bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On the treatment of singularities of the Watson Hamiltonian for nonlinear molecules
Authors: Scivetti Iván , Kohanoff Jorge , Gidopoulos Nikitas I.
Published: July 2010

The applicability of the Watson Hamiltonian for the description of nonlinear molecules—especially triatomic ones—has always been questioned, as the Jacobian of the transformation that leads to the Watson Hamiltonian, vanishes at the linear configuration. This results in singular behavior of the Watson Hamiltonian, giving rise to serious numerical problems in the computation of vibrational spectra, with unphysical, spurious vibrational states appearing among the physical vibrations, especially in the region of highly excited states. In this work, we analyze the problem and propose a simple way to confine the nuclear wavefunction in such a way that the spurious solutions are eliminated. We study the water molecule and observe an improvement compared with previous results. We also apply the method to the van der Walls molecule XeHe2. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2011
Fighting botnets with economic uncertainty
Authors: Li Zhen , Liao Qi , Blaich Andrew , Striegel Aaron
Published: July 2010

Botnets have become an increasing security concern in today's Internet. Since current technological defenses against botnets have failed to produce results, it has become necessary to think about different strategies. Given that money is perhaps the single determining force driving the growth in botnet attacks, we propose an interesting economic approach to take away the root cause of botnet, i.e., the financial incentives. In this paper, we model botnet‐related cyber crimes as a result of profit‐maximizing decision‐making optimization problem from the perspective of botmasters. By introducing theuncertaintylevel created by thevirtual bots, we make determining the optimal botnet size infeasible for the botnet operators, and consequently the botnet profitability can fall dramatically. The theoretical model presented here has a large potential to fight off botnet‐related attacks of varying revenue patterns. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Optimal experimental design
Authors: Fedorov Valerii
Published: July 2010

After a short historical introduction, the properties and numerical methods are the focal point of discussion. Construction of discrete and adaptive designs demand more extended exposition and are beyond the scope of this article but the information about the corresponding publications is provided. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

This article is categorized under:

Statistical Models > Linear Models

Statistical Models > Classification Models
mRNA 3′ end processing and more—multiple functions of mammalian cleavage factor I‐68
Authors: Ruepp Marc‐David , Schümperli Daniel , Barabino Silvia M. L.
Published: July 2010

The formation of defined 3′ ends is an important step in the biogenesis of mRNAs. In eukaryotic cells, all mRNA 3′ ends are generated by endonucleolytic cleavage of primary transcripts in reactions that are essentially posttranscriptional. Nevertheless, 3′ end formation is tightly connected to transcription in vivo, and a link with mRNA export to the cytoplasm has been postulated. Here, we briefly review the current knowledge about the two types of mRNA 3′ end processing reactions, cleavage/polyadenylation and histone RNA processing. We then focus on factors shared between these two reactions. In particular, we discuss evidence for new functions of the mammalian cleavage factor I subunit CF Im68 in histone RNA 3′ processing and in the export of mature mRNAs from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. WIREs RNA 2011 2 79–91 DOI: 10.1002/wrna.35

This article is categorized under:

RNA Interactions with Proteins and Other Molecules > Protein–RNA Recognition

RNA Processing > 3' End Processing

RNA Export and Localization > Nuclear Export/Import
Immunoglobulin heavy chain gene regulation through polyadenylation and splicing competition
Authors: Peterson Martha L.
Published: July 2010

The immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) genes, which encode one of the two chains of antibody molecules, were the first cellular genes shown to undergo developmentally regulated alternative RNA processing. These genes produce two different mRNAs from a single primary transcript. One mRNA is cleaved and polyadenylated at an upstream poly(A) signal while the other mRNA removes this poly(A) signal by RNA splicing and is cleaved and polyadenylated at a downstream poly(A) site. A broad range of studies have been performed to understand the mechanism of IgH RNA processing regulation during B lymphocyte development. The model that has emerged is much more complex than envisioned by the earliest view of regulation through poly(A) signal choice. Regulation requires that the IgH gene contain competing splice and cleavage–polyadenylation reactions with balanced efficiencies. Because non‐IgH genes with these structural features also can be regulated, IgH gene‐specific sequence elements are not required for regulation. Changes in cleavage–polyadenylation and RNA splicing, as well as pol II elongation, all contribute to IgH developmental RNA processing regulation. Multiple factors are likely involved in the regulation during B lymphocyte maturation. Additional biologically relevant factors that contribute to IgH regulation remain to be identified and incorporated into a mechanistic model for regulation. Much of the work to date confirms the complex nature of IgH mRNA regulation and suggests that a thorough understanding of this control will remain a challenge. However, it is also likely that such understanding will help elucidate novel mechanisms of RNA processing regulation. WIREs RNA 2011 2 92–105 DOI: 10.1002/wrna.36

This article is categorized under:

RNA Processing > Splicing Regulation/Alternative Splicing

RNA Processing > 3' End Processing

RNA in Disease and Development > RNA in Development
Recent Advances in Lanthanide‐Containing Polyoxotungstates
Authors: Bassil Bassem S. , Kortz Ulrich
Published: July 2010

