bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Knowledge Claims and Landscape: Alternative Views of the Fuelwood—Degradation Nexus in Northern Nigeria
Authors: Cline-Cole Reginald
Published: October 2006

The existence of competing or contradictory orthodoxies in Nigerian forestry is a long recognised, if little explored research problem. Far from being the product of a monolithic culture, regional forestry, or, more inclusively agrosilvipastoral landscapes and fuelscapes, are social products which have been described as often construed in a plurality of ways and invested with diverse if not antithetical meanings by different individuals and social groups. They represent sites of contestation and cooperation for human agents and state agencies engaged in constructing, maintaining and modifying woodfuel and other forestry-related discourses. The author juxtaposes several such contests, their meanings, and the discourses of which they are a part. He does so with particular reference to perceived linkages between fuelwood use and production, on the one hand, and vegetation and degradation and other environmental change, on the other. The geographical focus is dryland Nigeria, in particular its regional forestry spaces and landscapes. In the conceptual framework empirical theorisation is combined with discourse and landscape analyses. The author concludes that the juxtaposition of forestry discourses, which he attempts, creates spaces for different landscape visions to be seen as virtual realities, which are shaped and sustained by social forces and (technologies of) representation.
Memory and the Cultural Reworking of Crisis: Racisms and the Current Moment of Danger in Sweden, or Wanting it like before
Authors: Pred Allan
Published: October 2006

Amidst a multitude of mutually compounding economic, political, and social crises, amidst the repeated shattering of everyday taken-for-granteds, amidst the repeated invalidation of meaning-memories, identity crises have come to abound in Sweden. For many Swedes perhaps nothing has become more disruptive of taken-for-granted meanings and identity than either the large-scale presence of non-Europeans and Muslims, or the assortment of racisms that have risen to the surface among extremist Others and—less consciously—themselves. The widespread occurrence of cultural racism runs counter to central images of self and nation held by most Swedes. That variety of racism and its attendant identity destabilization is generally denied and culturally reworked in two principal ways. (1) Through people comforting themselves with the belief that the country's racists are somebody else; through convincing themselves that only the physical violence and fascist symbolics of certain others have racist consequences; through blinding themselves to the fact that those same certain others cannot—by the wildest stretch of the imagination—be linked to the employment discrimination, housing segregation and social apartheid that currently pervades the country. (2) Through projecting upon other locations as well as other groups, through adhering to a certain popular geographical imagination, through regarding racism as typical of a limited number of places associated with hideous events, through—in essence—collectively remembering the recently occurred so as to deny or forget the here and now. In order to demonstrate the internal contradictions and collective self-deceptions of this cultural reworking of racism and identity, in order to reveal how the popular geographical imagination in question resonates with the multiple crises confronting Sweden, in order to capture its complexities and show what it silences and turns invisible, I provide a detailed account and critique of one of its central elements.
Down to Earth? Geography Fieldwork in English Schools, 1870–1944
Authors: Ploszajska Teresa
Published: October 2006

For a practice so central to the discipline, geography's fieldwork tradition has attracted surprisingly little historical analysis, and its ideological significance for popular education in the past remains largely unexamined. In this paper I discuss the role of school fieldwork in the context of wider cultural and educational, as well as geographical, discourses. I begin by exploring the increasing scope and sophistication of outdoor activities in the locality of the school which, contrary to common assumptions, were an integral component of geography lessons from the early 1870s. This leads to closely focused discussion of systematic Local Survey, a practice often taken to characterise interwar school geography. Finally, I consider residential fieldtrips to entirely unfamiliar environments in distant localities which were, I suggest, manifestation of a far broader ‘culture of the field’ that increasingly suffused popular culture in Britain during the period. In sum, I argue that, whether in familiar local surroundings or unknown distant areas, fieldwork was most highly valued for its social, moral, and civic benefits, rather than for its contribution to geographical education, narrowly defined.
Explorations in Heterotopia: Local Exchange Trading Schemes (LETS) and the Micropolitics of Money and Livelihood
Authors: North Peter
Published: October 2006

In this paper I examine the politics behind the establishment of Local Exchange Trading Schemes or LETS. By deploying concepts of the ‘heterotopia’ and of ‘micropolities’, I examine the extent to which advocates of LETS as a resistant space have developed a micropolitical tool that enables the realisation of resistant conceptions of money and exchange, of livelihood, community, and cooperation. A fourfold conception of the heterotopia is developed to examine, first, the multiplicity of resistant conceptions of money and work developed by participants. Second, LETS is held to be effective micropolitics if these benefits are realisable, irrespective of the attitudes of elites, for any length of time within this resistant space. Third, I consider whether participation in LETS transforms the values of network members who do not initially share these changed cultural codes, and, if not, whether, fourth, LETS is consequently best thought of as a vision of a presently ‘impossible’—that is, unrealisable—space. In conclusion, it is argued that LETS is a resistant social movement that has developed an effective micropolitical technology which enables members temporarily but discernably to actualise their changed cultural codes within this resistant space, restricted by exclusion from the access to economic resources beyond participants' private ownership or control.
Learning and Adaptation in Decentralised Business Networks
Authors: Amin Ash , Cohendet Patrick
Published: October 2006

