bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ultrahigh-Intensity Lasers: Physics of the Extreme on a Tabletop
Authors: Mourou Gérard A. , Barry Christopher P. J. , Perry Michael D.
Published: January 2008

Over the past ten years, laser intensities have increased by more than four orders of magnitude to reach enormous intensities of 1020 W/cm2. The field strength at these intensities is on the order of a teravolt per centimeter, or a hundred times the Coulombic field binding the ground state electron in the hydrogen atom. The electrons driven by such a field are relativistic, with an oscillatory energy of 10 MeV. At these intensities, the light pressure, P = I/c, is extreme, on the order of giga- to terabars. The laser interacting with matter—solid, gas, plasma—generates high-order harmonics of the incident beam up to the 3 nm wavelength range, energetic ions or electrons with mega-electron-volt energies (figure 1), gigagauss magnetic fields and violent accelerations of 1021 g (g is Earth's gravity). Finally, the interaction of an ultraintense beam with superrelativistic particles can produce fields approaching the critical field in which an electron gains in one Compton wavelength an energy equal to twice its rest mass. Under these conditions, one observes nonlinear quantum electrody-namical effects. In many ways, this physical environment of extreme electric fields, magnetic fields, pressure, temperature and acceleration can be found only in stellar interiors or close to the horizon of a black hole. It is fascinating to think that an astrophysical environment governed by hydrodynamics, radiation transport and gravitational interaction can be re-created in university laboratories for extremely short times, switching the role of the scientist from voyeur to actor.
Beyond Basic and Applied
Authors: Pielke Roger A. , Byerly Radford
Published: January 2008

Science policy implements a social contract. In the US since World War II, this arrangement has amounted to society—through government—giving science both money and relative autonomy while, in return, reaping the practical benefits that inevitably result. The arrangement once may have been appropriate, but it no longer is; we now need a new understanding of how science serves national needs.
Research Suggests a Recipe for a Lighter Core for Earth—Just Add Water
Authors: Ladbury Ray
Published: January 2008

The idea that the most common element in the cosmos—hydrogen—could also be one of the most common on Earth has a certain esthetic appeal; it Takuo Okuchi is correct, it may also be plausible.
Cosmic Rays, Nuclear Gamma Rays and the Origin of the Light Elements
Authors: Ramaty Reuven , Kozlovsky Benzion , Lingenfelter Richard
Published: January 2008

The origin of cosmic rays has been a major mystery in astrophysics for nearly a century. However, any lingering doubt about whether the bulk of the cosmic rays (those with energies below about 1015 eV) are Galactic or extragalactic has been removed in the 1990s in favor of a Galactic origin. The question has been settled by gamma-ray observations made by the Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. The EGRET observations showed that the cosmic-ray energy density in a nearby galaxy—the Small Magellanic Cloud—is much lower than that found locally in our own Galaxy and is thus inconsistent with a uniform extragalactic density. This discovery, of course, does not preclude an extragalactic origin for the very highest energy cosmic rays, which are observed above about 1019 eV. (See PHYSICS TODAY, January 1998, page 31). The power of about 1041 ergs/s required to maintain the cosmic rays throughout the Galaxy is most likely supplied by supernovae (figure 1). With a Galactic supernova rate of roughly three per century, the required energy per supernova is about 1050 ergs, which is about 10% of the kinetic energy of the expanding supernova ejecta. Shock acceleration in the supernova blast wave driven by the ejecta could impart such a proportion of the available kinetic energy to cosmic rays.
Entanglement, Decoherence and the Quantum/Classical Boundary
Authors: Haroche Serge
Published: January 2008

Quantum mechanics is very puzzling. A particle can be delocalized, it can be simultaneously in several energy states and it can even have several different identities at once. This schizophrenic behavior is encoded in its wavefunction, which can always be written as a superposition of quantum states, each characterized by a complex probability amplitude. Interferences between these amplitudes occur when the particle can follow several indistinguishable paths. Any attempt to determine which trajectory it “actually takes” destroys these interferences. This is a manifestation of wave—particle complementarity, which has recently been illustrated in textbook fashion by several beautiful experiments.
Rubbing and Scrubbing
Authors: Hähner Georg , Spencer Nicholas
Published: January 2008

The “rubbing and scrubbing department” was how David Tabor's friction, lubrication and wear laboratory was described by certain uncharitable colleagues at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, England, some 40 years ago. The tables have turned. Tribology, as Tabor named his discipline (from the Greek tribos, meaning “rubbing”), has become respectable—even positively modish—in physics departments worldwide. And Tabor, having become the revered elder statesman of this flourishing field, is often accorded a place in reference of even the most hardcore tribo-physics papers.
The Sokal Hoax: At Whom Are We Laughing?
Authors: Beller Mara
Published: January 2008

The hoax perpetrated by New York University theorical physicist Alan Sokal in 1996 on the editors of the journal Social Text quickly became widely known and hotly debated. (See PHYSICS TODAY January 1997, page 61, and March 1997, page 73.) “Transgressing the Boundaries—Toward a Transformative Her-meneutics of Quantum Gravity,” was the title of the parody he slipped past the unsuspecting editors. (See figure 1.)
Nobel Prize Honors Kohn and Pople for Methods of Quantum Chemistry
Authors: Levi Barbara Goss
Published: January 2008

