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It has been shown that the Earth's inner core has an axisymmetric anisotropic structure with seismic waves traveling ∼3% faster along polar paths than along equatorial directions. Hemispherical anisotropic patterns of the solid Earth's core are rather complex, and the commonly used hexagonal-close-packed iron phase might be insufficient to account for seismological observations. We show that the data we collected are in good agreement with the presence of two anisotropically specular east and west core hemispheres. The detected travel-time anomalies can only be disclosed by a lattice-preferred orientation of a body-centered-cubic iron aggregate, having a fraction of their [111] crystal axes parallel to the Earth's rotation axis. This is compelling evidence for the presence of a body-centered-cubic Fe phase at the top of the Earth's inner core. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hemispherical asymmetry is a prominent feature of Earth's inner core, but how this asymmetry relates to core growth is unknown. Based on multiple-scattering modeling of seismic velocity and attenuation measurements sampling the whole uppermost inner core, we propose that the growth of the solid core implies an eastward drift of the material, driven by crystallization in the Western Hemisphere and melting in the Eastern Hemisphere. This self-sustained translational motion generates an asymmetric distribution of sizes of iron crystals, which grow during their translation. The invoked dynamical process is still active today, which supports the idea of a young inner core. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The identification of vast numbers of unknown organisms using DNA sequences becomes more and more important in ecological and biodiversity studies. In this context, a fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene has been proposed as standard DNA barcoding marker for the identification of organisms. Limitations of the COI barcoding approach can arise from its single-locus identification system, the effect of introgression events, incomplete lineage sorting, numts, heteroplasmy and maternal inheritance of intracellular endosymbionts. Consequently, the analysis of a supplementary nuclear marker system could be advantageous. Results: We tested the effectiveness of the COI barcoding region and of three nuclear ribosomal expansion segments in discriminating ground beetles of Central Europe, a diverse and well-studied invertebrate taxon. As nuclear markers we determined the 18S rDNA: V4, 18S rDNA: V7 and 28S rDNA: D3 expansion segments for 344 specimens of 75 species. Seventy-three species (97%) of the analysed species could be accurately identified using COI, while the combined approach of all three nuclear markers provided resolution among 71 (95%) of the studied Carabidae. Conclusion: Our results confirm that the analysed nuclear ribosomal expansion segments in combination constitute a valuable and efficient supplement for classical DNA barcoding to avoid potential pitfalls when only mitochondrial data are being used. We also demonstrate the high potential of COI barcodes for the identification of even closely related carabid species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Class relationships are amongst the fundamental drivers of development, and it is argued here that over the next 30 years a major influence on the pattern and path of development will be exerted by the rise of the ‘new middle classes’ of Asia. At the same time, in the context of the blocked transition of the present, it seems unlikely that those who are marginalised and excluded will be able adequately to organise resistance, much less change structures of power, but poverty will be managed through welfare interventions like India's National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The ratio of daytime and nighttime values of the foF2 critical frequency is analyzed on the basis of the data of 35 ionospheric stations of the eastern hemisphere and 7 stations of the western hemisphere. The analysis confirms the results of Danilov [Danilov, A.D. Variations in the ratio of nighttime and daytime critical frequencies of the F2 layer. Geomagn. Aeronomy, 47 (6), 551–561 (in Russian) 2007; Danilov, A.D. Time and spatial variations in the ratio of nighttime and daytime critical frequencies of the F2 layer, J. Atmos. Sol-Terr. Phys. 70, 1201–1212, 2008.] that after about 1980, a systematic behavior of this ratio with time is observed: an increase with time (a positive trend) or a decrease with time (a negative trend). The sign of this trend is shown to be governed by the signs of the magnetic declination D and magnetic inclination I at the given ionospheric station. This fact makes it possible to assume that the above indicated trend is caused by long-term variations in the zonal component Vny of the horizontal wind in the thermosphere, the latter component contributing into the vertical drift velocity W. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article presents a discussion about the concept of simultaneous multidimensionality in African music. The said concept is present in many traditions of performance art in Africa, wherein music is integrated from various aural and kinesthetic perspectives. It also compares African traditional performance arts against European fine art painting in the cubist style.

