bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Culture, Language, and the Location of High‐Order Service Functions: The Case of Montreal and Toronto
Authors: Polèse Mario , Shearmur Richard
Published: August 2010

Abstract: Today, there is plenty of evidence of metropolization—the concentration of economic activity, particularly of high‐order services—in the world's largest cities. Furthermore, within most national systems, the urban hierarchy is stable, especially toward the top: cities that were the largest 100 years ago continue to dominate their respective systems today. In Canada, however, this is not the case. Over the past 40 years, there has been a reversal at the top of the urban hierarchy, with Montreal losing its dominance in favor of Toronto. In this article, we document the reversal and elaborate a model that accounts for the spatial shifts in high‐order services. Our analysis reveals the continued relevance of culture and language and suggests that there are limits to the concentration of high‐order service activity. This finding is corroborated by a more detailed look at occupational shifts within a variety of key economic sectors in Montreal and Toronto. We conclude by suggesting that these results and the model we put forward to explain them have implications that go beyond Canada: even in a globalizing world in which the constraints of distance are lessened, cultural and linguistic factors will continue to play an important role in determining the spatial distribution of high‐order economic activity.
The Innovative Milieus Approach: Toward a Territorialized Understanding of the Economy?
Authors: Crevoisier Olivier
Published: August 2010

Abstract: Space has always been more or less present in economic theories. Nevertheless, traditional approaches, as well as the so‐called new economic geography, introduce space subsequently. Economic theories are first built independently of spatial and temporal contexts, for example, through costs varying according to distance. The innovative milieus approach is based on the ideas that space—or, more precisely, territory—is the matrix of economic development and that economic mechanisms transform space. This article describes innovative milieus as an ideal type that articulates three paradigms: the technological paradigm, which stresses innovation, learning, and know‐how as the most important competitive advantages; the organizational paradigm, which emphasizes the role of networks, competition, and rules of cooperation, as well as relational capital; and the territorial paradigm, which accounts for the role of proximity and distance and stresses the idea that competition occurs between regions. The originality of the innovative milieus approach is that it considers these three paradigms as a whole, thus providing a stabilized set of concepts that allow for an understanding of economic development processes in their space and time contexts.
The Decentralization of Intrametropolitan Business Services in the Paris Region: Patterns, Interpretation, Consequences
Authors: Halbert Ludovic
Published: August 2010

Abstract: What is the importance of the decentralization of business services in a Parisian metropolitan region that is known for its inherited monocentricity? Using revised statistical and cartographic methodological tools, I try to answer two questions: Is the new Parisian metropolitan economic geography one of dispersal or of polycentricity? Does decentralization mean the decline or the reinforcement of the economic core? If secondary suburban economic centers benefit from the decentralization of business services, neighboring spaces of the municipality of Paris, such as the inner western suburbs of La Defense and Boulogne‐Billancourt, are affected, too. This article demonstrates that polycentricity is not opposite to the constitution of a new golden triangle within the dense part of the agglomeration. This means both that economic centrality still matters (and thus that dispersed cities may not be the twenty‐first century's metropolitan archetype) and that an enlarged core business district (CBD) straddling Paris and the western Hauts‐de‐Seine département is being reinforced (thus invalidating the theory of CBD decline). Thanks to the widening of the business district from Paris to La Defense, the labor market remains integrated; meanwhile, secondary economic centers in the Outer Suburbs tend to create fragmented subregional labor markets of their own.
The Scalar Transformation of the U.S. Commercial Property‐Development Industry: A Cautionary Note on the Limits of Globalization
Authors: Wood Andrew
Published: August 2010

Abstract: Economic geographers have commonly interpreted globalization in terms of a scalar transformation of economic activities in which the dominant form of economic organization progressively shifts from local to more global scales. This article critically examines this thesis in the context of a study of the U.S. commercial property‐development industry. The first section argues that the literature on commercial property development tends to highlight globalizing sectors and activities. This focus generates a partial understanding of the industry that has important ramifications, not the least for examining the relationship between local economic and political elites in U.S. cities. A more cultural reading of economic actors and practices allows for an alternative approach that emphasizes the cultural embeddedness of economic and political practices and the local networks through which knowledge and influence are mobilized. The second section introduces the study area—Columbus, Ohio—and the research methods, and the third section presents the empirical results. These results fail to demonstrate any simple and linear process of scalar transformation. Indeed, a brief comparison with other cities points to the continuing dominance of a localized and fragmented organizational form. The fourth section draws on interviews with property developers to interpret this local structure of social relations. Three conclusions are drawn regarding the extent and nature of scalar transformation in the property‐development industry. The most significant is the need for a more circumspect account of globalization and scalar transformation.
Access to Work: The Effects of Spatial and Social Accessibility on Unemployment for Native‐Born Black and Immigrant Women in Los Angeles
Authors: Parks Virginia
Published: August 2010