The area of lanthanide‐containing polyoxometalates has been a field of large interest for several years due to the interesting structural and physicochemical properties of such compounds. This chemistry is dominated by tungsten based POMs, as a large number of vacant (lacunary) polytungstate precursors is known (as opposed to vanadium or molybdenum based POMs). The main subclasses in this field are lanthanide‐containing iso‐ and hetero‐polytungstates. The number of examples in the latter class is significantly larger than the former, probably because more lacunary hetero‐ than iso‐polytungstates are known. Here we report on recent examples of lanthanide‐containing iso‐ and hetero‐polytungstates with a focus on synthetic and in particular structural aspects. The compounds discussed include discrete molecular species as well as 1‐, 2‐ and 3‐D solid‐state assemblies.
A model checking-based approach for security policy verification of mobile systems
Authors: Braghin Chiara , Sharygina Natasha , Barone-Adesi Katerina
Published: July 2010

This article describes an approach for the automated verification of mobile systems. Mobile systems are characterized by the explicit notion oflocation(e.g., sites where they run) and the ability to execute at different locations, yielding a number of security issues. To this aim, we formalize mobile systems as Labeled Kripke Structures, encapsulating the notion oflocation netthat describes the hierarchical nesting of the threads constituting the system. Then, we formalize a genericsecurity-policy specification languagethat includes rules for expressing and manipulating the code location. In contrast to many other approaches, our technique supports both access control and information flow specification. We developed a prototype framework for model checking of mobile systems. It works directly on the program code (in contrast to most traditional process-algebraic approaches that can model only limited details of mobile systems) and uses abstraction-refinement techniques, based also on location abstractions, to manage the program state space. We experimented with a number of mobile code benchmarks by verifying various security policies. The experimental results demonstrate the validity of the proposed mobile system modeling and policy specification formalisms and highlight the advantages of the model checking-based approach, which combines the validation of security properties with other checks, such as the validation of buffer overflows.
Pancreaticojejunal Bridge‐Anastomosis: A Novel Option for Surgeon to Preserve Pancreatic Body and Tail in Urgent Reoperation for Intra‐abdominal Massive Hemorrhage after Pancreaticoduodenectomy
Authors: Xu Jin , Dai Xianwei , Bu Xianmin , Gao Feng , Zhang Xiaobo
Published: July 2010

Background

Postoperative intra‐abdominal massive bleeding is a rare and life‐threatening complication associated with pancreaticoduodenectomy. Completion pancreatectomy (CP) was usually performed during reexploration for the complication. The management could decrease the complications, such as the pancreatic leakage or intraluminal infection after reexploration, but could increase mortality during the perioperative period. It also could result in loss of pancreatic function forever. This study evaluated an alternative surgical management for intra‐abdominal massive hemorrhage to prevent pancreas function, simplify the surgical processes, and decrease the mortality of relaparotomy.

Methods

Outcome after pancreaticojejunal bridge‐anastomosis (PJBA) performed between January 2006 and June 2009 was compared with that after CP performed between February 1984 and December 2005.

Results

Between February 1984 and June 2009, 963 patients underwent the Whipple procedure (PD) or pylorus‐preserving pancreaticoduodectomy (PPPD). Pancreatic leakage occurred in 103 patients (10.7%); 22 cases (21.4%) developed into intra‐abdominal massive bleeding. Nonsurgical procedures of transarterial embolization (TAE) were performed in ten (45.45%) patients, of whom one died (10%). Twelve (54.55%) underwent reoperation. Five had CP with one death (20%). Pancreatic remnant was preserved by pancreaticojejunal bridge‐anastomosis (PJBA) in seven patients with no deaths. The reexploration time was 340 ± 48.2 min vs. 247.9 ± 40.8 min (P < 0.01) for CP and PJBA group and the blood loss was 2,180 ± 526.3 ml vs. 1,628.6 ± 325.1 ml (P < 0.05). In‐hospital time for CP was less than that for PJBA (P < 0.05). All patients with CP still developed endocrine insufficiency (“brittle” diabetes) and diarrhea (exocrine insufficiency). There were no evidences of exocrine and endocrine insufficiency in patients with PJBA.

Conclusions

Pancreaticojejunal bridge‐anastomosis is an easy, simple, and safe procedure for intra‐abdominal massive hemorrhage associated with pancreaticoduodenectomy. It could decrease the mortality of reoperation and preserve the pancreatic function.
RP‐HPLC/MS‐APCI Analysis of Branched Chain TAG Prepared by Precursor‐Directed Biosynthesis with Rhodococcuserythropolis
Authors: Schreiberová Olga , Krulikovská Tereza , Sigler Karel , Čejková Alena , Řezanka Tomáš
Published: July 2010

