bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Models of the predictability of a simple nonlinear dynamical system
Authors: James I. N. 
Published: April 2003

AbstractChaotic nonlinear low order systems are often regarded as paradigms of the atmospheric behaviour, not least because of their limited predictability. In this paper, the predictability of a forced nonlinear system proposed by Lorenz is examined. The system is a compelling heuristic model of the mid‐latitude global circulation; it exhibits limited predictability. While weak error growth takes place throughout most of the phase space of the system, strong error growth is confined to very limited regions of phase space. A “discrete scattering” model of error growth is proposed. Copyright © 2003 Royal Meteorological Society.
Episodic Emergence in the Past 3000 Years at the Akkeshi Estuary, Hokkaido, Northern Japan
Authors: Sawai Yuki 
Published: April 2003

AbstractAt the Akkeshi estuary, rapid emergence interrupted Holocene submergence at least four times in the past 3000 years. Each emergence event produced an upward change from estuarine mud to freshwater peat. While the estuarine mud abounds in brackish and marine diatoms, freshwater taxa dominate the peat. Emergence events occurred from 1700 to 2300, 1000 to 1300, and 500 to 700 cal yr B.P. An additional emergence event predated by several decades a volcanic ash that erupted in A.D. 1694. At least three of the events produced contacts abrupt enough to represent uplift during earthquakes. Such uplift may reconcile seemingly conflicting records of vertical crustal movement in eastern Hokkaido. This tectonically active area, which is being subducted by the Pacific plate at 8 cm/yr, contains marine terraces that imply 0.1–0.5 mm/yr of net uplift in the late Quaternary. However, these terraces adjoin tide gages that recorded 8–9 mm/yr of steady submergence in the 20th century. The terrace uplift need not conflict with the gaged submergence if the region is subject to occasional coseismic uplift, as during the emergence events implied by Holocene geology near Akkeshi.
Holocene Monsoon Changes Inferred from Lake Sediment Pollen and Carbonate Records, Northeastern Cambodia
Authors: Maxwell Andrew Lee 
Published: April 2003

AbstractMajor Holocene monsoon changes in continental Southeast Asia are reconstructed from analysis of14C-dated changes in pollen and organic/inorganic carbon in sediment cores taken from permanent, closed-basin, volcanic lakes in Ratanakiri Province, northeastern Cambodia. Analysis focuses on the nature and timing of monsoon changes, inferred from changes in vegetation and lake conditions. These data provide the first well-dated palynological record, covering most of the Holocene and continuous up to the present, from a terrestrial site in mainland Southeast Asia. The record from a 15-m core retrieved from Kara Lake, representing the last 9300 years, shows that the late Glacial conditions ended about 850014C yr B.P., more than 1000 years later than sites in southwest China. Summer monsoon intensity increased over the period ca. 8400–530014C yr B.P., similar to most other sites in the Asian monsoon region. A subsequent expansion of secondary forests at the expense of dense semievergreen forests suggest a drier climate leading to more frequent fire disturbance. After ca. 350014C yr B.P. disturbance frequency may have increased further with increasing seasonality. From ca. 250014C yr B.P. to the present, dense forest has recovered in a mosaic with annually burned dry forest, but climate may not be the main control on local vegetation dynamics in the late Holocene.
Mitral valve surgery and maternal and fetal outcome in valvular heart disease
Authors: Malhotra M. , Sharma J.B. , Arora P. , Batra S. , Sharma S. , Arora R. 
Published: April 2003

AbstractObjectives: To compare maternal and fetal outcomes in patients with non‐operated valvular heart disease and patients who had surgery before or during pregnancy. Methods: The 308 women with valvular heart disease who delivered in this hospital in the last 8 years were divided into three groups. The 218 (70.7%) women in group 1 had no surgical intervention; the 42 (13.6%) women in group 2 underwent balloon mitral valvotomy during pregnancy; and the 48 (15.5%) women in group 3 had surgical intervention before pregnancy (35 had balloon mitral valvotomy, eight had mitral valve replacement, and five had mitral valve repair). Maternal and fetal outcomes were compared for these three groups. Results: The antenatal events differed significantly: 175 (80.3%), 40 (94.2%), and 46 (95.8%) patients in groups 1, 2 and 3, respectively, had uneventful pregnancies. In group 1, 14 (6.4%) patients had congestive heart failure (P>0.05) and 24 (11%) patients had cardiac arrhythmias, which was statistically significant. The rate of preterm deliveries did not differ significantly among the three groups. The groups did not differ in mean birth weight, mode of delivery, low birth weight, Apgar scores less than 8, stillbirths, neonatal death, or congenital anomalies. Conclusions: Mitral valve surgery before or during pregnancy did not significantly improve maternal and fetal outcomes but decreased adverse events such as congestive heart failure and cardiac arrhythmias. It should be therefore performed only in selected cases.
Prophylactic transcervical amnioinfusion in laboring women with oligohydramnios
Authors: Amin A.F. , Mohammed M.S. , Sayed G.H. , Abdel‐Razik S. 
Published: April 2003

