bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Transformation of multiwall carbon nanotubes to onions with layers cross-linked by sp3 bonds under high pressure and shear deformation
Authors: Pankov A. M. , Bredikhina A. S. , Kulnitskiy B. A. , Perezhogin I. A. , Skryleva E. A. , Parkhomenko Yu. N. , Popov M. Yu. , Blank V. D.
Published: August 2017

A pressure-induced phase transition of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNT) to a new structure at room temperature is studied using a shear diamond anvil cell, X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and Raman procedures. We observe a cardinal pressure-induced change in the nanoparticles shape from multi-shell tubes to multi-shell spheres. MWNT transforms to onions with layers cross-linked by sp3 bonds under the 45-65 GPa compressive stress combined with shear deformation at room temperature. TEM and XPS results show that about 40% of the carbon atoms in the new phase are sp3-bounded.
Quantum mechanical free energy profiles with post-quantization restraints: Binding free energy of the water dimer over a broad range of temperatures
Authors: Bishop Kevin P. , Roy Pierre-Nicholas
Published: August 2017

Free energy calculations are a crucial part of understanding chemical systems but are often computationally expensive for all but the simplest of systems. Various enhanced sampling techniques have been developed to improve the efficiency of these calculations in numerical simulations. However, the majority of these approaches have been applied using classical molecular dynamics. There are many situations where nuclear quantum effects impact the system of interest and a classical description fails to capture these details. In this work, path integral molecular dynamics has been used in conjunction with umbrella sampling, and it has been observed that correct results are only obtained when the umbrella sampling potential is applied to a single path integral bead post quantization. This method has been validated against a Lennard-Jones benchmark system before being applied to the more complicated water dimer system over a broad range of temperatures. Free energy profiles are obtained, and these are utilized in the calculation of the second virial coefficient as well as the change in free energy from the separated water monomers to the dimer. Comparisons to experimental and ground state calculation values from the literature are made for the second virial coefficient at higher temperature and the dissociation energy of the dimer in the ground state.
The plasmonic properties of argon cluster-bombarded InP surfaces
Authors: Murdoch B. J. , Barlow A. J. , Fletcher I. W. , Cumpson P. J.
Published: August 2017

Gas cluster ion beam sputtering has been used to study the self-organising behaviour of In metallic nanoparticles produced by preferential sputtering of phosphorus atoms in InP. Discrete plasmonic In nanoparticles are observed at the earliest stages of surface modification. The surfaces have been investigated in situ by reflection electron energy loss spectroscopy, Auger electron spectroscopy, and photoluminescence spectroscopy. By altering the excitation intensity, we observe alterations of the photoluminescence spectrum that are attributed to photoconductive-coupling between In nanoparticles. The devices presented are suitable for visible wavelength surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy and, potentially, offer a route to active all-optical switches.
Ephaptic coupling rescues conduction failure in weakly coupled cardiac tissue with voltage-gated gap junctions
Authors: Weinberg S. H.
Published: August 2017

Electrical conduction in cardiac tissue is usually considered to be primarily facilitated by gap junctions, providing a pathway between the intracellular spaces of neighboring cells. However, recent studies have highlighted the role of coupling via extracellular electric fields, also known as ephaptic coupling, particularly in the setting of reduced gap junction expression. Further, in the setting of reduced gap junctional coupling, voltage-dependent gating of gap junctions, an oft-neglected biophysical property in computational studies, produces a positive feedback that promotes conduction failure. We hypothesized that ephaptic coupling can break the positive feedback loop and rescue conduction failure in weakly coupled cardiac tissue. In a computational tissue model incorporating voltage-gated gap junctions and ephaptic coupling, we demonstrate that ephaptic coupling can rescue conduction failure in weakly coupled tissue. Further, ephaptic coupling increased conduction velocity in weakly coupled tissue, and importantly, reduced the minimum gap junctional coupling necessary for conduction, most prominently at fast pacing rates. Finally, we find that, although neglecting gap junction voltage-gating results in negligible differences in well coupled tissue, more significant differences occur in weakly coupled tissue, greatly underestimating the minimal gap junctional coupling that can maintain conduction. Our study suggests that ephaptic coupling plays a conduction-preserving role, particularly at rapid heart rates.
The aerodynamics of high solidity unsymmetrical and symmetrical blade H-Darrieus rotors in low wind speed conditions
Authors: Sengupta A. R. , Biswas A. , Gupta R.
Published: August 2017

In this paper, blade-fluid interactions of high-solidity unsymmetrical and symmetrical blade H-Darrieus rotors have been studied using detailed computational fluid dynamics simulations to obtain insight into their performance in low wind speed conditions. In the existing literature, such comparative studies of high-solidity rotors are few, but are required for improving their steady-state performance at low wind speeds. For this study, a thick S815 unsymmetrical airfoil and a NACA0018 symmetrical airfoil have been selected. The effects of variations of low wind speeds have been quantified with respect to their impact on the blade-fluid interactions of the rotors at various azimuthal positions. It has been found that in the advancing stroke, a trailing-edge vortex on the suction side of the S815 blade H-Darrieus rotor as well as the leading-edge shape of the S815 blade are responsible for the higher performance of the unsymmetrical blade rotor. Moreover, in the returning stroke, a strong recirculating secondary vortex interacts on the pressure side of the S815 blade H-Darrieus rotor, which also augments the performance of the unsymmetrical blade rotor. For the symmetrical blade rotor, there are no such blade-fluid interactions with the advancing and returning blades.
Performance analysis of a small capacity compressed air energy storage system for renewable energy generation using TRNSYS
Authors: Venkataramani Gayathri , Ramalingam Velraj
Published: August 2017

