 1999, and 2001 are presented to track the large-scale spreading of the Upper Labrador Sea Water (ULSW) in the subpolar gyre of the North Atlantic Ocean. ULSW is CFC rich and comparatively low in salinity. It is located on top of the denser “classical” Labrador Sea Water (LSW), defined in the density range σΘ = 27.68–27.74 kg m−3. It follows spreading pathways similar to LSW and has entered the eastern North Atlantic. Despite data gaps, the CFC-11 inventories of ULSW in the subpolar North Atlantic (40°–65°N) could be estimated within 11%. The inventory increased from 6.0 ± 0.6 million moles in 1997 to 8.1 ± 0.6 million moles in 1999 and to 9.5 ± 0.6 million moles in 2001. CFC-11 inventory estimates were used to determine ULSW formation rates for different periods. For 1970–97, the mean formation rate resulted in 3.2–3.3 Sv (Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1). To obtain this estimate, 5.0 million moles of CFC-11 located in 1997 in the ULSW in the subtropical/tropical Atlantic were added to the inventory of the subpolar North Atlantic. An estimate of the mean combined ULSW/LSW formation rate for the same period gave 7.6–8.9 Sv. For the years 1998–99, the ULSW formation rate solely based on the subpolar North Atlantic CFC-11 inventories yielded 6.9–9.2 Sv. At this time, the lack of classical LSW formation was almost compensated for by the strongly pronounced ULSW formation. Indications are presented that the convection area needed in 1998–99 to form this amount of ULSW exceeded the available area in the Labrador Sea. The Irminger Sea might be considered as an additional region favoring ULSW formation. In 2000–01, ULSW formation weakened to 3.3–4.7 Sv. Time series of layer thickness based on historical data indicate that there exists considerable variability of ULSW and classical LSW formation on decadal scales.
The Quasi-Nondispersive Regimes of Long Extratropical Baroclinic Rossby Waves over (Slowly Varying) Topography
Authors: Tailleux Rémi 
Published: February 2006

Abstract
Actual energy paths of long, extratropical baroclinic Rossby waves in the ocean are difficult to describe simply because they depend on the meridional-wavenumber-to-zonal-wavenumber ratio τ, a quantity that is difficult to estimate both observationally and theoretically. This paper shows, however, that this dependence is actually weak over any interval in which the zonal phase speed varies approximately linearly with τ, in which case the propagation becomes quasi-nondispersive (QND) and describable at leading order in terms of environmental conditions (i.e., topography and stratification) alone. As an example, the purely topographic case is shown to possess three main kinds of QND ray paths. The first is a topographic regime in which the rays follow approximately the contours f /hαc = a constant (αc is a near constant fixed by the strength of the stratification, f is the Coriolis parameter, and h is the ocean depth). The second and third are, respectively, “fast” and “slow” westward regimes little affected by topography and associated with the first and second bottom-pressure-compensated normal modes studied in previous work by Tailleux and McWilliams. Idealized examples show that actual rays can often be reproduced with reasonable accuracy by replacing the actual dispersion relation by its QND approximation. The topographic regime provides an upper bound (in general a large overestimate) of the maximum latitudinal excursions of actual rays. The method presented in this paper is interesting for enabling an optimal classification of purely azimuthally dispersive wave systems into simpler idealized QND wave regimes, which helps to rationalize previous empirical findings that the ray paths of long Rossby waves in the presence of mean flow and topography often seem to be independent of the wavenumber orientation. Two important side results are to establish that the baroclinic string function regime of Tyler and Käse is only valid over a tiny range of the topographic parameter and that long baroclinic Rossby waves propagating over topography do not obey any two-dimensional potential vorticity conservation principle. Given the importance of the latter principle in geophysical fluid dynamics, the lack of it in this case makes the concept of the QND regimes all the more important, for they are probably the only alternative to provide a simple and economical description of general purely azimuthally dispersive wave systems.
Latitudinal Distribution of Mixing Rate Caused by the M2 Internal Tide
Authors: Tian Jiwei , Zhou Lei , Zhang Xiaoqian 
Published: February 2006

