Upward Changes Research Articles

Stratigraphy, thickness, tectonic environment, and economic implications of the giant Suwar – Wadi Qutabah layered mafic complex in northwestern Yemen

The Wadi Qutabah layered mafic intrusion in northwestern Yemen, considered part of a giant (>250 km2), Neoproterozoic (∼638.5 Ma) intrusion referred to as the Suwar – Wadi Qutabah Complex, has significant potential for economic platinum-group element and Ni–Cu–Co mineralization. A search for platinum-group element mineralization at Wadi Qutabah yielded cores from 14 drillholes along two east and west lines. Stratigraphically, they reveal ∼500 m of interlayered norites with subordinate gabbros, anorthosites, pyroxenites, and massive sulphide layers showing modal and cryptic layering that can be correlated between individual holes and between the east and west areas. Energy dispersive spectrometry major element analyses on mineral phases show gradual upward changes in plagioclase composition from An52 (lowest level drilled) to An44, and En61 to En57 in orthopyroxene, up to a distinctive, ilmenite-rich unit termed 5a (augite norite). Above 5a, minerals show a dramatic shift to more primitive An57 and En69 compositions. The gradual changes are typical of layered mafic intrusions and reflect progressive crystallization of magma upward. The dramatic changes, such as above 5a, are also common and reflect magma chamber recharge. In addition to the 500 m reported here, mineral exploration data from more-mafic rocks at Suwar suggest 400 m of layered rocks below those at Wadi Qutabah (total 900 m). A regression analysis plot of the cumulus mineral (plagioclase and orthopyroxene) compositional change versus thickness for seven well-known, giant, layered mafic intrusions suggests that the Suwar – Wadi Qutabah Complex is >2 km thick and one of the largest (thickness and area) intrusions on Earth. Comparison of the stratigraphy and mineral compositions at Wadi Qutabah with intrusions bearing PGE deposits suggests prospective areas for mineral exploration to the north and south of the study area. Recent reviews identify many similar-aged, mafic–ultramafic intrusive complexes across the Arabian–Nubian Shield. The large size of the Suwar – Wadi Qutabah Complex, its noritic composition, and subcontinental lithospheric mantle signature are characteristics typical of mafic rocks formed in extension-related, continental rift settings. Thus, the Suwar – Wadi Qutabah Complex may be part of a previously unrecognized large igneous province associated with a late Proterozoic magmatic event and preserved in what is today, the Arabian Shield.

Mainstreaming Effects on Volunteering? The Case of Denmark

The aim of this article is to investigate whether and to what extent changes in the structural preconditions for volunteering have had an effect on the relative importance of ‘classic predictors’ of volunteering within two areas: (1) socio-economic and status variables that function as resources for civic engagement and (2) value orientations that guide volunteering. Arguably, upward changes in the level of human capital, such as education, or changes in values that put more emphasis on, for example, social responsibility, could be expected to lead to an increase in the relative importance of these variables because the groups who possess such resources or express such attitudes would be more likely to enter into the volunteer labour force. If this is the case, then we would expect to see increasing differences in the likelihood of volunteering between high- and low-status groups. On the other hand, it could be argued that it is the distribution and diffusion of such resources and values that matter. If, for instance, education has become more widespread and covers larger proportions of the population, it is also possible that the relative importance of education has diminished. In this case, we would see a mainstreaming effect on volunteering because this activity becomes more normal, independent of class and status. Finally, it is also possible that volunteering is relatively resistant to wider structural changes in society or at least experience a time lag in the effect of such changes. Based on an empirical analysis of Danish survey data from 1990 to 2008, we argue that the idea of a mainstreaming effect should be taken seriously.

