Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Expanding
Terms modified by Expanding Selected AbstractsHigh Density Cascaded Arc Produced Plasma Expanding in a Low Pressure RegionCONTRIBUTIONS TO PLASMA PHYSICS, Issue 5-6 2004R. P. Dahiya Abstract Experimental measurements made in thermal expanding argon, nitrogen and hydrogen plasmas with particular reference to molecular kinetics, surface nitriding and intense flux in magnetic field are discussed. The plasma is generated in a cascaded arc source. In the presence of molecular species (H2 / N2) dissociative recombination reactions involving rovibrationally excited molecules contribute to a rapid decay of the plasma species, especially for hydrogen system. A combination of nitrogen and hydrogen plasma gives an efficient plasma nitriding process, which has been applied for case hardening of machinery components. In another setup a strong axial magnetic field (0.4 - 1.6 T) contains and substantially prolongs the plasma beam in the chamber. In the presence of the magnetic field, an additional current drawn through the plasma beam using a biased substrate and a ring creates dense low temperature plasma giving a new unexplored plasma regime. The plasma kinetics are modified in this regime from the recombining to the ionising mode. When the additional current in the argon plasma beam exceeds 30 A, its light emission is predominantly in the blue region. With the additional current and magnetic field, the emission intensity of H, and other lines arising from higher energy levels in the hydrogen Balmer series is enhanced. (© 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source] The geography of climate change: implications for conservation biogeographyDIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS, Issue 3 2010D. D. Ackerly Abstract Aim, Climate change poses significant threats to biodiversity, including impacts on species distributions, abundance and ecological interactions. At a landscape scale, these impacts, and biotic responses such as adaptation and migration, will be mediated by spatial heterogeneity in climate and climate change. We examine several aspects of the geography of climate change and their significance for biodiversity conservation. Location, California and Nevada, USA. Methods, Using current climate surfaces (PRISM) and two scenarios of future climate (A1b, 2070,2099, warmer-drier and warmer-wetter), we mapped disappearing, declining, expanding and novel climates, and the velocity and direction of climate change in California and Nevada. We also examined fine-scale spatial heterogeneity in protected areas of the San Francisco Bay Area in relation to reserve size, topographic complexity and distance from the ocean. Results, Under the two climate change scenarios, current climates across most of California and Nevada will shrink greatly in extent, and the climates of the highest peaks will disappear from this region. Expanding and novel climates are projected for the Central Valley. Current temperature isoclines are projected to move up to 4.9 km year,1 in flatter regions, but substantially slower in mountainous areas because of steep local topoclimate gradients. In the San Francisco Bay Area, climate diversity within currently protected areas increases with reserve size and proximity to the ocean (the latter because of strong coastal climate gradients). However, by 2100 of almost 500 protected areas (>100 ha), only eight of the largest are projected to experience temperatures within their currently observed range. Topoclimate variability will further increase the range of conditions experienced and needs to be incorporated in future analyses. Main Conclusions, Spatial heterogeneity in climate, from mesoclimate to topoclimate scales, represents an important spatial buffer in response to climate change, and merits increased attention in conservation planning. [source] Mediational behaviours of preschoolers teaching their younger siblingsINFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 3 2003Pnina S. Klein There is very little research on the process of teaching in sibling interaction. The current study was designed to explore teaching behaviours of preschoolers and their effects on their toddler siblings. Participants were 40 dyads of 5-yr-olds and their 3-yr-old siblings from a middle class urban community in Israel. The children were divided into four equal groups based on gender and age of the siblings in each dyad. The children were visited at home and invited to play with two puzzles and two Lego games. Their play interaction with their siblings was videotaped. The observations were analysed using the observing mediational interaction (OMI) scale, assessing the frequency and style of the following behaviours: Focussing, Affecting, Encouraging, Expanding, and Regulating Behaviour. The younger siblings' success in playing the games was evaluated using a 5-point scale. The frequency of teaching behaviours in sibling interaction was found to be related to the younger siblings' success on the games. Affecting and Encouraging were significantly related to the younger siblings' level of success on the games. The teaching behaviours of older siblings were characterized by relatively high frequencies of Regulation of Behavior and Encouraging, moderate frequencies of Affecting and low frequencies of Expanding. Boys were found to receive more teaching behaviours than girls. Older brothers and sisters showed higher frequencies of teaching behaviour in interactions with their younger brothers than with their younger sisters. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Taxes, Leverage, and the Cost of Equity CapitalJOURNAL OF ACCOUNTING RESEARCH, Issue 4 2006DAN DHALIWAL ABSTRACT We examine the associations among leverage, corporate and investor level taxes, and the firm's implied cost of equity capital. Expanding on Modigliani and Miller [1958, 1963], the cost of equity capital can be expressed as a function of leverage and corporate and investor level taxes. Based on this expression, we predict that the cost of equity is increasing in leverage, and that corporate taxes mitigate this leverage-related risk premium, while the personal tax disadvantage of debt increases this premium. We empirically test these predictions using implied cost of equity estimates and proxies for the firm's corporate tax rate and the personal tax disadvantage of debt. Our results suggest that the equity risk premium associated with leverage is decreasing in the corporate tax benefit from debt. We find some evidence that the equity risk premium from leverage is increasing in the personal tax penalty associated with debt. [source] Leaf expansion in Phaseolus: transient auxin-induced growth increasePHYSIOLOGIA PLANTARUM, Issue 4 2007Christopher P. Keller Control of leaf expansion by auxin is not well understood. Evidence from short-term exogenous applications and from treatment of excised tissues suggests auxin positively influences growth. Manipulations of endogenous leaf auxin content, however, suggest that long-term auxin suppresses leaf expansion. This study attempts to clarify the growth effects of auxin on unifoliate (primary) leaves of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) by reexamining the response to auxin treatment of both excised leaf strips and attached leaves. Leaf strips, incubated in culture conditions that promoted