Abstract: This study contributes to the debates on both spatial mismatch and “social‐network” mismatch by considering the independent effects of spatial and social accessibility on the unemployment of less‐educated native‐born black and immigrant women. These groups experience relatively high unemployment yet differ in their residential patterns and the hypothesized capacities of their social networks. Using detailed geographic census data matched to travel data, I calculated an accessibility index to measure spatial job accessibility and used information on neighborhood characteristics and household composition to assess social accessibility. The results indicate that better spatial accessibility to jobs is associated with lower unemployment among native‐born black and foreign‐born Mexican and Vietnamese women; no association was detected among the remaining immigrant groups. The analysis yielded no empirical support for the advantages that residence in an enclave may provide female immigrant residents in the form of access to employment through social networks. In fact, the results point to detrimental effects of residence in an ethnic enclave for foreign‐born Mexican and Vietnamese women. Finally, among all groups, living with other employed adults significantly and substantively decreased a woman's likelihood of unemployment, indicating the importance of household‐based social accessibility for less‐educated native‐born black and immigrant women's employment outcomes.
Capital Versus the Districts: A Tale of One Multinational Company's Attempt to Disembed Itself
Authors: Phelps N. A. , Waley P.
Published: August 2010

Abstract: The process of international economic integration in which multinational enterprises (MNEs) play a significant orchestrating role is a contradictory one of a space of flows, on the one hand, and a space of places, on the other hand. It is this contradiction that produces a variegated landscape of relations within and among MNEs and a whole range of territorially rooted organizations and institutions. As a result, interest in global production networks, as part of a broader relational turn in economic geography, has sought to highlight and uncover these webs of relations within which MNEs are embedded. In reviewing this literature, we emphasize the economic imperatives underlying such relations or, rather, their political‐economic nature and the discontinuities in industrial restructuring they can produce. We then present an empirical illustration of these points and some of the key concerns within the literature on global production networks. We consider a recent round of restructuring by Black & Decker Corporation, focusing on the politico‐economic ramifications of closing one of two European factories. Our reading of the literature, coupled with our empirical findings, suggests the continuing tendency for international integration as a space of flows to eclipse the coherence of places. Localized points of resistance can moderate the powers exercised by MNEs internally and across a network of organizations, although there are limits to the transferability of such tactics of resistance.
Personal Networks, Institutional Involvement, and Foreign Direct Investment Flows into China's Interior
Authors: Qiu Ying
Published: August 2010

Abstract: This article explores the relationship between informal and formal institutions and how their interactions shape the outcome of locational choices for foreign direct investment (FDI) in China's interior. This is an important but neglected aspect of China's economic development. The focus is on why FDI exists in host locations where the investment environment is poor and less competitive. Evidence from Shaanxi province suggests that the intertwined role played by personal networks and institutional involvement is a crucial part of the explanation. Networks are the key: at the individual/personal level, they are in the form of personal networks, and at the institutional/organization level, they take the form of institutional involvement. Moreover, the relationships among FDI, personal networks, and institutional involvement have a hierarchical structure: the larger the foreign parent firms, the more institutional involvement, while the smaller the foreign parent firms, the more personal networks are involved.
The Places of Primitive Accumulation in Rural China
Authors: Webber Michael
Published: August 2010

abstract

“Rural” is a category of enduring significance in China. The trajectories of social change in China's rural areas reflect local dynamics and new forms of economy that encroach from local or distant cities and international sources. One indicator of change is the separation of people from their means of production: the development of the preconditions for capitalist production. Using information from villages scattered across China, this article identifies the sources of this separation and poses a theoretical question: can these changes be comprehended in a nondeterministic manner? The article demonstrates that the principal means of separating rural people from their means of production have been market based and largely local (reflecting forces within China), supplemented, however, by forcible dispossession. It also shows that the processes that drive primitive accumulation do not simply reflect an economic logic; they include environmental modernization, ethnic politics, nation building, and personal motives. The extraeconomic bases of economic change imply that primitive accumulation is not a process on a path to a known end point or to a predictable geography.
The Rise of a Global Infrastructure Market through Relational Investing
Authors: Torrance Morag
Published: August 2010

abstract

Infrastructure assets around the world are shifting from public to private ownership. This article investigates how institutional investors are investing beyond their traditional financial and geographic borders and are increasingly serving as owners of infrastructure assets. It shows how infrastructure assets have specific geographies of information embedded in their investment returns and discusses the growing interest of institutional investors in investing in the infrastructure landscape. While infrastructure investments are considered globally, opportunities depend on the availability of specialist information in the region of investment. The article demonstrates that the low‐risk, geographically varied returns match the diversification objectives of pension fund portfolios. Relational investing is important in implementing strategies for investing in the infrastructure, since the bidding on and ensuing ownership and management of infrastructure assets around the world require a combination of financial, legal, and technical expertise. The article addresses three distinct economic geography literatures: the geography of finance, pension fund research, and emerging debates on “relational geometries.”
Governing Finance: Global Imperatives and the Challenge of Reconciling Community Representation with Expertise
Authors: Clark Gordon L.
Published: August 2010

