bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
From the Margins of the State to the Presidential Palace: The Balanta Case in Guinea-Bissau
Authors: Temudo Marina Padrão
Published: October 2009

Balanta farmers of Guinea-Bissau are often regarded by neighboring communities as “backward” and as a people who have refused modern life-worlds. Despite the fact that these farmers played a very important role in the making of Guinea-Bissau, they were progressively removed from power after independence. However, they also developed original forms of contesting marginality. This article portrays the Balanta as complex historical subjects with strategic agendas. It examines the tensions between centrality and marginality in today's Guinea-Bissau and in the Balanta's own ways of imagining their place in the nation.
Introduction: Guinea-Bissau Today—The Irrelevance of the State and the Permanence of Change
Authors: Bordonaro Lorenzo I.
Published: October 2009

As I was writing this introduction, Guinea-Bissau was rocked by yet another “political crisis.” On the night of March 1 and 2, 2009, the army chief of staff, General Batista Tagme Na Waie, and the president of Guinea-Bissau, João Bernardino “Nino” Vieira, were killed in the space of a few hours. As was to be expected, articles mushroomed in the international press in the following days, sporting headlines that we have long since become accustomed to, such as “Guinea-Bissau Collapse Deepens after Leader Killed” (Pitman 2009) or “Guinea-Bissau Threatens Return to Bad Old Days in Africa” (George 2009). An article by theEconomistIntelligence Unit was entitled—with a literary touch reminiscent of Conrad'sHeart of Darkness—“Edge of the Abyss.” These days Guinea-Bissau, particularly since the 1998–99 civil war, seems to be the poster child for all the negativity generally attributed to African countries, an overlapping of political, economic, and humanitarian crises, in blatant confirmation of the picture of “shadowy Africa” that James Ferguson pinpoints as one of the features of international discourse on Africa today (2006:15,190).

Despite these clichéd articles (identical in tone to those that have appeared during the various crises that have characterized the last decade of Guinea-Bissau's history) and pessimistic forecasts from international experts, these violent events have not triggered any real political or civil turmoil. The following morning the capital city, Bissau, was calm. The army leaders declared that they had no intention of intervening in the upcoming elections.
Conclusion: Guinea-Bissau Yesterday… and Tomorrow
Authors: Gable Eric
Published: October 2009

I had the pleasure of commenting on the articles in this issue when they were first presented as papers at the 2006 annual meeting of the African Studies Association, and the remarks that follow remain true to the character of those comments while acknowledging that the original papers have been reworked and updated. These provocative articles, coupled with my experiences doing ethnographic research in Guinea-Bissau—first among Manjaco in the village-cluster of Bassarel more than twenty years ago, and more recently (and briefly) among immigrant Manjaco in Lisbon—have led me to reflect upon anthropology's relationship to recent history, and to what anthropologists can contribute to an understanding of Guinea-Bissau: yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Anthropology has a peculiar relationship to events, especially events that affect whole nations or regions. Anthropologists wish to be current, and we want to illuminate the big picture. And yet we have to acknowledge that there are inherent constraints in our work: the investigations we engage in are usually time consuming, our reports are therefore always belated, and our conclusions are the product of an intimate engagement with relatively few people who are, moreover, often situated on the periphery or at the margins of the state. Thus, even when the articles in this issue were first presented, “today” was already history because their focus was on the period after the war of 1998–99, which began as an attempt by the military to oust President Vieira and ended up as a protracted conflict (largely restricted to the capital, Bissau) that destroyed important infrastructure, caused NGOs to cease operations throughout the country, and led to the mass exodus of at least a quarter-million people from the capital city to seek refuge as “guests” in rural villages (see Vigh 2006).
Anticolonial Nationalism in French West Africa: What Made Guinea Unique?
Authors: Schmidt Elizabeth
Published: October 2009

In a 1958 constitutional referendum, Guinea was the only French territory to reject continued colonial subordination in favor of immediate independence. Why did Guinea alone reject the constitution that laid the foundations for France's Fifth Republic? What factors stimulated political parties in other territories to accept the prolongation of French tutelage, even as activists elsewhere on the continent were agitating for independence? Focusing on the eight territories of French West Africa, this article argues that the Guinean branch of the Rassemblement Démocratique Africain, which led the campaign for the “no” vote, differed from other dominant parties in French West Africa in several important ways. These differences, along with the relative power of the colonial chieftaincy, contributed to Guinea's unique stance in the 1958 referendum.
Pope Leo I on Power and Failure
Authors: Uhalde Kevin
Published: October 2009