In this paper we address two problems related to what can be claimed about the powers of decentralised business networks. The first concerns the role of tacit knowledge and proximity in securing competitive advantage. Recently, in a strand of the literature concerned with the differences between tacit and codified knowledge, it has begun to be claimed that the superiority of relational and geographic proximity (for example, intense face-to-face contact, local industrial clusters, and districts) over formally constituted and distantiated networks of knowledge and learning. In the first part of the paper we dissent from this interpretation by questioning the separability of the two forms of knowledge and by suggesting that business networks largely dependent on local tacit knowledge and incremental learning may prove to be inadaptable in the face of radical shifts in markets and technologies. The second problem regards the relationship between knowledge and the organisational structure of firms and business networks. In the second half of the paper we focus on the challenge facing competence-based large firms which draw on localised sources of knowledge to argue that competitive advantage is crucially influenced by the ability of firms to mobilise and integrate diversified forms of knowledge (tacit and codified), rather than to specialise in one form. We also argue that the imperative to sustain continuous learning is adding a new architecture of organisation and governance to that traditionally associated with the reduction of transaction costs, rather than replacing it, as is implied in the new literature which privileges the firm as a nexus of competencies. Thus, a dual structure seems to be emerging, which is composed of a decentralised network of reflexive and interactive centres to advance core competencies and learning and overlaid upon a more traditional hierarchical structure for the regulation of noncore activities.
Against ‘Globalization from Above’: Critical Geopolitics and the World Order Models Project
Authors: Dulby Simon
Published: October 2006

In the last decade numerous arguments have been developed in critical geopolitics concerning the limitations of conventional spatialities of global politics. These themes have raised numerous questions about how one might work to reimagine global politics. One source of reimaginings has been the World Order Models Project (WOMP). For the last three decades WOMP has developed models of desirable futures for a global polity of humane governance most recently posited as an alternative to current processes of ‘globalization from above’. By engaging with activists in social movements over the 1980s and 1990s on peace, justice, and environmental matters, the scholars of the project have developed a series of ‘world order values’ to guide normative considerations of global politics. I suggest, after my reading these documents in the light of contemporary writing in critical geopolitics, that by thinking ethically about politics in the 1990s one may further challenge the geographical assumptions about place and sovereignty and the related conceptual tools brought to notions of alternative politics. The recent WOMP arguments suggest that ‘alternative politics’ is about more than resistance, social movements, and states. These arguments also show in a number of ways that critical geopolitics is about connections and community understood as other than place-bound political entities.
Hearing Places, Making Spaces: Sonorous Geographies, Ephemeral Rhythms, and the Blackburn Warehouse Parties
Authors: Ingham J , Purvis M , Clarke D B
Published: October 2006

In this paper we provide a consideration of sound and space. Much of the early literature on this topic, we argue, failed to conceptualise sound adequately. More recent literature has begun to explore more carefully the nature of sound and the aural sensing of the environment in its social, political, economic, and cultural contexts. Here we contribute to this exploration not solely by offering a theoretical consideration of sound but also by providing a detailed analysis of the ways in which one particular place, over a particular period of time, became involved in a new set of relations centred on sound. The place in question is Blackburn in Lancashire, England, where, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, ‘warehouse parties’ revolving around ‘acid house’ music and the drug Ecstasy (‘E’) had a major impact on the town, in all manner of ways. By offering an empirical study as well as a more theoretical discussion on the relations between sound and space, we hope to demonstrate the significance of these relations to themes that have traditionally been regarded as central to geographical enquiry.
Embassies and Sanctuaries: Women's Experiences of Race and Fear in Public Space
Authors: Day Kristen
Published: October 2006

Women's fear in public space has received considerable scholarly and popular attention. Such fear is typically constructed from a white perspective, which reinforces prejudice and ignores the role of race in the experience of fear. Women's race prejudice and race fear are shaped and reflected in their use of the physical environment. Characteristics of the physical environment further shape these experiences. In this paper I investigate middle-class white, black and Hispanic women's experiences of race and fear in public spaces in Orange County, California. I present a typology of public spaces in which women encounter racialized others, and I map race fear onto these spaces. Experiences of fear and comfort in public space are examined, and I consider the interaction of race, class, and gender with place type and location. Particular attention is given to the form of these interactions in a post-suburban landscape.
The Maritime Mystique: Sustainable Development, Capital Mobility, and Nostalgia in the World Ocean
Authors: Steinberg Philip E
Published: October 2006

Three images of ocean space are becoming increasingly prevalent in policy and planning circles and popular culture: The image of the ocean as an empty void to be annihilated by hypermobile capital; as a resource-rich but fragile space requiring rational management for sustainable development; and as a source of consumable spectacles. In this paper I locate the emergence of these three apparently contradictory images of the ocean within structural contradictions in the spatiality of capitalism, which, in turn, are precipitating a crisis in marine regulation. To analyze these contradictions, I begin with a historical study of industrial-era marine uses, regulations, and representations. This is followed by an analysis of the present crisis and its associated representational discourses. I conclude with a call for analyses of ocean space that probe beneath marine imagery so as to explore the regulatory crises and social conflicts that underlie marine-policy debates and that reveal the ocean's potential as a site of social transformation.
Self-Organisation of Society by Scale: A Spatial Reworking of Regulation Theory
Authors: Collinge Chris
Published: October 2006

