bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Constituting Folklore: A Case for Critical Folklore Studies
Authors: Gencarella Stephen Olbrys
Published: April 2009

This article argues for the development of a critical folklore studies through an interweaving of folklore and rhetorical theory. Following paths set by Roger Abrahams, Kenneth Burke, and Antonio Gramsci decades ago, and drawing upon more recent contributions by Ernesto Laclau and rhetorical critics, it considers folklore as a constitutive rhetoric, the act of which establishes a “folk”—and their adversaries—as a political category. Identifying three articulations of critical folklore studies, it calls upon folklorists to intervene against (rather than strictly analyze) oppressive power formations through the production of overt criticism and related counterhegemonic practices.
Another Step Forward for Ghana
Authors: Gyimah-Boadi E.
Published: April 2009

Abstract: Ghana held its fourth successful elections in late 2008 and subsequently witnessed the peaceful handover of power from ruling party to opposition. The country's leaders must now reform its institutions of governance.
Kosovo: Independence and Tutelage
Authors: Tansey Oisín
Published: April 2009

Abstract: In February 2008, Kosovo broke away from Serbia and declared its independence. But to what extent is it making progress toward its goals of sovereignty and democracy?
Religion and Democracy
Authors: Elshtain Jean Bethke
Published: April 2009

The secularization hypothesis has failed, and failed spectacularly. We must find a new paradigm to help us understand the complexities of the relationship between religion and democracy.
Singapore: Does Authoritarianism Pay?
Authors: Verweij Marco , Pelizzo Riccardo
Published: April 2009

The same policies that fostered decades of prosperity in Singapore have also led to longer-term economic ills that might have been averted in a freer society.
The 2008 Freedom House Survey: A Third Year of Decline
Authors: Puddington Arch
Published: April 2009

Abstract: Although 2008 was marked by democratic setbacks as well as authoritarian "pushback" against reformers, democracy remains the only system of government that commands global respect.
NATO at Sixty
Authors: Barany Zoltan
Published: April 2009

Abstract: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization played a key role in safeguarding Western democracy during the Cold War. With that conflict over, NATO must continually adapt and evolve in a fast-changing world.
The Consequences of Democratization
Authors: Carbone Giovanni
Published: April 2009

Abstract: For the past few decades, scholars have been focusing on the causes of democratization. It is now time to devote systematic attention to analyzing the costs and benefits that democracy brings.
Bowing to your Enemies: Courtesy, Budō , and Japan
Authors: Young Damon A.
Published: April 2009

Courtesy seems to be an essential part of budō , the Japanese martial ways. Yet there is no prima facie relationship between fighting and courtesy. Indeed, we might think that violence and aggression are antithetical to etiquette and care. By situating budō within the three great Japanese traditions of Shintō, Confucianism, and Zen Buddhism, this article reveals the intimate relationship between courtesy and the martial arts. It suggests that courtesy cultivates, and is cultivated by, purity of work and deed, mutually beneficial cooperation, and loving brutality. These individual and social virtues are not only complementary but also essential to budō .
Reflections on Time and Related Ideas in the Yijing
Authors: Chang Wonsuk
Published: April 2009

This article reflects on important terms and concepts that constitute the cosmology of the Yijing: ji, tian, yin-yang , and the correlative aspects of temporality. These are familiar terms from the Yijing as well as other philosophical texts from ancient China. It begins with a comparative inquiry into Chinese and Greek attitudes toward time and then explores the related philosophical consequences. Although the ancient Chinese view of the world as temporal, processual, and relational may be found to be in contrast with Greek substance-oriented philosophy, it is argued here that we should revise some commonly accepted interpretations of Chinese terms. Without adequate reflection on temporality and process, many important terms may be misconstrued as atemporal and substance-oriented, which would be alien to the sensibilities of East Asian traditions. Thus, it is attempted here to gauge the adequacy of the prominent existing interpretations of these terms and ideas while giving an account of how such interpretations may be revised to better recognize the role of temporality and process. Specifically, it is proposed that the interpretations given here accord best with a conception of time as a spiral trajectory, as opposed to either the cyclic or linear conceptions of time usually considered dominant in the Yijing and ancient Chinese philosophy.
Literal Means and Hidden Meanings: A New Analysis of Skillful Means
Authors: Federman Asaf
Published: April 2009

The Buddhist concept of skillful means , as introduced inMahāyāna sūtras, exposes a new awareness of the gap between text and meaning. Although the term is sometimes taken to point to the Buddha's pedagogical skills, this interpretation ignores the provocative use of the term in Mahāyāna texts. Treating skillful means as a universal Buddhist concept also fails to explain why and for what purpose it first became predominant in the Mahāyāna. Looking at the use of skillful means in the Lotus Sūtra and in the Skill in Means Sūtra reveals a hermeneutic device aimed at criticizing an existing corpus of Buddhist literature. As such, skillful means is used to demonstrate that the old doctrine and the life of the Buddha contained fictitious features and were nothing but skillful means. This indicates a growing awareness of a gap between literal expressions and their hidden meaning that can only arise after some kind of religious corpus has been established.
The Authority of the Master in the Analects
Authors: Elstein David
Published: April 2009