steady elongation for up to 48 h, treated with 10 ,M,-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) responded with an initial surge of elongation growth complete within 10 h, followed by insensitivity. A range of NAA concentrations from 0.1 to 300 ,M induced increased strip elongation after 24 and 48 h. Increased elongation and epinastic curvature of leaf strips was found specific to active auxins. Expanding attached unifoliates treated once with aqueous auxin NAA at 1.0 mM showed both an initial surge in growth lasting 4,6 h followed by growth inhibition sustained at least as long as 24 h post-treatment. Auxin-induced inhibition of leaf expansion was associated with smaller epidermal cell area. Together, the results suggest increasing leaf auxin first increases growth and then slows growth through inhibition of cell expansion. Excised leaf strips retain only the initial increased growth response to auxin and not the subsequent growth inhibition, either as a consequence of wounding or as a consequence of isolation from the plant. [source] Complementing Mass Customization Toolkits with User Communities: How Peer Input Improves Customer Self-Design,THE JOURNAL OF PRODUCT INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 6 2008Nikolaus Franke In this paper, the authors propose that the canonical customer,toolkit dyad in mass customization (MC) should be complemented with user communities. Many companies in various industries have begun to offer their customers the opportunity to design their own products online. The companies provide Web-based MC toolkits that allow customers who prefer individualized products to tailor items such as sneakers, personal computers (PCs), cars, kitchens, cereals, or skis to their specific preferences. Most existing MC toolkits are based on the underlying concept of an isolated, dyadic interaction process between the individual customer and the MC toolkit. Information from external sources is not provided. As a result, most academic research on MC toolkits has focused on this dyadic perspective. The main premise of this paper is that novice MC toolkit users in particular might largely benefit from information given by other customers. Pioneering research shows that customers in the computer gaming and digital music instruments industries are willing to support each other for the sake of efficient toolkit use (e.g., how certain toolkit functions work). Expanding on their work, the present paper provides evidence that peer assistance appears also extremely useful in the two other major phases of the customer's individual self-design process, namely, the development of an initial idea and the evaluation of a preliminary design solution. Two controlled experiments were conducted in which 191 subjects used an MC toolkit to design their own individual skis. The authors found that during the phase of developing an initial idea, having access to other users' designs as potential starting points stimulates the integration of existing solution chunks into the problem-solving process, which indicates more systematic problem-solving behavior. Peer customer input also turned out to have positive effects on the evaluation of preliminary design solutions. Providing other customers' opinions on interim design solutions stimulated favorable problem-solving behavior, namely, the integration of external feedback. The use of these two problem-solving heuristics in turn leads to an improved process outcome,that is, self-designed products that meet the preferences of the customers more effectively (measured in terms of perceived preference fit, purchase intention, and willingness to pay). These findings have important theoretical and managerial implications. [source] A comparison of control architectures for atomic force microscopes,ASIAN JOURNAL OF CONTROL, Issue 2 2009J. A. Butterworth Abstract We evaluate the performance of two control architectures applied to atomic force microscopes (AFM). Feedback-only control is a natural solution and has been applied widely. Expanding on that, combining feedback controllers with plant-injection feedforward filters has been shown to greatly improve tracking performance in AFMs. Alternatively, performance can also be improved by the use of a closed-loop-injection feedforward filter applied to the reference input before it enters the feedback loop. In this paper, we compare the plant-injection architecture with the closed-loop-injection architecture when used in controlling AFMs. In particular, we provide experimental results demonstrating the closed-loop-injection architecture yields better tracking performance of a raster scan. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley and Sons Asia Pte Ltd and Chinese Automatic Control Society [source] Acceptance of Functional Foods: A Comparison of French, American, and French Canadian ConsumersCANADIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 4 2006JoAnne Labrecque Food products have diversified with industry globalization. To market functional foods efficiently, food managers must gauge cross-cultural variance of functional food acceptance. Expanding on previous research, we investigate young consumers' acceptance of functional foods. Data collected in French Canada, United States, and France in 2004 reveal that business students are slightly in favor of functional foods, and associate health benefits with these foods but very few product-related benefits. Students do not have strong opinions on the trustworthiness of information and expressed a slight interest in purchasing this type of product. Analyses of cultural differences revealed significant, albeit small, divergence in these variables. Statistical analysis performed on the full sample assessed the impact of food attitudes and other cognitive and attitudinal factors on the general attitude toward functional foods. Health and product-related benefits and belief about the credibility of information are the main positive determinants of the acceptance of functional foods, followed by high knowledge. Apart from the negative impact of Neophobia, none of the other food attitudes influences attitudes toward functional foods. Linear regressions performed on each subgroup indicated similar positive cross-cultural results for health and product-related benefits. However, cross-cultural differences are detected for knowledge, credibility of information, and food attitudes that influence acceptance of functional foods. Les produits alimentaires se sont diversifiés avec l'avènement de la mondialisation. Pour commercialiser efficacement les aliments fonctionnels, les gestionnaires du secteur alimentaire doivent évaluer l'acceptation des aliments fonctionnels par les diverses cultures. À partir de travaux de recherche antérieurs, nous avons examiné l'acceptation des aliments fonctionnels par les jeunes consommateurs. Des données recueillies en 2004 au Canada français, aux États-Unis et en France ont révélé que les étudiants en commerce étaient légèrement en faveur des aliments fonctionnels, leur associaient des avantages pour la santé, mais très peu d'avantages liés aux produits. Les étudiants n'avaient pas une très bonne opinion concernant la crédibilité de l'information et ont manifesté un faible intérêt pour l'achat de ces produits. Des analyses des différences culturelles ont révélé des divergences, petites mais significatives. Les