bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Visions of the Future
Authors: Harding Christopher
Published: January 2009

This chapter explores the Christian village experiment. Brand new villages, constructed by the missions on land reclaimed through canal irrigation in western Punjab, offered missionaries control of the natural, socio-economic, and religious environment in engineering the ideal Christian communities of the future. Free now of old, oppressive village ties that they had once hoped simply to re-negotiate, the small numbers of converts who moved to the new villages had high expectations of their own. In particular, the CMS village of Clarkabad and the Capuchin village of Maryabad had the potential finally to stretch the mission-convert relationship to breaking point.
2 Survey Estimates of Wealth Holdings in OECD Countries: Evidence on the Level and Distribution across Selected Countries
Authors: Jäntti Markus , Sierminska Eva
Published: January 2009

This study discusses issues that arise in the comparison of estimates of wealth holdings and their distribution in the light of data for selected OECD countries. This chapter finds large differences in the level of wealth, depending on whether the mean or median levels are compared across countries. Sensitivity of wealth estimates to survey design are evident in that, even within countries, the ranking of two different surveys depends on how central tendency is measured. Comparisons of the composition of household wealth based on secondary data, as well as the distribution of net worth, are difficult because comparable data are scarce. The evidence suggests that country ranking by level of net worth inequality is similar to that by income inequality, and that net worth inequality has tended to increase across the countries we examine.
5 Changes in the Distribution of Wealth in China, 1995–2002
Authors: Li Shi , Zhao Renwei
Published: January 2009

This study investigates some major changes in the wealth distribution in China using the data from two national household surveys conducted in 1995 and 2002. The surveys collected rich information on household wealth and its components, enabling a detailed analysis of changes in wealth distribution among Chinese households. This analysis indicates that the wealth distribution in China as a whole became much more unequal in 2002 than it was in 1995. The housing reform, in which public apartments were sold to urban households at extremely low prices, has accelerated the accumulation of wealth among urban households, on the one hand, and widened the wealth gap between urban and rural areas, on the other.
6 The Distribution of Household Wealth in India
Authors: Subramanian S. , Jayaraj D.
Published: January 2009

This study reviews the principal source of India's wealth distribution statistics, which is constituted by the five decennial Reserve Bank of India National Sample Survey Organization Surveys on Debt and Investment of 1961–2, 1971–2, 1981–2, 1991–2, and 2002–3. The data available are described, critically appraised, and analysed to present some salient findings in terms of the levels of debt, the levels of asset -holdings across the states of the Indian Union and over time, wealth composition, and aspects of vertical and horizontal inequality in the distribution of wealth. The centrality of land and real estate in the wealth status of India is underlined, and some broad aspects of redistributive anti‐poverty policy are spelt out.
7 The Evolution of Personal Wealth in the Former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe
Authors: Guriev Sergei , Rachinsky Andrei
Published: January 2009

This study discusses the evolution of personal wealth in transition economies. While data availability is still a problem, the available indirect evidence suggests privatization has resulted in an increase in personal wealth but also in personal wealth inequality, especially in the countries that lagged behind in building effective institutions. Another source of wealth inequality is the high income inequality that is due to wage decompression coupled with the low saving rates among the poor. This chapter pays special attention to one of the most noticeable implications of this rise in personal wealth and wealth inequality—the emergence of so‐called oligarchs. Using the comprehensive dataset of Muscovites' incomes, it shows that surveys that do not take into account the first- and second‐tier rich (billionaires and millionaires) may drastically underestimate inequality.
13 Household Financial Assets in the Process of Development
Authors: Honohan Patrick
Published: January 2009

Systematic information on household financial asset holdings in developing countries is very sparse; the chapter reviews some available data and current policy debates. Although financial asset holdings by households are highly concentrated, deeper financial systems are correlated with improved income distribution. For low‐income countries, the relevant question for poor households is not how much financial assets they have, but whether they have any access to financial products at all. Building on and synthesizing disparate data‐collection efforts by others, the chapter produces new estimates of access percentages for over 150 countries. Across countries, access is negatively correlated with poverty rates, but the correlation is not a robust one; thus the supposed anti‐poverty potential of financial access remains econometrically elusive. Despite policy focus on the value of credit instruments, it is deposit products that tend to be the first to be used as prosperity increases, before more sophisticated savings products and borrowing.
15 Housing Privatization and Household Wealth in Transition
Authors: Yemtsov Ruslan
Published: January 2009

