bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Divide and Conquer or Divide and Concede: How Do States Respond to Internally Divided Separatists?
Authors: CUNNINGHAM KATHLEEN GALLAGHER
Published: April 2011

Why do states make concessions to some self-determination movements but not others? This article explores the role of the internal characteristics of these movements, demonstrating that their internal structures play a major role in determining which groups get concessions. Using new data on the structure of self-determination movements and the concessions they receive, I evaluate whether states respond to internally divided movements by trying to “divide and conquer” or “divide and concede.” Consistent with the latter approach, I find that internally divided movements receive concessions at a much higher rate than unitary ones and that the more divided the movement is the more likely it is to receive concessions. Yet, concessions to unitary movements appear to work better to settle these disputes. This suggests that states use concessions not only as a tool to resolve disputes, but also as part of the bargaining process.
Deliberation, Democracy, and the Rule of Reason in Aristotle'sPolitics
Authors: WILSON JAMES LINDLEY
Published: April 2011

Deliberative democratic theorists argue that important moral questions turn on whether regimes are sufficiently deliberative. To attribute “deliberativeness” to a regime, we need an account of “deliberative integration” that connects such a holistic assessment to the acts or qualities of individuals and smaller groups. I turn to Aristotle'sPoliticsfor instruction in developing such accounts, arguing that he judges regimes according to how reliably they act pursuant to excellent common deliberation—a manner of excellent rule that I call the “rule of reason.” I then interpret Aristotle's metaphorical argument for the “wisdom of the multitude” to establish the claim that democracies may best integrate citizens’ deliberations. This interpretation illuminates Aristotle's complex evaluation of regimes, including his ambivalent views on the rule of the many. It also suggests a structure for contemporary accounts of deliberative integration helpful even for those who differ from Aristotle in their basic moral concerns.
Secularism Beyond the State: the ‘State’ and the ‘Market’ in Islamist Imagination
Authors: IQTIDAR HUMEIRA
Published: April 2011

This paper will build on my ethnographic engagement with the Jamaat-e-Islami to explore aspects of a shift in Islamist practice and imagination from the ‘state’ as the inspiration for projects and movements to the ‘market’. In doing so I hope to investigate not just what this might tell us about Islamism in Pakistan, but also about the ability of the state to manage religion more generally. My aim is three-fold: first, to record the particular modalities of changes within Islamism in Pakistan; second, to show that these shifts betray a closer alignment between the global political imagination and Islamism than has previously been acknowledged; and third, in discussing these issues, to explore the implications of the idea of market as an important contender to the dominance of the idea of the state in political mobilizations. While recent discussions about secularism, following Talal Asad,1have tended to focus on the disciplinary force exerted by the state, this paper suggests that the market has emerged as a potentially more significant, though under-recognized, disciplinary force.
Secularism and the State in Pakistan: Introduction
Authors: IQTIDAR HUMEIRA , GILMARTIN DAVID
Published: April 2011

Pakistan occupies an uncertain and paradoxical space in debates about secularism. On the one hand, the academic consensus (if there is any), traces a problematic history of secularism in Pakistan to its founding Muslim nationalist ideology, which purportedly predisposed the country towards the contemporary dominance of religion in social and political discourse. For some, the reconciliation of secularism with religious nationalism has been a doomed project; a country founded on religious nationalism could, in this view, offer no future other than its present of Talibans, Drone attacks and Islamist threats. But on the other hand, Pakistan has also been repeatedly held out as a critical site for the redemptive power of secularism in the Muslim world. The idea that religious nationalism and secularism could combine to provide a path for the creation of a specifically Muslim state on the Indian subcontinent is often traced to the rhetoric of Pakistan's founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. But debate among Muslim League leaders specifically on the relationship of religious nationalism with secularism—and indeed on the nature of the Pakistani state itself—was limited in the years before partition in 1947. Nevertheless, using aspects of Jinnah's rhetoric and holding out the promise of secularism's redemptive power, a military dictator, Pervez Musharraf, was able to secure international legitimacy and support for almost a decade.
Sensitivity to stress among the offspring of parents with bipolar disorder: a study of daytime cortisol levels
Authors: Ostiguy C. S. , Ellenbogen M. A. , Walker C.-D. , Walker E. F. , Hodgins S.
Published: April 2011

Background

It is well known that the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis is compromised in major depression and bipolar disorder. There is increasing evidence that subtle HPA abnormalities, such as elevated cortisol levels, precede the development of an affective disorder. Interpersonal stress is also associated with the development of affective disorders. The present study sought to determine whether interpersonal chronic and episodic stress moderated the relationship between cortisol levels in the natural environment and risk status, defined as having a parent with bipolar disorder.

Method

Sixty-two offspring of parents with bipolar disorder (OBD) and 60 offspring with no family history of affective disorders (OFH−), aged 19.48 years (s.d.=3.38, range 14–28), completed interviews assessing mental disorders and chronic and episodic stress, and provided saliva samples over 3 days.