AbstractObjectives: Evaluation of prophylactic intrapartum amnioinfusion in women with oligohydramnios. Methods: Assiut University Hospital during the period from February 2000 to September 2001, 160 laboring women with oligohydramnios [amniotic fluid index (AFI) ≤5 cm] were randomized into: amnioinfusion and control groups. Inclusion criteria were: term singleton gestation, vertex presentation, cervical dilatation <4 cm, and assuring fetal heart rate (FHR). Trans‐cervical amnioinfusion was done with warmed normal saline. Results: there was a significant increase in AFI after amnioinfusion (P<0.001). The amnioinfusion group showed lower cesarean section rate for fetal distress (P=0.003), lower incidence of abnormal FHR (P=0.006), fewer neonates with Apgar score <7 at 1 min (P<0.001), and 5 min (P=0.009), meconium below vocal cords (P<0.001), umbilical arterial pH<7.1 (P=0.003), and significantly shorter hospital stay (P=0.02). Conclusion: Prophylactic trans‐cervical amnioinfusion is a simple, safe and effective procedure.
Intrauterine development and MNSs blood groups in repeated spontaneous abortion
Authors: Borgiani P. , Nicotra M. , Amante A. , Lucarini N. , Cosmi E. , Bottini E. 
Published: April 2003

AbstractObjectives: To determine whether the maternal MNSs genotype has an effect on the birth weight and gestation duration of the live offspring of women with repeated primary spontaneous abortion (RSA). Methods: The study sample consisted of 239 healthy white women who had been delivered of a live infant, and 137 women with a history of primary RSA—54 of whom had recently been delivered of a live infant and 83 who had had a spontaneous abortion. Maternal MNSs phenotypes were determined by standard serological methods, and the results were analyzed for relationships between these phenotypes and the mothers’ reproductive status and the infants’ birth weight and gestational age. Analysis of variance, the χ2‐test of independence, and the Mantel–Haenszel test for linear association were performed for data analysis. Results: Infants born to mothers with the Ss genotype showed significantly lower birth weight and gestational duration compared with the infants of mothers with other genotypes. Additionally, the MNSs haplotype was found to be associated with birth weight. Conclusions: Previous studies have shown that the MNSs system influences the gestational age of aborted fetuses in cases of RSA. The present study supports the hypothesis that this genetic factor influences intrauterine growth and development in women experiencing RSA.
Biochemical markers of bone turnover during hormone replacement therapy
Authors: Masahashi T , Negoro Y , Kuroki T , Asai M , Noguchi M , Nakanishi M 
Published: April 2003

AbstractObjective: To assess the clinical usefulness of bone turnover markers, including serum osteocalcin (OC), urinary pyridinoline (Pyr) and deoxypyridinoline (D‐Pyr), in monitoring and predicting bone response to hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Method: The relationships between baseline levels or changes in markers and change in lumbar bone mineral density were examined in 21 surgically‐induced postmenopausal women. Results: Levels of OC, Pyr and D‐Pyr in the estrogen effective group (responders) significantly decreased during HRT and baseline levels of Pyr and D‐Pyr in responders were significantly higher than those in premenopausal women. Conclusion: Bone turnover markers were useful in monitoring the bone effect of HRT and baseline levels of markers reflect subsequent bone response to HRT.
A 10,000-year high-resolution diatom record from Pilkington Bay, Lake Victoria, East Africa
Authors: Stager J. Curt , Cumming Brian F. , Meeker L. David 
Published: April 2003

