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Catalogue
Kinds of Catalogue Selected AbstractsFundraising or promoting philanthropy?INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NONPROFIT & VOLUNTARY SECTOR MARKETING, Issue 3 2005A qualitative study of the Massachusetts Catalogue for Philanthropy Philanthropic institutions are increasingly involved in efforts to promote or expand philanthropy in the US, yet little research has been done in relation to such efforts within the "new philanthropy" environment. This qualitative study examines one such effort: the Massachusetts Catalogue for Philanthropy. The study focuses on understanding what key individuals associated with the Catalogue think about its purpose(s) as a means of beginning to answer the underlying questions: How are these new philanthropy promotion projects different from traditional fundraising and to what degree are they contributing to a new philanthropic paradigm? Results and data analysis indicate that participants have varying opinions about the purpose of the Catalogue that come from two perspectives. One sees the Catalogue as a tool for institutional fundraising for small charities featured by the Catalogue in the annually published Catalogue for Philanthropy; the other sees the Catalogue as a mechanism for the overall promotion of philanthropy in the state by educating donors, creating a new conceptualization of philanthropy, and strengthening philanthropy. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A review of the impact and effectiveness of nurse-led care in dermatologyJOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 1 2007Cert Ed, Molly Courtenay BSc Aims and objectives., To identify systematically, summarize and critically appraise the current evidence regarding the impact and effectiveness of nurse-led care in dermatology. Background., A diverse range of nurse-led models of care exist in dermatology. Primary studies have been conducted evaluating these models, but review and synthesis of the findings from these studies have not been undertaken. Method., Systematic searches of CINAHL, MEDLINE, British Nursing Index (BNI) and the RCN Library Catalogue from 1990 until March 2005. The searches were supplemented by an extensive hand search of the literature through references identified from retrieved articles and by contact with experts in the field. Results., Fourteen relevant publications were identified and included findings from both primary and secondary care. The evidence indicates that nurses are treating a number of dermatological conditions, primarily using treatment protocols, across a broad range of clinical settings. However, some nurses working in primary care, lack confidence to treat some of these conditions and the educational needs of these nurses are frequently unmet. A reduction in the severity of the condition and more effective use of topical therapies are benefits of nurse interventions on service delivery. Faster access to treatment, a reduction in referrals to the general practitioner or dermatologist and an increase in knowledge of their condition are benefits reported by patients. Conclusions., Findings of the review are generally positive. However, there are methodological weaknesses and under researched issues, e.g. cost effectiveness of nurse-led care and the prescription of medicines by nurses for patients with dermatological conditions that point to the need for further rigorous evaluation. Relevance to clinical practice., Nurse-led care is an integral element of the dermatology service offered to patients. This review highlights the impact of this care and the issues that require consideration by those responsible for the development of nurse-led models of care in dermatology. [source] Books and Multimedia ReviewsMETEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 3 2001Article first published online: 4 FEB 2010 Book reviewed in this article: Catalogue of Meteorites, Fifth Edition (Revised and Enlarged) by Monica M. Grady Extrasolar Planets: The Search for New Worlds by Stuart Clark The Moon: Resources, Future Development and Colonization by David Schrunk, Burton Sharpe, Bonnie Cooper and Madhu Thangavelu Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe by Peter D. Ward and Donald E. Brownlee [source] Evolution in the discs and bulges of group galaxies since z= 0.4MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 4 2008Sean L. McGee ABSTRACT We present quantitative morphology measurements of a sample of optically selected group galaxies at 0.3 < z < 0.55 using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and the gim2d surface brightness fitting software package. The group sample is derived from the Canadian Network for Observational Cosmology Field Galaxy Redshift Survey (CNOC2) and follow-up Magellan spectroscopy. We compare these measurements to a similarly selected group sample from the Millennium Galaxy Catalogue (MGC) at 0.05 < z < 0.12. We find that, at both epochs, the group and field fractional bulge luminosity (B/T) distributions differ significantly, with the dominant difference being a deficit of disc-dominated (B/T < 0.2) galaxies in the group samples. At fixed luminosity, z= 0.4 groups have ,5.5 ± 2 per cent fewer disc-dominated galaxies than the field, while by z= 0.1 this difference has increased to ,19 ± 6 per cent. Despite the morphological evolution we see no evidence that the group environment is actively perturbing or otherwise affecting the entire existing disc population. At both redshifts, the discs of group galaxies have similar scaling relations and show similar median asymmetries as the discs of field galaxies. We do find evidence that the fraction of highly asymmetric, bulge-dominated galaxies is 6 ± 3 per cent higher in groups than in the field, suggesting there may be enhanced merging in group environments. We replicate our group samples at z= 0.4 and 0 