Reversed phase liquid chromatography–atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry (RP‐HPLC/MS‐APCI) was used to analyze both synthetic triacylglycerols (TAG) having 1–3 branched fatty acids (FA) in the molecule, and natural TAG prepared by precursor directed biosynthesis from valine, leucine and isoleucine and the corresponding branched short‐chain acids in cultivations of Rhodococcus erythropolis. The technique made it possible to identify and quantify TAG differing in a single branched‐chain FA. Altogether 11 TAG were synthesized, out of which 8 were synthesized stereospecifically. Branched‐ and straight‐chain‐TAG were separated and identified while TAG differing only in iso or anteiso FA could not be separated. The APCI mass spectra of iso‐, anteiso‐ and straight‐chain TAG were completely identical. The natural material was found to contain 19 TAG having at least one branched FA. Cultivation on six different substrates showed, apart from the presumed and common incorporation of precursors to iso‐even, iso‐odd and anteiso FA, also some unusual features such as an increase in the content of odd‐FA after the addition of Val (attributed to catabolism of Val to propionate) or the appearance of branched monounsaturated FA. The two‐sample paired t test, when applied to the TAG, showed that only the pair Val and isobutyrate differ in incorporation into FA—see, e.g. proportions of M/M/O and brM/brM/O (1.2:1.2 and 1.9:1.2, respectively). Also, incorporation of Val (isobutyrate) yielded only TAG having two branched FA in the molecule, whereas Leu and Ile (isovalerate and 2‐methyl‐butyrate) gave only TAG with a single branched FA in the molecule.
Enzymatic Synthesis of Feruloylated Lipids: Comparison of the Efficiency of Vinyl Ferulate and Ethyl Ferulate as Substrates
Authors: Yu Yang , Zheng Yan , Quan Jing , Wu Cheng‐Yao , Wang Ya‐Juan , Branford‐White Christopher , Zhu Li‐Min
Published: July 2010

A facile and efficient enzymatic synthesis approach to synthesize feruloylated lipids, which are composed of 1(3)‐feruloyl‐monooleyl‐glycerol and 1(3)‐feruloyl‐dioleyl‐glycerol, through lipase‐catalyzed transesterification using vinyl ferulate (VF) and ethyl ferulate (EF) as substrate, respectively, with triolein was developed. When VF was used as substrate, a maximum of conversion yield of 91.1% was obtained at 55 °C, 20 mg/mL enzyme content, water activity (aw) = 0.07, 62 h. This was greater than that when EF was used as substrate (69.6%, 50 °C, 33.3 mg/mL enzyme content, aw = 0.07, 96 h). Candida antarctica lipase (Novozym 435) can be reused for 13 runs without evident loss in activity and stability when VF was used as substrate. The results demonstrate that VF has greater synthetic efficiency and it provides another effective approach to prepare feruloylated lipids under normal pressure, making industry application feasible.
A quasi-monotonicity formula and partial regularity for borderline solutions to a parabolic equation
Authors: Zheng Gao-Feng
Published: July 2010

A quasi-monotonicity formula for the solution to a semilinear parabolic equation

u_{t} = \mathrm{\Delta }u + V(x)|u|^{p−1}u

,

p > (N + 2)/ (N−2)

in

\Omega \times (0,T)

with

0

-Dirichlet boundary condition is obtained. As an application, it is shown that for some suitable global weak solution

u

and any compact set

Q \subset \Omega \times (0,T)

there exists a close subset

Q^{′} \subset Q

such that

u

is continuous in

Q^{′}

and the

(N−\frac{4}{p−1})

-dimensional parabolic Hausdorff measure

\mathcal{H}^{(N−\frac{4}{p−1})}(Q \setminus Q^{′})

of

Q \setminus Q^{′}

is finite.
AMPK β subunits display isoform specific affinities for carbohydrates
Authors: Koay Ann , Woodcroft Ben , Petrie Emma J. , Yue Helen , Emanuelle Shane , Bieri Michael , Bailey Michael F. , Hargreaves Mark , Park Jong-Tae , Park Kwan-Hwa , Ralph Stuart , Neumann Dietbert , Stapleton David , Gooley Paul R.
Published: July 2010

AMP‐activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a heterotrimer of catalytic (α) and regulatory (β and γ) subunits with at least two isoforms for each subunit. AMPK β1 is widely expressed whilst AMPK β2 is highly expressed in muscle and both β isoforms contain a mid‐molecule carbohydrate‐binding module (β‐CBM). Here we show that β2‐CBM has evolved to contain a Thr insertion and increased affinity for glycogen mimetics with a preference for oligosaccharides containing a single α‐1,6 branched residue. Deletion of Thr‐101 reduces affinity for single α‐1,6 branched oligosaccharides by 3‐fold, while insertion of this residue into the equivalent position in the β1‐CBM sequence increases affinity by 3‐fold, confirming the functional importance of this residue.
Unlimited shelf space in Internet supply chains: Treasure trove or wasteland?
Authors: Rabinovich Elliot , Sinha Rajiv , Laseter Timothy
Published: July 2010

