bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of uncertainties in X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy intensities associated with different methods and procedures for background subtraction. I. Spectra for monochromatic Al X‐ray
Authors: Powell C. J. , Conny J. M. 
Published: February 2009

AbstractWe report uncertainties in X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) intensities arising from commonly used methods and procedures for subtraction of the spectral background. These uncertainties were determined from a comparison of XPS intensities reported by volunteer analysts from 28 institutions and the corresponding intensities expected for a set of simulated XPS spectra. We analyzed peak intensities from 32 sets of data for a group of 12 spectra that had been simulated for a monochromated Al Kα source. Each reported intensity was compared with an expected intensity for the particular integration limits chosen by each analyst and known from the simulation design. We present ratios of the reported intensities to the expected intensities for the background‐subtraction methods chosen by the analysts. These ratios were close to unity in most cases, as expected, but deviations were found in the results from some analysts, particularly if the main peak was asymmetrical or if shakeup was present. We showed that better results for the Shirley, Tougaard, and linear backgrounds were obtained when analysts determined peak intensities over certain energy ranges or integration limits. We then were able to recommend integration limits that should be a useful guide in the determination of peak intensities for other XPS spectra. The use of relatively narrow integration limits with the Shirley and linear backgrounds, however, will lead to measures of peak intensities that are less than the total intensities. Although these measures may be satisfactory for some quantitative analyses, errors in quantitative XPS analyses can occur if there are changes in XPS lineshapes or shakeup fractions with change of chemical state. The use of curve‐fitting equations to fit an entire spectrum will generally exclude the shakeup contribution to the intensity of the main peak, and no account will be taken of any variation in the shakeup fraction with change of chemical state. Published in 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Certain commercial products are identified to specify the formats in which the test spectra were distributed and the software with which the test spectra were analyzed by participants. This identification does not imply that the products are endorsed or recommended by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, or that they are necessarily the most suitable for the purposes described.
Markov mobility model and registration area optimization in cellular networks
Authors: Liu Z. , Almhana J. , McGorman R. 
Published: February 2009

AbstractIn cellular communication systems, in order for a network to keep track of inactive mobile stations (MSs), each inactive MS has to update its location from time to time, called location registration. To lighten the task of tracking inactive MSs, the network divides its cells into groups, called location areas (LAs) and tracks inactive MSs at the LA level: an inactive MS sends a registration message to the network to update its location only when it travels to a new LA. Obviously, the performance of a location area design depends on network traffic and the mobility of MSs. In the paper, we propose a general Markov mobility model for MSs in cellular networks, provide a procedure to automatically estimate the system parameters according to the network traffic, derive the performance of LA design, and provide a clustering algorithm to optimize LA designs. A numerical example is provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed procedures. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Brain Metastases in Colorectal Cancers
Authors: Tan Wah‐Siew , Ho Kok‐Sun , Eu Kong‐Weng 
Published: February 2009

AbstractBackgroundAlthough colorectal cancer is the most common cancer in Singapore, brain metastases associated with colorectal primaries are quite rare, with reported incidences ranging from less than 1% to 4%. This is a review of the incidence, presentation, and prognosis of brain secondaries from colorectal primaries in our institution.MethodsFrom a prospectively collected database, 4378 patients underwent surgery for colorectal cancers between 1995 and 2003. Patients who developed brain metastases were identified and their records reviewed retrospectively.ResultsTwenty‐seven patients who developed brain metastases were identified, for an incidence of 0.62%. Seventy‐one percent of the patients had a tumor in the rectum or sigmoid; 92.6% of patients had metachronous brain secondaries. The median interval between surgery for the primary tumor and the discovery of a brain secondary was 27.5 months. The lung was the most common site of concurrent metastatic disease, with the discovery of a brain secondary a median of 9.7 months after diagnosis of the lung lesion. All patients were symptomatic. The majority of the patients received nonsurgical treatment for the brain lesion. Median survival after diagnosis of brain secondaries was 2.4 months.ConclusionsThe poor survival of the patients in our series could be due to late diagnosis. It may be recommended that a brain scan be performed to screen for a brain secondary when lung and/or liver metastases are discovered, especially in a patient with a left‐sided cancer. This may lead to earlier diagnosis, amenability to surgical treatment, and improved survival and quality of life.
Phenylalanine tolerance in three phenylketonuric women pregnant with fetuses of different genetic PKU status
Authors: Kohlschütter B. , Ellerbrok M. , Merkel M. , Tchirikov M. , Zschocke J. , Santer R. , Ullrich K. 
Published: February 2009