This article takes issue with the stereotype of "Confucianism" as authoritarian, a view common in discussions of modern China as well as in scholarship on early China. By studying the roles of master and students and the relationship between them in the Analects , it attempts to show that according to this text the master did not occupy a position of complete dominance over the student. Masters are not generally considered to be like fathers, and students have more room to dispute with their master than previously recognized. In contrast to later depictions of Kongzi, he is not presented as infallible in the Analects , and his students do not always accept his opinions. Questioning the master is often a good quality in a disciple. The master-student relationship, while undoubtedly hierarchical, did not involve complete submission by the student. It is argued here that there is little basis for concluding that the Analects is fundamentally authoritarian in its depiction of teaching. It further suggests a need for a distinct understanding of teaching authority that is not modeled on political authority.
A Paradox of Virtue: The Daodejing on Virtue and Moral Philosophy
Authors: Yan Hektor K. T.
Published: April 2009

Based on a reading of chapter 38 of the Daodejing , this article examines the relationship between the virtues and moral motivation. Laozi puts forward a view which might be termed a "paradox of virtue"—the phenomenon that a conscious pursuit of virtue can lead to a diminishing of virtue. It aims to show that Laozi's criticisms on the focus on the virtues and characters of agents, and his overall view on morality, pose challenges to a way of moral thinking that is common in modern moral philosophy, including virtue ethics.
Clinical Practice: Between Explicit and Tacit Knowledge, Between Dialogue and Technique
Authors: Berg Else Margrethe
Published: April 2009

The evidence-based practice movement fails to pay attention to and to respect sufficiently the fundamental differences that exist between clinical practice and the kind of research that is modeled on the natural sciences. According to M. Polanyi knowledge, will always have a tacit dimension that is not possible to operationally define. This paper argues that the tacit dimension is especially important in clinical knowledge. This represents a challenge to the dominance of positivism and to the evidence-based practice movement. As psychiatrists, we must be able to attend to the patient's perspective, his subjective experience and context. Clinical practice is a careful balance between dialogue and technique. Evidence-based psychiatry might tilt this balance toward a more technical attitude. This could pose problems, considering the importance of the so-called nonspecific factors in psychotherapy.
Knowledge and the Justification of Values in Values-Based Medicine
Authors: Smith Benedict
Published: April 2009

This paper critically evaluates central themes of values-based medicine (VBM). First, I discuss the 'non-descriptivist' conception of value judgments at the heart of VBM. According to it, no inferences can rationally be drawn from factual criteria to value judgments and the inferences that are naturally formed are a matter of human psychology. I argue, however, that it is an essential feature of value judgments that they are themselves subject to normative assessment. This implies an important role for an evaluatively rich notion of psychology. Second, I discuss the role of 'dissensus' in VBM and argue that, although value judgments need not converge, the processes for exploring conflicting values must, themselves, be normatively assessable. Third, I examine how these aspects interact in complex real cases such as the case study of Diane Abbot.
The Epistemology of Randomized, Controlled Trials and Application in Psychiatry
Authors: Bolton Derek
Published: April 2009

The epistemological principles underlying randomized, controlled trials and evidence-based medicine generally have not received the attention they require. Broadly speaking, they are the application of work done over several centuries in philosophy and scientific method. The epistemological base is sound, but it also implies internal limitations, having to do with decreasing generality, which particularly affect application to psychological problems. The principles also have nothing to say about values. The question of the 'objective validity' of scientific method is briefly discussed.
Philosophy as the Science of Value: Neo-Kantianism as a Guide to Psychiatric Interviewing
Authors: Broome Matthew R.
Published: April 2009

Psychiatric interviewing highlights the apparent tension between psychiatry's quest for objectivity and its aim to chart the particular experiences and values of individuals. Neo-Kantian philosophy can help to shed light on this apparent tension. There need be no conflict between an exploration of individual values and scientific inquiry, not least because values play a central role in the selection of facts in scientific observation in general and psychiatric history taking in particular.
Political Liberalism and Values-Based Practice: Processes Above Outcomes or Rediscovering the Priority of the Right Over the Good
Authors: Rubin Jon
Published: April 2009

The central idea of values-based practice is that clinical judgements should accommodate 'dissensus' by concentrating on right processes rather than good outcomes. Dissensus, however, has a philosophical history in political theory, especially liberal political theory, which may provide further tools for values-based practice. But it is not without difficulty. Rawlsian political theory aims to limit dissensus by presupposing rational consensus. Agonistic liberalism, although more promising, still leaves the problem of how conflicting views can be understood without presupposing some basic shared agreement.
Values-Based Practice and Reflective Judgment
Authors: Thornton Tim
Published: April 2009

In this paper, I relate values-based practice (VBP) to clinical judgment more generally. I consider what claim, aside from the fundamental difference of facts and values, lies at the heart of VBP. Rather than, for example, construing values as subjective, I argue that it is more helpful to construe VBP as committed to the uncodifiability of value judgments. It is a form of particularism rather than principlism, but this need not deny the reality of values. Seen in this light, however, VBP is part of a broader conception of clinical judgment that can be compared with Kant's conception of reflective judgment. This is a useful way of marking similarities between a number of issues raised in philosophy, which can inform a better understanding of clinical judgment.
External and Internal Evidence in Clinical Judgment: The Evidence-Based Medicine Attitude
Authors: Wifstad Åge
Published: April 2009