Results

Regression analyses revealed that the OBD who experienced high interpersonal chronic stress displayed a larger cortisol rise following awakening than the OBD reporting low interpersonal chronic stress. The same relationship was also found for levels of non-interpersonal chronic stress. The OBD who reported experiencing severe interpersonal episodic stress exhibited higher levels of daytime cortisol than the OBD reporting interpersonal episodic stress of mild severity. Importantly, none of the above relationships were detected in the OFH−. Each of the interactions between family history of affective disorders and stress remained after controlling for age, gender and offspring lifetime affective disorders and current non-affective disorders.

Conclusions

A biological sensitivity to stress may underlie the susceptibility to affective disorders among the OBD.
The relationship between coping and subclinical psychotic experiences in adolescents from the general population – a longitudinal study
Authors: Lin A. , Wigman J. T. W. , Nelson B. , Vollebergh W. A. M. , van Os J. , Baksheev G. , Ryan J. , Raaijmakers Q. A. W. , Thompson A. , Yung A. R.
Published: April 2011

Background

Subclinical psychotic experiences during adolescence may represent liability for developing psychotic disorder. Both coping style and the degree of persistence of psychotic experiences may play a role in the progression to clinical psychotic disorder, but little is known about the causal relationship between the two.

Method

Path modelling was used to examine longitudinal relationships between subclinical positive psychotic experiences and three styles of coping (task-, emotion- and avoidance-oriented) in an adolescent general population sample (n=813) assessed three times in 3 years. Distinct developmental trajectories of psychotic experiences, identified with growth mixture modelling, were compared on the use of these coping styles.

Results

Over time, emotion-oriented coping in general was bi-directionally related to psychotic experiences. No meaningful results were found for task- or avoidance-oriented coping. Females reported using a wider range of coping styles than males, but the paths between coping and psychotic experiences did not differ by gender. Persistence of psychotic experiences was associated with a greater use of emotion-oriented coping, whereas a decrease in experiences over time was associated with an increased use of task-orientated coping.

Conclusions

Emotion-oriented coping is the most important coping style in relation to psychotic experiences, as it may contribute to a ‘vicious cycle’ and is associated with persistence of experiences. In addition, more task-oriented coping may result in a decrease in psychotic experiences. Results suggest that opportunities for intervention may already be present at the level of subclinical psychosis.
Increased mortality risk among offspring of mothers with postnatal depression: a nationwide population-based study in Taiwan
Authors: Chen Y.-H. , Tsai S.-Y. , Lin H.-C.
Published: April 2011

Background

There is compelling evidence that children of mothers with postnatal depression (PD) experience poor developmental outcomes. However, no studies have specifically ascertained the risk of mortality for offspring during preschool years, the most catastrophic outcome in the vulnerable period. This nationwide population-based study aimed to investigate whether maternal depression in the first year after giving birth was associated with increased mortality risk among their preschool children aged up to 5 years.

Method

Three nationwide population-based datasets [the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD), birth certificate registry and death certificate registry] were linked in this study. A total of 10 236 offspring of mothers with PD were recruited, together with a comparison cohort of 81 888 births matched with the affected women in terms of maternal age and year of delivery. Each child was traced for 5 years from delivery between 2001 and 2003 until the end of 2008 to determine mortality during preschool years.

Results

During preschool years, 98 (0.96%) deaths were identified among the offspring of mothers with PD and 470 (0.57%) children in the comparison cohort died. For children up to 5 years old, exposure to maternal PD was independently associated with a 1.47-fold [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.16–1.87] increased mortality risk, after adjusting for family income, urbanization level and the characteristics of mother, father and infant. The risk of death by unnatural causes was even higher (about 2.23 times the risk, 95% CI 1.34–3.70) among exposed offspring.

Conclusions

PD places preschool children at significantly increased risk of mortality, especially from unnatural causes of death.
Electronic detectors for electron microscopy
Authors: Faruqi A. R. , McMullan G.
Published: April 2011

Electron microscopy (EM) is an important tool for high-resolution structure determination in applications ranging from condensed matter to biology. Electronic detectors are now used in most applications in EM as they offer convenience and immediate feedback that is not possible with film or image plates. The earliest forms of electronic detector used routinely in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were charge coupled devices (CCDs) and for many applications these remain perfectly adequate. There are however applications, such as the study of radiation-sensitive biological samples, where film is still used and improved detectors would be of great value. The emphasis in this review is therefore on detectors for use in such applications. Two of the most promising candidates for improved detection are: monolithic active pixel sensors (MAPS) and hybrid pixel detectors (of which Medipix2 was chosen for this study). From the studies described in this review, a back-thinned MAPS detector appears well suited to replace film in for the study of radiation-sensitive samples at 300 keV, while Medipix2 is suited to use at lower energies and especially in situations with very low count rates.