using the semi-analytic galaxy catalogues of Bower et al. This model accurately reproduces the B/T distributions of the group and field at z= 0.1. However, the model does not reproduce our finding that the deficit of discs in groups has increased significantly since z= 0.4. [source] The properties of Jovian Trojan asteroids listed in SDSS Moving Object Catalogue 3MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 4 2007Gy. M. Szabó ABSTRACT We analyse 1187 observations of about 860 unique candidate Jovian Trojan asteroids listed in the 3rd release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Moving Object Catalogue. The sample is complete at the faint end to r= 21.2 mag (apparent brightness) and H= 13.8 (absolute brightness, approximately corresponding to 10 km diameter). A subset of 297 detections of previously known Trojans were used to design and optimize a selection method based on observed angular velocity that resulted in the remaining objects. Using a sample of objects with known orbits, we estimate that the candidate sample contamination is about 3 per cent. The well-controlled selection effects, the sample size, depth and accurate five-band UV,IR photometry enabled several new findings and the placement of older results on a firmer statistical footing. We find that there are significantly more asteroids in the leading swarm (L4) than in the trailing swarm (L5): N(L4)/N(L5) = 1.6 ± 0.1, independently of limiting object's size. The overall counts normalization suggests that there are about as many Jovians Trojans as there are main-belt asteroids down to the same size limit, in agreement with earlier estimates. We find that Trojan asteroids have a remarkably narrow colour distribution (root mean scatter of only ,0.05 mag) that is significantly different from the colour distribution of the main-belt asteroids. The colour of Trojan asteroids is correlated with their orbital inclination, in a similar way for both swarms, but appears uncorrelated with the object's size. We extrapolate the results presented here and estimate that the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope will determine orbits, accurate colours and measure light curves in six photometric bandpasses for about 100 000 Jovian Trojan asteroids. [source] The Millennium Galaxy Catalogue: a census of local compact galaxiesMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 4 2006J. Liske ABSTRACT We use the Millennium Galaxy Catalogue (MGC) to study the effect of compact galaxies on the local field galaxy luminosity function (LF). Here, we observationally define as ,compact' galaxies that are too small to be reliably distinguished from stars using a standard star,galaxy separation technique. In particular, we estimate the fraction of galaxies that are misclassified as stars due to their compactness. We have spectroscopically identified all objects to Bmgc= 20 mag in a 1.14-deg2 subregion of the MGC, regardless of morphology. From these data we develop a model of the high surface brightness (SB) incompleteness and estimate that ,1 per cent of galaxies with Bmgc < 20 mag are misclassified as stars, with an upper limit of 2.3 per cent at 95 per cent confidence. However, since the missing galaxies are preferentially sub- L* their effect on the faint end of the LF is substantially amplified: we find that they contribute ,6 per cent to the total LF in the range ,17 < MB < ,14 mag, which raises the faint end slope , by 0.03+0.02,0.01. Their contribution to the total B -band luminosity density is ,2 per cent. Roughly half of the missing galaxies have already been recovered through spectroscopy of morphologically stellar targets selected mainly by colour. We find that the missing galaxies mostly consist of intrinsically small, blue, star forming, sub- L* objects. In combination with the recent results of Driver et al. we have now demonstrated that the MGC is free from both high- and low-SB selection bias for giant galaxies (MB,,17 mag). Dwarf galaxies, on the other hand, are significantly affected by these selection effects. To gain a complete view of the dwarf population will require both deeper and higher-resolution surveys. [source] The angular correlation function of the ROSAT All-Sky Survey Bright Source CatalogueMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 4 2000A. Akylas We have derived the angular correlation function of a sample of 2096 sources detected in the ROSAT All-Sky Survey (RASS) Bright Source Catalogue, in order to investigate the clustering properties of active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the local Universe. Our sample is constructed by rejecting all known stars, as well as extended X-ray sources. Areas with |b|<30° and declination ,<,30° are also rejected owing to the high or uncertain neutral hydrogen absorption. Cross-correlation of our sample with the Hamburg/RASS optical identification catalogue suggests that the vast majority of our sources are indeed AGN. A 4.1, correlation signal between 0° and 8° was detected with w(,<8°)=2.5±0.6×10,2. Assuming a two-point correlation function of the form w(,)=(,,0),0.8, we find ,0=0062. Deprojection on three dimensions, using Limber's equation, yields a spatial correlation length of r0,6.0±1.6 h,1 Mpc. This is consistent with the AGN clustering results derived at higher redshifts in optical surveys and suggests a comoving model for the clustering evolution. [source] Error analysis of proper motions in decination obtained for 807 Hipparcos stars from PZT observations over many decadesASTRONOMISCHE NACHRICHTEN, Issue 8 2010G. Damljanovi Abstract After publication of the Hipparcos catalogue (in 1997), a few new astrometric catalogues have appeared (TYCHO-2, ARIHIP, etc.), as a good combination of the Hipparcos satellite and ground-based data, to get more accurate coordinates and proper motions of stars than the Hipparcos catalogue ones. There are also investigations