All countries in transition have experienced increases in inequality. They have also undertaken massive privatization of key asset housing, often on give‐away terms. Are these two phenomena related? Has transfer of ownership rights to residents slowed down the inequality increases or pushed it up? Surprisingly little is known in this area. This study attempts to provide empirical evidence to start answering these questions. It shows how housing privatization affected the distribution of personal wealth and inequality in current consumption based on recent representative household surveys from three transition countries: Poland, Russia, and Serbia. Survey data are compared with figures derived from national accounts and housing statistics. Contrary to common belief and some earlier evidence of the strong equalizing effect of housing distribution in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, the study finds that the contribution of housing to the overall inequality levels is not strong, and is not universally progressive. There is also a significant variation across countries. In Russia and Serbia features of privatization programmes resulted in better‐off households capturing more valuable housing assets on extremely beneficial terms, while in Poland privatization and housing reform led to more equitable outcomes. When owner-2 occupied housing rents and durables are properly accounted for, the effects of housing ownership on inequality in current consumption are mildly progressive in Russia and Poland and regressive in Serbia. The study argues that the information collected by regular household surveys provides only a starting point to study housing wealth distribution, and there are a number of gaps that should be addressed through improved data collection.
19 The World Distribution of Household Wealth
Authors: Davies James B. , Sandström Susanna , Shorrocks Anthony , Wolff Edward N.
Published: January 2009

There has been much recent research on the world distribution of income, but also growing recognition of the importance of other contributions to well‐being, including those of household wealth. Wealth is important in providing security and opportunity, particularly in poorer countries that lack full social safety nets and adequate facilities for borrowing and lending. This chapter finds, however, that it is precisely in the latter countries that household wealth is the lowest, both in absolute and relative terms. Globally, wealth is more concentrated than income, on both an individual and a national basis. Roughly 30 per cent of world wealth is found in each of North America, Europe, and the rich Asian‐Pacific countries. These areas account for virtually all world's top 1% of wealth holders. On an official exchange‐rate basis, India accounts for about a quarter of the adults in the bottom three global wealth deciles, while China provides about a third of those in the fourth to eighth deciles. If current growth trends continue, India, China, and the transition countries will move up in the global distribution, and the lower deciles will be increasingly dominated by countries in Africa, Latin American, and poor parts of the Asian‐Pacific region. Thus wealth may continue to be lowest in areas where it is needed the most.
Regional Parties
Authors: Brancati Dawn
Published: January 2009

This chapter tests the generalizability of the book's argument regarding the effect of decentralization on the electoral strength of regional parties using statistical analysis. The analysis also draws on the CLE dataset. The analysis shows that political decentralization increases the strength of regional parties and that extensive forms of decentralization strengthen regional parties more than limited forms. The analysis also finds that specific features of decentralization strengthen regional parties more than others, such as large regions and nonconcurrent national and regional elections. Fiscal decentralization, in contrast, as well as having a large number of regions, has the opposite effect. The chapter controls for a number of factors typically associated with conflict and secessionism (e.g. ethnolinguistic heterogeneity, democracy, and the executive and electoral system). The chapter also uses instrumental variable regression in this chapter to disentangle the causal relationships between decentralization and regional parties.
Chapter 4 Net Worth and Housing Equity in Retirement
Authors: Sinai Todd , Souleles Nicholas
Published: January 2009

This chapter documents the trends in the life-cycle profiles of net worth and housing equity of older persons. During the 1993-2004 period, older households' net worth rose significantly, yet net worth grew by more than housing equity, in part because other assets also appreciated at the same time. Moreover, the younger elderly offset rising house prices by increasing their housing debt and used some of the proceeds to invest in other assets. The chapter considers how much of their housing equity older households could actually tap using reverse mortgages. It shows that this fraction is lower at younger ages, such that young retirees can consume less than half of their housing equity. Their results imply that consumable net worth is smaller than standard calculations of net worth.
Chapter 5 The Role of Individual Retirement Accounts in US Retirement Planning
Authors: Holden Sarah , Reid Brian
Published: January 2009

With the rising importance of individual retirement accounts (IRAs), which now total one-quarter of US retirement assets, public policy has sharpened its focus on how individuals manage those accumulations through work and retirement years. Individuals are required to take distributions from their IRAs after age seventy-and-a-half, while distributions taken prior to age fifty-nine-and-a-half generally incur a ten percent penalty. Previous research has found that IRA owners rarely tapped these assets prior to retirement. This chapter updates results and shows that these patterns continue. Several factors influence the probability of withdrawal (prior to sevent-and-a-half): being younger than sixty lowers the probability of a withdrawal, but being retired, in poor health, or having a home mortgage increases the likelihood of withdrawal.
Chapter 8 Regulating Markets for Retirement Payouts: Solvency, Supervision, and Credibility
Authors: Borzi Phyllis C. , Patterson Martha Priddy
Published: January 2009

