bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Magnesium deficiency–induced impairment of photosynthesis in leaves of fruiting Citrus reticulata trees accompanied by up‐regulation of antioxidant metabolism to avoid photo‐oxidative damage
Authors: Tang Ning , Li Yan , Chen Li‐Song
Published: July 2012

Limited data are available on the physiological responses of leaves from fruiting trees to magnesium (Mg) deficiency. Magnesium deficiency–induced effects on photosystem II (PSII) photochemistry in leaves of fruiting (Citrus reticulate cv. Ponkan) trees were assessed by the chlorophyll a fluorescence (OJIP) transient. Magnesium deficiency decreased leaf CO2 assimilation and carbohydrates, but had no effect on intercellular CO2 concentration. Activity of ribulose‐1,5‐bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) and concentrations of Chlorophyll (Chl) and carotenoids (Car) decreased to a lesser extent than CO2 assimilation. Chlorophyll a fluorescence transient from Mg‐deficient leaves had increased O step and decreased P step, accompanied by positive ΔL, ΔK, ΔJ, and ΔI bands. Magnesium deficiency decreased maximum quantum yield of primary photochemistry (Fv/Fm), quantum yield of electron transport from Q<$>_A^‐<$> to the photosystem I (PSI) end electron acceptors (φR0), maximum amplitude of IP phase and total performance index (PItot, abs), but increased deactiviation of oxygen‐evolving complex (OEC) and energy dissipation. Magnesium‐deficient leaves had higher or similar activities of antioxidant enzymes except for lower catalase (CAT) activity, higher or similar concentrations of antioxidant metabolites, and a higher ratio of Car : Chl. Magnesium‐deficiency did not affect concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) and ratios of ascorbate (ASC) to ASC + dehydroascorbate (DHA) and reduced glutathione (GSH) to GSH + oxidized glutathione (GSSG). In conclusion, Mg deficiency–induced impairment of the whole photosynthetic electron transport chain may be the main factor contributing to decreased CO2 assimilation. Enhanced energy dissipation and antioxidant metabolism provide sufficient protection to Mg‐deficient leaves against photo‐oxidative damage.
Dialysis Nanoprecipitation of Polystyrene Nanoparticles
Authors: Zhang Chuan , Chung Jae Woo , Priestley Rodney D.
Published: July 2012

Using a facile dialysis nanoprecipitation method, nanoparticles of several hundred nanometers have been successfully generated from a “traditional,” non‐biodegradable polymer, that is, polystyrene. The effect of initial polymer concentration inside the dialysis membrane, as well as the polymer/solvent system and the ionic strength (electrolyte concentration) of the dialysis solution, on nanoparticle size is examined. A nucleation‐aggregation mechanism has been provided to explain the observed trends. Furthermore, we determine the zeta potential as a function of ionic strength for the generated nanoparticles and show that anionic charging may be present in the system.
Modeling three‐dimensional hydraulic fracture propagation using virtual multidimensional internal bonds
Authors: Huang K. , Zhang Z. , Ghassemi Ahmad
Published: July 2012

Propagation of fractures, especially those emanating from wellbores and closed natural fractures, often involves Mode I and Mode II, and at times Mode III, posing significant challenges to its numerical simulation. When an embedded inclined fracture is subjected to compression, the fracture edge is constrained by the surrounding materials so that its true propagation pattern cannot be simulated by 2D models. In this article, a virtual multidimensional internal bond (VMIB) model is presented to simulate three‐dimensional (3D) fracture propagation. The VMIB model bridges the processes of macro fracture and micro bond rupture. The macro 3D constitutive relation in VMIB is derived from the 1D bond in the micro scale and is implemented in a 3D finite element method. To represent the contact and friction between fracture surfaces, a 3D element partition method is employed. The model is applied to simulate fracture propagation and coalescence in typical laboratory experiments and is used to analyze the propagation of an embedded fracture. Simulation results for single and multiple fractures illustrate 3D features of the tensile and compressive fracture propagation, especially the propagation of a Mode III fracture. The results match well with the experimental observation, suggesting that the presented method can capture the main features of 3D fracture propagation and coalescence. Moreover, by developing an algorithm for applying pressure on the fracture surfaces, propagation of a natural fracture is also simulated. The result illustrates an interesting and important phenomenon of Mode III fracture propagation, namely the fracture front segmentation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A continuous‐flow, high‐throughput, high‐pressure parahydrogen converter for hyperpolarization in a clinical setting
Authors: Hövener Jan‐Bernd , Bär Sébastien , Leupold Jochen , Jenne Klaus , Leibfritz Dieter , Hennig Jürgen , Duckett Simon B. , von Elverfeldt Dominik
Published: July 2012