A GIS-based Analysis for Examining the Effect of Serviceability Improvement due to Reforming the City Bus Route System

Public transportation is essential for citizens’ traveling. However, private bus companies are not willing to establish new routes if they are not guaranteed some revenues by running the new bus lines even if some citizens are excluded from bus service areas. This is especially true of small-medium sized cities where the density of demand population is much lower. Nevertheless, it is necessary to provide public transit services as a type of indispensable public goods for citizens’ daily life regardless of the possibility of generating profits. Furthermore, due to the constraints of the resources available to service provision in monetary terms for both local agencies and bus companies, it is critical to improve the overall serviceability without requiring considerable additional costs. For this reason, reforming the local bus routing system without any significant investment for setting up new routes is necessary. This study aims at investigating serviceability improvement effects derived from reforming the city bus route system by analyzing some upward changes in terms of the number of citizens contained in the reformed system. The analysis is made in the framework of GIS in such a way that the numbers of citizens who can access the services before and after the reform are compared. The city of Chungju, located in Chungbuk Province, which is an example of a small-medium sized city in South Korea, was selected as the study area for the empirical analysis. According to the analysis results, the bus route reform in the study area improved the overall serviceability in that it contained more service recipients after the reform. Furthermore, it turns out that the overall bus running time also decreased in the reformed route system.

Asymmetry of Interest Rate Pass-Through in Albania

This study tries to investigate the asymmetry of interest rate pass-through in Albania over the period 2002m01: 2013m03. An OLS (Ordinary Least Square) approach is employed to take into account solely the long-run dynamics of such asymmetry. More specifically, the study attempts to investigate whether responses of wholesale (represented by the interbank and T-bills’ yields) and retail interest rates (deposit and credit) to downward and upward changes in the policy rate are symmetric or not. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt focusing on the asymmetry of the interest rate pass-through, extending the author’s previous study (unpublished, to be presented at EBEEC Conference in Istanbul, 9-12 May), which focused mainly on the speed and magnitude of the interest rate pass-through, over a shorter time period. Main findings of this study show that the pass-through of key policy rate to wholesale and retail interest rates is asymmetric. More specifically, the 7-day interbank rate, the 6- and 12-month T-bills’ yields and the deposit rate react more strongly to a negative change rather than to a positive change in policy rate. We believe that the empirical results of this study might be useful for the increase in the efficiency of monetary policy implementation, providing useful information of the Albanian monetary policy transmission mechanism. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2013.v2n9p539

Empirical Evacuation Response Curve during Hurricane Irene in Cape May County, New Jersey

Understanding evacuation response behavior is critical for public officials in deciding when to issue emergency evacuation orders for an impending hurricane. Such behavior is typically measured by an evacuation response curve that represents the proportion of total evacuation demand over time. This study analyzes evacuation behavior and constructs an evacuation response curve on the basis of traffic data collected during Hurricane Irene in 2011 in Cape May County, New Jersey. The evacuation response curve follows a general S-shape with sharp upward changes in slope after the issuance of mandatory evacuation notices. These changes in slope represent quick response behavior, which may be caused in part by an easily mobilized tourist population, lack of hurricane evacuation experience, or the nature of the location, in this case a rural area with limited evacuation routes. Moreover, the widely used S-curves with different mathematical functions and the state-of-the-art behavior models are calibrated and compared with empirical data. The results show that the calibrated S-curves with logit and Rayleigh functions fit empirical data better. The evacuation behavior analysis and calibrated evacuation response models from this hurricane evacuation event may benefit evacuation planning in similar areas. In addition, traffic data used in this study may also be valuable for the comparative analysis of traffic patterns between the evacuation periods and regular weekdays and weekends.

The effect of track changes on the development of academic self-concept in high school: A dynamic test of the big-fish–little-pond effect.

Academic self-concept has received a great deal of attention in recent educational research because it mediates many other educational outcomes. Therefore, it is important to find out how students' academic self-concept develops. We examined the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) dynamically by investigating the effect of track changes in high school on changes in students' academic self-concept. A sample of 2,747 students from 50 high schools in Flanders (Belgium) was longitudinally followed up in a study with a four-wave design. Data were collected in Grades 7, 8, 10, and 12. Multilevel growth modeling for discontinuous change was performed. The results showed a general decline in academic self-concept across high school. In line with the BFLPE hypothesis, students who changed from a higher to a lower track during high school experienced an initial increase in their academic self-concept compared with students who remained in the same track. This effect was neither attenuated, nor exacerbated over time. These findings extend the BFLPE research by revealing that students' downward changes in educational reference groups over time (cascade effects) are generally related to upward changes in their academic self-concept over time. However, track dropping seems a double-edged sword because students' downward track changes simultaneously resulted in decreases in academic achievement. The results of the current study therefore call for more longitudinal and dynamic research in both the BFLPE and educational effectiveness literature.