Soon the largest cohort of workers in history will be eligible to retire: and most will have only their personal saving and a lump-sum benefit from a 401(k) plan to supplement Social Security benefits during retirement. The proceeds of these 401(k) and IRA benefits represent the largest amount of money these individuals have ever managed, and the challenges and hazards they face are enormous. This chapter evaluates the regulatory and enforcement structures in place to protect individuals from financial loss through the insolvency, fiscal mismanagement, and/or malfeasance of those who help them manage and invest their retirement distributions.
Chapter 12 Asset Allocation within Variable Annuities: The Impact of Guarantees
Authors: Milevsky Moshe A. , Kyrychenko Vladyslav
Published: January 2009

The latest generation of variable annuity contracts contains equity options plus longevity insurance, sometimes thought to be attractive to purchasers willing to take on financial risk. This chapter examines whether this is indeed the case. Using a unique database, it documents that policyholders do in fact adopt higher equity exposures when these riders are selected. It also examines the theoretical merits of the marketing advice, by deriving the optimal asset allocation in the presence of these guarantees. The chapter concludes that more aggressive equity allocations can indeed be justified in many, although not all, product structures.
Introduction
Authors: Beckwith Carl L.
Published: January 2009

The Introduction provides an overview of Hilary's De Trinitate and the state of the scholarly question on the structure and chronology of his treatise. The chapter also provides a detailed summary of the contents of the monograph and ends with a brief overview of the life of Hilary.
The Concept of Fundamental Legal Rights
Authors: Zucca Lorenzo
Published: January 2009

This chapter proposes a stipulative definition of fundamental legal rights that attempts to single out the most important features of those rights, which are discussed under four headings: the point, the structure, the content and the functions of rights. Mainstream theories of rights, such as the interest theory and the will theories are criticised and a status theory of fundamental legal rights is offered instead. More precisely, the chapter develops a theory that treats fundamental legal rights differently from ordinary legal and moral rights. Such a theory is centred on the idea of immunity given by fundamental legal rights which corresponds to the idea of disability on the part of the legislative power. In particular, fundamental legal rights give individuals a status of inviolability.
The Anatomy of Conflicts of Fundamental Legal Rights
Authors: Zucca Lorenzo
Published: January 2009

This chapter attempts to grasp the central case of such conflicts, thereby coming up with a distinction between genuine and spurious conflicts. It is argued that legal systems, despite strong assumptions of coherence, display a number of normative inconsistencies which crop up when fundamental rights are instantiated in actual cases. The intensity of a conflict depends on the kind of incommensurability between opposite claims and on the moral residue left by the process of adjudication. Incommensurability may be weak, thereby leaving the door open to qualitative comparison, but it also may be radical, leaving no options to the adjudicator. A typology of genuine conflicts of fundamental rights is presented in order to illuminate their great variety.
The Fundamental Legal Right to Informational Privacy v The Fundamental Legal Right to Free Press
Authors: Zucca Lorenzo
Published: January 2009

This chapter examines the core case of the privacy-press conflict that can be summarized as follows: on one side the permission to disclose the truth, on the other the permission to conceal one's private life. The way in which this conflict is dealt with depends on local institutional arrangements as well as diverging interpretation of values. Personal honour is paramount in France and grounds a strong right to privacy, while in the USA free speech is sovereign and so is the protection of the press. In the UK, the right to privacy does not have much currency, but the over-expanding interpretation of the tort of breach of confidence largely fills the gap. It is concluded that some conflicting rights can be accommodated, even if conflicts cannot be solved without compromises.
Mortal Conflicts of Fundamental Legal Rights—The Fundamental Legal Right to Life v The Fundamental Legal Right to Decisional Privacy
Authors: Zucca Lorenzo
Published: January 2009

This chapter presents the conflict between the fundamental right to decisional privacy and the fundamental right to life in the context of physician-assisted suicides. This conflict is a vertical one, between the obligation of the state not to intentionally kill and the permission of the individual to decide how to deal with one of the most intimate issues of his existence. Despite the strong pull on the side of the safeguard of life, it is argued that in some egregious cases where the individual can only chose between death with pain and death without pain, the state cannot impose on the individual the greater sacrifice and should let him die as he chooses. The presumption of priority in favour of the protection of life is, in this case, reversed in favour of decisional autonomy.
‘We are (afraid of) the people’: Constituent Power in German Constitutionalism
Authors: Möllers Christoph
Published: January 2009

This chapter examines the special path of constitutional development in Germany. It shows how developments from the Kaiserreich, through Weimar to the Nazi regime has rendered any attempt to make a direct appeal to the people, or even to the authority of a representative parliament, problematic. It indicates how the highly legalistic constitutional culture that evolved in the post-war Federal Republic was a product of conscious efforts to eliminate any claim to populism in the constitutional settlement imposed by the Allies, and suggests that the appeal to an especially formal notion of ‘constitutional patriotism’ has its basis in that history.
Private and Public Autonomy Revisited: Habermas’ Concept of Co-originality in Times of Globalization and the Militant Security State
Authors: Nickel Rainer
Published: January 2009

