bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mexico since 1980
Authors: Haber Stephen , Klein Herbert S. , Maurer Noel , Middlebrook Kevin J.
Published: July 2010

This book addresses two questions that are crucial to understanding Mexico's current economic and political challenges. Why did the opening up of the economy to foreign trade and investment not result in sustained economic growth? Why has electoral democracy not produced rule of law? The answer to those questions lies in the ways in which Mexico's long history with authoritarian government shaped its judicial, taxation, and property rights institutions. These institutions, the authors argue, cannot be reformed with the stroke of a pen. Moreover, they represent powerful constraints on the ability of the Mexican government to fund welfare-enhancing reforms, on the ability of firms and households to write contracts, and on the ability of citizens to enforce their basic rights.
Language and Ethnicity
Authors: Fought Carmen
Published: July 2010

What is ethnicity? Is there a 'white' way of speaking? Why do people sometimes borrow features of another ethnic group's language? Why do we sometimes hear an accent that isn't there? This lively overview, first published in 2006, reveals the fascinating relationship between language and ethnic identity, exploring the crucial role it plays in both revealing a speaker's ethnicity and helping to construct it. Drawing on research from a range of ethnic groups around the world, it shows how language contributes to the social and psychological processes involved in the formation of ethnic identity, exploring both the linguistic features of ethnic language varieties and also the ways in which language is used by different ethnic groups. Complete with discussion questions and a glossary, Language and Ethnicity will be welcomed by students and researchers in sociolinguistics, as well as anybody interested in ethnic issues, language and education, inter-ethnic communication, and the relationship between language and identity.
Commercializing Successful Biomedical Technologies
Authors: Mehta Shreefal S.
Published: July 2010

Successful product design and development requires the ability to take a concept and translate the technology into useful, patentable, commercial products. This book guides the reader through the practical aspects of the commercialization process of drug, diagnostic and device biomedical technology including market analysis, product development, intellectual property and regulatory constraints. Key issues are highlighted at each stage in the process, and case studies are used to provide practical examples. The book will provide a sound road map for those involved in the biotechnology industry to effectively plan the commercialization of profitable regulated medical products. It will also be suitable for a capstone design course in engineering and biotechnology, providing the student with the business acumen skills involved in product development.
Taurine supplementation: involvement of cholinergic/phospholipase C and protein kinase A pathways in potentiation of insulin secretion and Ca2+handling in mouse pancreatic islets
Authors: Ribeiro Rosane A. , Vanzela Emerielle C. , Oliveira Camila A. M. , Bonfleur Maria L. , Boschero Antonio C. , Carneiro Everardo M.
Published: July 2010

Taurine (TAU) supplementation increases insulin secretion in response to high glucose concentrations in rodent islets. This effect is probably due to an increase in Ca2+handling by the islet cells. Here, we investigated the possible involvement of the cholinergic/phospholipase C (PLC) and protein kinase (PK) A pathways in this process. Adult mice were fed with 2 % TAU in drinking water for 30 d. The mice were killed and pancreatic islets isolated by the collagenase method. Islets from TAU-supplemented mice showed higher insulin secretion in the presence of 8·3 mm-glucose, 100 μm-carbachol (Cch) and 1 mm-3-isobutyl-1-methyl-xanthine (IBMX), respectively. The increase in insulin secretion in response to Cch in TAU islets was accompanied by a higher intracellular Ca2+mobilisation and PLCβ2protein expression. The Ca2+uptake was higher in TAU islets in the presence of 8·3 mm-glucose, but similar when the islets were challenged by glucose plus IBMX. TAU islets also showed an increase in the expression of PKAα protein. This protein may play a role in cation accumulation, since the amount of Ca2+in these islets was significantly reduced by the PKA inhibitors:N-[2-(p-bromocinnamylamino)ethyl]-5-isoquinoline sulfonamide (H89) and PK inhibitor-(6–22)-amide (PKI). In conclusion, TAU supplementation increases insulin secretion in response to glucose, favouring both influx and internal mobilisation of Ca2+, and these effects seem to involve the activation of both PLC–inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate and cAMP–PKA pathways.
A critical-layer framework for turbulent pipe flow
Authors: McKEON B. J. , SHARMA A. S.
Published: July 2010