Compressed air energy storage (CAES) is one of the most promising mature electrical energy storage technologies. CAES, in combination with renewable energy generators connected to the main grid or installed at isolated loads (remote areas, for example), are a viable alternative to other energy storage technologies. Indeed, because of the advantage of fast response, high economic performance, and small environmental impacts, CAES has an extensive application prospect in renewable power generation. In the present work, the thermodynamic response of the charging and discharging cycles in the storage tank is numerically analyzed for a 2 kW small capacity CAES. The prediction of the system parameters from the thermodynamic analysis is essential in designing the tank, compressor, and expander. The energy extracted from the CAES system is being used for several applications such as power, heating, and cooling. Hence the real time challenge is to quantify the energy utilized for the various services provided by the system to maximize the output and overall efficiency. A thermodynamic study on the proposed system optimizes and compares the charging and discharging characteristics for adiabatic and isothermal compression. The system performance is evaluated using the TRNSYS V17 platform for CAES direct usage (using the heat of compression before the expansion process and cool energy from expansion before the CAES tank), advanced adiabatic—CAES (AA-CAES), CAES with solar system under various parametric conditions. All necessary design parameters are studied and the optimum values are determined using TRNSYS software.
Effect of total emitted electron velocity distribution function on the plasma sheath near a floating wall
Authors: Qing Shaowei , Hu Zhou
Published: August 2017

Electrons emitted from a solid surface can noticeably affect characteristics of plasma sheath surrounding that surface by modifying current balance at wall, charge separation in sheath region and Bohm criterion at sheath edge. We establish a static sheath model with kinetic electrons and cold ions to emphasize the effect of different total emitted electron velocity distribution functions (EEVDFs) on classic sheath solution and its structure transition. Four total EEVDFs with same average energy are considered separately. It is found that total EEVDFs influence the sheath solution and the threshold of total electron emission coefficient (EEC) for classic sheath dramatically, and can cause no solution for critical space-charge limited (SCL) sheath. These results indicate that, as EEC increases from zero gradually, the sheath will not transit from classic sheath to SCL sheath structure for some special total EEVDFs.
Growing perfect quintuple-layer nanowires using TiO2
Authors: Dowd Deborah
Published: August 2017

An Oxford-Stuttgart-Berlin team examines the properties of thermoelectric nanowires grown using alternative method.
The relationship between inner surface potential and electrokinetic potential from an experimental and theoretical point of view
Authors: Preočanin Tajana , Namjesnik Danijel , Brown Matthew A. , Lützenkirchen Johannes
Published: August 2017

Environmental contextInterfacial properties of colloid and nanoparticles are directly related to the reactivity and surface densities of existing surface sites. Surface characterisation of particles provides only some kind of average surface properties. Analysis of well-defined monocrystal surfaces, which form the surface of the single particle, leads to a better understanding of surface reactions and mutual interactions of adjacent crystal planes on average surface properties. AbstractThe contact of small solid particles and macroscopic flat planes with aqueous electrolyte solutions results in the accumulation of ions at the interface and the formation of the electrical interfacial layer. Analysis of well-defined monocrystal surfaces, which are the building blocks of a single particle, leads to a better understanding of surface reactions and mutual interactions of adjacent crystal planes on average surface properties of particles. We analyse inner surface potential (obtained by single-crystal electrode) and zeta-potential data (obtained by streaming potential measurements) that were obtained on identical samples. Among the systems for which comparable surface and zetapotentials are available, measured inner surface potential data for sapphire (0001), haematite (0001) and rutile (110) show the expected behaviour based on the face-specific surface chemistry model, whereas the slopes for rutile (110) and quartz (0001) do not. Isoelectric points for sapphire (0001), haematite (0001) and rutile (100) are in conflict with the standard model that implies consistent behaviour of surface potential and diffuse layer potential. For the two former systems, previous results from the literature suggest that the charge of interfacial water can explain the discrepancy. The water layer could also play a role for quartz (0001), but in this case, the discrepancy would simply not be noticed, because both point of zero potential and isoelectric point are low. Along with data on silver halides, it can be concluded that six-ring water structures on solids may generate the electrokinetic behaviour that is typical of inert surfaces like Teflon.
Innate immune genes in persistent mating-induced endometritis in horses
Authors: Marth Christina D. , Firestone Simon M. , Hanlon Dave , Glenton Lisa Y. , Browning Glenn F. , Young Neil D. , Krekeler Natali
Published: August 2017