The performance of a detector depends on the energy of electrons to be recorded, which in turn is dependent on the application it is being used for; results are described for a wide range of electron energies ranging from 40 to 300 keV. The basic properties of detectors are discussed in terms of their modulation transfer function (MTF) and detective quantum efficiency (DQE) as a function of spatial frequency.
Alexander Hamilton's Notes on Plutarch in His Pay Book
Authors: Stadter Philip
Published: April 2011

Alexander Hamilton's notes to his reading of two pairs of Plutarch's Parallel Lives, Theseus-Romulus and Lycurgus-Numa, probably made in the winter of 1777–1778 at Valley Forge, reveal his early attention to the rewards of founding a new state, the natures and advantages of different political institutions, and economic, social, military, and cultural practices. They furnish a valuable testament to Hamilton's early intellectual development. He focuses on monarchy and the danger of tyranny and on the institutions by which states had limited the power of monarchs and of the popular will: the senate at Rome and the gerousia and later the ephors at Sparta. Hamilton admires Numa's use of religion to nourish civil society, while his interest in the Spartans' treatment of their helots is a testimony to his early concern about the problem of slavery.
Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: The Persistent Complexities of Race and Politics in the US
Authors: Robertson D. Osei
Published: April 2011

Although the United States has elected an African American president, since that election there have been numerous indicators that racism remains a persistent, and complex, issue in America. Shortly after President Obama took office, for example, renowned Harvard University professor Henry “Skip” Gates was arrested for being uncooperative with the responding officer when police mistook him for a burglar at his own home. This incident served as a small reminder of the resilient nature of racism in the United States. More importantly, there has been an increase in the number of hate groups since 2008, and the proposed plans for an Islamic cultural center near the site of the former World Trade Center have initiated a wave of anti-Islamic sentiment. Despite the hope that Barack Obama would usher in a new era in race relations, it seems as though his election has brought to the surface tensions that some people assumed had disappeared. Among scholars of black politics, race serves as the central construct. In some cases, race serves as a lens through which other variables such as class and gender are filtered. In other cases, race serves as the key independent variable explaining a number of factors that influence the lives of blacks. Each of the texts reviewed in this essay examines issues of race to varying degrees, and each one reveals the complex nature and long-lasting impact of race on American society.
Homogeneous orbit closures and applications
Authors: LINDENSTRAUSS ELON , SHAPIRA URI
Published: April 2011

We give new classes of examples of orbits of the diagonal group in the space of unit volume lattices in ℝd for d≥3 with nice (homogeneous) orbit closures, as well as examples of orbits with explicitly computable but irregular orbit closures. We give Diophantine applications to the former; for instance, we show that, for all γ,δ∈ℝ, where 〈c〉 denotes the distance of a real number c to the integers.
Non-intersecting splitting σ-algebras in a non-Bernoulli transformation
Authors: KALIKOW STEVEN
Published: April 2011

Given a measure-preserving transformation T on a Lebesgue σ-algebra, a complete T-invariant sub-σ-algebra is said to split if there is another complete T-invariant sub-σ-algebra on which T is Bernoulli which is completely independent of the given sub-σ-algebra and such that the two sub-σ-algebras together generate the entire σ-algebra. It is easily shown that two splitting sub-σ-algebras with nothing in common imply T to be K. Here it is shown that T does not have to be Bernoulli by exhibiting two such non-intersecting σ-algebras for the T,T−1 transformation, negatively answering a question posed by Thouvenot in 1975.
Introduction: Lay Participation in the History of Scientific Observation
Authors: Vetter Jeremy
Published: April 2011

Why and how have lay people participated in scientific observation? And on what terms have they collaborated with experts and professionals? We have become accustomed to the involvement of lay observers in the practice of many branches of science, including both the natural and human sciences, usually as subordinates to experts. The current surge of interest in this phenomenon, as well as in the closely related topic of how expertise has been constructed, suggests that historians of science can offer a valuable contribution to these vital questions. A historical approach to lay participation allows us to better understand the making of expert-lay relations in science, and it offers a broader, long-term perspective on contemporary debates about that boundary.
Clergymen Abiding in the Fields: The Making of the Naturalist Observer in Eighteenth-Century Norwegian Natural History
Authors: Brenna Brita
Published: April 2011

Argument

By the mid-eighteenth century, governors of the major European states promoted the study of nature as part of natural-resource based schemes for improvement and economic self-sufficiency. Procuring beneficial knowledge about nature, however, required observers, collectors, and compilers who could produce usable and useful descriptions of nature. The ways governments promoted scientific explorations varied according to the form of government, the makeup of the civil society, the state's economic ideologies and practices, and the geographical situation. This article argues that the roots of a major natural history initiative in Denmark-Norway were firmly planted in the state-church organization. Through the clergymen and their activities, a bishop, supported by the government in Copenhagen, could gather an impressive collection of natural objects, receive observations and descriptions of natural phenomena, and produce natural historical publications that described for the first time many of the species of the north. Devout naturalists were a common species in the eighteenth century, when clergymen and missionaries involved themselves in the investigation of nature in Europe and far beyond. The specific interest here is in how natural history was supported and enforced as part of clerical practice, how specimen exchange was grafted on to pre-existing institutions of gift exchange, and how this influenced the character of the knowledge produced.
Watching the Fireworks: Early Modern Observation of Natural and Artificial Spectacles
Authors: Werrett Simon
Published: April 2011

