Plausible Indicators Research Articles

Size-dependent hydrogen uptake behavior of Pd nanoparticles revealed by photonic crystal surface waves

We present an optical method of study of nanoparticle properties using photonic crystal surface waves. Palladium nanoparticles were deposited on a surface of a one-dimensional photonic crystal, which supports the propagation of p-polarized optical surface waves. The changes in the nanoparticle properties, such as its dimension and refractive index, were monitored through angle interrogation of the photonic crystal surface waves. The interaction of palladium nanoparticles with hydrogen was detected with this method. The size-different hydrogen uptake behavior by 2 and 6 nm diameter Pd nanoparticles results in qualitatively different response of the optical signal, viz., in the different signs of such a response. This not only confirms the absence of the α- to β-phase transformation for the smallest palladium nanoparticles, but is a plausible indication that hydrogen donates its electrons to a collective electron band of the metal.

Viscosity Dependence of Intra- and Intermolecular Diels–Alder Reactions

The kinetics of the bimolecular Diels-Alder reaction between anthracene-9-carbinol and N-ethyl maleimide have been studied in a series of pyridinium-based ionic liquids with the tetrafluoroborate ([BF(4)](-)) and the bis(trifluorosulfonimide) ([NTf(2)](-)) anions and the viscosity dependence of the rate constants have been compared with the results for the intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction of (E)-1-phenyl-4-[2-(3-methyl-2-butenyloxy)benzylidene]-5-pyrazolone. The comparison leads to the surprising observation that the intermolecular reaction is less susceptible to viscosity variations of the ionic liquids as compared to the intramolecular reaction. The observed similarities and differences emphasize the complicated nature of solvent friction on the kinetics of cycloaddition reactions. The results are explained by considering the bimolecular and intramolecular processes as cases of translational and rotational diffusion, respectively. Plausible indicators of microviscosity consistent with the kinetic data for the Diels-Alder reactions are briefly discussed along with the constraints involved in designing a general microviscosity scale.

What Defines Quality of Life? The Gap Between Public Policies and Locally Defined Indicators Among Residents of Kodagu, Karnataka (India)

Improving quality of life (QoL) is one of the main goals of many public policies. A useful tool to measure QoL needs to get a good balance between indicators guided by theories (top-down approach) and indicators defined by local people (bottom-up approach). However, QoL measurement tools often neglect to include elements that define the standard of living at local level. In this paper, we analyse the correspondence between human development index, as an indicator adopted by governments to assess QoL, and the elements defined by local people as important in their QoL, called here local means. Using a free-listing technique, we collected information from 114 individuals from Kodagu, Kartanataka (India), to capture local means defining QoL. We then compared local means with the indicators used by Human development report (HDR) of Karnataka, the main measurement tool of QoL in Kodagu. The list of local means included access to basic facilities and many issues related to agriculture and natural resources management as elements locally defining QoL. We also found that HDR does not capture the means defined by people as indicators of QoL. Our findings suggest an important gap between current QoL’s indicators considered by public policies and the means of QoL defined by people. Our study provides insights for a set of plausible local indicators useful to achieve a balance between top-down and bottom-up approaches for the local public policies.

Foot placement variability as a walking balance mechanism post-spinal cord injury

BackgroundSpinal cord injury affects walking balance control, which necessitates methods to quantify balance ability. The purposes of this study were to 1) examine walking balance through foot placement variability post-injury; 2) assess the relationship between measures of variability and clinical balance assessments; and 3) determine if spatial parameter variability might be used as a clinical correlate for more complex balance measurements. MethodsTen persons with spinal cord injury walked without devices on a split-belt treadmill at self-selected speeds. Ten healthy controls walked at 0.3 and 0.6m/s for comparison. Variability of step width and length, anteroposterior and mediolateral foot placements relative to center-of-mass, and margin-of-stability were calculated. Clinical assessments included Berg Balance Scale and Dynamic Gait Index. FindingsParticipants with spinal cord injury demonstrated significantly different variability in all biomechanical measures compared to controls (P≤0.007). Berg Balance Scale scores were significantly inversely associated with step length as well as anteroposterior and mediolateral foot placement variability (P≤0.05). Dynamic Gait Index scores were significantly inversely associated with mediolateral foot placement variability (P≤0.05). Participants with spinal cord injury showed significant correlations between spatial parameter variability and all other measures (P≤0.005), except between step length and margin-of-stability (P=0.068); controls revealed fewer correlations. InterpretationPersons post-spinal cord injury exhibit an abnormal amount of stepping variability when challenged to walk without devices, yet preserve the ability to avoid falling. When complex laboratory measures of variability are unavailable clinically, spatial parameter variability or standardized balance assessments may be plausible indicators of walking balance control.