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has chosen Walter Kohn and John Pople as the recipients of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Kohn, a research professor of physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is being honored for “his development of density functional theory,” and Pople, a professor of chemistry at Northwestern University, is being cited for “his development of computational methods in quantum chemistry.” Through their separate contributions, according to the academy, Kohn and Pople were “the two most prominent figures” in the “enormous theoretical and computational development” leading to the emergence of quantum chemistry.
Simple Ordering in Complex Fluids
Authors: Gast Alice P. , Russel William B.
Published: January 2008

Ordering and the formation of crystals have long fascinated mankind. The reverence bestowed on gem-stones and the fantastic properties attributed to crystalline matter arise from the unique optical, geometric and physical properties of the ordered state. Although scientific inquiry has focused mostly on molecular and atomic crystals, much also can be learned from the study of super-molecular and colloidal arrays.
El Niño Dynamics
Authors: David Neelin J. , Latif Mojib
Published: January 2008

The El Niño/Southern Oscillation phenomenon (ENSO, for short) is the strongest source of natural variability in Earth's climate system. Although ENSO originates in the tropical latitudes of the Pacific Ocean, its climatic impact is felt globally. Variations in major rainfall systems that are attributed to ENSO range from droughts in Indonesia and Australia to storms and flooding in Ecuador and the US.
Block Copolymers—Designer Soft Materials
Authors: Bates Frank S. , Fredrickson Glenn H.
Published: January 2008

Block copolymers are all around us, found in such products as upholstery foam, adhesive tape and asphalt additives. This class of macromolecules is produced by joining two or more chemically distinct polymer blocks, each a linear series of identical monomers, that may be thermodynamically incompatible (like oil and vinegar). Segregation of these blocks on the molecular scale (5–100 nm) can produce astonishingly complex nanostructures, such as the “knitting pattern” shown on the cover of this issue of PHYSICS TODAY. This striking pattern, discovered by Reimund Stadler and his coworkers, reflects a delicate free-energy minimization that is common to all block copolymer materials.
Is the Island of Stability in Sight?
Authors: Levi Barbara Goss
Published: January 2008

R esearchers from the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia, and from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, claimed in January that they had produced element 114. The news raised hopes in many quarters that this sighting, like the appearance of a shore bird after a long sea voyage, might be a harbinger of the long-sought island of stability, a region populated by superheavy elements whose halflives might range up to hundreds or thousands of years. The reported atomic number of 114 is in the vicinity of the magic numbers associated with increased stability, according to most theoretical calculations. The alleged lifetime, while only 30 seconds, is still orders of magnitude greater than the halflives of isotopes produced to date in the atomic number range 109–112.
Spherical Torus May Improve Tokamak Cost and Performance
Authors: Lubkin Gloria B.
Published: January 2008

After the tokamak approach became fashionable three decades ago, other approaches to magnetic fusion were left withering on the vine or cut off at the roots. In the last few years, however, US participation in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (still being pursued by Europe, Japan, and Russia) has been cancelled, and Department of Energy funding for magnetic fusion suffered a major reduction. “The cost of developing tokamak-based fusion systems may be too expensive,” according to Rob Goldston, director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). Fusion scientists both in the US and abroad have once again begun to explore the potential of other concepts. They have revived some old ideas and developed some new ideas, which build on the progress gained from tokamak studies.
A Continuous Model of Computation
Authors: Traub Joseph F.
Published: January 2008

A central dogma of computer science is that the Turing-machine model is the appropriate abstraction of a digital computer. Physicists who've thought about the matter also seem to favor the Turing-machine model. For example, Roger Penrose devoted some 60 pages of a book to a description of this abstract model of computation and its implications. I argue here that physicists should consider the real-number model of computation as more appropriate and useful for scientific computation.
How We Localize Sound
Authors: Hartmann William M.
Published: January 2008

For as long as we humans have lived on Earth, we have been able to use our ears to localize the sources of sounds. Our ability to localize warns us of danger and helps us sort out individual sounds from the usual cacophony of our acoustical world. Characterizing this ability in humans and other animals makes an intriguing physical, physiological, and psychological study (see figure 1).
Model Suggests Deep-Mantle Topography Goes with the Flow
Authors: Ladbury Ray
Published: January 2008

In 1996 and 1997, when seismic tomography began producing much improved images of Earth's mantle, many researchers thought they were witnessing the resolution of the debate over whether mantle convection takes place across the entire mantle, or rather within—but not across—chemically distinct layers. The images revealed convincing evidence of slabs of subducted oceanic lithosphere penetrating through the boundary between the upper and lower mantle at a depth of 670 km. If slabs of oceanic crust, which formed, in part, from the upper mantle, could penetrate so easily into the lower mantle, it was difficult to see how the two regions could differ dramatically in composition. (See PHYSICS Today, August 1997, page 17.) High-pressure mineral physicists had already provided a suitable explanation for the discontinuity in seismic-wave speeds at the boundary: The boundary corresponded well to the pressure where the dominant phase in the mantle changes from spinel to perovskite—an isochemical, pressure-induced phase transformation.
Chaotic Dynamics and the Origin of Statistical Laws
Authors: Zaslavsky George M.
Published: January 2008