Summary: The paper examines the revenue effects of certified organic contract farming for smallholders and of adoption of organic agricultural farming methods in a tropical African context. The comparison in both cases is with farming systems that are “organic by default.” Survey data from a large organic coffee contract farming scheme in Uganda are reported and analyzed using a standard OLS regression and a full information maximum likelihood (FIML) estimate of the Heckman selection model. The analysis finds that, controlling for a range of factors, there are positive revenue effects both from participation in the scheme and, more modestly, from applying organic farming techniques. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The influence of the stratospheric quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) on the polar night jets (PNJs), subtropical easterly jets (SEJs), and associated Rossby wave breaking (RWB) is investigated using global meteorological analyses spanning 10 recent QBO cycles. The seasonal dependence of the descent of the QBO is shown by using five layered shear indices. It is found that the influence of the QBO is distinctive for each combination of QBO phase, season, and hemisphere (NH or SH). The following QBO westerly (W) minus easterly (E) differences in the PNJs were found to be significant at the 97% level: When a QBO W (E) maximum is in the lower stratosphere (∼500 K or ∼50 hPa), the NH winter PNJ is stronger (weaker), in agreement with previous results (mode A). Mode A does not appear to operate in other seasons in the NH besides DJF or in the SH in any season. When a QBO W (E) maximum is in the middle stratosphere (∼700–800 K or ∼10–20 hPa), the PNJ in the SH spring is stronger (weaker), also in agreement with previous results (mode B). It is found that mode B also operates in the NH spring. A third distinctive mode is found during autumn in both hemispheres: a QBO W (E) maximum in the middle stratosphere coincides with a weaker (stronger) PNJ (mode C). The signs of wind anomalies are the same at low and high latitudes for modes Aand B, but are opposite for mode C. This sensitive dependence onQBOphase and season is consistent with the nonlinear nature of the interaction between planetary waves and the shape of the seasonal wind structures. During the solstices the meridional circulation associated with QBO connects primarily with the winter hemisphere, whereas during the equinoxes it is more symmetric about the equator. QBO W enhance the equatorial potential vorticity (PV) gradient maximum, but the time-mean maximum may be related to chronic instabilities in the subtropics. The equatorial PV gradient maximum and flanking RWB tend to be more pronounced in the Eastern Hemisphere in stratospheric analyses. When QBO W are in the middle stratosphere, the flanking PV gradient minima (SEJs) are enhanced and RWB is more frequent and symmetric about the equator. When QBO W are in the upper stratosphere, a strong seasonal asymmetry is seen, with enhanced RWB in the summer SEJ, primarily during boreal winter. This is consistent with an upward increase of summer to winter flow and modulation by a strong “first” and weak “second” semiannual oscillation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biocultural interchange between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres beginning in the late fifteenth century initiated an unprecedented adaptive transition for Native Americans. This article presents findings from the initial population biological study of contact in the Central Andes of Peru using human skeletal remains. We test the hypothesis that as a consequence of Spanish colonization, the indigenous Mochica population of Mórrope on the north coast of Peru experienced elevated systemic bio- logical stress. Using multivariate statistical methods, we examine childhood stress reflected in the prevalence of linear enamel hypoplasias and porotic hyperostosis, femoral growth velocity, and terminal adult stature. Nonspecific periosteal infection prevalence and D30+/D5+ ratio estimations of female fertility characterized adult systemic stress. Compared to the late pre-Hispanic population, statistically significant patterns of increased porotic hyperostosis and periosteal inflammation, subadult growth faltering, and depressed female fertility indicate elevated postcontact stress among both children and adults in Mórrope. Terminal adult stature was unchanged. A significant decrease in linear enamel hypoplasia prevalence may not indicate improved health, but reflect effects of high-mortality epidemic disease. Various lines of physiological, archaeological, and ethnohistoric evidence point to specific socioeconomic and microenvironmental factors that shaped these out-comes, but the effects of postcontact population aggregation in this colonial town likely played a fundamental role in increased morbidity. These results inform a model of post-contact coastal Andean health outcomes on local and regional scales and contribute to expanding understandings of the diversity of indigenous biological variation in the postcontact Western Hemisphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information on hemispheric studies in continents and centuries for American literature. It explores how hemispheric studies have inspired an outpouring of work that has transformed American studies, giving it a different map and a different database. It discusses the different designations of hemisphere referring to a physical landmass or a construct for the most part, notional or to some extent strategic. Furthermore, the spread of Islam in relation to American literature is examined. Author such as Washington Irving, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Walter Mignolo are discussed.