The scaling of social systems gives rise to a ‘vertical’ ordering that combines with the more familiar ‘horizontal’ ordering by place. But so far this phenomenon has been examined mainly from a political standpoint, and has not as yet received an adequate regulationist treatment. The regulation approach is at heart a systems theory, whereby innovations in accumulation and regulation—whatever their origins—will tend to be selected and woven into a stable pattern if they contribute to the expanded reproduction of capital. It is argued here that the viability of regimes of accumulation, and of modes of regulation, depends in part upon whether an appropriate scale division of labour is established between their component activities. It is suggested from the analysis that it is possible on this basis to develop a regulationist account of the fundamental tendency towards the integration and division of societies at different scales, and the emergence of dominant societal units in each epoch.
Human Geography at the End of Time? Some Thoughts on the Notion of Time—Space Compression
Authors: Dodgshon Robert A
Published: October 2006

In this paper I look at the suggestion that time-space compression is changing our experience of time and space. In particular, the extent to which it is seen as raising the importance of a spatial perspective to our understanding of society is contrasted with how some writers have depicted it as rupturing our relationship with the past and its carryover of meaning. For some, this temporal disjuncture is seen as marking the end of History and as reducing our experience of time to a series of ‘perpetual presents’ . These a historical ideas are challenged and a case presented for maintaining an inclusive treatment of what is past, or inertial, within society.
Foundation Legends, Origines Gentium, and Senses of Ethnic Identity: Legitimising Ideologies in Medieval Celtic Britain
Authors: Jones Rhys
Published: October 2006

Societies in the Middle Ages underwent a fundamental change in their mode of organisation as they moved from being organised around concepts of kin rule to being ordered around the power exercised by kings over defined territories. Even though this state-making process led to the creation of a landscape that was inherently impersonal in nature, kings strove to legitimise and justify the existence of the new state to their subjects. Their principal method of engendering a sense of loyalty towards their kingdom or early state was through the promotion of certain group ideologies. A variety of these legitimising ideologies were utilised by societal leaders, including foundation legends of kingdoms, origin legends of people, and the promotion of senses of ethnic identity. By drawing on evidence from two Celtic societies in the British Isles, namely Wales and Ireland, it is argued that legitimising ideologies experienced a general increase in their geographical scale throughout the Middle Ages. It is suggested that the main reason for this general trend was the increasing use, and subsequent increasing maturity, of state institutions within medieval society. Such institutions enabled medieval rulers to govern larger territories in a more efficient manner and, as a consequence, legitimising ideologies of an ever-increasing geographical scale were needed in order to justify the rule of those particular political units. It is concluded that these legitimising ideologies were principally political constructs, which were manipulated by medieval rulers in order to justify their rule of an evolving state landscape.
The Cartographies of Violence: Belfast's Resurrection Man
Authors: Johnson Nuala C
Published: October 2006

In this paper I seek to examine the relationships between fiction, violence, and the geographical imagination through an analysis of Eoin McNamee's debut novel Resurrection Man. In dealing with a universal theme—the will to kill—but set in 1970s Belfast and narrating the existential journey of a gang of Loyalist killers in their campaign of violence across the city, I suggest that this novel presents the modern city and the characters who inhabit its streets as individuals journeying through familiar and alien territories in search of a stable set of identities. Through an examination of the narrative style employed by McNamee–the structural devices, the metaphorical engagements, the linguistic tropes—I suggest that the novel reads the city beyond the scientific or social-scientific imagination. For geographers interested in the connections between cities, violence, and modernity, the novel invites us to establish a dialogic relationship with the literary text not to advance our own theories but to take seriously those which in structure, form, and content are radically different to our own.
Knockout of
Slc25a19
causes mitochondrial thiamine pyrophosphate depletion, embryonic lethality, CNS malformations, and anemia
Authors: Lindhurst Marjorie J. , Fiermonte Giuseppe , Song Shiwei , Struys Eduard , De Leonardis Francesco , Schwartzberg Pamela L. , Chen Amy , Castegna Alessandra , Verhoeven Nanda , Mathews Christopher K. , Palmieri Ferdinando , Biesecker Leslie G.
Published: October 2006

SLC25A19
mutations cause Amish lethal microcephaly (MCPHA), which markedly retards brain development and leads to α-ketoglutaric aciduria. Previous data suggested that SLC25A19, also called DNC, is a mitochondrial deoxyribonucleotide transporter. We generated a knockout mouse model of
Slc25a19
. These animals had 100% prenatal lethality by embryonic day 12. Affected embryos at embryonic day 10.5 have a neural-tube closure defect with ruffling of the neural fold ridges, a yolk sac erythropoietic failure, and elevated α-ketoglutarate in the amniotic fluid. We found that these animals have normal mitochondrial ribo- and deoxyribonucleoside triphosphate levels, suggesting that transport of these molecules is not the primary role of SLC25A19. We identified thiamine pyrophosphate (ThPP) transport as a candidate function of SLC25A19 through homology searching and confirmed it by using transport assays of the recombinant reconstituted protein. The mitochondria of
Slc25a19
−/−
and MCPHA cells have undetectable and markedly reduced ThPP content, respectively. The reduction of ThPP levels causes dysfunction of the α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex, which explains the high levels of this organic acid in MCPHA and suggests that mitochondrial ThPP transport is important for CNS development.
Complemented invariant subspaces and interpolation sequences
Authors: Doubtsov Evgueni
Published: October 2006