Persistent mating-induced endometritis (PMIE) severely decreases fertility in horses. The aim of the present study was to evaluate differences between horses susceptible to PMIE and a control group in terms of the expression of selected immune response and effector genes, and the effects of oestrous cycle stage on this expression. Endometrial biopsies from 18 uterine samples of mares in the control group (eight in dioestrus, 10 in oestrus) and 16 PMIE-susceptible mares (four in dioestrus, 12 in oestrus) were analysed by quantitative real-time reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction. Genes for pathogen recognition receptors Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and NLR family CARD domain containing 5 (NLRC5), as well as tissue-specific inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1 (TIMP1), C-X-C motif chemokine ligand (CXCL) 9, CXCL10 and CXCL11 and uteroferrin were expressed at similar levels in the control group and in susceptible mares. Genes for C-C motif chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2) and the antimicrobial peptides secreted phospholipase A2 (sPLA2), lipocalin 2 and lactoferrin were all expressed at higher levels in susceptible compared with control mares. The expression of genes for the antimicrobial peptides equine β-defensin 1 (EBD1), lysozyme (LYZ) and secretory leukoprotease inhibitor (SLPI) was also higher in susceptible than control mares. The diagnostic sensitivity of assays for EBD1, LYZ and SLP1 gene expression to detect susceptibility to PMIE was estimated to be 100%, 94% and 100% respectively, with specificities of 83%, 78% and 78% respectively. When all three tests were positive, the specificity increased to 94%, with an overall sensitivity of 94%. The present study has yielded insights into pathophysiological changes in mares susceptible to PMIE and identified robust diagnostic markers (EBD1, LYZ and SLPI) for susceptibility to this disease.
Protective major histocompatibility complex allele prevents type 1 diabetes by shaping the intestinal microbiota early in ontogeny
Authors: Silverman Michael , Kua Lindsay , Tanca Alessandro , Pala Mauro , Palomba Antonio , Tanes Ceylan , Bittinger Kyle , Uzzau Sergio , Benoist Christophe , Mathis Diane
Published: August 2017

Significance

This report brings a new perspective on the decades-old question of how MHC and HLA complexes can potently protect against a variety of autoimmune diseases, including type 1 diabetes. We demonstrated that protection by the MHC-II Eα:Eβ complex operated via modulation of the composition of the intestinal microbiota during a critical early window of ontogeny, associated with modification of the local immune system. These findings prompt a model of HLA/MHC-mediated protection from autoimmunity, and raise the question of whether disease-protective alleles in other human autoimmune diseases or models thereof might operate by a similar mechanism. They also argue that treating infants and pregnant mothers with antibiotics should be minimized.
Isolation, structural identification and biological characterization of two conopeptides from the Conus pennaceus venom
Authors: Abdel-Wahab Mohammed , Miyashita Masahiro , Ota Yoshiyuki , Juichi Hironori , Okabe Ryota , Sarhan Moustafa , Fouda Maged , Abdel-Rahman Mohamed , Saber Samy , Nakagawa Yoshiaki
Published: August 2017

A novel anti-mollusk conopeptide pn4c was isolated from the Conus pennaceus venom by repeated HPLC fractionation based on the activity against freshwater snails. The primary structure of pn4c was determined by the mass spectrometric de novo sequencing analysis. In addition, pn3a was isolated from the same fraction containing pn4c, as a peptide with unknown functions.
Possibilities of altering arm and shoulder muscle activation in a static therapeutic climbing exercise through arm position, hand support and wall inclination
Authors: Pühringer Martin , Strutzenberger Gerda , Leitl Daniela , Holzner Konrad , Schwameder Hermann
Published: August 2017

The aim of the study was to quantify the activation of arm and shoulder muscles during a static therapeutic climbing exercise and to investigate the possibility of altering the muscle activation through arm position (Jug, Undercling, Sidepull internal rotated, Sidepull external rotated), hand support (one‐handed, double‐handed) and wall inclination (0°, 12°). Electromyographic (EMG) activity of 14 healthy, climbing unexperienced males for the right m. biceps brachii (BB), m. serratus anterior (SA), m. upper, middle and lower trapezius (UT, MT, LT) showed mainly low to moderate EMG activation levels (BB: 4.1–40.1% maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC), SA: 4.5–24.5% MVIC, UT: 1.3–28.0% MVIC, MT: 8.6–47.1% MVIC, LT: 3.8–47.3% MVIC). Significant differences occurred between the four arm positions for the UT and LT. The one‐handed support revealed significant higher muscle activation than the double‐handed support in every condition except for SA in Undercling arm position at 12° wall inclination. Increasing the wall inclination (from 0° to 12° overhang) led to a significant increase in muscle activation in nearly every exercise variation and muscle. These findings suggest that arm position, hand support and wall inclination are appropriate possibilities of altering muscle activation patterns in therapeutic climbing.
Mitochondria-driven assembly of a cortical anchor for mitochondria and dynein
Authors: Kraft Lauren M. , Lackner Laura L.
Published: August 2017

