Our Special Correspondent

Although the United States must think and deploy strategically in every hemisphere, it is here in its own that it confronts some of the greatest challenges to American peace and prosperity. Richly provided with energy, farmlands, potable water, and other natural resources, Latin Americans have nevertheless stumbled from one failed regime to another, often looking to fulfill the words of the real author of the Monroe Doctrine, John Quincy Ad- ams, who saw in 1823 a continent “stamped with arbitrary power and civil dissension,” far more likely to become “a domicile of despotism” than “a house of freedom.

Our Special Correspondent

In Frankfurt airport, I witnessed an unexpected phenomenon. The Iran Air flight that will carry me to Tehran is disgorging its Frankfurt-bound load of passengers, Iranians all. As they disembark, the women stop in the departure lounge to remove their hejabs—chador, rouposh, and head scarf—and brazenly comb out their hair before applying makeup to face and nails. Already I begin to doubt the severity of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Back- sliding like this in the early days of the revolution would have been punished by black-shirted “mor- als police.” When my outbound flight is called, dozens of homeward-bound women irritably unpack their hejabs and put them on

Chitosan Fibers Modified with HAp/β–TCP Nanoparticles

This paper describes a method for preparing chitosan fibers modified with hydroxyapatite (HAp), tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP), and HAp/β-TCP nanoparticles. Fiber-grade chitosan derived from the northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis) and nanoparticles of tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) and hydroxyapatite (HAp) suspended in a diluted chitosan solution were used in the investigation. Diluted chitosan solution containing nanoparticles of Hap/β-TCP was introduced to a 5.16 wt% solution of chitosan in 3.0 wt% acetic acid. The properties of the spinning solutions were examined. Chitosan fibers modified with nanoparticles of HAp/β-TCP were characterized by a level of tenacity and calcium content one hundred times higher than that of regular chitosan fibers

単分散オリゴエチレングリコールから構築した大環状両親媒性物質の合成と物性

要約のみTohoku University永次史課

The Influence of Women and Racial Minorities Under Panel Decision Making on the U.S. Court of Appeals

This paper assesses the impact of gender and race on judicial decisions on the federal Court of Appeals, paying particular attention to the institutional nuances of decision-making on three-judge appellate panels within circuits. Its central question is whether and how racial minority and women judges influence legal policy on issues thought to be of particular concern to women and minorities. Proper analysis of this question requires investigating whether women and minority judges influence the decisions of other panel members. The authors find that the norm of unanimity on panels grants women influence over outcomes even when they are outnumbered on a panel

Rapid label-free diagnostics for biomedical applications using advances in optics nanotechnology

Translational Medicine and Nanoscience PanelA new highly sensitive sensor technology has the potential to simplify medical diagnostic tests by significantly reducing operation complexity compared to standard tests such as enzyme-linked immunoassays. Sensor elements are fabricated from low-cost polymers and pre-sensitized to detect an array of agents related to the disease. These elements are disposable and designed to operate tag-free using patient samples without pre- or post-chemical processing. Picomolar concentrations for a wide variety of analytes, including proteins, drugs, bacteria, viruses, and DNA can be measured. Additionally, the sensor system design utilizes low-power laser diodes and detector arrays in a compact format allowing for enhanced portability. The heart of this new sensor technology is the guided-mode resonance (GMR) effect that occurs in sub-wavelength waveguide gratings. When these sensors are illuminated with a light source, a specific wavelength of light is reflected at a particular angle. Interaction of a target analyte with a biochemical layer on the sensor surface yields measurable angular shifts that directly identify the binding event without additional processing or foreign tags. Since the resonance layer is polarization sensitive, separate resonance peaks occur for incident polarization states. This property provides cross-referenced data points that can be used to calibrate for variations such as temperature or sample background and to reduce the probability of false readings

Guided-mode resonance biochip system for early detection of ovarian cancer

Biomedical Tissue Engineering, Biomaterials, & Medical Devices Poster SessionA high-accuracy, sensor system has been developed that provides near-instantaneous detection of biomarker proteins as indicators of ovarian serous papillary carcinoma. Based upon photonic guided-mode resonance technology, these high-resolution sensors employ multiple resonance peaks to rapidly test for relevant proteins in complex biological samples. This label-free sensor approach requires minimal sample processing and has the capability to measure multiple agents simultaneously and in real time. In this work, a sensor system that uses a fixed-wavelength source with a shaped input wavefront to auto-scan in angle has been developed. As binding events occur at the sensor surface, resonance reflection peak shifts are tracked as a function of incident angle on an integrated CMOS detector. The amount of angular shift is linearly correlated to the quantity of biomarker protein in a biological sample. Multiple resonance peaks provide increased detection information about the binding dynamics occurring at the sensor surface, thus decreasing false detection readings. Simultaneous detection of multiple biomarker proteins in parallel with sensitivities in the pM range contributes to the potential for differential real-time data analysis. A biochip system prototype has been developed and the system performance characterized. Identification and quantification of protein biomarkers that are up- or down- regulated in blood and serum as indicators of ovarian cancer will be presented