Although the regulation of financial institutions and global markets has been subject to extensive research and policy practice, regulation often comes second to governance: regulation cleans up failures of governance in the management and performance of private financial institutions and markets. There are two theories of the nature and practice of governance; one emphasizes its functional performance, whereas the other emphasizes its political foundations. In this article, I suggest that best practice seeks to reconcile functionalism with community representation and that representation is a virtue in its own right and need not be seen as antithetical to functional efficiency. To sustain these arguments, I note the distinctive characteristics of financial decision making under risk and uncertainty, using simple examples to underscore the benefits of good governance. I then present criteria for well‐governed financial institutions, specifically public and private pension funds, with implications for best practice as illustrated by four case studies of funds from Canada, Europe, and the United States. The final section considers the lessons of these case studies for the design of sovereign wealth funds and raises questions as to whether there are limits to reconciliation, given the acceleration of global financial integration.
After Deindustrialization: Uneven Growth and Economic Inequality in “Postindustrial” Chicago
Authors: Doussard Marc , Peck Jamie , Theodore Nik
Published: August 2010

abstract

This article presents a critical commentary on the development, through restructuring, of the Chicago economy in the period since the onset of deindustrialization in the early 1980s. Adapting an innovative methodology for the measurement of labor‐market inequalities over time at the metropolitan scale, the article provides an empirical analysis of the city's new mode of growth. A notable feature is an entrenched and deepening pattern of wage inequality in Chicago, which is distinctive from that evident at the national level. Closer attention should be paid to what have proved to be extended processes of economic transformation at the urban scale, the social and geographic contours of which have yet to be adequately mapped.
Changing Places Through Women's Entrepreneurship
Authors: Hanson Susan
Published: August 2010

abstract

In this article, I focus on entrepreneurship as a gendered geographic process to examine how changes in people and place are linked. Although entrepreneurship is a process that is marked by deep stereotypical gender divisions, it is also one through which people can change the meaning of gender and the way in which gender is lived. In addition, entrepreneurship links people and place in a number of ways, most notably through networks of social relations in place. I discuss four geographic studies of women's entrepreneurship, each undertaken in a different country—Botswana, India, Peru, and the United States. These studies demonstrate that whereas entrepreneurship per se or access to microcredit alone is seldom sufficient to change the position of women or gender relations in a place, women are using entrepreneurship to change their lives and those of others and, in the process, are changing the places where they live. Key to this transformative process are programs of governmental and nongovernmental organizations and women's grassroots actions that are aimed at building women's skills, confidence, and business networks.
Working on the Water: On Legal Space and Seafarer Protection in the Cruise Industry
Authors: Terry William C.
Published: August 2010

abstract

With a focus on Filipino seafarers, the largest cohort of workers on cruise ships, this article argues that recent legal decisions in U.S. courts on the employment and protection of international cruise ship workers have repositioned the historical relationships between seafarers and their employers and have created a new extraterritorial legal space in which seafarers’ rights are diminished. In this context, Filipino seafarers find themselves embedded in a dynamic transnational system that facilitates their entry into the cruise industry yet structures a diminution of their protection under the law. This process represents a rollback of historical protections that have favored seafarers in U.S. courts. This case calls into question how laws and legal framings serve to buttress labor relationships between people and places, thereby shaping economic geographies. Thus, this article illustrates the power of a legal geographic framework to examine economic relationships and therefore to shed light on how economic globalization is facilitated and shaped at multiple scales. It offers a geographic perspective on how the legal and the economic are implicated in one another and suggests that further attention to legal geographic aspects of economic and labor geographies would be useful for analyzing the maintenance of inequalities in the global system.
Creative Class and Regional Growth: Empirical Evidence from Seven European Countries
Authors: Boschma Ron A. , Fritsch Michael
Published: August 2010

abstract

This article analyzes the regional distribution and economic effect of the “creative class” on the basis of a unique data set that covers more than 500 regions in 7 European countries. The creative class is unevenly geographically distributed across Europe; the analyses show that a regional climate of tolerance and openness has a strong and positive effect on a region's share of these people. Regional job opportunities also have a large effect on the size of a region's population of the creative class. The findings reveal some evidence of a positive relationship among creative class occupation, employment growth, and entrepreneurship at the regional level in a number of European countries. On the basis of the analysis, however, it is not clear whether human capital, measured by creative occupation, outperforms indicators that are based on formal education, or if formal education has the stronger effect.
Knowledge Bases, Talents, and Contexts: On the Usefulness of the Creative Class Approach in Sweden
Authors: Asheim Bjørn , Hansen Høgni Kalsø
Published: August 2010

