About Face: A Perspective on Civilian Military Relations through the Lens of the Principal-Agent Theory

- 55 - About Face: A Perspective of Civil-Military Relations through the Lens of Principal-Agent Theory Randall D. Swain Eastern Kentucky University This essay uses the principal-agent theory to offer a framework for explaining shirking tendencies by the U.S. military in civil-military relations. Through the lens of the framework presented here, the principal-agent theory explains why shirking tendencies by the U.S. military is more likely to occur when a Republican occupies the White House, than when it is occupied by a Democrat. Besides providing a framework for conceptualizing civil-military relations, the importance of this work lies in the manner in which the principal-agent theory is applied. While the majority of inquiries into principal-agent theory focuses on executive control of bureaucratic agencies that have domestic policy agendas, this is one of the few—if any—that uses principal-agent theory to examine executive control of an agency (the U.S. Military) that has a foreign policy related agenda

CP Violation Studies at Tevatron

We present an overview of a few recent results related to CP-violation from the Tevatron. First, we discuss a measurement of the dimuon charge asymmetry from D{\O}that extracts the CP-violation parameter of \Bo mixing and decay. This is followed by the CDF measurement of the CP-violating asymmetry in \bdkpi decays. Finally we give the CDF result on the ratio $R = \frac{BR(B \to D^0 K)}{BR(B \to D^0 \pi)}$Comment: 4 pages. Talk given at BEACH 2006, Lancaster, Englan

Newly generated CD4 T cells in aged animals do not exhibit age-related defects in response to antigen

Using a T cell receptor transgenic (TCR Tg) mouse model, we have shown that TCR Tg CD4 cells from aged mice retain a naive phenotype, but exhibit reduced proliferation and IL-2 production in response to the antigen compared with cells from young mice. We hypothesize that age-related decreases in T cell function may be partly related to the age of the T cells. Because thymic output is decreased with age, peripheral T cells in older individuals are likely to be older than those in younger individuals. To investigate this possibility, we have manipulated the age of CD4 T cells in the periphery of young and aged mice. The production of new T cells was induced by depleting peripheral CD4 T cells or by creating bone marrow chimeras. In both young and aged individuals where we induced the production of new T cells, these newly generated cells exhibited robust responses to antigen ex vivo and in vivo, exhibiting good expansion, IL-2 production, and cognate helper function. Our results suggest that age-related defects in response to antigenic stimulation, in part, are caused by the age of the CD4 T cells

The Biological Outcome of CD40 Signaling Is Dependent on the Duration of CD40 Ligand Expression: Reciprocal Regulation by Interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-12

CD40 ligand (CD154) expression on activated T cells can be separated into an early TCR-dependent phase, which occurs between 0 and 24 h after activation, and a later extended phase, which occurs after 24 h and is reciprocally regulated by the cytokines IL-4 and IL-12. IL-4 represses, whereas IL-12 sustains CD154 expression. Consistent with this, Th1, but not Th2, cells express CD154 for extended periods. Differences in the duration of CD154 expression have important biological consequences because sustained, but not transient, expression of CD154 on activated T cells can prevent B cell terminal differentiation. Thus, the differential ability of Th cells to sustain CD154 expression is an important part of their helper function and should influence the activities of other CD40-expressing cell types

Uneven Distribution of MHC Class II Epitopes within the Influenza Virus

The identification of T cell epitopes is crucial for the understanding of the host immune response during infection. While much is known about the MHC class I-restricted response following influenza virus infection of C57BL/6 mice, with over 16 CD8 epitopes identified to date, less is known about the MHC class II-restricted response. Currently, only a few I-Ab-restricted T helper epitopes have been identified. Therefore, several important questions remain about how many class II epitopes exist in this system and whether these epitopes are evenly distributed within the most abundant viral proteins. In order to address these questions, we analyzed the repertoire of epitopes that drive the CD4b T cell response to influenza virus infection in C57BL/6 (H-2b) mice. Using a panel of overlapping peptides from each of the viral proteins we show that approximately 20–30 epitopes drive the CD4 T cell response and that the majority of these peptides are derived from the NP and HA proteins. We were also able to demonstrate that vaccination with one of the newly identified epitopes, HA211–225/Ab, resulted in increased epitope-specific T cell numbers and a significant reduction in viral titers following influenza virus challenge