Pure parahydrogen (pH2) is the prerequisite for optimal pH2‐based hyperpolarization experiments, promising approaches to access the hidden orders of magnitude of MR signals. pH2 production on‐site in medical research centers is vital for the proliferation of these technologies in the life sciences. However, previously suggested designs do not meet our requirements for safety or production performance (flow rate, pressure or enrichment). In this article, we present the safety concept, design and installation of a pH2 converter, operated in a clinical setting. The apparatus produces a continuous flow of four standard liters per minute of ≈98% enriched pH2 at a pressure maximum of 50 bar. The entire production cycle, including cleaning and cooling to 25 K, takes less than 5 h, only ≈45 min of which are required for actual pH2 conversion. A fast and simple quantification procedure is described. The lifetimes of pH2 in a glass vial and aluminum storage cylinder are measured to be T1C(glass vial) = 822 ± 29 min and T1C(Al cylinder) = 129 ± 36 days, thus providing sufficiently long storage intervals and allowing the application of pH2 on demand. A dependence of line width on pH2 enrichment is observed. As examples, 1H hyperpolarization of pyridine and 13C hyperpolarization of hydroxyethylpropionate are presented. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Less conservative results on stability for linear systems with a time‐varying delay
Authors: Zeng Hong‐Bing , He Yong , Wu Min , Xiao Shen‐Ping
Published: July 2012

This paper is focused on the problem of stability for linear systems with a time‐varying delay. A novel Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional that decomposed the delay in all integral terms is proposed. As a result, some less conservative stability criteria are derived by considering the relationship between time‐varying delay and its intervals, which have wider application than the existing ones because independent upper bounds of the delay derivative in the various delay intervals are taken into account. Some numerical examples are finally given to show the effectiveness and the benefits of the proposed method. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Correlation and Causation in the Study of Personality
Authors: Lee James J.
Published: July 2012

Personality psychology aims to explain the causes and the consequences of variation in behavioural traits. Because of the observational nature of the pertinent data, this endeavour has provoked many controversies. In recent years, the computer scientist Judea Pearl has used a graphical approach to extend the innovations in causal inference developed by Ronald Fisher and Sewall Wright. Besides shedding much light on the philosophical notion of causality itself, this graphical framework now contains many powerful concepts of relevance to the controversies just mentioned. In this article, some of these concepts are applied to areas of personality research where questions of causation arise, including the analysis of observational data and the genetic sources of individual differences. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
On Models of Personality Structure
Authors: Ashton Michael C. , Lee Kibeom
Published: July 2012

We suggest that the description by Cramer et al. (2012) of traditional models of personality structure does not perfectly reflect the models actually endorsed by researchers. Personality researchers assume that many variables will have considerable secondary loadings and that the major personality factors will not account for all of the covariation among those variables. A model that includes common factors provides a more parsimonious explanation of covariation among personality variables than does a model consisting of network links only. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Utility of Network Analysis for Personality Psychology
Authors: Schimmack Ulrich , Gere Judith
Published: July 2012

We note that network analysis provides some new opportunities but also has some limitations: (i) network analysis relies on observed measures such as single items or scale scores; (ii) it is a descriptive method and, as such, cannot test causal hypotheses; and (iii) it does not test the influence of outside forces on the network, such as dispositional influences on behaviour. We recommend structural equation modelling as a superior method that overcomes limitations of exploratory factor analysis and network analysis. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Measurable Like Temperature or Mereological like Flocking? on the Nature of Personality Traits
Authors: Cramer Angélique O. J. , Van Der Sluis Sophie , Noordhof Arjen , Wichers Marieke , Geschwind Nicole , Aggen Steven H. , Kendler Kenneth S. , Borsboom Denny
Published: July 2012

Some commentators wholeheartedly disagreed with the central tenet of the network perspective on personality, namely that traits are the result of mutual interactions between thoughts, feelings and behaviours. In this rejoinder, we primarily focus on these commentaries by (i) clarifying the main differences between the latent versus the network view on traits; (ii) discussing some of the arguments in favour of the latent trait views that were put forward by these commentators; and by (iii) comparing the capacity of both views to explain thoughts, feelings and behaviours. Some commentators were by and large positive about the network perspective, and we discuss their excellent suggestions for defining components and linking these to genes and other biological mechanisms. We conclude that no doors should be closed in the study of personality and that, as such, alternative theories such as the network perspective should be welcomed, formalised and tested. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) integrated pest management programs for fruiting vegetables in Florida
Authors: Demirozer Ozan , Tyler‐Julian Kara , Funderburk Joe , Leppla Norm , Reitz Stuart
Published: July 2012

BACKGROUND: The spread of the western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), resulted in the worldwide destabilization of established integrated pest management programs for many crops. Efforts to control the pest and the thrips‐vectored tospoviruses with calendar applications of broad‐spectrum insecticides have been unsuccessful. The result has been a classic ‘3‐R’ situation: resistance to numerous insecticides; resurgence of the western flower thrips populations as a result of natural predators and native competitor thrips being eliminated; replacement by various other pests. This paper reports on integrated pest management programs for fruiting vegetables that are effective, economical, ecologically sound and sustainable.