abstract

The geography of the creative class and its impact on regional development has been debated for some years. While the ideas of Richard Florida have permeated local and regional planning strategies in most parts of the Western world, critiques have been numerous. Florida's 3T's (technology, talent, and tolerance) have been adopted without considering whether the theory fits into the settings of a specific urban and regional context. This article aims to contextualize and unpack the creative class approach by applying the knowledge‐base approach and break down the rigid assumption that all people in the creative class share common locational preferences. We argue that the creative class draws on three different knowledge bases: synthetic, analytical, and symbolic, which have different implications for people's residential locational preferences with respect to a people climate and a business climate. Furthermore, the dominating knowledge base in a region has an influence on the importance of a people climate and a business climate for attracting and retaining talent. In this article, we present an empirical analysis in support of these arguments using original Swedish data.
Roepke Lecture in Economic Geography—Rethinking Regional Path Dependence: Beyond Lock‐in to Evolution
Authors: Martin Ron
Published: August 2010

abstract

This article argues that in its “canonical” form, the path dependence model, with its core concept of lock‐in, affords a restrictive and narrowly applicable account of regional and local industrial evolution, an account moreover that is tied to problematic underpinnings based on equilibrist thinking. As such, the canonical path dependence model actually stresses continuity rather than change. The article explores recent developments in political science, in which there have been active attempts to rethink the application of path dependence to the evolution of institutions so as to emphasize change rather than continuity. These developments are used to argue for a rethinking of path dependence ideas in economic geography.
Under the Lens: The Geography of Optical Science as an Emerging Industry
Authors: Feldman Maryann P. , Lendel Iryna
Published: August 2010

abstract

Optical science is the study of light and the ways in which light interacts with matter. Although its origins coincide with the earliest scientific inquiry, modern optics is an enabling technology that is applied to a variety of intermediate markets—telecommunication equipment, medical devices, scientific instruments, semiconductors, imaging and reproduction, defense and security, and retail logistics. One difficulty in studying emerging technology is the limitation of current industrial categories and patent classes. This article examines the geography of optical science inventions using a new methodology that can be applied to study other emerging industries. We rely on companies that self‐identify as working on optics on the basis of their voluntary membership in the Optics Society of America. We investigate the inventive activity of these companies from 2004 to 2007 and identify a set of International Patent Classes that defines the emergent technology space in optical science. Using this definition, we then analyze all the organizations that are inventing in optical science. We find that inventive activity is geographically concentrated: patenting takes place in 240 urban areas, although 84 percent of the patents were invented in 30 metropolitan areas and almost 50 percent were attributed to 11 metropolitan areas. The article considers the organizations that are shaping the emerging technology and the consequences for geographic clusters. Our results reveal that the geographic distribution of inventive activity does not reflect the location of self‐designated regional optics clusters in the United States but suggests a more nuanced understanding of the emergence of industries. We conclude by considering lessons about the development of clusters in emerging industries.
Potential biases in estimating the rate parameter of sigmoid growth functions
Authors: Austin Suzanne H. , Robinson Tara Rodden , Robinson W. Douglas , Ricklefs Robert E.
Published: August 2010

1. We compare biases in estimates of the rate constant of the logistic and Gompertz functions applied to avian growth using three methods of parameter estimation. The methods differ in how the asymptote is determined, and consist of either floating asymptotes estimated from the full data (floatingA) or data truncated at 70% of the adult mass (70%A), or fixing the asymptote at the adult mass (fixedA).

2. First, using data for two passerine species exhibiting different growth patterns, we truncated mass measurements at different ages to explore how each method of growth rate estimation responded to simulated differences in nestling period. We bootstrapped growth rates and error measures from these data to produce unbiased error terms, which we used to compare the different models.

3. We tested the effects of age truncation on both real and simulated data, and found that the fixedAmethod produced less bias and better fits than using estimates of floating asymptotes from the full growth curve (floatingA) or truncated at 70% of the adult mass (70%A). Logistic and Gompertz models with a floating asymptote generally provided poorer fits than those with a fixed asymptote, although fits were improved by including a variable accounting for the ratio of asymptotic to adult mass.