A certain kind of externalism—"the view from nowhere"—lies at the heart of evidence-based medicine (EBM). As a consequence, the individual case glides out of focus. However, to judge to what extent external knowledge is applicable to an individual case, the clinician has to rely on some sort of knowledge of the case at hand. The article focuses on the tension between the externalism of EBM and the "internal evidence" one has to presuppose when making clinical judgments.
Phronesis and Techne: The Debate on Evidence-Based Medicine in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
Authors: Falkum Erik
Published: April 2009

The debate on the validity of the evidence-based medicine (EBM) paradigm in psychiatry and psychotherapy has tended to be rather polarized. Critics of the paradigm maintain that there is a basic conflict between the general knowledge of treatment of groups of patients ('techne') and the contextual understanding of individual patients ('phronesis'). This paper argues that the existence of firm general knowledge is crucial to the legitimacy of the psychiatric as well as the medical profession as a whole, and defends the controlled clinical trial as a central instrument to establish such knowledge. At the same time, however, the paradigm does not solve the old Aristotelian techne–phronesis dilemma, which seems to be more or less inescapable. Focusing on psychotherapy, the paper discusses problems connected with the 'techne-oriented' use of diagnostic principles and of therapy manuals, the criteria for therapeutic progress, and the apparent conflict between experimental efficacy and practical effectiveness.
The Value of 'Value'
Authors: Gascoigne Neil
Published: April 2009

Values-based medicine derives from an approach first introduced into the philosophy of psychiatry, which aims to demonstrate that the reality of mental illness is not inconsistent with the scientific status of medicine. Associated primarily with the work of K.W.M. Fulford, the argument is that practitioners need to be ethical anti-descriptivists if they are to avoid the authoritarianism of evidence-based medicine, which overlooks the fact that genuine value conflicts can arise during all clinical encounters, and that psychiatry is just the most explicit area in which these occur. This paper takes a philosophically therapeutic line and argues that, by reducing values to the status of preferences, antidescriptivism undermines the value of 'value' and leaves the practitioner with a reduced ability to discern and negotiate genuine conflicts of value. The conclusion is that patients should be respected, not as instantiations of preferences but as valuers ; and that this requires practitioners to become more cosmopolitan and sympathetic, not more theoretically sophisticated.
From the Visions of Saint Teresa of Jesus to the Voices of Schizophrenia
Authors: Cangas Adolfo J. , Sass Louis A. , Pérez-Álvarez Marino
Published: April 2009

The life of Saint Teresa of Jesus, the most famous mystic of sixteenth-century Spain, was characterized by recurrent visions and states of ecstasy. In this paper, we examine social components related to Teresa’s personal crises and the historical conditions of her times, factors that must be taken into account to understand these unusual forms of experience and behavior. Many of these factors (e.g., increasing individualism and reflexivity) are precursors of the condition of modern times. Indeed, certain parallels can be observed between Saint Teresa and certain present-day psychopathological disorders. The analogy should not, however, be carried too far. Religion played a particularly crucial role in Teresa’s cultural context; as a result, it would be misleading to view her mystical experiences as resulting from a mental disorder.
Teresian Visions
Authors: Luque Rogelio , Villagrán José M.
Published: April 2009

Immédiates, efficaces et inépuisables comme des sensations, mais indépendantes du dehors et maîtresses de l’espace comme des images, les visions «imaginatives» de Thérèse, pour voisines qu’elles soient de nos visions sensorielles, méritent pourtant une place à part et ne sont ni des hallucinations vulgaires, indiscernables des sensations, ni des hallucinations psychiques. Ce sont les hallucinations thérésiennes. (Pierre Quercy 1930)
More Aristotle, Less DSM: The Ontology of Mental Disorders in Constructivist Perspective
Authors: Pérez-Álvarez Marino , Sass Louis A. , García-Montes José M.
Published: April 2009

This work begins by proposing the need for exploring the mode of being of mental disorders. It is a philosophical study in an Aristotelian perspective, with special emphasis on the anthropological–cultural dimension. It is difficult for such an inquiry to be carried out from within psychiatry or clinical psychology, committed as these fields are to their own logic and practical conditions. The issues are, in any case, more ontological than strictly clinical in nature. We therefore turn to Aristotle, and specifically his doctrine of the four “causes,” to flesh out the social and cultural dimensions of mental disorders. In accordance with the present analysis, the material cause of disorders would be found in the contingencies of life; the formal cause would pertain primarily to the way clinical conditions themselves can serve as models of ‘being ill’ in our society; the efficient cause would correspond to the patients themselves, understood as active (albeit less than fully conscious) agents as well as to the pharmaceutical industry and the mass media; the final cause would be found in different adaptive functions served by the disorder. We conclude that the “mode of being” of most (if not all) mental disorders—in particular, their status as mental disorders—can often have more to do with cultural forms than with biological factors.
Phenomenology and Behaviorism: A Mutual Readjustment
Authors: Pérez-Álvarez Marino , Sass Louis A.
Published: April 2009

