Defense Articles

A Matter of Days: Resolving a Creation Controversy. By Hugh Ross. NavPress, Colorado Springs, Colorado. 2004. ISBN 1-57683-375-5. 256 pages, $15.99.

Hugh Ross is an enigma in modern creationism. As both an astronomer and evangelist (president and founder of the Reasons to Believe organization) he brings an unusual mix of science and religion to the debate. Not only does he accept and vigorously defend the astronomical and geological evidence for an old universe, but he argues that by rejecting long ages, the young-Earth creationists are ignoring some of the most profound proofs of the God of the Bible. Having been branded a “compromiser” and “false prophet” by some young-Earth advocates, Ross’s latest book, A Matter of Days, is a thorough biblical and scientific defense of an old Earth.

Ross begins in a scriptural context, reviewing the history of Christian thought on the length of the Genesis creation days. He shows that until recently, most Christian scholars remained open to multiple interpretations. Next Ross leads the reader though a detailed study of biblical passages relevant to the age of creation, such as the meanings of Hebrew words used to measure time.

Evanston, Ill. After a gruesome afternoon like Saturday’s, when a Northwestern offense once again reminded a Wisconsin defense that purple is among a contusion’s dominant colors, you’ve got to be asking yourself:

Who is this Bret Bielema guy, and why has he already been entrusted with the future of the UW football program?

Granted, one game, however horrific the defensive results were in the 51-48 loss to the Wildcats, doesn’t project a head-coaching career. It is impossible to say whether Bielema will leave a Barry Alvarez-type legacy in Madison or if Alvarez will have to undo his first major mistake as athletic director by eventually firing Bielema.

Still, you have to wonder, especially when Northwestern scores on seven consecutive possessions and rolls up 674 yards. And while you’re asking yourself exactly when did the Big Ten become the Mountain West, remember that Northwestern is not the first team this season to skewer a Bielema defense. Bowling Green amassed 42 points, and Indiana foreshadowed this mess by breaking off big plays the week before.

You’re telling me that Wisconsin scored 48 points with John Stocco and still couldn’t win? What manner of destruction awaits the UW defense next weekend in the Metrodome?

Rationale: A growing literature indicates that hydroxy-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors (statins) modulate proinflammatory cellular signaling and functions. No studies to date, however, have addressed whether statins modulate pulmonary inflammation triggered by aerogenic stimuli or whether they affect host defense. Objectives: To test whether lovastatin modulates LPS-induced pulmonary inflammation and antibacterial host defense. Methods: To address these questions, and to confirm any effect of statins as dependent on inhibition of hydroxy-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase, we treated C57BI/6 mice with three oral doses of 10 mg/kg lovastatin (or vehicle) and three intraperitoneal doses of 10 mg/kg mevalonic acid (or saline), and then exposed them to the following: (1) aerosolized LPS, (2) intratracheal keratinocyte-derived chemokine (KC), or (3) intratracheal Klebsiella pneumoniae. Measurements and main results: LPS- and KC-induced airspace neutrophils were reduced by lovastatin, an effect that was blocked by mevalonic acid cotreatment. Lovastatin was also associated with reduced parenchymal myeloperoxidase and microvascular permeability, and altered airspace and serum cytokines after LPS. Native pulmonary clearance of K. pneumoniae was inhibited by lovastatin and extrapulmonary dissemination was enhanced, both reversibly with mevalonic acid. Ex vivo studies of neutrophils isolated from lovastatin-treated mice confirmed inhibitory effects on Rac activation, actin polymerization, chemotaxis, and bacterial killing. Conclusion: Lovastatin attenuates pulmonary inflammation induced by aerosolized LPS and impairs host defense.

Chicago The Chicago Bears can’t move the football, turn it over from time to time and settle for field goals when they’re in position to score touchdowns.

But their defense is so good they’ve won nine games.

The Green Bay Packers are 2-10 because their offense turns the ball over too much and their defense can’t play well enough to make up for it.

In a 19-7 loss to the Bears on Sunday, the Packers’ defense had a chance to measure up to the Bears’ top-ranked unit but it came up short. Even though the Packers held Chicago to 188 yards, its second- lowest offensive output of the season, they failed to make five plays that could have won the ball game.

Here’s a recap:

Play No. 1: The Packers have running back Thomas Jones bottled up behind the line of scrimmage but over-pursue and allow him to cut back for a 27-yard gain that sets up Chicago’s first field goal.

Play No. 2: At the end of the first quarter, cornerback Mark Roman drops a sure interception on a deep ball that he could have returned a considerable distance.

The efforts of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to change the Pentagon’s business culture got something of a shot in the arm in December when the General Accounting Office (GAO) reported that his management-reform program “has the potential to be an effective mechanism for reform.”

The report, Defense Management: New Management Reform Program Still Evolving, was commissioned by outgoing Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and the ranking Republican, John Warner of Virginia.

Although the Rumsfeld initiative has less emphasis on specific savings targets and most new reform initiatives have been small in order to produce benefits in fiscal year 2003, the GAO says, the new emphasis on high-level-management involvement and interservice participation bodes well for long-term prospects. However, the report offers a caveat: “The new management program does not yet have an overarching plan tying key reform efforts together in an integrated fashion.”

MARTIN EDWIN ANDERSEN IS A REPORTER FOR Insight. READERS CAN REACH HIM WITH TIPS ON GOVERNMENTAL WASTE, FRAUD AND ABUSE OF POWER AT INSIGHTWATCHERS@AOL.COM

The leaders of China and Indonesia issued a joint statement Friday in which they agreed to promote greater trade and investment between their countries and intensify bilateral cooperation in defense and military fields.