4. To evaluate the performance of the methods across an array of species, we applied the three methods to growth data for 45 species of New World songbirds spanning diverse rates of growth, developmental periods and geographic origins. To determine whether choice of method influenced interpretation of regional and life‐history differences in avian growth, we used model selection to estimate the influence of three independent variables (adult mass, nestling period and tropical vs. temperate region) with known effects on nestling growth rate calculated by each method. The coefficients of determination in these analyses suggest that the most appropriate method to estimate growth rates, regardless of the growth function (i.e. logistic, Gompertz), is the fixedAmethod, taking care to use accurate and appropriate estimates of adult mass.
Research as a guide for improving student learning: An example from momentum conservation
Authors: Close Hunter G. , Heron Paula R. L.
Published: August 2010

This paper describes an investigation of student ability to apply the principle of momentum conservation in one dimension. As part of the investigation, we conducted interviews with students who had completed introductory calculus-based mechanics. We found that some of them attributed special significance to a certain limiting case: An (elastic) collision between a light incident object and an initially stationary massive target. They used their correct prediction of the observable outcome of such a collision to support an incorrect view of momentum. A tutorial designed to help students understand this special case improved their performance on examination questions on more general collisions. The process of developing curriculum based on students’ spontaneous, productive reasoning is illustrated.
Magnetic multipolar contact fields: The anapole and related moments
Authors: Gray C. G. , Karl G. , Novikov V. A.
Published: August 2010

We derive the multipole expansion of the magnetostatic field due to a localized current distribution, including contact terms up to the octopole term. Because of the contact fields, new multipole moments arise compared to the multipole expansion of just the external field. For the quadrupolar contact field, the new multipole moment is the anapole moment. For the octopolar contact field two new multipole moments arise, only one of which has been discussed previously. We discuss the dipolar, quadrupolar, and octopolar contact fields and the corresponding new multipole moments and give some applications to an extension of Jackson’s theorems for mean magnetic fields, parity violation and the anapole moment, lunar magnetism, and hyperfine interactions.
Resource Letter SPh-1: Solar Physics
Authors: Pasachoff Jay M.
Published: August 2010

This Resource Letter provides a guide to printed literature, listing selected books and articles and online resources about scientific and cultural references to the Sun and the related topics of solar spectroscopy and space weather. Topics include helioseismology, the chromosphere and corona at solar eclipses, sunspots and other solar activity, and total solar irradiance, as well as instrumental references including spectroheliographs, coelostats, and observatories on the ground and in space. References to general works on heliophysics and plasma physics are minimized.
An 18th century glow discharge experiment to model an aurora
Authors: Galindo Salvador , Galindo Diego
Published: August 2010

We discuss an experiment first performed in 1789 designed to reproduce the glow of an aurora. The experiment was partially based on ideas of Benjamin Franklin.
A potential model for alpha decay
Authors: Duarte D. , Siegel P. B.
Published: August 2010

We calculate the half-life and energy of alpha decay using a simple potential model consisting of the sum of the electrostatic Coulomb potential plus a Woods–Saxon form to represent the alpha-nucleus strong interaction. The calculation extends the standard treatment of alpha decay and gives students experience in fitting a theoretical model to experimental data.
Asymmetric rolling bodies and the phantom torque
Authors: Turner Leaf , Turner Ari M.
Published: August 2010

The center of mass and the point of contact of two-dimensional rolling bodies are used almost interchangeably to understand the dynamics of rolling bodies in introductory physics courses. The use of the contact point has the virtue that one does not need to know the normal and frictional forces at the point of contact. However, the correct use of the point of contact requires a concomitant torque that we call a “phantom torque.” This torque vanishes for azimuthally symmetric bodies that are conventionally used as examples in introductory physics courses and, thus, goes unnoticed. We show that the phantom torque can be evaluated easily.
Generating the Option of a Two-Stage Nuclear Renaissance
Authors: Grimes Robin W. , Nuttall William J.
Published: August 2010

Concerns about climate change, security of supply, and depleting fossil fuel reserves have spurred a revival of interest in nuclear power generation in Europe and North America, while other regions continue or initiate an expansion. We suggest that the first stage of this process will include replacing or extending the life of existing nuclear power plants, with continued incremental improvements in efficiency and reliability. After 2030, a large-scale second period of construction would allow nuclear energy to contribute substantially to the decarbonization of electricity generation. For nuclear energy to be sustainable, new large-scale fuel cycles will be required that may include fuel reprocessing. Here, we explore the opportunities and constraints in both time periods and suggests ways in which measures taken today might, at modest cost, provide more options in the decades to come. Careful long-term planning, along with parallel efforts aimed at containing waste products and avoiding diversion of material into weapons production, can ensure that nuclear power generation remains a carbon-neutral option.
Small-Scale Mantle Convection Produces Stratigraphic Sequences in Sedimentary Basins
Authors: Petersen K. D. , Nielsen S. B. , Clausen O. R. , Stephenson R. , Gerya T.
Published: August 2010

Changes in the Rocks

Changing sea level or major tectonic events, such as continental collisions, shift stratigraphic sequences by changing the depositional environment where certain rock types form. For example, a deep marine environment where limestone formation is favored may shift relatively quickly to a near-shore environment favoring sandstone formation because the relative sea level has dropped several meters.