Internet retailing offers merchants limitless shelf space. This has led experts to highlight the existence of a “long tail” of offerings on the web and assert that the future of online business is “selling less of more.” However, it is difficult for Internet retailers of physical goods to sell a large scope of products without having to handle potentially large amounts of product returns from customers. This is due to the fact that customers can and do get overwhelmed by excessive product variety and often make erroneous purchasing decisions. We shed light on this issue through an assessment of theoretical predictions based on data from sales and returns of almost 7000 products in a particular product category. While retailers can benefit from expanding the scope of their inventories to generate Internet sales, the success of this strategy will depend on the control of unjustified product returns by consumers and the management of recurrent execution errors and product fit failures in transactions with customers. Furthermore, from our results, the gains that this strategy will bring to retailers will be bound by the amount of time products have been available on the Internet retailer's site, as well as by other attributes such as product price and size.
Primitive origins of prostate cancer: In vivo evidence for prostate‐regenerating cells and prostate cancer‐initiating cells
Authors: Goldstein Andrew S. , Stoyanova Tanya , Witte Owen N.
Published: July 2010

Tissue stem cells have been linked to cancers of epithelial origin including the prostate. There are three relevant issues concerning stem cells and cancer that rely solely on functional studies: 1. Are there tissue‐regenerating stem cells in the adult organ? 2. Can tissue‐regenerating cells serve as targets for transformation? 3. Do primary tumors contain tumor‐propagating (cancer stem) cells? We will review the recent literature with respect to these critical issues to provide a direct link between primitive cells and prostate cancer.
THE POWER OF EUROPEAN FATWAS: THE MINORITYFIQHPROJECT AND THE MAKING OF AN ISLAMIC COUNTERPUBLIC
Authors: Caeiro Alexandre
Published: July 2010

What does it mean to “integrate” a complex and multifaceted tradition such as Islam into a transnational space as heterogeneous as that of modern Europe? And what kind of a project is precisely that of a “European Islam,” increasingly invoked today across the continent by a wide range of state and nonstate actors, including many Muslims? At a time dominated by variants of the clash of civilizations thesis, the project appears rather equivocal. What conceptions ofEuropeas a political space, and ofIslamas a religious tradition, underlie the endeavor?
CONVIVENCIA AND ITS DISCONTENTS: INTERFAITH LIFE IN AL-ANDALUS
Authors: Akasoy Anna
Published: July 2010

Historians of Europe often declare that Spain is “different.” This distinctiveness of the Iberian peninsula has many faces and is frequently seen as rooted in its Islamic past. In the field of Islamic history, too, al-Andalus is somewhat different. It has its own specialists, research traditions, controversies, and trends. One of the salient features of historical studies of al-Andalus as well as of its popular image is the great interest in its interreligious dimension. In 2002, María Rosa Menocal published The Ornament of the World, one of the rare books on Islamic history written by an academic that enjoyed and still enjoys a tremendous popularity among nonspecialist readers. The book surveys intersections of Islamic, Jewish, and Christian elite culture, mostly in Arabic, Hebrew, and Latin literature and in architecture, from the Muslim conquest of the Iberian peninsula in 711 to the fall of Granada in 1492. Menocal presents the religious diversity commonly referred to as convivencia as one of the defining features of Andalusi intellectual and artistic productivity. She also argues that the narrow-minded forces that brought about its end were external, pointing to the Almoravids and Almohads from North Africa and Christians from north of the peninsula as responsible. The book's subtitle, How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain, conjures the community of Abrahamic faiths. It reflects the optimism of those who identify in Andalusi history a model for a constructive relationship between “Islam” and “the West” that in the age of the “war on terror” many are desperate to find.
COMMENT ON CYRUS SCHAYEGH, “‘SEEING LIKE A STATE’: AN ESSAY ON THE HISTORIOGRAPHY OF MODERN IRAN” (IJMES42 [2010]: 37–61)
Authors: Keddie Nikki R.
Published: July 2010

Cyrus Schayegh's “‘Seeing Like a State’: An Essay on the Historiography of Modern Iran” tries to show how historians of the Pahlavi era “have been gripped by the image of an omnipotent, completely autonomous state and how, each one . . . turned this image into what I call methodological statism” (p. 38). He discusses critically several works by historians and political scientists while mentioning more favorably a few works by anthropologists and sociologists and then indicates what he considers a better approach to Pahlavi history. Although I agree with some of his criticisms and am glad to see a serious discussion of historiography, I think he overstates the sins of historians and fails to distinguish between historians and political scientists, whose discipline leads them to emphasize the state.
THE LOCATION OF PALESTINE IN GLOBAL COUNTERINSURGENCIES
Authors: Khalili Laleh
Published: July 2010

Since at least the 1930s, Palestine has had a continuous role as a laboratory of counterinsurgency. During the British Mandate, Palestine saw a consolidation of the techniques of imperial policing and the development of a complex military-legal apparatus of control, from “security fences” and watchtowers to mass incarceration and collective punishment to emergency laws and administrative detention. Palestine has continued to be the setting for counterinsurgency military exercises, with Israel incorporating the British Mandate laws in its legal corpus and British military practice in its doctrines. Based on extensive primary research, this essay traces the development of counterinsurgency doctrine and practice and the legal apparatuses that uphold it and argues that both in the incorporation of British transmission of doctrine, law, and practice from Palestine, and in the Israeli military's deployment of new and transportable techniques of control, Palestine has been gradually transformed into a central node of military knowledge/power within a global matrix of counterinsurgency.
A study on boundary-layer transition induced by free-stream turbulence
Authors: MANDAL A. C. , VENKATAKRISHNAN L. , DEY J.
Published: July 2010