The problem of the foundation of statistical physics emerged with the derivation by Ludwig Boltzmann of a kinetic equation for a gas of molecules that required monotonic growth of entropy. Boltzmann's theory leads to modern thermodynamics, and, for example, to the impossibility of gas spontaneously gathering in one part of a container in the absence of external forces. This result, known as the H-theorem, met with strong contemporary opposition, especially from mathematician Ernst Zermelo.
Radiation Risk and Ethics
Authors: Jaworowski Zbigniew
Published: January 2008

The psychosomatic disorder observed in the 15 million people in Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia who were affected by the April 1986 Chernobyl accident are probably the accident's most important effect on public health. These disorders could not be attributed to the ionizing radiation, but were assumed to be linked to the popular belief that any amount of man-made radiation—even minuscule, close to zero doses—can cause harm, an assumption that gained wide currency when it was accepted in the 1950s, arbitrarily, as the basis for regulations on radiation and nuclear safety.
Researchers Put a New Spin on Bose–Einstein Condensates
Authors: Levi Barbara Goss
Published: January 2008

The earliest experiments on gaseous Bose–Einstein condensates established that they are coherent collections of atoms, all described by a single wavefunction—just like the known superfluids, liquid helium-4 and superconductors. It was natural to wonder if they would also exhibit some of the behavior that is so characteristic of those larger-scale Bose condensates, such as quantized circulation (vortices) or frictionless flow. Many theorists have proffered ideas on how one would produce vortices in a Bose–Einsten condensate and what their properties might be. One of those ideas has now been experimentally realized. The approach was suggested by James Williams and Murray Holland of JILA and implemented by their experimental colleagues there. (JILA is a jointly operated lab of the University of Colorado at Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Williams is now at the University of Toronto.)
On Stickiness
Authors: Gay Cyprien , Leibler Ludwik
Published: January 2008

The behavior of tacky materials is difficult to quantify, involving as it does such dynamic phenomena as meniscus instability, cavitation and the formation of filaments.
The Complex Roles of 4N and 4N + 2 Rings in Determining Hückel-Level Kinetic Stabilities of Even Alternant Hydrocarbons
Authors: Langler Richard F.
Published: January 2008

Herein, it is shown that, at the Hückel level, 4N rings may stabilize or destabilize even alternant hydrocarbons. Further, 4N + 2 rings may stabilize or destabilize even alternant hydrocarbons. Some structural engineering techniques are presented that permit rationally selected structural changes to alter expected kinetic stabilities for neutral, even alternant hydrocarbons. A related set of non-alternant hydrocarbons (pseudoalternant hydrocarbons) are described and calculated kinetic stability trends are described for them.
Gold Nanoparticle Aggregate Morphology with Controllable Interparticle Spacing Prepared by a Polyelectrolyte Network Template
Authors: Zhao Feng , Xun Jing Kun , Liu Shu Feng
Published: January 2008

Gold nanoparticle self-assembly behaviour on a mica surface was investigated. A large-scale modified partially hydrated polyacrylamide network on a mica surface was successfully fabricated with a simple method. Gold nanoparticles were self-assembled onto a two-dimensional polymer network template by electrostatic interaction, and an interesting nanostructured gold morphology with controllable interparticle spacing was formed on the mica surface. By adjusting the gold aqueous concentrations, the particle distance could be optimized to approach strongest coupling between adjacent particles and match the plasmon resonance wavelength to the laser excitation wavelength. Thus, the spacing between nanoparticles could be controlled for tunable surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrates for optimal signal amplification.
The evolutionary dynamics of the
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
protein interaction network after duplication
Authors: Presser Aviva , Elowitz Michael B. , Kellis Manolis , Kishony Roy
Published: January 2008

Gene duplication is an important mechanism in the evolution of protein interaction networks. Duplications are followed by the gain and loss of interactions, rewiring the network at some unknown rate. Because rewiring is likely to change the distribution of network motifs within the duplicated interaction set, it should be possible to study network rewiring by tracking the evolution of these motifs. We have developed a mathematical framework that, together with duplication data from comparative genomic and proteomic studies, allows us to infer the connectivity of the preduplication network and the changes in connectivity over time. We focused on the whole-genome duplication (WGD) event in
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
. The model allowed us to predict the frequency of intergene interaction before WGD and the post duplication probabilities of interaction gain and loss. We find that the predicted frequency of self-interactions in the preduplication network is significantly higher than that observed in today's network. This could suggest a structural difference between the modern and ancestral networks, preferential addition or retention of interactions between ohnologs, or selective pressure to preserve duplicates of self-interacting proteins.
Sensory neuron targeting by self-complementary AAV8 via lumbar puncture for chronic pain
Authors: Storek Benjamin , Reinhardt Matthias , Wang Cheng , Janssen William G. M. , Harder Nina M. , Banck Michaela S. , Morrison John H. , Beutler Andreas S.
Published: January 2008