Objective: To establish the absolute risk of contact lens (CL)-related microbial keratitis, the incidence of vision loss and risk factors for disease. Design: A prospective, 12-month, population-based surveillance study. Participants: New cases of CL-related microbial keratitis presenting in Australia over a 12-month period were identified through surveillance of all ophthalmic practitioners (numerator). Case detection was augmented by records'' audits at major ophthalmic centers. The denominator (number of wearers of different CL types in the community) was established using a national telephone survey of 35 914 individuals. Testing: Cases and controls were interviewed by telephone to determine subject demographics and CL wear history. Visual outcomes were determined 6 months after the initial event. Annualized incidence and confidence intervals (CI) were estimated for different severities of disease and multivariable analysis was used in risk factor analysis. Main Outcome Measures: Annualized incidence (with CI) of disease and vision loss by CL type and wear modality and identification of independent risk factors. Results: We identified 285 eligible cases of CL-related microbial keratitis and 1798 controls. In daily wear rigid gas-permeable CL wearers, the annualized incidence per 10 000 wearers was 1.2 (CI, 1.1–1.5); in daily wear soft CL wearers 1.9 (CI, 1.8–2.0); soft CL wearers (occasional overnight use) 2.2 (CI, 2.0–2.5); daily disposable CL wearers 2.0 (CI, 1.7–2.4); daily disposable CL wearers (occasional overnight use) 4.2 (CI, 3.1–6.6); daily wear silicone hydrogel CL wearers 11.9 (CI, 10.0–14.6); silicone hydrogel CL wearers (occasional overnight use) 5.5 (CI, 4.5–7.2); overnight wear soft CL wearers 19.5 (CI, 14.6–29.5) and in overnight wear of silicone hydrogel 25.4 (CI, 21.2–31.5). Loss of vision occurred in 0.6 per 10 000 wearers. Risk factors included overnight use, poor storage case hygiene, smoking, Internet purchase of CLs, <6 months wear experience, and higher socioeconomic class. Conclusions: Incidence estimates for soft CL use were similar to those previously reported. New lens types have not reduced the incidence of disease. Overnight use of any CL is associated with a higher risk than daily use. Financial Disclosure(s): Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found after the references. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Seismic waves sampling the top 100 km of the Earth's inner core reveal that the eastern hemisphere (40° E–180° E) is seismically faster, more isotropic and more attenuating than the western hemisphere. The origin of this hemispherical dichotomy is a challenging problem for our understanding of the Earth as a system of dynamically coupled layers. Previously, laboratory experiments have established that thermal control from the lower mantle can drastically affect fluid flow in the outer core, which in turn can induce textural heterogeneity on the inner core solidification front. The resulting texture should be consistent with other expected manifestations of thermal mantle control on the geodynamo, specifically magnetic flux concentrations in the time-average palaeomagnetic field over the past 5 Myr, and preferred eddy locations in flows imaged below the core–mantle boundary by the analysis of historical geomagnetic secular variation. Here we show that a single model of thermochemical convection and dynamo action can account for all these effects by producing a large-scale, long-term outer core flow that couples the heterogeneity of the inner core with that of the lower mantle. The main feature of this thermochemical ‘wind’ is a cyclonic circulation below Asia, which concentrates magnetic field on the core–mantle boundary at the observed location and locally agrees with core flow images. This wind also causes anomalously high rates of light element release in the eastern hemisphere of the inner core boundary, suggesting that lateral seismic anomalies at the top of the inner core result from mantle-induced variations in its freezing rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  The Mordor Alkaline Igneous Complex (MAIC) is a composite intrusion comprising a body of syenite and a funnel-shaped layered mafic–ultramafic intrusion of lamprophyric parentage, the Mordor Mafic–Ultramafic Intrusion or MMUI. The MMUI is highly unusual among intrusions of lamprophyric or potassic parentage in containing primary magmatic platinum-group element (PGE)-enriched sulfides. The MMUI sequence consists largely of phlogopite-rich pyroxenitic cumulates, with an inward dipping conformable layer of olivine-bearing cumulates divisible into a number of cyclic units. Stratiform-disseminated sulfide accumulations are of two types: disseminated layers at the base of cyclic units, with relatively high PGE tenors; and patchy PGE-poor disseminations within magnetite-bearing upper parts of cyclic units. Sulfide-enriched layers at cycle bases contain anomalous platinum group element contents with grades up to 1.5 g/t Pt+Pd+Au over 1-m intervals, returning to background values of low parts per billion (ppb) on a meter scale. They correspond to reversals in normal fractionation trends and are interpreted as the result of new magma influxes into a continuously replenished magma chamber. Basal layers have decoupled Cu and PGE peaks reflecting increasing PGE tenors up-section, due to increasing R factors during the replenishment episode, or progressive mixing of between resident PGE-poor magma and more PGE-enriched replenishing magma. The presence of PGE enriched sulfides in cumulates from a lamprophyric magma implies that low-degree partial melts do not necessarily leave sulfides and PGEs in the mantle restite