RESULTS: The components include the following: define pest status (economic thresholds); increase biotic resistance (natural enemies and competition); integrate preventive and therapeutic tactics (scouting, ultraviolet‐reflective technologies, biological control, compatible insecticides, companion plants and fertility); vertically integrate the programs with other pests; continually communicate latest science‐based management tactics with end‐users.

CONCLUSION: These programs have been widely implemented in Florida and have significantly improved the management of western flower thrips and thrips‐transmitted viruses. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry
Penalized likelihood estimation for semiparametric mixed models, with application to alcohol treatment research
Authors: Chen Jinsong , Liu Lei , Johnson Bankole A. , O'Quigley John
Published: July 2012

In this article, we implement a practical computational method for various semiparametric mixed effects models, estimating nonlinear functions by penalized splines. We approximate the integration of the penalized likelihood with respect to random effects with the use of adaptive Gaussian quadrature, which we can conveniently implement in SAS procedure NLMIXED. We carry out the selection of smoothing parameters through approximated generalized cross‐validation scores. Our method has two advantages: (1) the estimation is more accurate than the current available quasi‐likelihood method for sparse data, for example, binary data; and (2) it can be used in fitting more sophisticated models. We show the performance of our approach in simulation studies with longitudinal outcomes from three settings: binary, normal data after Box–Cox transformation, and count data with log‐Gamma random effects. We also develop an estimation method for a longitudinal two‐part nonparametric random effects model and apply it to analyze repeated measures of semicontinuous daily drinking records in a randomized controlled trial of topiramate. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Efficient analysis of case‐control studies with sample weights
Authors: Landsman V. , Graubard B.I.
Published: July 2012

Analysis of population‐based case–control studies with complex sampling designs is challenging because the sample selection probabilities (and, therefore, the sample weights) depend on the response variable and covariates. Commonly, the design‐consistent (weighted) estimators of the parameters of the population regression model are obtained by solving (sample) weighted estimating equations. Weighted estimators, however, are known to be inefficient when the weights are highly variable as is typical for case–control designs. In this paper, we propose two alternative estimators that have higher efficiency and smaller finite sample bias compared with the weighted estimator. Both methods incorporate the information included in the sample weights by modeling the sample expectation of the weights conditional on design variables. We discuss benefits and limitations of each of the two proposed estimators emphasizing efficiency and robustness. We compare the finite sample properties of the two new estimators and traditionally used weighted estimators with the use of simulated data under various sampling scenarios. We apply the methods to the U.S. Kidney Cancer Case‐Control Study to identify risk factors. Published 2012. This article is a US Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
The evaluation of CT urography in the haematuria clinic
Authors: Bromage Stephen J , Liew Matthew , Moore Katie , Raju Baskar , Shackley Dave
Published: July 2012

Objective:

We set out to evaluate the diagnostic yield of a haematuria clinic that utilised CT Urography (CTU) as the primary imaging modality in order to provide some guidance on imaging in this setting.

Patients and methods:

Records of 1000 consecutive patients attending a haematuria clinic over a 2-year period were analysed. Patients aged over 40 years with either visible (VH) or non-visible haematuria (NVH) underwent CTU & cystoscopy unless contraindicated.

Results:

560 males and 440 females (median age 62 years; range 17–98) were assessed. 130 malignancies related to the urinary tract were identified from the clinic; 17% for men and 8% for women. There were no upper tract urothelial tumours in patients under the age of 50 years, yet 4 were identified in patients over 50 years who presented with NVH. 28 patients who were found to have a positive MSU were diagnosed with an underlying malignancy, all over the age of 50 and 22 of these with VH.

Conclusion:

Our results aid in the development of an evidence-based protocol for the use of CTU in haematuria assessment. We also suggest full investigation of patients presenting with VH over the age of 50 and a positive MSU.
Novel Adaptors of Amyloid Precursor Protein Intracellular Domain and Their Functional Implications
Authors: Chakrabarti Arunabha , Mukhopadhyay Debashis
Published: July 2012

Amyloid precursor protein intracellular domain (AICD) is one of the potential candidates in deciphering the complexity of Alzheimer’s disease. It plays important roles in determining cell fate and neurodegeneration through its interactions with several adaptors. The presence or absence of phosphorylation at specific sites determines the choice of partners. In this study, we identified 20 novel AICD-interacting proteins by in vitro pull down experiments followed by 2D gel electrophoresis and MALDI-MS analysis. The identified proteins can be grouped into different functional classes including molecular chaperones, structural proteins, signaling and transport molecules, adaptors, motor proteins and apoptosis determinants. Interactions of nine proteins were further validated either by colocalization using confocal imaging or by co-immunoprecipitation followed by immunoblotting. The cellular functions of most of the proteins can be correlated with AD. Hence, illustration of their interactions with AICD may shed some light on the disease pathophysiology.
Adoption and continuation of contraception following medical or surgical abortion in Bihar and Jharkhand, India
Authors: Kalyanwala Shveta , Acharya Rajib , Francis Zavier A.J.
Published: July 2012

Objective

This study was carried out to explore whether the rates of postabortion adoption of a contraceptive method, and continuation of contraception over 6 months, differ among women undergoing medical abortion (MA) or surgical abortion by manual vacuum aspiration (MVA).