This article considers the relationship between phenomenology and behaviorism in a new perspective. First, we present the phenomenological approach of the Spanish philosopher Ortega y Gasset (1883–1953). Ortega’s perspective involves a transformation of classical phenomenology in a direction that emphasizes ‘life as action’ and ‘historical reason’ as a form of explanation. These aspects of Ortega’s approach are of interest to contemporary phenomenology, and enable phenomenology’s relationship with behaviorism to be reconsidered. Second, we present Skinner’s radical behaviorism, the variant of behaviorism most relevant to phenomenology. Of particular importance here is radical behaviorism’s emphasis on final causality and its approach to ‘private events’ in terms of the interpersonal functions served by these events. Third, we propose a mutual correction, both of behaviorism by phenomenology and of phenomenology by behaviorism, in which behaviorism’s notion of the environment may better be conceptualized through the phenomenological notion of the ‘lived-world,’ and phenomenology could adopt radical behaviorism’s dialectical and constructivist perspective. Finally, we discuss several implications for understanding psychopathology.
The Role of Superstition in Psychopathology
Authors: García-Montes José M. , Álvarez Marino Pérez , Sass Louis A. , Cangas Adolfo J.
Published: April 2009

This article attempts to show the importance of the concept of superstition in understanding a range of psychological problems. With this aim, we critically analyze several constructs that, without actually using the term “superstition,” concern this phenomenon and its role in the development of mental disorders. First we discuss “Thought–Action Fusion” and “magical thinking,” two concepts from the cognitive tradition that view superstition as basically an ideational phenomenon. Second, we look at “Experiential Avoidance,” a post-Skinnerian concept that understands superstition as a type of avoidance behavior for certain private events. Third, we discuss superstition as an emotional phenomenon, in particular, Jean-Paul Sartre’s phenomenological analysis of emotions as magical operations. Finally, we review a cultural approach to superstition and its influence on psychopathology. In this perspective, superstition is seen as a cultural form linked to the historical–social context, which is fostered by certain social practices or institutions, including (perhaps surprisingly) certain features of modernity.
"Oh! I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside!": Lancashire Seaside Publications
Authors: Beetham Margaret
Published: April 2009

In the late nineteenth century, Manchester’s vigorous periodical press included publications which offered appropriate reading for the seaside holiday which was beginning to be a feature of Lancashire working-class life. Mixing dialect writing and Standard English, these annuals and reprints of stories from Ben Brierley’s Journal offered themselves both as representations of the time/space of seaside holiday and as part of its pleasures. Crucial to many of these stories were gender transgressions and sexual encounters. Drawing on the work of de Certeau, I argue that these seaside publications suggest some of the creative “tactics” developed by working-class communities.
The Sudan Sensation of 1898
Authors: Fulton Richard
Published: April 2009

In early September 1898, after a two-year campaign reported in detail by some of the most famous war correspondents in the late Victorian period, an Anglo-Egyptian force under Lord Herbert H. Kitchener smashed the army of the Khalifa at his capital of Omdurman in the Sudan. Initially the event led to the usual spate of merchandising common during the time, but for weeks, then months after the battle the event and the participants stayed squarely in the public consciousness. This paper explores the breadth and depth of the public’s mania for all things Omdurman for the remainder of 1898, and speculates why a public that showed no great personal love for the regular army (at least, as enlistees) went on a binge of regular army hero worship.
"Now Inhale the Gas": Interactive Readership in Two Victorian Boys' Periodicals, 1855–1870
Authors: James Louis
Published: April 2009

This article examines two mid-Victorian periodicals for boys that defined a teenage market a century before the modern concept of the teenager emerged, and considers the relationship between their editors and readers. Distancing his journal from the concerns with “female accomplishments” common to contemporary family magazines of the time, Samuel Beeton set out in his pioneering The Boy’s Own Magazine (1855-1874) to cater for the interests and emotional needs of middle-class boys, and, through competitions and correspondence columns, to interrelate with his audience. Beeton’s periodical is compared with The Boys’ Journal (1863-1871), which pursued these objectives with a different class of reader, featuring robust adventure yarns and popular science.
Ephemeral Journalism and Its Uses: Lucie Cobbe Heaton Armstrong (1851–1907)
Authors: Mitchell Sally
Published: April 2009

Both the anonymity of much nineteenth-century journalism and the state of the archive make it difficult to discover either the work or the income of women who supported themselves with free-lance paragraphs and newspaper columns on fashion, society, and other “women’s topics.” A search for information about one such writer reveals the nature of these difficulties, some of the improvements offered by electronic resources, and the value, sometimes, of locating commentary about changing social customs in the precisely dated pages of periodical resources.
Cohering Knowledge in the Nineteenth Century: Form, Genre and Periodical Studies
Authors: Mussell James
Published: April 2009