during partial melting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial fingerprints of climate change on biotic communities are usually associated with changes in the distribution of species at their latitudinal or attitudinal extremes. By comparing the attitudinal distribution of 171 forest plant species between 1905 and 1985 and 1986 and 2005 along the entire elevation range (0 to 2600 meters above sea level) in west Europe, we show that climate warming has resulted in a significant upward shift in species optimum elevation averaging 29 meters per decade. The shift is larger for species restricted to mountain habitats and for grassy species, which are characterized by faster population turnover. Our study shows that climate change affects the spatial core of the distributional range of plant species, in addition to their distributional margins, as previously reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The ratio of daytime and nighttime values of the foF2 critical frequency is analyzed on the basis of the data of 28 ionospheric stations of the Eastern Hemisphere. It is found that after about 1980, three types of behaviors of this ratio with time are observed: an increase with time (a positive trend), a decrease with time (a negative trend) and the absence of pronounced changes (a zero trend). The sign of this trend is shown to be governed by the signs of the magnetic declination D and magnetic inclination I at the given ionospheric station. This fact makes it possible to assume that the above-indicated trend is caused by long-term variations in the zonal component V ny of the horizontal wind in the thermosphere, the latter component contributing into the vertical drift velocity W. The causes of the systematic changes in the thermospheric circulation regime after 1980 are not yet known. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Although the definitive source of the left hemisphere's superiority for visual word recognition remains illusive, some argue that the left (LH) and right (RH) hemispheres engage different strategies during early perceptual processes involved in stimulus encoding. In particular, it is proposed that the LH treats a word as a unitary perceptual group whereas the RH processes the letters comprising a word as a series of individual perceptual units. The present study investigated support for this processing distinction by examining hemispheric strategies for temporal integration using Prinzmetal and Millis-Wright's (1984) feature-binding paradigm. A total of 20 participants identified the colour and identity of a target letter, presented within a three-letter word (e.g., ART) or nonword (e.g., HRF), directed to their left or right visual field. Errors were classified on the basis of whether they involved substitution of a colour present within the stimulus but at a different location (ON error), or the substitution of a colour not present within the stimulus (OFF error). As anticipated, for word stimuli there was a higher proportion of OFF errors associated with trials directed to the RH, consistent with the notion that the LH treats words as single perceptual units and is hence biased toward miscombination of perceptual information present within the stimulus. The pattern of ON errors across stimulus type provided clear evidence of RH sequential encoding effects, with the number of errors increasing markedly across the ordinal position of the letters comprising the stimulus string. As such, these data provide new evidence that the LH's advantage for visual word recognition arises, at least in part, from the ability to encode verbal stimuli as single perceptual units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Limited data exist regarding the incidence of intestinal microsporidiosis following the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in Australia. At St Vincent''s Hospital, Sydney, all faecal samples submitted for diarrhoea from HIV-infected patients between 1995 and 2006 underwent screening for microsporidiosis. A total of 3564 patients (7366 faecal specimens) was examined, resulting in 159 patients identified with microsporidiosis. The incidence of microsporidiosis declined from 11% in 1995 to 0% from 2004 onwards. At presentation the majority of patients were severely immunocompromised (median CD4105cells/mm3), with only 16% of patients on effective HAART. Twenty-four patients (24/76, 32%) died within a median of 22 months following microsporidiosis diagnosis. Significant predictors of AIDS-related mortality at presentation included the level of immunodeficiency and receiving no or ineffective HAART (P <0.05). Patients presenting after 1998 had a significant reduction in the risk of AIDS-related mortality compared with patients presenting before 1998 (hazard ratio 0.27, 95% CI 0.79–0.92). All 52 (68%) surviving patients were on effective HAART, with a median CD4 count 382cells/mm3 and HIV RNA of <50copies/ml at follow-up (median 4 years). The dramatic decline of intestinal microsporidiosis in our study reconfirms the importance of effective HAART in preventing advanced immunodeficiency, opportunistic infections and associated AIDS-related deaths. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article presents a study regarding the channel change following European settlement in Gilmore Creek, southeastern Australia. The study presents a comparison of a well-preserved section of the late Holocene paleochannel of Gilmore Creek to its present channel. At Gilmore Creek increased channel capacity has greatly decreased the average frequency of floodplain inundation. Increased values of specific stream power propose that channel morphology is now well adjusted to the present flow regime.