Leo is known as one of the first and most forceful bishops of Rome to claim supremacy based on succession from St. Peter. The most important studies focus on how he expressed this supremacy, especially in letters addressed to other church and imperial officials. Leo was also a conscientious pastor, however, who thought about Peter and his legacy in terms other than supremacy. For example, Leo preached repeatedly about Peter's denial of Christ and subsequent repentance, sometimes in contrast with the failed repentance of Judas. The power Peter derived from his penance, according to Leo, was not only key to his pastoral success but also fundamental to the authority he passed on in the Church. The author focuses on key texts related to the repentance of Peter and Judas and suggests how they may help improve our understanding of Leo's thoughts on penance and justice.
Papists, Power, and Puritans: Catholic Officeholding and the Rise of the "Puritan Faction" in Early-Seventeenth-Century Essex
Authors: Hankins Jeffery R.
Published: October 2009

During the volatile 1600s, attendance at the English Protestant Church was imperative to guarantee the religious conformity that would maintain social order and keep central and local government politically viable. Yet in the east Anglian county of Essex, a number of Catholics continued to hold important positions as shire magistrates and commissioners. Elizabethan and Jacobean law should have purged these suspected papists or known recusants from Essex's powerful local offices, especially in a county often viewed as a Puritan stronghold. But as the "godly" gentry of Essex consolidated their power in the early- and mid-seventeenth century, Catholics at all social levels served conspicuously in positions of authority and competently fulfilled central and local government needs.
Vatican II and the Church in Uganda: The Contribution of Bishop Vincent J. McCauley, C.S.C.
Authors: Gribble Richard
Published: October 2009

Vincent J. McCauley, C.S.C., served as bishop of Fort Portal, Uganda, from 1961–72. His time spanned Vatican II and the period of the Council's implementation. McCauley was instrumental at Vatican II in coordinating the African bishops' comments on Ad Gentes. In Fort Portal he implemented the spirit and letter of the Council in creating a new diocesan structure; promoting many programs for the laity, especially women; and leading the Church's efforts in ecumenism through his leadership in the Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC). McCauley was a Vatican II bishop both in theory and action .
U.S.–Holy See Diplomacy: The Establishment of Formal Relations, 1984
Authors: Essig Andrew M. , Moore Jennifer L.
Published: October 2009

The authors explore the circumstances that permitted President Ronald Reagan to establish full diplomatic relations with the Holy See where other U.S. presidents had failed in the past, including an examination of the relationship between Reagan and Pope John Paul II. Their dynamic personalities, life experiences, and repudiation of communism created a natural bond between them that resulted in a period of warm relations between the United States and the Holy See. Several events also occurred in which the United States and the Holy See shared common interests and collaborated extensively. Furthermore, within the domestic realm there was support—or, more accurately, little active opposition—from Congress, the courts, and Protestant groups. Finally, the Holy See and Reagan were eager to see these relations established. The combination of these factors created the proper environment for the Reagan administration to send the first U.S. ambassador to the Holy See.
Sympathy Machines: Men of Feeling and the Automaton
Authors: Wetmore Alex
Published: October 2009

Recent discussions of the automaton in eighteenth-century British culture have situated this figure in relation to shifting concepts of feminine identity. However, comparatively little attention has been spent on the automaton's relation to masculinity. In light of this, my essay considers parallels between automata and representations of men of feeling in the sentimental novels of Sterne, Smollett, and Mackenzie. Juxtaposing these novels with spectacles of automata like Cox's Museum reveal at least two interesting insights: (1) the man of feeling's automatically-reactive sensibility destabilizes eighteenth-century conceptual boundaries between humans and machines; and (2) in breaching these boundaries, men of feeling point to important shifts in the relationship between the mechanical and the virtuous as the century progresses.
Unsexed Souls: Natural Philosophy as Transformation in Eliza Haywood's Female Spectator
Authors: Girten Kristin M.
Published: October 2009

Though love and marriage are Eliza Haywood's central concerns in The Female Spectator , the first periodical written by a woman with a primarily female audience in mind, in a series of issues devoted to the study of Baconian empiricism, Haywood turns her attention away from such concerns to the natural world. This essay aims to determine what is at stake in the Female Spectator's philosophical interactions with nature. It argues that, for Haywood, natural philosophy is a tool with which women may expand the horizon of, and thereby reshape, the sphere to which they are consigned.
" Nature to Advantage Drest": Chinoiserie, Aesthetic Form, and the Poetry of Subjectivity in Pope and Swift
Authors: Jenkins Eugenia Zuroski
Published: October 2009

In response to scholarship on eighteenth-century female consumerism, this essay argues that women's relationship to ornamental objects was both ambivalent and changing in the early decades of the eighteenth century. It contrasts the relationship between women and chinaware in Pope's "The Rape of the Lock" and Swift's dressing room poems in the context of the emergent category of domestic "beautification arts." Pope posits subjectivity as an animated aesthetic form embodied in the well-dressed woman, chinaware, and poetry alike, while Swift disrupts the symbiotic relationship of human life and aesthetic order, both material and poetic, degrading the association of women and china as it relocates personal identity to the interior life of the individual. This shift in the conception of chinoiserie's place in British culture thus constitutes a severance of "nature" from aesthetic form and, consequently, a rewriting of human subjectivity itself.
The Unfinished Work on Louise Marie-Madeleine Dupin's Unfinished Ouvrage sur les femmes
Authors: Hunter Angela
Published: October 2009