It is shown that the invariant subspace of the Bergman space

A
p

A^p

of the unit disc, generated by a finite union of Hardy interpolation sequences, is complemented in

A
p

A^p

.
Carrier and nerve theorems in the extension theory
Authors: Nagórko Andrzej
Published: October 2006

We show that a regular cover of a general topological space provides structure similar to a triangulation. In this general setting we define analogues of simplicial maps and prove their existence and uniqueness up to homotopy. As an application we give simple proofs of sharpened versions of nerve theorems of K. Borsuk and A. Weil, which state that the nerve of a regular cover is homotopy equivalent to the underlying space. Next we prove a nerve theorem for a class of spaces with uniformly bounded extension dimension. In particular we prove that the canonical map from a separable metric

n
n

-dimensional space into the nerve of its weakly regular open cover induces isomorphisms on homotopy groups of dimensions less than

n
n

.
Notes on braidzel surfaces for links
Authors: Nakamura Takuji
Published: October 2006

As a generalization of pretzel surfaces, L. Rudolph has introduced a notion of braidzel surfaces in his study of the quasipositivity for pretzel surfaces. In this paper, we show that any oriented link has a braidzel surface. We also introduce a new geometric numerical invariant of links with respect to their braidzel surface and study relationships among them and other “genus” for links.
Steinhaus tiling problem and integral quadratic forms
Authors: Chan Wai Kiu , Mauldin R.
Published: October 2006

A lattice

L
L

in

R

n

\mathbb {R}^n

is said to be equivalent to an integral lattice if there exists a real number

r
r

such that the dot product of any pair of vectors in

r
L

rL

is an integer. We show that if

n
≥
3

n \geq 3

and

L
L

is equivalent to an integral lattice, then there is no measurable Steinhaus set for

L
L

, a set which no matter how translated and rotated contains exactly one vector in

L
L

.
Whittaker models for 𝑆𝐿₂(𝐹), 𝐹 a 𝑝-adic field
Authors: Johnson Roberto , Pantoja José
Published: October 2006

Let

F
F

be a non-archimedean local field with odd residual characteristic. Let

G
G

be the group

S

L

2

(
F
)
.

SL_{2}(F).

We construct explicit Whittaker models for any supercuspidal representation of

G
G

with positive level.
A maximal 𝕃_{𝕡}-inequality for stationary sequences and its applications
Authors: Peligrad Magda , Utev Sergey , Wu Wei
Published: October 2006

The paper aims to establish a new sharp Burkholder-type maximal inequality in

L

p

\mathbb {L}_p

for a class of stationary sequences that includes martingale sequences, mixingales and other dependent structures. The case when the variables are bounded is also addressed, leading to an exponential inequality for a maximum of partial sums. As an application we present an invariance principle for partial sums of certain maps of Bernoulli shifts processes.
Equivariant deformations of LeBrun’s self-dual metrics with torus action
Authors: Honda Nobuhiro
Published: October 2006

We investigate

U
(
1
)

U(1)

-equivariant deformations of C. LeBrun’s self-dual metric with torus action. We explicitly determine all

U
(
1
)

U(1)

-subgroups of the torus for which one can obtain

U
(
1
)

U(1)

-equivariant deformations that do not preserve the whole of the torus action. This gives many new self-dual metrics with

U
(
1
)

U(1)

-action which are not conformally isometric to LeBrun metrics. We also count the dimension of the moduli space of self-dual metrics with

U
(
1
)

U(1)

-action obtained in this way.
Almost complex rigidity of the complex projective plane
Authors: McKay Benjamin
Published: October 2006

An isomorphism of symplectically tame smooth pseudocomplex structures on the complex projective plane which is a homeomorphism and differentiable of full rank at two points is smooth.
Alexander polynomials of doubly primitive knots
Authors: Ichihara Kazuhiro , Saito Toshio , Teragaito Masakazu
Published: October 2006

We give a formula for Alexander polynomials of doubly primitive knots. This also gives a practical algorithm to determine the genus of any doubly primitive knot.
Globalizations of partial actions on nonunital rings
Authors: Dokuchaev Michael , Del Río Ángel , Simón Juan
Published: October 2006

In this note we prove a criteria for the existence of a globalization for a given partial action of a group on an

s
s

-unital ring. If the globalization exists, it is unique in a natural sense. This extends the globalization theorem from Dokuchaev and Exel, 2005, obtained in the context of rings with

1.
1.
Zero distribution of Müntz extremal polynomials in 𝐿_{𝑝}[0,1]
Authors: Lubinsky D. , Saff E.
Published: October 2006