Boundary-layer transition at different free-stream turbulence levels has been investigated using the particle-image velocimetry technique. The measurements show organized positive and negative fluctuations of the streamwise fluctuating velocity component, which resemble the forward and backward jet-like structures reported in the direct numerical simulation of bypass transition. These fluctuations are associated with unsteady streaky structures. Large inclined high shear-layer regions are also observed and the organized negative fluctuations are found to appear consistently with these inclined shear layers, along with highly inflectional instantaneous streamwise velocity profiles. These inflectional velocity profiles are similar to those in the ribbon-induced boundary-layer transition. An oscillating-inclined shear layer appears to be the turbulent spot-precursor. The measurements also enabled to compare the actual turbulent spot in bypass transition with the simulated one. A proper orthogonal decomposition analysis of the fluctuating velocity field is carried out. The dominant flow structures of the organized positive and negative fluctuations are captured by the first few eigenfunction modes carrying most of the fluctuating energy. The similarity in the dominant eigenfunctions at different Reynolds numbers suggests that the flow prevails its structural identity even in intermittent flows. This analysis also indicates the possibility of the existence of a spatio-temporal symmetry associated with a travelling wave in the flow.
Memory monitoring failure in confabulation: Evidence from the semantic illusion paradigm
Authors: KAN IRENE P. , LAROCQUE KAREN F. , LAFLECHE GINETTE , COSLETT H. BRANCH , VERFAELLIE MIEKE
Published: July 2010

Several prominent models of confabulation characterize the syndrome as a failure in controlled aspects of memory retrieval, such as pre-retrieval cue specification and post-retrieval monitoring. These models have been generated primarily in the context of studies of autobiographical memory retrieval. Less research has focused on the existence and mechanisms of semantic confabulation. We examined whether confabulation extends to the semantic domain, and if so, whether it could be understood as a monitoring failure. We focus on post-retrieval monitoring by using a verification task that minimizes cue specification demands. We used the semantic illusion paradigm that elicits erroneous endorsement of misleading statements (e.g., “Two animals of each kind were brought onto the Ark by Moses before the great flood”) even in controls, despite their knowing the correct answer (e.g., Noah). Monitoring demands were manipulated by varying semantic overlap between target and foils, ranging from high semantic overlap to unrelated. We found that semantic overlap modulated the magnitude of semantic illusion in all groups. Compared to controls, both confabulators and non-confabulators had greater difficulty monitoring semantically related foils; however, elevated endorsement of unrelated foils was unique to confabulators. We interpret our findings in the context of a two-process model of post-retrieval monitoring. (JINS, 2010, 16, 1006–1017.)
Confabulation in schizophrenia: A neuropsychological study
Authors: LORENTE-ROVIRA E. , SANTOS-GÓMEZ J.L. , MORO M. , VILLAGRÁN J.M. , MCKENNA P.J.
Published: July 2010

Confabulation has been documented in schizophrenia, but its neuropsychological correlates appear to be different from those of confabulation in neurological disease states. Forty-five schizophrenic patients and 37 controls were administered a task requiring them to recall fables. They also underwent testing with a range of memory and executive tasks. The patients with schizophrenia produced significantly more confabulations than the controls. After correcting for multiple comparisons, confabulation was not significantly associated with memory impairment, and was associated with impairment on only one of eight executive measures, the Brixton Test. Confabulation scores were also associated with impairment on two semantic memory tests. Confabulation was correlated with intrusion errors in recall, but not false positive errors in a recognition task. The findings suggest that confabulation in schizophrenia is unrelated to the episodic memory impairment seen in the disorder. However, the association with a circumscribed deficit in executive function could be consistent with a defective strategic retrieval account of confabulation similar to that of Moscovitch and co-workers, interacting with defective semantic memory. (JINS, 2010,16, 1018–1026.)
The impact of the water rights system on smallholder irrigators' willingness to pay for water in Limpopo province, South Africa
Authors: SPEELMAN STIJN , FAROLFI STEFANO , FRIJA AYMEN , D'HAESE MARIJKE , D'HAESE LUC
Published: July 2010

Water rights are currently receiving increased attention from scholars and policymakers due to the growing understanding that ill-defined water rights impair efficient use. In South Africa, smallholder irrigation faces problems of low water use efficiency and cost recovery of government investments. This study uses contingent ranking to analyse the willingness to pay (WTP) of smallholder irrigators for changes in the water rights system. The results indicate that smallholders are prepared to pay considerably higher water prices if these are connected to improvements in the water rights system. By segmenting the population it was also shown that the importance attached to water rights dimensions varies in each segment. While lower institutional trust and lower income levels lead to a lower WTP for transferability, experiencing water shortage increases this WTP. Such information is valuable in guiding policy makers in the future design of water rights.
RACE DOESN'T MATTER, RACE MATTERS
Authors: Simon Bryant
Published: July 2010

