Energy Policy: A Test for Federalism

This Article will examine the bases of state and federal power, exploring areas of both potential and existing conflict within the energy field. Situations in which either the state or federal government appears to have exclusive authority also will be scrutinized. Possible answers to problems caused by the clashing of governmental interests will be suggested, with an eye toward aiding policymakers to reach agreements which may avert such conflicts. Finally, a prognosis of the future of federalism in regard to the energy issue will be offered

Geographical trends in research: a preliminary analysis on authors' affiliations

In the last decade, research literature reached an enormous volume with an unprecedented current annual increase of 1.5 million new publications. As research gets ever more global and new countries and institutions, either from academia or corporate environment, start to contribute with their share, it is important to monitor this complex scenario and understand its dynamics. We present a study on a conference proceedings dataset extracted from Springer Nature Scigraph that illustrates insightful geographical trends and highlights the unbalanced growth of competitive research institutions worldwide. Results emerged from our micro and macro analysis show that the distributions among countries of institutions and papers follow a power law, and thus very few countries keep producing most of the papers accepted by high-tier conferences. In addition, we found that the annual and overall turnover rate of the top 5, 10 and 25 countries is extremely low, suggesting a very static landscape in which new entries struggle to emerge. Finally, we highlight the presence of an increasing gap between the number of institutions initiating and overseeing research endeavours (i.e. first and last authors' affiliations) and the total number of institutions participating in research. As a consequence of our analysis, the paper also discusses our experience in working with affiliations: an utterly simple matter at first glance, that is instead revealed to be a complex research and technical challenge yet far from being solved

Autophagy prevents early proinflammatory responses and neutrophil recruitment during Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection without affecting pathogen burden in macrophages

The immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection determines tuberculosis disease outcomes, yet we have an incomplete understanding of what immune factors contribute to a protective immune response. Neutrophilic inflammation has been associated with poor disease prognosis in humans and in animal models during M. tuberculosis infection and, therefore, must be tightly regulated. ATG5 is an essential autophagy protein that is required in innate immune cells to control neutrophil-dominated inflammation and promote survival during M. tuberculosis infection; however, the mechanistic basis for how ATG5 regulates neutrophil recruitment is unknown. To interrogate what innate immune cells require ATG5 to control neutrophil recruitment during M. tuberculosis infection, we used different mouse strains that conditionally delete Atg5 in specific cell types. We found that ATG5 is required in CD11c+ cells (lung macrophages and dendritic cells) to control the production of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines during M. tuberculosis infection, which would otherwise promote neutrophil recruitment. This role for ATG5 is autophagy dependent, but independent of mitophagy, LC3-associated phagocytosis, and inflammasome activation, which are the most well-characterized ways that autophagy proteins regulate inflammation. In addition to the increased proinflammatory cytokine production from macrophages during M. tuberculosis infection, loss of ATG5 in innate immune cells also results in an early induction of TH17 responses. Despite prior published in vitro cell culture experiments supporting a role for autophagy in controlling M. tuberculosis replication in macrophages, the effects of autophagy on inflammatory responses occur without changes in M. tuberculosis burden in macrophages. These findings reveal new roles for autophagy proteins in lung resident macrophages and dendritic cells that are required to suppress inflammatory responses that are associated with poor control of M. tuberculosis infection

Northern Monterey Bay upwelling shadow front : observations of a coastally and surface-trapped buoyant plume

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2009. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 114 (2009): C12013, doi:10.1029/2009JC005623.During the upwelling season in central California, northwesterly winds along the coast produce a strong upwelling jet that originates at Point Año Nuevo and flows southward across the mouth of Monterey Bay. A convergent front with a mean temperature change of 3.77 ± 0.29°C develops between the warm interior waters and the cold offshore upwelling jet. To examine the forcing mechanisms driving the location and movement of the upwelling shadow front and its effects on biological communities in northern Monterey Bay, oceanographic conditions were monitored using cross-shelf mooring arrays, drifters, and hydrographic surveys along a 20 km stretch of coast extending northwestward from Santa Cruz, California, during the upwelling season of 2007 (May–September). The alongshore location of the upwelling shadow front at the northern edge of the bay was driven by: regional wind forcing, through an alongshore pressure gradient; buoyancy forces due to the temperature change across the front; and local wind forcing (the diurnal sea breeze). The upwelling shadow front behaved as a surface-trapped buoyant current, which is superimposed on a poleward barotropic current, moving up and down the coast up to several kilometers each day. We surmise that the front is advected poleward by a preexisting northward barotropic current of 0.10 m s−1 that arises due to an alongshore pressure gradient caused by focused upwelling at Point Año Nuevo. The frontal circulation (onshore surface currents) breaks the typical two-dimensional wind-driven, cross-shelf circulation (offshore surface currents) and introduces another way for water, and the material it contains (e.g., pollutants, larvae), to go across the shelf toward shore.Funded primarily by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation

Plasma Dynamics

Contains reports on three research projects.National Science Foundation (Grant G-9330)United States Air Force, Air Force Cambridge Research Center (Contract AF19(604)-5992)United States ArmyUnited States Air Force (Contract AF19(604)-7400)Lincoln Laboratory (Purchase Order B-00306)Flight Accessories Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WADD Contract AF33(616)-7624)United States Air Force, Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories (Contract AF19(604)-4551)United States NavyUnited States Atomic Energy Commission (Contract AT(30-1)-1842

Chedoke Arm and Hand Activity Inventory-9 (CAHAI-9): Perceived clinical utility within 14 days of stroke

Purpose: The Chedoke Arm and Hand Activity Inventory-9 (CAHAI-9) is an activity-based assessment developed to include relevant functional tasks and to be sensitive to clinically important changes in upper limb function. The aim of this study was to explore both therapists' and clients' views on the clinical utility of CAHAI-9 within 14 days of stroke. Method: Twenty-one occupational therapists actively working in stroke settings were recruited by convenience sampling from 8 hospitals and participated in semistructured focus groups. Five clients within 14 days of stroke were recruited by consecutive sampling from 1 metropolitan hospital and participated in structured individual interviews. The transcripts were analyzed thematically. Results: Six themes emerged from the focus groups and interviews: collecting information, decisions regarding client suitability, administration and scoring, organizational demands, raising awareness, and clients' perceptions of CAHAI-9 utility. All therapists agreed CAHAI-9 was suited for the stroke population and assisted identification of client abilities or difficulties within functional contexts. Opinions varied as to whether CAHAI-9 should be routinely administered with clients who had mild and severe upper limb deficits, but therapists agreed it was appropriate for clients with moderate deficits. Therapists made suggestions regarding refinement of the scoring and training to increase utility. All clients with stroke felt that the assessment provided reassurance regarding their recovery. Conclusion: The findings indicate that CAHAI-9 shows promise as an upper limb ability assessment for clients within 14 days of stroke

Plasma Dynamics

Contains reports on three research projects.Wright Air Development Division (Contract AF33(616)-3984)United States Atomic Energy Commission (Contract AT(30-1)-1842)National Science Foundation (Grant G-9330)United States Air Force, Air Force Cambridge Research Center (Contract AF19(604)-4551)United States Air Force, Air Force Cambridge Research Center, Air Research and Development Command (Contract AF19(604)-5992

Plasma Magnetohydrodynamics and Energy Conversion

Contains reports on eight research projects.National Science Foundation (Grant G-24073)United States Air Force, Aeronautical Systems Division, Aeronautical Accessories Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (Contract AF33(616)-7624)United States Air Force, Office of Scientific Research of the Office of Aerospace Research (Research Grant No. 62-308