analyses statistiques effectuées sur l'échantillon total ont évalué l'impact des attitudes envers les aliments ainsi que d'autres facteurs cognitifs et attitudinaux sur l'attitude générale envers les aliments fonctionnels. Les avantages pour la santé, les avantages liés aux produits et les croyances concernant la crédibilité de l'information sont les principaux facteurs favorables à l'acceptation des aliments fonctionnels, suivis d'un degré de connaissances élevé. Outre l'impact négatif de la néophobie, aucune autre des attitudes envers les aliments n'influe sur les attitudes envers les aliments fonctionnels. Les régressions linéaires effectuées pour chaque sous-groupe ont indiqué des résultats positifs similaires. Toutefois, nous avons noté des différences interculturelles quant à la connaissance, à la crédibilité de l'information et aux attitudes envers les aliments qui influencent l'acceptation des aliments fonctionnels. [source] Prokaryotic Protein Glycosylation Is Rapidly Expanding from "Curiosity" to "Ubiquity"CHEMBIOCHEM, Issue 13 2009Paul Messner Prof. Dr. A generalO -glycosylation system: The highlighted publication, which was recently published by Laurie E. Comstock's group, describes a general protein O-glycosylation system of the human intestinal symbiont Bacteroides fragilis. This broadening of knowledge about protein glycosylation systems is discussed in the context of prokaryotic protein glycosylation in general. [source] Failing to ponder? delusion-prone individuals rush to conclusionsCLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOTHERAPY (AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THEORY & PRACTICE), Issue 2 2009Lars O. White Jumping to conclusions (JTC) has been proposed as an aetiological factor involved in the formation of delusions from the earliest stages. A number of researchers have thus shifted their focus to include the study of subclinical populations. Expanding on these studies, 17 delusion-prone and 22 control students completed four versions of the beads-in-a-jar paradigm (including multiple jar variants) to test recent claims regarding JTC's specificity to less ambiguous paradigms with a limited number of jars. Additional measures were administered to tease out a potential mechanism underlying JTC. The delusion-prone group showed a higher JTC bias which proved relatively robust across variants. Task performance was related to degree of self-reported rushing. It is concluded that delusion-prone individuals exhibit JTC, even when confronted with more ambiguous scenarios, potentially as a consequence of feeling rushed.,Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Discussion on ,Personality psychology as a truly behavioural science' by R. Michael FurrEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 5 2009Article first published online: 14 JUL 200 Yes We Can! A Plea for Direct Behavioural Observation in Personality Research MITJA D. BACK and BORIS EGLOFF Department of Psychology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany mback@uni-leipzig.de Furr's target paper (this issue) is thought to enhance the standing of personality psychology as a truly behavioural science. We wholeheartedly agree with this goal. In our comment we argue for more specific and ambitious requirements for behavioural personality research. Specifically, we show why behaviour should be observed directly. Moreover, we illustratively describe potentially interesting approaches in behavioural personality research: lens model analyses, the observation of multiple behaviours in diverse experimentally created situations and the observation of behaviour in real life. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. The Categories of Behaviour Should be Clearly Defined PETER BORKENAU Department of Psychology, Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany p.borkenau@psych.uni-halle.de The target paper is helpful by clarifying the terminology as well as the strengths and weaknesses of several approaches to collect behavioural data. Insufficiently considered, however, is the clarity of the categories being used for the coding of behaviour. Evidence is reported showing that interjudge agreement for retrospective and even concurrent codings of behaviour does not execeed interjudge agreement for personality traits if the categories being used for the coding of behaviour are not clearly defined. By contrast, if the behaviour to be registered is unambiguously defined, interjudge agreement may be almost perfect. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Behaviour Functions in Personality Psychology PHILIP J. CORR Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK Philip.Corr@btopenworld.com Furr's target paper highlights the importance, yet under-representation, of behaviour in published articles in personality psychology. Whilst agreeing with most of his points, I remain unclear as to how behaviour (as specifically defined by Furr) relates to other forms of psychological data (e.g. cognitive task performance). In addition, it is not clear how the functions of behaviour are to be decided: different behaviours may serve the same function; and identical behaviours may serve different functions. To clarify these points, methodological and theoretical aspects of Furr's proposal would benefit from delineation. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. On the Difference Between Experience-Sampling Self-Reports and Other Self-Reports WILLIAM FLEESON Department of Psychology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA fleesonW@wfu.edu Furr's fair but evaluative consideration of the strengths and weaknesses of behavioural assessment methods is a great service to the field. As part of his consideration, Furr makes a subtle and sophisticated distinction between different self-report methods. It is easy to dismiss all self-reports as poor measures, because some are poor. In contrast, Furr points out that the immediacy of the self-reports of behaviour in experience-sampling make experience-sampling one of the three strongest methods for assessing behaviour. This comment supports his conclusion, by arguing that ESM greatly diminishes one the three major problems afflicting self-reports,lack of knowledge,and because direct observations also suffer from the other two major problems afflicting self-reports. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. What and Where is ,Behaviour' in Personality Psychology? LAURA A. KING and JASON TRENT Department of Psychology, University of Missouri, Columbia, USA kingla@missouri.edu Furr is to be lauded for presenting a coherent and persuasive case for the lack of behavioural data in personality psychology. While agreeing wholeheartedly that personality psychology could benefit from greater inclusion of behavioural variables, here we question two aspects of Furr's analysis, first his definition of behaviour and second, his evidence that behaviour is under-appreciated in personality psychology. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Naturalistic Observation of Daily Behaviour in Personality Psychology MATTHIAS R. MEHL Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA mehl@email.arizona.edu This comment highlights naturalistic observation as a specific method within Furr's (this issue) cluster direct behavioural observation and discusses the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR) as a naturalistic observation sampling method that can be used in relatively large, nomothetic studies. Naturalistic observation with a method such as the EAR can inform researchers' understanding of personality in its relationship to daily behaviour in two important ways. It can help calibrate personality effects against act-frequencies of real-world behaviour and provide ecological, behavioural personality criteria that are independent of self-report. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Measuring Behaviour D. S. MOSKOWITZ and JENNIFER J. RUSSELL Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada dsm@psych.mcgill.ca Furr (this issue) provides an illuminating comparison of the strengths and weaknesses of various methods for assessing behaviour. In the selection of a method for assessing behaviour, there should be a careful analysis of the definition of the behaviour and the purpose of assessment. This commentary clarifies and expands upon some points concerning the suitability of experience sampling measures, referred to as Intensive Repeated Measurements in Naturalistic Settings (IRM-NS). IRM-NS measures are particularly useful for constructing measures of differing levels of specificity or generality, for providing individual difference measures which can be associated with multiple layers of contextual variables, and for providing measures capable of reflecting variability and distributional features of behaviour. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Behaviours, Non-Behaviours and Self-Reports SAMPO V. PAUNONEN Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada paunonen@uwo.ca Furr's (this issue) thoughtful analysis of the contemporary body of research in personality psychology has led him to two conclusions: our science does not do enough to study real, observable behaviours; and, when it does, too often it relies on ,weak' methods based on retrospective self-reports of behaviour. In reply, I note that many researchers are interested in going beyond the study of individual behaviours to the behaviour trends embodied in personality traits; and the self-report of behaviour, using well-validated personality questionnaires, is often the best measurement option. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. An Ethological Perspective on How to Define and Study Behaviour LARS PENKE Department of Psychology, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK lars.penke@ed.ac.uk While Furr (this issue) makes many important contributions to the study of behaviour, his definition of behaviour is somewhat questionable and also lacks a broader theoretical frame. I provide some historical and theoretical background on the study of behaviour in psychology and biology, from which I conclude that a general definition of behaviour might be out of reach. However, psychological research can gain from adding a functional perspective on behaviour in the tradition of Tinbergens's four questions, which takes long-term outcomes and fitness consequences of behaviours into account. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. What is a Behaviour? MARCO PERUGINI Faculty of Psychology, University of Milan,Bicocca, Milan, Italy marco.perugini@unimib.it The target paper proposes an interesting framework to classify behaviour as well as a convincing plea to use it more often in personality research. However, besides some potential issues in the definition of what is a behaviour, the application of the proposed definition to specific cases is at times inconsistent. I argue that this is because Furr attempts to provide a theory-free definition yet he implicitly uses theoretical considerations when applying the definition to specific cases. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Is Personality Really the Study of Behaviour? MICHAEL D. ROBINSON Department of Psychology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, USA Michael.D.Robinson@ndsu.edu Furr (this issue) contends that behavioural studies of personality are particularly important, have been under-appreciated, and should be privileged in the future. The present commentary instead suggests that personality psychology has more value as an integrative science rather than one that narrowly pursues a behavioural agenda. Cognition, emotion, motivation, the self-concept and the structure of personality are important topics regardless of their possible links to behaviour. Indeed, the ultimate goal of personality psychology is to understanding individual difference functioning broadly considered rather than behaviour narrowly considered. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Linking Personality and Behaviour Based on Theory MANFRED SCHMITT Department of Psychology, University of Koblenz-Landau, Landau, Germany schmittm@uni-landau.de My comments on Furr's (this issue) target paper ,Personality as a Truly Behavioural Science' are meant to complement his behavioural taxonomy and sharpen some of the presumptions and conclusions of his analysis. First, I argue that the relevance of behaviour for our field depends on how we define personality. Second, I propose that every taxonomy of behaviour should be grounded in theory. The quality of behavioural data does not only depend on the validity of the measures we use. It also depends on how well behavioural data reflect theoretical assumptions on the causal factors and mechanisms that shape behaviour. Third, I suggest that the quality of personality theories, personality research and behavioural data will profit from ideas about the psychological processes and mechanisms that link personality and behaviour. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. The Apparent Objectivity of Behaviour is Illusory RYNE A. SHERMAN, CHRISTOPHER S. NAVE and DAVID C. FUNDER Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA funder@ucr.edu It is often presumed that objective measures of behaviour (e.g. counts of the number of smiles) are more scientific than more subjective measures of behaviour (e.g. ratings of the degree to which a person behaved in a cheerful manner). We contend that the apparent objectivity of any behavioural measure is illusory. First, the reliability of more subjective measures of behaviour is often strikingly similar to the reliabilities of so-called objective measures. Further, a growing body of literature suggests that subjective measures of behaviour provide more valid measures of psychological constructs of interest. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Personality and Behaviour: A Neglected Opportunity? LIAD UZIEL and ROY F. BAUMEISTER Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA Baumeister@psy.fsu.edu Personality psychology has neglected the study of behaviour. Furr's efforts to provide a stricter definition of behaviour will not solve the problem, although they may be helpful in other ways. His articulation of various research strategies for studying behaviour will be more helpful for enabling personality psychology to contribute important insights and principles about behaviour. The neglect of behaviour may have roots in how personality psychologists define the mission of their field, but expanding that mission to encompass behaviour would be a positive step. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Effect of ionic strength and clay mineralogy on Na,Ca exchange and the SAR,ESP relationshipEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOIL SCIENCE, Issue 5 2006P. M. Kopittke Summary The relationship between sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) and exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) for all soils has traditionally been assumed to be similar to that developed by the United States Salinity Laboratory (USSL) in 1954. However, under certain conditions, this relationship has been shown not to be constant, but to vary with both ionic strength and clay mineralogy. We conducted a detailed experiment to determine the effect of ionic strength on the Na+,Ca2+ exchange of four clay minerals (kaolinite, illite, pyrophyllite, and montmorillonite), with results related to the diffuse double-layer (DDL) model. Clays in which external exchange sites dominated (kaolinite and pyrophyllite) tended to show an overall preference for Na+, with the magnitude of this preference increasing with decreasing ESP. For these external surfaces, increases in ionic strength were found to increase preference for Na+. Although illite (2:1 non-expanding mineral) was expected to be dominated by external surfaces, this clay displayed an overall preference for Ca2+, possibly indicating the opening of quasicrystals and the formation of internal exchange surfaces. For the expanding 2:1 clay, montmorillonite, Na+,Ca2+ exchange varied due to the formation of quasicrystals (and internal exchange surfaces) from individual clay platelets. At small ionic strength and large ESP, the clay platelets dispersed and were dominated by external exchange surfaces (displaying preference for Na+). However, as ionic strength increased and ESP decreased, quasicrystals (and internal exchange surfaces) formed, and preference for Ca2+ increased. Therefore, the relationship between SAR and ESP is not constant and should be determined directly for the soil of interest. [source] PERSPECTIVE: Underutilized resources for studying the evolution of invasive species during their introduction, establishment, and lag phasesEVOLUTIONARY APPLICATIONS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 2 2010Travis D. Marsico Abstract The early phases of biological invasions are poorly understood. In particular, during the introduction, establishment, and possible lag phases, it is unclear to what extent evolution must take place for an introduced species to transition from established to expanding. In this study, we highlight three disparate data sources that can provide insights into evolutionary processes associated with invasion success: biological control organisms, horticultural introductions, and natural history collections. All three data sources potentially provide introduction dates, information about source populations, and genetic and morphological samples at different time points along the invasion trajectory that can be used to investigate preadaptation and evolution during the invasion process, including immediately after introduction and before invasive expansion. For all three data sources, we explore where the data are held, their quality, and their accessibility. We argue that these sources could find widespread use with a few additional pieces of data, such as voucher specimens collected at certain critical time points during biocontrol agent quarantine, rearing, and release and also for horticultural imports, neither of which are currently done consistently. In addition, public access to collected information must become available on centralized databases to increase its utility in ecological and evolutionary research. [source] Increased growth and recruitment of piscivorous perch, Perca fluviatilis, during a transient phase of expanding submerged vegetation in a shallow lakeFRESHWATER BIOLOGY, Issue 12 2005ANDERS HARGEBY Summary 1. In this study, we examine how a 7-year period of expanding submerged stonewort (Chara spp.) vegetation during a shift from turbid to clear water in a shallow lake influenced individual growth and population size structure of perch (Perca fluviatilis). We expected that a shift from phytoplankton to macrophyte dominance and clear water would improve feeding conditions for perch during a critical benthivorous ontogenetic stage, and enhance the recruitment of piscivorous perch. 2. Growth analysis based on opercula showed that growth during the second year of life was significantly higher in years with abundant vegetation than in years with turbid water and sparse vegetation. Growth was not affected during the first, third and fourth year of life. Stable isotope analyses on opercula from 2-year-old perch showed that the increase in growth coincided with a change in carbon source in the diet. Stable nitrogen ratio did not change, indicating that the increased growth was not an effect of any change in trophic position. 3. Following the expansion of submerged vegetation, perch size range and abundance of piscivorous perch increased in central, unvegetated areas of the lake. In stands of stoneworts, however, mainly benthivorous perch were caught, and size range did not change with time. 4. Our findings provide empirical support for the notion that establishment of submerged vegetation may lead to increased recruitment of piscivorous perch, because of improved competitive conditions for perch during the benthivorous stage. This is likely to constitute a benthic-pelagic feedback coupling, in which submerged vegetation and clear water promote the recruitment of piscivorous perch, which, in turn, may increase water clarity through top-down effects in the pelagic. [source] The burden of influenza in East and South-East Asia: a review of the English language literatureINFLUENZA AND OTHER RESPIRATORY VIRUSES, Issue 3 2008James M. Simmerman Abstract, While human infections with avian influenza A (H5NI) viruses in Asia have prompted concerns about an influenza pandemic, the burden of human influenza in East and Southeast Asia has received far less attention. We conducted a review of English language articles on influenza in 18 countries in East and Southeast Asia published from 1980 to 2006 that were indexed on PubMed. Articles that described human influenza-associated illnesses among outpatients or hospitalized patients, influenza-associated deaths, or influenza-associated socioeconomic costs were reviewed. We found 35 articles from 9 countries that met criteria for inclusion in the review. The quality of articles varied substantially. Significant heterogeneity was noted in case definitions, sampling schemes and laboratory methods. Early studies relied on cell culture, had difficulties with specimen collection and handling, and reported a low burden of disease. The recent addition of PCR testing has greatly improved the proportion of respiratory illnesses diagnosed with influenza. These more recent studies reported that 11,26% of outpatient febrile illness and 6-14% of hospitalized pneumonia cases had laboratory-confirmed influenza infection. The influenza disease burden literature from East and Southeast Asia is limited but expanding. Recent studies using improved laboratory testing methods and indirect statistical approaches report a substantial burden of disease, similar to that of Europe and North America. Current increased international focus on influenza, coupled with unprecedented funding for surveillance and research, provide a unique opportunity to more comprehensively describe the burden of human influenza in the region. [source] An ,, algorithm for the windsurfer approach to adaptive robust controlINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADAPTIVE CONTROL AND SIGNAL PROCESSING, Issue 8 2004Arvin Dehghani Abstract The windsurfing approach to iterative control requires a series of controller designs with the gradual expanding of the closed-loop bandwidth, and in the end in order to stop the algorithm, some validation tests are carried out. In this paper, an ,, design algorithm is introduced in order to remove the empirical aspect from the stopping criteria and to make the procedure more systematic, hence facilitating the design. Moreover, some restrictive assumptions on the plant model are lifted and some issues with the controller design step are tackled by the introduction of a new design method. This enables us to address a wider class of practical problems. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Public thinking about poverty: why it matters and how to measure itINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NONPROFIT & VOLUNTARY SECTOR MARKETING, Issue 1 2007Floyd H. Bolitho Meeting the Millennium Development Goals partly depends on not-profit organizations raising more funds, which in turn depends on having reliable and valid assessments of where donor and recipient perceptions are out-of-line. Across samples from a developed economy Australia (n,=,754), and a developing economy Mala,i (n,=,387), we explored the factor structure of the ,Causes of Third-World Poverty Questionnaire' (CTWPQ, D. Harper and colleagues, 1990). In addition to four core factors suggested through an original (N,=,89) sample from the UK (Blame [1] the Poor, [2] Nature, [3] Third World governments, and [4] International Exploitation), combined Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA) differentiate a possible fifth factor germane to the social marketing of aid, blame [5] Conflict. Australians and Mala,ians differed significantly on all five factors, with Mala,ians blaming poverty more on situations and less on the poor themselves, compared to Australian counterparts. Our findings are tentative because the CTWPQ item pool requires expanding to represent underlying constructs more fully. Nonetheless, instruments like the CTWPQ can in future be used to identify and monitor in-context psychosocial barriers to donation, enabling not-profit marketing organizations to raise funds more efficiently and effectively. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Evaluating residents' attitudes and intentions to act towards tourism development in regional Victoria, AustraliaINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM RESEARCH, Issue 5 2006Mervyn S. Jackson Abstract With the tourism industry expanding post-2001, research on the impacts of tourism development continues to be important. Previous research has focused both on the types of impacts on the residents and the segmentation of the host community. Most of these studies have used attitudes as the clustering base. Although the resultant cluster groups have been able to discriminate community groups who either support or oppose future tourism development, these groups are difficult to identify in the community and the influence these attitudes have on the behaviour of residents remains unknown. This research investigated the link between positive and negative attitudes and the residents' intentions to act either to support or protest future tourism development. The results found no significant relationship between negative intentions to act (protest) and demographics, attitudes or the various community cluster groups. However, positive intentions to act (support future development) were related to gender, age, education, life cycle, length of residence and tourism business connection. Further, positive intentions to become more involved in tourism development within the community were related to both positive and negative attitudes. Finally, this research found that residents who traditionally involved themselves in proactive community groups had the strongest intention to ensure future tourism development benefited the community. Implications for the tourism industry, local government and the management of future tourism development were explored. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Application of small-angle scattering to study the effects of moisture content on a native soy proteinJOURNAL OF APPLIED CRYSTALLOGRAPHY, Issue 3 2008Catherine S. Kealley The nano- and microstructure of glycinin, a soybean protein, has been investigated as a function of moisture for moisture contents between 4 and 21,wt%. Glycinin exhibits peaks in the small-angle region whose positions show minimal change with X-rays for samples up to 13% moisture. However, the use of neutron scattering, and the associated enhancement in contrast, results in the Bragg peaks being well resolved up to higher moisture contents; the associated shift in peak positions between 4 and 21% moisture are consistent with the expansion of a hexagonal unit cell as a function of moisture content. A Porod slope of ,,4 indicates that the interface between the `dry' protein powder and the surrounding medium at a length-scale of at least 3,µm down to ,20,nm is smooth and sharp. Scanning electron microscopy indicates that the powders, with low moisture content, have a porous appearance, with the porosity decreasing and microstructure expanding as the moisture content increases. [source] Aortic Dissection and Third-Degree Atrioventricular Block in a Patient With a Hypertensive CrisisJOURNAL OF CLINICAL HYPERTENSION, Issue 1 2008Nikolaos Lionakis MD A 55-year-old man with a history of uncontrolled hypertension was admitted because of an episode of severely elevated blood pressure. An electrocardiogram revealed complete atrioventricular block while imaging showed a dissecting aneurysm of the descending thoracic and abdominal aorta, type B according to the Stanford classification. Laboratory tests revealed significant increases in serum C-reactive protein. Coronary arteriography was performed and was negative for coronary artery disease. A VDD pacemaker was placed, and a combination of 4 antihypertensive agents was used as treatment. Type B aortic dissection may present with a wide range of manifestations. The authors suggest that measurement of C-reactive protein may be used in hypertensive patients to help reflect vascular injury and its degree, progression, and prognosis. Disorders of intraventricular conductivity are rarely seen in both types of dissection of the aorta (type A, B). Atrioventricular conductivity disorders that result in complete atrioventricular block have been reported only in patients with type A dissection (before the bifurcation of the subclavian artery). In this particular case, however, the authors diagnosed an atrioventricular conductivity disorder causing atrioventricular block in a patient with type B dissection. Consequently, the authors speculate that myocardial fibrosis, as a result of long-standing hypertension, could be the main pathogenetic mechanism leading to the development of such phenomena, resulting from a potential expanding of the fibrotic process to the atrioventricular conduction system. [source] Smallholders, institutional services, and commercial transformation in EthiopiaAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 