This paper argues that as we reimagine nineteenth-century periodicals and newspapers as digital objects we should pay particular attention to how we model their forms. As something that is repeated with each issue, form is both a key component of a particular publication’s identity and the mechanism through which it accommodates the events that it reports. Through a reading of John Tyndall’s “Discourse on the Scientific Use of the Imagination,” I argue that form is the means through which scientists imagined what they did not know, substituting system and structure for the unordered abundance of the natural world. Journalism, oriented towards an equally complex and changing world, similarly attempts to represent it as ordered and knowable. The orientation of titles towards particularly newsworthy institutions acts as a filter, identifying certain types of information at the expense of countless others, and the organization of publications into sections allocates space for events to be reported even before they occur. In this way the forms of the press operate in a similar fashion to the scientific imagination, displacing the new with the familiar, the unknown with the yet-to-be-known, and chaos with system.
2008 VanArsdel Prize Graduate Student Essay: The Random Selection of Victorian New Media
Authors: Fyfe Paul
Published: April 2009

Faced with floods of what was variously called “cheap literature,” “popular literature,” and “reading for the million,” a cohort of Victorian commentators adopted a surprisingly consistent response to examining such printed materials: random selection. This preferred mode of arbitrariness resonates with contemporary concerns about the profusion and access of electronic materials. By noting recent praise for random access and the serendipity of the database, we see in reactions to Victorian popular literature a compelling attention to such contingencies. These writings offer critical analogs for the study of Victorian new media in the new media of our own.
Fibered nonlinearities for p(x)-Laplace equations
Authors: Chermisi Milena , Valdinoci Enrico
Published: April 2009

In ℝ
m
× ℝ
n – m
, endowed with coordinates X = (x, y), we consider the PDE

–div(α(x)|∇u(X)|
p(x)–2∇u(X)) = ƒ(x, u(X)).

We prove a geometric inequality and a symmetry result.
Design Principles for Adaptive Automation and Aiding
Authors: Steinhauser Natalie B. , Pavlas Davin , Hancock P. A.
Published: April 2009

Adaptive automation technologies and the associated research have advanced significantly since their inception in the early 1970s. Here, we present the history of this research and the lessons that have been learned from it. We also present several design guidelines for the successful implementation of adaptive automation in order to serve the community of designers who will be implementing adaptive automation.
The Ventral Premammillary Nucleus Links Fasting-Induced Changes in Leptin Levels and Coordinated Luteinizing Hormone Secretion
Authors: Donato Jose , Silva Renata J. , Sita Luciane V. , Lee Syann , Lee Charlotte , Lacchini Sílvia , Bittencourt Jackson C. , Franci Celso R. , Canteras Newton S. , Elias Carol F.
Published: April 2009

Physiological conditions of low leptin levels like those observed during negative energy balance are usually characterized by the suppression of luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion and fertility. Leptin administration restores LH levels and reproductive function. Leptin action on LH secretion is thought to be mediated by the brain. However, the neuronal population that mediates this effect is still undefined. The hypothalamic ventral premammillary nucleus (PMV) neurons express a dense concentration of leptin receptors and project to brain areas related to reproductive control. Therefore, we hypothesized that the PMV is well located to mediate leptin action on LH secretion. To test our hypothesis, we performed bilateral excitotoxic lesions of the PMV in adult female rats. PMV-lesioned animals displayed a clear disruption of the estrous cycle, remaining in anestrus for 15–20 d. After apparent recovery of cyclicity, animals perfused in the afternoon of proestrus showed decreased Fos immunoreactivity in the anteroventral periventricular nucleus and in gonadotropin releasing hormone neurons. PMV-lesioned animals also displayed decreased estrogen and LH secretion on proestrus. Lesions caused no changes in mean food intake and body weight up to 7 weeks after surgery. We further tested the ability of leptin to induce LH secretion in PMV-lesioned fasted animals. We found that complete lesions of the PMV precluded leptin stimulation of LH secretion on fasting. Our findings demonstrate that the PMV is a key site linking changing levels of leptin and coordinated control of reproduction.
Complex Intrinsic Membrane Properties and Dopamine Shape Spiking Activity in a Motor Axon
Authors: Ballo Aleksander W. , Bucher Dirk
Published: April 2009

We studied the peripheral motor axons of the two pyloric dilator (PD) neurons of the stomatogastric ganglion in the lobster,Homarus americanus. Intracellular recordings from the motor nerve showed both fast and slow voltage- and activity-dependent dynamics. During rhythmic bursts, the PD axons displayed changes in spike amplitude and duration. Pharmacological experiments and the voltage dependence of these phenomena suggest that inactivation of sodium and A-type potassium channels are responsible. In addition, the “resting” membrane potential was dependent on ongoing spike or burst activity, with more hyperpolarized values when activity was strong. Nerve stimulations, pharmacological block and current clamp experiments suggest that this is due to a functional antagonism between a slow after-hyperpolarization (sAHP) and inward rectification through hyperpolarization-activated current (IH). Dopamine application resulted in modest depolarization and “ectopic” peripheral spike initiation in the absence of centrally generated activity. This effect was blocked by CsCl and ZD7288, consistent with a role ofIH. High frequency nerve stimulation inhibited peripheral spike initiation for several seconds, presumably due to the sAHP. Both during normal bursting activity and antidromic nerve stimulation, the conduction delay over the length of the peripheral nerve changed in a complex manner. This suggests that axonal membrane dynamics can have a substantial effect on the temporal fidelity of spike patterns propagated from a spike initiation site to a synaptic target, and that neuromodulators can influence the extent to which spike patterns are modified.
Dorsal–Ventral Integration in the Recognition of Motion-Defined Unfamiliar Faces
Authors: Farivar Reza , Blanke Olaf , Chaudhuri Avi
Published: April 2009