Argument

Early modern Europeans routinely compared nature to a theater or spectacle, so it makes sense to examine the practices of observing real spectacles and performances in order to better comprehend acts of witnessing nature. Using examples from the history of fireworks, this essay explores acts of observing natural and artificial spectacles between the sixteenth and late eighteenth centuries and suggests these acts of observation were mutually constitutive and entailed ongoing and diverse exchanges. The essay follows the changing ways in which audiences were imagined or expected to react to fireworks and shows how these also shaped experiences of natural phenomena. Both natural and artificial spectacles were intended to teach morals about the state and nature, yet audiences rarely seemed to take away what they were expected to learn. The essay examines how performers thus sought to discipline audience observation, before exploring, in conclusion, how spectacle provided a vocabulary for discerning and articulating new natural phenomena, and sites for the pursuit of novel experiments.
Counting on Relief: Industrializing the Statistical Interviewer during the New Deal
Authors: Didier Emmanuel
Published: April 2011

Argument

When the New Deal administration attained power in the United States, it was confronted with two different problems that could be linked to one another. On the one hand, there was a huge problem of unemployment, affecting everybody including the white-collar workers. And, on the other hand, the administration suffered from a very serious lack of data to illuminate its politics. One idea that came out of this situation was to use the abundant unemployed white-collar workers as enumerators of statistical studies. This paper describes this experiment, shows how it paradoxically affected the professionalization of statistics, and explains why it did not affect expert democracy despite its Deweysian participationist aspect.
Norovirus outbreak associated with undercooked oysters and secondary household transmission
Authors: ALFANO-SOBSEY E. , SWEAT D. , HALL A. , BREEDLOVE F. , RODRIGUEZ R. , GREENE S. , PIERCE A. , SOBSEY M. , DAVIES M. , LEDFORD S. L.
Published: April 2011

During December 2009, over 200 individuals reported gastrointestinal symptoms after dining at a North Carolina restaurant. An outbreak investigation included a case-control study of restaurant patrons, a secondary household transmission study, environmental assessment of the restaurant facilities and operations, and laboratory analysis of stool and food samples. Illness was primarily associated with consumption of steamed oysters (odds ratio 12, 95% confidence interval 4·8–28) and 20% (8/41 households) reported secondary cases, with a secondary attack rate of 14% among the 70 susceptible household contacts. Norovirus RNA was detected in 3/5 stool specimens from ill patrons; sequencing of RT–PCR products from two of these specimens identified identical genogroup II genotype 12 sequences. Final cooked temperatures of the steamed oysters were generally inadequate to inactivate norovirus, ranging from 21°C to 74°C. Undercooked contaminated oysters pose a similar risk for norovirus illness as raw oysters and household contacts are at risk for secondary infection.
A meta-analysis of the effect of dose and age at exposure on shedding ofMycobacterium aviumsubspeciesparatuberculosis(MAP) in experimentally infected calves and cows
Authors: MITCHELL R. M. , MEDLEY G. F. , COLLINS M. T. , SCHUKKEN Y. H.
Published: April 2011

A meta-analysis was performed using all published and one unpublished long-term infection-challenge experiments to quantify the age- and dose-dependence of early and late shedding ofMycobacterium aviumsubsp.paratuberculosis(MAP) in cattle. There were 194 animals from 17 studies that fulfilled the inclusion criteria, of which 173 received a known dose of MAP and 21 were exposed naturally. Results from parametric time-to-event models indicated that challenging older calves or using multiple-exposure experimental systems resulted in a smaller proportion and shorter duration of early shedding as well as slower transition to late shedding from latent compartments. Calves exposed naturally showed variable infection progression rates, not dissimilar to other infection routes. The log-normal distribution was most appropriate for modelling infection-progression events. The infection pattern revealed by the modelling allowed better understanding of low-grade endemicity of MAP in cattle, and the parameter estimates are the basis for future transmission dynamics modelling.
What the bird’s brain tells the bird’s eye: the function of descending input to the avian retina
Authors: WILSON MARTIN , LINDSTROM SARAH H.
Published: April 2011

