bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Teaching Quantitative Methodology to the Math Averse
Authors: Buchler Justin
Published: June 2009

Many political science students struggle in quantitative methods courses because they have never been taught how to learn math. Learning math is different from learning in other fields, so the techniques students have used successfully in other classes are inappropriate in mathematically oriented classes. However, most students have never been told this, so they blame their difficulty with math on the impenetrability of the subject rather than tactical studying errors. This brief article discusses some of the reasons that common studying techniques do not work in quantitative methodology classes, and discusses some simple techniques to help students develop learning habits that are better suited to quantitative courses.
Making Movies Active: Lessons from Simulations
Authors: Sunderland Sheri , Rothermel Jonathan C. , Lusk Adam
Published: June 2009

Movies have a long and distinguished history in the political science and international relations classrooms; they provide connections between abstract theories and concepts and concrete everyday practices. However, traditional approaches to teaching movies in the political science and international relations classrooms allow for passive student learning, where students watch the movie and then react. We propose using insights from simulations to help resolve these problems with using movies in the classroom. In this article, we outline the learning methods and approaches of simulations, and then apply them to movies in the international relations classroom.
Service Learning Outside the U.S.: Initial Experiences in Singapore's Higher Education
Authors: Tan Kenneth Paul
Published: June 2009

Service learning in higher education is an American creature. But outside the U.S., practices that resemble American service learning or that have begun self-consciously to describe themselves as “service learning” may also be found. This article gives an account of a proto-service-learning course on civil society in Singapore and discusses some similarities and differences between the U.S. and Singapore contexts in which the practices of service learning have evolved, identifying how this civil society course in particular was both a product of as well as a challenge to Singapore's somewhat different priorities in higher education, political culture, and attitudes to social justice and cultural diversity.
POLITICAL ECONOMY, THE STATE, AND REVOLUTION IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FRANCE
Authors: JAINCHILL ANDREW
Published: June 2009

Among the stunning changes in material and intellectual life that transformed eighteenth-century Europe, perhaps none excited as much contemporary consternation as the twin-headed growth of a modern commercial economy and the fiscal–military state. As economies became increasingly based on trade, money, and credit, and states both exploded in size and forged seemingly insoluble ties to the world of finance, intellectuals displayed growing anxiety about just what kind of political, economic, and social order was taking shape before their eyes. Two important new books by Michael Sonenscher and John Shovlin, Before the Deluge: Public Debt, Inequality, and the Intellectual Origins of the French Revolution and The Political Economy of Virtue: Luxury, Patriotism, and the Origins of the French Revolution, tackle these apprehensions and the roles they played in forging French political and economic writings in the second half of the eighteenth century. Both authors also take the further step of demonstrating the impact of the ideas they study on the origins of the French Revolution.
RESURRECTING LIBERALS: A NEW AGE OF AMERICAN SPIRITUALITY
Authors: MAFFLY-KIPP LAURIE F.
Published: June 2009

Those religious believers still willing to claim the term “liberal” are tired of being kicked around. In a swelling chorus of outrage, they have fought back against the cultural hegemony of evangelicals and the rampant rumors of liberal demise that have haunted their sanctuaries for the past three decades. In reaction, some mainstream Protestant churches in this camp have mounted concerted and organized efforts to rescript their public relations. I think here, in particular, of the United Church of Christ (UCC), a left-leaning denomination that launched a massive advertising campaign in 2004 to raise its public profile. That effort is perhaps best known for its prominent comma (“God is still speaking,”) and edgy advertisements depicting bouncers at the doors of conservative churches who physically eject potential members not in conformance with their white, heterosexual standards. The banning of those ads by many television stations, at the behest of conservative religious groups that took exception to the UCC proclamation of inclusiveness as a stab at evangelical orthodoxy, may only confirm the mainstream lament that liberalism is truly a countercultural proposition.
Focus of Identity and Motivation About the Integration of Turkey into the European Union
Authors: Raufaste Éric , Pompanon Charles , Vautier Stéphane
Published: June 2009

The integration of Turkey into the European Union (EU) is a major political issue, and an interesting psychological object with motivational and identity-related aspects. This article examines whether the structure of some young French people’s motives can be used to predict the acceptability of Turkey’s integration into the EU. It was hypothesized that Apterian metamotivational states ( Apter, 2001 ) would structure the pro and cons of the acceptability of Turkey’s integration. In each of two studies, a questionnaire was designed and administered to assess the motives, either pro or con, for Turkey’s integration. Acceptability ratings were also collected. Factorial analyses provided two series of components that were simple to interpret in a reversal theory structure. Four components were common to both studies: individual paratelism, individual telism, sympathy for the Turks, and European mastery. Path analyses were conducted to predict acceptability with the components as predictors, and benefit and risk judgments as intermediate variables. The fits were good and the models explained 72.1% (pros) and 64.2% (cons) of the overall variance in acceptability. Of particular interest is an unexpected finding that was replicated in both studies: Each component loaded a collection of items centered on only one of three possible positions on what interests were at stake: European people’s interests, Turkish people’s interests, or participants’ own interests.
Viscous constitutive relations of solid‐liquid composites in terms of grain boundary contiguity: 2. Compositional model for small melt fractions
Authors: Takei Yasuko , Holtzman Benjamin K.
Published: June 2009