2009Berhanu Gebremedhin Smallholders; Institutions; Commercial transformation Abstract This article examines the role of institutional services of credit, input supply, and extension in the overall commercial transformation process of smallholder agriculture in Ethiopia. Survey data collected in 2006 from 309 sample households in three districts of Ethiopia are used for the analyses. Tobit regression models are used to measure the effect of access to services on the intensity of inputs use for fertilizer and agrochemicals. A probit model is used to measure these effects on the adoption of improved seeds. Intensity of use of seeds is analyzed using an ordinary least squares model. Logarithmic Cobb,Douglass functions are estimated to analyze the effect of access to services on crop productivity. Heckman's two-stage estimation is used to examine determinants of household market participation and the extents of participation. Results show that access to institutional support services plays a significant role in enhancing smallholder productivity and market orientation. Our results imply that expanding and strengthening the institutional services is critical for the intensification and market orientation of smallholder agriculture in Ethiopia. In particular, appropriate incentives and regulatory systems are urgently needed to encourage the involvement of the private sector in the provision of agricultural services. [source] Capital Allocation for Insurance Companies,What Good IS IT?JOURNAL OF RISK AND INSURANCE, Issue 2 2007Helmut Gründl In their 2001 Journal of Risk and Insurance article, Stewart C. Myers and James A. Read Jr. propose to use a specific capital allocation method for pricing insurance contracts. We show that in their model framework no capital allocation to lines of business is needed for pricing insurance contracts. In the case of having to cover frictional costs, the suggested allocation method may even lead to inappropriate insurance prices. Beside the purpose of pricing insurance contracts, capital allocation methods proposed in the literature and used in insurance practice are typically intended to help derive capital budgeting decisions in insurance companies, such as expanding or contracting lines of business. We also show that net present value analyses provide better capital budgeting decisions than capital allocation in general. [source] Effects of population succession on demographic and genetic processes: predictions and tests in the daylily Hemerocallis thunbergii (Liliaceae)MOLECULAR ECOLOGY, Issue 13 2007MI YOON CHUNG Abstract Spatial genetic structure within plant populations is influenced by variation in demographic processes through space and time, including a population's successional status. To determine how demographic structure and fine-scale genetic structure (FSGS) change with stages in a population's successional history, we studied Hemerocallis thunbergii (Liliaceae), a nocturnal flowering and hawkmoth-pollinated herbaceous perennial with rapid population turnover dynamics. We examined nine populations assigned to three successive stages of population succession: expansion, maturation, and senescence. We developed stage-specific expectations for within-population demographic and genetic structure, and then for each population quantified the spatial aggregation of individuals and genotypes using spatial autocorrelation methods (nonaccumulative O-ring and kinship statistics, respectively), and at the landscape level measured inbreeding and genetic structure using Wright's F -statistics. Analyses using the O-ring statistic revealed significant aggregation of individuals at short spatial scales in expanding and senescing populations, in particular, which may reflect restricted seed dispersal around maternal individuals combined with relatively low local population densities at these stages. Significant FSGS was found for three of four expanding, no mature, and only one senescing population, a pattern generally consistent with expectations of successional processes. Although allozyme genetic diversity was high within populations (mean %P = 78.9 and HE = 0.281), landscape-level differentiation among sites was also high (FST = 0.166) and all populations exhibited a significant deficit of heterozygotes relative to Hardy,Weinberg expectations (range F = 0.201,0.424, mean FIS = 0.321). Within populations, F was not correlated with the degree of FSGS, thus suggesting inbreeding due primarily to selfing as opposed to mating among close relatives in spatially structured populations. Our results demonstrate considerable variation in the spatial distribution of individuals and patterns and magnitude of FSGS in H. thunbergii populations across the landscape. This variation is generally consistent with succession-stage-specific differences in ecological processes operating within these populations. [source] Tolerant exclusion: expanding constricted narratives of wartime ethnic and civic nationalism1NATIONS AND NATIONALISM, Issue 2 2009REINA C. NEUFELDT ABSTRACT. During war, the demarcation ,enemy alien', whether on ethnic or civic grounds , can lead to loss of political, social or economic rights. Yet not all minorities are excluded even though they pose problems for civic and ethnic national categories of belonging. This article explores the experiences of an ethno-religious minority who posed an intriguing dilemma for ethnic and civic categorisation in North America during World War II. The Mennonite experience enables a close examination of the relationship between a minority ethnic (and religious) group and majority concepts of wartime civic and ethnic nationalism. The article supports arguments that both ethnic and civic nationalism produce markers for the exclusion of minority groups during wartime. It reveals that minority groups can unintentionally become part of majority ,nationalisms' as the content of what defines the national ideal shifts over time. The experiences also suggest that a minority group can help mobilise symbolic resources that participate in transforming what defines the national ideal. [source] Indigeneity across borders: Hemispheric migrations and cosmopolitan encountersAMERICAN ETHNOLOGIST, Issue 1 2010ROBIN MARIA DELUGAN ABSTRACT The increasing migration of indigenous people from Latin America to the United States signals a new horizon for the study of indigeneity,complexly understood as subjectivities, knowledge, and practices of the earliest human inhabitants of a particular place and including legal and racial identities that refer to these people. Focusing on indigenous migration to San Francisco, California, I explore how government, service providers, and community organizations respond to the arrival of new ethnic groups while also contributing to an expanding Urban Indian collective identity. In addition to reviewing such governmental practices as the creation of new census categories and related responses to indigenous ethnic diversity, I illustrate how some members of a diverse Urban Indian population unite through participation in rituals such as the Maya Waqxaqi' B'atz' (Day of Human Perfection), transplanted to San Francisco from Guatemala. The rituals recall homelands near and far in a broader social imagination about being and belonging in the world. The social imagination, borne in part through migration and