Expert Report of Thomas J. Sugrue

At the end of the twentieth century, the United States is a remarkably diverse society. It grows more diverse by the day, transformed by an enormous influx of immigrants from Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia. In an increasingly global economy, Americans are coming into contact with others of different cultures to an extent seen only in times of world war. Yet amidst this diversity remains great division. When the young black academic W.E.B. DuBois looked out onto America in 1903, he memorably proclaimed that the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line. Over the last one hundred years, that color line has shifted but not disappeared. The brutal regime of Jim Crow and lynching was vanquished by a remarkable grassroots movement for racial equality and civil rights. Overt expressions of racism are less common than they were a half century ago. Many nonwhite Americans, among them African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans, are better off than their forbears. Despite all of the gains of the past century, however, the burden of history still weighs heavily. Color lines still divide and separate Americans. Many Americans have managed diversity by avoiding it-by retreating into separate communities walled off by ignorance and distrust. In American public and private life, there are far too few opportunities to cross racial and ethnic barriers, to understand and appreciate differences, to learn from diversity rather than use it as an excuse for reproach and recrimination

An experimental study of bubble departure diameter in subcooled flow boiling including the effects of orientation angle, subcooling, mass flux, heat flux, and pressure

The effects of orientation angle, subcooling, heat flux, mass flux, and pressure on bubble departure diameter in the isolated bubble regime of subcooled flow boiling were studied by high-speed video in a two-phase flow loop that can accommodate a wide range of flow conditions. Specifically, the following ranges were explored: orientation angles of 0° (downward-facing horizontal), 30°, 45°, 60°, 90° (vertical), and 180° (upward-facing horizontal); mass flux values of 250, 300, 350, and 400 kg/m2 s, corresponding to Froude numbers between 0.42 and 1.06; pressures of 101 (atmospheric), 202, and 505 kPa; two values of the subcooling degrees (10 and 20 °C); and two heat fluxes (0.05 and 0.10 MW/m2). The combination of the test section design, high-speed video camera and LED lighting results in high accuracy (order of 20 μm) in the determination of the bubble departure diameter. The data indicate that the bubble departure diameter increases with increasing heat flux, decreasing mass flux, decreasing subcooling, and decreasing pressure. Also, the bubble departure diameter increases with decreasing orientation angle, i.e. the largest bubbles are found to detach from a downward-facing horizontal surface. The mechanistic bubble departure diameter model of Klausner et al. and its recent modification by Yun et al. were found to correctly predict all the observed parametric trends, but with large average errors and standard deviation: 65.5 ± 75.8% for Klausner's and 37.9 ± 51.2% for Yun's. Since the cube of the bubble departure diameter is used in subcooled flow boiling heat transfer models, such large errors are clearly unacceptable, and underscore the need for more accurate bubble departure diameter models.Douglas C. Spreng FundNuclear Energy Institut

Evidence for a biphasic mode of respiratory syncytial virus transmission in permissive HEp2 cell monolayers

Distribution of the M2-1, P, N, SH, F M and G proteins in the infected cell clusters. (A) HEp2 cell monolayers were infected with RSV using an multiplicity of infection of 0.0002 and at 2 days post-infection (dpi) the cells were fixed and stained using either anti-M2-1, anti-P, anti-N, anti-SH, anti-F, anti-M or anti-G and stained cells were then viewed using fluorescence microscopy (objective x20). (B) An infected cells cluster examined at higher magnification (objective x40 magnification) or (objective x100 magnification). The infected cell clusters (long white arrows) are indicated. Inset, an enlarged imaged where virus filaments (short white arrows) are highlighted. (TIF 1152 kb

Neural computations underlying action-based decision making in the human brain

Action-based decision making involves choices between different physical actions to obtain rewards. To make such decisions the brain needs to assign a value to each action and then compare them to make a choice. Using fMRI in human subjects, we found evidence for action-value signals in supplementary motor cortex. Separate brain regions, most prominently ventromedial prefrontal cortex, were involved in encoding the expected value of the action that was ultimately taken. These findings differentiate two main forms of value signals in the human brain: those relating to the value of each available action, likely reflecting signals that are a precursor of choice, and those corresponding to the expected value of the action that is subsequently chosen, and therefore reflecting the consequence of the decision process. Furthermore, we also found signals in the dorsomedial frontal cortex that resemble the output of a decision comparator, which implicates this region in the computation of the decision itself