As Cajal discovered in the late 19th century, the bird retina receives a substantial input from the brain. Approximately 10,000 fibers originating in a small midbrain nucleus, the isthmo-optic nucleus (ION), terminate in each retina. The input to the ION is chiefly from the optic tectum which, in the bird, is the primary recipient of retinal input. These neural elements constitute a closed loop, the centrifugal visual system (CVS), beginning and ending in the retina, that delivers positive feedback to active ganglion cells. Several features of the system are puzzling. All fibers from the ION terminate in the ventral retina and an unusual axon-bearing amacrine cell, the target cell, is the postsynaptic partner of these fibers. While the rest of the CVS is orderly and retinotopic, target cell axons project seemingly at random, mostly to distant parts of the retina. We review here the most significant features of the anatomy and physiology of the CVS with a view to understanding its function. We suggest that many of the facts about this system, including some that are otherwise difficult to explain, can be accommodated within the hypothesis that the images of shadows cast on the ground or on objects in the environment, initiate a rapid and parallel search of the sky for a possible aerial predator. If a predator is located, shadow and predator would be temporarily linked together and tracked by the CVS.
Tsunami modelling with adaptively refined finite volume methods
Authors: LeVeque Randall J. , George David L. , Berger Marsha J.
Published: April 2011

Numerical modelling of transoceanic tsunami propagation, together with the detailed modelling of inundation of small-scale coastal regions, poses a number of algorithmic challenges. The depth-averaged shallow water equations can be used to reduce this to a time-dependent problem in two space dimensions, but even so it is crucial to use adaptive mesh refinement in order to efficiently handle the vast differences in spatial scales. This must be done in a ‘wellbalanced’ manner that accurately captures very small perturbations to the steady state of the ocean at rest. Inundation can be modelled by allowing cells to dynamically change from dry to wet, but this must also be done carefully near refinement boundaries. We discuss these issues in the context of Riemann-solver-based finite volume methods for tsunami modelling. Several examples are presented using the GeoClaw software, and sample codes are available to accompany the paper. The techniques discussed also apply to a variety of other geophysical flows.
Numerical algebraic geometry and algebraic kinematics
Authors: Wampler Charles W. , Sommese Andrew J.
Published: April 2011

In this article, the basic constructs of algebraic kinematics (links, joints, and mechanism spaces) are introduced. This provides a common schema for many kinds of problems that are of interest in kinematic studies. Once the problems are cast in this algebraic framework, they can be attacked by tools from algebraic geometry. In particular, we review the techniques of numerical algebraic geometry, which are primarily based on homotopy methods. We include a review of the main developments of recent years and outline some of the frontiers where further research is occurring. While numerical algebraic geometry applies broadly to any system of polynomial equations, algebraic kinematics provides a body of interesting examples for testing algorithms and for inspiring new avenues of work.
Rare problems associated with the Fontan circulation
Authors: Goldberg David J. , Dodds Kathryn , Rychik Jack
Published: April 2011

The Fontan operation, originally described for the surgical management of tricuspid atresia, is now the final surgery in the strategy of staged palliation for a number of different forms of congenital cardiac disease with a functionally univentricular heart. Despite the improved technical outcomes of the Fontan operation, staged palliation does not recreate a normal physiology. Without a pumping chamber delivering blood to the lungs, the cardiovascular system is less efficient; cardiac output is generally diminished, and the systemic venous pressure is increased. As a result, patients with “Fontan physiology” may face a number of rare but potentially life-threatening complications including hepatic dysfunction, abnormalities of coagulation, protein-losing enteropathy, and plastic bronchitis. Despite the staged palliation resulting in remarkable survival, the possible complications for this group of patients are complex, involve multiple organ systems, and can be life threatening. Identifying the mechanisms associated with each of the rare complications, and developing strategies to treat them, requires the work of many people at many institutions. Continued collaboration between sub-specialists and between institutions will be required to optimise the care for this group of survivors with functionally univentricular hearts.
Bilingualism and children's use of paralinguistic cues to interpret emotion in speech
Authors: YOW W. QUIN , MARKMAN ELLEN M.
Published: April 2011

Preschoolers tend to rely on what speakers say rather than how they sound when interpreting a speaker's emotion while adults rely instead on tone of voice. However, children who have a greater need to attend to speakers’ communicative requirements, such as bilingual children, may be more adept in using paralinguistic cues (e.g. tone of voice) when interpreting a speaker's affect. We explored whether bilingual children are better able than monolingual children to use paralinguistic cues when interpreting a speaker's emotion. While monolingual and bilingual children were equally capable of identifying emotion using affective information in low-pass filtered speech stimuli (Study 1), bilingual children were better able than monolingual children to use tone of voice when judging emotion in natural speech when content was clear (Study 2).
Astrobiology field research in Moon/Mars analogue environments
Authors: Foing B.H. , Stoker C. , Ehrenfreund P.
Published: April 2011

Extreme environments on Earth often provide similar terrain conditions to landing/operation sites on Moon and Mars. Several field campaigns (EuroGeoMars2009 and DOMMEX/ILEWG EuroMoonMars from November 2009 to March 2010) were conducted at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah. Some of the key astrobiology results are presented in this special issue on ‘Astrobiology field research in Moon/Mars analogue environments’ relevant to investigate the link between geology, minerals, organics and biota. Preliminary results from a multidisciplinary field campaign at Rio Tinto in Spain are presented.
Low-Cost, Atmospheric-Pressure Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy
Authors: de Jonge Niels , Ring Elisabeth A. , Bigelow Wilbur C. , Veith Gabriel M.
Published: April 2011