AbstractA new diatom record from Lake Victoria’s Pilkington Bay, subsampled at 21- to 25-year intervals and supported by 20 AMS dates, reveals a ∼10,000 calendar year environmental history that is supported by published diatom and pollen data from two nearby sites. With their chronologies adjusted here to account for newly documented ancient carbon effects in the lake, these three records provide a coherent, finely resolved reconstruction of Holocene climate change in equatorial East Africa. After an insolation-induced rainfall maximum ca. 8800–8300 cal yr B.P., precipitation became more seasonal and decreased abruptly ca. 8200 and 5700 yr B.P. in apparent association with northern deglaciation events. Century-scale rainfall increases occurred ca. 8500, 7000, 5800, and 4000 yr B.P. Conditions after 2700 yr B.P. were generally similar to those of today, but major droughts occurred ca. 1200–600 yr B.P. during Europe’s Medieval Warm Period.
Gamma interferon as an antifibrosis agent in skeletal muscle
Authors: Foster William , Li Yong , Usas Arvydas , Somogyi George , Huard Johnny 
Published: April 2003

AbstractMuscle injuries are a common problem in sports medicine. Skeletal muscle can regenerate itself, but the process is both slow and incomplete. Previously we and others have used growth factors to improve the regeneration of muscle, but the muscle healing was impeded by scar tissue formation. However, when we blocked the fibrosis process with decorin, an antifibrosis agent, we improved the muscle healing. Here we show that γinterferon (γINF)—a cytokine that inhibits the signaling of transforming growth factor β1 (TGFβ1), a fibrotic stimulator—reduces fibrosis formation and improves the healing of lacerated skeletal muscle. With γINF treatment, the growth rate of muscle‐derived fibroblasts was reduced and the level of fibrotic protein expression induced by TGFβ1 (including TGFβ1, vimentin, and α‐smooth muscle actin) was down‐regulated in vitro. In a mouse laceration model, the area of fibrosis decreased when γINF was injected at either 1 or 2 weeks after injury. More importantly, the injection of γINF at either 1 or 2 weeks post‐injury was found to improve muscle function in terms of both fast‐twitch and tetanic strength. This study demonstrates that γINF is a potent antifibrosis agent that can improve muscle healing after laceration injury. © 2003 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Centralization in the Marxist and in the Leninist tradition
Authors: Kautsky John H. 
Published: April 2003

The very different positions of Marxists and Leninists on the issue of centralization of political and economic institutions show that, though using the same terminology, they were committed to different ideologies. Leninists were modernizing revolutionaries in underdeveloped countries seeking their rapid industrialization. They relied on centralized revolutionary movements, which, in power, formed centralized bureaucracies that advanced industrialization through mass persuasion, regimentation and terror as well as central planning.
Marxists, associated with multifarious labor movements in industrialized countries, hoped to advance and empower the working class. Marx and Engels were vague on the subject of centralization, but condemned bureaucracy and came to favor the decentralization identified with the Paris Commune. Karl Kautsky and Otto Bauer advocated the operation of industry by local governments, cooperatives and trade unions and only minimal state ownership and sharply attacked bureaucracy. Policies of centralization were appropriate to the character and goals of Leninist movements but inappropriate to those of Marxist ones.
‘No‐load’ dividend reinvestment plans
Authors: Steinbart Paul John , Swanson Zane 
Published: April 2003

AbstractThis article examines firms' motivations for offering investors the opportunity to purchase initial shares of stock directly from the company by joining the firm's dividend reinvestment plan (DRP). The results of both a telephone survey of Investor Relations Departments and analysis of plan prospectuses indicate that firms offer such no‐load DRPs with the objective of broadening their shareholder base. Moreover, additional analysis shows that firms which implement no‐load DRPs subsequently experience a significant decrease in the number of shares held per shareholder. Thus, no‐load DRPs do appear to be successful in broadening a firm's shareholder base.
Endothelium dysfunction in LDL receptor knockout mice: a role for H2O2
Authors: Rabelo Luíza A , Cortes Steyner F , Alvarez‐Leite Jacqueline I , Lemos Virgínia S 
Published: April 2003

