Play(ing) in the Pear Garden: Theater and the Makings of the Asian American Identity

The article is a brief recollection of Asian American theater in the twentieth century, concerning the playwrights, actors, directors, and productions that reflect the struggle of Asian American identity

Model-Based 3-D Reconstruction of Branching Vessels

This paper describes a new approach to the problem of reconstructing a 3-D arterial tree model from a few angiographic projections. We first develop a natural optimality criterion that defines the globally best reconstruction, and then outline an algorithm that maximizes this criterion. The criterion is a compromise between the conflicting goals of measurement likelihood and object smoothness. Our approach uses a parametric model for the arterial tree, with a new, more accurate model for bifurcations. The algorithm is demonstrated on simulated projections and on magnetic resonance (MR) images.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/85823/1/Fessler116.pd

Observations of High Energy Cosmic-Ray Electrons from 30 GeV to 3 TeV with Emulsion Chambers

We have performed a series of cosmic-ray electron observations using the balloon-borne emulsion chambers since 1968. While we previously reported the results from subsets of the exposures, the final results of the total exposures up to 2001 are presented here. Our successive experiments have yielded the total exposure of 8.19 m^2 sr day at the altitudes of 4.0 - 9.4 g/cm^2. The performance of the emulsion chambers was examined by accelerator beam tests and Monte-Carlo simulations, and the on-board calibrations were carried out by using the flight data. In this work we present the cosmic-ray electron spectrum in the energy range from 30 GeV to 3 TeV at the top of the atmosphere, which is well represented by a power-law function with an index of -3.28+-0.10. The observed data can be also interpreted in terms of diffusive propagation models. The evidence of cosmic-ray electrons up to 3 TeV suggests the existence of cosmic-ray electron sources at distances within ~1 kpc and times within ~1x10^5 yr ago.Comment: 38 pages, 10 figures, 3 tables, Accepted for publication in Ap

T cell avidity and tumor recognition: implications and therapeutic strategies

In the last two decades, great advances have been made studying the immune response to human tumors. The identification of protein antigens from cancer cells and better techniques for eliciting antigen specific T cell responses in vitro and in vivo have led to improved understanding of tumor recognition by T cells. Yet, much remains to be learned about the intricate details of T cell – tumor cell interactions. Though the strength of interaction between T cell and target is thought to be a key factor influencing the T cell response, investigations of T cell avidity, T cell receptor (TCR) affinity for peptide-MHC complex, and the recognition of peptide on antigen presenting targets or tumor cells reveal complex relationships. Coincident with these investigations, therapeutic strategies have been developed to enhance tumor recognition using antigens with altered peptide structures and T cells modified by the introduction of new antigen binding receptor molecules. The profound effects of these strategies on T cell – tumor interactions and the clinical implications of these effects are of interest to both scientists and clinicians. In recent years, the focus of much of our work has been the avidity and effector characteristics of tumor reactive T cells. Here we review concepts and current results in the field, and the implications of therapeutic strategies using altered antigens and altered effector T cells

Explosive Dome Eruptions Modulated by Periodic Gas-Driven Inflation

Volcan Santiaguito (Guatemala) “breathes” with extraordinary regularity as the edifice\u27s conduit system accumulates free gas, which periodically vents to the atmosphere. Periodic pressurization controls explosion timing, which nearly always occurs at peak inflation, as detected with tiltmeters. Tilt cycles in January 2012 reveal regular 26 ± 6 min inflation/deflation cycles corresponding to at least ~101 kg/s of gas fluxing the system. Very long period (VLP) earthquakes presage explosions and occur during cycles when inflation rates are most rapid. VLPs locate ~300 m below the vent and indicate mobilization of volatiles, which ascend at ~50 m/s. Rapid gas ascent feeds pyroclast-laden eruptions lasting several minutes and rising to ~1 km. VLPs are not observed during less rapid inflation episodes; instead, gas vents passively through the conduit producing no infrasound and no explosion. These observations intimate that steady gas exsolution and accumulation in shallow reservoirs may drive inflation cycles at open-vent silicic volcanoes

Scaling relations for seismic cycles on mid-ocean ridge transform faults

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 Geophysical Research Letters 36 (2009): L21301, doi:10.1029/2009GL040115.Mid-ocean ridge transform faults (RTFs) have thermal structures that vary systematically with tectonic parameters, resulting in predictable seismic characteristics and clear seismic cycles. We develop a scaling relation for repeat time, tR, of the largest expected earthquake, MC: tR = μ−1Δσ2/3CMc1/3AT1/4V−1, where μ is the shear modulus, Δσ is the stress drop, CMc is a constant, AT is the area above 600°C, and V is the slip rate. We identify repeating MC earthquakes by measuring differential arrival times of first orbit Rayleigh waves to determine centroid offsets between pairs of events. Comparing our observations of tR (5–14 years for earthquakes on Gofar and Blanco RTFs) with predictions from our scaling relation, we can constrain RTF stress drops. Specific tests of this scaling relation are proposed for earthquakes on Blanco, Gofar, Discovery, and Clipperton RTFs, which are all expected to have large ruptures in the next few years.JM was supported by the Deep Ocean Exploration Institute at WHOI. MB was supported by a Tyco Postdoctoral Fellowship and NOAA grant NA05NOS4001153 at UNH