The primate visual system is organized into two parallel anatomical pathways, both originating in early visual areas but terminating in posterior parietal or inferior temporal regions. Classically, these two pathways have been thought to subserve spatial vision and visual guided actions (dorsal pathway) and object identification (ventral pathway). However, evidence is accumulating that dorsal visual areas may also represent many aspects of object shape in absence of demands for attention or action. Dorsal visual areas exhibit selectivity for three-dimensional cues of depth and are considered necessary for the extraction of surfaces from depth cues and can carry out cognitive functions with such cues as well. These results suggest that dorsal visual areas may participate in object recognition, but it is unclear to what capacity. Here, we tested whether three-dimensional structure-from-motion (SFM) cues, thought to be computed exclusively by dorsal stream mechanisms, are sufficient to drive complex object recognition. We then tested whether recognition of such stimuli relies on dorsal stream mechanisms alone, or whether dorsal–ventral integration is invoked. Results suggest that such cues are sufficient to drive unfamiliar face recognition in normal participants and that ventral stream areas are necessary for both identification and learning of unfamiliar faces from SFM cues.
The Occurrence of Aging-Dependent Reticulon 3 Immunoreactive Dystrophic Neurites Decreases Cognitive Function
Authors: Shi Qi , Hu Xiangyou , Prior Marguerite , Yan Riqiang
Published: April 2009

Reticulon 3 (RTN3) has been shown to mark a distinct and abundant population of dystrophic neurites named RTN3 immunoreactive dystrophic neurites (RIDNs) in patients' brains of Alzheimer disease (AD). Transgenic mice expressing RTN3 (Tg-RTN3) also spontaneously develop RIDNs. To determine whether RIDNs formed in Tg-RTN3 mice would ever naturally occur in the nontransgenic mouse brain, we targeted our examination to elderly mouse brains on the basis that AD is an age-dependent neurodegenerative disease where the decline in cognitive function becomes progressively increased during the course of the disease. Here, we demonstrate that the distribution of RIDNs is abundant, rather than sporadic, in elderly but not young mouse brains. RIDNs in the elderly brain have two distinct populations: abundantly dispersed RIDNs that can only be marked by RTN3, and less abundantly clustered RIDNs that can be marked by multiple proteins including RTN3, ubiquitin, and phosphorylated neurofilament. The abundance of RIDNs in Tg-RTN3 mice at the age of 3 months resembles that of 24-month-old wild type mice, suggesting that this animal model mimics and accelerates the natural occurrence of RIDNs. Importantly, we demonstrate that preformed RIDNs appear to reduce dendritic spine density and synaptic function. Further analysis from mechanistic studies suggests that elevated levels of RTN3 lead to an imbalance in the axonal transport of RTN3, which results in the accumulation of RTN3 in swollen neurites. Collectively, these results suggest that blocking the formation of RIDNs may be a promising strategy to impede cognitive decline in the elderly and in AD patients.
Zwischen Emanzipation und Trauma: Soldatinnen im Zweiten Weltkrieg (Deutschland, Sowjetunion, USA). Ein VergleichBetween Emancipation and Trauma. Female Combatants in the World War II (Germany, Sowjet Union, USA). A Comparison
Authors: Maubach Franka , Satjukow Silke
Published: April 2009

Der weibliche Kombattantenstatus gilt der neueren Genderforschung als Markstein auf dem Weg zur Gleichberechtigung. Nur selten wird in den Blick genommen, was die Zulassung zur Waffe und deren Gebrauch realiter bedeuten. Konfrontationen mit kriegerischer Gewalt, mit Tod und Töten, sind (für Männer und Frauen) häufig weniger befreiend denn traumatisierend. Am Beispiel des Zweiten Weltkriegs, in dem Frauen erstmals massenhaft für den Militärdienst rekrutiert wurden, läßt sich diese These besonders gut überprüfen. Um unterschiedliche Distanzen von Frauen zum bewaffneten Kampf ausmessen und verschiedene Zugangsweisen zum Einsatz nachzeichnen zu können, nimmt der Aufsatz deutsche Wehrmachthelferinnen, sowjetische Rotarmistinnen und US-amerikanische WACs vergleichend in den Blick. Während viele Rotarmistinnen mit der Waffe in der Hand an der Front kämpften, blieben die WACs weitgehend jenseits der Kampffront. Der Dienst der Helferinnen in der deutschen Wehrmacht changiert dazwischen. Obwohl die Soldatinnen 1945 mehrheitlich demobilisiert wurden, zeitigten die neuen weiblichen Kriegserfahrungen weitreichende kurz- und langfristige Folgen. Es stellt sich heraus: Je näher die Frauen dem bewaffneten Kampf gekommen waren, desto weniger konnten sie ihre oft traumatischen Erfahrungen als Emanzipation verstehen und ex post erinnern. Indem die Voraussetzungen der Einsätze, diese selbst wie deren Nachwirkungen untersucht werden, wird jener Raum zwischen Emanzipation und Trauma ausgeleuchtet, in dem weiblicher Militärdienst verortet werden muß.
Small effect of the androgen receptor gene GGN repeat polymorphism on serum testosterone levels in healthy men
Authors: Bogaert Veerle , Vanbillemont Griet , Taes Youri , De Bacquer Dirk , Deschepper Ellen , Van Steen Kristel , Kaufman Jean-Marc
Published: April 2009