A model-based description of the scaling and radial location of turbulent fluctuations in turbulent pipe flow is presented and used to illuminate the scaling behaviour of the very large scale motions. The model is derived by treating the nonlinearity in the perturbation equation (involving the Reynolds stress) as an unknown forcing, yielding a linear relationship between the velocity field response and this nonlinearity. We do not assume small perturbations. We examine propagating helical velocity response modes that are harmonic in the wall-parallel directions and in time, permitting comparison of our results to experimental data. The steady component of the velocity field that varies only in the wall-normal direction is identified as the turbulent mean profile. A singular value decomposition of the resolvent identifies the forcing shape that will lead to the largest velocity response at a given wavenumber–frequency combination. The hypothesis that these forcing shapes lead to response modes that will be dominant in turbulent pipe flow is tested by using physical arguments to constrain the range of wavenumbers and frequencies to those actually observed in experiments. An investigation of the most amplified velocity response at a given wavenumber–frequency combination reveals critical-layer-like behaviour reminiscent of the neutrally stable solutions of the Orr–Sommerfeld equation in linearly unstable flow. Two distinct regions in the flow where the influence of viscosity becomes important can be identified, namely wall layers that scale withR+1/2and critical layers where the propagation velocity is equal to the local mean velocity, one of which scales withR+2/3in pipe flow. This framework appears to be consistent with several scaling results in wall turbulence and reveals a mechanism by which the effects of viscosity can extend well beyond the immediate vicinity of the wall. The model reproduces inner scaling of the small scales near the wall and an approach to outer scaling in the flow interior. We use our analysis to make a first prediction that the appropriate scaling velocity for the very large scale motions is the centreline velocity, and show that this is in agreement with experimental results. Lastly, we interpret the wall modes as the motion required to meet the wall boundary condition, identifying the interaction between the critical and wall modes as a potential origin for an interaction between the large and small scales that has been observed in recent literature as an amplitude modulation of the near-wall turbulence by the very large scales.
Echoing in a viscous compressible fluid confined between two parallel plane walls
Authors: FELDERHOF B. U.
Published: July 2010

The dynamics of a viscous compressible fluid, confined between two parallel plane walls and excited by a sudden impulse transverse to the walls, is studied on the basis of the linearized Navier–Stokes equations. It is shown that the time-dependent flow depends strongly on the sound velocity and on the shear and volume viscosity. Under favourable conditions an echoing effect can be observed, with a sound pulse bouncing many times between the two plates. The velocity correlation function of a Brownian particle immersed in the fluid is calculated in point approximation. It shows a similar strong dependence on fluid properties.
Consistent section-averaged equations of quasi-one-dimensional laminar flow
Authors: LUCHINI PAOLO , CHARRU FRANÇOIS
Published: July 2010

Section-averaged equations of motion, widely adopted for slowly varying flows in pipes, channels and thin films, are usually derived from the momentum integral on a heuristic basis, although this formulation is affected by known inconsistencies. We show that starting from the energy rather than the momentum equation makes it become consistent to first order in the slowness parameter, giving the same results that have been provided until today only by a much more laborious two-dimensional solution. The kinetic-energy equation correctly provides the pressure gradient because with a suitable normalization the first-order correction to the dissipation function is identically zero. The momentum equation then correctly provides the wall shear stress. As an example, the classical stability result for a free falling liquid film is recovered straightforwardly.
Diel seasonality in fish biodiversity in a sandy beach in south-eastern Brazil
Authors: Vasconcellos Ruan Managna , Araújo Francisco Gerson , de Sousa Santos Joaquim Neto , de Araújo Silva Márcio
Published: July 2010

Diel fluctuations in nearshore fish communities were studied at a sandy beach in south-eastern Brazil. A total of 192 samples were performed by beach seines, during 3-hour intervals throughout 48-hour periods, between spring 2005 and winter 2006. Mean biomass and number of species were significantly higher at night, while number of individuals did not differ between day and night. Major disruptions in the fish community occurred during the winter when the assemblages underwent restructuring. Harengula clupeola, Sardinella janeiro, Anchoa lyoleps and Umbrina coroides were the predominant species at night, while Atherinella brasiliensis, Pomatomus saltatrix and Trachinotus carolinus peaked during the day, although significant diel changes in community structure were recorded only in the summer. Biological interactions, behavioural variations and local constraints might explain diel differences in the fish distribution. This study confirms that changes in diel activity in juvenile fish species can differ in similar areas, even for a given species, and the causes of these changes needs to be investigated.
Can the historical Jesus teach ethics? In response to Richard Burridge, Imitating Jesus
Authors: Watson Francis
Published: July 2010

Richard Burridge is best known for his book, What are the Gospels?, which argues convincingly that the gospels belong within the broad generic category of the Graeco-Roman biography. The consensus that ‘the gospels are not biographies’ rests on a set of modern assumptions about what a biography should contain; measured against the yardstick of ancient biographies, however, the gospels clearly represent the same kind of literature. Of course, that does not mean that they are in every respect like other Graeco-Roman bioi or vitae. The gospels remain distinctive. One indication of this distinctiveness is that the title attached to them is not bios tou Iesou or the like, but euaggelion kata . . . followed by an evangelist's name. The gospels intend to be more than just a further contribution to the biographical literature of the ancient world. Burridge allowed that ‘gospel’ might represent a distinctive and new ‘subgenre’ within the broader biographical genre; there is no difficulty about such a move if we understand genre as a dynamic concept rather than a static one. Perhaps we might want to qualify the claim that ‘the gospels are biographies’ by stating instead that ‘the gospels represent a new development within the biographical genre’.
Seismological constraints on ice properties at Dome C, Antarctica, from horizontal to vertical spectral ratios
Authors: Lévêque Jean-Jacques , Maggi Alessia , Souriau Annie
Published: July 2010