Shift changes and monotonic trends in autocorrelated temperature series over Iran

Temperature data from 29 synoptic stations in Iran for a period of 40 years (1966–2005) were analyzed to test for the existence of monotonic trends and shift changes in the annual, seasonal, and monthly mean air temperature series using the Mann–Kendall and Mann–Whitney tests. The influences of significant lag-1 serial correlation were eliminated from data by the trend-free pre-whitening method prior to the trend analysis. The magnitude of the temperature trends was derived from the Theil–Sen’s slope estimator. It was found that annual mean air temperature increased at 25 out of the 29 stations, of which 17 stations showed significant monotonic trends. The magnitude of the annual mean air temperature trends averagely was (+)0.224°C per decade. Most of the stations with the significant positive monotonic trends had a significant upward shift change. The analysis indicated that the change point year of the significant upward shift changes was 1972 for the whole stations except the coastal ones. Moreover, the strongest monotonic increasing trends and upward shift changes were observed in summer especially in August and September. The spatial analysis of the mean air temperature trends revealed the highest numbers of significant monotonic trends in the big cities of Iran. These findings provide more insights for better understanding of regional temperature behavior in the study area.

Tone Language Fluency Impairs Pitch Discrimination

Here we present evidence that native speakers of a tone language, in which pitch contributes to word meaning, are impaired in the discrimination of falling pitches in tone sequences, as compared to speakers of a non-tone language. Both groups were presented with monotonic and isochronous sequences of five tones (i.e., constant pitch and intertone interval). They were required to detect when the fourth tone was displaced in pitch or time. While speakers of a tone language performed more poorly in the detection of downward pitch changes, they did not differ from non-tone language speakers in their perception of upward pitch changes or in their perception of subtle time changes. Moreover, this impairment cannot be attributed to poor musical abilities since the impairment remains unchanged when individual differences in musical pitch-based processing is taken into account. Thus, the impairment appears highly specific and may reflect the influence of statistical regularities of tone languages.

Two types of changes in apparent resistivity in earthquake prediction

Two types of changes in apparent resistivity (AR) have been linked to earthquake occurrences. This paper studies the changes and their causes, in detail with the ultimate purpose of developing and assessing a method of earthquake (EQ) prediction. The AR changes of the first type (CFT) are considered to be precursors related to earthquakes (EQs); these appear mostly in the medium-term period before EQs and in the short-term period preceding EQs. The changes of the second type (CST) are characterized by a turning anomaly of a long-trend AR variation or the drastically descending/ascending anomaly superimposed on such a variation; these appear synchronously in large areas, such as the Chinese mainland, and northern and northwestern China, ect. Their spatio-temporal clusters correspond well to high seismicities in the areas and distant great EQs around the Chinese mainland. Based on the behaviors of the two types of changes, the AR changes observed prior to the M s8.0 Wenchuan EQ of 2008 are studied. The results show that in the medium-term period before the EQ, noticeable anomalies appeared synchronously at four stations around the Songpan-Ganzi active block, but only weak upward changes were observed in the short-term period preceding the EQ, which caused the prediction of the imminent EQ to fail.