This chapter develops a theoretical perspective in sympathy with the Habermasian idea of the symbiosis of the legal and the political, of (private) rights and (public) democracy, of the Rechtsstaat and popular sovereignty. It supplements this account by showing that the productiveness of the tension between the two remains no less precarious than it has ever been, always likely to become skewed in favour of the rigid priority of rights or of communitarian excess. The symbiosis of private and public autonomy — of constituted and constituent power — thus remains a fragile and in many contexts elusive achievement.
Against Substitution: The Constitutional Thinking of Dissensus
Authors: Christodoulidis Emilios
Published: January 2009

This chapter presents an irresolution thesis: that constituent power cannot be absorbed into constituted authority and is to be treated as irreducible supplement which irritates and challenges rather than transcends the specific forms of constituted power. It argues that the radical openness of constituent power depends on its occupying a domain radically independent of constitutional form, and that it is possible to imagine and activate such a domain as something other than the ante-room of constitutional initiative and authority.
The Exercise of Constituent Power in Central and Eastern Europe
Authors: Preuss Ulrich K.
Published: January 2009

This chapter considers the ways in which constituent power performed a role in the reconstruction of post-communist states of Central and Eastern Europe. It argues that the peculiarity of constitutionalism in this region lies precisely in the fact that in such well embedded political communities its traditional constitutive role is unnecessary, but that it nonetheless remains vital as way of allocating and checking power. Paradoxically, such a one-sided constitutionalism may face significant opposition from those embedded forces of community which make its constitutive role redundant.
Post-Constituent Constitutionalism? The Case of the European Union
Authors: Walker Neil
Published: January 2009

This chapter considers the general question of the relationship between constituent power and constitutional form in the context of new or shifting non-state political configurations, and specifically in the case of the constitionalization of the European Union. It examines four hypotheses on the concept of a European constituent power: non-constituent constitutionalism, constitutional scepticism, constitutional vindication, and a post-constituent constitutionalism that, unlike the others, recognizes the initial absence of a supranational constituent power but insists upon both the value and the plausibility of its subsequent development. The chapter develops a position in defence of such a post-constituent constitutionalism — one that nurtures at least some ‘constituent’ qualities without undermining the continuing constituent authority of states.
Constituent Power and the Pluralist Ethic
Authors: Chalmers Damian
Published: January 2009

This chapter addresses the question of the relationship between constitutionalism and the alternative political imaginaries of post-national formations, and offers a reconstruction of the idea of constituent power in the face of the diversification of political authority. Drawing on a case study of land reform in rural Brazil, it argues that although constituent power at the level of the nation state may have its dark side, it also retains an unparalleled potential for emancipation and for the energization of the political as an area of free and open contestation between different world-views.
The Imperialism of Modern Constitutional Democracy
Authors: Tully James
Published: January 2009

This chapter challenges the idea that constituent power is a necessary or neutral presupposition of politics. It argues that the concept of constituent power is a vital component of the deep and resilient global structure of imperial authority, one that denies and seeks to suppress the ‘always/already constituted’ way in which political community and authority is experienced and practised in other non-imperial contexts. It concludes by considering the conditions under which these alternative ways of constituting and doing politics might challenge or escape the dominant influence of the imperial authority structure.
Introduction
Authors: Korsgaard Christine M.
Published: January 2009

This introductory chapter summarizes the themes of the book. It explains the general idea of self-constitution: that we constitute our agency by choosing our actions in accordance with the principles of practical reason. It sketches the main types of principles of practical reason, and raises some problems about the concept of rational prudence. It advances a theory of the normativity of rational principles based on the idea that they are constitutive standards of action. It discusses the role of the idea of virtue within ethical theory, and the possibility of conjoining an Aristotelian theory of virtue with Kant's ethics. It raises issues about the connection between individual agency and the agency of the state, explains the connection between Hume's conception of agency and Kant and Aristotle's, and discusses the methodological idea of constructivism.
The Myth of Egoism
Authors: Korsgaard Christine M.
Published: January 2009

Many philosophers believe there is a principle of practical reason directing the individual to maximize the satisfaction of his own interests. This belief is supposedly compatible with the views that all practical reasons are instrumental and all motivation is grounded in desire. Against these claims, this chapter argues that the only possible normative foundation for the egoistic principle (or principle of prudence) would be a rational intuition that maximum satisfaction is the Good; that motivation to conform to the egoistic principle would have to rest in pure practical reason; and that the only coherent formulation of the egoistic principle depends on controversial psychological assumptions characteristic of 18th-century British empiricism.
Aristotle's Function Argument
Authors: Korsgaard Christine M.
Published: January 2009