The French-Italian Concordia (CCD) seismological station at Dome C is one of two observatories setup on the ice cap in the interior of the Antarctic continent. We analysed the seismic signal due to ambient noise at this station and at three temporary stations 5 km away from Concordia, in order to specify the ice properties beneath them. A method based on the horizontal to vertical (H/V) spectral ratio, commonly used to analyse soil response in seismic regions, was applied to the Antarctic stations. The main peak in the spectral ratios is observed at frequencies 6.7–8 Hz at the Dome C stations, but it is not observed at another station on the ice cap, QSPA, where the sensor is buried at 275 m depth. This peak can be explained by a 23 m thick unconsolidated snow or firn layer with a low S-wave velocity of 0.7 km s-1, overlying a consolidated layer with S-wave velocity 1.8 km s-1. Despite the non-uniqueness of the solutions obtained by fitting the H/V spectra, this model is preferred because the depth of the velocity contrast coincides with the density at which ice particles arrange themselves in a continuous, dense lattice. A small variability of this structure is observed around Dome C.
Elementary theory of valued fields with a valuation-preserving automorphism
Authors: Azgin Salih , van den Dries Lou
Published: July 2010

We consider valued fields with a value-preserving automorphism and improve on model-theoretic results by Bélair, Macintyre and Scanlon on these objects by dropping assumptions on the residue difference field. In the equicharacteristic 0 case we describe the induced structure on the value group and the residue difference field.
On stable fields and weight
Authors: Krupiński Krzysztof , Pillay Anand
Published: July 2010

We prove that ifKis an (infinite) stable field whose generic type has weight 1, thenKis separably closed. We also obtain some partial results about stable groups and fields whose generic type has finite weight, as well as about strongly stable fields (where by definitionalltypes have finite weight).
THE BHAGAVAD GITA AND MODERN THOUGHT: INTRODUCTION
Authors: KAPILA SHRUTI , DEVJI FAISAL
Published: July 2010

In a recent essay the agent provocateur and philosopher Slavoj Žižek remarked that the Bhagavad Gita represented the perfect philosophy for post-capitalist society. By no means the first reaction to this text, this is only the most recent and arguably most controversial understanding of the philosophical content of the Gita, whose previous commentators have ranged from Nietzsche to Hitler. Less controversially, the modern composer Phillip Glass opened his opera Satyagraha with a dramatization of the discourse between Krishna and Arjuna that forms the Gita's content as a plea for a humanist politics. Though the text does not offer limitless possibilities for interpretation, what is certain is that the Gita has acquired an iconic status in modern times as a set of reflections on ethics, war, justice, freedom and action.
CORRIGIBILITY, ALLEGORY, UNIVERSALITY: A HISTORY OF THE GITA'S TRANSNATIONAL RECEPTION, 1785–1945
Authors: SINHA MISHKA
Published: July 2010

This essay lays out a history of the translation, interpretation, transmission and reception of the Bhagavad Gita as a cultural, religious and philosophical text in the West from 1785 to 1945; in doing so it focuses primarily on Britain, although it also refers to other contexts of reception where they are connected to the British context, or to present revealing or helpful comparisons. The object of the essay is to investigate relationships between the Gita's interpretive history and assumptions about the Gita, both as a transcultural philosophical source and as an essentially Hindu religious text, which have been in place since the twentieth century. Although there have been other transnational surveys and histories of the Gita's translation, this essay differs from them in positing a specific period of interpretation between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, during which time, it argues, the Gita as a received and translated text was significantly altered in certain specific ways which continue to influence its present understanding both in the West and in India.
AMBEDKAR'S INHERITANCES
Authors: KUMAR AISHWARY
Published: July 2010

B. R. Ambedkar (1891–1956), the radical Indian anti-caste thinker, left unfinished a critical corpus of works on “Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Ancient India”, a fragment of which was provisionally titled “Essays on the Bhagavad Gita”. This essay engages with that corpus, situating Ambedkar's encounter with the Gita within a much broader twentieth-century political and philosophical concern with the question of tradition and violence. It interrogates the excessive and heterogeneous conceptual impulses that mediate Ambedkar's attempt to retrieve a counterhistory of Indian antiquity. Located as it is in the same Indic neighborhood from which a radical counterhistory of touchability might emerge, the Gita is a particularly fraternal and troubling text for Ambedkar. Yet his responsibility towards the Gita comes to be hinged not upon evasion but rather upon an exaggeration of its hermeneutic power; that is, upon his painstaking inflation of the Gita's willfully modern interest in instituting the universal. Ambedkar's relentless struggle to annihilate this universality of the Gita would have to be founded upon another universality, at once destructive, excessive and counterlegislative. In this unfinished attempt to recuperate the ideality of the universal, this essay asks, does Ambedkar himself become the most thorough modern practitioner of the Gita?
RF wave visions for circuit analyses and diagnoses by live electrooptic imaging camera
Authors: Tsuchiya Masahiro , Shiozawa Takahiro
Published: July 2010

A novel scheme involving experimental analyses and diagnoses is presented for monitoring radio-frequency (RF) and high-speed circuits. A live electrooptic imaging (LEI) camera is used in the scheme and it provides real-time images of the phase evolution of the RF electric field. Besides, it is demonstrated that essential properties of RF wave propagation are easily grasped from visual images; examples of LEI movies and images from which such essential properties can be identified are presented. The subjects of the LEI observations, analyses, and diagnoses are planar RF circuits and a Gbps-class emitter-coupled-logic circuit. In addition, the results of analyses and diagnoses in the space domain are discussed.
Mode 2 waves on the continental shelf: Ephemeral components of the nonlinear internal wavefield
Authors: Shroyer E. L. , Moum J. N. , Nash J. D.
Published: July 2010