Methods

The study was conducted in Bihar and Jharkhand, 2 of the least‐developed states of India. The analysis focused on 679 married women who were followed up 6 months after they underwent MA (n = 308) or MVA (n = 371) at clinics run by Janani, a nonprofit organization.

Results

The rates of adoption and continuation of contraception were similar in the 2 groups, although with some notable distinctions in the timing of adoption of contraception and the method of contraception adopted. While the women who underwent MA were significantly less likely to adopt contraception in the month following abortion (58% vs 86%), this difference had narrowed considerably by the end of the second month (82% vs 91%); and by the end of the sixth month (89% vs 94%), respectively. There were no significant differences between the MA and the MVA groups with respect to the continuation of reversible contraception.

Conclusions

The findings indicate that, in a setting that offers comprehensive counseling and a range of contraceptive methods, and where adoption of contraception is voluntary, a large majority of women will adopt and continue to use a method of contraception after an abortion even in these less developed parts of India.
Factors associated with choice of medical or surgical abortion among women in Nepal
Authors: Tamang Anand , Tuladhar Shareen , Tamang Jyotsna , Ganatra Bela , Dulal Bishnu
Published: July 2012

Objective

To investigate factors associated with women's choice of medical abortion (MA) or manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) in Nepal, where the government recently began offering MA services.

Methods

Structured exit interviews were conducted between January 19 and May 21, 2010, with women with a pregnancy of 63 days or less who underwent abortions at 7 clinics in 3 districts of Nepal. All those who accepted MA, and 1 in each 4 or 5 of those who underwent MVA, were invited for an interview. Of those interviewed, 499 chose MA and 542 underwent MVA.

Results

Many women were not aware of both abortion methods before they came to the clinic. The odds of choosing MA were more than 3 times as high among those who knew about both methods as among those who did not. Of those who had decided on MVA prior to receiving information at the clinic, 29% chose MA. In contrast, only 10% of those who intended to accept MA opted for MVA after receiving information and counseling. Women who had more education, were of the upper Hindu caste, or resided in urban areas were more likely to choose MA.

Conclusion

Information and counseling have a large impact on the women's choice of an abortion method. To expand access to MA and to ensure that women can make an informed choice, it is essential that the government of Nepal create positions for trained counselors at all public abortion clinics.
Introducing medical abortion in Turkey: Perspectives of physicians
Authors: Akin Ayşe , Doğan Bahar G. , Özvaris Şevkat B. , Mihçiokur Sare
Published: July 2012

Objective

To better understand the knowledge, attitudes, and perspectives on medical abortion (MA) held by physicians in Turkey.

Methods

The study was conducted in 4 provinces. Pretested, structured, self‐administered questionnaires were answered by 187 obstetricians‐gynecologists (ob‐gyns) and 268 general physicians (GPs).

Results

Although MA is not yet available at reproductive health facilities in Turkey, 96% of the ob‐gyns and 82% of the GPs said they had heard about it. Moreover, 60% of the former and 5% of the latter said they had performed MAs, most commonly using misoprostol alone. More than 90% of the ob‐gyns and 13% of the GPs had performed surgical abortions, and most (71% and 78%) thought that MA should be offered in the country.

Conclusion

Most physicians in Turkey are aware of MA, with a large majority supporting its wider use. However, their concerns about the method and the incorrect understanding of its risks and possible complications may explain the reluctance of some physicians to provide MA services. These issues should be covered in physician training programs before the formal introduction of MA, while advocacy efforts press for registering mifepristone and misoprostol for its use.
Ethical Problems and Genetics Practice
Authors: Parker Michael
Published: July 2012

Ethical Problems and Genetics Practice provides a rich, case-based account of the ethical issues arising in the genetics clinic and laboratory. By analysing a wide range of evocative and often arresting cases from practice, Michael Parker provides a compelling insight into the complex moral world of the contemporary genetics professional and the challenges they face in the care of patients and their families. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the ethical issues arising in everyday genetics practice. Ethical Problems and Genetics Practice is also a sustained engagement with the relationships between bioethics and social science. In proposing and exemplifying a new approach to bioethics, it makes a significant contribution to debates on methods and interdisciplinarity and will therefore also appeal to all those concerned with theoretical and methodological approaches to bioethics and social science.
Resisting the European Court of Justice
Authors: Davies Bill
Published: July 2012