Revisiting M&M with Taxes: An Alternative Equilibrating Process

Modigliani and Miller present an equity-quantity shifting equilibrating process to achieve an optimal firm value in the presence of corporate taxes. However, in the era in which they derived their various propositions regarding the relation between a firm’s value and its capital structure, well-capitalized takeover specialists including private equity firms and sovereign funds did not exist, at least by today’s standards. In this paper we develop a simple arbitrage strategy, made viable by the presence of takeover firms, which presents an alternative equilibrating process to achieve the same optimal firm value. This alternative process is markedly different from that of the Modigliani and Miller theorem in terms of its predictions for debt use and restores the prospect of capital structure irrelevancy despite the existence of corporate taxes

Immunocytochemical localization of the neuron-specific form of the c-src gene product, pp60c-src(+), in rat brain

Neurons express high levels of a variant form of the c-src gene product, denoted pp60c-src(+), which contains a 6 amino acid insert in the amino-terminal half of the c-src protein. We have determined the localization of pp60c-src(+) in neurons using an affinity-purified anti-peptide antibody, referred to as affi-SB12, that exclusively recognizes this neuron-specific form of the c-src gene product. Using affi-SB12, we examined the distribution of pp60c-src(+) by immunoperoxidase staining of sections through adult rat brains, pp60c-src(+) was widely distributed in rat brain and appeared to be differentially expressed in subpopulations of neurons. The majority of immunoreactive neurons was found in the mesencephalon, cerebellum, pons, and medulla. Telencephalic structures that contained substantial populations of pp60c-src(+)-immunoreactive neurons included layer V of the cerebral cortex and the ventral pallidum. Within individual neurons, pp60c-src(+) immunoreactivity was localized to the cell soma and dendritic processes, while labeling of axons and nerve terminals (puncta) was not as readily detected. Dense accumulations of immunoreactive axons were rare, being most prominent in portions of the inferior and superior olive, and in the spinal trigeminal nucleus. While the regional distribution of pp60c-src(+) immunoreactivity does not correlate with any specific neuronal cell type or first messenger system, this unique pattern of expression of pp60c-src(+) suggests the existence of a previously uncharacterized functional organization within the brain. Furthermore, the localization of this neuron-specific tyrosine kinase in functionally important areas of the nerve cell, namely, dendritic processes, axons, and nerve terminals, suggests that pp60c-src(+) may regulate pleiotropic functions in specific classes of neurons in the adult central nervous system

Whole genome characterization of non-tissue culture adapted HRSV strains in severely infected children

BACKGROUND: Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) is the most important virus causing lower respiratory infection in young children. The complete genetic characterization of RSV clinical strains is a prerequisite for understanding HRSV infection in the clinical context. Current information about the genetic structure of the HRSV genome has largely been obtained using tissue culture adapted viruses. During tissue culture adaptation genetic changes can be introduced into the virus genome, which may obscure subtle variations in the genetic structure of different RSV strains. METHODS: In this study we describe a novel Sanger sequencing strategy which allowed the complete genetic characterisation of 14 clinical HRSV strains. The viruses were sequenced directly in the nasal washes of severely hospitalized children, and without prior passage of the viruses in tissue culture. RESULTS: The analysis of nucleotide sequences suggested that vRNA length is a variable factor among primary strains, while the phylogenetic analysis suggests selective pressure for change. The G gene showed the greatest sequence variation (2-6.4%), while small hydrophobic protein and matrix genes were completely conserved across all clinical strains studied. A number of sequence changes in the F, L, M2-1 and M2-2 genes were observed that have not been described in laboratory isolates. The gene junction regions showed more sequence variability, and in particular the intergenic regions showed a highest level of sequence variation. Although the clinical strains grew slower than the HRSVA2 virus isolate in tissue culture, the HRSVA2 isolate and clinical strains formed similar virus structures such as virus filaments and inclusion bodies in infected cells; supporting the clinical relevance of these virus structures. CONCLUSION: This is the first report to describe the complete genetic characterization of HRSV clinical strains that have been sequenced directly from clinical material. The presence of novel substitutions and deletions in the vRNA of clinical strains emphasize the importance of genomic characterization of non-tissue culture adapted primary strains