diaspora, acknowledges the local and the particular in a framework of shared values about what it means to be human. I analyze this meaning making as cosmopolitanism in practice. By merging indigeneity and cosmopolitanism, I join other scholars who strive to decenter classical notions of cosmopolitan "worldliness," drawing attention to alternative sources of beneficent sociality and for cultivating humanity. [source] Developmental and spatial covariation of nutrients in growing leaves of Daphne laureola and their relationships with herbivoryNEW PHYTOLOGIST, Issue 3 2003Conchita Alonso Summary , , Here, we studied patterns of covariation of 10 leaf nutrients in expanding and mature leaves of the evergreen shrub Daphne laureola (Thymelaeaceae) in southern Spain. Changes in mean values and covariances of nutrients during leaf development may be relevant for plant fitness through herbivory if variation in leaf nutrients influences plant defoliation. , , We analysed the between-population and developmental covariation of leaf nutrients by using common principal components (CPC) analysis. We also studied the relationships between leaf nutrient covariates and natural levels of plant defoliation. , , Plants at our two study sites shared a CPC structure of covariation between concentrations of the leaf nutrients. Trends of nutrient covariation across individual plants were largely determined by between-plant variations in Ca concentration (CPC1), and by an ,overall nutrient status' gradient (CPC2) that was positively associated with major macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium), in both expanding and mature leaves. , , Plant defoliation was positively related to scores on CPC2 for both expanding and mature leaves, indicating greater consumption on plants with balanced, high concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and calcium. [source] Life of the mind: The interface of psychopharmaceuticals, domestic economies, and social abandonmentAMERICAN ETHNOLOGIST, Issue 4 2004João Biehl ABSTRACT In this article, I address the embroilment of medical science in the lifeworlds of the urban poor in Brazil, particularly the place of psychopharmaceuticals within households. I explore how psychiatric diagnostics and treatments are integrated into a domestic "dramaturgy of the real" and how family members use them to assess human value and to mediate the disposal of persons considered unproductive or unsound. I focus on the life of Catarina, who was deemed mad and left by her family in an asylum in southern Brazil. Disabled and abandoned, Catarina began to compile a "dictionary" of words that have meaning for her. By tracing Catarina's words back to the people, households, and medical institutions that she had once been a part of, I illuminate the complex network in which her abandonment and pathology took form as well as the edges of human imagination that she keeps expanding. From this examination, one comes to understand how economic globalization, state and medical reform, and acceleration of claims over human rights and citizenship coincide with and impinge on a local production of social death. One also sees how mental disorders gain form at the juncture between the subject, her biology, and the technical and political coding of her sense of being alive. Hers is not just bare life, though: Thinking through her condition, Catarina anticipates social ties and one more chance. This is also a story of the methodological and ethical challenges I faced as I supported Catarina's search for consistency and her demands for continuity. [source] Highly localized ion focusing effects in PBIIDPHYSICA STATUS SOLIDI (C) - CURRENT TOPICS IN SOLID STATE PHYSICS, Issue 4 2008Frank Haberkorn Abstract Plasma Based Ion Implantation and Deposition (PBIID) is characterized by a complex interaction of a supersonic plasma flux, a plasma sheath expanding and receding on a timescale of microseconds and a substrate which can be of an arbitrary complex shape. It is shown that ions impinging on the substrate in the wake region consist of two groups with strongly differing incidence angles. At the same time, localized ion focusing is observed only for very long pulses of 50 µs and intermediate voltages of 2.5 , 3.5 kV, independent of the cathode material , Ti or Al , and the Ar background pressure. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source] Somatic Embryogenesis in Leguminous PlantsPLANT BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2000P. Lakshmanan Abstract: This review examines recent advances in the induction and development of somatic embryos in leguminous plants. Emphasis has been given to identify the current trends and successful strategies for the establishment of somatic embryogenic systems, particularly in the economically important species. It appears that, in legumes, somatic embryogenesis can be realized relatively easily especially in young meristematic tissues such as immature embryos and developing leaves. In the majority of the species examined, chlorophenoxyacetic acids remained the most active inductive compounds; however, the new generation growth regulators such as thidiazuron are emerging as successful alternatives for high-frequency direct regeneration of somatic embryos, even from well differentiated explant tissues. Low-frequency embryo production, poor germination and conversion of somatic embryos into plantlets and somaclonal variation are the major impediments limiting the utility of somatic embryogenesis for biotechnological applications in legumes. These limitations, however, may be considerably reduced in the near future, as more newly developed growth regulators with specific morphogenic targets become available for experimentation. From the published data, it is apparent that more effort should be given to develop repetitive embryogenic systems with high frequency of germination and regeneration, since such systems will find immediate application in mass propagation and other crop improvement programmes. As our understanding of various morphogenic processes, including growth and differentiation of zygotic embryos, is fast expanding, it is conceivable that development of highly efficient somatic embryogenic systems with practical application can be anticipated, at least for the important leguminous crops, in the foreseeable future. [source] Synthesis and characterization of poly(styrene-maleic anhydride)-montmorillonite nanocompositePOLYMERS FOR ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES, Issue 5 2002N. Salahuddin Abstract Poly(styrene-maleic anhydride)-montmorillonite nanocomposites were prepared by intercalation of layered montmorillonite with the polymer ions. Synthetic approaches including polymerization and phosphonium salt formation have been used for polymer intercalation and dispersion of the host layers in the polymer matrix. The ratio of the mineral in the composites ranged 30,50%. Wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) disclosed that the d(001) spacing between the internal lamellar surface were only expanding to about 13 and 15,Å according to the type of phosphonium salt suggesting packing of polymer molecules between the layers. Examination of these materials by scanning and transmission electron microscopy showed spherical nano size particles of average diameter, 350,nm. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||