bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Rituals of Solidarity and Security in the Wake of Terrorist Attack
Authors: Collins Randall
Published: February 2004

Conflict produces group solidarity in four phases: (1) an initial few days of shock and idiosyncratic individual reactions to attack; (2) one to two weeks of establishing standardized displays of solidarity symbols; (3) two to three months of high solidarity plateau; and (4) gradual decline toward normalcy in six to nine months. Solidarity is not uniform but is clustered in local groups supporting each other's symbolic behavior. Actual solidarity behaviors are performed by minorities of the population, while vague verbal claims to performance are made by large majorities. Commemorative rituals intermittently revive high emotional peaks; participants become ranked according to their closeness to a center of ritual attention. Events, places, and organizations claim importance by associating themselves with national solidarity rituals and especially by surrounding themselves with pragmatically ineffective security ritual. Conflicts arise over access to centers of ritual attention; clashes occur between pragmatists deritualizing security and security zealots attempting to keep up the level of emotional intensity. The solidarity plateau is also a hysteria zone; as a center of emotional attention, it attracts ancillary attacks unrelated to the original terrorists as well as alarms and hoaxes. In particular historical circumstances, it becomes a period of atrocities.
From the Depths of Despair: Performance, Counterperformance, and “September 11”
Authors: Alexander Jeffrey C.
Published: February 2004

After introducing a perspective on terrorism as postpolitical and after establishing the criteria for success that are immanent in this form of antipolitical action, this essay interprets September 11, 2001, and its aftermath inside a cultural-sociological perspective. After introducing a macro-model of social performance that combines structural and semiotic with pragmatic and power-oriented dimensions, I show how the terrorist attack on New York City and the counterattacks that immediately occurred in response can be viewed as an iteration of the performance/counterperformance dialectic that began decades, indeed centuries, ago in terms of the relation of Western expansion and Arab-Muslim reaction. I pay careful attention to the manner in which the counterperformance of New Yorkers and Americans develops an idealized, liminal alternative that inspired self-defense and outrage, leading to exactly the opposite performance results from those the al-Qaeda terrorists had intended.
Reason, Politics, and the Politics of Truth: How Science is Both Autonomous and Dependent
Authors: Brown Richard Harvey , Malone Elizabeth L.
Published: February 2004

The concept of “science” usually includes commitments to reason, objectivity, and disinterest in the search for truth about the nature of the world. In this view, politics, in the sense of maneuvering to gain power, corrupts both the process and the product of science. However, we show that science is political through and through—in the process of constructing scientific knowledge in maintaining disciplines and in being responsive to partisan sponsorship. Nevertheless, the practitioners of both science and politics maintain the boundary between the two fields; in fact, the disciplines most dependent upon government support tend also to be the most autonomous. This situation becomes understandable when both fields are considered as discursive practices. Then scientific debates can be seen as productive precisely because they derive from an objective agreement about science as an autonomous intellectual enterprise and science itself can be seen as a politics of truth.
A Marxist Critique of Marx's Theory of History: Beyond the Dichotomy between Scientific and Critical Marxism
Authors: Panayotakis Costas
Published: February 2004

This article argues that an application of Marxism to itself can help us transcend Gouldner's (1980) dichotomy between scientific and critical Marxism. After demonstrating that the paradigmatic document of scientific marxism, Marx's Preface to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, turns the structural logic of capitalist economy into the basis for a transhistorical theory of social-economic development, this article explores the limitations of critical Marxism's response to scientific Marxism and concludes that a viable, not class-centered, reformulation of the emancipatory project is possible through an analysis of capitalism's “dialectic of scarcity.” The task of the emancipatory project, it is argued, is to turn humanity, and not the working class, from a political subject in itself to a political subject in and for itself.
Religion, Rationality, and Experience: A Response to the New Rational Choice Theory of Religion
Authors: Jerolmack Colin , Porpora Douglas
Published: February 2004