Abstract: North African hares are currently considered belonging to cape hares (Lepus capensis), except for an isolated occurrence of L. victoriae in NW Algeria. However, the few existing molecular data are not unequivocal. Here, we study sequence variation (415bp) in the hypervariable domain-1 of the mitochondrial (mt) control region, of hares with different coat colour from north-central Tunisia and NW Egypt, to test Petter''s [(1959): Eléments d’une révision des Lièvres africains du sous-genre Lepus. Mammalia 23, 41–67] hypothesis that North African hares belong to L. capensis. Seven Tunisian and one Egyptian haplotypes were revealed from 28 hares and compared phylogenetically to 245 haplotypes of various Lepus species downloaded from GenBank. Neighbour joining (NJ) and principal coordinate (PCO) analyses based on a Tamura-Nei 93 distance matrix, as well as maximum parsimony (MP) analysis concordantly grouped all currently obtained haplotypes together into one monophyletic clade, and revealed relatively close relationships to the clades of African scrub hares (L. saxatilis) and brown hares (L. europaeus). The three distinguished coat colour types of Tunisian hares were paralleled only to a small extent by sequence differentiation. Haplotypes of L. capensis from the nominal Cape province of South Africa, North Africa, and China clustered into different major clades, respectively, with Chinese L. capensis haplotypes forming only a subclade within a major clade that encompassed predominantly “mountain/arctic hare-type sequences” in addition to sequences of several other palaearctic and nearctic species. One further Chinese L. capensis haplotype clustered into the L. comus clade. These results indicated occurrence of introgression and/or shared ancestral polymorphism. Such an evolutionary scenario implies using nucelar markers in addition to mtDNA for phylogenetic inferences in the genus Lepus; nevertheless, mtDNA is still useful for inferring phylogenetic history and biogeography of hares. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The contribution of nonecological factors to global patterns in diversity is evident when species richness differs between regions with similar habitats and geographic area. Mangrove environments in the Eastern Hemisphere harbor six times as many species of trees and shrubs as similar environments in the New World. Genetic divergence of mangrove lineages from terrestrial relatives, in combination with fossil evidence, suggests that mangrove diversity is limited by evolutionary transition into the stressful marine environment, the number of mangrove lineages has increased steadily over the Tertiary with little global extinction, and the diversity anomaly in mangrove vegetation reflects regional differences in the rate of origin of new mangrove lineages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To fuel further growth and development, many countries in Central and East Europe that have made the transition from socialist to market economies are anxious to reverse the brain drain by attracting their nationals who have studied and/or worked abroad to return. This study seeks to examine the experiences and challenges encountered by nationals upon their return home, after having lived abroad for an extensive period of time. These people are referred to as ‘ex-host country nationals’ (EHCNs). The findings of this exploratory study of 86 EHCNs, all recipients of prestigious scholarships to study abroad, have important implications, both theoretical and practical, for international human resource management, including governmental attempts to curb or reverse brain drain from their respective countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO) dominates tropical variability on timescales of 30–70 days. During the boreal winter/spring, it is manifested as an eastward propagating disturbance, with a strong convective signature over the eastern hemisphere. The space–time structure of the MJO is analyzed using simulations with the ECHAM4 atmospheric general circulation model run with observed monthly mean sea-surface temperatures (SSTs), and coupled to three different ocean models. The coherence of the eastward propagation of MJO convection is sensitive to the ocean model to which ECHAM4 is coupled. For ECHAM4/OPYC and ECHO-G, models for which ~100 years of daily data is available, Monte Carlo sampling indicates that their metrics of eastward propagation are different at the 1% significance level. The flux-adjusted coupled simulations, ECHAM4/OPYC and ECHO-G, maintain a more realistic mean-state, and have a more realistic MJO simulation than the nonadjusted scale interaction experiment (SINTEX) coupled runs. The SINTEX model exhibits a cold bias in Indian Ocean and tropical West Pacific Ocean sea-surface temperature of ~0.5°C. This cold bias affects the distribution of time-mean convection over the tropical eastern hemisphere. Furthermore, the eastward propagation of MJO convection in this model is not as coherent as in the two models that used flux adjustment or when compared to an integration of ECHAM4 with prescribed observed SST. This result suggests that simulating a realistic basic state is at least as important as air–sea interaction for organizing the MJO. While all of the coupled models simulate the warm (cold) SST anomalies that precede (succeed) the