Objective

The human androgen receptor (AR) contains a polyglutamine and a polyglycine stretch which are highly polymorphic and are coded respectively by a CAG and GGN repeat in exon 1 of the AR gene. Although the in vitro studies indicated a possible effect of the GGN repeat polymorphism on the AR gene transcription and clinical observations suggest that it might modulate the androgen action, its functional significance remains unclear. We wanted to assess whether the GGN repeat affects the serum testosterone levels in healthy men, which is the expected outcome through feedback regulation if it influences androgen action as has been shown to be the case for the CAG repeat.

Design and patients

A population based cross-sectional cohort study including 1476 healthy young, middle-aged, and elderly men.

Measurement

Testosterone and LH levels were determined by immunoassay; free testosterone (FT) levels were calculated. Genotyping of the GGN repeat was performed using the sequencing technique.

Results

The GGN repeat number was significantly associated with circulating testosterone and FT levels (P=0.017 and P=0.013 respectively). However, taking into account that age, body mass index, and CAG are already in the regression model, the GGN repeat could explain only a small part of the variation of both testosterone and FT.

Conclusion

To our knowledge, this study is the first to demonstrate a significant positive association between the GGN repeat and androgen levels in a large cohort of healthy men. Although the present study thus adds credence to the view that the polyglycine tract in the AR can modulate AR action, this effect appears to be only small so that its clinical relevance remains questionable.
Comparison of the production, quality, and in vitro maturation capacity of oocytes from untreated cycling and intermediate phase equine serum gonadotropin-treated fat-tailed dunnarts (Sminthopsis crassicaudata)
Authors: Czarny N A , Garnham J I , Harris M S , Rodger J C
Published: April 2009

This study describes ovarian changes during the natural and stimulated reproductive cycle of breeding (≤12 month) and retired (>12 month) fat-tailed dunnarts, Sminthopsis crassicaudata. Increased urinary cornified epithelial cells and the influx of leukocytes defined day 0, at which time the naturally cycling females had already ovulated; at day 16 females had no antral follicles, but by day 20 antral follicles had begun to develop. There was no difference between naturally cycling breeding and retired females. Females were stimulated with 1 IU equine serum gonadotropin (eSG) during the intermediate phase on day 16 and killed 3, 4, or 5 days later. Stimulation resulted in a significant increase in the number of growing antral follicles but retired females demonstrated a reduced response. Upon collection from breeding females 4 days following eSG stimulation, 100% of oocytes were at the first polar body (PB1) stage, those collected from retired females were immature upon collection but within 48 h 98.2±1.9% were cultured to the PB1 stage. The rate of ovulation was high in breeding females 5 days following stimulation but retired females were less reliable, and in both groups all oocytes were degraded. This is the first study to describe a reliable technique, involving ovarian stimulation during the intermediate phase and segregation of age groups, allowing the collection of a large number of healthy PB1 stage oocytes from S. crassicaudata. This is important for the development of further assisted reproductive techniques for this species and threatened dasyurids.
Genetic Analysis of Zinc-Finger Nuclease-Induced Gene Targeting in Drosophila
Authors: Bozas Ana , Beumer Kelly J , Trautman Jonathan K , Carroll Dana
Published: April 2009

Using zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs) to cleave the chromosomal target, we have achieved high frequencies of gene targeting in the Drosophila germline. Both local mutagenesis through nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) and gene replacement via homologous recombination (HR) are stimulated by target cleavage. In this study we investigated the mechanisms that underlie these processes, using materials for the rosy (ry) locus. The frequency of HR dropped significantly in flies homozygous for mutations in spnA (Rad51) or okr (Rad54), two components of the invasion-mediated synthesis-dependent strand annealing (SDSA) pathway. When single-strand annealing (SSA) was also blocked by the use of a circular donor DNA, HR was completely abolished. This indicates that the majority of HR proceeds via SDSA, with a minority mediated by SSA. In flies deficient in lig4 (DNA ligase IV), a component of the major NHEJ pathway, the proportion of HR products rose significantly. This indicates that most NHEJ products are produced in a lig4-dependent process. When both spnA and lig4 were mutated and a circular donor was provided, the frequency of ry mutations was still high and no HR products were recovered. The local mutations produced in these circumstances must have arisen through an alternative, lig4-independent end-joining mechanism. These results show what repair pathways operate on double-strand breaks in this gene targeting system. They also demonstrate that the outcome can be biased toward gene replacement by disabling the major NHEJ pathway and toward simple mutagenesis by interfering with the major HR process.
Drosophila ISWI Regulates the Association of Histone H1 With Interphase Chromosomesin Vivo
Authors: Siriaco Giorgia , Deuring Renate , Chioda Mariacristina , Becker Peter B , Tamkun John W
Published: April 2009