Lumbar puncture (LP) is an attractive route to deliver drugs to the nervous system because it is a safe bedside procedure. Its use for gene therapy has been complicated by poor vector performance and failure to target neurons. Here we report highly effective gene transfer to the primary sensory neurons of the dorsal root ganglia (DRGs) with self-complementary recombinant adeno-associated virus serotype 8 (sc-rAAV8) modeling an LP. Transgene expression was selective for these neurons outlining their cell bodies in the DRGs and their axons projecting into the spinal cord. Immunohistochemical studies demonstrated transduction of cells positive for the nociceptive neuron marker vanilloid receptor subtype 1, the small peptidergic neuron markers substance P and calcitonin gene-related peptide, and the nonpeptidergic neuron marker griffonia simplicifolia isolectin B4. We tested the efficacy of the approach in a rat model of chronic neuropathic pain. A single administration of sc-rAAV8 expressing the analgesic gene prepro-β-endorphin (ppβEP) led to significant (
P
< 0.0001) reversal of mechanical allodynia for ≥3 months. The antiallodynic effect could be reversed by the μ-opioid antagonist naloxone 4 months after gene transfer (
P
< 0.001). Testing of an alternative nonopioid analgesic gene, IL-10, alone or in combination with ppβEP was equally effective (
P
< 0.0001). All aspects of the procedure, such as the use of an atraumatic injection technique, isotonic diluent, a low-infusion pressure, and a small injection volume, are consistent with clinical practice of intrathecal drug use. Therefore, gene transfer by LP may be suitable for developing gene therapy-based treatments for chronic pain.
The intersection between cell wall disassembly, ripening, and fruit susceptibility to
Botrytis cinerea
Authors: Cantu D. , Vicente A. R. , Greve L. C. , Dewey F. M. , Bennett A. B. , Labavitch J. M. , Powell A. L. T.
Published: January 2008

Fruit ripening is characterized by processes that modify texture and flavor but also by a dramatic increase in susceptibility to necrotrophic pathogens, such as
Botrytis cinerea
. Disassembly of the major structural polysaccharides of the cell wall (CW) is a significant process associated with ripening and contributes to fruit softening. In tomato, polygalacturonase (PG) and expansin (Exp) are among the CW proteins that cooperatively participate in ripening-associated CW disassembly. To determine whether endogenous CW disassembly influences the ripening-regulated increase in necrotropic pathogen susceptibility,
B. cinerea
susceptibility was assessed in transgenic fruit with suppressed polygalacturonase (
LePG
) and expansin (
LeExp1
) expression. Suppression of either
LePG
or
LeExp1
alone did not reduce susceptibility but simultaneous suppression of both dramatically reduced the susceptibility of ripening fruit to
B. cinerea
, as measured by fungal biomass accumulation and by macerating lesion development. These results demonstrate that altering endogenous plant CW disassembly during ripening influences the course of infection by
B. cinerea
, perhaps by changing the structure or the accessibility of CW substrates to pathogen CW-degrading enzymes. Recognition of the role of ripening-associated CW metabolism in postharvest pathogen susceptibility may be useful in the design and development of strategies to limit pathogen losses during fruit storage, handling, and distribution.
Galactography without discomfort using lidocaine/prilocaine anesthetic cream
Authors: Berná-Serna J. D. , Redondo M. V. , Durán I. , Berná-Mestre J. D.
Published: January 2008

Background: Galactography (ductography) is the technique of choice for studying pathologic nipple discharge. It is sometimes difficult or even impossible to perform cannulation of the ductal orifice because of the discomfort caused to the patient.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of a eutectic mixture of local anesthetics (EMLA) containing lidocaine and prilocaine applied as a cream to reduce discomfort during galactography.

Material and Methods: 46 patients with abnormal nipple secretion underwent galactography. The patients were distributed in non-randomized form into two groups (A and B). Group A consisted of 19 patients who were treated without application of the anesthetic cream; group B consisted of 27 patients to whom the anesthetic cream was applied prior to galactography. Pain intensity was measured using a verbal description scale.

Results: Galactography was successfully performed in all cases in group B ( n = 27) and in 15 cases (78.9%) in group A. In four patients from group A, it was initially impossible to cannulate the discharging duct because of patient discomfort and anxiety. The same patients were submitted to galactography 1 week later after application of the anesthetic cream to the areola/nipple area. In total, then, 31 cases (all 27 of group B plus four) registered 0 ( =  no pain) on the verbal description scale after application of the cream. In the 19 patients of group A, the degree of pain registered was mild in 11 cases and discomforting in eight cases.

Conclusion: The application of anesthetic cream over the areola/nipple area enables galactography to be performed without patient discomfort. It also reduces anxiety, allowing the radiologist to perform the procedure with confidence and safety, and without stress on the part of the patient or radiologist.
Usefulness of computed tomography linear measurements in diagnosing alzheimer's disease
Authors: Zhang Yi , Londos E. , Minthon L. , Wattmo C. , Liu Huaijun , Aspelin P. , Wahlund L. -O.
Published: January 2008

Background: Medial temporal lobe atrophy (MTA) is an early sign of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The current method of choice for measuring MTA is volumetric measurement based on 3D magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), but this complicated method has not been implemented clinically.

Purpose: To investigate whether simple computed tomography (CT) linear measurements of the brain could be of value in AD workup.