Let

{

λ

j

}

j
=
0

∞

\left \{ \lambda _{j}\right \} _{j=0}^{\infty }

be a sequence of distinct positive numbers. Let

1
≤
p
≤
∞

1\leq p\leq \infty

and let

T

n
,
p

=

T

n
,
p

{

λ

0

,

λ

1

,

λ

2

,
…
,

λ

n

}

(
x
)

T_{n,p}=T_{n,p}\left \{ \lambda _{0},\lambda _{1},\lambda _{2},\dots ,\lambda _{n}\right \} \left ( x\right )

denote the

L

p

L_{p}

extremal Müntz polynomial in

[
0
,
1
]

\left [ 0,1\right ]

with exponents

λ

0

,

λ

1

,

λ

2

,
…
,

λ

n

\lambda _{0},\lambda _{1},\lambda _{2},\dots ,\lambda _{n}

. We investigate the zero distribution of

{

T

n
,
p

}

n
=
1

∞

\left \{ T_{n,p}\right \} _{n=1}^{\infty }

. In particular, we show that if

lim

n
→
∞

λ

n

n

=
α
>
0
,

\begin{equation*} \lim _{n\rightarrow \infty }\frac {\lambda _{n}}{n}=\alpha >0, \end{equation*}

then the normalized zero counting measure of

T

n
,
p

T_{n,p}

converges weakly as

n
→
∞

n\rightarrow \infty

to
<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="StartFraction alpha Over pi EndFraction StartFraction t Superscript alpha minus 1 Baseline Over StartRoot t Superscript alpha Baseline left-parenthesis 1 minus t Superscript alpha Baseline right-parenthesis EndRoot EndFraction d t comma">

α
π

t

α
−
1

t

α

(
1
−

t

α

)

d
t
,

\begin{equation*} \frac {\alpha }{\pi }\frac {t^{\alpha -1}}{\sqrt {t^{\alpha }\left ( 1-t^{\alpha } \right ) }}dt, \end{equation*}

while if

α
=
0

\alpha =0

or

∞
\infty

, the limiting measure is a Dirac delta at

0
0

or

1
1

, respectively.
Local Cauchy-Riemann embeddability of real hyperboloids into spheres
Authors: Oh Jong-Won
Published: October 2006

In this paper, we study the local Cauchy-Riemann embeddability of strictly pseudoconvex real hyperboloids

M

2
n
+
1

M^{2n+1}

into spheres. By solving a CR analogue of the Gauss equation, we prove that

M

2
n
+
1

M^{2n+1}

is CR-embeddable into spheres with a CR co-dimension

>
>

n
−
1

n-1

if and only if it is spherical.
Extracellular Signal-regulated Kinase 1/2 Activity Is Not Required in Mammalian Cells during Late G2for Timely Entry into or Exit from Mitosis
Authors: Shinohara Mio , Mikhailov Alexei V. , Aguirre-Ghiso Julio A. , Rieder Conly L.
Published: October 2006

Extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1/2 activity is reported to be required in mammalian cells for timely entry into and exit from mitosis (i.e., the G2-mitosis [G2/M] and metaphase-anaphase [M/A] transitions). However, it is unclear whether this involvement reflects a direct requirement for ERK1/2 activity during these transitions or for activating gene transcription programs at earlier stages of the cell cycle. To examine these possibilities, we followed live cells in which ERK1/2 activity was inhibited through late G2and mitosis. We find that acute inhibition of ERK1/2 during late G2and through mitosis does not affect the timing of the G2/M or M/A transitions in normal or transformed human cells, nor does it impede spindle assembly, inactivate the p38 stress-activated checkpoint during late G2or the spindle assembly checkpoint during mitosis. Using CENP-F as a marker for progress through G2, we also show that sustained inhibition of ERK1/2 transiently delays the cell cycle in early/mid-G2via a p53-dependent mechanism. Together, our data reveal that ERK1/2 activity is required in early G2for a timely entry into mitosis but that it does not directly regulate cell cycle progression from late G2through mitosis in normal or transformed mammalian cells.
The Unfolded Protein Response Transducer Ire1p Contains a Nuclear Localization Sequence Recognized by Multiple β Importins
Authors: Goffin Laurence , Vodala Sadanand , Fraser Christine , Ryan Joanne , Timms Mark , Meusburger Sarina , Catimel Bruno , Nice Edouard C. , Silver Pamela A. , Xiao Chong-Yun , Jans David A. , Gething Mary-Jane H.
Published: October 2006

The Ire1p transmembrane receptor kinase/endonuclease transduces the unfolded protein response (UPR) from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the nucleus in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In this study, we analyzed the capacity of a highly basic sequence in the linker region of Ire1p to function as a nuclear localization sequence (NLS) both in vivo and in vitro. This 18-residue sequence is capable of targeting green fluorescent protein to the nucleus of yeast cells in a process requiring proteins involved in the Ran GTPase cycle that facilitates nuclear import. Mutagenic analysis and importin binding studies demonstrate that the Ire1p linker region contains overlapping potential NLSs: at least one classical NLS (within sequences642KKKRKR647and/or653KKGR656) that is recognized by yeast importin α (Kap60p) and a novel βNLS (646KRGSRGGKKGRK657) that is recognized by several yeast importin β homologues. Kinetic binding data suggest that binding to importin β proteins would predominate in vivo. The UPR, and in particular ER stress-induced HAC1 mRNA splicing, is inhibited by point mutations in the Ire1p NLS that inhibit nuclear localization and also requires functional RanGAP and Ran GEF proteins. The NLS-dependent nuclear localization of Ire1p would thus seem to be central to its role in UPR signaling.
Nuclear and cytoplasmic c‐Ski differently modulate cellular functions
Authors: Nagata Motoko , Goto Kouichiro , Ehata Shogo , Kobayashi Norihiko , Saitoh Masao , Miyoshi Hiroyuki , Imamura Takeshi , Miyazawa Keiji , Miyazono Kohei
Published: October 2006