Women thinkers are often left out of the chronicles of intellectual history, and this essay investigates the overlooked work of Louise Dupin, author of an unpublished manuscript, Ouvrage sur les femmes , that surveys and critiques the history of women's social, economic, and political status. I explore the reasons Dupin's work is not more widely known as a contribution to feminist philosophy, including the prominent narratives about Dupin and the type of research carried out once the Ouvrage was discovered in the 20th century. On the basis of an analysis of her text concerning sexual difference, I argue that Dupin's work merits inclusion in the growing body of feminist thought.
The Rape of Cécile and the Triumph of Love in Les Liaisons dangereuses
Authors: McAlpin Mary
Published: October 2009

This article uses the secondary character of Cécile Volanges to explore the role of love in the Liaisons dangereuses (1782). A reading of Cécile based on eighteenth-century theories of female physiology reveals that Merteuil's frustration with and ultimate misreading of her young victim stems from her inability to understand that romantic love, whatever its pitfalls, is the ultimate expression of human civilization in the Laclosian universe, a message expressed most clearly in Laclos's narrative of the coming-to-sexuality of a young girl in the state of nature in Des Femmes et de leur éducation (1783).
When Brothers are Enemies: Frederick the Great's Catechism for War
Authors: Figal Sara Eigen
Published: October 2009

This article argues that the rhetoric of "brotherhood" in military writing of the German eighteenth century offers a nuanced perspective on the intertwined nature of amity and enmity during an era more often associated with calls for "perpetual peace" and a rationalized end of violence. Focusing on a little-known "catechism" for young officers written by Frederick II ("the Great") of Prussia, the essay interrogates the use of Enlightenment rhetoric of brotherhood not only to theorize peace, but also to illuminate questions about the inevitability of war and the possible channeling of hostility to mitigate its destructive force.
The More Things Change: The New NIH Guidelines on Human Stem Cell Research
Authors: Meyer Michelle N. , Fossett James W.
Published: October 2009

Many assumed that the Obama administration would usher in a sea change from the previous administration by expanding NIH support for human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research and reducing the patchwork of state and federal regulations that currently governs it. This article examines the extent to which NIH’s new Guidelines are likely to accomplish these goals.
The Ethics of Patenting Human Embryonic Stem Cells
Authors: Chapman Audrey R.
Published: October 2009

Just as human embryonic stem cell research has generated controversy about the uses of human embryos for research and therapeutic applications, human embryonic stem cell patents raise fundamental ethical issues. The United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted foundational patents, including a composition of matter (or product) patent to the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s intellectual property office. In contrast, the European Patent Office rejected the same WARF patent application for ethical reasons. This article assesses the appropriateness of these patents placing the discussion in the context of the deontological and consequentialist ethical issues related to human embryonic stem cell patenting. It advocates for a patent system that explicitly takes ethical factors into account and explores options for new types of intellectual property arrangements consistent with ethical concerns.
From Imago Dei in the Jewish-Christian Traditions to Human Dignity in Contemporary Jewish Law
Authors: Barilan Y. Michael
Published: October 2009

The article surveys and analyzes the roles in Judaism of the value of imago Dei /human dignity, especially in bioethical contexts. Two main topics are discussed. The first is a comparative analysis of imago Dei as an anthropological and ethical concept in Jewish and Western thought (Christianity and secular European values). The Jewish tradition highlights the human body and especially its procreative function and external appearance as central to imago Dei . The second is the role of imago Dei as a moral value relative to others. In rabbinic Judaism, respect for human dignity is not the primary moral maxim; it is secondary to the value of neighborly love and sometimes to other moral laws and values.
Human Dignity, Humiliation, and Torture
Authors: Luban David
Published: October 2009

Modern human rights instruments ground human rights in the concept of human dignity, without providing an underlying theory of human dignity. This paper examines the central importance of human dignity, understood as not humiliating people, in traditional Jewish ethics. It employs this conception of human dignity to examine and criticize U.S. use of humiliation tactics and torture in the interrogation of terrorism suspects.
Interlibrary Service Requests For Locally and Electronically Available Items: Patterns of Use, Users, and Canceled Requests
Authors: Page Jessica R. , Kuehn Jennifer
Published: October 2009

As the use of the Ohio State University Libraries interlibrary services has increased, there have been more requests to borrow items that are already available to patrons locally, often in electronic format. Patterns relating to why patrons could not find locally available materials were identified in the record of canceled interlibrary requests for calendar year 2007. These requests originated more frequently from certain academic departments, occurred more often for articles than books, and were most common for items published one to six years earlier. These requests were also associated with problematic OpenURL links to publisher or content provider Web pages.
Comparing Service Priorities Between Staff and Users in Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Member Libraries
Authors: Jaggars Damon E. , Jaggars Shanna Smith , Duffy Jocelyn S.
Published: October 2009