Although tremendous progress has been made toward identifying factors that regulate nucleosome structure and positioning, the mechanisms that regulate higher-order chromatin structure remain poorly understood. Recent studies suggest that the ISWI chromatin-remodeling factor plays a key role in this process by promoting the assembly of chromatin containing histone H1. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the function of H1 in Drosophila. The association of H1 with salivary gland polytene chromosomes is regulated by a dynamic, ATP-dependent process. Reducing cellular ATP levels triggers the dissociation of H1 from polytene chromosomes and causes chromosome defects similar to those resulting from the loss of ISWI function. H1 knockdown causes even more severe defects in chromosome structure and a reduction in nucleosome repeat length, presumably due to the failure to incorporate H1 during replication-dependent chromatin assembly. Our findings suggest that ISWI regulates higher-order chromatin structure by modulating the interaction of H1 with interphase chromosomes.
Telomere Maintenance and Survival in Saccharomyces cerevisiae in the Absence of Telomerase and RAD52
Authors: LeBel Catherine , Rosonina Emanuel , Sealey David C F , Pryde Fiona , Lydall David , Maringele Laura , Harrington Lea A
Published: April 2009

Telomeres are essential features of linear genomes that are crucial for chromosome stability. Telomeric DNA is usually replenished by telomerase. Deletion of genes encoding telomerase components leads to telomere attrition with each cycle of DNA replication, eventually causing cell senescence or death. In the Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain W303, telomerase-null populations bypass senescence and, unless EXO1 is also deleted, this survival is RAD52 dependent. Unexpectedly, we found that the S. cerevisiae strain S288C could survive the removal of RAD52 and telomerase at a low frequency without additional gene deletions. These RAD52-independent survivors were propagated stably and exhibited a telomere organization typical of recombination between telomeric DNA tracts, and in diploids behaved as a multigenic trait. The polymerase-δ subunit Pol32 was dispensable for the maintenance of RAD52-independent survivors. The incidence of this rare escape was not affected by deletion of other genes necessary for RAD52-dependent survival, but correlated with initial telomere length. If W303 strains lacking telomerase and RAD52 first underwent telomere elongation, rare colonies could then bypass senescence. We suggest that longer telomeres provide a more proficient substrate for a novel telomere maintenance mechanism that does not rely on telomerase, RAD52, or POL32.
Hydroacoustic Target Strength Distributions of Alewives in a Net‐Cage Compared with Field Surveys: Deciphering Target Strength Distributions and Effect on Density Estimates
Authors: Brooking Thomas E. , Rudstam Lars G.
Published: April 2009

Acoustic estimation of fish abundance requires knowledge of the target strength (TS) distribution associated with the fish present. We measured the TS distribution at 70 kHz for five size‐groups of alewives Alosa pseudoharengus (mean total length = 68‐138 mm) swimming freely in a large net‐cage. Although the mean and mode of the distributions were significantly related to fish length, the TS range obtained from each length‐class was over 25 decibels (dB). The TS distributions were negatively skewed and had a tendency toward bimodality. The TS distributions at 70 and 123 kHz were similar for one alewife size‐group that was measured with both frequencies. Small but inconsistent differences were found between day and night for the same groups of fish. Shapes of the TS distributions were similar when centered on the mode, and we derived a probability density function (PDF) for TS at 70 kHz as a function of fish length to describe these distributions. We used this PDF to predict TS distributions based on alewife gill‐net catch from six lake surveys and compared predictions with in situ TS distributions from each acoustic survey. Observed and predicted distributions were similar for TS values greater than −50 dB, but the observed number of small TS values exceeded the predicted number for several of the surveys. Some of these smaller TS values were probably from invertebrates or smaller fish or were indicative of noise. Estimates of alewife density from lake surveys were highly affected by inclusion or exclusion of these smaller targets. We used the predicted TS distribution derived either from catch data or from the TS values greater than −50 dB to calculate the proportion of smaller TS values that were probably from alewives. Both methods resulted in similar abundance estimates, which were higher than estimates based on an existing TS‐length regression for alewives.
Etiological agents of diarrhea in patients infected by the human immunodeficiency virus-1: a review
Authors: Rossit Andréa Regina Baptista , Gonçalves Ana Carolina Musa , Franco Célia , Machado Ricardo Luiz Dantas
Published: April 2009

Despite the importance of understanding the epidemiology of agents responsible for infectious diarrhea in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) population, the number of articles about this subject is relatively few. The current article summarizes published data on bacterial, fungal, viral and parasitic enteropathogens in the HIV/AIDS seropositive subjects in different countries, regions and localities. In general, there is a great difference in the frequencies of etiological agents due to factors which include immune status, geographical location, climate and socioeconomic conditions. It is important to stress that a great prevalence of infection by emergent agents has been reported in the more advanced stages of AIDS. Therefore, to establish specific treatment depends directly on knowledge of these agents and risk factors associated to their distribution. Moreover, the colonization by potential pathogenic agents verified in these individuals is high thus implicating that they act as carriers. Finally, public health measures of control and prevention must take into consideration the regional previously identified enteropathogens, especially in areas where HIV prevalence is high.