We develop a compositional model for the grain boundary (GB) diffusion creep of melt‐bearing polycrystalline aggregates. This model is an extension of the GB diffusion control model by taking into account the effects of finite liquid diffusivity and finite reaction rates, which are important at small melt fractions (ϕ). For shear viscosity η, there exists a critical melt fraction ϕcη below which the rate‐limiting process changes from diffusion through GB to diffusion through the liquid, and for bulk viscosity ξ, there exists a critical melt fraction ϕcξ below which the rate‐limiting process changes from diffusion through GB to reaction at the pore surface. The implication of the model results is that different processes may limit the kinetics of bulk and shear viscosities at small ϕ. The model also predicts that stress can cause compositional and hence volumetric asymmetry in pores. As melt fraction increases from zero to the critical melt fractions, rapid decreases occur in η, from ηcc to 0.2ηcc, and in ξ, from ∞ to 0.4ηcc, where ηcc represents η for Coble creep. In the GB diffusion control model, these decreases occur discontinuously at zero melt fraction, but this singularity is removed in the compositional model. For a typical grain size in the mantle (3 mm), the critical melt fractions are estimated semiquantitatively as ϕcη = 10−4 and ϕcξ < 6 × 10−8, demonstrating the significant effect of very small amount of melt on the viscosities in the mantle.
Cloud, thermodynamic, and precipitation observations in West Africa during 2006
Authors: Kollias Pavlos , Miller Mark A. , Johnson Karen L. , Jensen Michael P. , Troyan David T.
Published: June 2009

In 2006, the ARM Mobile Facility (AMF) completed a 1‐year deployment at Niamey, Niger, Africa, in support of the Radiative Atmospheric Divergence using ARM Mobile Facility, GERB data and AMMA Stations (RADAGAST) field campaign, which is the subject of this special issue. Observations from the AMF instrumentation are used to analyze the relationship between clouds, precipitation, and the thermodynamic environment in this rarely observed region and to evaluate the cloud fields in the National Center for Environmental Prediction Global Forecast System (GFS) initialization product. The 1‐year deployment period enabled measurements in the dry and wet (monsoon) seasons and through the transitions in May and September, respectively. Cirrus clouds in the 10‐ to 15‐km layer with modest monthly cloud fraction and mean depth of ∼1 km are ubiquitous through the observing period as observed in other regions of the tropics. The monsoon season from May to September is characterized by convective clouds of varying depth that produce precipitation of varying intensity, as indicated by cloud radar. Peak surface rainfall is observed during August, and the largest daily rainfall rates are observed during the period from July to September. The lifting condensation level (LCL) is observed to decrease as the monsoon season progresses, and a strong correlation between the height of the LCL and precipitation is demonstrated. Cooling of the lower troposphere is implicated as the probable cause of the lowering of the LCL. Conversely, the amount of convective available potential energy is found to be poorly correlated with precipitation. As in other tropical regions, the physical height at which the zero‐degree isotherm is observed corresponds to gradients in the thermodynamic profiles and a gradient in the profile of cloud occurrence. Comparisons with the GFS initialization data, which are derived from a number of sources including satellites, show some systematic biases when compared to AMF measurements. There is general correspondence between the locations of clouds and the profile of vertical velocity diagnosed by the GFS initialization early in the monsoon season, but vague correspondence thereafter. The relative humidity in the GFS initialization is too large above 10 km and too small in the monsoon layer near the surface, and it seriously underestimates the amount of cloud below 10 km during August, which is the height of the West African monsoon in Niamey.
Isotopologue signatures of N2O produced by denitrification in soils
Authors: Well R. , Flessa H.
Published: June 2009

We investigated oxygen and site‐specific nitrogen isotope effects of N2O produced in the NO3−‐to‐N2O step of denitrification. Arable sand and silt loam soils with varying NO3− availability were incubated under N2/C2H2 atmosphere in order to establish anaerobic conditions and to block N2O reduction. Dual isotope and isotopomer ratios of emitted N2O were determined by analysis of δ18O, average δ15N (δ15Nbulk) and 15N site preference (SP is equal to difference in δ15N between the central and peripheral N positions of the asymmetric N2O molecule). The average N enrichment factor of the NO3−‐to‐N2O step ranged from −47.9 to −53.6‰, which is between the reported ranges of enrichment factors of nitrification and denitrification. SP varied with time, and mean values were between 3.1 and 8.9‰, which is higher compared to SP reported from pure cultures of denitrifiers but lower compared to nitrifiers and fungal denitrifiers. This shows that SP of N2O produced in soils might be seen as a semiquantitative indicator for the different pathways of N2O production but not specific enough to quantify the relative contribution of denitrification to the total N2O flux in systems where several source processes are important. δ18O of N2O from all treatments was less variable compared to δ18O of soil NO3−, indicating that there was a relatively large O exchange with water during N2O formation.
A 2 Ma record of explosive volcanism in southwestern Luzon: Implications for the timing of subducted slab steepening
Authors: Ku Yueh‐Ping , Chen Chang‐Hwa , Song Sheng‐Rong , Iizuka Yoshiyuki , Shen Jason Jiun‐San
Published: June 2009