Shoreward propagating, mode 2 nonlinear waves appear sporadically in mooring records obtained off the coast of New Jersey in the summer of 2006. Individual mode 2 packets were tracked between two moorings separated by 1 km; however, packets could not be tracked between moorings separated by greater distances from one another (∼10 km). The inability to track individual packets large distances through the mooring array combined with detailed observations from a ship suggest that these waves are short lived. The evolution of the ship‐tracked wave group was recorded using acoustic backscatter, acoustic Doppler current profilers, and turbulence profiling. The leading mode 2 wave quickly changed form and developed a tail of short, small‐amplitude mode 1 waves. The wavelength of the mode 1 oscillations agreed with that expected for a copropagating tail on the basis of linear theory. Turbulent dissipation in the mixed layer and radiation of the short mode 1 waves contributed to rapid energy loss in the leading mode 2 wave, consistent with the observed decay rate and short life span of only a few hours. The energy in the leading mode 2 wave was 10–100 times smaller than the energy of mode 1 nonlinear internal waves observed during the experiment; however, the magnitudes of wave‐localized turbulent dissipation were similar.
Introduction to special section on Climate and Weather of the Sun Earth System
Authors: Lübken F‐J. , Austin J. , Langematz U. , Oberheide J.
Published: July 2010

In the special section on CAWSES (Climate and Weather of the Sun Earth System) a total of 19 papers are published covering several aspects of Sun‐Earth coupling. Six papers concentrate on summer mesospheric ice clouds including detection by satellites, radar‐based derivation of particle properties, and water vapor observations in the mesosphere. Solar radiation affects ice clouds on time scales of the 11 year solar cycle and 27 days. Stratospheric shrinking contributes significantly to long‐term trends of ice clouds. The seasonal variability of smoke particles is confirmed to be impacted by global circulation. Six papers address the external forcing of the atmosphere caused by the Sun. The relevance of radionuclei and solar radiation spectral irradiance is presented. The impact of precipitating energetic solar particles on trace gas concentrations is studied. Ion chemistry and electron production can be important to destroy ozone in the mesosphere and upper stratosphere. Strong solar events can reduce ice clouds on short time scales owing to dynamical feed back mechanisms. The 27 day solar signal is identified in ozone concentration using satellite measurements. Model studies show that the dynamical response of the stratospheric polar vortex to solar cycle forcing depends on the phase of the quasi‐biennial oscillation. The year 2009 was a remarkable exception from this rule reinforcing natural variability. Regarding centennial time scales it is shown that changes in the stratosphere can influence tropospheric circulation. Tides have extensively been studied within CAWSES. As is demonstrated, nonmigrating tides originating in the troposphere can propagate into the thermosphere.
Calculation of aftershock accumulation from observed postseismic deformation: M6 2004 Parkfield, California, earthquake
Authors: Savage J. C.
Published: July 2010

The postseismic stress accumulation τ(t) over the interval 0.004 to 880 days following the 2004 Parkfield earthquake (M6) can be inferred from GPS measurements of postseismic deformation. The stress relaxation τ(t) − τ′lt, where τ′l is the interseismic loading rate and t is the time after the earthquake, plotted as a function of the number of M > 1.5 aftershocks Na(t) that have occurred by time t is bilinear with the slope of the fit to the first half of the aftershock sequence less than the slope of the fit to the second half. Thus, the aftershock seismicity rate is not proportional to the stress relaxation rate τ′(t) − τ′l over the entire sequence, but rather exhibits two distinct proportionalities. The observed postearthquake accumulation of M > 1.5 earthquakes in the aftershock zone as a function of time can be explained with the rate‐and‐state friction relation proposed by Dieterich (1994) between the cumulative number of earthquakes and τ(t).
Present‐day principal horizontal stress orientations in the Kumano forearc basin of the southwest Japan subduction zone determined from IODP NanTroSEIZE drilling Site C0009
Authors: Lin Weiren , Doan Mai‐Linh , Moore J. Casey , McNeill Lisa , Byrne Timothy B. , Ito Takatoshi , Saffer Demian , Conin Marianne , Kinoshita Masataka , Sanada Yoshinori , Moe Kyaw Thu , Araki Eiichiro , Tobin Harold , Boutt David , Kano Yasuyuki , Hayman Nicholas W. , Flemings Peter , Huftile Gary J. , Cukur Deniz , Buret Christophe , Schleicher Anja M. , Efimenko Natalia , Kawabata Kuniyo , Buchs David M. , Jiang Shijun , Kameo Koji , Horiguchi Keika , Wiersberg Thomas , Kopf Achim , Kitada Kazuya , Eguchi Nobuhisa , Toczko Sean , Takahashi Kyoma , Kido Yukari
Published: July 2010