In this study, the role of endogenous H2O2 as an endothelium‐dependent relaxant factor was characterised in aortas from C57BL/6J and LDL receptor‐deficient mice (LDLR−/−).
Aortic rings from LDLR−/− mice showed impaired endothelium‐dependent relaxation to acetylcholine (ACh; 0.001–100 μM) and to the Ca2+ ionophore A23187 (0.001–3 μM) compared with aortic rings from control mice. Endothelium‐independent relaxation produced by the NO donor, 3‐morpholino‐sydnonimine (SIN‐1) was not different between strains.
Pretreatment of vessels with L‐NNA (100 μM) or L‐NNA (100 μM) plus L‐NAME (300 μM) plus haemoglobin (10 μM) markedly decreased, but did not abolish the relaxation to ACh in control mice. In the aortas from LDLR−/− mice treated with L‐NNA (100 μM), ACh induced a contractile effect. Catalase (800 and 2400 U ml−1) shifted to the right the endothelium‐dependent relaxation to ACh in aortas from control but not from LDLR−/− mice. Aminotriazole (50 mM), which inhibits catalase, abolished its effect on control mice. Treatment of vessels with L‐NNA and catalase abolished vasorelaxation induced by ACh. Indomethacin (10 μM) did not modify the concentration–response curve to ACh. Superoxide dismutase (300 U ml−1) did not change ACh‐induced relaxation in both strains.
Exogenous H2O2 produced a concentration‐dependent relaxation in endothelium‐denuded aortic rings, which was not different between strains.
It is concluded that H2O2 greatly contributes to relaxation to ACh in aorta from control mice. Endothelial‐dependent relaxation to ACh is impaired in LDLR−/− mice. Reduced biosynthesis or increased inactivation of H2O2 is the possible mechanism responsible for endothelial dysfunction in aortas of atherosclerosis‐susceptible LDLR−/− mice.

British Journal of Pharmacology (2003) 138, 1215–1220. doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0705164
5‐HT7 receptors mediate the inhibitory effect of 5‐HT on peristalsis in the isolated guinea‐pig ileum
Authors: Tuladhar Bishwa R , Ge Lanbo , Naylor Robert J 
Published: April 2003

The study was undertaken to investigate the 5‐HT receptor mediating the inhibitory effect of 5‐HT on peristalsis in the guinea‐pig isolated ileum. The facilitatory and inhibitory effects were measured as the decrease and increase, respectively, in the intraluminal pressure required to trigger peristalsis. In the presence of 5‐HT2/3&4 receptor antagonists ketanserin (0.1 μM), granisetron (1 μM) and SB‐204070 (1 μM), a cumulative addition (0.1–100 μM) of 5‐HT or 5‐carboxamidotryptamine, but not 2‐methyl‐5‐HT produced a concentration‐dependent increase in the threshold required to trigger peristalsis. The 5‐HT7 receptor selective antagonist SB‐269970‐A (0.01–1 μM) or methiothepin (0.01–0.1 μM) concentration‐dependently antagonised this response to 5‐HT. SB‐269970‐A (1 μM) and methiothepin (1 μM) were also able to restore peristalsis in tissues in which peristalsis was inhibited by a prior addition of 30 μM of 5‐HT. The results indicate an involvement of 5‐HT7 receptors in the inhibitory effect of 5‐HT on peristalsis in the guinea‐pig ileum.British Journal of Pharmacology (2003) 138, 1210–1214. doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0705184
Yearly measurements of blood lead in Swedish children since 1978: an update focusing on the petrol lead free period 1995–2001: Figure 1
Authors: Strömberg U , Lundh T , Schütz A , Skerfving S 
Published: April 2003

Background and Aims:To assess blood lead concentrations (B-Pb) in children not exposed to petrol lead. In a previous paper we reported the results for the period 1978–94 (2441 children measured). A substantial decrease of B-Pb was found, which reflected a beneficial effect of gradual banning of petrol lead. Since 1994, petrol sold in Sweden has not contained lead.Methods:In the south of Sweden, each year from 1995 to 2001, B-Pb was measured in 329 boys and 345 girls, aged 7–11 years.Results:The geometric mean (GM) of B-Pb was 21 (range 6–80) μg/l. There was no consistent change of B-Pb from 1995 to 2001. Children living near a lead smelter had raised B-Pb (GM 24 μg/l, range 11–80). Passive smoking, but not age and sex, influenced B-Pb significantly.Conclusions:B-Pb in Swedish children, no longer exposed to petrol lead, seems to have stabilised at an average level close to 20 μg/l (provided there is no nearby industrial lead emission).
AN ANALYTICAL SOLUTION OF THE COSMIC RAYS TRANSPORT EQUATION IN THE PRESENCE OF THE GEOMAGNETIC FIELD
Authors: GIBILISCO MARINA 
Published: April 2003