on improving the Hipparcos coordinates and proper motions by using the astrometric observations of latitude and universal time variations (via observed stars referred to Hipparcos catalogue), together with Hipparcos data, carried out during the last few years. These kind of ground-based data were collected at the end of the last century by J. Vondrák. There are about 4.4 million optical observations made worldwide at 33 observatories and with 47 instruments during 1899.7,1992.0; our Belgrade visual zenith telescope data (for the period 1949.0-1986.0) were included. First of all, these data were used to determine the Earth Orientation Parameters , EOP, but they are also useful for the opposite task , to check the accuracy of coordinates and proper motions of Hipparcos stars which were observed from the ground over many decades. Here, we use the latitude part of ten Photographic Zenith Tubes , PZT data (more than 0.9 million observations made at 6 observatories during the time interval 1915.8,1992.0), and combine them with the Hipparcos catalogue ones, with suitable weights, in order to check the proper motions in declination for 807 common PZT/Hipparcos stars (and to construct the PZT catalogue of ,, for 807 stars). Our standard errors in proper motions in declination of these stars are less than or equal to the Hipparcos ones for 423 stars. The mean value of standard errors of 313 stars observed over more than 20 years by PZT is 0.40 mas/yr. This is 53% of 0.75 mas/yr (the suitable value from the Hipparcos catalogue). We used the Least Squares Method , LSM with the linear model. Our results are in good agreement with the Earth Orientation Catalogue , EOC-2 and the new Hipparcos ones. The main steps of the method and the investigations of systematic errors in determined proper motions (the proper motion differences with respect to the Hipparcos values, the EOC-2 ones and the new Hipparcos ones, as a function of ,, ,, and magnitude) are presented here. A comparison of the four catalogues by pairs shows that there is no significant relationship between the differences of their ,, values and magnitudes and color indices of the common 807 stars. All catalogues have relatively small random and systematic errors which are close to each other. However, the comparison shows that our formal errors are too small. They are underestimated by a factor of nearly 1.7 (for EOC-2, it is 2.0) if we take the new Hipparcos (or Hipparcos) data as reference (© 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source] Finding the most variable stars in the Orion Belt with the All Sky Automated SurveyASTRONOMISCHE NACHRICHTEN, Issue 3 2010J.A. Caballero Abstract We look for high-amplitude variable young stars in the open clusters and associations of the Orion Belt. We use public data from the ASAS-3 Photometric V -band Catalogue of the All Sky Automated Survey, infrared photometry from the 2MASS and IRAS catalogues, proper motions, and the Aladin sky atlas to obtain a list of the most variable stars in a survey area of side 5° centred on the bright star Alnilam (, Ori) in the centre of the Orion Belt. We identify 32 highly variable stars, of which 16 had not been reported to vary before. They are mostly variable young stars and candidates (16) and background giants (8), but there are also field cataclysmic variables, contact binaries, and eclipsing binary candidates. Of the young stars, which typically are active Herbig Ae/Be and T Tauri stars with H, emission and infrared flux excess, we discover four new variables and confirm the variability status of another two. Some of them belong to the well known , Orionis cluster. Besides, six of the eight giants are new variables, and three are new periodic variables (© 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source] What did William Hunter know about bone?CLINICAL ANATOMY, Issue 3 2005Stuart W. McDonald Abstract This article examines William Hunter's specimens on bone in the Anatomy Museum at the University of Glasgow. By referring to students' notes taken at Hunter's lectures and to the Manuscript Catalogue of his anatomical specimens, we attempt to answer the question, "What did William Hunter know about bone?" Hunter seems to have been particularly interested in the relationship between vascularisation and ossification and many of the specimens illustrate this. He provided his students with reasoned arguments on a number of issues: that the marrow serves as a fat store and not to produce synovial fluid or to keep bones supple; the periosteum serves as an attachment for tendons and ligaments; the rationale for the presence of epiphyses is not readily defined; that bones form by intramembranous and endochondral ossification and that, in the latter, cartilage is replaced by bone. William Hunter narrowly failed to realise that in long bones new bone is laid down by the periosteum and at the epiphysial plates, and is remodeled. These discoveries were to be made by his brother, John. Clin. Anat. 18:155,163, 2005. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] William Hunter's Gravid Uterus: The specimens and platesCLINICAL ANATOMY, Issue 4 2002N.A. McCulloch Abstract William Hunter's collection of anatomical specimens of the pregnant uterus forms one of the finest displays in the Anatomy Museum at the University of Glasgow. We were interested to know which specimens in the Museum matched the plates in Hunter's The Anatomy of the Human Gravid Uterus Exhibited in Figures (1774). In our investigation we were greatly assisted by Teacher's Catalogue of the Anatomical and Pathological Preparations of Dr William Hunter (1900). Thirteen specimens in the Museum and one from the pathological collection at the Royal Infirmary are represented in Hunter's book. The specimens can be recognized in 25 of its illustrations. A further three specimens may correspond to figures but we could not prove this. With one possible exception, all the specimens matching plates noted in Teacher's catalogue remain in the Museum and one believed missing in Marshall's (1970) revision of the catalogue has been found. Clin. Anat. 15:253,262, 2002. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Discovery of 17 new sharp-lined Ap stars with magnetically resolved lines,MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 1 2008L. M. Freyhammer ABSTRACT Chemically peculiar A stars (Ap) are extreme examples of the interaction of atomic element diffusion processes with magnetic fields in stellar atmospheres. The rapidly oscillating Ap stars provide a means for studying these processes in three dimensions and are at the same time important for studying the pulsation excitation mechanism in A stars. As part of the first comprehensive, uniform, high-resolution spectroscopic survey of Ap stars, which we are conducting in the Southern hemisphere with the Michigan Spectral Catalogues as the basis of target selection, we report here the discovery of 17 new magnetic Ap stars having spectroscopically resolved Zeeman components from which we derive magnetic field moduli in the range 3,30 kG. Among these are (1) the current second strongest known magnetic A star, (2) a double-lined Ap binary with a magnetic component and (3) an A star with particularly peculiar and variable abundances. Polarimetry of these stars is needed to constrain their field geometries and to determine their rotation periods. We have also obtained an additional measurement of the magnetic field of the Ap star HD 92499. [source] Security in distributed metadata cataloguesCONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION: PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE, Issue 17 2008Nuno Santos Abstract Catalogue services provide the discovery and location mechanisms that allow users and applications to locate data on Grids. Replication is a highly desirable feature in these services, since it provides the scalability and reliability required on large data Grids and is the basis for federating catalogues from different organizations. Grid catalogues are often used to store sensitive data and must have access control mechanisms to protect their data. Replication has to take this security policy into account, making sure that replicated information cannot be abused but allowing some flexibility such as selective replication for the sites depending on the level of trust in them. In this paper we discuss the security requirements and implications of several replication scenarios for Grid catalogues based on experiences gained within the EGEE project. Using the security infrastructure of the EGEE Grid as a basis, we then propose a security architecture for replicated Grid catalogues, which, among other features, supports partial and total replication of the security mechanisms on the master. The implementation of this architecture in the AMGA metadata catalogue of the EGEE project is then described including the application to a complex scenario in a biomedical application. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Analysis of historical landslide time series in the Emilia-Romagna region, northern ItalyEARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, Issue 10 2010Mauro Rossi Abstract A catalogue of historical landslides, 1951,2002, for three provinces in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy is presented and its statistical properties studied. The catalogue consists of 2255 reported landslides and is based on historical archives and chronicles. We use two measures for the intensity of landsliding over time: (i) the number of reported landslides in a day (DL) and (ii) the number of reported landslides in an event (Sevent), where an event is one or more consecutive days with landsliding. From 1951,2002 in our study area there were 1057 days with 1 , DL ,?45 landslides per day, and 596 events with 1 , Sevent , 129 landslides per event. In the first set of analyses, we find that the probability density of landslide intensities in the time series are power-law distributed over at least two-orders of magnitude, with exponent of about ,2·0. Although our data is a proxy for landsliding built from newspaper reports, it is the first tentative evidence that the frequency-size of triggered landslide events over time (not just the landslides in a given triggered event), like earthquakes, scale as a power-law or other heavy-tailed distributions. If confirmed, this could have important implications for risk assessment and erosion modelling in a given area. In our second set of analyses, we find that for short antecedent rainfall periods, the minimum amount of rainfall necessary to trigger landslides varies considerably with the intensity of the landsliding (DL and Sevent); whereas for long antecedent periods the magnitude is largely independent of the cumulative amount of rainfall, and the largest values of landslide intensity are always preceded by abundant rainfall. Further, the analysis of the rainfall trend suggests that the trigger of landslides in the study area is related to seasonal rainfall. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A performance comparison of individual and combined treatment modules for water recyclingENVIRONMENTAL PROGRESS & SUSTAINABLE ENERGY, Issue 4 2005Stuart Khan Abstract An Advanced Water Recycling Demonstration Plant (AWRDP) was commissioned and constructed by the Queensland State Government in Australia. The AWRDP was used to study the effectiveness of a variety of treatment processes in the upgrading of municipal wastewater for water recycling applications. The AWRDP consists of eight modules, each housing an individual specific treatment process. These processes are flocculation, dissolved air flotation, dual media filtration, ozonation, biological activated carbon adsorption, microfiltration, reverse osmosis, and ultraviolet disinfection. The individual performances of the treatment processes were determined, as well as their interdependence in series. A range of chemical water quality parameters were investigated. The study provides a broad process comparison on the basis of an important catalogue of these key parameters. This will be valuable in the selection and optimization of treatment processes trains in full-scale water recycling applications. © 2005 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 2005 [source] A step toward DSM-V: cataloguing personality-related problems in living,EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 4 2005Robert R. McCrae Intractable problems with DSM-IV's Axis II mandate an entirely new approach to the diagnosis of personality-related pathology. The Five-Factor Model of personality provides a scientifically grounded basis for personality assessment, and Five-Factor Theory postulates that personality pathology is to be found in characteristic maladaptations that are shaped by both traits and environment. A four-step process of personality disorder (PD) diagnosis is proposed, in which clinicians assess personality, problems in living, clinical severity, and, optionally, PD patterns. We examine item content in five problem checklists to update the list of personality-related problems used in Step 2 of the four-step process. Problems were reliably assigned to relevant factors and facets, and a number of additions were made to an earlier catalogue. The four-step process can be used by clinicians, and may be incorporated in a future DSM. This article is a U.S. government publication and is in the public domain in the United States. [source] The General Provisions of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European UnionEUROPEAN LAW JOURNAL, Issue 4 2002R. Alonso García The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union provides the Union with a ,more evident' (as the European Council of Cologne asked for) framework of protection of the individuals before the public authorities within the European context, after more than thirty years (since the Stauder Case) of full confidence in the leading role played by the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Communities. This new normative catalogue of fundamental rights (included the so called ,aspirational fundamental rights') implies one more instrument of protection which has to find its own place with regard to the protection afforded by the national Constitutions and the international agreements on human rights, particularly the European Convention on Human Rights, which are already a privileged source of inspiration for Court of Justice of the European Communities. It is the main objective of the General Provisions of the Charter to clarify which is that place and the relationship with those other levels of protection as managed by their supreme interpreters (i.e., the Constitutional,or Supreme,Courts of the Member States of the Union and the European Court of Human Rights). [source] Proteomic profiling reveals a catalogue of new candidate proteins for human skin agingEXPERIMENTAL DERMATOLOGY, Issue 10 2010Martin Laimer Abstract:, Studies of skin aging are usually performed at the genomic level by investigating differentially regulated genes identified through subtractive hybridization or microarray analyses. In contrast, relatively few studies have investigated changes in protein expression of aged skin using proteomic profiling by two-dimensional (2-D) gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry, although this approach at the protein level is suggested to reflect more accurately the aging phenotype. We undertook such a proteomic analysis of intrinsic human skin aging by quantifying proteins extracted and fluorescently labeled from sun-protected human foreskin samples pooled from ,young' and ,old' men. In addition, we analyzed these candidate gene products by 1-D and 2-D western blotting to obtain corroborative protein expression data, and by both real-time PCR (RT-PCR) and microarray analyses to confirm expression at the mRNA level. We discovered 30 putative proteins for skin aging, including previously unrecognized, post-translationally regulated candidates such as phosphatidyl-ethanolamine binding protein (PEBP) and carbonic anhydrase 1 (CA1). [source] Regional GPS data confirm high strain accumulation prior to the 2000 June 4 Mw= 7.8 earthquake at southeast SumatraGEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 3 2001G. W. Michel Summary Site velocities derived from repeated measurements in a regional GPS network in Southeast Asia help to constrain the motion of tectonic blocks as well as slip rates along major faults in the area. Using 3-D forward dislocation modelling, the influence of seismic elastic loading and unloading on the measured site motions are approximated. Results suggest that the northwestern Sunda arc is fully coupled seismogenically, whereas its eastern part along Java shows localized deformation. Higher horizontal velocity gradients than expected from the modelling of a fully coupled plate interface west of Manila in the Philippines suggest that deformation may be localized there. Assuming that geodetically derived convergence represents long-term rates, accumulated geodetic moments are compared to those derived using seismic data from 1977 to 2000 (Harvard CMT catalogue). If areas displaying localized deformation are dominated by creep processes, the largest difference between accumulated and seismically released deformation is located where the 2000 June 4 Mw = 7.8 Sumatra earthquake occurred. [source] CN algorithm and long-lasting changes in reported magnitudes: the case of ItalyGEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 2 2000A. Peresan Prediction methods based on seismic precursors, and hence assuming that catalogues contain the necessary information to predict earthquakes, are