Using the results for participating Association of Research Libraries from the 2006 LibQUAL+® library service quality survey, we examine the service priorities of library staff (for example, whether desired scores for each survey item are above or below average) and the extent to which they are aligned with the priorities of undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty. Item priorities were compared among the four groups using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to correct for the non-independence of responses within institutions. Results indicate that substantial misalignments between library staff and users exist; library staff set a lower service priority for most LibQUAL+® Information Control items and a higher priority on almost all Affect of Service items than did users.
Student Strategies for Coping with Textbook Costs and the Role of Library Course Reserves
Authors: Christie Anne , Pollitz John H. , Middleton Cheryl
Published: October 2009

College and university students across the United States are concerned about the cost of textbooks. This study examines the student patterns of coping with textbook inflation and the role that course reserve collections play in ameliorating costs. In the winter of 2007, an online survey was distributed to 1,500 Oregon State University students to explore their textbook purchasing habits and use of course reserves. Students reported that textbook costs come directly from their personal funds. They see course reserves as one mechanism to help them deal with textbook costs. Libraries could focus efforts to assist students by purchasing recommended and optional textbooks.
Are We There Yet?: The Difficult Road to Re-Create Information Literacy
Authors: Rollins Debra Cox , Hutchings Jessica , Ursula Dawn Goldsmith Melissa , Fonseca Anthony J.
Published: October 2009

This article reports on surveys conducted in 2002, 2006, and 2008 by members of the Louisiana Academic Library Information Network Consortium (LALINC) for the purpose of chronicling both the status of information literacy programs in Louisiana and the role of general education directors in program formation. Results from each survey are given, along with discussion of unforeseen problems that led the authors to revamp and redistribute the survey twice. The authors conclude that the resulting 2008 survey can be used as a template for other entities that wish to track the relationship between information literacy and general education core requirements.
Spatial Dependence and Heterogeneity in Ten Years of Fertility Decline in Brazil
Authors: Muniz Jeronimo O.
Published: October 2009

Knowledge, innovations and behaviors that influence fertility decisions spread over space through teaching, learning and imitative processes among people living in areas that are closer to each other. Using data based from the Brazilian censuses of 1991 and 2000 I investigate the spatial patterns of fertility in about 5500 municipalities, and evaluate the importance of socio-demographic variables accounting for these patterns. I do this by estimating and comparing the efficiency of three models: ordinary least squares (OLS), OLS with spatially correlated errors, and Geographically Weighted Regressions (GWR). The results indicate that the last model is the most appropriate in delineating the relationship between fertility and development shifts through time and space. That is, the importance of each variable depends on its spatial distribution. In particular, the level of fertility of neighboring municipalities is a strong predictor for local fertility rates, providing evidence that fertility has a multiplier effect mediated by distance. The results also indicate that past fertility is a significant determinant of how quickly fertility declines. After considering past fertility and spatial heterogeneity, improvements in education do not necessarily lead to fertility reduction.
Trabecular volumetric bone mineral density is associated with previous fracture during childhood and adolescence in males: The GOOD study
Authors: Darelid Anna , Ohlsson Claes , Rudäng Robert , Kindblom Jenny M , Mellström Dan , Lorentzon Mattias
Published: October 2009

Areal bone mineral density (aBMD) measured with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) has been associated with fracture risk in children and adolescents, but it remains unclear whether this association is due to volumetric BMD (vBMD) of the cortical and/or trabecular bone compartments or bone size. The aim of this study was to determine whether vBMD or bone size was associated with X-ray-verified fractures in men during growth. In total, 1068 men (aged 18.9 ± 0.6 years) were included in the population-based Gothenburg Osteoporosis and Obesity Determinants (GOOD) Study. Areal BMD was measured by DXA, whereas cortical and trabecular vBMD and bone size were measured by peripheral quantitative computerized tomography (pQCT). X-ray records were searched for fractures. Self-reported fractures in 77 men could not be confirmed in these records. These men were excluded, resulting in 991 included men, of which 304 men had an X-ray-verified fracture and 687 were nonfracture subjects. Growth charts were used to establish the age of peak height velocity (PHV, n = 600). Men with prevalent fractures had lower aBMD (lumbar spine 2.3%, p = .005; total femur 2.6%, p = .004, radius 2.1%, p < .001) at all measured sites than men without fracture. Using pQCT measurements, we found that men with a prevalent fracture had markedly lower trabecular vBMD (radius 6.6%, p = 7.5 × 10−8; tibia 4.5%, p = 1.7 × 10−7) as well as a slightly lower cortical vBMD (radius 0.4%, p = .0012; tibia 0.3%, p = .015) but not reduced cortical cross-sectional area than men without fracture. Every SD decrease in trabecular vBMD of the radius and tibia was associated with 1.46 [radius 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.26–1.69; tibia 95% CI 1.26–1.68] times increased fracture prevalence. The peak fracture incidence coincided with the timing of PHV (±1 year). In conclusion, trabecular vBMD but not aBMD was independently associated with prevalent X-ray-verified fractures in young men. Further studies are needed to determine if assessment of trabecular vBMD could enhance prediction of fractures during growth in males. © 2010 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research
A Comparison of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Biofilm Development on ZnSe and TiO2 Using Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy
Authors: Comeau Jonathan W. D. , Pink Judith , Bezanson Evan , Douglas Colin D. , Pink David , Smith-Palmer Truis
Published: October 2009

The growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 biofilms on ZnSe internal reflection elements (IREs) was compared with their growth on TiO2-coated ZnSe over several days using attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FT-IR) spectroscopy. The effect of the TiO2 coating on the IR spectra of reference compounds and cell suspensions was determined to aid in the interpretation of the data. The presence of TiO2 on the surface of a ZnSe IRE tripled the size of the amide II peak and facilitated the detection of pyoverdin production due to its increased adsorption on the coated surface. A 50% increase in the length of the lag phase was observed for PAO1 growth on TiO2-coated surfaces as compared to growth on ZnSe. Biofilms on both surfaces exhibited a growth maximum for all components, followed by restructuring at the surface characterized by a decrease in the signal. The composition of biofilms grown on TiO2 was relatively constant after the restructuring phase, while the extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) component of the biofilms grown on ZnSe gradually increased. The peak due to the carbohydrate component of EPS was much larger in the spectra of biofilms than in those of planktonic cells. The increase of the pyoverdin signal over time in the spectra of the biofilms on TiO2 closely followed the overall increase in biomass. However, no signal from pyoverdin was detected in the presence of ferric ions.
Multiple Response Optimization of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Parameters for Multi-Element Analysis of Soil Samples
Authors: Ferreira Edilene C. , Anzano Jesús M. , Milori Débora M. B. P. , Ferreira Ednaldo J. , Lasheras Roberto J. , Bonilla Beatriz , Montull-Ibor Beatriz , Casas Justiniano , Neto Ladislau Martin
Published: October 2009

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is an emerging analytical technique to perform elemental analysis in natural samples independent of their physical state (solid, liquid, or gaseous). Due to its instrumental features, LIBS shows promising potential to perform analysis in situ and in environments at risk. Since the analytical performance of LIBS strongly depends on the choice of experimental conditions, each particular application needs a specific instrumental adjustment. The present study evaluated three LIBS instrumental parameters regarding their influences on signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of seven elements in soil samples: laser pulse energy, delay time, and integration time gate. A multivariate technique was used due to the significant interaction among the evaluated parameters. Subsequently, to optimize LIBS parameters for each individual element response, a method for multiple response optimization was used. With only one simple screening design, it was possible to obtain a good combination among the studied parameters in order to simultaneously increase the SNR for all analytes. Moreover, the analysis of individual response for elements is helpful to understand their physical behavior in the plasma and also how they are embedded in the sample matrix.
Optimalitätstheoretische Modellierung von Groß- und Kleinschreibung: eine Beispielanalyse englischer Texte um 1730
Authors: Grüter Majana
Published: October 2009

Based on the view that orthography is a means of reader orientation, this article examines the role of capitalization in a sample of English early modern texts. The format of optimality theory provides the instrument for an in-depth analysis of the use of capital letters, as well as an adequate method of describing the variation within the texts. The default criteria for capitals are of syntactic character, whereas semantic constraints prohibit majuscules. Several aspects of grammar and meaning play a part in the evaluation of different spellings, distinguishing between automated processes (lower ranked constraints) and claims of semantics and the lexicon (higher ranked constraints). This article exemplifies the analysis with a short excerpt from an 18th century novel and illustrates the three parts of my approach: first, the division of the text into its constituents; second, an evaluation of the capitalization on the basis of syntactic and semantic criteria, and eventually the representation in an optimality theory tableau. Together, these steps help to establish a profile of the text which pinpoints the specific hierarchy of the different constraints.
Pesticide Formulations and Delivery Systems, 28th Volume: Global Trends and Regulatory Drivers in the Crop Protection Industry
Authors: Rohde Arlean M. , Martin Craig , Otis Gerald
Published: October 2009

Description

Eleven peer-reviewed papers address many of the latest challenges to the agrochemical formulations industry regarding global trends and regulatory drivers.