A 1.6 km riser borehole was drilled at site C0009 of the NanTroSEIZE, in the center of the Kumano forearc basin, as a landward extension of previous drilling in the southwest Japan Nankai subduction zone. We determined principal horizontal stress orientations from analyses of borehole breakouts and drilling‐induced tensile fractures by using wireline logging formation microresistivity images and caliper data. The maximum horizontal stress orientation at C0009 is approximately parallel to the convergence vector between the Philippine Sea plate and Japan, showing a slight difference with the stress orientation which is perpendicular to the plate boundary at previous NanTroSEIZE sites C0001, C0004 and C0006 but orthogonal to the stress orientation at site C0002, which is also in the Kumano forearc basin. These data show that horizontal stress orientations are not uniform in the forearc basin within the surveyed depth range and suggest that oblique plate motion is being partitioned into strike‐slip and thrusting. In addition, the stress orientations at site C0009 rotate clockwise from basin sediments into the underlying accretionary prism.
c-Jun N-terminal kinase/c-Jun inhibits fibroblast proliferation by negatively regulating the levels of stathmin/oncoprotein 18
Authors: Yeap Yvonne Y. C. , Ng Ivan H. W. , Badrian Bahareh , Nguyen Tuong-Vi , Yip Yan Y. , Dhillon Amardeep S. , Mutsaers Steven E. , Silke John , Bogoyevitch Marie A. , Ng Dominic C. H.
Published: July 2010

The JNKs (c-Jun N-terminal kinases) are stress-activated serine/threonine kinases that can regulate both cell death and cell proliferation. We have developed a cell system to control JNK re-expression at physiological levels in JNK1/2-null MEFs (murine embryonic fibroblasts). JNK re-expression restored basal and stress-activated phosphorylation of the c-Jun transcription factor and attenuated cellular proliferation with increased cells in G1/S-phase of the cell cycle. To explore JNK actions to regulate cell proliferation, we evaluated a role for the cytosolic protein, STMN (stathmin)/Op18 (oncoprotein 18). STMN, up-regulated in a range of cancer types, plays a crucial role in the control of cell division through its regulation of microtubule dynamics of the mitotic spindle. In JNK1/2-null or c-Jun-null MEFs or cells treated with c-Jun siRNA (small interfering RNA), STMN levels were significantly increased. Furthermore, a requirement for JNK/cJun signalling was demonstrated by expression of wild-type c-Jun, but not a phosphorylation-defective c-Jun mutant, being sufficient to down-regulate STMN. Critically, shRNA (small hairpin RNA)-directed STMN down-regulation in JNK1/2-null MEFs attenuated proliferation. Thus JNK/c-Jun regulation of STMN levels provides a novel pathway in regulation of cell proliferation with important implications for understanding the actions of JNK as a physiological regulator of the cell cycle and tumour suppressor protein.
Cognitive Decline or Hearing Loss
Authors: Zalewski Thomas R.
Published: July 2010

Baby boomers are rapidly approaching retirement and soon will be placing a greater burden on services required of older Americans as this segment of the United States population ages. Even though the baby boomers have been more active, age negatively impacts the body. As individuals age, the auditory system starts to deteriorate. Statistics indicate that 30% of individuals between the age of 65-74, and 47% of individuals over the age of 75 have hearing issues (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders [NIDCD], 2008). As communication experts, speech-language pathologists must be able to recognize and differentiate between signs of hearing loss and signs of cognitive deficits. This article will review the function of the auditory system and types of hearing loss. It also will present hearing screening procedures that speech-language pathologists must understand and incorporate into regular practice.
A Quick Guide for the SLP on Vestibular and Balance Disorders in the Elderly
Authors: González Jorge E.
Published: July 2010

The complaint of dizziness and balance disorders is among the most common reasons for visits to health care professionals by geriatric patients. As part of a multi-disciplinary approach to health care, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) may be called upon to refer patients with vestibular and balance disorders to other professionals for evaluation and treatment. In order to do this properly, the SLP should have a functional understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the vestibular system, the common symptoms and possible disorders, and the diagnosis and treatment techniques available to the patients. The purpose of this article is to present the SLP with information on these topics. Although it cannot cover all of the topics that are associated with these disorders, the information provided will help the SLP provide the best possible care to the patients.
Acoustic and Aerodynamic Assessment
Authors: Scherer Ron
Published: July 2010

The goal of this essay is to emphasize the correspondence among interactive phonatory variables, complementary assessment measures, and voice problems. An additional related goal is to suggest that we pay close attention to figures and expressions that interrelate phonatory variables, for they can be strong guides to our therapeutic thinking. Acoustic and aerodynamic factors are the focus here. This essay is not historical per se, but rather interrelational.
Japan roadmaps toward low-carbon society by backcasting: Optimal CO2 reduction pathways and investment timing for low-carbon technologies
Authors: Ashina Shuichi , Fujino Junichi , Masui Toshihiko , Fujiwara Kazuya , Hibino Go , Kainuma Mikiko , Matsuoka Yuzuru
Published: July 2010