The aftermath of openness and integration in the Mexican manufacturing

Mexico is a country whose development process has been traditionally characterised by a substantial unbalanced performance of its regions. Since the early 1980’s it carried out an intense liberalisation and export promotion programme representative of a new national development stratagem. This paper looks at the spatial patterns of Mexican manufacturing at the same time as the shifts after the trade liberalisations are particularly weighed up. Data on manufacturing Gross Domestic Product by state is employed for an examination of shares, agglomeration indices and densities. The data reveals a long-run dispersion tendency, the changes however are small. Although the ‘‘largest’’ geographic dispersion happened after the generalised liberalisation programme and after the entry into force of the North America Free Trade Agreement relocation was already in progress in the 1970’s. States in the north were the initial beneficiaries of the spatial decentralisation of manufacturing but states in the so called Bajio region have had the major upward changes more recently. There is no evidence of a significant change in a dual regional structure. The argument about cumulative causation and the advantages of initial conditions is pertinent for the case of Mexico City. Moreover a multi-agglomerate pattern within the core is consolidating.

Unsafe abortion in 2008: global and regional levels and trends

Despite the availability of safe and highly effective methods of abortion, unsafe abortions continue to be widespread, nearly all in developing countries. The latest estimates from the World Health Organization put the figure at 21.6 million unsafe abortions worldwide in 2008, up from 19.7 million in 2003, a rise due almost entirely to the increasing number of women of reproductive age globally. No substantial decline was found in the unsafe abortion rate globally or by major region; the unsafe abortion rate of 14 per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years globally remained the same from 2003 to 2008. Modest reductions in unsafe abortion rates were found in 2008 as compared to 2003 in most sub-regions, however. The upward changes in rates in Middle Africa, Western Asia and Central America were due to better coverage and more reliable information in 2008 than in 2003. Eastern and Middle Africa showed the highest rates of unsafe abortion among all sub-regions. Some 47,000 women per year are estimated to lose their lives from the complications of unsafe abortion, almost all of which could have been prevented through better access to sexuality education, fertility awareness, contraception and especially safe abortion services.

Effect of Magnetic Island Associated with Neoclassical Tearing Modes on Plasma Rotation in JT-60U

This paper describes the dependence of the rotation frequency of an m/n = 2/1 neoclassical tearing mode (NTM) on its magnetic island width in JT-60U (m and n are the poloidal and toroidal mode numbers, respectively). Throughout the experiments, the island width is actively controlled by changing the location of the electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD), based on the fact that aligned ECCD and misaligned ECCD make the NTM islands shrink and grow, respectively. The NTM frequency was found to gradually decrease with the increasing island width. While the frequency is 5.5 kHz for zero island width, it is 3 kHz for the full island width of about 15% of the plasma minor radius. Also, the mode frequency suddenly decreases (typically by 80%) shortly after the misaligned ECCD, during which the increment in the island width is only less than 10%. A sudden increase in the mode frequency is observed shortly after the ECCD turnoff, which is nearly the reverse process of the sudden decrease, but with a hysteresis in the island width at which downward and upward frequency changes occur. The downward frequency change occurs when the frequency decreases to about half of that without the NTM.

Do daily retail gasoline prices adjust asymmetrically?

This paper analyses adjustments in the Dutch retail gasoline prices. We estimate an error correction model on changes in the daily retail price for gasoline (taxes excluded) for the period 1996–2004, taking care of volatility clustering by estimating an EGARCH model. It turns out that the volatility process is asymmetrical: a positive shock to the retail price has a greater effect on the variance of the retail price than a negative shock. We conclude that the retail price and the spot price do not drift apart in the long run. However, there is a faster reaction to upward changes in spot prices than to downward changes in spot prices in the short run. This asymmetry starts 3 days after the change in the spot price and lasts for 4 days.

Spatial and temporal changes in dry-snow line altitude on the Antarctic Peninsula

Drastic changes were detected in glacial systems of the Antarctic Peninsula in the last decades. The observed phenomena comprise the disintegration of ice shelves, acceleration and thinning of glaciers, and retreat of glacier fronts. However, due to the lack of consistent systematic observations in particular of the higher parts of the glacial systems, it is difficult to predict further responses of the Antarctic Peninsula glaciers to climatic change. The present paper analyses spatial and temporal variations of changes in the dry-snow line altitude on the Antarctic Peninsula as extracted from a time series (1992–2005) of ERS-1/2 SAR and Envisat ASAR data. Upward changes in dry-snow line altitude were observed in general, and are attributed to extreme high-temperature events impacting the central plateaus of the Antarctic Peninsula and the increasing duration of warming periods. A mean decrease in dry-snow line altitude was detected on the west side of the peninsula and is identified as a response to recorded increase in precipitation and accumulation. These results validate the capability of SAR data for deriving superficial parameters of glaciers to be used as indicators of climatic changes in high-latitude regions where operational restrictions limit conventional meteorological observations.