SummaryPregnancy management in phenylketonuric women includes continuous dietary control starting before conception, aiming to maintain blood phenylalanine concentrations in a desirable range, irrespective of the fetal genetic PKU status. While the maternal phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) genotype will influence metabolic control, an effect of the fetal genetic PKU status on maternal metabolic control during pregnancy has not been described. We monitored three pregnancies of women with classical PKU by dietary protocols of daily phenylalanine intake, phenylalanine blood concentrations, and obstetric care. Patients 1 and 2 carried a heterozygous (not PKU‐affected) fetus, while patient 3 was pregnant with a PKU‐affected fetus (PAH p.R408W and p.R408W). The expected increase in phenylalanine tolerance during the course of pregnancy was observed in patients 1 and 2 in whom phenylalanine intake could be steadily increased from 400 to 1700 mg/day while phenylalanine blood concentrations remained in the desired range. Gain of body weight was 13.0 and 17.7 kg, respectively. In patient 3, the phenylalanine tolerance did not rise above 600 mg/day, and phenylalanine blood concentrations were above the desired range on several occasions. Caloric intake was therefore encouraged, which led to a weight gain of 20.0 kg. The course of pregnancy was otherwise normal in all three cases, and infants with normal birth weight and head circumference were born. The different phenylalanine tolerance in pregnancies with PKU‐affected and non‐affected fetuses suggests that PAH genotype and metabolic situation of the fetus influence maternal metabolic control. A phenylalanine tolerance remaining low in the third trimester of pregnancy may indicate fetal PKU.
Cohomology for Bicomodules. Separable and Maschke functors
Authors: El Kaoutit L. , Vercruysse J. 
Published: February 2009

AbstractWe introduce the category of bicomodules for a comonad on a Grothendieck category whose underlying functor is right exact and preserves direct sums. We characterize comonads with a separable forgetful functor by means of cohomology groups using cointegrations into bicomodules. We present two applications: the characterization of coseparable corings stated in [14], and the characterization of coseparable coalgebra coextensions stated in [19].
Grothendieck groups for categories of complexes
Authors: Foxby Hans-Bjørn , Halvorsen Esben Bistrup 
Published: February 2009

AbstractThe new intersection theorem states that, over a Noetherian local ring R, for any non-exact complex concentrated in degrees n,…,0 in the category P(length) of bounded complexes of finitely generated projective modules with finite-length homology, we must have n ≥ d = dim R.One of the results in this paper is that the Grothendieck group of P(length) in fact is generated by complexes concentrated in the minimal number of degrees: if Pd(length) denotes the full subcategory of P(length) consisting of complexes concentrated in degrees d,…0, the inclusion Pd(length) → P(length) induces an isomorphism of Grothendieck groups. When R is Cohen–Macaulay, the Grothendieck groups of Pd(length) and P(length) are naturally isomorphic to the Grothendieck group of the category M(length) of finitely generated modules of finite length and finite projective dimension. This and a family of similar results are established in this paper.
Benefits of magnetic resonance image scanning in progressive, bilateral, sensorineural hearing loss: a case of leptomeningeal haemosiderosis
Authors: Muthu A , Stevenson S , Bird P 
Published: February 2009

AbstractObjective:Magnetic resonance imaging is a routine investigation in cases of asymmetric sensorineural hearing loss, but it is not routinely used to investigate bilateral sensorineural hearing loss.Method:This case report illustrates the benefits of magnetic resonance image scanning in the latter patient group.Results:A 53-year-old man with rapidly progressive, symmetrical, bilateral, sensorineural hearing loss was found also to have anosmia, imbalance and incoordination. Magnetic resonance image scanning demonstrated leptomeningeal haemosiderosis. Progressive, bilateral, sensorineural hearing loss is the most common presentation of this condition and magnetic resonance imaging is the diagnostic investigation of choice.Conclusion:There are potential treatments for leptomeningeal haemosiderosis which prevent further irreversible damage, if a bleeding source can be found. Hearing loss may be due to cochlear or retrocochlear pathology. Cochlear implantation may be indicated.
Metachronous inflammatory myofibroblastic tumour in the temporal bone: case report
Authors: Goh B S , Tan S P , Husain S , Rose I M , Saim L 
Published: February 2009

AbstractObjective:We report an extremely rare case of metachronous inflammatory myofibroblastic tumour in the temporal bone.Method:Case report and review of the world literature on metachronous inflammatory myofibroblastic tumour.Results:Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumour in the temporal bone is rare, and metachronous inflammatory myofibroblastic tumour in the temporal bone has never been reported in the English medical literature. We report a case of inflammatory myofibroblastic tumour in the right temporal bone in a 27-year-old woman presenting with right-sided otalgia and progressive hearing loss. A metachronous lesion was discovered in the left temporal bone one year later. The patient underwent surgical excision of the tumour via canal wall down mastoidectomy for both lesions. Long term steroids were prescribed after both surgical procedures. At follow up three years after the last procedure, the patient remained free of disease.Conclusion:To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of metachronous inflammatory myofibroblastic tumour in the temporal bone.
Intelligent design and theodicy
Authors: CORABI JOSEPH 
Published: February 2009