sometimes criticised for their sensitivity to the unavoidable catalogue errors and possible undeclared variations in the evaluation of reported magnitudes. We consider a real example and we discuss the effect, on CN predictions, of a long-lasting underestimation of the reported magnitudes. Starting approximately in 1988, the CN functions in Central Italy evidence an anomalous behaviour, not associated with TIPs, that indicates an unusual absence of moderate events. To investigate this phenomenon, the magnitudes given in the catalogue used, which since 1980 is defined by the ING bulletins, are compared to the magnitudes reported by the global catalogue NEIC (National Earthquake Information Centre, USGS, USA) and by the regional LDG bulletins issued at the Laboratoire de Detection et de Geophysique, Bruyeres-le-Chatel, France. The comparison is performed between the ING bulletins and the NEIC catalogue, considering the local, ML,, and duration, Md,, magnitudes, first within the Central region, and then extended to the whole Italian territory. To check the consistency of the conclusions drawn from ING and NEIC data, the comparison of local magnitudes is extended to a third data set, the LDG bulletins. The differences between duration magnitudes Md that are reported by ING and NEIC since 1983 appear quite constant with time. Starting in 1987, an average underestimation of about 0.5 can be attributed to ML reported by ING for the Central region; this difference decreases to about 0.2 when the whole Italian territory is considered. The anomalous behaviour of the CN functions disappears if a magnitude correction of +0.5 is applied to ML reported in the ING bulletins. However, such a simple magnitude shift cannot restore the real features of the seismic flow, and ING bulletins are not suitable for CN algorithm application. [source] Neuropeptide and neurohormone precursors in the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisumINSECT MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, Issue 2010J. Huybrechts Abstract Aphids respond to environmental changes by developing alternative phenotypes with differing reproductive modes. Parthenogenetic reproduction occurs in spring and summer, whereas decreasing day lengths in autumn provoke the production of sexual forms. Changing environmental signals are relayed by brain neuroendocrine signals to the ovarioles. We combined bioinformatic analyses with brain peptidomics and cDNA analyses to establish a catalogue of pea aphid neuropeptides and neurohormones. 42 genes encoding neuropeptides and neurohormones were identified, of which several were supported by expressed sequence tags and/or peptide mass analyses. Interesting features of the pea aphid peptidome are the absence of genes coding for corazonin, vasopressin and sulfakinin and the presence of 10 different genes coding insulin related peptides, one of which appears to be very abundantly expressed. [source] Long-term trends in near-surface flow over the BalticINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLIMATOLOGY, Issue 3 2003S. C. Pryor Abstract We report an analysis of trends in 850 hPa wind speed, as manifest in the NCEP,NCAR reanalysis fields, over the Baltic region during the latter half of the 20th century. The results indicate that annual mean wind speeds over the Baltic significantly increased over the period 1953,99 with the majority of the increase being associated with increases in the upper quartile of the wind speed distribution. Accordingly, much of the change is focused on the winter season. The trends in annual and seasonal mean wind speeds are greatest in relative and absolute sense in the southwest of the Baltic basin, where they are in excess of 0.25 m s,1 per decade for the annual mean. The extremes of the wind-speed distribution also increased by up to 5 m s,1 over the study period for the wind speed with a 50 year return period, again with the largest magnitude changes in the southwestern Baltic. These changes in wind speed are strongly linked to changes in the synoptic-scale circulation. The majority of the increase in wintertime wind speeds is attributable to an increase in westerly anticyclonic, westerly cyclonic and northwesterly cyclonic circulation types as manifest in the Grosswetterlagen catalogue, which are in turn related to the recent prevalence of the positive phase of the North Atlantic oscillation. Copyright © 2003 Royal Meteorological Society [source] Temporal fluctuations in heat waves at Prague,Klementinum, the Czech Republic, from 1901,97, and their relationships to atmospheric circulationINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLIMATOLOGY, Issue 1 2002Jan Kyselý Abstract Temporal fluctuations in heat wave occurrence and severity are analysed in long-term daily temperature series at Prague,Klementinum, the Czech Republic. Although the observations have been continuous since 1775, the period 1901,97 with the most credible data is mainly examined. Most of the warmest summers of the 20th century appeared within the periods 1943,52 and 1992,95; the temporal distribution of heat waves corresponds to this pattern and shows two maxima, in the 1940s to early 1950s and in the 1990s. A very low occurrence of heat waves was typical of the beginning of the 20th century and around 1980. The peak of heat wave severity in the 1940s,early 1950s, as well as their almost total absence in the first two decades of the 20th century, may be a common feature for a large area, as indicated by the comparison between two stations within central Europe, Prague,Klementinum and Basel (Switzerland), and by other studies. An extraordinary heat wave occurred in July and August 1994. It greatly exceeded other heat waves, mainly in the much higher cumulative temperature excess above 30°C and a record-breaking duration of a continuous period of tropical days. Relationships between heat wave characteristics