Uneven Distribution of MHC Class II Epitopes within the Influenza Virus

The identification of T cell epitopes is crucial for the understanding of the host immune response during infection. While much is known about the MHC class I-restricted response following influenza virus infection of C57BL/6 mice, with over 16 CD8 epitopes identified to date, less is known about the MHC class II-restricted response. Currently, only a few I-Ab-restricted T helper epitopes have been identified. Therefore, several important questions remain about how many class II epitopes exist in this system and whether these epitopes are evenly distributed within the most abundant viral proteins. In order to address these questions, we analyzed the repertoire of epitopes that drive the CD4b T cell response to influenza virus infection in C57BL/6 (H-2b) mice. Using a panel of overlapping peptides from each of the viral proteins we show that approximately 20–30 epitopes drive the CD4 T cell response and that the majority of these peptides are derived from the NP and HA proteins. We were also able to demonstrate that vaccination with one of the newly identified epitopes, HA211–225/Ab, resulted in increased epitope-specific T cell numbers and a significant reduction in viral titers following influenza virus challenge

Echoes of the fifth dimension?

In this article we examine the question of whether the highest energy cosmic ray primaries could be ultra relativistic magnetic monopoles. The analysis is performed within the framework of large compact dimensions and TeV scale quantum gravity. Our study indicates that while this hypothesis must be regarded as highly speculative it cannot be ruled out with present data.Comment: Revised version accepted for publication in Physical Review D. The bibliography has been considerably reduced for the journal version due to limited spac

Extensive air showers with TeV-scale quantum gravity

One of the possible consequences of the existence of extra degrees of freedom beyond the electroweak scale is the increase of neutrino-nucleon cross sections ($\sigma_{\nu N}$) beyond Standard Model predictions. At ultra-high energies this may allow the existence of neutrino-initiated extensive air showers. In this paper, we examine the most relevant observables of such showers. Our analysis indicates that the future Pierre Auger Observatory could be potentially powerful in probing models with large compact dimensions.Comment: 7 pages revtex, 5 eps fig

Subtype-Selective Small Molecule Inhibitors Reveal a Fundamental Role for Nav1.7 in Nociceptor Electrogenesis, Axonal Conduction and Presynaptic Release.

Human genetic studies show that the voltage gated sodium channel 1.7 (Nav1.7) is a key molecular determinant of pain sensation. However, defining the Nav1.7 contribution to nociceptive signalling has been hampered by a lack of selective inhibitors. Here we report two potent and selective arylsulfonamide Nav1.7 inhibitors; PF-05198007 and PF-05089771, which we have used to directly interrogate Nav1.7's role in nociceptor physiology. We report that Nav1.7 is the predominant functional TTX-sensitive Nav in mouse and human nociceptors and contributes to the initiation and the upstroke phase of the nociceptor action potential. Moreover, we confirm a role for Nav1.7 in influencing synaptic transmission in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord as well as peripheral neuropeptide release in the skin. These findings demonstrate multiple contributions of Nav1.7 to nociceptor signalling and shed new light on the relative functional contribution of this channel to peripheral and central noxious signal transmission.The funder provided support in the form of salaries for authors [AA, AB, MC, JT, MM, AW, EP, AG, PJC, RD, DP, ZL, BM, CW, NS, RS, PS, NC, DK, RB, ES], but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section

Inducible Bronchus-Associated Lymphoid Tissue Elicited by a Protein Cage Nanoparticle Enhances Protectionin Mice against Diverse Respiratory Viruses

Destruction of the architectural and subsequently the functional integrity of the lung following pulmonary viral infections is attributable to both the extent of pathogen replication and to the host-generated inflammation associated with the recruitment of immune responses. The presence of antigenically disparate pulmonary viruses and the emergence of novel viruses assures the recurrence of lung damage with infection and resolution of each primary viral infection. Thus, there is a need to develop safe broad spectrum immunoprophylactic strategies capable of enhancing protective immune responses in the lung but which limits immune-mediated lung damage. The immunoprophylactic strategy described here utilizes a protein cage nanoparticle (PCN) to significantly accelerate clearance of diverse respiratory viruses after primary infection and also results in a host immune response that causes less lung damage