Interorganelle contacts facilitate communication between organelles and impact fundamental cellular functions. In this study, we examine the assembly of the MECA (mitochondria–endoplasmic reticulum [ER]–cortex anchor), which tethers mitochondria to the ER and plasma membrane. We find that the assembly of Num1, the core component of MECA, requires mitochondria. Once assembled, Num1 clusters persistently anchor mitochondria to the cell cortex. Num1 clusters also function to anchor dynein to the plasma membrane, where dynein captures and walks along astral microtubules to help orient the mitotic spindle. We find that dynein is anchored by Num1 clusters that have been assembled by mitochondria. When mitochondrial inheritance is inhibited, Num1 clusters are not assembled in the bud, and defects in dynein-mediated spindle positioning are observed. The mitochondria-dependent assembly of a dual-function cortical anchor provides a mechanism to integrate the positioning and inheritance of the two essential organelles and expands the function of organelle contact sites.
Assessing ExxonMobil’s climate change communications (1977–2014)
Authors: Supran Geoffrey , Oreskes Naomi
Published: August 2017

This paper assesses whether ExxonMobil Corporation has in the past misled the general public about climate change. We present an empirical document-by-document textual content analysis and comparison of 187 climate change communications from ExxonMobil, including peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed publications, internal company documents, and paid, editorial-style advertisements (‘advertorials’) in The New York Times. We examine whether these communications sent consistent messages about the state of climate science and its implications—specifically, we compare their positions on climate change as real, human-caused, serious, and solvable. In all four cases, we find that as documents become more publicly accessible, they increasingly communicate doubt. This discrepancy is most pronounced between advertorials and all other documents. For example, accounting for expressions of reasonable doubt, 83% of peer-reviewed papers and 80% of internal documents acknowledge that climate change is real and human-caused, yet only 12% of advertorials do so, with 81% instead expressing doubt. We conclude that ExxonMobil contributed to advancing climate science—by way of its scientists’ academic publications—but promoted doubt about it in advertorials. Given this discrepancy, we conclude that ExxonMobil misled the public. Our content analysis also examines ExxonMobil’s discussion of the risks of stranded fossil fuel assets. We find the topic discussed and sometimes quantified in 24 documents of various types, but absent from advertorials. Finally, based on the available documents, we outline ExxonMobil’s strategic approach to climate change research and communication, which helps to contextualize our findings.
A criterion to generate carpet Julia sets
Authors: Yang Fei
Published: August 2017

It has been known that the Sierpiński carpets can appear as the Julia sets in the families of some rational maps. In this article we present a criterion that guarantees the existence of the carpet Julia sets in some rational maps having exactly one fixed (super-) attracting or parabolic basin. We show that this criterion can be applied to some well-known rational maps such as McMullen maps and Morosawa–Pilgrim family. Moreover, we give also some special examples whose Julia sets are Sierpiński carpets.
A note on surgery obstructions and hyperbolic integer homology spheres
Authors: Hom Jennifer , Lidman Tye
Published: August 2017

Auckly gave two examples of irreducible integer homology spheres (one toroidal and one hyperbolic) which are not surgery on a knot in the three-sphere. Using Heegaard Floer homology, the authors and Karakurt provided infinitely many small Seifert fibered examples. In this note, we extend those results to give infinitely many hyperbolic examples, as well as infinitely many examples with arbitrary JSJ decomposition.
On (𝑝,𝑟)-filtrations and tilting modules
Authors: Sobaje Paul
Published: August 2017

We study the relationship between Donkin’s Tilting Module Conjecture and Donkin’s Good

(
p
,
r
)

(p,r)

-Filtration Conjecture. Our main result was motivated by a result of Kildetoft and Nakano showing that the Tilting Module Conjecture implies one direction of the Good

(
p
,
r
)

(p,r)

-Filtration Conjecture. We observe that the converse nearly holds; in particular, a weaker version of the Good

(
p
,
r
)

(p,r)

-Filtration Conjecture implies the Tilting Module Conjecture.
A 𝑝-th Yamabe equation on graph
Authors: Ge Huabin
Published: August 2017

Assume

α
≥
p
>
1

\alpha \geq p>1

. Consider the following

p
p

-th Yamabe equation on a connected finite graph

G
G

:

Δ
p

φ
+
h

φ

p
−
1

=
λ
f

φ

α
−
1

,

\begin{equation*} \Delta _p\varphi +h\varphi ^{p-1}=\lambda f\varphi ^{\alpha -1}, \end{equation*}

where

Δ
p

\Delta _p

is the discrete

p
p

-Laplacian,

h
h

and

f
>
0

f>0

are known real functions defined on all vertices. We show that the above equation always has a positive solution

φ
\varphi

for some constant

λ
∈

R

\lambda \in \mathbb {R}

.
Multidimensional Neuroanatomical Subtyping of Autism Spectrum Disorder
Authors: Hong Seok-Jun , Valk Sofie L , Di Martino Adriana , Milham Michael P , Bernhardt Boris C
Published: August 2017