Lifting All Boats? Finance Litigation, Education Resources, and Student Needs in the Post-RoseEra

Rose v. Council for Better Education (1989) is often considered a transition point in education finance litigation, heralding an era of increasing concern for measurable adequacy of education across a broad spectrum of student needs. Prior research suggests that post-Rose lawsuits had less effect on the distribution of school spending than older litigation. This article suggests that this focus on the raw resource distribution masks the important effect of contemporary lawsuits in redistributing money to districts with greater student needs. My findings suggest that a successful lawsuit does raise revenues to a variety of districts but provides more money to those districts with higher plausible indications of student needs.

Choosing a Reference Corpus for Keyword Calculation

Keywords, which are known to provide a useful way to characterize a text, are usually calculated using two word lists, one from the study corpus (SC) and the other from the reference corpus (RC). Although this notion of keywords has attracted great attention and been employed in many corpus-based language studies, the issue of what constitutes a good or appropriate RC has been left largely untouched, although an RC is generally expected to be larger in size than the SC. This paper looks into how different factors associated with the RC affect the outcome of the keyword calculation of a given SC. The results indicate that genre and diachrony are more important factors to consider than other factors when choosing an RC, especially in that the differences in these two factors, unlike those in other factors such as corpus size and varietal difference, bring about a statistically significant difference in the number of the keywords. Despite the possible effects that the size and composition of the RCs can have on keyword calculation and resulting differences in keyword results, however, keyword analysis is very robust and keywords can be plausible indicators of aboutness, regardless of the RC one chooses. Thus, the aboutness of a text should be interpreted with its possible diversity caused by the use of different RCs in mind.

Modeling hot spring chemistries with applications to martian silica formation

Many recent studies have implicated hydrothermal systems as the origin of martian minerals across a wide range of martian sites. Particular support for hydrothermal systems include silica (SiO 2) deposits, in some cases >90% silica, in the Gusev Crater region, especially in the Columbia Hills and at Home Plate. We have developed a model called CHEMCHAU that can be used up to 100 °C to simulate hot springs associated with hydrothermal systems. The model was partially derived from FREZCHEM, which is a colder temperature model parameterized for broad ranges of temperature (<−70 to 25 °C), pressure (1–1000 bars), and chemical composition. We demonstrate the validity of Pitzer parameters, volumetric parameters, and equilibrium constants in the CHEMCHAU model for the Na–K–Mg–Ca–H–Cl–ClO 4–SO 4–OH–HCO 3–CO 3–CO 2–O 2–CH 4–Si–H 2O system up to 100 °C and apply the model to hot springs and silica deposits. A theoretical simulation of silica and calcite equilibrium shows how calcite is least soluble with high pH and high temperatures, while silica behaves oppositely. Such influences imply that differences in temperature and pH on Mars could lead to very distinct mineral assemblages. Using measured solution chemistries of Yellowstone hot springs and Icelandic hot springs, we simulate salts formed during the evaporation of two low pH cases (high and low temperatures) and a high temperature, alkaline (high pH) sodic water. Simulation of an acid-sulfate case leads to precipitation of Fe and Al minerals along with silica. Consistency with martian mineral assemblages suggests that hot, acidic sulfate solutions are plausibility progenitors of minerals in the past on Mars. In the alkaline pH (8.45) simulation, formation of silica at high temperatures (355 K) led to precipitation of anhydrous minerals (CaSO 4, Na 2SO 4) that was also the case for the high temperature (353 K) low pH case where anhydrous minerals (NaCl, CaSO 4) also precipitated. Thus we predict that secondary minerals associated with massive silica deposits are plausible indicators on Mars of precipitation environments and aqueous chemistry. Theoretical model calculations are in reasonable agreement with independent experimental silica concentrations, which strengthens the validity of the new CHEMCHAU model.

UNDERSTANDING AGN-HOST CONNECTION IN PARTIALLY OBSCURED ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI. III. PROPERTIES OFROSAT-SELECTED SDSS ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI

As the third paper of our serial studies that are aim at examining the AGN-host coevolution by using partially obscured AGNs, we extend the broad-line composite galaxies (composite AGNs) into ROSAT-selected Seyfert 1.8/1.9 galaxies basing upon the RASS/SDSS-DR5 catalog given by Anderson et al.. The SDSS spectra of in total 92 objects are analyzed by the same method used in our previous studies, after requiring the signal-to-noise ratio in the SDSS r' band is larger than 20. Combing the ROSAT-selected Seyfert galaxies with the composite AGNs reinforces the tight correlation between the line ratio [OI]/H\alpha vs. D_n(4000), and establishes a new tight correlation between [SII]/H\alpha vs. D_n(4000). Both correlations suggest the two line ratios are plausible age indicators of the circumnuclear stellar population for typical type I AGNs in which the stellar populations are difficult to be derived from their optical spectra. The ROSAT-selected Seyfert galaxies show that the two correlations depend on the soft X-ray spectral slope \alpha_X that is roughly estimated from the hardness ratios by requiring the X-ray count rates within 0.1-2.4 keV are larger than 0.02 counts s^-1. However, we fail to establish a relationship between \alpha_X and D_n(4000), which is likely caused by the relatively large uncertainties of both parameters (especially for \alpha_X because of the AGN intrinsic obscuration). The previously established L/L_Edd-D_n(4000) evolutionary sequence is reinforced again by the extension to the ROSAT-selected Seyfert galaxies. These X-ray-selected Seyfert galaxies are, however, biased against the two ends of the sequence, which implies that the X-ray Seyfert galaxies present a population at middle evolutionary stage.

FROM THE EUROPEANIZATION OF LAWMAKING TO THE EUROPEANIZATION OF NATIONAL LEGAL ORDERS: THE CASE OF AUSTRIA

This article addresses the scope of legal Europeanization with regard to Austria, a 1995 accession country. Depending on the choice among several plausible indicators of legal Europeanization, the relative impact of the EU varies greatly. The share of EU-related legislation peaked in the pre-accession period when most of the acquis communautaire needed to be adopted. In the membership period, legislation that relates to the EU accounts for almost 25 per cent of the enactments. Although government decrees outnumber laws as the means of transposition, EU-related rules constitute a much smaller share of delegated legislation. Collectively, EU-related rules constitute a tenth of Austrian legislation. Yet by mid-2003, 42 per cent of Austria's original laws—the core of its legislation—were related to EU rules. While falling short of some inflated expectations, legal Europeanization is indeed a major feature of Austrian legislation. The article confirms expectations derived from the political controversy of EU affairs, federalism, and legal traditions. When we refer to ‘legal orders' in the article we mean the entire body of legislation in force; we use the term ‘legislation’ to refer to recent additions to the body of legislation.

Evaluating Real-Time Syndromic Surveillance Signals from Ambulatory Care Data in Four States

We evaluated a real-time ambulatory care-based syndromic surveillance system in four metropolitan areas of the United States. Health-care organizations and health departments in California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Texas participated during 2007-2008. Syndromes were defined using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision diagnostic codes in electronic medical records. Health-care organizations transmitted daily counts of new episodes of illness by syndrome, date, and patient zip code. A space-time permutation scan statistic was used to detect unusual clustering. Health departments followed up on e-mailed alerts. Distinct sets of related alerts ("signals") were compared with known outbreaks or clusters found using traditional surveillance. The 62 alerts generated corresponded to 17 distinct signals of a potential outbreak. The signals had a median of eight cases (range: 3-106), seven zip code areas (range: 1-88), and seven days (range: 3-14). Two signals resulted from true clusters of varicella; six were plausible but unconfirmed indications of disease clusters, six were considered spurious, and three were not investigated. The median investigation time per signal by health departments was 50 minutes (range: 0-8 hours). Traditional surveillance picked up 124 clusters of illness in the same period, with a median of six ill per cluster (range: 2-75). None was related to syndromic signals. The system was able to detect two true clusters of illness, but none was of public health interest. Possibly due to limited population coverage, the system did not detect any of 124 known clusters, many of which were small. The number of false alarms was reasonable.

Lipoprotein lipase releases esterified oxylipins from very low-density lipoproteins

We previously demonstrated that defects in lipoprotein metabolism alter the distribution of oxygenated polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in lipoprotein particles. If these oxidation products are released by lipoprotein lipase (LpL), then their delivery to peripheral tissues with bulk lipids could influence cellular function. Using 26-week-old normolipidemic and hyperlipidemic Zucker rats, we measured PUFA alcohols, epoxides, diols, ketones, and triols (i.e. oxylipins) in esterified and non-esterified fractions of whole plasma, VLDL, and LpL-generated VLDL-lipolysates. Whole plasma, VLDL, and lipolysate oxylipin profiles were distinct and altered by hyperlipidemia. While >90% of the whole plasma oxylipins were esterified, the fraction of each oxylipin class in the VLDL varied: 46% of alcohols, 30% of epoxides, 19% of diols, <10% of ketones, and <1% triols. Whole plasma was dominated by arachidonate alcohols, while the linoleate alcohols, epoxides, and ketones showed an increased prevalence in VLDL. LpL-mediated VLDL lipolysis of PUFA alcohols, diols and ketones was detected and the relative abundance of oxygenated linoleates was enhanced in the lipolysates, relative to their corresponding VLDL. In summary esterified oxylipins were seen to be LpL substrates with heterogeneous distributions among lipoprotein classes. Moreover, oxylipin distributions are changes within the context of obesity-associated dyslipidemia. These results support the notion that the VLDL–LpL axis may facilitate the delivery of plasma oxylipins to the periphery. The physiological implications of these findings are yet to be elucidated; however, these molecules are plausible indicators of systemic oxidative stress, and could report this status to the peripheral tissues.