New chemical and isotopic analyses of the tephra layers plus deep‐sea tephrostratigraphic record from two cores from either side of Luzon Island (Philippines) have allowed the identification of two periods of explosive volcanic activity originating from the Macolod Corridor in the southwestern part of the Luzon. The first period extended from prior to 1355 ka to 1977 ka, and the second period extended from 478 ka to the present, separated by a period of relative quiescence. The time intervals between large explosive eruption events in each period were 31 ± 15 ka and 156 ± 52 ka, respectively. Combined with published chronological and geochemical data from onshore volcanic deposits, the tephrostratigraphic record shows that the locus of large explosive eruptions has migrated southwestward from the northeastern section to the middle and southwestern sections of the Macolod Corridor. The period of relative quiescence is characterized by monogenetic volcanism in the central section of the corridor. The migration of active volcanism across the southwestern part of Luzon during the Quaternary is used to infer the evolution of the subducting South China Sea crust. The period of relative quiescence represents a period of adjustment of the subducted slab by steepening, which began around 1355 ka or shortly thereafter and finished at around 478 ka.
Use of breeding to detect and explain instabilities in the global ocean
Authors: Hoffman M. J. , Kalnay E. , Carton J. A. , Yang S.‐C.
Published: June 2009

The breeding method of Toth and Kalnay finds the perturbations that grow naturally in a dynamical system like the atmosphere or the ocean. Here breeding is applied to a global ocean model forced by reanalysis winds in order to identify instabilities of weekly and monthly timescales. This study extends the method to show how the energy equations for the bred vectors can be derived with only very minimal approximations and used to assess the physical mechanisms that give rise to the instabilities. Tropical Instability Waves in the tropical Pacific are diagnosed, confirming the existence of bands of both baroclinic and barotropic energy conversions indicated earlier by Masina et al. and others. In the South Atlantic Convergence Zone, the bred vector energy analysis shows that there is kinetic to potential ocean eddy energy conversion, suggesting that the growing instabilities found in this area are forced by the wind.
Aura Microwave Limb Sounder observations of dynamics and transport during the record‐breaking 2009 Arctic stratospheric major warming
Authors: Manney Gloria L. , Schwartz Michael J. , Krüger Kirstin , Santee Michelle L. , Pawson Steven , Lee Jae N. , Daffer William H. , Fuller Ryan A. , Livesey Nathaniel J.
Published: June 2009

A major stratospheric sudden warming (SSW) in January 2009 was the strongest and most prolonged on record. Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) observations are used to provide an overview of dynamics and transport during the 2009 SSW, and to compare with the intense, long‐lasting SSW in January 2006. The Arctic polar vortex split during the 2009 SSW, whereas the 2006 SSW was a vortex displacement event. Winds reversed to easterly more rapidly and reverted to westerly more slowly in 2009 than in 2006. More mixing of trace gases out of the vortex during the decay of the vortex fragments, and less before the fulfillment of major SSW criteria, was seen in 2009 than in 2006; persistent well‐defined fragments of vortex and anticyclone air were more prevalent in 2009. The 2009 SSW had a more profound impact on the lower stratosphere than any previously observed SSW, with no significant recovery of the vortex in that region. The stratopause breakdown and subsequent reformation at very high altitude, accompanied by enhanced descent into a rapidly strengthening upper stratospheric vortex, were similar in 2009 and 2006. Many differences between 2006 and 2009 appear to be related to the different character of the SSWs in the two years.
An evaluation of taxonomic name finding & next steps in Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) developments
Authors: Freeland Chris
Published: June 2009

The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is an international consortium of natural history libraries that are actively scanning scientific literature from their collections and publishing the digitized content online at http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org. The presentation will cover updates on BHL progress thus far, including a review of the BHL portal application and services developed for bibliographic data exchange, as well as a roadmap of features scheduled for design and development. Of interest to taxonomists and bioinformaticians, the presentation will also cover a recently completed evaluation of taxonomic name finding algorithms, including TaxonFinder and FAT. Discussion will include a review of successes and failures in extracting taxonomic name strings from the BHL corpus, as well as suggestions for improvement.
Diffusion constants of Br in NaCl measured by Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy
Authors: Hess M. , Krieger U. K. , Marcolli C. , Peter Th. , Doremus R. H. , Lanford W. A.
Published: June 2009

Rutherford backscattering spectrometry was used to measure the diffusion constants of bromide in NaCl crystals at temperatures from 20 to 600 °C. For crystals grown from melt at 500 °C and above, our data agree very well with the literature data measured with other techniques. At about 450 °C, the activation energy drops strongly leading to a knee in the Arrhenius plot and surprisingly high diffusion constants at room temperature of ∼2×10−16 cm2/s. In case of crystals grown from aqueous solution, cleavage leads to a significant surface enrichment of Br on the newly formed surface compared to bulk composition. Hence, in such porous crystals, Br can move several microns within minutes. Preannealing at 500 °C for 3 h prevents this surface enrichment. Diffusion constants in such preannealed crystals are approximately the same as in melt grown crystals.
Direct evidence for degradation of polaron excited states in organic light emitting diodes
Authors: Giebink N. C. , D’Andrade B. W. , Weaver M. S. , Brown J. J. , Forrest S. R.
Published: June 2009