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of neurodevelopmental disorders with multiple biological etiologies and highly variable symptoms. Using a novel analytical framework that integrates cortex-wide MRI markers of vertical (i.e., thickness, tissue contrast) and horizontal (i.e., surface area, geodesic distance) cortical organization, we could show that a large multi-centric cohort of individuals with ASD falls into 3 distinctive anatomical subtypes (ASD-I: cortical thickening, increased surface area, tissue blurring; ASD-II: cortical thinning, decreased distance; ASD-III: increased distance). Bootstrap analysis indicated a high consistency of these biotypes across thousands of simulations, while analysis of behavioral phenotypes and resting-state fMRI showed differential symptom load (i.e., Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule; ADOS) and instrinsic connectivity anomalies in communication and social-cognition networks. Notably, subtyping improved supervised learning approaches predicting ADOS score in single subjects, with significantly increased performance compared to a subtype-blind approach. The existence of different subtypes may reconcile previous results so far not converging on a consistent pattern of anatomical anomalies in autism, and possibly relate the presence of diverging corticogenic and maturational anomalies. The high accuracy for symptom severity prediction indicates benefits of MRI biotyping for personalized diagnostics and may guide the development of targeted therapeutic strategies.
Multiple Chronic Conditions in Spousal Caregivers of Older Adults With Functional Disability: Associations With Caregiving Difficulties and Gains
Authors: Polenick Courtney A , Leggett Amanda N , Webster Noah J , Han Benjamin H , Zarit Steven H , Piette John D
Published: August 2017

Objectives

Multiple chronic conditions (MCCs) are common and have harmful consequences in later life. Along with managing their own health, many aging adults care for an impaired partner. Spousal caregiving may be more stressful when caregivers have MCCs, particularly those involving complex management. Yet, little is known about combinations of conditions that are most consequential for caregiving outcomes.

Method

Using a U.S. sample of 359 spousal caregivers and care recipients from the 2011 National Aging Trends Study and National Study of Caregiving, we examined three categories of MCCs based on similarity of management strategies (concordant only, discordant only, and both concordant and discordant) and their associations with caregiving difficulties and gains. We also considered gender differences.

Results

Relative to caregivers without MCCs, caregivers with discordant MCCs reported fewer gains, whereas caregivers with both concordant and discordant MCCs reported greater emotional and physical difficulties. Wives with discordant MCCs only reported a trend for greater physical difficulties. Caregivers with concordant MCCs did not report more difficulties or gains.

Discussion

Spousal caregivers with MCCs involving discordant management strategies appear to be at risk for adverse care-related outcomes and may benefit from support in maintaining their own health as well as their caregiving responsibilities.
Return migration of adult Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) to northern Norway
Authors: Ulvan Eva Marita , Foldvik Anders , Jensen Arne Johan , Finstad Bengt , Thorstad Eva Bonsak , Rikardsen Audun Håvard , Næsje Tor Fredrik
Published: August 2017

The return migration of adult Atlantic salmon was investigated by analysing recaptures of individuals tagged and released as smolts in the River Altaelva and the River Halselva using a catch per unit effort approach. Although the salmon were recaptured over a large area along the coastline (from >1100 km south to > 500 km northeast of their home rivers), the results indicated a relatively accurate homeward navigation for most individuals. The straying rate to rivers other than the home river was 9%. Multi-sea-winter salmon returned earlier in the season than one-sea-winter salmon, but the geographical distribution of recaptures did not differ. Recaptures were equally distributed north and south of the home rivers, implying that salmon were arriving to the coast both north and south of their home rivers and that they may have returned from different ocean areas. This was supported by the fact that several salmon were recaptured in both the southern and northern parts of the North Atlantic Ocean, including at the Faroes, south coast of Greenland, Svalbard and in the Barents Sea. This study supports the hypothesis that the coastal phase of the natal homing in migrating fish species is neither passive nor guided by currents alone.
Symbolic Powers of Ideals Defining F-pure and Strongly F-regular Rings
Authors: Grifo Eloísa , Huneke Craig
Published: August 2017

Given a radical ideal $I$ in a regular ring $R$, the Containment Problem of symbolic and ordinary powers of $I$ consists of determining when the containment $I^{(a)} \subseteq I^b$ holds. By work of Ein–Lazersfeld–Smith, Hochster–Huneke and Ma–Schwede, there is a uniform answer to this question, but the resulting containments are not necessarily best possible. We show that a conjecture of Harbourne holds when $R/I$ is F-pure, and prove tighter containments in the case when $R/I$ is strongly F-regular.
Antipolitics and the Hindrance of Performance Management in Education
Authors: Snyder Jeffrey W , Saultz Andrew , Jacobsen Rebecca
Published: August 2017

Performance management reforms are a popular way to try to create responsive and improving government. These types of reforms have become commonplace in education policy and the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory (JPART) has been one of the leading venues for research on these topics. However, under-analyzed are the ways in which performance management policies represent antipolitical bent to education reform. We outline an argument that avoiding political decisionmaking in favor of reforms that create authoritative or purportedly neutral data risks undertaking policy change are not as meaningful as hoped. We select eight articles that represent research on performance management broadly and are thought provoking for a broader consideration of performance management in education policy.
Persistent in vivo cytogenetic effects of radioiodine therapy: a 21-year follow-up study using multicolor FISH
Authors: Livingston Gordon K , Escalona Maria , Foster Alvis , Balajee Adayabalam S
Published: August 2017