In Nicomachean Ethics 1.7, Aristotle claims that to discover the human good we must identify the function of a human being. He argues that the human function is rational activity. Our good is therefore rational activity performed well, which Aristotle takes to mean in accordance with virtue. This argument has been criticized at almost every point. This chapter defends Aristotle's argument from these criticisms. Drawing on the account of form and matter in Aristotle's Metaphysics, it argues that “function” does not mean purpose but rather a way of functioning — how a thing does what it does. The way human beings do things is by making rational choices. The human good or happiness is not merely a result of rational choice, but consists in it, because a rational action or activity is one whose principle expresses the agent's conception of what is worth doing for the sake of what.
Aristotle on Function and Virtue
Authors: Korsgaard Christine M.
Published: January 2009

According to Plato and Aristotle, a virtue is a quality that makes you good at performing your function. Aristotle thinks that the human function is rational activity. This chapter asks how the moral virtues could contribute to rational activity. It distinguishes five different answers suggested by the text of the Nicomachean Ethics, and examines their merits and demerits. Combining the most promising of them, it argues that in Aristotle's theory, rationality is a potential that is actualized by the acquisition of the virtues. By providing correct evaluative perceptions, the moral virtues bring the soul into a transformed condition in which appetites and passions are caused by rational considerations.
Acting for a Reason
Authors: Korsgaard Christine M.
Published: January 2009

Starting from the debate over whether practical reasons are mental states or the facts to which those mental states are a response, this chapter argues that being motivated by a practical reason must be a reflexive form of motivation, that is, a response to a certain content that at the same time involves consciousness of the appropriateness of responding to that content in just that way. This feature of practical reasons is captured only by Kant and Aristotle's accounts of action. For both, the object of choice and the locus of moral value is an act done for the sake of an end. The adoption of a Kantian maxim or an Aristotelian logos is a form of motivation that expresses the agent's endorsement of doing a certain act for a certain end, and so expresses her endorsement of the appropriateness of her own motivation.
BioCichlid: central dogma-based 3D visualization system of time-course microarray data on a hierarchical biological network
Authors: Ishiwata Ryosuke R. , Morioka Masaki S. , Ogishima Soichi , Tanaka Hiroshi
Published: January 2009

Summary: BioCichlid is a 3D visualization system of time-course microarray data on molecular networks, aiming at interpretation of gene expression data by transcriptional relationships based on the central dogma with physical and genetic interactions. BioCichlid visualizes both physical (protein) and genetic (regulatory) network layers, and provides animation of time-course gene expression data on the genetic network layer. Transcriptional regulations are represented to bridge the physical network (transcription factors) and genetic network (regulated genes) layers, thus integrating promoter analysis into the pathway mapping. BioCichlid enhances the interpretation of microarray data and allows for revealing the underlying mechanisms causing differential gene expressions.

Availability: BioCichlid is freely available and can be accessed at http://newton.tmd.ac.jp/. Source codes for both biocichlid server and client are also available.

Contact:  ogishima@bioinfo.tmd.ac.jp
The Flannotator—a gene and protein expression annotation tool for Drosophila melanogaster
Authors: Ryder E. , Spriggs H. , Drummond E. , St Johnston D. , Russell S.
Published: January 2009

Summary: Understanding developmental processes and building towards integrative systems biology require detailed knowledge of the spatio-temporal expression of genes and proteins. We have developed a software package for collecting, storing and searching the annotation of protein or gene expression patterns in Drosophila melanogaster. Using standard Drosophila anatomy and Gene Ontologies, the system can readily capture expression patterns at any stage of development and in all recognized tissue types as well as details of sub-cellular localization. The web-based system allows multiple groups to work in collaboration and share images and annotation.

Availability:  http://www.flannotator.org.uk/

Contact:  e.ryder@gen.cam.ac.uk
Lactating red squirrels experiencing high heat load occupy less insulated nests
Authors: Guillemette Christina U , Fletcher Quinn E , Boutin Stan , Hodges Ryan M , McAdam Andrew G , Humphries Murray M
Published: January 2009

The heat dissipation limit hypothesis suggests that the capacity for lactating mammals to transfer energy to their offspring through milk may be constrained by limits on heat dissipation, particularly in species that raise offspring in well-insulated nests. We tested a prediction of this hypothesis by evaluating whether lactating free-ranging red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) occupy less insulated nests when experiencing conditions that increase heat load. In support of the hypothesis, when climate normal ambient temperatures were warm, squirrels supporting large litter masses of furred offspring occupied nests of lower insulative value. These results support the heat dissipation limit hypothesis and suggest that free-ranging mammals may select nests based on their insulative value, not only to reduce heat loss in cold conditions but also to dissipate heat during periods of heat stress.
Swamp sparrows modulate vocal performance in an aggressive context
Authors: DuBois Adrienne L , Nowicki Stephen , Searcy William A
Published: January 2009