We investigate the intrinsic degradation mechanisms of the prototypical phosphorescent emissive material fac-tris(2-phenylpyridine) iridium [Ir(ppy)3] doped into the host 4, 4′-bis(3-methylcarbazol-9-yl)-2,2′-biphenyl (mCBP) by separately evaluating the effects of unipolar current, optical excitation, and their combination. We find that the mCBP anion is unstable and becomes more so in its excited state. Degradation due to the formation of defect states is evident from changes in the capacitance-voltage characteristics and from increasing drive voltage over time of a unipolar test device. These changes are understood within the framework of trapped-charge-limited transport, allowing for the determination of rate constants for each degradation mechanism. We also observe degradation of the hole transport material 4, 4′-bis[N-(1-naphthyl)-N-phenyl-amino]-biphenyl under sub-energy-gap illumination and suggest that this instability may proceed through excitation of its cationic state. These results provide direct evidence for polaron-induced degradation that limits the operational lifetime of organic light emitting diodes.
Unexpected transition from single to double quantum well potential induced by intense laser fields in a semiconductor quantum well
Authors: Lima F. M. S. , Amato M. A. , Nunes O. A. C. , Fonseca A. L. A. , Enders B. G. , da Silva E. F.
Published: June 2009

When an electronic system is irradiated by an intense laser field, the potential “seen” by electrons is modified, which affects significantly the bound-state energy levels, a feature that has been observed in transition energy experiments. For lasers for which the dipole approximation applies, a nonperturbative approach based upon the Kramers–Henneberger translation transformation, followed by Floquet series expansions, yields, for sufficiently high frequencies, the so-called “laser-dressed” potential, which is taken for composing a time-independent Schrödinger equation whose solutions are the desired quasistationary states. This approach, developed originally for atoms, has been verified to be useful also for carriers in semiconductor nanostructures under intense laser fields. In quantum wells, analytical expressions for the dressed potential have been proposed in literature for a nonresonant, intense laser field polarized perpendicularly to the interfaces. By noting that they apply only for α0≤L/2, where α0 is the laser-dressing parameter and L is the well width, we derive here an analytical expression valid for all values of α0. Interestingly, our model predicts the formation of a double-well potential for laser frequencies and intensities such that α0>L/2, which creates a possibility of generating resonant states into the channel. In addition, the rapid coalescence of the energy levels with the increase in α0 we found indicates the possibility of controlling the population inversion in quantum well lasers operating in the optical pumping scheme.
A reproducible process for mesoscopic superconducting indium contacts to GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures
Authors: Boulay S. , Dufouleur J. , Roche P. , Gennser U. , Cavanna A. , Mailly D.
Published: June 2009

In this report we present a procedure to fabricate high transmissive superconducting (S) contacts by diffusing indium into GaAs/AlxGa1−xAs based high-mobility two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG). We use a thermostable trilayer resist for indium lift-off. By doing electrical measurements at low temperature and transmission electronic microscopy observations, we show that the current through the S/2DEG interface is carried by a few number of localized indium filaments providing a good contact with the 2DEG. The low dimensional nature of those filaments is characterized by phase slip centers in the I(V) curve of a shunted S/2DEG/S junction.
Recovery of structural relaxation in aged metallic glass as determined by high-precisionin situshear modulus measurements
Authors: Khonik V. A. , Mitrofanov Yu. P. , Lyakhov S. A. , Khoviv D. A. , Konchakov R. A.
Published: June 2009

In situ measurements of the high-frequency shear modulus during linear heating into the glass transition region of bulk glassy Pd40Cu30Ni10P20 sample in the initial state, after full structural relaxation, and subsequent fast quenching from the supercooled liquid region have been performed. It has been found that heating of the initial sample is accompanied by structural relaxation-induced increase in the shear modulus that was used for the reconstruction of the underlying activation energy spectrum (AES) within the framework of the interstitialcy theory. Fast quenching after full relaxation results in the recovery of structural relaxation. The room-temperature shear modulus in this case becomes even lower than that in the initial state, while the AES is enriched by low-energy defect states. The concentration of interstitialcylike defects in the initial, relaxed, and quenched conditions has been calculated.
Transition state-finding strategies for use with the growing string method
Authors: Goodrow Anthony , Bell Alexis T. , Head-Gordon Martin
Published: June 2009