Topics cover:

• Formulations

• Regulatory Initiatives

• Delivery Applications

• Research: Soil, Seed, Test Methods
Meeting on Standardization of Wear Test Methods for Ceramics, Cermets, and Coatings
Authors: Gee MG
Published: October 2009

A one-day meeting was held on the “Standardization of Wear Test Methods for Ceramics, Cermets, and Coatings” at the National Physical Laboratory in September 1986. Over ninety delegates, mostly from the UK, attended. Six papers dealt with various aspects of wear testing for ceramics and coatings, and two papers reported the results of interlaboratory exercises. These were concerned with the first round robin of the Wear Test Methods technical working area of VAMAS and the first exercise of a parallel UK group.
Development of a Multimedia Model for the Fate Prediction of Hydrocarbon Fluids in Agrochemical Formulations
Authors: Warren Christopher S. , Parkerton Tom F. , Rohde Arlean M. , Prince Roger C. , Manning Ryan , Letinski Dan J.
Published: October 2009

Hydrocarbon (HC) fluids are effective inerts in pesticide formulations. These fluids consist of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are assumed to be completely volatilized and undergo subsequent atmospheric reaction that may contribute to ozone formation during field use. However, these assumptions are based on laboratory evaporation tests, which fail to account for other environmentally relevant and competitive fate processes, such as biodegradation, soil sorption, runoff, and leaching. If appropriate input parameters are known, or can be reliably estimated, mass balance multimedia models can be used to characterize the importance and uncertainty of various fate processes and provide a more realistic assessment of the potential contribution to ozone formation. A model has been developed and applied to an agricultural field application scenario. Preliminary results suggest biodegradation and soil sorption are significant fate processes that can reduce the mass of HC VOCs entering the atmosphere by volatilization. The implications of applying multimedia models in assessing potential ozone formation from HC fluids in agricultural uses are further highlighted and preliminary laboratory work to confirm model findings is also discussed.
Comparison of ASTM and CIPAC Suspension Methods
Authors: Costello Lauren , Lindner Greg
Published: October 2009

Suspension testing is a standard way of characterizing the effectiveness of dispersants in wet or dry formulations. In a suspensibility test, a measured amount of material is diluted in hard water and given a specified amount of time to settle. The settled material is recovered and used to calculate the amount of material that remained suspended, yielding a suspension percentage. Different organizations use slightly different methods to conduct this characterization, and there are few studies which allow the experimentalist to correlate results between methods. The objective of this work is to compare two standard suspension tests, ASTM and CIPAC (Collaborative International Pesticides Analytical Council) and determine their correlation, if one exists. While similar, the methods vary by a few factors including the initial volume fraction of the material and the means of recovering the settled material. Several formulations of copper (II) hydroxide, dispersed with varying amounts of acrylic polymer, were dried and sieved into granule solids and powder solids. Suspension properties were tested using both methods. Resultant suspension percentages for each formula were charted, CIPAC results versus ASTM results. The coefficient of determination (R2) for the suspension percentages of the granule and powder solids was found to be 0.976 and 0.984, respectively. The granular solids showed a one-to-one relationship (slope=1) between results generated by these methods while the powder solids did not, y=0.56+0.37. The driver for this skew may be due to different particle volume fractions between the tests, a parameter which has the potential to affect viscosity in a predictable manner and which is represented mathematically by the Krieger-Dougherty equation.
Investigating the Use of Hydrocarbon Fluids in Seed Treatment Formulations
Authors: Krevalis Martin A. , Beestman George B.
Published: October 2009

Currently, available seed treatments are most often applied as aqueous dispersions or water-based flowable formulations of the active ingredients. Historically, alternatives to aqueous-based treatment methods have been disfavored because alternative solvents, mainly organic solvents, were believed to be toxic toward seeds (phytotoxic). Prior work has shown that seeds such as corn, cotton, wheat, and soybean may be treated with certain nonaqueous solvents, such as hydrocarbon fluids (e.g., normal paraffinic, isoparaffinic, dearomatized mixed aliphatics, and aromatics), with little or no negative effects observed to the seed. In the study reported here, further investigation into the use of fluids for seed treatments has been carried out, and more intensive testing of the phytotoxicity of fluids to seeds, utilizing harsher conditions over longer periods of time (cold germination, saturated cold germination, accelerated aging tests), has been completed. Results have confirmed the importance of fluid volatility (higher volatility fluids result in less phytotoxic response by seeds) and of treatment rates (lower treatment rates minimize negative effects). Seed sensitivity is also important. Cotton and soybean seeds are essentially unaffected by fluids, while wheat and corn seeds show relatively large effects, mitigated to some extent by high volatility and low treatment rates. Although the underlying reasons are not known, fluid treatment of seeds resulted in improvements in germination rates in the saturated cold test, to a small extent for cotton, and to a much greater extent for wheat. Overall, these results indicate that fluids can play a role in seed treatments. The use of fluids requires a balance of factors around fluid structure, volatility, treatment rate, and seed sensitivity. The goal of this work is to take the learnings from these studies, apply them to a full seed treatment formulation, and identify advantages of a fluid-based seed treatment formulation over an aqueous-based formulation.
X-Linked Variation in Immune Response in Drosophila melanogaster
Authors: Hill-Burns Erin M , Clark Andrew G
Published: October 2009