Petersen
et al.

(p.
827
; see the Perspective by

Müller

), however, suggest that small-scale convection in the mantle may also induce appreciable changes in the sequence of sedimentary deposits. Using a modeling approach, they found that this is possible on a small scale (that is, just a few hundreds of kilometers) over variable time scales. Thus, while the co-occurrence of sedimentary deposit sequences at regional and global scales can allow sedimentary rocks to serve as markers of marine environments, it should be kept in mind that local changes in surface movements may also manifest themselves in the rock record.
The Proteome in Balance
Authors: Hutt Darren , Balch William E.
Published: August 2010

Cells monitor and maintain protein homeostasis by coordinating protein folding and degradation processes in multiple cellular locations.
Sedimentary Basins Feeling the Heat from Below
Authors: Müller R. Dietmar
Published: August 2010

A major change may be taking place in underlying theories to explain sea-level change over time scales of 2 to 20 million years.
A Boost for HIV Vaccine Design
Authors: Burton Dennis R. , Weiss Robin A.
Published: August 2010

Antibodies that potently neutralize almost all HIV isolates could aid the rational design of a vaccine.
Skin Overlooked

Skin
Javier Moscoso, Lucy Shanahan, and Nike Fakiner, Curators

Wellcome Collection, London. Through 26 September 2010. www.wellcomecollection.org

The Book of Human Skin
by Michelle Lovric

Bloomsbury, London, 2010. 510 pp. Paper, £12.99. ISBN 9781408805886.
Authors: Ash Caroline
Published: August 2010

An exhibition at London's Wellcome Collection offers a variety of thought-provoking perspectives on skin, ranging from 16th-century anatomy to contemporary art; Lovric's novel is provoking on its own.
Stephen Schneider (1945–2010)
Authors: Ehrlich Paul R.
Published: August 2010

An atmospheric scientist who strove to understand adverse human impacts on climate worked just as hard to educate the general public about them.
An Audacious Decision in Crisis Gets Cautious Praise
Authors: Kintisch Eli
Published: August 2010

The government's decision to let BP spray 1.1 million gallons of chemical dispersants a mile beneath the surface of the Gulf of Mexico was a classic case of pitting the devil you know against the devil you don't.
Russia's Forest Fires Ignite Concerns About Chornobyl's Legacy
Authors: Charles Dan
Published: August 2010

Officials in Moscow last week warned that its devastating forest fires could spread to neighboring Ukraine, to its forests contaminated by the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear accident, sending radioactive smoke high into the air and downwind.
Anthropologist Brings Worlds Together
Authors: Balter Michael
Published: August 2010

Polly Wiessner unites past and present, science and advocacy in her studies of traditional peoples in Africa and Papua New Guinea.
Sending African Sunlight to Europe, Special Delivery
Authors: Clery Daniel
Published: August 2010

Europe wants clean power. North Africa has lots of sun. Can Desertec move solar electricity across the Mediterranean Sea?
Is There a Road Ahead for Cellulosic Ethanol?
Authors: Service Robert F.
Published: August 2010

After early optimism, alcohol brewed from farm and forest waste is struggling to fulfill its promise as the next great biofuel.
Energy's Tricky Tradeoffs
Authors: Cho Adrian
Published: August 2010

The world's “energy problem” is in fact a slew of technological and sociological challenges involving the use of the land, water, and air we share.
Out of Site
Authors: Kintisch Eli
Published: August 2010

Renewables like wind turbines are spreading fast, but can they survive complaints that they mar neighborhoods and threaten wildlife?
Other Siting Problems
Authors: Kintisch Eli
Published: August 2010

Other forms of renewable energy are facing siting problems similar to those facing wind power, including fears of triggering earthquakes, marring historic buildings, threatening wildlife, and polluting aquifers.
Multiplex Amplified Nominal Tandem-Repeat Analysis (MANTRA), a Rapid Method for Genotyping
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
by Use of Multiplex PCR and a Microfluidic Laboratory Chip
Authors: Merritt Adam J. , Keehner Terillee , O'Reilly Lyn C. , McInnes Russell L. , Inglis Timothy J. J.
Published: August 2010

A variable-number tandem-repeat genotyping method for
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
was converted to run in a multiplex PCR format on a 12-well microfluidic laboratory chip. Epidemiologically and genotypically distinct isolate clusters of
M. tuberculosis
were identified. This rapid genotyping method has potential application in smaller clinical laboratories and public health field investigations.
The Pan Genera Detection Immunoassay: a Novel Point-of-Issue Method for Detection of Bacterial Contamination in Platelet Concentrates
Authors: Vollmer Tanja , Hinse Dennis , Kleesiek Knut , Dreier Jens
Published: August 2010