Efficient identification of transition states is important for understanding reaction mechanisms. Most transition state search algorithms require long computational times and a good estimate of the transition state structure in order to converge, particularly for complex reaction systems. The growing string method (GSM) [B. Peters et al., J. Chem. Phys. 120, 7877 (2004)] does not require an initial guess of the transition state; however, the calculation is still computationally intensive due to repeated calls to the quantum mechanics code. Recent modifications to the GSM [A. Goodrow et al., J. Chem. Phys. 129, 174109 (2008)] have reduced the total computational time for converging to a transition state by a factor of 2 to 3. In this work, three transition state-finding strategies have been developed to complement the speedup of the modified-GSM: (1) a hybrid strategy, (2) an energy-weighted strategy, and (3) a substring strategy. The hybrid strategy initiates the string calculation at a low level of theory (HF/STO-3G), which is then refined at a higher level of theory (B3LYP/6-31G∗). The energy-weighted strategy spaces points along the reaction pathway based on the energy at those points, leading to a higher density of points where the energy is highest and finer resolution of the transition state. The substring strategy is similar to the hybrid strategy, but only a portion of the low-level string is refined using a higher level of theory. These three strategies have been used with the modified-GSM and are compared in three reactions: alanine dipeptide isomerization, H-abstraction in methanol oxidation on VOx/SiO2 catalysts, and C–H bond activation in the oxidative carbonylation of toluene to p-toluic acid on Rh(CO)2(TFA)3 catalysts. In each of these examples, the substring strategy was proved most effective by obtaining a better estimate of the transition state structure and reducing the total computational time by a factor of 2 to 3 compared to the modified-GSM. The applicability of the substring strategy has been extended to three additional examples: cyclopropane rearrangement to propylene, isomerization of methylcyclopropane to four different stereoisomers, and the bimolecular Diels–Alder condensation of 1,3-butadiene and ethylene to cyclohexene. Thus, the substring strategy used in combination with the modified-GSM has been demonstrated to be an efficient transition state-finding strategy for a wide range of types of reactions.
Plastic crystal phases of simple water models
Authors: Aragones J. L. , Vega C.
Published: June 2009

We report the appearance of two plastic crystal phases of water at high pressure and temperature using computer simulations. In one of them the oxygen atoms form a body centered cubic structure (bcc) and in the other they form a face centered cubic structure (fcc). In both cases the water molecules were able to rotate almost freely. We have found that the bcc plastic crystal transformed into a fcc plastic crystal via a Martensitic phase transition when heated at constant pressure. We have performed the characterization and localization in the phase diagram of these plastic crystal phases for the SPC/E, TIP4P, and TIP4P/2005 water potential models. For TIP4P/2005 model free energy calculations were carried out for the bcc plastic crystal and fcc plastic crystal using a new method (which is a slight variation of the Einstein crystal method) proposed for these types of solid. The initial coexistence points for the SPC/E and TIP4P models were obtained using Hamiltonian Gibbs–Duhem integration. For all of these models these two plastic crystal phases appear in the high pressure and temperature region of the phase diagram. It would be of interest to study if such plastic crystal phases do indeed exist for real water. This would shed some light on the question of whether these models can describe satisfactorily the high pressure part of the phase diagram of water, and if not, where and why they fail.
Charging and E×B rotation of ablation clouds surrounding refueling pellets in hot fusion plasmas
Authors: Parks P. B. , Lu T. , Samulyak R.
Published: June 2009

The finite resistivity magnetohydrodynamic code FRONTIER-MHD [R. Samulyak et al., Nucl. Fusion 47, 103 (2007)] is used to simulate the ablation rate of refueling pellets, including the novel effect of electrostatically induced E×B rotation of the ablation cloud about its symmetry axis parallel to the magnetic field. The key finding is that the centrifugal force of cloud rotation pushes the cloud density radially outwards, creating a more “transparent” ablation channel. With reduced shielding, the steady state ablation rate of a deuterium pellet significantly increases from ∼35% to 100%, depending on the B-field strength. This new effect brings the ablation rate into better accord with a known theoretical scaling law, which agrees with most current experiments.
Role of interface dipole in metal gate/high-k effective work function modulation by aluminum incorporation
Authors: Yang Z. C. , Huang A. P. , Yan L. , Xiao Z. S. , Zhang X. W. , Chu Paul K. , Wang W. W.
Published: June 2009

The interface dipole and its role in the effective work function (EWF) modulation by Al incorporation are investigated. Our study shows that the interface dipole located at the high-k/SiO2 interface causes an electrostatic potential difference across the metal/high-k interface, which significantly shifts the band alignment between the metal and high-k, consequently modulating the EWF. The electrochemical potential equalization and electrostatic potential methods are used to evaluate the interface dipole and its contribution. The calculated EWF modulation agrees with experimental data and can provide insight to the control of EWF in future pMOS technology.
An Overview of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna
Authors: Shaddock D. A.
Published: June 2009

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) will detect gravitational waves with frequencies from 0.1 mHz to 1 Hz. This article provides a brief overview of LISA's science goals followed by a tutorial of the LISA measurement concept.
Statistical approach to quantifying the elastic deformation of nanomaterials
Authors: Deng Xinwei , Joseph V. Roshan , Mai Wenjie , Wang Zhong Lin , Wu C. F. Jeff
Published: June 2009