Material and Methods: Fifty-nine healthy control subjects and 248 AD subjects were recruited. They were evaluated using a comprehensive clinical workup. A series of linear CT measurements were obtained from brain CT.

Results: In discriminant analysis, the temporal horn ratio and the suprasellar cistern ratio were the atrophy factors that contributed most significantly to the diagnoses. Combined with other clinical factors (apolipoprotein E4 genotype), a correct AD classification of 90.2% was achieved.

Conclusion: CT linear measurements could be of value in the workup of AD patients, considering the inexpensiveness and availability of CT as well as the simplicity of linear measurements.
A novel BH3 ligand that selectively targets Mcl-1 reveals that apoptosis can proceed without Mcl-1 degradation
Authors: Lee Erinna F. , Czabotar Peter E. , van Delft Mark F. , Michalak Ewa M. , Boyle Michelle J. , Willis Simon N. , Puthalakath Hamsa , Bouillet Philippe , Colman Peter M. , Huang David C.S. , Fairlie W. Douglas
Published: January 2008

Like Bcl-2, Mcl-1 is an important survival factor for many cancers, its expression contributing to chemoresistance and disease relapse. However, unlike other prosurvival Bcl-2–like proteins, Mcl-1 stability is acutely regulated. For example, the Bcl-2 homology 3 (BH3)–only protein Noxa, which preferentially binds to Mcl-1, also targets it for proteasomal degradation. In this paper, we describe the discovery and characterization of a novel BH3-like ligand derived from Bim, BimS2A, which is highly selective for Mcl-1. Unlike Noxa, BimS2A is unable to trigger Mcl-1 degradation, yet, like Noxa, BimS2A promotes cell killing only when Bcl-xL is absent or neutralized. Furthermore, killing by endogenous Bim is not associated with Mcl-1 degradation. Thus, functional inactivation of Mcl-1 does not always require its elimination. Rather, it can be efficiently antagonized by a BH3-like ligand tightly engaging its binding groove, which is confirmed here with a structural study. Our data have important implications for the discovery of compounds that might kill cells whose survival depends on Mcl-1.
Nagata dimension and quasi-Möbius maps
Authors: Xie Xiangdong
Published: January 2008

We show that quasi-Möbius maps preserve the Nagata dimension of metric spaces, generalizing a result of U. Lang and T. Schlichenmaier (Int. Math. Res. Not. 2005, no. 58, 3625–3655).
Protein Kinases Fpk1p and Fpk2p are Novel Regulators of Phospholipid Asymmetry
Authors: Nakano Kenzi , Yamamoto Takaharu , Kishimoto Takuma , Noji Takehiro , Tanaka Kazuma
Published: January 2008

Type 4 P-type ATPases (flippases) are implicated in the generation of phospholipid asymmetry in membranes by the inward translocation of phospholipids. In budding yeast, the DRS2/DNF family members Lem3p-Dnf1p/Dnf2p and Cdc50p-Drs2p are putative flippases that are localized, respectively, to the plasma membrane and endosomal/trans-Golgi network (TGN) compartments. Herein, we identified a protein kinase gene, FPK1, as a mutation that exhibited synthetic lethality with the cdc50Δ mutation. The kinase domain of Fpk1p exhibits high homology to plant phototropins and the fungus Neurospora crassa NRC-2, both of which have membrane-associated functions. Simultaneous disruption of FPK1 and its homolog FPK2 phenocopied the lem3Δ/dnf1Δ dnf2Δ mutants, exhibiting the impaired NBD-labeled phospholipid uptake, defects in the early endosome-to-TGN pathway in the absence of CDC50, and hyperpolarized bud growth after exposure of phosphatidylethanolamine at the bud tip. The fpk1Δ fpk2Δ mutation did not affect the subcellular localization of Lem3p-Dnf1p or Lem3p-Dnf2p. Further, the purified glutathione S-transferase (GST)-fused kinase domain of Fpk1p phosphorylated immunoprecipitated Dnf1p and Dnf2p to a greater extent than Drs2p. We propose that Fpk1p/Fpk2p are upstream activating protein kinases for Lem3p-Dnf1p/Dnf2p.
Characterization of Differentiated Quiescent and Nonquiescent Cells in Yeast Stationary-Phase Cultures
Authors: Aragon Anthony D. , Rodriguez Angelina L. , Meirelles Osorio , Roy Sushmita , Davidson George S. , Tapia Phillip H. , Allen Chris , Joe Ray , Benn Don , Werner-Washburne Margaret
Published: January 2008