c‐Ski is a proto‐oncogene product that induces morphologic transformation, anchorage independence, and myogenic differentiation when it is over‐expressed in mesenchymal cells. c‐Ski also inhibits signaling of transforming growth factor‐β (TGF‐β) superfamily members through interaction with Smad proteins. Although c‐Ski is predominantly localized in the nucleus, aberrant cytoplasmic localization of it has also been reported in some tumor tissues and cell lines. In the present study, we identified the nuclear localization signal (NLS) in c‐Ski. By introducing a mutation to abolish NLS activity, we examined the function of cytoplasmic c‐Ski. Although cytoplasmic c‐Ski suppressed TGF‐β superfamily‐induced Smad signaling through sequestration of activated Smad complex to the cytoplasm, it failed to exhibit some of the activities that require nuclear localization of c‐Ski, including suppression of basal transcription of the Smad7 gene. These findings indicate that subcellular localization of c‐Ski affects its biologic activities. We also found that c‐Ski accumulated in the cytoplasm when proteasome activity was inhibited. Mapping of the regions required for cytoplasmic accumulation by proteasome inhibitors suggests that subcellular localization of c‐Ski may be regulated by proteasome‐sensitive processes through amino acid residues 94–210 and 491–548.
Annual variation in the distribution of summer snowdrifts in the Kosciuszko alpine area, Australia, and its effect on the composition and structure of alpine vegetation
Authors: EDMONDS TOBI , LUNT IAN D. , ROSHIER DAVID A. , LOUIS JOHN
Published: October 2006

Abstract  Australian alpine ecosystems are expected to diminish in extent as global warming intensifies. Alpine vegetation patterns are influenced by the duration of snow cover including the presence of snowdrifts in summer, but there is little quantitative information on landscape‐scale relationships between vegetation patterns and the frequency of occurrence of persistent summer snowdrifts in the Australian alps. We mapped annual changes in summer snowdrifts in the Kosciuszko alpine region, Australia, from Landsat TM images and modelled the frequency of occurrence of persistent summer snowdrifts from long‐term records (1954–2003) of winter snow depth. We then compared vegetation composition and structure among four classes that differed in the frequency of occurrence of persistent summer snowdrifts. We found a curvilinear relationship between annual winter snow depth and the area occupied by persistent snowdrifts in the following summer (r2 = 0.9756). Only 21 ha (0.42% of study area) was predicted to have supported summer snowdrifts in 80% of the past 50 years, while 440 ha supported persistent summer snow in 10% of years. Mean cover and species richness of vascular plants declined significantly, and species composition varied significantly, as the frequency of summer snow persistence increased. Cushion plants and rushes were most abundant where summer snowdrifts occurred most frequently, and shrubs, grasses and sedges were most abundant in areas that did not support snowdrifts in summer. The results demonstrate strong regional relationships between vegetation composition and structure and the frequency of occurrence of persistent summer snowdrifts. Reductions in winter snow depth due to global warming are expected to lead to substantial reductions in the extent of persistent summer snowdrifts. As a consequence, shrubs, grasses and sedges are predicted to expand at the expense of cushion plants and rushes, reducing landscape vegetation diversity. Fortunately, few vascular plant species (e.g. Ranunculus niphophilus) appear to be totally restricted to areas where summer snow occurs most frequently. The results from this study highlight potential indicator species that could be monitored to assess the effects of global warming on Australian alpine environments.
Effect of adults on juvenile reproduction ofCalomys venustus(Muridae: Sigmodontinae)
Authors: PRIOTTO JOSÉ. , PROVENSAL CECILIA , POLOP JAIME
Published: October 2006

Abstract We tested the hypothesis that adult overwinteringCalomys venustusinhibit maturation and reproduction in young‐of‐the‐year from the first cohort. The study was carried out in four 0.25‐ha enclosures (two control and two experimental), each situated on natural pasture. This study was conducted between August 1997 and March 1999 and had two parts: removal of overwintering male (ROM) and removal of overwintering female (ROF). For the ROM treatment overwintering males were removed immediately after the first cohort of juveniles were born, in the ROF treatment overwintering females were removed after the first cohort were weaned. Weekly censuses were taken for three successive days over 6 weeks. The sexual maturation and reproductive condition of juveniles were compared between treatments (overwintering male or female removal) using repeated‐measuresanova. The repeated measures factor was the age of juveniles. Removal of overwintering males and females did not affect sexual maturation of juveniles, however, overwintering males influenced the onset of reproductive activity of juvenile females at the beginning of the breeding period.
Complications and neobladder function of the Hautmann orthotopic ileal neobladder
Authors: Jensen Jørgen Bjerggaard , Lundbeck Finn , Jensen Klaus Møller‐Ernst
Published: October 2006

Authors from Denmark describe the complications of the orthotopic Hautmann ileal neobladder, and the function of the neobladder in their experience. They found a relatively high rate of complications, but felt that most of these were minor, requiring only a minimal amount of intervention. They also found the function to resemble that of the native bladder.