Vocal performance refers to the proficiency with which a bird sings songs that are challenging to produce, and can be measured in simple trilled songs by their deviation from an upper bound regression of frequency bandwidth on trill rate. Here, we show that male swamp sparrows (Melospiza georgiana) increase the vocal performance of individual song types in aggressive contexts by increasing both the trill rate and frequency bandwidth. These results are the first to demonstrate flexible modulation by songbirds of this aspect of vocal performance and are consistent with this signal feature having a role in aggressive communication.
Marine mammals' influence on ecosystem processes affecting fisheries in the Barents Sea is trivial
Authors: Corkeron Peter J
Published: January 2009

Some interpretations of ecosystem-based fishery management include culling marine mammals as an integral component. The current Norwegian policy on marine mammal management is one example. Scientific support for this policy includes the Scenario Barents Sea (SBS) models. These modelled interactions between cod,
Gadus morhua
, herring,
Clupea harengus
, capelin,
Mallotus villosus
and northern minke whales,
Balaenoptera acutorostrata
. Adding harp seals
Phoca groenlandica
into this top-down modelling approach resulted in unrealistic model outputs. Another set of models of the Barents Sea fish–fisheries system focused on interactions within and between the three fish populations, fisheries and climate. These model key processes of the system successfully. Continuing calls to support the SBS models despite their failure suggest a belief that marine mammal predation must be a problem for fisheries. The best available scientific evidence provides no justification for marine mammal culls as a primary component of an ecosystem-based approach to managing the fisheries of the Barents Sea.
Feeding muscles scale differently from swimming muscles in sunfish (Centrarchidae)
Authors: Carroll Andrew M , Ambrose Ashley M , Anderson Terri A , Coughlin David J
Published: January 2009

The physiological properties of vertebrate skeletal muscle typically show a scaling pattern of slower contractile properties with size. In fishes, the myotomal or swimming muscle reportedly follows this pattern, showing slower muscle activation, relaxation and maximum shortening velocity (Vmax) with an increase in body size. We asked if the muscles involved in suction feeding by fishes would follow the same pattern. We hypothesized that feeding muscles in fishes that feed on evasive prey are under selection to maintain high power output and therefore would not show slower contractile properties with size. To test this, we compared contractile properties in feeding muscles (epaxial and sternohyoideus) and swimming muscle (myotomal) for two members of the family Centrarchidae (sunfish): the bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) and the largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides). Consistent with our predictions, theVmaxof myotomal muscle in both species slowed with size, while the epaxials showed no significant change inVmaxwith size. In the sternohyoideus,Vmaxslowed with size in the bluegill but increased with size in the bass. The results indicate that scaling patterns of contractile properties appear to be more closely tied to muscle function (i.e. locomotion versus feeding) than overall patterns of size.
The effect of preload on the pull-off force in indentation tests of microfibre arrays
Authors: Long Rong , Hui C.-Y
Published: January 2009

We determined how preload and work of adhesion control the force required to pull a circular cylindrical indenter off a microfibre array. Five regimes, with different contact behaviours, are identified for the unloading phase of indentation. These regimes are governed by two dimensionless parameters. Above a critical preload, the pull-off force and the pull-off stress reach a plateau value. The critical preload, as well as the plateau pull-off force (stress), is found to depend on a single dimensionless parameter
q
, which can be interpreted as a normalized work of adhesion.
Geometry- and velocity-constrained cohesive zones and mixed-mode fracture/adhesion energy of interfaces with periodic cohesive interactions
Authors: Chen Bin , Wu Peidong , Gao Huajian
Published: January 2009

We show that the mixed-mode fracture/adhesion energy of an interface with periodically varying cohesive interactions generally depends on the size of the cohesive zone near the tip of a crack along the interface: it is equal to the average cohesive energy of the interface, if the cohesive zone size is much larger than the period of cohesive interaction but becomes the peak value of the local cohesive energy when the opposite is true. It is also interesting that the cohesive zone size can be strongly influenced by the geometry and velocity of the crack. As an example of geometry-constrained cohesive zone, we consider peeling of a thin film on substrate and show that the cohesive zone size under 90° peeling scales with the bending stiffness of the film, while that under 0° peeling scales with the tension stiffness of the film. As an example of a velocity-constrained cohesive zone, we consider crack propagation along an interfacial layer of weak molecular bonds joining two elastic media and show that the cohesive zone size can be altered by an order of magnitude over feasible regimes of crack velocity. These results suggest possible strategies to control fracture/adhesion strength of interfaces in both engineering and biological systems.
On feasible regions of lamination parameters for lay-up optimization of laminated composites
Authors: Bloomfield M.W , Diaconu C.G , Weaver P.M
Published: January 2009