Impact of a Century of Climate Change on Small-Mammal Communities in Yosemite National Park, USA

We provide a century-scale view of small-mammal responses to global warming, without confounding effects of land-use change, by repeating Grinnell's early-20th century survey across a 3000-meter-elevation gradient that spans Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Using occupancy modeling to control for variation in detectability, we show substantial ( approximately 500 meters on average) upward changes in elevational limits for half of 28 species monitored, consistent with the observed approximately 3 degrees C increase in minimum temperatures. Formerly low-elevation species expanded their ranges and high-elevation species contracted theirs, leading to changed community composition at mid- and high elevations. Elevational replacement among congeners changed because species' responses were idiosyncratic. Though some high-elevation species are threatened, protection of elevation gradients allows other species to respond via migration.

Changes in performance: a 5-year longitudinal study of participants in a multi-source feedback programme

Multi-source feedback (MSF) enables performance data to be provided to doctors from patients, co-workers and medical colleagues. This study examined the evidence for the validity of MSF instruments for general practice, investigated changes in performance for doctors who participated twice, 5 years apart, and determined the association between change in performance and initial assessment and socio-demographic characteristics. Data for 250 doctors included three datasets per doctor from, respectively, 25 patients, eight co-workers and eight medical colleagues, collected on two occasions. There was high internal consistency (alpha > 0.90) and adequate generalisability (Ep(2) > 0.70). D study results indicate adequate generalisability coefficients for groups of eight assessors (medical colleagues, co-workers) and 25 patient surveys. Confirmatory factor analyses provided evidence for the validity of factors that were theoretically expected, meaningful and cohesive. Comparative fit indices were 0.91 for medical colleague data, 0.87 for co-worker data and 0.81 for patient data. Paired t-test analysis showed significant change between the two assessments from medical colleagues and co-workers, but not between the two patient surveys. Multiple linear regressions explained 2.1% of the variance at time 2 for medical colleagues, 21.4% of the variance for co-workers and 16.35% of the variance for patient assessments, with professionalism a key variable in all regressions. There is evidence for the construct validity of the instruments and for their stability over time. Upward changes in performance will occur, although their effect size is likely to be small to moderate.

The Construction of Normal Expectations

SummaryThe gradual upward changes of standards in normal everyday life have significant environmental implications, and it is therefore important to study how these changes come about. The intention of the article is to analyze the social construction of normal expectations through a case study. The case concerns the present boom in bathroom renovations in Denmark, which offers an excellent opportunity to study the interplay between a wide variety of consumption drivers and social changes pointing toward long‐term changes of normal expectations regarding bathroom standards. The study is problem‐oriented and transdisciplinary and draws on a wide range of sociological, anthropological, and economic theories. The empirical basis comprises a combination of statistics, a review of magazine and media coverage, visits to exhibitions, and qualitative interviews. A variety of consumption drivers are identified. Among the drivers are the increasing importance of the home as a core identity project and a symbol of the unity of the family, the opportunities for creative work, the convenience of more grooming capacity during the busy family's rush hours, the perceived need for retreat and indulgence in a hectic everyday life, and the increased focus on body care and fitness. The contours of the emerging normal expectations are outlined and discussed in an environmental perspective.