OBJECTIVE

To report the complications and function of the Hautmann orthotopic ileal neobladder .

PATIENTS AND METHODS

In a 6.5‐year period, 67 patients had an ileal neobladder constructed after radical cystectomy as treatment for invasive carcinoma of the bladder. All complications were reported systematically. Neobladder function was assessed by patient interviews, uroflowmetry and cystometric analyses.

RESULTS

There were early complications in 41 patients (61%), and late complications in 32 (48%); 23 (34%) had both early and late complications and 17 (25%) had none. Eighteen of the patients (27%) required a re‐operation for complications. At the 4‐month follow‐up, 90% were continent during the day and 65% during the night; at 1 year after surgery 95% were continent during the day and 73% during the night. The functional bladder capacity and maximum cystometric capacity were close to the natural bladder volume (median 450 and 480 mL, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

Despite the high rate of complications in this study, most were considered as minor and could be treated by conservative or minimally invasive methods. The neobladder had an acceptable resemblance to the native bladder in capacity and function. Consequently the ileal neobladder might be preferred as a urinary diversion after radical cystectomy, if no contraindications are present.
Functional urinary and fecal incontinence in neurologically normal children: symptoms of one ‘functional elimination disorder’?
Authors: Bael An M. , Benninga Marc A. , Lax Hildegard , Bachmann Hannsjörg , Janhsen Ellen , De Jong Tom P.V.M. , Vijverberg Marianne , Van Gool Jan D. ,   On behalf of the European Bladder Dysfunction Study and EU♯BMH‐CT
Published: October 2006

Authors from Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany tried to clarify the relationship between disordered defecation and non‐neuropathic bladder‐sphincter dysfunction; they found few arguments for a casual relationship between these conditions.

OBJECTIVE

To clarify the relationship between disordered defecation and non‐neuropathic bladder‐sphincter dysfunction (NNBSD) by comparing the prevalence of symptoms of disordered defecation in children with NNBSD before and after treatment for urinary incontinence (UI), and assessing the effect of such symptoms on the cure rate for UI.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

In the European Bladder Dysfunction Study, a prospective multicentre study comparing treatment plans for children with NNBSD, 202 children completed questionnaires on voiding and on defecation, at entry and after treatment for UI. Four symptoms of disordered defecation were evaluated; low defecation frequency, painful defecation, fecal soiling, and encopresis.

RESULTS

At entry, 17 of the 179 children with complete data sets had low defecation frequency and/or painful defecation (9%), classified as functional constipation (FC). Of the 179 children, 57 had either isolated fecal soiling or soiling with encopresis (32%), classified as functional fecal incontinence (FFI). After treatment for UI, FFI decreased to 38/179 (21%) (statistically significant, P = 0.035); for FC there were too few children for analysis. After treatment for UI, 19 of the 179 children (11%) reported de novo FFI. Symptoms of disordered defecation did not influence the cure rate of treatment for UI.

CONCLUSIONS

FFI improved significantly after treatment for UI only, but not in relation to the outcome of such treatment. FFI did not influence the cure rate for UI. There was little to support a causal relation between disordered defecation and NNBDS (‘functional elimination syndrome’).
Experiencing Discourse: Corporeal Communicators and the Embodiment of Power
Authors: Coole Diana
Published: October 2006

The importance of the body in social interactions has been largely ignored in political studies. Even when its significance is acknowledged, its material and experiential dimensions tend to be neglected. Commending a phenomenological sense of embodiment, I argue that this is a serious omission since there are many ways in which power operates on a corporeal level. I show in this article how the senses, although mediated by social and political structures, affect social encounters and I explore the body's efficacy in political life. Since democratic processes tend to rely on situations where face-to-face encounters occur, the way bodies affect communication is especially important for understanding normative phenomena like exclusion. Taking sexed and gendered bodies as an example, I show how visceral and stylistic aspects of embodiment help sustain inequalities through practices that often seem too trivial or mundane to identify as modes of power. I also use the concept of style to advance a critical and normative argument regarding political change.
Listing intonation in Cameroon English speech
Authors: SANDO OUAFEU YVES TALLA
Published: October 2006

ABSTRACT: Compelling evidence from the literature on English intonation suggests that the tone patterns of some sentence types like lists have been grossly underresearched. This undercharacterization of listing intonation in English is inferable from the paucity of literature on this topic. The main thrust of this study is to report the findings from the auditory and acoustic analyses of the intonation of lists in read Cameroon English speech. No previous investigation has been aimed at finding out the tone types which Cameroon English speakers assign to items in lists while reading a text aloud. The analysis of a two‐paragraph passage shown to 83 Cameroon English speakers, both female and male, to read revealed that items in lists read aloud are uttered with four tone types in the following descending order of frequency: the level tone, the rising tone, the falling tone and the falling‐rising tone. These findings, on the one hand, are inconsistent with those documented so far with respect to native English varieties, and, on the other hand, have profound implications for the teaching of intonation to speakers of this non‐native variety of English.
Distributed fuzzy discrete event system for robotic sensory information processing
Authors: Huq Rajibul , Mann George K.I. , Gosine Raymond G.
Published: October 2006