The stiffness tensors of a laminated composite may be expressed as a linear function of material invariants and lamination parameters. Owing to the nature of orienting unidirectional laminae ply by ply, lamination parameters, which are trigonometric functions of the ply orientation, are interrelated. In optimization studies, lamination parameters are often treated as independent design variables constrained by inequality relationships to feasible regions that depend on their values. The relationships between parameters enclose a convex feasible region of lamination parameters which is generally unknown. The convexity properties allow the efficient optimization of laminated composite structures where lamination parameters are used as design variables. Herein, a two-level method is presented to determine the feasible regions of lamination parameters where potential ply orientations are a predefined finite set. At the first level, the feasible region of the in-plane, coupling and out-of-plane lamination parameters is determined separately using convex hulls. At the second level, a nonlinear algebraic identity is used to relate the in-plane, coupling and out-of-plane lamination parameters to each other. This general approach yields all constraints on the feasible regions of lamination parameters for a predefined set of ply orientations.
Solitonets: complex networks of interacting fields
Authors: Kaminer Ido , Segev Mordechai , Bruckstein Alfred M , Eldar Yonina C
Published: January 2009

We propose complex networks made with interacting fields, where the interaction dynamics at each individual node in the system has infinite degrees of freedom. We construct networks, based on the interactions between vector solitons, whose dynamics are governed by conservation laws. Hence, the dimensionality of the dynamics at each node is determined by the initial conditions, making the problem tractable. We present examples of small and large soliton-based networks, and demonstrate memory effects within them that are enormously enhanced by noise. Finally, we demonstrate that such networks, with infinite-dimensional dynamics, can exhibit spontaneous self-synchronization effects.
‘Mingling together’: promoting the social inclusion of disabled children and young people during the school holidays
Authors: Knight Abigail , Petrie Pat , Zuurmond Maria , Potts Patricia
Published: January 2009

The promotion of social inclusion of disabled children and their families is currently high on the UK political agenda. Research shows that disabled children and their families are highly disadvantaged, both economically and socially. This paper reports some of the findings of a qualitative study, entitled On Holiday!, which involved analysing the views of 297 people across six local authority research sites in England including 86 disabled children and young people. The study showed that many disabled children and their families experienced high levels of social isolation and exclusion during out‐of‐school periods and during the school holidays in particular. The paper recounts some of the experiences of disabled young people and their families and ways in which local authorities can promote their social inclusion. We argue that disabled young people and their families can only be truly socially included and empowered when all levels of the local authority (managers, officers and elected members) recognize the rights and entitlements of disabled children and have the political will and commitment to implement them.
Children's understanding of mental ill health: implications for risk and resilience in relationships
Authors: Walsh Judi
Published: January 2009

Research shows that having a parent with a mental health problem has associated risks for children, but some families seem very resilient and do not always suffer these difficulties. In order for social workers to be able to support the development of resilience in families who appear to be at risk, we need to understand what factors may ameliorate some of these risks. Research seems to suggest that children who can conceptualize their parent's mental health problem as something ‘outside’ their representation of that parent as an attachment figure are likely to have better outcomes than children who see the mental‐health problem as part of, and embedded within, their representation of that parent. However, in order to develop an understanding of how this conceptualization affects attachment relationships and outcomes, we need to know what children understand by mental ill health. We also need to consider how this conceptualization might be changed, and it appears that parents, other attachment figures and other support figures may play a key role here. This paper provides a selective review of the research area and discusses the mechanisms which may govern this complex process. The review concludes with recommendations for future research and practice.
Sensitization of human breast cancer cells to natural killer cell-mediated cytotoxicity by proteasome inhibition
Authors: Ames E , Hallett W H D , Murphy W J
Published: January 2009

The proteasome inhibitor, bortezomib, has direct anti-tumour effects and has been demonstrated to sensitize tumour cells to tumour necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand-mediated apoptosis. Natural killer (NK) cells are effective mediators of anti-tumour responses, both through cytotoxic granule killing and apoptosis-inducing pathways. We therefore investigated if bortezomib sensitized human breast cancer cells to killing by the human NK cell line, NK-92. Bortezomib was unable to sensitize MDA-231 breast cancer cells to NK cell-mediated killing in short-term in vitro assays. However, bortezomib did cause these cells to up-regulate apoptosis-related mRNA as well as death receptors on the cell surface. In a long-term in vitro tumour outgrowth assay that allows NK cells to use their full repertoire of killing pathways, bortezomib sensitized three breast cancer cell lines to NK cell-mediated killing, which led to greater anti-tumour effects than either treatment alone. We then used a xenogeneic mouse model in which CB-17 SCID mice were injected with human breast cancer cells. This model displayed the effectiveness of NK-92 cells, but the addition of bortezomib did not increase the survival further or reduce the number of lung metastases in tumour-bearing mice. However, while bortezomib was highly cytotoxic to NK-92 cells in vitro, bortezomib treatment in vivo did not decrease NK-92 function, suggesting that through alternative dosing or timing of bortezomib, greater efficacy may occur from combined therapy. These data demonstrate that combined treatment of human breast cancer with bortezomib and NK cells has the potential to generate superior anti-tumour responses than either therapy alone.
Identification of a novel REV1‐interacting motif necessary for DNA polymerase κ function
Authors: Ohashi Eiji , Hanafusa Tomo , Kamei Keijiro , Song Ihnyoung , Tomida Junya , Hashimoto Hiroshi , Vaziri Cyrus , Ohmori Haruo
Published: January 2009