In this paper we draw up future roadmaps for technologies, policies, and optimal investment timing toward the achievement of a low-carbon society (LCS) in Japan by 2050. Future pathways for Japan to follow are calculated using an analytical model based on a backcasting methodology. Early actions can lead to pathways for minimizing the costs toward a LCS in Japan. However, to take early actions, large investments will be needed at the initial stages. The investment requirements for the residential and commercial sector and transportation sector will be especially costly: The former reaching 2.5 trillion JPY annually from 2010 to 2025 and the latter reaching 2.5 trillion JPY annually from 2010 to 2015. There are four main advantages to early actions. (1) Technologies have learning-by-doing effects: The additional cost of reducing CO2 emissions will fall as the technologies spread. (2) If actions are delayed, learning-by-doing effects may fail to work sufficiently, resulting in higher total investment requirements for achieving a LCS. (3) No infrastructure can be built immediately; hence it would be difficult to switch suddenly to a LCS in the years just before 2050. (4) Future technological development has several uncertainties. If the development of one of the currently dominant technologies falls behind schedule, it will fail to spread as expected and CO2 emission targets will not be met. Early actions will open up new opportunities for the spread of alternative actions toward the LCS should a dominant technology fail in some way.
Sustainable transportation second generation liquid biofuels: The way forward
Authors: Rakshit Sudip K.
Published: July 2010

With the potential depletion of liquid fuels, a search is on for alternative renewable liquid fuels in the transportation sector. While first generation biofuels produced from starch based materials are already available, it is considered to have direct and indirect effects on food security. The bioconversion of lignocellulosic residues is considered an appropriate alternative as it does not affect food security and in many cases has a positive carbon balance from a climate point of view. This paper highlights the major advances and barriers to the use of lignocellulosics for the production of bioethanol. Starting with land use patterns, the bottlenecks to technical conversion of these residues and by-products, specifically the pretreatment and saccharification steps, are presented in a concise manner. The way in which subsidies affect the cost of the product, which is not economically feasible at current petroleum prices, the possibility of using the different products produced in the overall conversion stages, and the need to make complete life cycle analysis, on a case by case basis, to determine the effects on the atmosphere are highlighted.
Standard photoacoustic spectrometer: Model and validation using O2 A-band spectra
Authors: Gillis K. A. , Havey D. K. , Hodges J. T.
Published: July 2010

We model and measure the absolute response of an intensity-modulated photoacoustic spectrometer comprising a 10 cm long resonator and having a Q-factor of approximately 30. We present a detailed theoretical analysis of the system and predict its response as a function of gas properties, resonance frequency, and sample energy transfer relaxation rates. We use a low-power continuous wave laser to probe O2 A-band absorption transitions using atmospheric, humidified air as the sample gas to calibrate the system. This approach provides a convenient and well-characterized method for calibrating the absolute response of the system provided that water-vapor-mediated relaxation effects are properly taken into account. We show that for photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS) of the O2 A-band, the maximum conversion efficiency of absorbed photon energy to acoustic energy is approximately 40% and is limited by finite collision-induced relaxation rates between the two lowest-lying excited electronic states of O2. PAS also shows great potential for high-resolution line shape measurements: calculated and experimental values for the PAS system response differ by about 1%.
Evolution of a single gene highlights the complexity underlying molecular descriptions of fitness
Authors: Peña Matthew I. , Van Itallie Elizabeth , Bennett Matthew R. , Shamoo Yousif
Published: July 2010

Evolution by natural selection is the driving force behind the endless variation we see in nature, yet our understanding of how changes at the molecular level give rise to different phenotypes and altered fitness at the population level remains inadequate. The reproductive fitness of an organism is the most basic metric that describes the chance that an organism will succeed or fail in its environment and it depends upon a complex network of inter- and intramolecular interactions. A deeper understanding of the quantitative relationships relating molecular evolution to adaptation, and consequently fitness, can guide our understanding of important issues in biomedicine such as drug resistance and the engineering of new organisms with applications to biotechnology. We have developed the “weak link” approach to determine how changes in molecular structure and function can relate to fitness and evolutionary outcomes. By replacing adenylate kinase (AK), an essential gene, in a thermophile with a homologous AK from a mesophile we have created a maladapted weak link that produces a temperature-sensitive phenotype. The recombinant strain adapts to nonpermissive temperatures through point mutations to the weak link that increase both stability and activity of the enzyme AK at higher temperatures. Here, we propose a fitness function relating enzyme activity to growth rate and use it to create a dynamic model of a population of bacterial cells. Using metabolic control analysis we show that the growth rate exhibits thresholdlike behavior, saturating at high enzyme activity as other reactions in the energy metabolism pathway become rate limiting. The dynamic model accurately recapitulates observed evolutionary outcomes. These findings suggest that in vitro enzyme kinetic data, in combination with metabolic network analysis, can be used to create fitness functions and dynamic models of evolution within simple metabolic systems.
Wide-range wavevector selectivity of magnon gases in Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy
Authors: Sandweg C. W. , Jungfleisch M. B. , Vasyuchka V. I. , Serga A. A. , Clausen P. , Schultheiss H. , Hillebrands B. , Kreisel A. , Kopietz P.
Published: July 2010

Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy is a powerful technique for the study of fast magnetization dynamics with both frequency and wavevector resolutions. Here, we report on a distinct improvement of this spectroscopic technique toward two-dimensional wide-range wavevector selectivity in a backward scattering geometry. Spin-wave wavevectors oriented perpendicularly to the bias magnetic field are investigated by tilting the sample within the magnet gap. Wavevectors which are oriented parallel to the applied magnetic field are analyzed by turning the entire setup, including the magnet system. The setup features a wide selectivity of wavevectors up to 2.04×105 rad/cm for both orientations, and allows selecting and measuring wavevectors of dipole- and exchange-dominated spin waves of any orientation to the magnetization simultaneously.
Introduction to Focus Issue: Genetic Interactions
Authors: Segrè Daniel , Marx Christopher J.
Published: July 2010