This enthographically-based essay uses the case of Starbucks and the company's diversity policies and relationship with Magic Johnson to explore the desire for postracialism in post Civil Rights—post Martin Luther King, Jr. and post protest—mainstream America. Where did this desire come from and how did corporate America package this desire? What is the relationship between the selling of postracialism and voting for Barack Obama? What are the implications of these marketing moves? What do they tell us about business and about ourselves?
Liberal Religion, Artistic Autonomy, and the Culture of Secular Choral Societies
Authors: VINSON DUNCAN
Published: July 2010

U.S. choral societies typically formalize themselves as secular organizations analogous to symphony orchestras and opera companies. Yet choral societies differ from symphonic or operatic organizations because almost all choruses depend on volunteer singers. Part of what attracts singers into choruses is a sometimes unacknowledged affinity between the religious traditions of liberal Christians and Jews and the culture of choral singing as practiced in formally secular choral societies. The liberal tradition in religion encourages a habitus toward music that might be called a “sense of liturgy”: The interpretation of musical works historically and collectively, rather than as didactic works addressed to an individual. Although many canonical choral works are Christian in content, liberal religion encourages distancing mechanisms that allow people from other faith traditions, or none at all, to engage with these works. In short, the posture of artistic autonomy often found within formally secular choral societies, in which there is no overt religious test for membership, owes part of its genesis to the religious habits of liberal Christians and Jews. The present article explores this affinity by drawing on ethnomusicological fieldwork among choral singers in New England, as well as published accounts of a 1996 controversy over the performance of religious music by a public school choir in Utah.
Telephone-Administered Intelligence Testing for Research in Work and Organizational Psychology
Authors: Blickle Gerhard , Kramer Jochen , Mierke Jan
Published: July 2010

In a 2 × 2 experimental study, we used the Wonderlic Personnel Test (WPT) to assess the quality of intelligence testing by telephone with a sample of 210 individuals active in the world of work and compared it both inter- and intraindividually with intelligence testing by face-to-face test administration. The population median (rxx = .88) of the reliability of ordinary face-to-face-based Wonderlic test-retest reliabilities fit the present data. The pattern of relationships between the WPT and tests of verbal and emotional intelligence was equal in both modalities. The WPT showed high convergence with verbal intelligence and was orthogonal to emotional intelligence. In both experimental groups, WPT scores were positively related to the level of formal education and occupational attainment. Strengths and limitations of the study are discussed. We conclude that, given cooperative testtakers, intelligence testing by telephone is a promising alternative to traditional forms of intelligence testing in work and organizational psychological research.
China's land cover and land use change from 1700 to 2005: Estimations from high‐resolution satellite data and historical archives
Authors: Liu Mingliang , Tian Hanqin
Published: July 2010

One of the major limitations in assessing the impacts of human activities on global biogeochemical cycles and climate is a shortage of reliable data on historical land cover and land use change (LCLUC). China had extreme discrepancies in estimating contemporary and historical patterns of LCLUC over the last 3 centuries because of its geographical complexity, long history of land use, and limited national surveys. This study aims to characterize the spatial and temporal patterns of China's LCLUC during 1700–2005 by reconstructing historical gridded data sets from high‐resolution satellite data and long‐term historical survey data. During this 300 year period, the major characteristics of LCLUC in China have been shrinking forest (decreased by 22%) and expanding cropland (increased by 42%) and urban areas (including urban and rural settlements, factories, quarries, mining, and other built‐up land). New cropland areas have come almost equally from both forested and nonforested land. This study also revealed that substantial conversion between forest and woodland can be attributed to forest harvest, forest regeneration, and land degradation. During 1980–2005, LCLUC was characterized by shrinking cropland, expanding urban and forest areas, and large decadal variations on a national level. LCLUC in China showed significant spatial variations during different time periods, which were caused by spatial heterogeneity in vegetation, soils, and climate and regional imbalance in economy development. During 1700–2005, forests shrunk rapidly while croplands expanded in the northeast and southwest of China. During 1980–2005, we found a serious loss of cropland and urban sprawl in the eastern plain, north, and southeast regions of China and a large increase in forested area in the southeast and southwest regions. The reconstructed LCLUC data sets from this study could be used to assess the impacts of land use change on biogeochemical cycles, the water cycle, and the regional climate in China. To further eliminate uncertainties in this data set and make reliable projections of LCLUC for the future, we need to improve our understanding of the drivers of LCLUC and work toward developing an advanced, spatially explicit land use model.
Characterizing long‐time scale hydrological effects on gravity for improved distinction of tectonic signals
Authors: Van Camp M. , Métivier L. , de Viron O. , Meurers B. , Williams S. D. P.
Published: July 2010