Solid materials in subambient gaseous environments have been imaged using in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM), for example to study dynamic effects: carbon nanotube growth, nanoparticle changes during redox reactions, and phase transitions in nanoscale systems. In these studies the vacuum level in the specimen region of the electron microscope was increased to pressures of up to 10 mbar using pump-limiting apertures that separated the specimen region from the rest of the high-vacuum electron column, but it has not been possible to achieve the higher pressures that are desirable for catalysis research. TEM imaging at atmospheric pressure and at elevated temperature was achieved with 0.2-nm resolution by enclosing a gaseous environment several micrometers thick between ultra-thin, electron transparent silicon nitride windows. Although Ångström-level resolution in situ TEM has been demonstrated with aberration-corrected systems, the key difficulty with TEM imaging is its dependence on phase contrast, which requires ultra-thin specimens, limiting the choice of experiments.
Evaluating the Performance of a Commercial Silicon Drift Detector for X-ray Microanalysis
Authors: Kenik Edward A.
Published: April 2011

The development of large-area silicon drift detectors (SDDs) provides a significant improvement in X-ray micro-analysis, especially in scanning electron microscopes (SEMs) and electron microprobes, where high incident probe currents are possible. The resultant improved detection limits and/or speed of elemental mapping and analysis make the SDD the detector of choice for microanalysis. With the larger geometric collection efficiency and faster response times of these detectors, the higher input count rates can place significant demands on the performance and speed of the signal processing electronics.
World's Largest Microscopy Exhibition
Authors: Lyman Charles
Published: April 2011

The upcoming Microscopy & Microanalysis 2011 meeting in Nashville will include the world's largest annual exhibition of microscope equipment, supplies, and services. For most attendees, the exhibition is one of the highlights of the M&M meeting.
Augmenting Secondary Education with Advanced Microscopy
Authors: Queenan Craig , Calabro Alyssa , Becker David
Published: April 2011

In his 2011 State of the Union address, President Barack Obama echoed the sentiments of this nation's leaders for the past twenty years when he stated, “Nations like China and India realized…they could compete in this new world. So they started educating their children earlier and longer, with greater emphasis on math and science. They're investing in research and new technologies…. Maintaining our leadership in research and technology is crucial to America's success. But if we want to win the future—if we want innovation to produce jobs in America and not overseas—then we also have to win the race to educate our kids.” The Bergen County Academies (BCA) in Hackensack, NJ, is attempting to do just that: invest in research and technology at the high school level in order to expose students to real world opportunities and applications they will experience in the future.
‘Thou Shalt be Saved’ (from Trial)? The Ruling of the Italian Constitutional Court on Berlusconi's Immunity Law in a Comparative Perspective
Authors: Hardt Sascha , Eliantonio Mariolina
Published: April 2011

Parliamentary and executive immunity – Italian Corte Costituzionale – Constitutional versus ordinary lawmaking – Comparative perspective to other EU member states – Italian situation unique
Lisbon Before the Courts: Comparative Perspectives
Authors: Wendel Mattias
Published: April 2011

Lisbon decisions of the constitutional courts in Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Latvia and Poland from a comparative perspective – Democracy, sovereignty and identity – Permeability of national and supranational law – Ratification of the Lisbon Treaty and its constitutional foundations – Procedural background and legal outcome of the Lisbon decisions – Differences of institutional self-conception – Parliamentary responsibility for integration – Prior parliamentary assent to the future application of ‘dynamic treaty provisions’ – Different conceptions of national and multi-levelled democracy – Popular vote – Constitutional limits to European integration – Limits indicating the necessity of an amendment and limits protecting the inalienable substantial core of a constitutional order – German Bundesverfassungsgericht only court in Europe spelling out an eternity clause in a detailed, catalogue style manner – Judicial restraint – Ultra vires and identity review – Article 4.2 TEU as an integration clause of EU law and not a derogation clause – Comparative dialectics
German Federal Constitutional Court: Constitutional Ultra Vires Review of European Acts Only Under Exceptional Circumstances; Decision of 6 July 2010, 2 BvR 2661/06, Honeywell
Authors: Möllers Christoph
Published: April 2011

After the German Federal Constitutional Court's (FCC) issuance of the Lisbon decision, a judgment that is generally considered to be a verdict critical of European integration as well as a measure to widen the scope of constitutional review of EU acts, many observers wondered what would happen next. Would the German court finally begin to look for an open conflict with the EU, or would the court's bark once again be worse than its bite? This had already seemed to be the case after the Maastricht decision, the slimmer and legally more coherent predecessor of the Lisbon judgment, after which the court deliberately missed the opportunity to take a shot at the Banana conflict between the EU and the WTO.
Measuring Generativity in Older Adults
Authors: Schoklitsch Angela , Baumann Urs
Published: April 2011