Cells in glucose-limited Saccharomyces cerevisiae cultures differentiate into quiescent (Q) and nonquiescent (NQ) fractions before entering stationary phase. To understand this differentiation, Q and NQ cells from 101 deletion-mutant strains were tested for viability and reproductive capacity. Eleven mutants that affected one or both phenotypes in Q or NQ fractions were identified. NQ fractions exhibit a high level of petite colonies, and nine mutants affecting this phenotype were identified. Microarray analysis revealed >1300 mRNAs distinguished Q from NQ fractions. Q cell-specific mRNAs encode proteins involved in membrane maintenance, oxidative stress response, and signal transduction. NQ-cell mRNAs, consistent with apoptosis in these cells, encode proteins involved in Ty-element transposition and DNA recombination. More than 2000 protease-released mRNAs were identified only in Q cells, consistent with these cells being physiologically poised to respond to environmental changes. Our results indicate that Q and NQ cells differentiate significantly, with Q cells providing genomic stability and NQ cells providing nutrients to Q cells and a regular source of genetic diversity through mutation and transposition. These studies are relevant to chronological aging, cell cycle, and genome evolution, and they provide insight into complex responses that even simple organisms have to starvation.
Cation Diffusion Facilitator Cis4 Is Implicated in Golgi Membrane Trafficking via Regulating Zinc Homeostasis in Fission Yeast
Authors: Fang Yue , Sugiura Reiko , Ma Yan , Yada-Matsushima Tomoko , Umeno Hirotatsu , Kuno Takayoshi
Published: January 2008

We screened for mutations that confer sensitivities to the calcineurin inhibitor FK506 and to a high concentration of MgCl2and isolated the cis4-1 mutant, an allele of the gene encoding a cation diffusion facilitator (CDF) protein that is structurally related to zinc transporters. Consistently, the addition of extracellular Zn2+suppressed the phenotypes of the cis4 mutant cells. The cis4 mutants and the mutant cells of another CDF-encoding gene SPBC16E9.14c (we named zrg17+) shared common and nonadditive zinc-suppressible phenotypes, and Cis4 and Zrg17 physically interacted. Cis4 localized at the cis-Golgi, suggesting that Cis4 is responsible for Zn2+uptake to the cis-Golgi. The cis4 mutant cells showed phenotypes such as weak cell wall and decreased acid phosphatase secretion that are thought to be resulting from impaired membrane trafficking. In addition, the cis4 deletion cells showed synthetic growth defects with all the four membrane-trafficking mutants tested, namely ypt3-i5, ryh1-i6, gdi1-i11, and apm1-1. Interestingly, the addition of extracellular Zn2+significantly suppressed the phenotypes of the ypt3-i5 and apm1-1 mutant cells. These results suggest that Cis4 forms a heteromeric functional complex with Zrg17 and that Cis4 is implicated in Golgi membrane trafficking through the regulation of zinc homeostasis in fission yeast.
A Pachygyria-causing α-Tubulin Mutation Results in Inefficient Cycling with CCT and a Deficient Interaction with TBCB
Authors: Tian Guoling , Kong Xiang-Peng , Jaglin Xavier H. , Chelly Jamel , Keays David , Cowan Nicholas J.
Published: January 2008

The agyria (lissencephaly)/pachygyria phenotypes are catastrophic developmental diseases characterized by abnormal folds on the surface of the brain and disorganized cortical layering. In addition to mutations in at least four genes—LIS1, DCX, ARX and RELN—mutations in a human α-tubulin gene, TUBA1A, have recently been identified that cause these diseases. Here, we show that one such mutation, R264C, leads to a diminished capacity of de novo tubulin heterodimer formation. We identify the mechanisms that contribute to this defect. First, there is a reduced efficiency whereby quasinative α-tubulin folding intermediates are generated via ATP-dependent interaction with the cytosolic chaperonin CCT. Second, there is a failure of CCT-generated folding intermediates to stably interact with TBCB, one of the five tubulin chaperones (TBCA–E) that participate in the pathway leading to the de novo assembly of the tubulin heterodimer. We describe the behavior of the R264C mutation in terms of its effect on the structural integrity of α-tubulin and its interaction with TBCB. In spite of its compromised folding efficiency, R264C molecules that do productively assemble into heterodimers are capable of copolymerizing into dynamic microtubules in vivo. The diminished production of TUBA1A tubulin in R264C individuals is consistent with haploinsufficiency as a cause of the disease phenotype.
7 Constantinople, Our Star
Authors: Roessel David
Published: January 2008

On April 25, 1915, Denis Browne wrote a letter to Edward Marsh concerning the passing and burial of Rupert Brooke, who had died of a fever on a British hospital ship in the Aegean. Brooke and Browne were among the British troops sent to the Aegean to take part in the assault on Gallipoli, which the British and French hoped would force open the Hellespont and Dardanelles, cause Turkey to sue for peace, and bring a speedy conclusion to the First World War. This chapter shows that the Byronization of Brooke was an exclusively English enterprise, a kind of philhellenism without Greeks. Given the aura of Byron that had pervaded writing about modern Greece, it was perhaps too much to ask a group of aspiring young authors not to associate a fellow poet who had died of a fever on the eve of an assault against the Turks with the hero of Missolonghi.
2 VICTORIAN RAPTURE
Authors: Pearsall Cornelia
Published: January 2008