Our previous studies demonstrated the cytogenetic effects in the peripheral blood lymphocytes of a 34-year-old male patient who received ablative radioactive 131iodine therapy (RIT) on two different occasions in 1992 and 1994. Assessment of RIT-induced chromosomal damage by the cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus assay (CBMN) showed the persistence of elevated micronucleus frequency in this patient for more than two decades since the first RIT. Subsequent cytogenetic analysis performed in 2012 revealed both stable and unstable aberrations, whose frequencies were higher than the baseline reported in the literature. Here, we report the findings of our recent cytogenetic analysis peformed in 2015 on this patient using the multicolor fluorescence in situ hybridization (mFISH) technique. Our results showed that both reciprocal and non-reciprocal translocations persisted at higher frequencies in the patient than those reported in 2012. Persistence of structural aberrations for more than two decades indicate that these aberrations might have originated from long-lived T-lymphocytes or hematopoietic stem cells. Our study suggests that the long-term persistence of chromosome translocations in circulating lymphocytes can be useful for monitoring the extent of RIT-induced chromosomal instability several years after exposure and for estimating the cumulative absorbed dose after multiple RITs for retrospective biodosimetry purposes. This is perhaps the first and longest follow-up study documenting the persistence of cytogenetic damage for 21 years after internal radiation exposure.
Homo novus/New man
Authors: van der Blom Henriette
Published: August 2017

The concept homo novus (literally “new man”) and its derivative novitas (“newness” or “the quality of being a new man”) were used by politicians and authors writing about political life in the late Roman republic (c. 133–131 bce). There is no ancient definition of the term, and modern scholars disagree on the precise meaning. However, ancient usage suggests that homo novus was a political term used to describe a politician from outside the senatorial elite in Rome, who was successfully elected to a political magistracy, especially the higher magistracies of praetor and consul. The existence of the term indicates an attempt to maintain exclusivity in the political elite of senatorial families and that this attempt was directed not at the lower classes but mainly at members of the equestrian class, who were their equals in socioeconomic terms. The term was used pejoratively by elite Roman politicians to scorn newcomers competing for the limited number of magistracies; in response some homines novi tried to present their background as advantageous: their lack of politically active ancestors made their own candidacy for office untainted by established networks and corruption. The term and its underlying political and social dynamics is crucial for understanding the rhetoric of the politician and author Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 bce) in particular, but also the historical monographs of his near-contemporary Gaius Sallustius Crispus (86–c. 35 bce), and the works of biographers and historians writing about the late republic. Cicero is the largest exponent of the term, but his speeches suggests that other new men dipped into the rhetoric of novitas. Understanding the political and social dynamics behind this concept is also important for any study of late Roman republican politics and the major sociopolitical changes taking place during the civil war and triumviral period (c. 49–31 bce) and the early imperial period (c. 31 bce–100 ce).
Gender and Terrorism
Authors: Gentry Caron
Published: August 2017

Even though conventional wisdom has it that women are not frequently involved in the political violence known as terrorism, women have in fact participated in the writing and dissemination of ideological beliefs, planning of attacks, and participation in such violence since, at a minimum, the mid-1800s. Terrorism studies grew as a field in the 1970s in response to the growing threat of substate violence in liberal democracies and anti-colonial violence, including from groups like the West German Red Army Faction, the Italian Red Brigades, the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN), or the Irish Republican Army. Women have always been studied in terrorism studies, even if this work is limited in volume and perspective. Thus, an analysis of terrorism from a gender perspective is relatively new, with publications that focus specifically on gender, as opposed to women, emerging only as recently as the early to mid-2000s. The feminist work started with the classic question, “Where are the women?” As such, it was seeking to determine where and how women were involved. It evolved into deconstructing gendered discourse, looking at the agency and performativity of the women and men involved in terrorism, as well as how terrorist organizations are gendered in the international system. “Mainstream” terrorism studies and critical/feminist approaches continue to develop side-by-side, sometimes in conversation with each other and sometimes not; this is most evident in the work on suicide terrorism, radicalization, and counterterrorism. However, different instantiations of feminist theory continue to drive the scholarship into more critical explorations, including “intimate” terrorism and queer theory.
Environmental Law
Authors: Percival Robert
Published: August 2017