Bacterial contamination of platelet concentrates (PCs) still represents an ongoing risk in transfusion-transmitted sepsis. Recently the Pan Genera Detection (PGD) system was developed and FDA licensed for screening of bacterial contamination of PCs directly prior to transfusion. The test principle is based on the immunological detection of lipopolysaccharide (for Gram-negative bacteria) or lipoteichoic acid (for Gram-positive bacteria). In the present study we analyzed the applicability of this method with regard to detection limit, practicability, implementation, and performance. PCs were spiked with
Staphylococcus aureus
,
Bacillus subtilis
, and five different
Klebsiella pneumoniae
strains, as well as eight different
Escherichia coli
strains. The presence of bacteria was assessed by the PGD immunoassay, and bacteria were enumerated by plating cultures. Application of the PGD immunoassay showed that it is a rapid test with a short hands-on time for sample processing and no demand for special technical equipment and instrument operation. The lower detection limits of the assay for Gram-positive bacteria showed a good agreement with the manufacturer's specifications (8.2 × 10
3
to 5.5 × 10
4
CFU/ml). For some strains of
K. pneumoniae
and
E. coli
, the PGD test showed analytical sensitivities (>10
6
CFU/ml) that were divergent from the designated values (
K. pneumoniae
, 2.0 × 10
4
CFU/ml;
E. coli
, 2.8 × 10
4
CFU/ml). Result interpretation is sometimes difficult due to very faint bands. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that the PGD immunoassay is an easy-to-perform bedside test for the detection of bacterial contamination in PCs. However, to date there are some shortcomings in the interpretation of results and in the detection limits for some strains of Gram-negative bacteria.
Quantitation of Major Human Cutaneous Bacterial and Fungal Populations
Authors: Gao Zhan , Perez-Perez Guillermo I. , Chen Yu , Blaser Martin J.
Published: August 2010

Because the human skin microbiota may play roles in the causation or modification of skin diseases, we sought to provide initial quantitative analysis from different cutaneous locations. We developed quantitative PCRs to enumerate the total bacterial and fungal populations, as well as the most common bacterial and fungal genera present in six locales, in eight healthy subjects. We used a set of primers and TaqMan MGB probes based on the bacterial 16S rRNA and fungal internally transcribed spacer region, as well as bacterial genus-specific probes for
Propionibacterium
,
Corynebacterium
,
Streptococcus
, and
Staphylococcus
and a fungal genus-specific probe for
Malassezia
. The extent of human DNA contamination of the specimen was determined by quantitating the human housekeeping
GAPDH
gene. The highest level of 16S rRNA copies of bacteria was present in the axilla (4.44 ± 0.18 log
10
copies/μl [mean ± standard error of the mean]), with normalization based on
GAPDH
levels, but the other five locations were similar to one another (range, 2.48 to 2.89 log
10
copies/μl). There was strong symmetry between the left and right sides. The four bacterial genera accounted for 31% to 59% of total bacteria, with the highest percent composition in the axilla and the lowest in the forearm.
Streptococcus
was the most common genus present on the forehead and behind the ear.
Corynebacterium
spp. were predominant in the axilla. Fungal levels were 1 to 2 log
10
lower than for bacteria, with
Malassezi
a
spp. accounting for the majority of fungal gene copies. These results provide the first quantitation of the site and host specificities of major bacterial and fungal populations in human skin and present simple methods for their assessment in studies of disease.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Beijing Lineage Favors the Spread of Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis in the Republic of Georgia
Authors: Niemann Stefan , Diel Roland , Khechinashvili George , Gegia Medea , Mdivani Nino , Tang Yi-Wei
Published: August 2010

High rates and transmission of multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB) have been associated with the
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
complex (MTBC) Beijing lineage, pointing to the importance of pathogen genetic factors for the modulation of infection outcome and epidemiology. We present here an in-depth analysis of the population structure of MTBC strains from the Republic of Georgia, a high-incidence setting at the Black Sea Coast. Phylogenetic lineages were identified based on 24-locus MIRU-VNTR (for mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit-variable number tandem repeat) and spoligotyping analysis. Clusters of strains with identical genotyping profiles were determined as an indicator for the rate of recent transmission. Among the 183
M. tuberculosis
isolates investigated, the most prominent lineage found was Beijing (26%), followed by the LAM (18%), Ural (12%), and Haarlem (5%) strains. A closely related previously undefined phylogenetic group (62 strains) showed a genotyping pattern similar to laboratory strain H37RV and was denominated as “Georgia-H37RV-like.” Although isoniazid resistance was found among strains of different lineages, MDR TB was nearly completely restricted to Beijing strains (
P
< 0.0001). Approximately 50% of the isolates were grouped in clusters, indicating a high rate of recent transmission. Our data indicate that, in addition to the confirmation of the importance of Beijing genotype strains for the TB epidemiology in former Soviet Union countries, a high-population diversity with strains of the LAM, Ural, Haarlem, and a previously undefined lineage represents nearly two-thirds of the strains found in Georgia. Higher rates among previously treated and MDR TB patients point to a higher potential of lineage Beijing to escape therapy and develop MDR TB.
Accurate and Sensitive Detection of
Plasmodium
Species in Humans by Use of the Dihydrofolate Reductase-Thymidylate Synthase Linker Region
Authors: Tanomsing Naowarat , Imwong Mallika , Theppabutr Sasikrit , Pukrittayakamee Sasithon , Day Nicholas P. J. , White Nicholas J. , Snounou Georges
Published: August 2010