This paper is a critical response to the newest version of the rational choice theory of religion (RCTR). In comparison with previous critiques, this paper takes aim at RCTR's foundational assumption of psychological egoism and argues that the thesis of psychological egoism is untenable. Without that thesis, the normative aspects of religious commitment cannot be reduced validly to instrumental reason. On neither conceptual nor empirical grounds therefore can religion or religious commitment be defined comprehensively in terms of exchange theory. With the failure of psychological egoism as a point of departure, the paper articulates an alternative theory of religion, one based on the epistemic rationality grounded in religious experience and religious emotion.
Philippine English: tensions and transitions
Authors: Bolton Kingsley , Bautista Ma. Lourdes S.
Published: February 2004

Abstract: This short foreword discusses the background to this special issue, which began as a colloquium in De La Salle University in November 2001. Various tensions related to the ideological and political background to English in the Philippines are represented in this special issue, including those concerning bilingual education versus vernacular education (Bernardo); linguistic imperialism and neocolonialism (Tupas); and exonormative versus endonormative standards in English language education (Bautista, Bolton and Butler, and Tayao). Some contributions are more descriptive in orientation (Gonzalez, Dayag and McFarland), while other papers deal with Philippine English literary studies (Martin, McMahon, Hidalgo, Abad, Manlapaz, and Dumdum, Mo, and Mojares). Bautista's bibliography of literature on Philippine English is intended to provide a guide to the academic literature for those engaged in research on this topic.
The social dimensions of Philippine English
Authors: Gonzalez Andrew
Published: February 2004

Abstract: The context of Philippine English is described in terms of its historical, social, political and economic dimensions. The past is reviewed to explain the present, and the contemporary status and characteristics of this Philippine variety are outlined. Some tentative predictions are made as to its future, based on current social and economic trends in the area. A statement is attempted on the factors contributing to the maintenance of a standardized Asian variety of English (mutually intelligible with other world varieties) as well as factors contributing to the rise of Englishes which will eventually be mutually unintelligible (in the same way that Latin devolved to the Romance languages as the Roman Empire gave rise to independent nation‐states).
McKinley's questionable bequest: over 100 years of English in Philippine education
Authors: Bernardo Allan B. I.
Published: February 2004

Abstract: The English language has enjoyed a privileged status in Philippine formal education since US President McKinley declared it the medium of instruction of the Philippine public educational system in 1900. But the pre‐eminence of English has been vigorously called to question since then. This paper traces the changing status of English in Philippine education from the establishment of the American colonial government to the current implementation of the Bilingual Education Policy. It then discusses five dominant themes in the competing discourses regarding the role of English in Philippine education. Finally, the emerging prospects for English in Philippine education are described.
The English‐language media in the Philippines
Authors: Dayag Danilo T.
Published: February 2004

Abstract: This paper gives a profile of the English‐language media in the Philippines amidst the growing popularity of Filipino, the national language, as the language of wider communication. The development of the English‐language media is set against the backdrop of events that have shaped Philippine history from the period prior to the outbreak of World War II to the present day. The paper concludes with a brief survey of linguistic studies of the Philippine media and directions for future research.
The politics of Philippine English: neocolonialism, global politics, and the problem of postcolonialism
Authors: Tupas T. Ruanni F.
Published: February 2004

Abstract: This paper deals with the politics of Philippine English. For more than three decades now, Filipino scholars have argued for the legitimacy of this variety of English in the country. Studies of Philippine English, however, have so far failed to consider the fact that a self‐determining variety of English is deployed across structures of unfreedom in the midst of neocolonial and global political realities. Scholars need to democratize studies on Philippine English to include ‘non‐standard’ uses of Philippine English spoken by a majority of Filipinos, and to consider its neocolonial moorings. This recognition of political weakness offers renewed possibilities of resistance and situated agency for Filipino speakers with whom scholars of language may consolidate their energies towards social action and change.
The Philippine language situation
Authors: McFarland Curtis D.
Published: February 2004

Abstract: The Philippines is a country rich in languages, more than 100 distinct languages. Linguists note that there are large differences among the languages, and that they may be grouped into language families, include a northern group (including Ilokano, Pangasinan, and Kapampangan), and a central group (including Tagalog, Bikol, Hiligaynon, and Cebuano). The linguistic diversity of the Philippines arises from natural processes broadly relating to language change, the divergence between linguistic communities caused by lack of communication, and the converse convergence caused by a high rate of communication between communities. The people of the Philippines are experiencing a period of language convergence, marked by high levels of borrowing from large languages such as English, Tagalog, as well as from regionally important languages. In this process, for better or worse, some languages are abandoned altogether and become extinct.
The evolving study of Philippine English phonology
Authors: Tayao Ma. Lourdes G.
Published: February 2004