Concern over the effects of pollution on public health has been a major factor shaping the development of environmental law. Prior to the rise of the regulatory state, courts used the common law of public and private nuisance to umpire disputes over air and water pollution. Beginning in the 1970s, the United States largely centralized environmental regulation in the federal government after years of effort to prod states to act proved unsuccessful. Today, a plethora of federal environmental statutes establish comprehensive regulatory programs to protect public health from exposure to pollution. The laws generally require federal agencies to set minimum national standards that can be implemented and enforced by state authorities under delegated authority. Environmental impact assessment requirements are the most widely adopted provisions of environmental law around the world. These laws require assessment and consideration of potential environmental effects of major actions likely to significantly affect the environment before they are approved. But environmental law now extends far beyond environmental assessment. The laws also direct expert agencies to set standards to limit emissions of pollution, to ensure that hazardous wastes are managed safely, to regulate chemical use, and to protect endangered species. Environmental laws employ a variety of approaches for determining how stringently to regulate. These include technology-based standards, health-based regulation, and approaches that balance risks and benefits. In recent years, more emphasis has been placed on informational regulation that requires disclosure of potential hazards to consumers and members of the general public. In many countries, the environmental laws require agencies to solicit public input when they develop regulations. These laws provide for judicial review of agency actions and authorize citizen suits to ensure that the laws are implemented and enforced. As countries increasingly borrow regulatory innovations from one another, traditional distinctions between domestic and international law are beginning to blur. The growing importance of nonstate actors in influencing the development of global environmental law and policy also is blurring traditional distinctions between private and public law.
Linguistic Prescriptivism
Authors: Straaijer Robin
Published: August 2017

The term prescriptivism refers to the ideology and practices in which the correct and incorrect uses of a language or specific linguistic items are laid down by explicit rules that are externally imposed on the users of that language. This ideology and its practices are now usually ascribed to nonlinguists or nonacademic linguists, whereas modern academic linguists, following Saussurean tenets, restrict themselves to the study and description of the structure of language and its natural use. Next to the term prescriptivism, the terms prescriptivist, prescriptive, and prescription occur in the literature on the subject. It is useful to briefly mention how these terms are used, and how they relate to each other. The term prescriptivist is used both as a noun and as an adjective. The noun is used to refer to those individuals practicing prescriptivism, whereas the adjective refers more generally to the adherence (of a person or work) to prescriptive concepts or ideals, often as an opposite to descriptivist, though this stark dichotomy is now seen by linguists as somewhat reductive. The adjective prescriptive is also used with this meaning, though more often in the phrase prescriptive grammar—works that are contrasted with academic, descriptive grammars. The noun prescription usually refers to a single instance of prescriptivism, or to put it more simply, a prescriptive rule. Technically, a prescription only tells one what should be done, whereas a proscription tells one what should not be done, but the two are often subsumed under the former term, almost exclusively so by nonlinguists. The present article focuses mainly on English prescriptivism, that is, studies on prescriptivism as practiced in the English-speaking world and pertaining to the English language.
Fair and Equitable Treatment in International Investment Agreements
Authors: Kläger Roland
Published: August 2017

Fair and equitable treatment is a central norm in international investment law. This norm is contained in the vast majority of international investment agreements as one of the main standards for the protection of foreign investors. Historically, international investment agreements contained short and general clauses of fair and equitable treatment, which were formulated either as free-standing provisions with a reference to general international law, or to the international minimum standard of customary international law. Especially since the first decade of the 21st century, drafting approaches to fair and equitable treatment became increasingly diverse and generated complex and elaborate clauses seeking to address the different elements of the norm that have developed over time. The drafting approaches reflect the long-standing controversies with regard to fair and equitable treatment and the question of whether this concept is to be constructed in accordance with the international minimum standard or as an independent and self-contained standard possibly exceeding customary international law. Both concepts have remained vague and have created difficulties in the interpretation of fair and equitable treatment, which due to its general character became a prominent cause of action in investor-state arbitration proceedings. The evolution of arbitral jurisprudence stimulated the emergence of different elements of fair and equitable treatment, including the protection of the investor’s legitimate expectations, the protection against discrimination and arbitrary treatments, and the principles of due process, denial of justice, and transparency. The increasing number of cases on the basis of fair and equitable treatment also led to concerns and criticism that a far-reaching concept of the norm would threaten the host states’ sovereignty and their right to regulate, as well as the principle of sustainable development. These concerns and the fact that a growing number of investment disputes were brought against developed countries motivated first the North American Free Trade Agreement member states and subsequently other states and the European Union to adapt their international investment agreements in order to try to concretize the concept of fair and equitable treatment and to limit the discretion of arbitrators. The concept of fair and equitable treatment has also received considerable attention by scholars who propose a variety of different approaches to the interpretation of the norm and the balancing of the conflicting private and public interests at stake.
Jewish Territorialism (in Relation to Jewish Studies)
Authors: Almagor Laura
Published: August 2017