This study quantifies the effects of naturally occurring X-linked variation on immune response in Drosophila melanogaster to assess associations between immunity genotypes and innate immune response. We constructed a set of 168 X-chromosomal extraction lines, incorporating X chromosomes from a natural population into co-isogenic autosomal backgrounds, and genotyped the lines at 88 SNPs in 20 X-linked immune genes. We find that genetic variation in many of the genes is associated with immune response phenotypes, including bacterial load and immune gene expression. Many of the associations act in a sex-specific or sexually antagonistic manner, supporting the theory that with the selective pressures facing genes on the X chromosome, sexually antagonistic variation may be more easily maintained.
Measuring and Detecting Molecular Adaptation in Codon Usage Against Nonsense Errors During Protein Translation
Authors: Gilchrist Michael A , Shah Premal , Zaretzki Russell
Published: October 2009

Codon usage bias (CUB) has been documented across a wide range of taxa and is the subject of numerous studies. While most explanations of CUB invoke some type of natural selection, most measures of CUB adaptation are heuristically defined. In contrast, we present a novel and mechanistic method for defining and contextualizing CUB adaptation to reduce the cost of nonsense errors during protein translation. Using a model of protein translation, we develop a general approach for measuring the protein production cost in the face of nonsense errors of a given allele as well as the mean and variance of these costs across its coding synonyms. We then use these results to define the nonsense error adaptation index (NAI) of the allele or a contiguous subset thereof. Conceptually, the NAI value of an allele is a relative measure of its elevation on a specific and well-defined adaptive landscape. To illustrate its utility, we calculate NAI values for the entire coding sequence and across a set of nonoverlapping windows for each gene in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae S288c genome. Our results provide clear evidence of adaptation to reduce the cost of nonsense errors and increasing adaptation with codon position and expression. The magnitude and nature of this adaptation are also largely consistent with simulation results in which nonsense errors are the only selective force driving CUB evolution. Because NAI is derived from mechanistic models, it is both easier to interpret and more amenable to future refinement than other commonly used measures of codon bias. Further, our approach can also be used as a starting point for developing other mechanistically derived measures of adaptation such as for translational accuracy.
A Problem With the Correlation Coefficient as a Measure of Gene Expression Divergence
Authors: Pereira Vini , Waxman David , Eyre-Walker Adam
Published: October 2009

The correlation coefficient is commonly used as a measure of the divergence of gene expression profiles between different species. Here we point out a potential problem with this statistic: if measurement error is large relative to the differences in expression, the correlation coefficient will tend to show high divergence for genes that have relatively uniform levels of expression across tissues or time points. We show that genes with a conserved uniform pattern of expression have significantly higher levels of expression divergence, when measured using the correlation coefficient, than other genes, in a data set from mouse, rat, and human. We also show that the Euclidean distance yields low estimates of expression divergence for genes with a conserved uniform pattern of expression.
Comparative Mitochondrial Genomics of Freshwater Mussels (Bivalvia: Unionoida) With Doubly Uniparental Inheritance of mtDNA: Gender-Specific Open Reading Frames and Putative Origins of Replication
Authors: Breton Sophie , Beaupré Hélène Doucet , Stewart Donald T , Piontkivska Helen , Karmakar Moumita , Bogan Arthur E , Blier Pierre U , Hoeh Walter R
Published: October 2009

Doubly uniparental inheritance (DUI) of mitochondrial DNA in marine mussels (Mytiloida), freshwater mussels (Unionoida), and marine clams (Veneroida) is the only known exception to the general rule of strict maternal transmission of mtDNA in animals. DUI is characterized by the presence of gender-associated mitochondrial DNA lineages that are inherited through males (male-transmitted or M types) or females (female-transmitted or F types), respectively. This unusual system constitutes an excellent model for studying basic aspects of mitochondrial DNA inheritance and the evolution of mtDNA genomes in general. Here we compare published mitochondrial genomes of unionoid bivalve species with DUI, with an emphasis on characterizing unassigned regions, to identify regions of the F and M mtDNA genomes that could (i) play a role in replication or transcription of the mtDNA molecule and/or (ii) determine whether a genome will be transmitted via the female or the male gamete. Our results reveal the presence of one F-specific and one M-specific open reading frames (ORFs), and we hypothesize that they play a role in the transmission and/or gender-specific adaptive functions of the M and F mtDNA genomes in unionoid bivalves. Three major unassigned regions shared among all F and M unionoid genomes have also been identified, and our results indicate that (i) two of them are potential heavy-strand control regions (OH) for regulating replication and/or transcription and that (ii) multiple and potentially bidirectional light-strand origins of replication (OL) are present in unionoid F and M mitochondrial genomes. We propose that unassigned regions are the most promising candidate sequences in which to find regulatory and/or gender-specific sequences that could determine whether a mitochondrial genome will be maternally or paternally transmitted.
Infant Neurobehavioral Dysregulation: Behavior Problems in Children With Prenatal Substance Exposure
Authors: Lester Barry M. , Bagner Daniel M. , Liu Jing , LaGasse Linda L. , Seifer Ronald , Bauer Charles R. , Shankaran Seetha , Bada Henrietta , Higgins Rosemary D. , Das Abhik
Published: October 2009

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to test a developmental model of neurobehavioral dysregulation relating prenatal substance exposure to behavior problems at age 7.