Abstract: This paper describes the evolution of studies of Philippine English phonology over more than three decades, and then goes on to discuss the results of a recent data‐based study of the Philippine English accent which, following Llamzon (1997), groups representative speakers of Philippine English into three groups: an acrolect group, a mesolect group, and a basilect group. The results of this research provide a description of distinctive phonological features at the three levels, shared in and between speakers of such groups. Finally the paper concludes by suggesting a number of possible directions for future research, suggesting that future studies of Philippine English phonology will be concerned not so much with making statements about a ‘standard’ Philippine pronunciation, but rather with describing descriptions of a range of accents, differentiated both according to geography (and first language background) and according to social‐group membership.
Dictionaries and the stratification of vocabulary: towards a new lexicography for Philippine English
Authors: Bolton Kingsley , Butler Susan
Published: February 2004

Abstract: This paper sets out to consider a range of issues relevant to the study of Philippine English vocabulary, including the importance of dictionaries in the legitimization of world Englishes, the description of lexical innovations, and the historical development and codification of the Philippine English lexicon. A number of early sources suggest that Filipino words began to be borrowed into the everyday English of the American colonizers at a very early stage of cultural contact. Today, the range of English finding expression in various domains of public life speaks to a vibrant and creative word stock reflecting the dramatically hybrid quality of life in Philippine society. The baggage of the past remains, however, in the Philippine lexicon enshrined in various editions of Webster's dictionary, which largely represents a colonial inventory of the tribes and products of the Philippine Islands.
The verb in Philippine English: a preliminary analysis of modal would
Authors: Bautista Ma. Lourdes S.
Published: February 2004

Abstract: Taking its inspiration from a study conducted by Svalberg of Brunei English verb usage (1998), this paper examines the responses of a sample of 205 Filipino university freshmen to grammatically correct and incorrect verb forms in a 20‐item Grammaticality Judgment Test. The test covered tense harmony, verb forms, tenses, and modals. Except in the area of modal use, the students on the whole performed fairly adequately on the items. As in the Svalberg study, the results showed that both the high proficiency and the low proficiency group had difficulty recognizing non‐standard uses of modal would. Similar would non‐standardisms were subsequently also found in a sample of printed material collected from local newspapers and journals. A possible explanation for this finding might be the convergence of imperfect learning, an expressive need to communicate non‐assertiveness, and the tendency in a second‐language variety to simplify complex structure and semantics.
Longfellow's legacy: education and the shaping of Philippine writing
Authors: Martin Isabel Pefianco
Published: February 2004

Abstract: Filipinos are cultural clones of Americans. This was the perception for decades after the 1946 Philippine independence from the United States. What specific strategies did the American colonizers use to create these ‘brown Americans’? The answer may be found in the language and literature education imposed by the colonial educators. The success of American public education in the Philippines may be partly attributed to the Anglo‐American canon of literature introduced in Philippine classrooms. However, this literary canon would not have been as potent without its powerful partner: colonial pedagogy. Together, canon and pedagogy produced a certain type of language and literature education that created standards for Philippine writing. In the end, canon, pedagogy, and the power of American public education in the Philippines resulted in relegating Philippine writing to the margins.
The malevolence of ‘benevolent assimilation’: cultural critique in early Philippine literature in English
Authors: McMahon Jennifer
Published: February 2004