A nested-PCR protocol based on the linker region of the
Plasmodium
dihydrofolate reductase-thymidylate synthase gene (
dhfr-ts
) was developed. This provides highly sensitive specific detection and identification of the five parasite species that infect humans.
Use of Acyclovir for Suppression of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection Is Not Associated with Genotypic Evidence of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Resistance to Acyclovir: Analysis of Specimens from Three Phase III Trials
Authors: Watson-Jones Deborah , Wald Anna , Celum Connie , Lingappa Jairam , Weiss Helen A. , Changalucha John , Baisley Kathy , Tanton Clare , Hayes Richard J. , Marshak Joshua O. , Gladden Rula Green , Koelle David M.
Published: August 2010

Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) is the most common cause of genital ulcer disease and is a cofactor for HIV-1 acquisition and transmission. We analyzed specimens from three separate phase III trials of acyclovir (ACV) for prevention of HIV-1 acquisition and transmission to determine if failure of ACV to interrupt HIV acquisition and transmission was associated with genotypic ACV resistance. Acyclovir (400 mg twice daily) or placebo was provided to HSV-2-infected persons at risk of HIV-1 infection in the Mwanza and HPTN 039 trials and to persons dually infected with HSV-2 and HIV-1 who had an HIV-negative partner in the Partners in Prevention study. We extracted HSV DNA from genital ulcer swabs or cervicovaginal lavage fluids from 68 samples obtained from 64 participants randomized to ACV and sequenced the HSV-2 UL23 gene encoding thymidine kinase. The UL23 sequences were compared with published and unpublished data. Variants were observed in 38/1,128 (3.4%) nucleotide positions in the UL23 open reading frame, with 58% of these encoding amino acid changes. No deletions, insertions, or mutations known to be associated with resistance were detected. Thirty-one of the variants (81.5%) are newly reported, 15 of which code for amino acid changes. Overall, UL23 is highly polymorphic compared to other loci in HSV-2, but no drug resistance mutations were detected that could explain the failure to reduce HIV incidence or to prevent HIV-1 transmission in these studies.
Corynebacterium macginleyi
Conjunctivitis in Canada
Authors: Alsuwaidi Ahmed R. , Wiebe Deborah , Burdz Tamara , Ng Betty , Reimer Aleisha , Singh Cathleen , Bernard Kathryn
Published: August 2010

This report describes for the first time
Corynebacterium macginleyi
as a cause of conjunctivitis in Canada, where menaquinone analysis was done as part of the strain characterization. This species is typically isolated from ocular surfaces of patients from Europe and Japan. The isolate was resistant to erythromycin and clindamycin.
Ultrastructural Analysis of ICP34.5
−
Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Replication in Mouse Brain Cells
In Vivo
Authors: Mehta Hina , Muller Jacqueline , Markovitz Nancy S.
Published: August 2010

Replication-competent forms of herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) defective in the viral neurovirulence factor infected cell protein 34.5 (ICP34.5) are under investigation for use in the therapeutic treatment of cancer. In mouse models, intratumoral injection of ICP34.5-defective oncolytic HSVs (oHSVs) has resulted in the infection and lysis of tumor cells, an associated decrease in tumor size, and increased survival times. The ability of these oHSVs to infect and lyse cells is frequently characterized as exclusive to or selective for tumor cells. However, the extent to which ICP34.5-deficient HSV-1 replicates in and may be neurotoxic to normal brain cell types
in vivo
is poorly understood. Here we report that HSV-1 defective in ICP34.5 expression is capable of establishing a productive infection in at least one normal mouse brain cell type. We show that γ
34.5
deletion viruses replicate productively in and induce cellular damage in infected ependymal cells. Further evaluation of the effects of oHSVs on normal brain cells in animal models is needed to enhance our understanding of the risks associated with the use of current and future oHSVs in the brains of clinical trial subjects and to provide information that can be used to create improved oHSVs for future use.