Quantifying the mechanical properties of nanomaterials is challenged by its small size, difficulty of manipulation, lack of reliable measurement techniques, and grossly varying measurement conditions and environment. A recently proposed approach is to estimate the elastic modulus from a force-deflection physical model based on the continuous bridged-deformation of a nanobelt/nanowire using an atomic force microscope tip under different contact forces. However, the nanobelt may have some initial bending, surface roughness and imperfect physical boundary conditions during measurement, leading to large systematic errors and uncertainty in data quantification. In this article, a statistical modeling technique, sequential profile adjustment by regression (SPAR), is proposed to account for and eliminate the various experimental errors and artifacts. SPAR can automatically detect and remove the systematic errors and therefore gives more precise estimation of the elastic modulus. This research presents an innovative approach that can potentially have a broad impact in quantitative nanomechanics and nanoelectronics.
High cGMP synthetic activity in carp cones
Authors: Takemoto Norihiko , Tachibanaki Shuji , Kawamura Satoru
Published: June 2009

Cones show briefer light responses than rods and do not saturate even under very bright light. Using purified rod and cone homogenates, we measured the activity of guanylate cyclase (GC), an enzyme responsible for cGMP synthesis and therefore recovery of a light response. The basal GC activity was 36 times higher in cones than in rods: It was mainly caused by higher expression levels of GC in cones (GC-C) than in rods (GC-R). With identification and quantification of GC-activating protein (GCAP) subtypes expressed in rods and cones together with determination of kinetic parameters of GC activation in the presence and absence of GCAP, we estimated the in situ GC activity in rods and cones at low and high Ca
2+
concentrations. It was revealed that the GC activity would be >10 times higher in cones than in rods in both the dark-adapted and the light-adapted states. Electrophysiological estimation of the GC activity measured in the truncated preparations of rod and cone outer segments gave consistent results. Our estimation of the in situ GC activity reasonably explained the rapid recovery and nonsaturating behavior of cone light responses.
eIF4A controls germline stem cell self-renewal by directly inhibiting BAM function in the
Drosophila
ovary
Authors: Shen Run , Weng Changjiang , Yu Junjing , Xie Ting
Published: June 2009

Stem cell self-renewal is controlled by concerted actions of extrinsic niche signals and intrinsic factors in a variety of systems.
Drosophila
ovarian germline stem cells (GSCs) have been one of the most productive systems for identifying the factors controlling self-renewal. The differentiation factor BAM is necessary and sufficient for GSC differentiation, but it still remains expressed in GSCs at low levels. However, it is unclear how its function is repressed in GSCs to maintain self-renewal. Here, we report the identification of the translation initiation factor eIF4A for its essential role in self-renewal by directly inactivating BAM function. eIF4A can physically interact with BAM in
Drosophila
S2 cells and yeast cells.
eIF4A
exhibits dosage-specific interactions with
bam
in the regulation of GSC differentiation. It is required intrinsically for controlling GSC self-renewal and proliferation but not survival. In addition, it is required for maintaining E-cadherin expression but not BMP signaling activity. Furthermore, BAM and BGCN together repress translation of E-cadherin through its 3′ UTR in S2 cells. Therefore, we propose that BAM functions as a translation repressor by interfering with translation initiation and eIF4A maintains self-renewal by inhibiting BAM function and promoting E-cadherin expression.
Independent component analysis for brain fMRI does not select for independence
Authors: Daubechies I. , Roussos E. , Takerkart S. , Benharrosh M. , Golden C. , D'Ardenne K. , Richter W. , Cohen J. D. , Haxby J.
Published: June 2009

InfoMax and FastICA are the independent component analysis algorithms most used and apparently most effective for brain fMRI. We show that this is linked to their ability to handle effectively sparse components rather than independent components as such. The mathematical design of better analysis tools for brain fMRI should thus emphasize other mathematical characteristics than independence.
BCL6 suppression of BCL2 via Miz1 and its disruption in diffuse large B cell lymphoma
Authors: Saito Masumichi , Novak Urban , Piovan Erich , Basso Katia , Sumazin Pavel , Schneider Christof , Crespo Marta , Shen Qiong , Bhagat Govind , Califano Andrea , Chadburn Amy , Pasqualucci Laura , Dalla-Favera Riccardo
Published: June 2009

The BCL6 proto-oncogene encodes a transcriptional repressor that is required for germinal center (GC) formation and whose deregulation by genomic lesions is implicated in the pathogenesis of GC-derived diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and, less frequently, follicular lymphoma (FL). The biological function of BCL6 is only partially understood because no more than a few genes have been functionally characterized as direct targets of BCL6 transrepression activity. Here we report that the anti-apoptotic proto-oncogene BCL2 is a direct target of BCL6 in GC B cells. BCL6 binds to the BCL2 promoter region by interacting with the transcriptional activator Miz1 and suppresses Miz1-induced activation of BCL2 expression. BCL6-mediated suppression of BCL2 is lost in FL and DLBCL, where the 2 proteins are pathologically coexpressed, because of BCL2 chromosomal translocations and other mechanisms, including Miz1 deregulation and somatic mutations in the BCL2 promoter region. These results identify an important function for BCL6 in facilitating apoptosis of GC B cells via suppression of BCL2, and suggest that blocking this pathway is critical for lymphomagenesis.
Influence of highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) on risk factors for vertical HIV transmission
Authors: GARCIA‐TEJEDOR AMPARO , MAIQUES VICENTE , PERALES ALFREDO , LÓPEZ‐ALDEGUER JOSE
Published: June 2009