Abstract: Two Filipino novels that were written in English during the American colonial period, Maximo Kalaw's The Filipino Rebel: A romance of the American colonization of the Philippines and Juan C. Laya's His Native Soil, are explicitly interested in analyzing American colonialism and its effects on the Philippines. Maximo Kalaw examines the political system of the colonial Philippines and lays bare the inherent corruption in a system that pretends to be democratic, while still under American control. Juan C. Laya questions American racial tolerance and the transformative power of capitalism. Though each comments on the colonization and explores issues of collaboration with and resistance to the American regime, they do not speak with one voice. Indeed, the debates that characterize the late twentieth‐century post‐colonial studies, particularly with regard to the potential for resistance in the colonial setting, are clearly evident in this early colonial fiction. The texts reveal strong differences as to whether resistance is at all possible and, if it is, how it operates and to what effect; however, what they share in common is a desire to expose the malice behind the American policy of ‘benevolent assimilation’.
The Philippine short story in English: an overview
Authors: Hidalgo Cristina Pantoja
Published: February 2004

Abstract: What is the state of the Philippine short story in English today and what are its prospects in the next century? There is a general agreement that it is in the field of the short story that Filipino writers excelled from the beginning but they were always conscious of the need to sound different from their American and British models. Today, though the audience for literature in English remains small, and proficiency in English has deteriorated, there are more short stories being written than ever before, and there is a great range in style as well as subject matter. This is largely caused by the legitimizing of creative writing by academe, with the establishment of creative writing programs, courses, workshops, etc. In the future, some writers will probably continue to write in English and Philippine literature in English will continue to enjoy the prestige it does today, simply because English remains the language of power. But there will be increasing attempts to expand the audience for literature, by experimenting with other languages (in combination with English), with more popular art forms like comic books, mystery stories, ghost stories, romance stories, MTV, etc.
Filipino poetry in English: a native clearing
Authors: Abad Gémino H.
Published: February 2004

Abstract: A literature isn't given by a natural language but rather is wrought from it as work of imagination. Over the last century, the Filipino writer has in turn colonized, as it were, the English language because their use of it has been chiefly toward a native clearing within the adopted language where its words are found again to establish and affirm a Filipino sense of their own world. During the first 40 years or so from 1905, the creative struggle was with both the new language and the writer's subject, that is, their own understanding of their culture and historical circumstances. Then, in the 1950s to the 1970s, under the influence of the American New Criticism, the writer's concern focused on the literary work as an artistic object. By the 1970s, it had become inevitable that new modes of expression would be found to carve from English the writer's response to their own time and scene.
Filipino women writers in English
Authors: Manlapaz Edna Zapanta
Published: February 2004

Abstract: Any study whose subject is Filipino women writers in English must begin with a demographic profile, since their position within Philippine society determines their perspective. Only then might we understand why they write what they write, as well as for whom they write. The single most important demographic fact about Filipino women writers in English is that they belong to the middle‐class intellectual elite. Predictably, these women tend to write about the middle‐class world they know intimately by direct experience ‐ a formidable limitation on the range of their art. But in recent times a few Filipino women have made deliberate efforts to overcome this limitation by writing historical novels which, by definition, create a fictional world populated by characters drawn from all the classes that comprise a nation.
In conversation: Cebuano writers on Philippine literature and English
Authors: Dumdum Simeon , Mo Timothy , Mojares Resil
Published: February 2004

Abstract: In early 2002, Simeon Dumdum, Timothy Mo, and Resil Mojares came together in Cebu to discuss the Cebuano tradition of English‐language creative writing, the legacy of Spanish and American colonialism, English in the Philippines and much else. Simeon Dumdum was born in the town of Balamban, Cebu island. He went to Ireland as a teenage seminarian before pursuing a legal career and is regarded as one of the best poets the Visayas has ever produced. He currently sits in Cebu city as a Regional Trial Court judge. Timothy Mo was born in Hong Kong, educated in the UK, has published six novels, and was awarded the James Tait Black Award for his latest novel Renegade or Halo2. He is a regular visitor to the Philippines. Dr Resil Mojares was born in Dipolog, Mindanao. He has been Director of the Center of Cebuano Studies at the University of San Carlos and taught and lectured at universities in America, Europe, Japan and Australia.
Researching English in the Philippines: bibliographical resources
Authors: Bautista Ma. Lourdes S.
Published: February 2004