The European Union's (EU) powerful legal framework drives the process of European integration. The Court of Justice (ECJ) has established a uniquely effective supranational legal order, beyond the original wording of the Treaty of Rome and transforming our traditional understanding of international law. This work investigates how these fundamental transformations in the European legal system were received in one of the most important member states, Germany. On the one hand, Germany has been highly supportive of political and economic integration; yet on the other, a fundamental pillar of the post-war German identity was the integrity of its constitutional order. How did a state whose constitution was so essential to its self-understanding subscribe to the constitutional practice of EU law? How did a country who could not say 'no' to Europe become the member state most reluctant to accept the new power of the ECJ?
Features of protein–protein interactions that translate into potent inhibitors: topology, surface area and affinity
Authors: Smith Matthew C. , Gestwicki Jason E.
Published: July 2012

Protein–protein interactions (PPIs) control the assembly of multi-protein complexes and, thus, these contacts have enormous potential as drug targets. However, the field has produced a mix of both exciting success stories and frustrating challenges. Here, we review known examples and explore how the physical features of a PPI, such as its affinity, hotspots, off-rates, buried surface area and topology, might influence the chances of success in finding inhibitors. This analysis suggests that concise, tight binding PPIs are most amenable to inhibition. However, it is also clear that emerging technical methods are expanding the repertoire of ‘druggable’ protein contacts and increasing the odds against difficult targets. In particular, natural product-like compound libraries, high throughput screens specifically designed for PPIs and approaches that favour discovery of allosteric inhibitors appear to be attractive routes. The first group of PPI inhibitors has entered clinical trials, further motivating the need to understand the challenges and opportunities in pursuing these types of targets.
THE BEGINNING (OR END) OF MOROCCAN HISTORY: HISTORIOGRAPHY, TRANSLATION, AND MODERNITY IN AHMAD B. KHALID AL-NASIRI AND CLEMENTE CERDEIRA
Authors: Calderwood Eric
Published: July 2012

This article analyzes two accounts of the Hispano-Moroccan War of 1859–60 in light of scholarly debates about historiography, translation, and modernity in the colonial context. The first text is Ahmad b. Khalid al-Nasiri'sKitab al-Istiqsa(1895), which explores the organization of the Spanish army in an effort to understand the military technology and state apparatus behind colonial domination. The second text, Clemente Cerdeira'sVersión árabe de la Guerra de África(1917), is framed as an annotated Spanish translation of al-Nasiri's text, but Cerdeira suppresses key passages from al-Nasiri's account in order to undermine any hint that the Moroccan historian's thinking is reformist or modern. By comparing these two accounts of the same war, the article aims to situate al-Nasiri's text within the reform movements that spread through the Muslim Mediterranean in the 19th century and to use al-Nasiri's historical thinking as a model for theorizing Moroccan modernity.
THE “JEWISH QUESTION” IN POSTCOLONIAL MOROCCAN CINEMA
Authors: Kosansky Oren , Boum Aomar
Published: July 2012

In this historically and anthropologically oriented article, we situate the recent wave of Jewish-themed Moroccan films within the context of the liberalizing transformations and associated nationalist narratives promoted by the current Moroccan regime. Reflecting Mohammed VI's commitment to widening the space of civil society, the task of enacting these transformations and producing these narratives devolves increasingly to nonstate agents in the public sphere. Previously monopolized and managed more comprehensively by the state, the “Jewish Question”—that is, contestations over representations of Jews as authentic members of the Moroccan body politic—is now taken up in a range of public media less subject to direct government control. We demonstrate that the role of cinema in this process reflects the shifting relationship between state and civil society in the late postcolonial period. More specifically, we argue that the production, circulation, and reception of Jewish-themed films is diagnostic of the state's ability to open new spaces of public representation and debate that foster precisely those images of the state and nation promoted by the current regime in regional and global contexts.
THEORIZING FROM THE PERIPHERY: THE INTELLECTUAL PROJECT OF MAHDI ʿAMIL
Authors: Frangie Samer
Published: July 2012

The paper will draw the contours of the intellectual project of Mahdi ʿAmil (1936–87), a prominent Lebanese Marxist. It will start by relocating ʿAmil's work in the generalproblématiqueof the adaptation and adoption of theories in the periphery, looking at the process of translation he deploys in his construction of an “Arab Marxism.” After presenting his project, the paper will focus on its diachronic dimension, by presenting two developments that threatened ʿAmil's overarching project, namely, the Lebanese civil war in the 1970s and the rise of a new register of critique in the 1980s, epitomized by the work of Edward Said. The paper will conclude with a discussion of the contemporary relevance of ʿAmil's work to the historiography of modern Arab political thought.
Synergies between Middle Eastern Economic History and the Analytic Social Sciences
Authors: Kuran Timur
Published: July 2012