Erikson already emphasized the importance of remaining generative in old age. Current instruments designed to measure generativity, however, were developed to be used with middle-aged adults. In a sample of older adults (N = 195), three newly developed instruments measuring different facets of generativity, each with several scales, were applied and tested with regard to methodological issues (internal structure, internal consistency of scales), bivariate associations with established instruments of generativity and social desirability, and age and gender differences. The study results confirmed that the theoretically assumed factor structure and characteristics of the scales support the assessment of generativity in a multidimensional way in older adults. Positive associations with the Loyola Generativity Scale (LGS) demonstrate a positive validation result.
Coupled simulation‐optimization model for coastal aquifer management using genetic programming‐based ensemble surrogate models and multiple‐realization optimization
Authors: Sreekanth J. , Datta Bithin
Published: April 2011

Approximation surrogates are used to substitute the numerical simulation model within optimization algorithms in order to reduce the computational burden on the coupled simulation‐optimization methodology. Practical utility of the surrogate‐based simulation‐optimization have been limited mainly due to the uncertainty in surrogate model simulations. We develop a surrogate‐based coupled simulation‐optimization methodology for deriving optimal extraction strategies for coastal aquifer management considering the predictive uncertainty of the surrogate model. Optimization models considering two conflicting objectives are solved using a multiobjective genetic algorithm. Objectives of maximizing the pumping from production wells and minimizing the barrier well pumping for hydraulic control of saltwater intrusion are considered. Density‐dependent flow and transport simulation model FEMWATER is used to generate input‐output patterns of groundwater extraction rates and resulting salinity levels. The nonparametric bootstrap method is used to generate different realizations of this data set. These realizations are used to train different surrogate models using genetic programming for predicting the salinity intrusion in coastal aquifers. The predictive uncertainty of these surrogate models is quantified and ensemble of surrogate models is used in the multiple‐realization optimization model to derive the optimal extraction strategies. The multiple realizations refer to the salinity predictions using different surrogate models in the ensemble. Optimal solutions are obtained for different reliability levels of the surrogate models. The solutions are compared against the solutions obtained using a chance‐constrained optimization formulation and single‐surrogate‐based model. The ensemble‐based approach is found to provide reliable solutions for coastal aquifer management while retaining the advantage of surrogate models in reducing computational burden.
Phosphorylation of Ser 402 impedes phosphatase activity of slingshot 1
Authors: Barišić Sandra , Nagel Anja C , Franz‐Wachtel Mirita , Macek Boris , Preiss Anette , Link Gisela , Maier Dieter , Hausser Angelika
Published: April 2011

By using mass spectrometry, we have identified Ser 402 as a new phosphorylation site within the catalytic domain of human slingshot 1 (SSH1). Phosphorylation at this site inhibits substrate binding and, thus, phosphatase activity in vitro, resulting in enrichment of phosphorylated cofilin in monolayer cell culture. We further demonstrate that protein kinase D (PKD) is upstream from Ser 402 phosphorylation. Accordingly, expression of active PKD in Drosophila phenotypically mimics the loss of SSH activity by inducing accumulation of phosphorylated cofilin and filamentous actin. We thus identify a universal mechanism by which PKD controls SSH1 phosphatase activity.
Human intuition in the quantitative age
Authors: Hunter Philip
Published: April 2011

Modern computing power grants scientists the ability to crunch previously impossible amounts of data. Nevertheless, the human brain has not yet been replaced as the engine of design and discovery.
The E3 ubiquitin ligase CTRIP controls CLOCK levels and PERIOD oscillations in Drosophila
Authors: Lamaze Angélique , Lamouroux Annie , Vias Carine , Hung Hsiu‐Cheng , Weber Frank , Rouyer François
Published: April 2011

In the Drosophila circadian clock, the CLOCK/CYCLE complex activates the period and timeless genes that negatively feedback on CLOCK/CYCLE activity. The 24‐h pace of this cycle depends on the stability of the clock proteins. RING‐domain E3 ubiquitin ligases have been shown to destabilize PERIOD or TIMELESS. Here we identify a clock function for the circadian trip (ctrip) gene, which encodes a HECT‐domain E3 ubiquitin ligase. ctrip expression in the brain is mostly restricted to clock neurons and its downregulation leads to long‐period activity rhythms in constant darkness. This altered behaviour is associated with high CLOCK levels and persistence of phosphorylated PERIOD during the subjective day. The control of CLOCK protein levels does not require PERIOD. Thus, CTRIP seems to regulate the pace of the oscillator by controlling the stability of both the activator and the repressor of the feedback loop.
Hydrothermally generated aromatic compounds are consumed by bacteria colonizing in Atlantis II Deep of the Red Sea
Authors: Wang Yong , Yang Jiangke , Lee On On , Dash Swagatika , Lau Stanley C K , Al-Suwailem Abdulaziz , Wong Tim Y H , Danchin Antoine , Qian Pei-Yuan
Published: April 2011