AbstractTen years of Ocean Topography Experiment (TOPEX)/Poseidon tidal data and an energy balance relation are used to estimate the mixing rate caused by M2 internal tides in the upper ocean. The results indicate that latitudinal distribution of the mixing rate has a generally symmetrical structure with respect to the equator. The maxima are distributed around 28.9°N and 28.9°S and can be as high as 3.8 × 10−5 m2 s−1 in the Pacific, 5 × 10−5 m2 s−1 in the Atlantic, and 3.7 × 10−5 m2 s−1 in the Indian Oceans. The minimum, which is only 10% of those at 28.9°, is located near the equator. The data imply that midlatitudes are the key regions for internal tide mixing.
Vortices of the Mediterranean Sea: An Altimetric Perspective
Authors: Isern-Fontanet Jordi , García-Ladona Emilio , Font Jordi 
Published: February 2006

AbstractThe presence of coherent vortices makes observed mesoscale fields of the ocean resemble two-dimensional turbulence. Using this analogy, a common definition of a coherent structure has been used to study the statistical properties of Mediterranean Sea vortices observed by satellite altimeters over a 7-yr period. A vortex has been defined as the simply connected region with values of the Okubo–Weiss parameter W &lt; −0.2σW, where σW is the spatial standard deviation of W, and the same sign of vorticity. This definition is shown to be appropriate to detect and characterize, statistically, properties such as size, mean kinetic energy, and amplitude of vortices in the Mediterranean basin from sea level anomaly maps corresponding to the period from October 1992 to October 1999. The distribution of such properties for the Mediterranean vortices suggests a heuristic criterion to extract and select very coherent and long-lived vortices from the whole set of structures identified in altimetric maps. Such coherent vortices appear to be selected for amplitudes greater than 2σW, where the amplitude has been defined in terms of the Okubo–Weiss parameter rather than vorticity, and strongly correspond to those reported from observations with independent data. Systematic locating and tracking of such vortices provide, for the first time, a general picture of their preferential paths in the Mediterranean basin, which are characterized by complex but rather well defined patterns.
Finite-Amplitude Baroclinic Instability of Time-Varying Abyssal Currents
Authors: Ha Seung-Ji , Swaters Gordon E. 
Published: February 2006

Abstract
The weakly nonlinear baroclinic instability characteristics of time-varying grounded abyssal flow on sloping topography with dissipation are described. Specifically, the finite-amplitude evolution of marginally unstable or stable abyssal flow both at and removed from the point of marginal stability (i.e., the minimum shear required for instability) is determined. The equations governing the evolution of time-varying dissipative abyssal flow not at the point of marginal stability are identical to those previously obtained for the Phillips model for zonal flow on a β plane. The stability problem at the point of marginally stability is fully nonlinear at leading order. A wave packet model is introduced to examine the role of dissipation and time variability in the background abyssal current. This model is a generalization of one introduced for the baroclinic instability of zonal flow on a β plane. A spectral decomposition and truncation leads, in the absence of time variability in the background flow and dissipation, to the sine–Gordon solitary wave equation that has grounded abyssal soliton solutions. The modulation characteristics of the soliton are determined when the underlying abyssal current is marginally stable or unstable and possesses time variability and/or dissipation. The theory is illustrated with examples.
The Effect of Localized Mixing on the Ocean Circulation and Time-Dependent Climate Change
Authors: Saenko Oleg A. 
Published: February 2006

Abstract
Observations indicate that intense mixing in the ocean is localized above complex topography and near the boundaries. Model experiments presented here illustrate that accounting for this fact can be important. In particular, it is found that in the case of localized mixing, the rate of overturning circulation is proportional to the net rate of generation of potential energy by the vertical mixing, linked to the net downward heat diffusion, rather than to the value of the mean vertical diffusivity coefficient. Furthermore, it is shown that two climate models, having the same vertical profile of diffusivity but differing in their distribution (horizontally uniform versus topography/boundary intensified) can simulate significantly different meridional oceanic circulations, vertical heat transfers, and responses of simulated climate to atmospheric CO2 increase. This is found for relatively large [O(1.0 cm2 s−1)] horizontal-mean values of vertical diffusivity in the pycnocline. However, in cases of relatively small [O(0.1 cm2 s−1)] mean diffusivity in the pycnocline, the simulated integral quantities such as meridional mass and heat transports do not depend much on the details of the mixing distribution. Even so, it is found that the deep western boundary currents are more localized near the boundaries in the case of topography/boundary-intensified mixing; also, the stratification in the deep ocean is set through the localized regions of intense vertical mixing. In addition, it is shown that reconciling the observed basin-mean values of diffusivity in the abyssal ocean of O(10 cm2 s−1) with realistic stratification can be problematic, unless the regions of enhanced vertical mixing are localized.