When a replicative DNA polymerase (Pol) is stalled by damaged DNA, a “polymerase switch” recruits specialized translesion synthesis (TLS) DNA polymerase(s) to sites of damage. Mammalian cells have several TLS DNA polymerases, including the four Y‐family enzymes (Polη, Polι, Polκ and REV1) that share multiple primary sequence motifs, but show preferential bypass of different DNA lesions. REV1 interacts with Polη, Polι, and Polκ and therefore appears to play a central role during TLS in vivo. Here we have investigated the molecular basis for interactions between REV1 and Polκ. We have identified novel REV1‐interacting regions (RIRs) present in Polκ, Polι and Polη. Within the RIRs, the presence of two consecutive phenylalanines (FF) is essential for REV1‐binding. The consensus sequence for REV1‐binding is denoted by x‐x‐x‐F‐F‐y‐y‐y‐y (x, no specific residue and y, no specific residue but not proline). Our results identify structural requirements that are necessary for FF‐flanking residues to confer interactions with REV1. A Polκ mutant lacking REV1‐binding activity did not complement the genotoxin‐sensitivity of Polk‐null mouse embryonic fibroblast cells, thereby demonstrating that the REV1‐interaction is essential for Polκ function in vivo.
Bone morphogenetic protein‐2 enhances Wnt/β‐catenin signaling‐induced osteoprotegerin expression
Authors: Sato Mari M. , Nakashima Aiko , Nashimoto Masayuki , Yawaka Yasutaka , Tamura Masato
Published: January 2009

Wnt/β‐catenin signaling plays an important role in the developing skeletal system. Our previous studies demonstrated that Wnt/β‐catenin signaling inhibits the ability of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)‐2 to suppress myotube formation in the multipotent mesenchymal cell line C2C12 and that this inhibition is mediated by Id1. In this study, we examined the role of intracellular signaling by Wnt/β‐catenin and BMP‐2 in regulating the expression of osteoprotegerin (OPG) and of the receptor activator of NFκB ligand (RANKL). OPG expression was induced by Wnt/β‐catenin signaling in C2C12 cells and osteoblastic MC3T3‐E1 cells. Silencing of glycogen synthase kinase‐3β also increased OPG expression. In contrast, R expression was suppressed by Wnt/β‐catenin signaling. In a transfection assay, β‐catenin induced the activity of a reporter gene, a 1.5 kb fragment of the 5′‐flanking region of the OPG gene. Deletion and mutation analysis revealed that Wnt/β‐catenin signaling regulates transcription of OPG via a promoter region containing two Wnt/β‐catenin responsive sites. BMP‐2 enhanced Wnt/β‐catenin‐dependent transcriptional activation of the OPG promoter. In response to BMP‐2 stimulation, Smad 1 and 4 interacted with Wnt/β‐catenin responsive sites. These results show that the regulation of OPG expression is mediated through two transcription pathways that involve the OPG promoter.
Modelling and migration with orthogonal isochron rays
Authors: Ferreira da Silva Eduardo Filpo , Sava Paul
Published: January 2009

For increasing time values, isochrons can be regarded as expanding wavefronts and their perpendicular lines as the associated orthogonal isochron rays. The speed of the isochron movement depends on the medium velocity and the source‐receiver position. We introduce the term equivalent‐velocity to refer to the speed of isochron movement. In the particular case of zero‐offset data, the equivalent velocity is half of the medium velocity. We use the concepts of orthogonal isochron‐rays and equivalent velocity to extend the application of the exploding reflector model to non‐zero offset imaging problems. In particular, we employ these concepts to extend the use of zero‐offset wave‐equation algorithms for modelling and imaging common‐offset sections. In our imaging approach, the common‐offset migration is implemented as a trace‐by‐trace algorithm in three steps: equivalent velocity computation, data conditioning for zero‐offset migration and zero‐offset wave‐equation migration. We apply this methodology for modelling and imaging synthetic common‐offset sections using two kinds of algorithms: finite‐difference and split‐step wavefield extrapolation. We also illustrate the isochron‐ray imaging methodology with a field‐data example and compare the results with conventional common‐offset Kirchhoff migration. This methodology is attractive because it permits depth migration of common‐offset sections or just pieces of that by using wave‐equation algorithms, it extends the use of robust zero‐offset algorithms, it presents favourable features for parallel processing, it permits the creation of hybrid migration algorithms and it is appropriate for migration velocity analysis.