The Jewish Territorialist movement was first organized in 1905 when, at the Seventh Zionist Congress, a group of some fifty Zionists left the Zionist movement to form the Jewish Territorialist Organization (ITO). This secession, under the leadership of the famous Anglo-Jewish writer and playwright Israel Zangwill (b. 1864–d. 1926), was a reaction to the Zionist rejection of the British offer of the so-called Guas Ngishu Plateau in Kenya for the establishment of a Jewish settlement, erroneously recorded as the Uganda Proposal. From that moment onward, the Jewish Territorialists searched for areas outside Palestine in which to create settlements of Jews. Zangwill and his collaborators considered numerous locations, most importantly in Mesopotamia, Cyrenaica (Libya), Angola, and Honduras. Moreover, between 1907 and 1914 the ITO functioned as the European partner in Jewish-American philanthropist Jacob Schiff’s Galveston movement, which aimed at diverting Eastern European Jewish immigrants from New York City to the smaller cities in the American Midwest via the Texan port city of Galveston. During the war years (1914–1918), and especially after the issuing of the Balfour Declaration in 1917, Territorialist activity slowed down significantly. Zangwill eventually disbanded the ITO in 1925, but a second “wave” of organized Territorialism followed with the establishment in 1934 of the Freeland League for Jewish Territorial Colonization, eventually under the leadership of the Russian socialist-revolutionary émigré Isaac N. Steinberg (b. 1888–d. 1957) and headquartered in New York City. Until the outbreak of World War II, the Freeland League explored settlement options in French and British Guiana, Madagascar, New Caledonia, the New Hebrides, and Australia. After the war, the Freeland League’s most developed project was targeted at the establishment of an agro-industrial settlement for 30,000 Jews in Dutch Guiana (Suriname). The plan was explicitly “sold” as a partial solution to the European displaced persons problem, and it demonstrates the remarkable shift the Territorialist movement went through from being strictly colonial to voicing explicitly anticolonial ideas. Moreover, the ideological and programmatic differences between the Territorialists and other non-Zionist Jewish groups and movements grew smaller from the 1930s onward. Like several of these groups, the Territorialists became increasingly interested in shifting from the realm of pure politics to also including a more cultural or explicitly Yiddishist set of aims and ambitions. The history of the movement thus helps to shed light both on the story of (non-Zionist) Jewish political behavior during the first half of the twentieth century and on the development of a larger geopolitical narrative connected to peoplehood, population politics, and (post)colonialism.
Survey of period variations of superhumps in SU UMa-type dwarf novae. IX. The ninth year (2016–2017)
Authors: Kato Taichi , Isogai Keisuke , Hambsch Franz-Josef , Vanmunster Tonny , Itoh Hiroshi , Monard Berto , Tordai Tamás , Kimura Mariko , Wakamatsu Yasuyuki , Kiyota Seiichiro , Miller Ian , Starr Peter , Kasai Kiyoshi , Shugarov Sergey Yu. , Chochol Drahomir , Katysheva Natalia , Zaostrojnykh Anna M. , Sekeráš Matej , Kuznyetsova Yuliana G. , Kalinicheva Eugenia S. , Golysheva Polina , Krushevska Viktoriia , Maeda Yutaka , Dubovsky Pavol A. , Kudzej Igor , Pavlenko Elena P. , Antonyuk Kirill A. , Pit Nikolaj V. , Sosnovskij Aleksei A. , Antonyuk Oksana I. , Baklanov Aleksei V. , Pickard Roger D. , Kojiguchi Naoto , Sugiura Yuki , Tei Shihei , Yamamura Kenta , Matsumoto Katsura , Ruiz Javier , Stone Geoff , Cook Lewis M. , de Miguel Enrique , Akazawa Hidehiko , Goff William N. , Morelle Etienne , Kafka Stella , Littlefield Colin , Bolt Greg , Dubois Franky , Brincat Stephen M. , Maehara Hiroyuki , Sakanoi Takeshi , Kagitani Masato , Imada Akira , Voloshina Irina B. , Andreev Maksim V. , Sabo Richard , Richmond Michael , Rodda Tony , Nelson Peter , Nazarov Sergey , Mishevskiy Nikolay , Myers Gordon , Denisenko Denis , Stanek Krzysztof Z. , Shields Joseph V. , Kochanek Christopher S. , Holoien Thomas W.-S. , Shappee Benjamin , Prieto José L. , Itagaki Koh-ichi , Nishiyama Koichi , Kabashima Fujio , Stubbings Rod , Schmeer Patrick , Muyllaert Eddy , Horie Tsuneo , Shears Jeremy , Poyner Gary , Moriyama Masayuki
Published: August 2017

Continuing the project described by Kato et al. (2009, PASJ, 61, S395), we collected times of superhump maxima for 127 SU UMa-type dwarf novae observed mainly during the 2016–2017 season and characterized these objects. We provide updated statistics of the relation between the orbital period and the variation of superhumps, the relation between period variations and the rebrightening type in WZ Sge-type objects. We obtained the period minimum of 0.05290(2) d and confirmed the presence of the period gap above the orbital period ∼0.09 d. We note that four objects (NY Her, 1RXS J161659.5+620014, CRTS J033349.8−282244, and SDSS J153015.04+094946.3) have supercycles shorter than 100 d but show infrequent normal outbursts. We consider that these objects are similar to V503 Cyg, whose normal outbursts are likely suppressed by a disk tilt. These four objects are excellent candidates to search for negative superhumps. DDE 48 appears to be a member of ER UMa-type dwarf novae. We identified a new eclipsing SU UMa-type object, MASTER OT J220559.40−341434.9. We observed 21 WZ Sge-type dwarf novae during this interval and report 18 of them in this paper. Among them, ASASSN-16js is a good candidate for a period bouncer. ASASSN-16ia showed a precursor outburst for the first time in a WZ Sge-type superoutburst. ASASSN-16kg, CRTS J000130.5+050624, and SDSS J113551.09+532246.2 are located in the period gap. We have newly obtained 15 orbital periods, including periods from early superhumps.