The perturbation of a gene in an organism’s genome often causes changes in the organism’s observable properties or phenotypes. It is not obvious a priori whether the simultaneous perturbation of two genes produces a phenotypic change that is easily predictable from the changes caused by individual perturbations. In fact, this is often not the case: the nonlinearity and interdependence between genetic variants in determining phenotypes, also known as epistasis, is a prevalent phenomenon in biological systems. This focus issue presents recent developments in the study of epistasis and genetic interactions, emphasizing the broad implications of this phenomenon in evolutionary biology, functional genomics, and human diseases.
Treatment of ovine oocytes with caffeine increases the accessibility of DNase I to the donor chromatin and reduces apoptosis in somatic cell nuclear transfer embryos
Authors: Choi Inchul , Campbell Keith H. S.
Published: July 2010

Caffeine treatment of ovine oocytes increases the activity of maturation-promoting factor (MPF) and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and, in somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos, increases the frequency of nuclear envelope breakdown (NEBD) and premature chromosome condensation (PCC). At the blastocyst stage, caffeine-treated SCNT embryos have increased cell numbers. One explanation for this is that NEBD and PCC release chromatin-bound somatic factors, allowing greater access of oocyte factors involved in DNA synthesis and nuclear reprogramming to donor chromatin. This could advance DNA replication and cleavage in the first cell cycle, resulting in increased cell numbers. Alternatively, increased MAPK activity may affect localisation of heat shock proteins (HSPs) and reduce apoptosis. To investigate these possibilities, we investigated chromatin accessibility, the timing of DNA synthesis and first cleavage, the localisation of HSP27 during early development and the frequency of apoptotic nuclei at the blastocyst stage. Compared with control SCNT (non-caffeine treatment), caffeine treatment (10 mM caffeine for 6 h prior to activation) increased the accessibility of DNase I to donor chromatin (P < 0.05 at 1.5 h post activation (h.p.a.)), advanced DNA synthesis (43.5% v. 67.6%, respectively; P < 0.01 at 6 h.p.a.) and first cleavage (27.3% v. 40.5% at 20 h.p.a., respectively) and increased nuclear localisation of HSP27. Although development to the blastocyst stage was not affected, caffeine increased total cell numbers (98.5 v. 76.6; P < 0.05) and reduced the frequency of apoptotic nuclei (11.27% v. 20.3%; P < 0.05) compared with control SCNT group.
Effects of hexarelin (a ghrelin analogue) on fertilisation and the pre- and postnatal development of mice
Authors: Luque E. M. , Carlini V. P. , Vincenti L. M. , Puechagut P. , Stutz G. , Santillán M. E. , Ruiz R. D. , Martini A. C. , Fiol de Cuneo M.
Published: July 2010

Ghrelin (Ghr) has been associated with reproductive physiology and pre- and postnatal development. The objectives of the present study were to evaluate the effects of hexarelin (HEX; 100 or 200 µg kg−1 day−1), a therapeutic Ghr analogue, on: (1) embryo development 60 h post ovulation, induced pharmacologically, in pregnant mice; (2) the physical, neurobiological and sexual development of offspring of female mice injected with HEX during the first, second or third week of pregnancy or throughout the entire pregnancy; and (3) adult memory acquisition in these offspring. We also evaluated the effects of chronic HEX administration on memory acquisition in adult mice. Treatment of non-pregnant female mice with HEX decreased ovulation rate. However, treatment of pregnant mice with HEX at any time during pregnancy tended to accelerate offspring maturation, regardless of bodyweight. This effect was only significant on neurobiological parameters following treatment during the first week. HEX treatment during the first week and/or throughout the entire pregnancy resulted in impaired memory acquisition in the offspring, with female mice being more susceptible to these effects. Similar results were observed for the effects of chronic HEX treatment on memory acquisition in adult mice. In conclusion, HEX seems to exert differential effects depending on when it is administered. Because HEX has started to be used therapeutically, its deleterious effects on ovulation and memory acquisition must be further evaluated.
Effects of histone hyperacetylation on the preimplantation development of male and female bovine embryos
Authors: Oliveira Clara S. , Saraiva Naiara Z. , de Souza Marcela M. , Tetzner Tatiane A. D. , de Lima Marina R. , Garcia Joaquim M.
Published: July 2010