Objective. To analyze the influence of highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) on risk factors for perinatal transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Design. A prospective cohort study was performed between HIV pregnant women under HAART therapy and without treatment. Setting. The maternity hospital ‘La Fe’ in Valencia, Spain. Population or sample. Five hundred HIV‐positive pregnant women. Method. Known maternal and obstetrical perinatal risk factors were analyzed by univariate and multivariate methods (logistic regression). The influence of HAART on the risk factors was evaluated independently to determine whether there was a modulation in perinatal HIV transmission. Main outcome measures. Known perinatal risk factors were found not to have any significant influence on perinatal HIV transmission in women under HAART therapy. Results. Vertical transmission risk decreased significantly from 18.2% without treatment to 8.6% with mono/dual therapy and 0.6% with HAART. A CD4+ cell count below 500 cell/μl, intrapartum use of invasive procedures, rupture of membranes >six hours, labor length >five hours, and birthweight were the significant risk factors associated to vertical HIV transmission and elective cesarean section. Antiretroviral treatment administered during delivery was a protective factor in HIV pregnant women before HAART therapy. Conclusions. HAART therapy reduces the influence of the perinatal risk factors on vertical HIV transmission.
Regional Campus Success: Strategies for Psychology Faculty
Authors: Poling Devereaux A. , LoSchiavo Frank M. , Shatz Mark A.
Published: June 2009

Psychology professors on regional campuses play a vital role in higher education yet find themselves unrepresented in the vast literature on professional development. Regional campuses operate under unique parameters that set them apart from other academic environments, such as main campuses, liberal arts colleges, and 2-year institutions. Job success and satisfaction on a regional campus depend partly on the psychology faculty member's ability to adjust to a set of distinct challenges. We describe these challenges as they specifically relate to psychology faculty and outline several strategies for thriving on a regional campus.
Connecting with Struggling Students to Improve Performance in Large Classes
Authors: Isbell Linda M. , Cote Nicole Gilbert
Published: June 2009

In large classes, students' feelings of anonymity and interpersonal distance from the instructor can be particularly detrimental to those who struggle with course material. We tested a simple method for connecting with struggling students to improve their performance. We randomly divided students who scored 75% or lower on the first exam into 2 groups. Students in one group received a personalized e-mail message expressing our concern and providing information about course resources. Students in the other group served as a no-e-mail control. Those who received the message performed better on the second exam than those who did not. We discuss possible explanations for our findings and question whether multiple e-mails might enhance performance more consistently.
The Effect of Refuting Misconceptions in the Introductory Psychology Class
Authors: Kowalski Patricia , Taylor Annette Kujawski
Published: June 2009

Students often come into the introductory psychology course with many misconceptions and leave with most of them intact. Borrowing from other disciplines, we set out to determine whether refutational lecture and text are effective in dispelling student misconceptions. These approaches first activate a misconception and then immediately counter it with correct information. We tested students' knowledge of 45 common misconceptions and then taught the course with lecture and readings of a refutational or standard format or did not cover the information at all. Students showed significant changes in their beliefs when we used refutational approaches, suggesting refutational pedagogies are best for changing students' misconceptions.
Life story research: A relevant methodology for counsellors and psychotherapists
Authors: Etherington Kim
Published: June 2009

Aims: This paper introduces, describes and proposes life story research as an important, relevant and appropriate contribution to counselling and psychotherapy research. It shows how narrative knowledge is created and constructed through the stories people tell about their lived experiences and explores the concept of ‘narrative knowing’ (Bruner, 1986). Methods: Drawing on life story research with people who linked their history of problematic drug use with experiences of historic trauma/abuse, the paper contributes to the ongoing discussion related to the similarities/differences between therapy and research and what we might learn from each that informs the other. Implications for practice: The paper offers narrative ideas and practices as ways of researching matters of social and psychological importance. It suggests that therapists (and counselling researchers) could learn from what participants tell us about the therapeutic value of using life story methods which one participant described as helping him to face ‘out into the world, without unduly or specifically delving into, or focusing on [my] emotional state’. This learning may be particularly relevant for therapists working with traumatised clients.
Teaching quality and student satisfaction: nexus or simulacrum?
Authors: Beecham Rod
Published: June 2009

Quality has clear meanings when associated with specific phenomena. The relative nature of quality in commercial contexts, specifically in relation to manufactured goods, has been studied. In service industries there is no satisfactory indicator of quality. The Likert-scale questionnaire
does not allow the researcher to distinguish between spontaneous and constructed responses. The penetration of the premises of human capital theory and services marketing theory in the higher education sector has introduced inapplicable assumptions about and instruments of quality control.
A study of one Australian university's re-definition of itself as a market-oriented institution suggests that long-standing criticisms of the use of student questionnaires as a measure of teaching quality are well-founded.
Saving the teacher's soul: exorcising the terrors of performativity
Authors: Meng Jude Chua Soo
Published: June 2009