Paleohydrological reconstruction of molasses sediments from the Siwalik Group along Surai Khola section, West Nepal Himalaya

used for grain analyses because the consolidation of samples widely varied from strongly lithified to loosely packed. Both methods are explained in Tucker (1988). More than 200 of longest apparent grain dimension were measured in one section, and determined the mean of dimension, 50% dimension, and 95% of dimension, as mean diameter, median diameter, and 95% of grain size distribution, respectively. Thickness between the top of bedload beds and sampling horizon is used for paleoflow depth. Most of the samples were obtained from the bottoms of the fining-upward cycles, so that bedload thickness is frequently concordant with flow depth. This is the extended application of the bankfull flow estimation in meandering channel (Ethridge and Schumm 1978, Bridge 1978). The estimation method in this study covers with both sandy and gravelly sediments, and also applicable to the outcrops with the limited lateral-dimension. Paleovelocity varies from 0.17 m/s to 3.28 m/s stratigraphic upward, paleochannel gradient, and paleodischarge changes from 10 -6 to 10 -3 m/m and 10 1 to 10

Genetic Influence on the Systems Biology of Sickle Stroke Risk Detected by Endothelial Gene Expression.

Stroke affects ∼10% of children with sickle cell anemia. There is evidence for a familial predisposition, and the strongest risk predictor is presence of Circle of Willis (CoW) disease. We hypothesize that inherited differences in endothelial biology influence whether or not the child with sickle cell anemia develops CoW disease. We have studied 20 subjects (age <20yr) with HbSS or HbSβ°thal. 11 are at-risk for stroke, defined as having had an actual stroke, or by having known CoW disease (TCD >200 cm/sec, or abnormal MRA); and 9 are not-at-risk, defined as having reached age 10 (at least) without a clinical stroke, plus having absence of CoW disease (TCD <150 cm/sec, or normal MRA). From each subject, a sample of blood outgrowth endothelial cells (BOEC) was prepared and used to obtain RNA for gene expression profiling (Affymetrix U133A platform). BOEC are a generic endothelial cell that reports constitutive endothelial phenotype. Preliminary studies established that there is a safe ‘window' of culture passage number after any acquired phenotypes have washed out and before BOEC become genetically unstable; all samples were evaluated at the same time point. The subjects revealed no significant single-gene differences between the 2 groups (by Welch t test, Wilcoxon test, or SAM). This was expected. Rather, we expect the genesis of CoW disease in different subjects to be influenced by various polymorphisms that impact similarly on the several biological systems relevant to cerebral vasculopathy (potentially, the biologies of redox, hypoxia, shear stress, adhesion, coagulation, inflammation, angiogenesis, vasoregulation, apoptosis). Using predetermined gene sets (having 79–156 members) for each biological system, we examined each gene's expression in terms of fold change relative to the average of the control samples, and used all genes on a given list to establish that system's ‘score' for each subject (generated such that down- and up-ward fold changes have equal impact and do not offset each other). Significant differences (Wald test) are noted between the at-risk and not-at-risk subjects for only 1 biological system: inflammation signaling (P=.0216). Multiple statistical approaches confirm this conclusion. Indirectly supporting the veracity of our findings, separation of the same 20 subjects into males vs females resulted in no group differences in biological systems scores. The strongest contributor transcripts to the inflammation score are proximate or distal to NFκB component RelA, and RelA response to inflammation (IL1+TNF) is seen to be greatly exaggerated for the at-risk BOEC samples. Genetically determined differences in endothelial biology probably help determine clinical phenotype of sickle cell anemia by influencing risk of developing CoW disease. Our data suggest that inflammation biology is the main biological system involved.

Mixed potential gas sensor with short response time

Miniaturized solid electrolyte sensors with mixed potential electrodes are prepared by screen-printing technique with different non-equilibrium electrodes made of Au/MeO-composites and tested with gases containing CO, H2 and C3H6, respectively. Although sensitivities of different electrode materials do not vary more than 20% in CO containing gas, their response times can differ by nearly one order of magnitude. The response times of one sensor to upward concentration changes of the investigated combustibles increase in the same order and at a similar ratio as the sensitivities to these combustibles. Investigations show that the electrode morphology and layout have a deep impact on the response time of these sensors. Nevertheless, these parameters can be optimized in a way that enables the construction of sensors with response times t10–90 < 100 ms by using nano-powders for the MeO additive. This range of response times is comparable to that of potentiometric solid electrolyte oxygen sensors and could be ensured in small series production as well as during long-term measurement of 4500 h.