We consider the distribution of economic activity within a country in light of three leading theories—increasing returns, random growth, and locational fundamentals. To do so, we examine the distribution of regional population in Japan from the Stone Age to the modern era. We also consider the Allied bombing of Japanese cities in WWII as a shock to relative city sizes. Our results support a hyb...

We studied the prevalence of influenza A virus in wintering waterfowl from the Central Flyway on the Gulf Coast of Texas. Of 5,363 hunter-harvested migratory and resident waterfowl and wetland-associated game birds sampled during 3 consecutive hunting seasons (September-January 2006-07, 2007-08, and 2008-09), real-time reverse transcription-PCR detected influenza A matrix sequences in 8.5% of s...

We consider sets L = {`1, . . . , `n} of n labeled lines in general position in R, and study the order types of point sets {p1, . . . , pn} that stem from the intersections of the lines in L with (directed) planes Π, not parallel to any line of L, i.e., the proper cross-sections of L. As a main result we show that the number of different order types that can be obtained as cross-sections of L i...

Our understanding of the global ecology of avian influenza A viruses (AIVs) is impeded by historically low levels of viral surveillance in Latin America. Through sampling and whole-genome sequencing of 31 AIVs from wild birds in Peru, we identified 10 HA subtypes (H1-H4, H6-H7, H10-H13) and 8 NA subtypes (N1-N3, N5-N9). The majority of Peruvian AIVs were closely related to AIVs found in North A...

In this issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine, Gabriel et al. (1) report their experience with 68Ga-labeled 1,4,7,10tetraazacyclododecane-N,N9,N99,N999tetraacetic acid-D-Phe1-Tyr3-octreotide (68Ga-DOTA-TOC) PET in a series of 84 patients with neuroendocrine tumors (NET). PET was more accurate with a higher detection rate than somatostatin receptor scintigraphy (using 111In-DOTA-TOC or 99mTc-...

There are 9 serotypes of neuraminidase (NA) from influenza A virus (N1 to N9), which are classified into two groups based on primary sequences (groups 1 and 2). The structural hallmark of the two groups is the presence or absence of an extra 150-cavity (formed by the 150-loop) in the active site. Thus far, structures of NAs from 6 out of the 9 serotypes have been solved. Here, we solved the N5 ...

This article offers a quantitative analysis of wealth inequality in the Ottoman Empire, employing data from probate inventories (terekes) of eighteenth-century Kastamonu, a town located in northern Anatolia. Extracting information on the wealth levels and personal characteristics of individuals, we estimate aggregate measures of wealth inequality, namely the Gini Coefficient, the coefficient of...

The option of vaccinating poultry against avian influenza (AI) as a control tool is gaining greater acceptance by governments and the poultry industry worldwide. One disadvantage about vaccination with killed whole-virus vaccines is the resulting inability to use common serologic diagnostic tests for surveillance to identify infected flocks. There has been considerable effort to develop a relia...