In this paper I frame the totalizing dominance of performativity in educational arenas in terms of its effects on professional thinking and attitudes. The problem is that the education professional's cognition ends up artificially obsessed with defined performance indicators and closed
by default to the fluidity that should accompany reflective design practice. To mitigate this state of affairs, I propose that educators be encouraged to playfully consider non-performative goals, and that institutions can even welcome insincere or experimental consideration of non-performative
educational goals. Such solutions may also correct excessively performative cultures outside educational contexts.
Adopting consumer time: potential issues for higher education
Authors: Gibbs Paul
Published: June 2009

Time and temporality have received little attention in the consumerism, marketing or, until recently, higher education literature. This paper attempts to compare the notions of timing implicit in education as paideia (transitional personal growth) with that implicit in consumerism
and the marketing practices which foster it. This investigation uses Heidegger's three notions of being and their corresponding concepts of time to understand the phenomena of education and consumerism. It suggests that the consumerist notion of time can changes what higher education might
be through how individuals understand their being. In my conceptual discussion I challenge higher education to resist its being temporalized by consumerism.
Stable commutator length is rational in free groups
Authors: Calegari Danny
Published: June 2009

For any group, there is a natural (pseudo-)norm on the vector spaceB1HB_1^Hof real homogenized (group)11-boundaries, called thestable commutator lengthnorm. This norm is closely related to, and can be thought of as a relative version of, the Gromov (pseudo)-norm on (ordinary) homology. We show that for a free group, the unit ball of this pseudo-norm is a rational polyhedron.

It follows that the stable commutator length in free groups takes on only rational values. Moreover every element of the commutator subgroup of a free group rationally bounds an injective map of a surface group.

The proof of these facts yields an algorithm to compute the stable commutator length in free groups. Using this algorithm, we answer a well-known question of Bavard in the negative, constructing explicit examples of elements in free groups whose stable commutator length is not a half-integer.
On 𝑃-orderings, rings of integer-valued polynomials, and ultrametric analysis
Authors: Bhargava Manjul
Published: June 2009

We introduce two new notions of “

P
P

-ordering” and use them to define a three-parameter generalization of the usual factorial function. We then apply these notions of

P
P

-orderings and factorials to some classical problems in two distinct areas, namely: 1) the study of integer-valued polynomials and 2)

P
P

-adic analysis.

Specifically, we first use these notions of

P
P

-orderings and factorials to construct explicit Pólya-style regular bases for two natural families of rings of integer-valued polynomials defined on an arbitrary subset of a Dedekind domain.

Second, we classify “smooth” functions on an arbitrary compact subset

S
S

of a local field, by constructing explicit interpolation series (i.e., orthonormal bases) for the Banach space of functions on

S
S

satisfying any desired conditions of continuous differentiability or local analyticity. Our constructions thus extend Mahler’s Theorem (classifying the functions that are continuous on

Z

p

\mathbb {Z}_p

) to a very general setting. In particular, our constructions prove that, for any

ϵ
>
0

\epsilon >0

, the functions in any of the above Banach spaces can be

ϵ
\epsilon

-approximated by polynomials (with respect to their respective Banach norms). Thus we obtain the non-Archimedean analogues of the classical polynomial approximation theorems in real and complex analysis proven by Weierstrass, de la Vallée-Poussin, and Bernstein. Our proofs are effective.
Minimum volume cusped hyperbolic three-manifolds
Authors: Gabai David , Meyerhoff Robert , Milley Peter
Published: June 2009

This paper is the second in a series whose goal is to understand the structure of low-volume complete orientable hyperbolic

3
3

-manifolds. Using Mom technology, we prove that any one-cusped hyperbolic

3
3

-manifold with volume

≤
2.848

\le 2.848

can be obtained by a Dehn filling on one of

21
21

cusped hyperbolic

3
3

-manifolds. We also show how this result can be used to construct a complete list of all one-cusped hyperbolic

3
3

-manifolds with volume

≤
2.848

\le 2.848

and all closed hyperbolic

3
3

-manifolds with volume

≤
0.943

\le 0.943

. In particular, the Weeks manifold is the unique smallest volume closed orientable hyperbolic

3
3

-manifold.
Schubert calculus and representations of the general linear group
Authors: Mukhin E. , Tarasov V. , Varchenko A.
Published: June 2009

We construct a canonical isomorphism between the Bethe algebra acting on a multiplicity space of a tensor product of evaluationglN[t]\mathfrak {gl}_N[t]-modules and the scheme-theoretic intersection of suitable Schubert varieties. Moreover, we prove that the multiplicity space as a module over the Bethe algebra is isomorphic to the coregular representation of the scheme-theoretic intersection.

In particular, this result implies the simplicity of the spectrum of the Bethe algebra for real values of evaluation parameters and the transversality of the intersection of the corresponding Schubert varieties.