AbstractThis paper explores a seldom discussed difficulty for traditional theists who wish to embrace the purported evidence employed in biochemical intelligent design arguments, and who also employ a commonly used element in their theodicies – namely, the claim that God would have reason to make a relatively orderly and self-sufficient world with stable and simple natural laws. I begin by introducing intelligent design arguments and the varieties of theodicy at issue, then I argue that there is at least a strong prima facie tension between these theodicies and the claim that God intelligently designed biochemical systems in humans and other organisms. Subsequently, I examine three strategies for resolving this tension, in increasing order of plausibility. At the end of the paper, I raise and briefly discuss some wider issues for theists enamoured with theodicy approaches that emphasize natural orderliness and the stability of laws of nature.
Escapism, religious luck, and divine reasons for action
Authors: BUCKAREFF ANDREI A. , PLUG ALLEN 
Published: February 2009

AbstractIn our paper, ‘Escaping hell: divine motivation and the problem of hell’, we defended a theory of hell that we called ‘escapism’. We argued that, given God's just and loving character, it would be most rational for Him to maintain an open-door policy to those who are in hell, allowing them an unlimited number of chances to be reconciled with God and enjoy communion with Him. In this paper we reply to two recent objections to our original paper. The first is an argument from religious luck offered by Russell Jones. The second is an argument from Kyle Swan that alleges that our commitments about the nature of reasons for action still leaves escapism vulnerable to an objection we labelled the ‘Job objection’ in our original paper. In this paper we argue that escapism has the resources built into it needed to withstand the objections from Jones and Swan.
Does Plantinga's evolutionary argument against naturalism work?
Authors: LEE WANG-YEN 
Published: February 2009

AbstractIn Alvin Plantinga's evolutionary argument against naturalism (EAAN), he contends that someone who holds both naturalism (N) and evolution (E) acquires an undefeated defeater for her belief that ‘human cognitive faculties are reliable’ (R) and as a result an undefeated defeater for everything else she believes when she comes to realize that P(R/N&E) is low or inscrutable. I argue for two theses in this paper. First, when a naturalist-evolutionist comes to think that P(R/N&E) is inscrutable, that does not constitute an undefeated defeater for her belief that R if her original grounds for believing R are something other than an assessment of P(R/N&E). Second, even if she acquires an undefeated defeater for her belief that R when she comes to think that P(R/N&E) is inscrutable, it does not follow that she has a defeater for all her other beliefs. The main contribution lies in my response to Plantinga's attempt to resist my second thesis.
Is ICTY Sentencing Predictable? An Empirical Analysis of ICTY Sentencing Practice
Authors: HOLÁ BARBORA , SMEULERS ALETTE , BIJLEVELD CATRIEN 
Published: February 2009

AbstractThis quantitative study analyses the sentencing practice of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The sentencing process is only loosely regulated by the ICTY Statute, and consequently it is not clear how judges exercise their broad discretionary sentencing powers in practice. By analysing the existing case law, legal factors influencing the sentencing decisions are examined. The extent to which the selected factors predict sentence length is tested in a multiple regression analysis. The analysis suggests that the sentence can be to a large extent predicted by legal criteria. The number of offences and the rank of the offender are the strongest predictors of sentence length in the model.
Is Peace in the Interests of Justice? The Case for Broad Prosecutorial Discretion at the International Criminal Court
Authors: RODMAN KENNETH A. 
Published: February 2009

AbstractThe argument against factoring peace processes into the discretion of the ICC Prosecutor is based on the premise that international law can be decontextualized from international politics and that in doing so will have superior consequences in terms of deterring atrocity and in consolidating peace. This view is at odds with the history of international criminal tribunals and the cases currently under review by the ICC. Those episodes demonstrate that the effectiveness of international criminal justice and its impact on peace are shaped and constrained by the political strategies of conflict resolution used by states and intergovernmental organizations to end criminal violence. Hence the Prosecutor should construe his discretion broadly to take account of the political context in which international criminal law has to operate.
Feasibility of a rubella screening and vaccination programme for unvaccinated young women
Authors: RUIJS W. L. M. , HULSCHER M. E. J. L. , HAHNÉ S. J. M. , VAN BINNENDIJK R. S. , VAN DER VELDEN J. 
Published: February 2009