Hydrothermal ecosystems have a wide distribution on Earth and many can be found in the basin of the Red Sea. Production of aromatic compounds occurs in a temperature window of ∼60–150 °C by utilizing organic debris. In the past 50 years, the temperature of the Atlantis II Deep brine pool in the Red Sea has increased from 56 to 68 °C, whereas the temperature at the nearby Discovery Deep brine pool has remained relatively stable at about 44 °C. In this report, we confirmed the presence of aromatic compounds in the Atlantis II brine pool as expected. The presence of the aromatic compounds might have disturbed the microbes in the Atlantis II. To show shifted microbial communities and their metabolisms, we sequenced the metagenomes of the microbes from both brine pools. Classification based on metareads and the 16S rRNA gene sequences from clones showed a strong divergence of dominant bacterial species between the pools. Bacteria capable of aromatic degradation were present in the Atlantis II brine pool. A comparison of the metabolic pathways showed that several aromatic degradation pathways were significantly enriched in the Atlantis II brine pool, suggesting the presence of aromatic compounds. Pathways utilizing metabolites derived from aromatic degradation were also significantly affected. In the Discovery brine pool, the most abundant genes from the microbes were related to sugar metabolism pathways and DNA synthesis and repair, suggesting a different strategy for the utilization of carbon and energy sources between the Discovery brine pool and the Atlantis II brine pool.
Role of Sleep Timing in Caloric Intake and BMI
Authors: Baron Kelly G. , Reid Kathryn J. , Kern Andrew S. , Zee Phyllis C.
Published: April 2011

Sleep duration has been linked to obesity and there is also an emerging literature in animals demonstrating a relationship between the timing of feeding and weight regulation. However, there is a paucity of research evaluating timing of sleep and feeding on weight regulation in humans. The goal of this study was to evaluate the role of sleep timing in dietary patterns and BMI. Participants included 52 (25 females) volunteers who completed 7 days of wrist actigraphy and food logs. Fifty‐six percent were “normal sleepers” (midpoint of <5:30 am) and 44% were “late sleepers” (midpoint of sleep ≥5:30 am). Late sleepers had shorter sleep duration, later sleep onset and sleep offset and meal times. Late sleepers consumed more calories at dinner and after 8:00 pm, had higher fast food, full‐calorie soda and lower fruit and vegetable consumption. Higher BMI was associated with shorter sleep duration, later sleep timing, caloric consumption after 8:00 pm, and fast food meals. In multivariate models, sleep timing was independently associated with calories consumed after 8:00 pm and fruit and vegetable consumption but did not predict BMI after controlling for sleep duration. Calories consumed after 8:00 pm predicted BMI after controlling for sleep timing and duration. These findings indicate that caloric intake after 8:00 pm may increase the risk of obesity, independent of sleep timing and duration. Future studies should investigate the biological and social mechanisms linking timing of sleep and feeding in order to develop novel time‐based interventions for weight management.
Fasting Induces an Anti‐Inflammatory Effect on the Neuroimmune System Which a High‐Fat Diet Prevents
Authors: Lavin Desiree N. , Joesting Jennifer J. , Chiu Gabriel S. , Moon Morgan L. , Meng Jia , Dilger Ryan N. , Freund Gregory G.
Published: April 2011

The neuroimmunological and behavioral consequences of a high‐fat diet (HFD) are not well delineated. This is especially true when short term (24 h) fasting is used as a physiologic stressor. In this study, we examined the impact of a HFD on learning and memory and depressive‐like behaviors to understand how fasting impacts neuroimmunity and whether obesity modulates the response. Mice were fed diets containing either 10% (low‐fat diet (LFD) mice) or 60% (HFD mice) calories from fat for 10–12 weeks. Gene transcripts for 26 pro‐/anti‐inflammatory cytokines and markers of macrophage activation were examined in adipose tissue and whole brain. Mouse learning and memory (spontaneous alternation, novel object) and depressive‐like behaviors (saccharin preference, burrowing, forced swim) were studied in the fed and fasted state as were gene transcripts for F4/80, CD11b, interleukin‐1α (IL‐1α), IL‐1β, IL‐1R1, IL‐1R2, IL‐1RA, IL‐6 and tumor necrosis factor‐α in cortex, hippocampus and hypothalamus. In the fed state, HFD mice compared to LFD mice had reduced locomotor activity, and were adverse to saccharin and burrowed less. After fasting, LFD mice vs. HFD mice lost 18 vs. 5% of their body weight, respectively. In addition, HFD mice failed to downregulate gene transcripts for the myeloid‐cell associated proteins F4/80, CD11b and IL‐1α in the brain, failed to appropriately explore a novel object, failed to reduce locomotor activity and had increased saccharin consumption and burrowing. These data indicate that fasting induces an anti‐inflammatory effect on the neuroimmune system which a HFD prevents. This breakdown appears linked to the IL‐1 system because of the association of this cytokine with memory and learning.