Over the past half century, the scholarly literature on Middle Eastern economic history has grown substantially. By mining the surviving records of states and towns, scholars steeped in the region's languages have produced detailed studies of waqfs, guilds, taxation, government expenditures, monetary trends, production, land use, charity, and court systems, among many other topics. In carrying out their work, Middle Eastern historians can now draw on abundant publications that describe economic life in particular places and periods.
On the Use of Sources in Ottoman Economic History
Authors: Ergene Boğaç A.
Published: July 2012

Economic history is an underdeveloped discipline in Middle Eastern historiography. Within our field, economic history articles are not published often, and books on economic history are rare. It is true that certain topics have been better explored than others, as Maya Shatzmiller's contribution to this roundtable on medieval economic history shows. Previous scholarship on Ottoman economic history has focused on land tenure, fiscal practices and institutions, artisanal production and organization (almost exclusively in urban areas), economic and charitable functions ofawqāf, and, especially for the 19th century, questions relevant to Ottoman incorporation into the capitalist world system. There also exist studies on urban and rural markets, regional and long-distance trade networks, and economic activities of specific individuals (primarily government officials and provincial notables), although these tend to be descriptive. But there are very limited numbers of studies on standards of living; levels, accumulation, and distribution of wealth; productivity in agricultural production and manufacture; demography (especially for the 17th and 18th centuries); credit relations and financial institutions; and economic development. As in the literature on medieval Islamic contexts, sophisticated quantitative research is particularly rare, which makes empirically based comparisons among different parts of the region and with other parts of the world very difficult.
Felix Eboue and the Chiefs: Perceptions of Power in Early Oubangui-Chari
Authors: Weinstein Brian
Published: July 2012

Discussions about ‘direct’ administration and ‘indirect’ administration, with regard to French and British colonial policies, are less important than the question of who—local leaders or colonial administrators—had power over the lives of Africans. Monthly reports written by heads of subdivisions, the smallest French administrative units in a colony like Oubangui-Chari, are the most important written source of information for the day-to-day events of an area. They are also a source for the point of view of the administrator, often quite different from the point of view of chiefs and villagers. The European often sees himself as the central figure and colonial administrative problems as the central issues for everyone. African memories of the same period indicate that the European may have been considered less important by African peasants than their chief, whether the chief had a legitimate traditional basis or not, and that administrative issues were considered less important than certain local problems unknown to the European. This study of Félix Eboué and Raymond Sokambi, an administrator and a chief in Oubangui-Chari, shows that an attempt to examine perceptions of power—one basis for power—is a way to understand relations between the colonial administration and African society.
Masai and Kikuyu Responses to the Establishment of British Administration in the East Africa Protectorate
Authors: Mungeam G. H.
Published: July 2012

This paper attempts to study the contrasting responses of two Kenya tribes, the Masai and the Kikuyu, to the establishment of British administration. It suggests that neither reacted in the way expected of them by early British officials, who anticipated that the Masai would forcefully oppose the British entry, while little or no resistance was expected from the Kikuyu.

Instead, the Masai actively co-operated with the British, through the support of a laibon, Lenana, and the provision of levies who accompanied British punitive expeditions. Although twice removed from their lands, the Masai still did not fight, but appealed to the law courts. When this failed, they showed little or no interest in further opposition. Although apparently having some cause to resent treatment received at the hands of the British, they showed virtually no interest in the protest movements of the twenties.

By contrast the Kikuyu, far from standing aside as had been expected, opposed the British entry in a series of short engagements, in which they suffered considerable casualties. Soon, however, collaborators began to emerge and ‘chiefs’ such as Kinyanjui—created by the British and beholden to them–benefited considerably from the connexion. Despite this co-operation, the earlier resentments continued and were reinforced by losses of land to European settlers, and by the unsettling effects upon tribal life of the proximity of Nairobi and the teaching of the missions. When, after the acute sufferings of the war years, further demands were made by the government, the Kikuyu responded by active participation in organized political protest.

Possible reasons are put forward for these contrasting responses, and the suggestion is made that differing attitudes to the protest movements of the twenties can be more fully appreciated when the history of these earlier years is taken into account.
Coping strategies and social support-seeking behaviour among Chinese caring for older people with dementia
Authors: AU ALMA , SHARDLOW STEVEN M. , TENG YUE , TSIEN TERESA , CHAN CHARLES
Published: July 2012

The study reviewed coping and help-seeking behaviour among Hong Kong Chinese family care-givers of older people diagnosed with dementia. A convenience sample of those caring for family members with dementia (N=11) was recruited in Hong Kong. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, transcribed and analysed using NVivo. The study found evidence of distinct Chinese coping strategies that focused upon internal self-regulation, forbearance and family obligations. In terms of help-seeking behaviour, these care-givers expressed great concern about bothering their family members. When there is a desperate need for help, they turn to community services. Results are discussed in the context of both traditional Chinese cultural values as well as the modern transformations of the Chinese society. In particular, Eastern philosophical teachings tend to focus on changing personal inner perception and thoughts rather than attempting to change the environment. Although family obligations have been traditionally upheld, many modern Chinese societies are undergoing social and demographic changes, resulting in marked decline in multi-generational households. Our findings can have applications not only for Chinese cities but also may have implications to the West as strong well-established Chinese communities are widespread.
Constraint programming for air traffic management: a survey
Authors: Allignol Cyril , Barnier Nicolas , Flener Pierre , Pearson Justin
Published: July 2012