Chapter Two examines Tennyson’s dramatic monologue “St. Simeon Stylites” from several angles. The first section, “Victorian End Times,” places St. Simeon’s desire for rapture in the context of Victorian evangelicalism and millenarianism. Pearsall demonstrates the ways in which the theological arguments concerning rapture propounded by the evangelist Edward Irving (a controversial figure who deeply interested Tennyson’s fellow Cambridge Apostles, including Arthur Henry Hallam and Richard Chenevix Trench) influenced Tennyson’s portrayal of St. Simeon. The second section, “The Rapture of St. Simeon’s Stylites,” engages in a detailed reading of Tennyson’s monologue, examining the ingenious discursive strategies employed by St. Simeon as he labors to perform his own rapture. The chapter’s final section, “Simeon’s Afterlife: The Message of the Butterfly,” parallels Tennyson’s St. Simeon with contemporary environmental activist Julia Butterfly Hill, probing the similarities in their strategies for attaining communal as well as personal transformation.
Pillar of Charismatic Renewal
Authors: Sanneh Lamin
Published: January 2008

This chapter expounds the role of Bible translation in the indigenous awakening and local adaptation. It describes Nigeria's Mojola Agbebi and his call for liturgical renewal in Christianity's African phase. The chapter returns to the story of Christian Independency and charismatic awakening, with a discussion of social ministry and philanthropy. The role of New World Africans in the inter‐continental transmission of revival religion is reviewed alongside post‐Western developments in World Christianity, as is the impact of vernacular Bible translation and mother tongue education. The chapter rounds up the work of missions with a synopsis of the work of John Philip, Walter Miller, and Samuel Ajayi Crowther in the advancement of African rights.
The Ministry of Ordained Women
Authors: Macy Gary
Published: January 2008

A detailed analysis of the references to and the liturgical functions of four ministries are the focus of this study: episcopae (women bishops), presbyterae (women priests), deaconesses, and abbesses. Women are described, for instance, as leading liturgies, distributing communion, hearing confessions, and serving at the altar. The ministries of episcopae presbyterae and deaconesses may have been supported by an understanding of the local church as an extended family, as clergy were married and clerical spouses may have co‐ministered those churches. The role of deaconess and abbess were understood by some contemporaries to have merged by the 10th century. The functions of deaconess and abbesses is much clearer as the rites for the ordinations of both have survived, as have detailed instructions on the role of abbesses in their religious rules.
Conclusion
Authors: Macy Gary
Published: January 2008

The concluding chapter speculates on some of the reasons why the definition of ordination changed in the 11th and 12th centuries, and, more importantly, why women were no longer considered either ordained or able to be ordained. Four factors contributed to the change. The Gregorian Reform Movement with its insistence on celibacy introduced a new and more virulent form of misogyny into Western Christianity. Roman law was read selectively to enforce the idea that women were incapable of leadership roles in the church. The biology and politics of Aristotle, newly introduced in the West, asserted that women were biologically and intellectually inferior to men. Theologians read scripture as supporting the assumptions of Roman law and Aristotle concerning the inferiority women and Eve in particular become the scapegoat for the Fall. No one cause seemed determinative in relegating women to an inferior status, but rather a concatenation of several mutually reinforcing factors.
Discourse on Civility and Barbarity
Authors: Fitzgerald Timothy
Published: January 2008

This book analyzes the development of different meanings of the term “religion” in different contexts and in relation to other categories with shifting and unstable nuances such as the state, politics, economics, and the secular. It traces a major transformation of the category as a function of Euro‐American colonialism and capitalism from its traditional meaning of Christian Truth to the modern generic and pluralized category of religions and world religions. For centuries the English word Religion meant Christian Truth, and it stood in opposition to superstition, paganism, and falsehood. As such Religion encompassed not only individual salvation but also, and of equal importance, what we today refer to as the secular, the state, politics, economics, law, and science. Until the second half of the seventeenth century there was no powerful discourse on the nonreligious. Indeed, terms such as politics and economics were newly coined in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and the term secular had a profoundly different nuance, for example, referring to the priesthood. Furthermore, the discourse on Religion as Christian Truth in contrast to superstition and paganism overlapped significantly with discourses on “our” civility, as opposed to “their” barbarity, and thus functioned as an expression of the superiority of the Christian male elite. Current uncritical practices of historians, political scientists, anthropologists, and religionists in their projection of modern Anglophone categories such as “religion,” “politics,” and “economics” as though they are eternal features of all human experience and social organisation indirectly and usually unconsciously serve the interests of the modern state under the guise of secular objectivity.
On Civility and Barbarity
Authors: Fitzgerald Timothy
Published: January 2008

This chapter argues that throughout the vicissitudes of discourses on Religion and religions, there has always been a significant overlap with a parallel discourse on civility and barbarity. By noticing this overlap of discursive formations we can see a major source of continuity underlying the radical change in cosmological assumptions that have led to the invention of the modern “secular.” The Church, which was also a State, drew on earlier Greek and Roman self‐representations between “our” civility and rationality as against “their” barbarity and madness. Religion as Our Truth is difficult to separate from the self‐representations of Christian male elites as the upholders of a rational civility which provided salvation from pagan madness. As modern ideology transformed the meanings of terms like “religion” and “natural reason,” and generated new dichotomies such as faith and science or private piety and public rationality, the persistent discourse on civility and barbarity became attached to modern imperial and orientalist representations of white, Protestant males, imbued with scientific reason and rational religion, offering the salvational disciplines of civility to barbaric, irrational, and feminine orientals unable to organize their own polities.
After Redemption
Authors: Giggie John M.
Published: January 2008