Abstract: This paper presents a novel intelligent sensory information processing technique using a fuzzy discrete event system (FDES) for robotic control. The proposed method combines the predictive control approach of a discrete event system with the approximate reasoning aspect of fuzzy logic. It develops a supervisory control strategy for behavior‐based robotic control using distributed FDES. The application of distributed FDES eliminates the formation of complex fuzzy predicates and a large fuzzy rule‐base. The FDES‐based approach also provides means for analyzing behavior‐based decision‐making using the observability and controllability of an FDES. The observability of an FDES describes uncertainties in sensory data, and the controllability of an FDES exploits uncertain state transitions in a dynamic environment. Comprehensive experiments on behavior‐based mobile robot navigation are presented to authenticate the performance of the proposed methodology.
Intelligent information processing in human resource management: an implementation case in China
Authors: Zhang Li , Wang Hong
Published: October 2006

Abstract: Information systems have been applied to human resource management (HRM) for decades. However, the way of using information systems and the way of processing information for HRM have evolved and dramatically improved over the last decade. More and more HRM systems today are being changed to e‐HRM systems. This is mainly due to the advent of Internet technology and the emerging concept of business intelligence. Our study shows the evolution of information systems and information processing in the HRM domain and provides an implementation case in a large Chinese state‐run factory. The experiences and lessons learned from this case reveal several common problems in developing information systems in the HRM domain.
Self-Assembly of CdTe Nanocrystals into Free-Floating Sheets
Authors: Tang Zhiyong , Zhang Zhenli , Wang Ying , Glotzer Sharon C. , Kotov Nicholas A.
Published: October 2006

In their physical dimensions, surface chemistry, and degree of anisotropic interactions in solution, CdTe nanoparticles are similar to proteins. We experimentally observed their spontaneous, template-free organization into free-floating particulate sheets, which resemble the assembly of surface layer (S-layer) proteins. Computer simulation and concurrent experiments demonstrated that the dipole moment, small positive charge, and directional hydrophobic attraction are the driving forces for the self-organization process. The data presented here highlight the analogy of the solution behavior of the two vastly different classes of chemical structures.
Gold in Magmatic Hydrothermal Solutions and the Rapid Formation of a Giant Ore Deposit
Authors: Simmons Stuart F. , Brown Kevin L.
Published: October 2006

The Ladolam hydrothermal system, on Lihir Island, Papua New Guinea, hosts one of the youngest and largest gold deposits in the world. Several deep (more than 1 kilometer) geothermal wells were drilled beneath the ore bodies to extract water at >275°C and to facilitate open-pit mining. Using a titanium down-hole sampler, we determined that the deep geothermal brine of magmatic origin contains ∼15 parts per billion gold. At the current gold flux of 24 kilograms per year, this deposit could have formed within ∼55,000 years. The combination of sustained metal flux and efficient metal precipitation led to the formation of a giant hydrothermal gold deposit in a short period.
How to Build Planets
Authors: Scharf Caleb A.
Published: October 2006

Planet Formation
. Theory, Observations, and Experiments.
Hubert Klahr and Wolfgang Brandner, Eds.
. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2006. 318 pp. $120, £65. ISBN 0-521-86015-6. Cambridge Astrobiology.

Summarizing recent findings, the contributors discuss our current understanding of the processes by which planets form and the important questions that require further research.
Effects of rugby sevens matches on human neutrophil-related non-specific immunity
Authors: Takahashi I , Umeda T , Mashiko T , Chinda D , Oyama T , Sugawara K , Nakaji S
Published: October 2006

Aims:To evaluate the influences of the accumulative effect of two consecutive rugby sevens matches (Sevens) on aspects of human neutrophil-related non-specific immunity.

Methods:In seven players participating in the Japan Sevens, neutrophil reactive oxygen species (ROS) production capability and phagocytic activity were measured using flow cytometry, and serum opsonic activity (SOA) was assessed by measuring neutrophil ROS using the peak height of lucigenin-dependent chemiluminescence before and after two consecutive matches.

Results:ROS showed no change immediately after the first match, and had significantly (P<0.05) increased 4 h later, but showed a decrease after the second match. Phagocytic activity showed no change immediately after the first match, but had significantly (P<0.01) decreased 4 h later, and showed a further decrease after the second match, although it was not significant. SOA significantly (P<0.01) increased after the first match, and still maintained its high 4 h later, but decreased after the second match. ROS production capability, phagocytic activity and SOA significantly (P<0.01) decreased after the second match.

Conclusions:When rugby players play two consecutive Sevens matches, the exercise loading is thought to be hard, similar to that experienced during a marathon race and intensive or long training in a training camp, although the expected changes were not seen after the first match. Differences between after the first and the second matches may be due to the “cumulative effect”.