Air traffic management (ATM) under its current paradigm is reaching its structural limits considering the continuously growing demand. The need for a decrease in traffic workload opens numerous problems for optimization, from capacity balancing to conflict solving, using many different degrees of freedom, such as re-routing, flight-level changes, or ground-holding schemes. These problems are usually of a large dimension (there are 30 000 daily flights in Europe in the year 2012) and highly combinatorial, hence challenging for current problem solving technologies. We give brief tutorials on ATM and constraint programming (CP), and survey the literature on deploying CP technology for modelling and solving combinatorial problems that occur in an ATM context.
Scheduling safe movement of air traffic in crowded air spaces
Authors: Hildum David W. , Smith Stephen F.
Published: July 2012

This paper considers the problem of generating conflict-free movement schedules for a set of vehicles that are operating simultaneously in a common airspace. In both civilian air traffic management and military air campaign planning contexts, it is crucial that the movements of different vehicles be coordinated so as to avoid collisions and near misses. Our approach starts from a view of airspace management as a 4D resource allocation problem, where the space in which vehicles must maneuver is itself managed as a capacitated resource. We introduce a linear octree representation of airspace capacity to index vector-based vehicle routes and efficiently detect regions of potential conflict. Generalizing the notion of contention-based search heuristics, we next define a scheduling algorithm that proceeds by first solving a relaxed version of the problem to construct a spatial capacity profile (represented as an octree), and then using spatio-temporal regions where demand exceeds capacity to make conflict-avoiding vehicle routing and scheduling decisions. We illustrate the utility of this basic representation and search algorithm in two ways. First, to demonstrate the overall viability of the approach, we present experimental results using data representing a realistically sized air campaign planning domain. Second, we define a more abstract notion of ‘encounter set’, which tolerates some amount of conflict on the assumption that on-board deconfliction processes can take appropriate avoidance maneuvers at execution time, and show that generation of this more abstract form of predictive guidance can be obtained without loss in computational efficiency.
Habitat selection and conservation status of the endemic Ninox hawk-owl on Cebu, Philippines
Authors: JAKOSALEM P. GODFREY C. , COLLAR NIGEL J. , GILL JENNIFER A.
Published: July 2012

The largely deforested island of Cebu, Philippines, hosts a forest-dwelling hawk-owl identified in the literature as Ninox philippensis spilonota but which is in fact a Cebu island endemic species, soon to be named. To determine the current distribution and habitat requirements of this hawk-owl, the five largest of 11 remaining forest patches on Cebu were surveyed between March and June 2011, involving 64 post-sunset 500-m walked transects with playback and habitat assessments. Radio-telemetry studies were also conducted on 10 owls but only for 3–5 days per owl as they removed the transmitters. A total of 52 owls were located across all five forests (at 16 sites two owls responded together to playback) but only the largest forest, Alcoy, contained enough transects for analyses of habitat in relation to owl distribution. Alcoy stands on steep-sided hills and some planting of exotic species occurs within it. Owls were detected in forest interior, forest edge and forest-plantation mix in Alcoy, and on ridges and in gullies despite lower tree densities and greater proximity to clearings in the gullies. However, parts of Alcoy experience strong winds, and owl occupancy decreased significantly with increasing wind speed. Home ranges for the 10 radio-tagged owls were estimated to cover ∼10 ha, although given the short tracking periods this may be an underestimate. Suitable forest studied covers roughly 1,670 ha, with six unstudied forests totalling 250 ha, so assuming a pair every 10 ha would give a tentative global population estimate of ∼ 200 pairs of Cebu Hawk-owls, and even fewer if home ranges are larger than estimated. This, coupled with continuing habitat degradation, triggers the IUCN Red List category ‘Endangered’. Tree cavities suitable for nests may be limiting, and nest-box provision could be explored, provided this does not increase predator pressure on other rare species.
Are Stable Instances Easy?
Authors: BILU YONATAN , LINIAL NATHAN
Published: July 2012

We introduce the notion of a stable instance for a discrete optimization problem, and argue that in many practical situations only sufficiently stable instances are of interest. The question then arises whether stable instances of NP-hard problems are easier to solve, and in particular, whether there exist algorithms that solve in polynomial time all sufficiently stable instances of some NP-hard problem. The paper focuses on the Max-Cut problem, for which we show that this is indeed the case.
Neuron–Glial Interactions in the Developing Cerebellum
Authors: Dunaevsky Anna
Published: July 2012