The joint statement, carried in full by Xinhua News Agency, said Chinese President Hu Jintao and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono agreed in their talks Thursday ”to promote a more attractive and favorable environment for greater trade and investment cooperation.”

The two sides agreed to explore the possible establishment of a China-Indonesia investment promotion mechanism, it said.

Indonesian presidential spokesman Dino P. Djalal was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying Indonesia and China want to see two-way trade rise to $30 billion by 2010 from $13 billion in 2004.

The joint statement said Hu and Yudhoyono also agreed ”that the two countries will work together in developing each other’s defense industries as well as in setting up a consultation mechanism for defense and security officials.’

ABSTRACT The eastern oyster is an economically and ecologically important species whose vitality is threatened by the protozoal parasite Perkinsus marinus. To better understand which cellular defense mechanisms impart resistance to P. marinus, resistant (Crassostrea gigas) and susceptible (Crassostrea virginica) oyster species were challenged by an experimental infection with P. marinus and their cellular responses were quantified and compared. Both in vivo and in vitro infection trials measured hemocyte phagocytosis, respiratory burst, apoptosis at 1, 3 and 7 days postinfection (in vivo) or 1-h postco-incubation (in vitro). Total parasite body burden concentrations were also measured at the end of in vivo infections. Infections were significantly more severe in C. virginica than C. gigas at 3 and 7 days postinfection confirming the resistance of C. gigas and validating the experimental model. There was more phagocytosis in infected C. virginica than infected C. gigas three days postinfection. In vitro, C. virginica granulocytes phagocytized significantly more parasites and fluorescent latex beads than C. gigas granulocytes, and infection increased bead phagocytosis in both species, equally in cells with or without intracellular parasites. Neither in vivo nor in vitro infections significantly increased respiratory burst activity. While in vitro infections suppressed hemocyte apoptosis in both species, in vivo infections increased hemocyte apoptosis frequency in C. gigas at 3 days postinfection. In vivo infection increased hemocyte apoptosis in C. virginica at 7 days postinfection but not at three days postinfection. From those experiments, we concluded that the increased phagocytosis without concomitant increase in respiratory burst activity seen in infected C. virginica might exacerbate infections. Also, while in vitro P. marinus infection suppresses hemocyte apoptosis in both species, C. gigas appeared to overcome that suppression faster than C. virginica upon in vivo infection, suggesting that hemocyte apoptosis may be an effective oyster defense response against P. marinus infection. The combination in vitro and in vivo infections in P. marinus disease resistant and susceptible oyster species with multiple time points and assays allowed the identification of apoptosis as the cellular defense mechanism most likely to play an important role in defense against P. marinus. This information may provide more accurate predictive criteria far disease resistance, allowing for the testing and selection of more disease resistant oysters.

Synthetic fluorescent analogs of the natural lipopeptide trichogin GA IV were used to investigate the peptide position and orientation in model membranes. A translocation assay based on Förster energy transfer indicates that trichogin is associated to both the outer and inner leaflet of the membrane, even at low concentration, when it is not active. Fluorescence quenching measurements, performed by using water soluble quenchers and quenchers positioned in the membrane at different depths, indicate that at low membrane-bound peptide/lipid ratios trichogin lies close to the region of polar headgroups. By increasing peptide concentration until membrane leakage takes place, a cooperative transition occurs and a significant fraction of the peptide becomes deeply buried into the bilayer. Remarkably, this change in peptide position is strictly coupled with peptide aggregation. Therefore, the mechanism of trichogin action can be envisaged as based on a two-state transition controlled by peptide concentration. One state is the monomeric, surface bound and inactive peptide, and the other state is a buried, aggregated form, which is responsible for membrane leakage and bioactivity.

Japan and the United States will agree Monday to set up a defense coordination mechanism amid what they see as lingering ”uncertainties and instabilities” in the Asia-Pacific region despite recent positive signs on the Korean Peninsula, Japanese officials said late Sunday.

At the so-called ”two-plus-two” meeting of defense and foreign ministers, the two countries will also set out measures on environmental pollution caused by the U.S. military in Japan in the wake of recent reports involving hazardous chemicals detected in warehouses, soil and water in U.S. bases, the officials said.

The two sides will sign a new five-year accord on Japan’s host-nation financial support for U.S. military facilities, making official an earlier announced agreement to trim the annual 180 billion yen obligations by some 3.3 billion yen a year, the officials said.

On U.S. military bases in Okinawa, the two countries will note in a written joint statement for the first time that the Japanese side ”took up the problem” in alluding to a local request for imposing a 15-year limit on military use of a new facility to be constructed to host helicopter operations of the U.S. Marine Corps Futemma Air Station, the officials said.

Japan and the United States agreed Monday to set up a defense coordination mechanism to cope with ”instability and uncertainty” in the Asia-Pacific region.

Agreed at the so-called ”two-plus-two” meeting of defense and foreign ministers, the mechanism calls for establishing four joint groups to coordinate operations in dealing with armed attacks on Japan or emergencies in unspecified ”areas surrounding Japan.”

Foreign Minister Yohei Kono and Defense Agency Director General Kazuo Torashima from Japan, and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Defense Secretary William Cohen from the U.S. also said they agreed to take steps to curb environmental hazards caused by the U.S. military in Japan.

The two sides signed a new five-year accord, effectively through March 31, 2006, on Japan’s host-nation financial support for U.S. military facilities, making official an earlier announced accord to trim Tokyo’s annual 180 billion yen in obligations by some 3.3 billion yen a year.