Trichostatin A (TSA) induces histone hyperacetylation by inhibiting histone deacetylases and consequently increasing gene expression. The hypothesis was that TSA supplementation during the in vitro culture (IVC) of bovine embryos would increase the blastocyst rate, particularly in low-quality and female embryos. Oocytes were fertilised separately with X and Y spermatozoa and, 70 h after IVF, the IVC medium was supplemented with 5 nM and 15 nM TSA for 48 or 144 h. Incubation of female embryos with 5 nM and 15 nM TSA resulted in similar increases in acetylated histone H3K9 levels. However, to see comparable effects on acetylated histone H3K9 levels in male embryos, the culture medium needed to be supplemented with 15 nM TSA (as opposed to 5 nM TSA for female embryos). Treatment of male and female embryos with 5 nM TSA for 48 h or female embryos with 5 nM for 144 h had no effect on blastocyst rates, although 15 nM TSA compromised embryonic development. The terminal deoxyribonucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP–digoxigenin nick end-labelling (TUNEL) assay revealed increased apoptosis in female embryos treated with 5 nM TSA for 144 h, as well as in male and female embryos treated with 15 nM TSA for 48 h, but this increase in apoptosis was not observed in low-quality embryos. The results of the present study suggest that TSA treatment promotes histone hyperacetylation, but has no beneficial effects on the in vitro production of male and female bovine embryos during preimplantation development.
Lineage-specific expression of heterochromatin protein 1γ in post-compaction, in vitro-produced bovine embryos
Authors: Heffernan Corey , Whiley Penny A. F. , Milionis Antonia , Verma Paul J. , Holland Michael K. , Jans David A. , D'Cruz Nancy T.
Published: July 2010

Heterochromatin protein 1γ (HP1γ) is a highly conserved regulator of euchromatic and heterochromatic gene expression. Mammalian HP1γ is essential for both successful preimplantation embryo development and maintenance of pluripotency in embryonic stem cells in vitro. Here, we describe HP1γ protein localisation in matured (MII) bovine oocytes and IVF preimplantation embryos at defined developmental stages. HP1γ is expressed in post-compaction embryos in a highly lineage-specific pattern. In embryonic stages preceding the maternal to embryonic transition (MET), HP1γ protein was primarily cytoplasmic, whereas in 8–16-cell embryos (post MET), HP1γ was primarily nuclear. Lineage-specific patterns of HP1γ protein localisation become evident from compaction, being restricted to peripheral, extraembryonic cells at the morula and blastocyst stages (Days 7–9). Surprisingly, we detected HP1γ mRNA in both embryonic and extraembryonic cells in blastocysts by fluorescence in situ hybridisation. In trophectoderm cells, HP1γ protein was localised in specific patterns at the mitotic and interphase stages of the cell cycle. These results demonstrate lineage- and cell cycle-specific patterns of HP1γ protein localisation in the post-compaction, preimplantation bovine embryo and raise interesting questions about the role of HP1γ in early embryo development.
Effects of oocyte vitrification on histone modifications
Authors: Yan Li-Ying , Yan Jie , Qiao Jie , Zhao Pan-Lin , Liu Ping
Published: July 2010

Vitrification has been widely used as an assisted reproductive technology in animals and humans, yet the impact of oocyte vitrification and warming on survival and histone modifications has to be evaluated. In the present study, the survival of mouse MII oocytes was assessed after freezing, as were changes in histone 3 lysine 9 (H3K9) dimethylation, histone 4 lysine 5 (H4K5) acetylation and histone 3 lysine 14 (H3K14) acetylation. The results show that, in oocytes subjected to vitrification, H3K9 methylation and H4K5 acetylation were increased. H3K14 acetylation could not be detected in either non-vitrified or vitrified oocytes. Oocytes are very sensitive to changes in H3K9 and H4K5 following vitrification. Both these histone modifications could be useful markers to monitor epigenetic perturbations induced by various experimental vitrification protocols and eventually for optimising the cryopreservation of human oocytes.
A DEFINITIVE SURVEY FOR LYMAN LIMIT SYSTEMS AT z ∼ 3.5 WITH THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY
Authors: Prochaska J. Xavier , O'Meara John M. , Worseck Gabor
Published: July 2010

We perform a semi-automated survey for τ912 ⩾ 2 Lyman limit systems (LLSs) in quasar spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Data Release 7. From a starting sample of 2473 quasars with z
em = 3.6–5.0, we analyze 429 spectra meeting strict selection criteria for a total redshift path Δz = 93.8 and identify 190 intervening systems at z
LLS ⩾ 3.3. The incidence of τ912 ⩾ 2 LLSs per unit redshift, ℓτ⩾2(z), is well described by a single power law at these redshifts:

, with z
* ≡ 3.7, C
LLS = 1.9 ± 0.2, and γLLS = 5.1 ± 1.5 (68% c.l.). These values are systematically lower than previous estimates (especially at z < 4) but are consistent with recent measurements of the mean free path to ionizing radiation. Extrapolations of this power law to z = 0 are inconsistent with previous estimations of ℓ(z) at z < 1 and may indicate a break at z ≈ 2, similar to that observed for the Lyα forest. Our results also indicate that the systems giving rise to LLS absorption decrease by ≈50% in comoving number density and/or physical size from z = 4 to 3.3, perhaps due to an enhanced extragalactic ultraviolet background. The observations place an integral constraint on the H i frequency distribution f(N
H i
, X) and indicate that the power-law slope

is likely shallower than β = −1 at

. Including other constraints on f(N
H i
, X) from the literature, we infer that β is steeper than β = −1.7 at

, implying at least two inflections in f(N
H i
, X). We also perform a survey for proximate LLSs (PLLSs) and find that ℓPLLS(z) is systematically lower (≈25%) than intervening systems. Finally, we estimate that systematic effects impose an uncertainty of 10%–20% in the ℓ(z) measurements; these effects may limit the precision of all future surveys.