In this work, I study the propagation of cosmic rays inside the magnetic field of the earth, at distances d≤500 km from its surface; at these distances, the geomagnetic field deeply influences the diffusion motion of the particles. I compare the different effects of the interplanetary and of the geomagnetic fields, by also discussing their role in the cosmic rays transport equation; then, I present an analytical method to solve such an equation through a factorization technique. In this way, it is possible to reduce the initial second-order, partial derivatives differential equation into a more simple, Riccati-like equation, which, finally, can be solved by using standard Runge–Kutta–Merson routines. The results here obtained may have some interest in view of the future AMS (Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer) data, which will be collected at an altitude of about 400 km above the earth surface. Moreover, the study of the propagation of particles having different charges and masses may also help in testing the presence of antimatter and antinuclei in cosmic rays; some theoretical implications of this possibility will also be discussed in the light of the perspectives opened by the AMS Experiment.
THE LAX PAIR OF A GENERALIZED THIRRING MODEL
Authors: TINEBRA FABRIZIO 
Published: April 2003

The system of coupled nonlinear partial differential equations called the Massive Thirring Model is reviewed. In particular it is analyzed in the chiral fermion version, which is extended by introducing a local gauge symmetry in place of the usual global symmetry. This is done by minimally coupling the fermions with a SU L(2) ⊗ SU R(2) gauge potential. Following the formalism of path integrals, we then formulate the study of chiral gauge anomalies in the quantum theory of this gauge extended model. The ultimate goal of it would be to compute the divergence of the chiral fermion current for a nonlinear anomalous theory. Actually, in this work we merely exhibit the Lax pair representation of the system of partial differential equations just derived; it holds to the first order approximation in the infinitesimal gauge parameters and coupling constants present. Our aim is to hint a motivation in searching for explicit solutions of anomalous nonlinear gauge field theories, at least in simple cases.
CANONICAL QUANTIZATION OF THE SELF-DUAL MODEL COUPLED TO FERMIONS
Authors: GIROTTI H. O. 
Published: April 2003

This paper is devoted to formulating the interaction-picture dynamics of the self-dual field minimally coupled to fermions. As a preliminary, we quantize the free self-dual model by means of the Dirac-bracket quantization procedure. The free self-dual model turns out to be a relativistically invariant quantum field theory whose excitations are identical to the physical (gauge-invariant) excitations of the free Maxwell–Chern–Simons theory. The interacting model is also quantized through the Dirac-bracket quantization procedure. One of the self-dual field components is found not to commute, at equal times, with the fermionic fields. Hence, the formulation of the interaction-picture dynamics demands the elimination of that component. This procedure brings, in turn, two new interactions terms, which are local in space and time while nonrenormalizable by power counting. Relativistic invariance is tested in connection with the elastic fermion–fermion scattering amplitude. We prove that all the noncovariant pieces in the interaction Hamiltonian are equivalent to the covariant minimal interaction of the self-dual field with the fermions. The high-energy behavior of the self-dual field propagator confirms that the coupled theory is nonrenormalizable. The self-dual field minimally coupled to fermions bears no resemblance to the renormalizable model defined by the Maxwell–Chern–Simons field minimally coupled to fermions.
EXACT RENORMALIZATION GROUP EQUATION FOR SU(2) GAUGE FIELDS INTERACTING WITH MASSIVE FERMIONS
Authors: ARNONE STEFANO , PANZA ANNAMARIA 
Published: April 2003

We show an application of the Wilson renormalization group (RG) method to a SU(2) gauge field theory in interaction with a massive fermion doublet. We succeed in implementing the local gauge symmetry up to one loop by choosing suitable boundary conditions to the RG equation: we require the relevant monomials not present in the classical action to satisfy the Slavnov–Taylor identities once the cutoffs are removed. In this way the so called fine-tuning problem, due to the assignation of boundary conditions in terms of the bare parameters, is avoided. In this framework, loop expansion is equivalent to the iterative solution of the RG equation; one loop calculations are performed in order to determine whether and, if so, how much the fermionic matter modifies the infrared and ultraviolet asymptotic form of the couplings. The analysis of the infrared behavior allows to verify the regularity of the Λ-flow equation at Λ=0. Then we compute the β-function and we check gluon transversality. Finally, we outline a proof of perturbative renormalizability.