Reintegrative Shaming Theory, moral emotions and bullying

This article investigates the usefulness of Reintegrative Shaming Theory (RST) in explaining the bullying of siblings in families and peers in schools. Questionnaires were completed by 182 children aged 11-12 years in ten primary schools in Nicosia, Cyprus, about sibling and peer bullying. A vignette-based methodology was used to investigate children's expectations of the type of shaming their parents would offer in response to their possible wrong doing. Children were also asked questions about the emotions they would have felt (i.e. shame, remorse, guilt or anger) if they were in the position of the child in the vignette. The level of bonding toward each parent was also examined. In agreement with the theory, a path analysis showed that mother bonding influenced children's expectations of the type of shaming offered by parents. Disintegrative shaming (i.e. shaming offered in a stigmatizing or rejecting way) had a direct effect on the way children managed their shame. Shame management directly influenced sibling and peer bullying. Father bonding had no direct or indirect effects in the model. Against the theory, reintegrative shaming (i.e. shaming offered in the context of approving the wrongdoer while rejecting the wrongdoing) did not have a direct effect on shame management. Beyond the postulates of RST, mother bonding-a plausible indicator of family functioning-had a direct effect on sibling and peer bullying. Mother bonding had a stronger effect for boys than for girls. It is concluded that RST is useful in explaining the link between family factors and bullying, and that RST has cross-cultural applicability.

Two Plausible Indicators to Use with State Accountability Measures: An Analysis of NAEP Math Data

Using National Assessment of Educational Progress mathematics data, a predictive model indicated that states could be classified as “No Score Gain” or “Score Gain” states based on median household income and the percentage of students participating in free and reduced-price lunch. Implications associated with the findings suggested that these two indicators could be used in adjusting or customizing Adequate Yearly Progress targets in schools serving impoverished communities. The result would be that Adequate Yearly Progress targets would be more realistic, and schools and their stakeholders would realize continuous improvement if incremental increases in expected growth were monitored and maintained.

Cricket and Representivity. The Case of Race Quotas in Team Selection

The essay examines the sources of the disquiet frequently expressed in the South African media at the predominantly white nature of the national cricket side. In particular, the authors focus on the argument which claims, first, that national sports teams must be representative, second, that the predominantly white nature of the national cricket side is unrepresentative and therefore unacceptable, and, finally, that the solution to the problem would be the enforcement of a racial quota whereby a certain number of players of colour must take the field each time the team plays. It is argued that although international sport does indeed derive its significance from the representivity of the national sides which take part, the sense of representivity appropriate to this context entails nothing in the way of ethnic profiles, but rather takes national sides which make up the strongest possible combination of all eligible players – players who are eligible on the basis of nationality and not ethnicity – to be properly representative. It is nevertheless concluded that the South African national side is unrepresentative, and therefore unacceptable, on the grounds that its ethnic profile, taken together with certain facts about the racial distribution of opportunities in contemporary South Africa, is a plausible indication that young black players are not presented with the same opportunities to develop their talents to the highest level that their white counterparts are. As a result there seems good ground to think that the larger process from which the South African national cricket side emerges is sufficiently perverted by racism for the side to be considered unrepresentative.

Glioma selectivity of magnetically targeted nanoparticles: A role of abnormal tumor hydrodynamics

Magnetic targeting is a promising strategy for achieving localized drug delivery. Application of this strategy to treat brain tumors, however, is complicated by their deep intracranial location, since magnetic field density cannot be focused at a distance from an externally applied magnet. This study intended to examine whether, with magnetic targeting, pathological alteration in brain tumor flow dynamics could be of value in discriminating the diseased site from healthy brain. To address this question, the capture of magnetic nanoparticles was first assessed in vitro using a simple flow system under theoretically estimated glioma and normal brain flow conditions. Secondly, accumulation of nanoparticles via magnetic targeting was evaluated in vivo using 9L-glioma bearing rats. In vitro results that predicted a 7.6-fold increase in nanoparticle capture at glioma- versus contralateral brain-relevant flow rates were relatively consistent with the 9.6-fold glioma selectivity of nanoparticle accumulation over the contralateral brain observed in vivo. Based on these finding, the in vitro ratio of nanoparticle capture can be viewed as a plausible indicator of in vivo glioma selectivity. Overall, it can be concluded that the decreased blood flow rate in glioma, reflecting tumor vascular abnormalities, is an important contributor to glioma-selective nanoparticle accumulation with magnetic targeting.