This book explores religious transformation in the lives of ex-slaves and their descendants living in the Arkansas and Mississippi Delta between the end of Reconstruction and the start of the Great Migration. It argues that Delta blacks, who were overwhelmingly rural sharecroppers and tenant farmers, developed a rich and complex sacred culture during this era. They forged a new religious culture by integrating their spiritual life with many of the defining features of the post‐Reconstruction South, including the rise of segregation and racial violence, the emergence of new forms of technology like train travel, the growth of black fraternal orders, and the rapid expansion of the consumer market. Experimenting with new symbols of freedom and racial respectability, forms of organizational culture, regional networks of communication, and popular notions of commodification and consumption enabled them to survive, make progress, and at times resist white supremacy. The book then evaluates the social consequences of these changes and shows in particular how the Holiness‐Pentecostal developed in large part as a rejection of them. It ends by probing how this new religious world influenced the Great Migration and black spiritual life in the 1920s and 1930s.
Buddhist Rituals for Protecting the Country in Medieval Japan: Myōan Eisai's “Regulations of the Zen School”
Authors: Welter Albert
Published: January 2008

Chapter 3 provides a concrete analysis of Zen ritual in the earliest stages of Japanese Zen, including an important discussion of the reasons given for the practice of Zen ritual. This chapter suggests that the function of ritual in Eisai's account of Zen is to serve the communal needs of the society as a whole, and is not primarily a tool in the quest for individual enlightenment. Looking closely at Eisai's seminal text, “Promoting Zen for Protecting the Country,” Zen monasteries were collective enterprises in the service of the moral and social order to the nation is shown. Existing at the will of the Kamakura bakufu leaders, Zen institutions sought to fulfill their social/political roles, and one of the most important of these was to conduct rituals for protecting the country. Eisai's “sixteen types of ceremonies” show clearly all of the ways in which Eisai sought to fulfill his obligation as a Zen master to the government and to Japanese society as a whole.
How International Law Works
Authors: Guzman Andrew
Published: January 2008

Applying rational-choice theory to international law and international relations, this book offers a comprehensive theory of the subject, how it operates, and why it works. Taking as a starting point that states comply only when it is in their self‐interest to do so, the book demonstrates that international law nevertheless supports cooperation among states. This book develops a theory of international law to explain how concerns about reciprocal non‐compliance, retaliation, and reputation discourage states from violating their international legal commitments. By building a theory from the ground up, this book is able to address international law in all its forms, including treaties, customary international law, and “soft law.” It explains that contrary to conventional views on the subject, there is no stark difference between these different types of international law. Rather, each represents a position on a spectrum of commitment and is distinguished by the strength of the obligation it imposes. Once the various legal forms are recognized as different in degree rather than kind, other features of the system are easier to understand. The book discusses how the substantive content of an international agreement relates to its form, including whether the agreement provides for dispute resolution, monitoring, exit, escape, and reservations. With respect to customary international law, this book explains how and why such rules of law work, and how existing notions of custom must be adapted to accommodate the rational choice approach.
A General Theory of International Law
Authors: Guzman Andrew T
Published: January 2008

This chapter presents the basic theory of international law that is then used throughout the book. It explains how the forces of reputation, retaliation, and reciprocity (the Three Rs of Compliance) make international law work. It discusses the various types of problems that international law and international agreements seek to address, ranging from simple coordination problems to difficult prisoner's dilemma problems. The role of international tribunals in the operation of international law is also discussed, as are the particular challenges presented by multilateral agreements.
“And Jacob Remained Alone”
Authors: Diamond Eliezer
Published: January 2008

Judaism has been opposed to celibacy because marriage was a normal condition and a divine ordinance. The Jewish tradition provides evidence of exceptions to the rule against celibacy among marginal sects, such as the Therapeutrides, Essences, and Qumran community. There were even exceptions made by Rabbinic Judaism associated with Torah study.
New Directions in Dialogue
Authors: Smith Jane Idleman
Published: January 2008

The attacks of 9/11 made a definitive change in the ways in which Muslims and Christians in America think about each other, enter into dialogue, and in general come to terms with how to live together as citizens of one country. Tensions continue to rise as the world becomes more troubled and the war on terror ratchets up. New ways of doing business will need to characterize attempts at dialogue. This concluding chapter considers some of the new directions that may help Muslims and Christians share the difficult task of modeling to the world how engagement other than retaliation and aggression can succeed while warfare guarantees success for no one.
NINE INSULT HUMOR
Authors: Neu Jerome
Published: January 2008

Humor, like ritual, may sometimes license otherwise offensive insults. When and why? The special genre of insult humor, including roasts, is considered along with Freud's account of the role of collusion in tendentious humor broadly conceived. When is it wrong to laugh? Satire, teasing, and bullying sometimes take the ridicule in insult humor to the extremes of aggression.
The Prophet as Antichrist and Arab Lucifer (Early Times to 1600)
Authors: Quinn Frederick
Published: January 2008

This chapter discusses the changing Western perceptions of Islam from the Middle Ages to the present. Topics covered include images of Islam, Christian-Islamic contact in history, accounts of Islam that emerged, later Catholic views of Islam, the Protestant view, positive strains of interpretation of Islam, and depictions of Islam in Western literary works of the Middle Ages.