in warm and cold decades and circulation conditions were analysed using the subjective Hess,Brezowsky catalogue of weather types (Grosswetterlagen). The link to the atmospheric circulation is evident, e.g. situations with an anticyclone or a ridge over central Europe were more (less) frequent during all the warm (cold) decades. Moreover, the occurrence of long and severe heat waves in the 1990s may reflect an enhanced persistence of the atmospheric circulation over Europe in the summer season because all groups of weather types have considerably increased residence times in 1988,97 compared with long-term means. Copyright © 2002 Royal Meteorological Society [source] An artificial neural network based approach for online string matching/filtering of large databases,INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS, Issue 4 2010Tatiana Tambouratzis A novel online approach to exact string matching and filtering of large databases is presented. String matching/filtering is based on artificial neural networks and operates in two stages: initially, a self-organizing map retrieves the cluster of database strings that are most similar to the query string; subsequently, a harmony theory network compares the retrieved strings with the query string and determines whether an exact match exists. The similarity measure is configured to the specific characteristics of the database so as to expose overall string similarity rather than character coincidence at homologous string locations. The experimental results demonstrate foolproof, fast, and practically database-size independent operation that is especially robust to database modifications. The proposed approach is put forward for general-purpose (directory, catalogue, glossary search) as well as Internet-oriented (e-mail blocking, URL, username classification) applications. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Buddy: Harnessing the power of the internetINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS, Issue 1 2008Douglas Boulware The Internet has become a way of life. In the past, when someone wanted to perform research he or she would go to the library, and proceed to the card catalogue to locate a book or to a set of periodicals for magazines. Today we sit in front of our computer, launch our Internet browser, bring up a search engine, and perform various searches by entering a simple keyword, phrase, or more complex Boolean expression. The Internet can be a great asset by significantly cutting the time-consuming burden of finding relevant documents/papers; however, how do we know where and what we are searching? How many times do we perform a query and get irrelevant documents? In this article we investigate today's search engines, what is meant by coverage, and what metasearch engines bring to the table. We also look at both their abilities and deficiencies and present a capability that attempts to put more power at the finger tips of the user. This capability is what we call "Buddy." © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] On open-set lattices and some of their applications in semanticsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS, Issue 12 2003Mouw-Ching Tjiok In this article, we present the theory of Kripke semantics, along with the mathematical framework and applications of Kripke semantics. We take the Kripke-Sato approach to define the knowledge operator in relation to Hintikka's possible worlds model, which is an application of the semantics of intuitionistic logic and modal logic. The applications are interesting from the viewpoint of agent interactives and process interaction. We propose (i) an application of possible worlds semantics, which enables the evaluation of the truth value of a conditional sentence without explicitly defining the operator "," (implication), through clustering on the space of events (worlds) using the notion of neighborhood; and (ii) a semantical approach to treat discrete dynamic process using Kripke-Beth semantics. Starting from the topological approach, we define the measure-theoretical machinery, in particular, we adopt the methods developed in stochastic process,mainly the martingale,to our semantics; this involves some Boolean algebraic (BA) manipulations. The clustering on the space of events (worlds), using the notion of neighborhood, enables us to define an accessibility relation that is necessary for the evaluation of the conditional sentence. Our approach is by taking the neighborhood as an open set and looking at topological properties using metric space, in particular, the so-called ,-ball; then, we can perform the implication by computing Euclidean distance, whenever we introduce a certain enumerative scheme to transform the semantic objects into mathematical objects. Thus, this method provides an approach to quantify semantic notions. Combining with modal operators Ki operating on E set, it provides a more-computable way to recognize the "indistinguishability" in some applications, e.g., electronic catalogue. Because semantics used in this context is a local matter, we also propose the application of sheaf theory for passing local information to global information. By looking at Kripke interpretation as a function with values in an open-set lattice ,,U, which is formed by stepwise verification process, we obtain a topological space structure. Now, using the measure-theoretical approach by taking the Borel set and Borel function in defining measurable functions, this can be extended to treat the dynamical aspect of processes; from the stochastic process, considered as a family of random variables over a measure space (the probability space triple), we draw two strong parallels between Kripke semantics and stochastic process (mainly martingales): first, the strong affinity of Kripke-Beth path semantics and time path of the process; and second, the treatment of time as parametrization to the dynamic process using the technique of filtration, adapted process, and progressive process. The technique provides very effective manipulation of BA in the form of random variables and ,-subalgebra under the cover of measurable functions. This enables us to adopt the computational algorithms obtained for stochastic processes to path semantics. Besides, using the technique of measurable functions, we indeed obtain an intrinsic way to introduce the notion of time sequence. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] The nature of advocacy vs. paternalism in nursing: clarifying the ,thin line'JOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 8 2009Meg Zomorodi Abstract Title.,The nature of advocacy vs. paternalism in nursing: clarifying the ,thin line'. Aim., This paper is an exploration of the concepts of advocacy and paternalism in nursing and discusses the thin line between the two. Background., Nurses are involved in care more than any other healthcare professionals and they play a central role in advocating for patients and families. It is difficult to obtain a clear definition of advocacy, yet the concepts of advocacy and paternalism must be compared, contrasted, and discussed extensively. In many situations, only a thin line distinguishes advocacy from paternalism. Data sources., A literature search was conducted using PubMed and CINAHL databases (2000,2008) as well as a library catalogue for texts. Discussion., Four case stories were described in order to discuss the ,thin line' between advocacy and paternalism and develop communication strategies to eliminate ambiguity. Weighing the ethical principles of beneficence and autonomy helps to clarify advocacy and paternalism and provides an avenue for discussion among nurses practicing in a variety of settings. Implications for nursing., Advocacy and paternalism should be discussed at interdisciplinary rounds, and taken into consideration when making patient care decisions. It is difficult to clarify advocacy vs. paternalism, but strategies such as knowing the patient, clarifying information, and educating all involved are initial steps in distinguishing advocacy from paternalism. Conclusion., Truly ,knowing' patients, their life experiences, values, beliefs and wishes can help clarify the ,thin line' and gain a grasp of these difficult to distinguish theoretical concepts. [source] Acoustic identification of insectivorous bats (order Chiroptera) of Yucatan, MexicoJOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY, Issue 1 2002J. Rydell Abstract The echolocation calls of insectivorous bats of the northern Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, with the exception of the phyllostomids and molossids, are presented. The aim is to provide a catalogue of bat sounds that can be used for acoustic inventories of insectivorous bats using the Pettersson heterodyne and time-expansion bat detectors. The acoustic method can be used alone or in combination with inventories based on mist-netting, a method more suitable for the low-intensity echolocators (mainly the phyllostomids), which are difficult to monitor acoustically. The insectivorous species of the Yucatan are generally easy to identify by their echolocation calls, particularly when combined with visual observations of foraging bats at dusk. [source] Notes on the genus Santalus Lewis, 1906 and Pachylister Lewis, 1904, with the description of Nasaltus gen. n. (Coleoptera, Histeridae)MITTEILUNGEN AUS DEM MUSEUM FUER NATURKUNDE IN BERLIN-DEUTSCHE ENTOMOLOGISCHE ZEITSCHRIFT, Issue 1 2008awomir Mazur Abstract The taxonomical and systematic status of the species of Santalus was analyzed. A new genus, Nasaltus, has been described with Hister orientalis as the type-species. A new species is described Nasaltus marseuli (N. orientalis: Marseul). A new arrangement and catalogue of these species is proposed after their cladistic analysis. A key to identify the species of Nasaltus and Santalus is given. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source] Unravelling a histone code for malaria virulenceMOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 6 2007Christy A. Comeaux Summary Epigenetic phenomena have been shown to play a role in the regulated expression of virulence genes in several pathogenic organisms, including the var gene family in Plasmodium falciparum. A better understanding of how P. falciparum can both maintain a single active var gene locus through many erythrocytic cycles and also achieve successive switching to different loci in order to evade the host immune system is greatly needed. Disruption of this tightly co-ordinated expression system presents an opportunity for increased clearance of the parasites by the immune system and, in turn, reduced mortality and morbidity. In the current issue of Molecular Microbiology, Lopez-Rubio and colleagues investigate the correlation of specific post-translational histone modifications with different transcriptional states of a single var gene, var2csa. Quantitative chromatin immunoprecipitation is used to demonstrate that different histone methylation marks are enriched at the 5, flanking and coding regions of active, poised or silenced var genes. They identify an increase of H3K4me2 and H3K4me3 in the 5, flanking region of an active var locus and expand on an earlier finding that H3K9me3 is enriched in the coding regions of silenced var genes. The authors also present evidence that H3K4me2 bookmarks the active var gene locus during later developmental stages for expression in the subsequent asexual cycle, hinting at a potential mechanism for transcriptional ,memory'. The stage is now set for work generating a complete catalogue of all histone modifications associated with var gene regulation as well as functional studies striving to uncover the precise mechanisms underlying these observations. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||