The influence of the hydrological noise on repeated gravity measurements has been investigated on the basis of the time series of 18 superconducting gravimeters (SGs) and on predictions inferred from the Land Dynamics (LaD) world‐Gascoyne land water‐energy balances model. Presently, the global hydrologic models are not precise enough to fulfill the geodetic requirements and are not efficient enough to separate the hydrology from tectonic motion in the land‐based gravity time series. However, although the LaD model predictions and the gravity observations present significant differences in the time domain, it is shown that they have similar amplitudes in the frequency domain in most of the cases. The time series of the Global Geodynamics Project make it possible to investigate phenomena of a few years in the best case. Given the similarity between the power spectral densities (PSDs) of the LaD model predictions and the SG measurements when taken at the same epoch, it makes sense to use the LaD model to study the spectral behavior of the hydrological effects down to the decadal time scale, which is not yet possible with land‐based measurements. It is shown that the PSDs of the hydrological effects flattens at low frequency and is characterized by a generalized Gauss‐Markov structure. With such a noise level, the time necessary to measure a gravity rate of change of 1 nm/s2/a, at the 1σ level should not extend any longer than 17 years at the locations where the hydrological effects play a major role.
Acoustic and electrical property changes due to microbial growth and biofilm formation in porous media
Authors: Davis Caroline A. , Pyrak‐Nolte Laura J. , Atekwana Estella A. , Werkema Douglas D. , Haugen Marisa E.
Published: July 2010

A laboratory study was conducted to investigate the effect of microbial growth and biofilm formation on compressional waves, and complex conductivity during stimulated microbial growth. Over the 29 day duration of the experiment, compressional wave amplitudes and arrival times for the control (nonbiostimulated) sample were observed to be relatively uniform over the scanned 2‐D region. However, the biostimulated sample exhibited a high degree of spatial variability in both the amplitude and arrival times, with portions of the sample exhibiting increased attenuation (∼80%) concurrent with an increase in the arrival times, while other portions exhibited decreased attenuation (∼45%) and decreased arrival times. The acoustic amplitude and arrival times changed significantly in the biostimulated column between days 5 and 7 of the experiment, consistent with a peak in the imaginary conductivity (σ″) values. The σ″ response is interpreted as recording the different stages of biofilm development with peak σ″ representing maximum biofilm thickness and decreasing σ″ representing cell death or detachment. Environmental scanning electron microscope imaging confirmed microbial cell attachment to sand surfaces and showed apparent differences in the morphology of attached biomass between regions of increased and decreased attenuation. The heterogeneity in the elastic properties arises from the differences in the morphology and structure of attached biofilms. These results suggest that combining acoustic imaging and complex conductivity techniques can provide a powerful tool for assessing microbial growth or biofilm formation and the associated changes in porous media, such as those that occur during bioremediation and microbial enhanced oil recovery.
Improving robustness of hydrologic parameter estimation by the use of moving block bootstrap resampling
Authors: Ebtehaj Mohammad , Moradkhani Hamid , Gupta Hoshin V.
Published: July 2010

Modeling of natural systems typically involves conceptualization and parameterization to simplify the representations of the underlying process. Objective methods for estimation of the model parameters then require optimization of a cost function, representing a measure of distance between the observations and the corresponding model predictions, typically by calibration in a static batch mode and/or via some dynamic recursive optimization approach. Recently, there has been a focus on the development of parameter estimation methods that appropriately account for different sources of uncertainty. In this context, we introduce an approach to sample the optimal parameter space that uses nonparametric block bootstrapping coupled with global optimization. We demonstrate the applicability of this procedure via a case study, in which we estimate the parameter uncertainty resulting from uncertainty in the forcing data and evaluate its impacts on the resulting streamflow simulations.
Microbial community structure across the tree of life in the extreme Río Tinto
Authors: Amaral-Zettler Linda A , Zettler Erik R , Theroux Susanna M , Palacios Carmen , Aguilera Angeles , Amils Ricardo
Published: July 2010

Understanding biotic versus abiotic forces that shape community structure is a fundamental aim of microbial ecology. The acidic and heavy metal extreme Río Tinto (RT) in southwestern Spain provides a rare opportunity to conduct an ecosystem-wide biodiversity inventory at the level of all three domains of life, because diversity there is low and almost exclusively microbial. Despite improvements in high-throughput DNA sequencing, environmental biodiversity studies that use molecular metrics and consider entire ecosystems are rare. These studies can be prohibitively expensive if domains are considered separately, and differences in copy number of eukaryotic ribosomal RNA genes can bias estimates of relative abundances of phylotypes recovered. In this study we have overcome these barriers (1) by targeting all three domains in a single polymerase chain reaction amplification and (2) by using a replicated sampling design that allows for incidence-based methods to extract measures of richness and carry out downstream analyses that address community structuring effects. Our work showed that combined bacterial and archaeal richness is an order of magnitude higher than eukaryotic richness. We also found that eukaryotic richness was highest at the most extreme sites, whereas combined bacterial and archaeal richness was highest at less extreme sites. Quantitative community phylogenetics showed abiotic forces to be primarily responsible for shaping the RT community structure. Canonical correspondence analysis revealed co-occurrence of obligate symbionts and their putative hosts that may contribute to biotic forces shaping community structure and may further provide a possible mechanism for persistence of certain low-abundance bacteria encountered in the RT.
Alternative pathways for phosphonate metabolism in thermophilic cyanobacteria from microbial mats
Authors: Gomez-Garcia Maria R , Davison Michelle , Blain-Hartnung Matthew , Grossman Arthur R , Bhaya Devaki
Published: July 2010