METHODS: The sample included 360 cocaine-exposed and 480 unexposed children from lower to lower middle class families of which 78% were black. Structural equation modeling was used to test models whereby prenatal exposure to cocaine and other substances would result in neurobehavioral dysregulation in infancy, which would predict externalizing and internalizing behavior problems in early childhood. Structural equation models were developed for individual and combined parent and teacher report for externalizing, internalizing, and total problem scores on the Child Behavior Checklist.

RESULTS: The goodness-of-fit statistics indicated that all of the models met criteria for adequate fit with 7 of the 9 models explaining 18% to 60% of the variance in behavior problems at age 7. The paths in the models indicate that there are direct effects of prenatal substance exposure on 7-year behavior problems as well as indirect effects, including neurobehavioral dysregulation.

CONCLUSIONS: Prenatal substance exposure affects behavior problems at age 7 through 2 mechanisms. The direct pathway is consistent with a teratogenic effect. Indirect pathways suggest cascading effects whereby prenatal substance exposure results in neurobehavioral dysregulation manifesting as deviations in later behavioral expression. Developmental models provide an understanding of pathways that describe how prenatal substance exposure affects child outcome and have significant implications for early identification and prevention.
Does Measuring the Changes in TcB Value Offer Better Prediction of Hyperbilirubinemia in Healthy Neonates?
Authors: Dalal Shamsher Singh , Mishra Satish , Agarwal Ramesh , Deorari Ashok Kumar , Paul Vinod
Published: October 2009

OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the diagnostic value of changes in transcutaneous bilirubin (TcB) levels for prediction of subsequent hyperbilirubinemia in healthy term and late-preterm neonates.

METHODS: Neonates at 35 weeks of gestation were enrolled in a prospective study. Two TcB determinations were performed for all enrolled neonates (N = 358). The first assessment (TcB1) was performed at 24 ± 6 hours of age, followed by a second (TcB2) ≥12 hours later. Changes in TcB levels were calculated. TcB values were plotted on an hour-specific serum bilirubin nomogram, and risk zones were recorded. Of the 358 neonates enrolled, 325 neonates (91%) were monitored for hyperbilirubinemia until 5 days of age.

RESULTS: The mean ages of TcB1 and TcB2 estimations were 23 ± 4 hours and 42 ± 4 hours, respectively. A total of 14.9% of neonates (48 of 325 neonates) developed hyperbilirubinemia by 5 days of age. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative likelihood ratios for prediction of subsequent hyperbilirubinemia for TcB1 (zone >2, >75th percentile) were 80.4%, 58.0%, 1.9, and 0.34; those for TcB2 (zone >2, >75th percentile) were 82.6%, 79.0%, 4.0, and 0.22; and those for the change in TcB levels (>0.18 mg/dL per hour, >75th percentile) were 82.5%, 82.9%, 4.8, and 0.21, respectively. Gestational age, TcB risk zone, and change in TcB levels were found to be independent predictors of subsequent hyperbilirubinemia.

CONCLUSIONS: Single TcB measurements at 30 to 48 hours predict hyperbilirubinemia with a reasonably high degree of accuracy. Changes in TcB levels do not offer any added clinical benefit.
Characterizations of continuous univariate distributions based on the truncated moments of functions of order statistics
Authors: Hamedani Gholamhossein
Published: October 2009

Most of the well-known continuous univariate distributions are characterized based on a truncated moment of a function of the 1st order statistic or of the nth order statistic.
Poincaré series of Milnor algebras and free arrangements
Authors: Ahmad Shahid
Published: October 2009

We show that for a free complex hyperplane arrangement \documentclass{aastex}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{bm}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{pifont}
\usepackage{stmaryrd}
\usepackage{textcomp}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\usepackage{portland,xspace}
\usepackage{amsmath,amsxtra}
\usepackage{bbm}
\pagestyle{empty}
\DeclareMathSizes{10}{9}{7}{6}
\begin{document}
$$\mathcal{A}$$
\end{document}: f = 0, the Poincaré series of the graded Milnor algebra M(f) and the Betti numbers of the arrangement complement M(\documentclass{aastex}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{bm}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{pifont}
\usepackage{stmaryrd}
\usepackage{textcomp}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\usepackage{portland,xspace}
\usepackage{amsmath,amsxtra}
\usepackage{bbm}
\pagestyle{empty}
\DeclareMathSizes{10}{9}{7}{6}
\begin{document}
$$\mathcal{A}$$
\end{document}) determine each other. Examples show that this is false if we drop the freeness assumption.