SUMMARYThe feasibility of a rubella screening and vaccination programme for unvaccinated young women was assessed after the 2004/2005 epidemic in The Netherlands. All 640 young women in two villages with low vaccination coverage were invited for a rubella seroprevalence test. Information on vaccination status was gathered by written questionnaire. Women testing seronegative were offered free rubella vaccination. The feasibility of the programme was evaluated in terms of participation, rubella susceptibility, and acceptance of the vaccination offer by seronegative women. The participation rate was 48% [95% confidence interval (CI) 44–52] with 108 unvaccinated participants. Eleven per cent (95% CI 6–19) of the women were identified as susceptible to rubella, of whom 17% (95% CI 2–48) accepted the vaccination offer. In the end only 0·9% (95% CI 0·1–2·5) of the target population was given protection by the programme. Under the present conditions this programme proved to be an inefficient strategy for rubella protection.
Assessing the effects of temperature on the population of Aedes aegypti, the vector of dengue
Authors: YANG H. M. , MACORIS M. L. G. , GALVANI K. C. , ANDRIGHETTI M. T. M. , WANDERLEY D. M. V. 
Published: February 2009

SUMMARYDengue is a vector-borne disease transmitted by the mosquito Aedes aegypti. The incidence of dengue disease shows a clear dependence on seasonal variation. How does the temperature affect the incidence? We addressed this question indirectly by estimating the size of the A. aegypti population for different temperatures applying population dynamics theory. In order to achieve this objective we designed temperature-controlled experiments to assess the entomological parameters regarding the mosquito's life-cycle at different temperatures. By obtaining the mortality, transition and oviposition rates for different stages of the life-cycle of the mosquito we were able to calculate the basic offspring number Q0, which is the capacity of vector reproduction and ultimately gives the size of the vector population.
Testing the limits of data-driven learning: language proficiency and training
Authors: Boulton Alex 
Published: February 2009

AbstractThe potential for corpora in language learning has attracted a significant amount of attention in recent years, including in the form of data-driven learning (DDL). Careful not to appear to over-promote the field, enthusiasts have urged caution in its application, in particular with regard to lower-level learners, and have argued that extensive learner-training in corpus techniques is an essential condition for DDL to be successful. Such limits seem eminently reasonable, but there is a notable dearth of empirical studies to support them. This paper describes a simple experiment to see how lower-level learners cope with corpus data with no prior training.The language focus here is on linking adverbials in English, which are renowned to be difficult to teach using traditional methods. The subjects are 132 first-year students at an engineering college in France of roughly intermediate and lower levels of English. They were divided into random groups to compare their ability to deal with the target items using traditional sources (extracts from a bilingual dictionary or a grammar/usage manual) or corpus data (short contexts or truncated concordances). Performance was tested prior to the experiment, subsequently to check ability to use the different information sources as a reference, and later to test recall.No evidence was found that traditional sources promote better recall, and corpus data seemed to be more effective for reference purposes. While the results of any single experiment must be treated with caution, these findings suggest the need for more empirical studies to complement the theoretical arguments and qualitative data which currently dominate the discussions of DDL.
Developing annotation solutions for online Data Driven Learning
Authors: Pérez-Paredes Pascual , Alcaraz-Calero Jose M. 
Published: February 2009

AbstractAlthoughannotationis a widely-researched topic in Corpus Linguistics (CL), its potential role in Data Driven Learning (DDL) has not been addressed in depth by Foreign Language Teaching (FLT) practitioners. Furthermore, most of the research in the use of DDL methods pays little attention to annotation in the design and implementation of corpus-based/driven language teaching.In this paper, we set out to examine the process of development ofSACODEYL Annotator, an application that seeks to assist SACODEYL system users in annotating XML multilingual corpora. First, we discuss the role of annotation in DDL and the dominating paradigm in general corpus applications. In the context of the language classroom, we argue that it is essential that corpora should be pedagogically motivated (Braun, 2005 and 2007a). Then, we move on to deal with the analysis and design stages of our annotation solution by illustrating its main features. Some of these include a user friendly hierarchical and extensible taxonomy tree to facilitate the learner-oriented annotation of the corpora; real-time graphics representation of the annotated corpus matching the XML TEI-compliant (Text Encoding Initiative) standard, as well as an intuitive management of the different data sections and associated metadata.SACODEYL (System Aided Compilation and Open Distribution of European Youth Language) is an EU funded MINERVA project which aims to develop an ICT-based system for the assisted compilation and open distribution of multimedia European teen talk in the context of language education. This research lays emphasis on the functionalities of the application within the SACODEYL context. However, our paper addresses similarly the needs of potential multimedia language corpus administrators in general on the lookout for powerful annotation assisting software. SACODEYL Annotator is free to use and can be downloaded from our website.