MJO convection, the interaction of the components of the net surface heat flux that lead to these anomalies are different over the Indian Ocean. The ECHAM4/OPYC model in which the atmospheric model is run at a horizontal resolution of T42, has eastward propagating zonal wind anomalies and latent heat flux anomalies. However, the integrations with ECHO-G and SINTEX, which used T30 atmospheres, produce westward propagation of the latent heat flux anomalies, contrary to reanalysis. It is suggested that the differing ability of the models to represent the near-surface westerlies over the Indian Ocean is related to the different horizontal resolutions of the atmospheric model employed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses various issues related to readings of Friedrich Nietzsche, the German philosopher, about eastern philosophy. There are some good reasons to believe that Nietzsche was interested in Eastern philosophy. In his notebooks and books, Nietzsche refers to different aspects of Asian philosophy on more than four hundred occasions, and in several of these he claims to be interested in it. In 1875, he refers to his desire to read Indian philosophy, and he speaks of his increasing thirst to look toward India. Nietzsche also assumes that many of the fundamental cultural influences on ancient Greece and on Europe had their origin in Asia.

Starting with the Hellenic and Christian myths of Europe, this paper investigates the emergence and the development of the Idea of Europe with its multiple meanings and various values that have been assigned to it during its history. Europeanness as an upper-identity and its others, in history and today, within the scope of the European Union, are also analyzed in the text front two different receiving subjects, that is the Europeans and the Turks, which reflects partially overlapping but two different points of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines language trends in 21st century Asia and reports on the development of Applied Linguistics (AL) in the region. It has a dual focus: the first analyses the unique preoccupations of Asian and Asia-based applied linguists that have given rise to present research directions and preferences. These, however, seem to be not much recognized in the currently BANA dominated field. A second focal point considers the larger concerns and issues that might lead to future and different directions in AL scholarship once ‘proper applied linguistics’ — currently originating in the West and dominating research directions — reorients and realigns itself to include these Asian research and findings. It can be predicted that with this realignment, AL will grow as a field of inquiry in leaps and bounds along with the imminent rise of Asia by the middle of the twenty first century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paroxysmal pyroclastic flow deposits sourced from Maninjau caldera in west-central Sumatra are dated at 50±3 ka (n=3) using the isothermal plateau and diameter corrected fission-track (ITPFT and DCFT, respectively) techniques on glass shard constituents. In addition, charcoal obtained from tall trees in position of growth within the paroxysmal flow deposit on the upper flanks for the caldera are also dated at 52.3±2 14C ka (n=2) and 51.1±3.2 14C ka (n=1) using an acid–base, wet oxidation, stepped combustion (ABOX-SC) and standard acid–base–acid (ABA) 14C techniques, respectively. The close correspondence in 14C ages of charcoal sample splits analysed at two laboratories (Australian National University, Australia and Waikato University, New Zealand) verifies the reliability of these 14C techniques up to at least 50 ka.Based on concordant ages derived from glass-FT and 14C techniques, an age of 52±3 ka is assigned to the latest silicic eruptive activity at Maninjau caldera. This chronology is further confirmed by the occurrence of a silicic tephra bed that closely underlies paroxysmal Maninjau deposits at two sections and is correlated with Youngest (75 ka) Toba Tephra (YTT) erupted from Toba caldera in north-central Sumatra. This study not only provides a much needed regional chronological reference point for Quaternary deposits in west-central Sumatra but also extends the minimum age range of the glass-FT technique from 75 ka down to c. 50 ka that is now for the first time within the extended maximum age range of the 14C technique. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) dominates tropical variability on time scales of 30-70 days. During the boreal winter/spring it is manifested as an eastward propagating disturbance, with a strong convective signature over the eastern hemisphere. Here, 20-100 day bandpass filtered outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) for the months of November-March from the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Atmospheric Model Version 2.0 (NCAR CAM2.0) and the Community Coupled System Model Version 2.0 (CCSM2.0) models is projected onto the observed patterns of MJO convection. This provides for the analysis of the models within a standard framework. Additionally, only analyzing years when the lead/lag relationship of the simulated principal components lie in the observed phase-space better isolates the simulated MJO signal. CCSM2.0 yields a better representation of the MJO than CAM2.0 due to the presence of air-sea