Synechococcus sp. represents an ecologically diverse group of cyanobacteria found in numerous environments, including hot-spring microbial mats, where they are spatially distributed along thermal, light and oxygen gradients. These thermophiles engage in photosynthesis and aerobic respiration during the day, but switch to fermentative metabolism and nitrogen fixation at night. The genome of Synechococcus OS-B′, isolated from Octopus Spring (Yellowstone National Park) contains a phn gene cluster encoding a phosphonate (Phn) transporter and a C–P lyase. A closely related isolate, Synechococcus OS-A, lacks this cluster, but contains genes encoding putative phosphonatases (Phnases) that appear to be active only in the presence of the Phn substrate. Both isolates grow well on several different Phns as a sole phosphorus (P) source. Interestingly, Synechococcus OS-B′ can use the organic carbon backbones of Phns for heterotrophic growth in the dark, whereas in the light this strain releases organic carbon from Phn as ethane or methane (depending on the specific Phn available); Synechococcus OS-A has neither of these capabilities. These differences in metabolic strategies for assimilating the P and C of Phn by two closely related Synechococcus spp. are suggestive of niche-specific constraints in the evolution of nutrient assimilation pathways and syntrophic relationships among the microbial populations of the hot-spring mats. Thus, it is critical to evaluate levels of various P sources, including Phn, in thermally active habitats and the potential importance of these compounds in the biogeochemical cycling of P and C (some Phn compounds also contain N) in diverse terrestrial environments.
Kinetic and thermodynamic resolution of the interactions between sulfite and the pentahaem cytochrome NrfA from Escherichia coli
Authors: Kemp Gemma L. , Clarke Thomas A. , Marritt Sophie J. , Lockwood Colin , Poock Susannah R. , Hemmings Andrew M. , Richardson David J. , Cheesman Myles R. , Butt Julea N.
Published: July 2010

NrfA is a pentahaem cytochrome present in a wide-range of γ-, δ- and ε-proteobacteria. Its nitrite and nitric oxide reductase activities have been studied extensively and contribute to respiratory nitrite ammonification and nitric oxide detoxification respectively. Sulfite is a third substrate for NrfA that may be encountered in the micro-oxic environments where nrfA is expressed. Consequently, we have performed quantitative kinetic and thermodynamic studies of the interactions between sulfite and Escherichia coli NrfA to provide a biochemical framework from which to consider their possible cellular consequences. A combination of voltammetric, spectroscopic and crystallographic analyses define dissociation constants for sulfite binding to NrfA in oxidized (~54 μM), semi-reduced (~145 μM) and reduced (~180 μM) states that are comparable with each other, and the Km (~70 μM) for sulfite reduction at pH 7. Under comparable conditions Km values of ~22 and ~300 μM describe nitrite and nitric oxide reduction respectively, whereas the affinities of nitrate and thiocyanate for NrfA fall more than 50-fold on enzyme reduction. These results are discussed in terms of the nature of sulfite co-ordination within the active site of NrfA and their implications for the cellular activity of NrfA.
Oral manifestations in 22q11 deletion syndrome
Authors: Klingberg G. , Óskarsdóttir S. , Johannesson E. L. , Norén J. G.
Published: July 2010

Summary. Objectives. The aims of this study were to investigate and describe oral manifestations in 22q11 deletion syndrome, and to relate the findings to medical conditions.

Design. Cross‐sectional.

Sample and Methods. Fifty‐three consecutive patients from Sweden referred to the Sahlgrenska University Hospital during a 3‐year period were included, median age 8 yrs (range 2–43; mean age 11·09). All but six patients were children 3–19‐years‐old. The patients were examined concerning oral mucosa, dental anomalies, dental caries, occlusal development, and eruption of the teeth. The clinical findings were compared to medical data and case history.

Results. Dental anomalies were registered in high numbers. Enamel hypoplasia was found in 16 patients. In 13 cases this was documented in primary teeth, of which 10 patients had symmetrical and chronological defects. Enamel hypomineralization was found in 23 patients and was equally common in both primary and permanent teeth. The use of computerized inductive analyses revealed that enamel hypoplasia was associated with medical conditions like preterm birth and congenital heart malformation while hypomineralization was associated with more diffuse conditions like frequent infections. Hypodontia was registered in seven patients, while eight had aberrant tooth shape, and nine patients presented delayed tooth eruption. The patients had an average of 4·6 carious or filled teeth and the oral health was assessed as impaired in 15 patients who had severe dental caries (5–18 carious teeth or multiple active incipient caries lesions).

Conclusions. In 22q11 deletion syndrome the oral cavity is affected by anomalies in dental enamel, tooth shape, numbers of teeth, and eruption. Dental health problems due to caries are common. This is of special importance as patients with 22q11 deletion syndrome frequently present with congenital heart malformations and immunological problems.