Discovering Spatio‐Temporal Models of the Spread of West Nile Virus

Emerging infectious diseases are characterized by complex interactions among disease agents, vectors, wildlife, humans, and the environment. Since the appearance of West Nile virus (WNV) in New York City in 1999, it has infected over 8,000 people in the United States, resulting in several hundred deaths in 46 contiguous states. The virus is transmitted by mosquitoes and maintained in various bird reservoir hosts. Its unexpected introduction, high morbidity, and rapid spread have left public health agencies facing severe time constraints in a theory-poor environment, dependent largely on observational data collected by independent survey efforts and much uncertainty. Current knowledge may be expressed as a priori constraints on models learned from data. Accordingly, we applied a Bayesian probabilistic relational approach to generate spatially and temporally linked models from heterogeneous data sources. Using data collected from multiple independent sources in Maryland, we discovered the integrated context in which infected birds are plausible indicators for positive mosquito pools and human cases for 2001 and 2002.

Factors associated with low quality of life in schizophrenia

Interest in quality of life in mental health care has been stimulated by the deinstitutionalization of psychiatric patients as well as a parallel interest in understanding the scope of their daily lives. This study aims to investigate the socio-demographic and clinical variables related to low quality of life, using a cross-sectional design to evaluate quality of life by means of the QLS-BR scale. We interviewed a sample of 123 outpatients from a reference mental health center in Divinópolis, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, clinically diagnosed with schizophrenia. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were carried out. The results showed that low quality of life is associated with one or more of the following: male gender, single marital status, low income plus low schooling, use of three or more prescribed psychoactive drugs, psychomotor agitation during the interview, and current follow-up care. The study identifies plausible indicators for the attention and care needed to improve psychiatric patient treatment.

The “price puzzle” reconsidered

A large literature has employed structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) models to investigate the empirical effects of U.S. monetary policy. Many of these models regularly produce a “price puzzle”—a rise in the aggregate price level in response to a contractionary innovation to monetary policy—unless commodity prices are included. Conventional wisdom maintains that commodity prices resolve the price puzzle because they contain information that helps the Federal Reserve forecast inflation. I examine a number of plausible alternative indicator variables and find little correlation between an ability to forecast inflation and an ability to resolve the price puzzle. Additionally, a sub-sample investigation reveals that evidence of a price puzzle is associated primarily with the 1959–1979 sample period, and that most indicators—including commodity prices—cannot resolve the puzzle over this period.

Devising indicators of sustainable development for the mining and minerals industry: An analysis of critical background issues

SUMMARY The exact application of sustainable development in the mining and minerals industry has precipitated considerable debate in recent years. Since the publication of the Brundtland Commission's Report, Our Common Future, numerous explanations have been put forth in an attempt to define sustainable development in the mining and minerals context. Specifically, the inability of the Brundtland Report to outline an effective sustainability framework, combined with its contention that no single blueprint for sustainable development exists, has prompted a number of academics and practitioners to provide personal viewpoints on the application of sustainable development in the mining and minerals industry. This paper focuses on one aspect of the mining and minerals-sustainable development debate: the corporate perspective. It first uses the burgeoning body of literature to define sustainable development in the corporate mining context. Second, it addresses, against the background of this interpretation, many of the salient issues associated with developing a series of plausible Sustainable Development Indicators (SDIs) for use in the mining and minerals extraction industry. The paper clearly illustrates the difficulty in both arriving at a suitable working definition of sustainable development for an industry, and developing an acceptable set of universal standards for measuring environmental and socioeconomic performance.

Measuring motivations for media exposure: A thesis

The present article discusses the problem of separating the motivation concept empirically from other relevant concepts in research on mass media audiences. For about half a century, audience researchers use questionnaire items with a distinct format as measurements of motivations for media exposure. It is argued that these motivation items grammatically reflect the nature of the motivation concept as a theoretically intermediate variable between behaviour and its social or mental back- ground, thus constituting the most plausible indicators of the concept. However, it is also argued that these questionnaire items are double-barrelled and that any measurement of motivations based on the items can largely be considered an ambiguous mixture of behaviour and its social or mental origin. A study is presented that provides empirical support for this position.