Advances in microscopy allow one to probe the structure of neurons and their interactions with astrocytes in brain slices and in vivo at ever increasing resolution. Moreover, the dynamic interactions between the cells can be examined in live preparation. In this paper we discuss how a variety of imaging approaches: confocal microscopy, electron microscopy, and multiphoton time-lapse microscopy are employed to probe neuron glia interactions in the developing cerebellum.
On-Column 2pBound State with Topological Charge ±1 Excited by an Atomic-Size Vortex Beam in an Aberration-Corrected Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope
Authors: Xin Huolin L. , Zheng Haimei
Published: July 2012

Atomic-size vortex beams have great potential in probing the magnetic moment of materials at atomic scales. However, the limited depth of field of vortex beams constrains the probing depth in which the helical phase front is preserved. On the other hand, electron channeling in crystals can counteract beam divergence and extend the vortex beam without disrupting its topological charge. Specifically, in this article, we report that atomic vortex beams with topological charge ±1 can be coupled to the 2pcolumnar bound states and propagate for more than 50 nm without being dispersed and losing its helical phase front. We give numerical solutions to the 2pcolumnar orbitals and tabulate the characteristic size of the 2pstates of two typical elements, Co and Dy, for various incident beam energies and various atomic densities. The tabulated numbers allow estimates of the optimal convergence angle for maximal coupling to 2pcolumnar orbital. We have also developed analytic formulae for beam energy, convergence angle, and hologram-dependent scaling for various characteristic sizes. These length scales are useful for the design of pitch-fork apertures and operations of microscopes in the vortex-beam imaging mode.
α,ω-Dihexylsexithiophene Self-Assembled Nanostructures on Mica: Atomic Force Microscopy Study
Authors: Wang Li , Ye Shuhong , Yuan Huizhen , Song Yonghai , Zhu Haozhi , Hou Haoqing , Li Pengcheng
Published: July 2012

Self-assembled nanostructures of α,ω-dihexylsexithiophene (DH6T) formed by spreading DH6T solutions onto freshly cleaved mica surface were studied by atomic force microscopy. The effects of solvent and concentration on the nanostructures of DH6T molecules were studied. Flat, well-ordered, and platelet-like domains were observed on mica surfaces after treatment with various polar solvent solutions of DH6T. These domains form a uniform film with height of 2.4 ± 0.2 nm, which is consistent with a 45° tilt in the molecular conformation of DH6T on mica surfaces. The formation mechanism of these multilayers is discussed in detail.
The Single Molecule Imaging Approach to Membrane Protein Stoichiometry
Authors: Hallworth Richard , Nichols Michael G.
Published: July 2012

Recent technical advances have enabled the imaging of single fluorescent molecules. The application of single molecule visualization techniques has opened up new avenues of experimentation in biology at the molecular level. In this article, we review the application of single fluorescent molecule visualization and analysis to an important problem, that of subunit stoichiometry in membrane proteins, with particular emphasis on our approach. Single fluorescent molecules, coupled to fluorescent proteins, are localized in the membranes of cells. The molecules are then exposed to continuous low-level excitation until their fluorescent emissions reach background levels. The high sensitivity of modern instrumentation has enabled direct observations of discrete step decreases in the fluorescence of single molecules, which represent the bleaching of single fluorophores. By counting the number of steps over a large number of single molecules, an average step count is determined from which the stoichiometry is deduced using a binomial model. We examined the stoichiometry of a protein, prestin, that is central to mammalian hearing. We discuss how we prepared, identified, and imaged single molecules of prestin. The methodological considerations behind our approach are described and compared to similar procedures in other laboratories.
From cosmos to intelligent life: the four ages of astrobiology
Authors: Gleiser Marcelo
Published: July 2012

The history of life on Earth and in other potential life-bearing planetary platforms is deeply linked to the history of the Universe. Since life, as we know, relies on chemical elements forged in dying heavy stars, the Universe needs to be old enough for stars to form and evolve. The current cosmological theory indicates that the Universe is 13.7 ± 0.13 billion years old and that the first stars formed hundreds of millions of years after the Big Bang. At least some stars formed with stable planetary systems wherein a set of biochemical reactions leading to life could have taken place. In this paper, I argue that we can divide cosmological history into four ages, from the Big Bang to intelligent life. The physical age describes the origin of the Universe, of matter, of cosmic nucleosynthesis, as well as the formation of the first stars and Galaxies. The chemical age began when heavy stars provided the raw ingredients for life through stellar nucleosynthesis and describes how heavier chemical elements collected in nascent planets and Moons gave rise to prebiotic biomolecules. The biological age describes the origin of early life, its evolution through Darwinian natural selection and the emergence of complex multicellular life forms. Finally, the cognitive age describes how complex life evolved into intelligent life capable of self-awareness and of developing technology through the directed manipulation of energy and materials. I conclude discussing whether we are the rule or the exception.