interaction. Even so, the amplitude and spatial extent of the intraseasonal convection are underestimated relative to observed OLR, with a pronounced underestimate of the near-equatorial convection. Due to the development of a split inter-tropical convergence zone in the western Pacific, which is independent of the MJO, the models are precluded from representing the low-level moisture convergence that is central to the eastward propagation of the MJO. Once the systematic model error is remedied the underlying capability of the models to simulate the MJO will be possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bend in the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain is a prominent feature usually attributed to a change in Pacific plate motion ~47?Myr ago. However, global plate motion reconstructions fail to predict the bend. Here we show how the geometry of the Hawaiian-Emperor chain and other hotspot tracks can be explained when we combine global plate motions with intraplate deformation and movement of hotspot plumes through distortion by global mantle flow. Global mantle flow models predict a southward motion of the Hawaiian hotspot. This, in combination with a plate motion reconstruction connecting Pacific and African plates through Antarctica, predicts the Hawaiian track correctly since the date of the bend, but predicts the chain to be too far west before it. But if a reconstruction through Australia and Lord Howe rise is used instead, the track is predicted correctly back to 65?Myr ago, including the bend. The difference between the two predictions indicates the effect of intraplate deformation not yet recognized or else not recorded on the ocean floor. The remaining misfit before 65?Myr ago can be attributed to additional intraplate deformation of similar magnitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe the development of a specific and sensitive PCR/semi-nested PCR system for the rapid diagnosis of Echinococcus granulosus genotype G1, E. granulosus genotype G6/7, and Echinococcus ortleppi (G5). Diagnosis of G1 and the group G5/6/7 is performed by a simple PCR, while discrimination between E. ortleppi (G5) and G6/7 involves a subsequent semi-nested PCR step. The target sequence for amplification is part of the mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene. Specificity of the PCRs was 100% when evaluated with isolates of 16 species of cestodes, including Echinococcus multilocularis, Echinococcus equinus, E. ortleppi and three strains of E. granulosus (G1, G6 and G7). Sensitivity threshold was 0.25 pg of DNA. This new approach was compared with published protocols of restriction fragment length polymorphism-PCR and sequencing of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 and NADH dehydrogenase 1 genes using Echinococcus isolates of human, sheep, goat, camel, cattle and pig origin from Kenya and Sudan. Additionally, two internal DNA probes were developed, one hybridising only with G1, the other with G5, G6 and G7 amplification products. Preliminary epidemiological results obtained with this PCR approach include the detection of a camel strain (G6) infection for the first time in a human patient from eastern Africa, and the first reports of E. ortleppi (G5) in livestock from Kenya and the Sudan. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Ramachandran (1995) theorised that the left hemisphere (LH) is specialised for making a single and consistent interpretation of the self and the world, whereas the right hemisphere (RH) is responsible for monitoring anomalies in reference to these interpretations. If the anomalous information reaches a threshold, it interacts with the LH to update these interpretations or beliefs. Because mixed handers may have greater degrees of interhemispheric interaction compared to strong handers, they may have a lower threshold for updating beliefs. Two previous studies found this to be the case (Niebauer, Aselage, & Schutte, 2002a; Niebauer, Christman, & Reid, 2002b). Because monitoring one's beliefs may involve metacognitive processes, i.e., cognitions about cognitions, this model was extended to help explain individual differences in understanding self-referential concepts. In the first two studies, mixed-handed participants displayed a greater understanding of self-reference using a conceptual description of Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem. In a third study, mixed-handed participants displayed greater appreciation for self-referential works of M. C. Escher. Implications for a neuropsychological model of metacognition are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Random Amplified Polymorphic DNAs (RAPDs) data were analyzed from eighteen taxa of Cupressus from the eastern hemisphere. The following fourteen taxa were distinct in their RAPDs: Cupressus assamica (India), C. atlantica (Morocco), C. austrotibetica (Tibet), C. cashmeriana (Bhutan), C. chengiana (Sichuan), C. darjeelingensis (India), C. duclouxiana (Yunnan), C. dupreziana (Algeria), C. funebris (China), C. gigantea (Tibet), C. jiangeensis (Sichuan), C. sempervirens (Iran and cultivated), C. tonkinensis (Vietnam), and C. torrulosa (Nepal). Individuals of C. chengiana (Sichuan) were not very similar, but loosely allied with C. cashmeriana. Considerable diversity was found in the C. austrotibetica–gigantea complex as well as within C. chengiana. Cupressus sempervirens samples from Iran (native) and the cultivated strict form (Spain) were found to be nearly identical. Of all the Cupressus from eastern hemisphere, C. lusitanica (cult. Portugal) was most similar to C. assamica (India). Comparing C. lusitanica and C. assamica with three Cupressus species from Mexico and SW USA, C. arizonica, C. benthamii, and C. lindleyi, revealed that C. lusitanica was somewhat more similar to C. benthamii and C. lindleyi, from Mexico, than to C. assamica, from India. This strengthens the argument that C. lusitanica had its origin in the western hemisphere. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper introduces the results of an integrated project designed to compare high resolution analysis of proxy records of climate change in the sediments of seven mountain lakes across Europe with reconstructed instrumental records of climate change over the last 200 years. Palaeolimnological methods used include radiometric dating (210Pb, 137Cs), mineral magnetics, dry weight, loss-on-ignition, carbon, nitrogen, sulphur, pigments, diatoms, chrysophyte cysts, cladocera and chironomids. Changes in fossil assemblages were summarised using principal components analysis. The stratigraphic data were compared with the instrumental record using linear regression techniques. The dated sediment records for each proxy from each site were treated as the response variables and the various attributes of the instrumental climate record as the predictor variables. The predictor variables were generated for each site for the period 1781 to 1997 using temperature reconstructions based on meteorological records. To harmonise the climatic predictors and the response variables, the climatic variables were smoothed along time with a LOESS regression. The results of the various analyses at the seven sites are presented in the following papers. A synthesis of the project and the relative performance of the different proxy methods are discussed in the final paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of condensation heating on the formation of the subtropical anticyclone in the Eastern Hemisphere (EH) are studied by means of theoretical analysis and numerical simulation. The complete vorticity equation is employed for the analysis. It is found that, due to the vertical gradient of strong condensation heating, the distribution of cyclone and anticyclone in the upper troposphere is out of phase with that in the middle and lower troposphere. This is confirmed by a series of numerical experiments. The horizontal gradient of the condensation heating also affects the configuration of the subtropical anticyclone. It is concluded that condensation heating is a key factor for the formation and location of the summer subtropical anticyclone in the EH. The latent heating released by the Asian monsoon rainfall contributes to the formation of the 200 hPa South Asian anticyclone on the western side of the heating center and the 500 hPa western Pacific subtropical anticyclone on the eastern side of the center. Such configurations are modified to some extent by surface sensible heating and orography. The circulation in mid-latitudes is also affected by the latent heating in the subtropical area through the propagation of Rossby waves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the role of civil nations on the formation of Europe. According to the author, the perspective that Europe and different European nations are separate entities should be inverted because it is impossible to conceive Europe as distinct from its member states for they both complement and reinforce one other. He added that Europe's formation process is a belated result of a maturation process in the formation of civil nations, which constitute citizens who are active on the affairs of the nation and committed to the defense of an order of freedom.

Studies species richness of pelagic cladocera of large lakes in the eastern hemisphere. Studies conducted related to limnetic members of the family sididae and sone daphnia; Impact of taxonomic studies on the understanding of limnetic zooplankton composition.

This paper is an annual summary of the Eastern Hemisphere tropical cyclones of 1996. The tropical cyclone statistics presented derive from records at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, Guam. Although the text focuses on the tropical cyclones that occurred in the western North Pacific during 1996, it also includes brief summaries of the tropical cyclones in the north Indian Ocean, south Indian Ocean, and the South Pacific. Overall, 1996 was an active year in the Eastern Hemisphere: the 28 tropical cyclones in the Southern Hemisphere were near normal, while the number of tropical cyclones in the western North Pacific and in the North Indian Ocean was above normal. The large-scale circulation anomalies typical of a cold phase (La Nina) of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) continued until late in the year when strong equatorial westerly winds pushed eastward. In retrospect, the return of near-normal mean monthly monsoonal flow to the tropical Pacific during November and December of 1996--punctuated by two intense equatorial westerly wind bursts--may have signaled the onset of the strong 1997 El Nino. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]