Abstract: The academic literature on issues related to the Philippine English language and literature is substantial. This bibliography surveys relevant work on such related fields as ‘The sociology of language and language planning’, ‘Bilingualism, bilingual education, and languages in education’, ‘Language attitudes’, ‘Code‐switching and code‐mixing’, ‘Philippine English as a “new English”’, and ‘Philippine creative writing in English’. It is hoped that this bibliography will be of use to students and researchers overseas as well as in the Philippines.
Shareholder Wealth Effects of European Domestic and Cross‐border Takeover Bids
Authors: Goergen Marc , Renneboog Luc
Published: February 2004

This paper analyses the short‐term wealth effects of large intra‐European takeover bids. We find announcement effects of 9% for the target firms compared to a statistically significant announcement effect of only 0.7% for the bidders. The type of takeover bid has a large impact on the short‐term wealth effects with hostile takeovers triggering substantially larger price reactions than friendly operations. When a UK firm is involved, the abnormal returns are higher than those of bids involving both a Continental European target and bidder. There is strong evidence that the means of payment in an offer has an impact on the share price. A high market‐to‐book ratio of the target leads to a higher bid premium, but triggers a negative price reaction for the bidding firm. We also investigate whether the predominant reason for takeovers is synergies, agency problems or managerial hubris. Our results suggest that synergies are the prime motivation for bids and that targets and bidders share the wealth gains.
An Examination of Takeovers, Job Loss and the Wage Decline within UK Industry
Authors: Beckmann Til , Forbes William
Published: February 2004

This paper investigates the effects of takeovers on workers’ employment prospects and wages in the UK for the years 1987–1995. We address directly the idea that takeovers involve a ‘breach of trust’ with employees. Our results provide no support for the breach of trust hypothesis and rather suggest shareholders and workers in the post‐acquisition joint entity are locked in a form of ‘equal misery’ following the execution of the takeover.

There already an exist a wide range of event studies documenting the effect of takeovers on shareholders and a smaller number of studies discussing the impact of takeovers on employees. The contribution of the present study is to relate the separate effects of acquisition on these two groups to each other. By doing so we seek to test directly the proposition that takeovers reallocate rents from workers to target shareholders, via the bid‐premia paid on acquisition.
Memory load and the cognitive pupillary response in aging
Authors: Van Gerven Pascal W. M. , Paas Fred , Van Merriënboer Jeroen J. G. , Schmidt Henk G.
Published: February 2004

The effect of memory load on the cognitive pupillary response among 16 young adults and 16 older adults was investigated. Mean pupil dilation and reaction time were measured during a Sternberg memory‐search task, which involved six levels of memory load. A classic interaction pattern was obtained in which the reaction times of the elderly participants increased more as a function of memory load than the reaction times of the young participants. In the encoding phase of the experiment, mean dilation increased with memory load. No age differences were observed here. In the search phase of the experiment, however, mean pupil dilation was considerably greater in the young than in the elderly participants. Moreover, mean dilation of the older participants was not sensitive to memory load, whereas mean dilation increased as a function of memory load in the young participants. The results suggest that the usefulness of the pupillary response as a correlate of subtle fluctuations in memory load diminishes with old age.
The functional locus of the lateralized readiness potential
Authors: Masaki Hiroaki , Wild‐wall Nele , Sangals JÖrg , Sommer Werner
Published: February 2004

The lateralized readiness potential (LRP) is considered to reflect motor activation and has been used extensively as a tool in elucidating cognitive processes. In the present study, we attempted to more precisely determine the origins of the LRP within the cognitive system. The response selection and motor programming stages were selectively manipulated by varying symbolic stimulus response compatibility and the time to peak force of an isometric finger extension response. Stimulus response compatibility and time to peak force affected response latency, as measured in the electromyogram, in a strictly additive fashion. The effects of the experimental manipulations on stimulus‐ and response‐synchronized LRPs indicate that the LRP starts after the completion of response‐hand selection and at the beginning of motor programming. These results allow a more rigorous interpretation of LRP findings in basic and applied research.
Beneficial effects of ambiguous precues: Parallel motor preparation or reduced premotoric processing time?
Authors: Jentzsch Ines , Leuthold Hartmut , Richard ridderinkhof K.
Published: February 2004

The present study was designed to investigate the mechanisms underlying movement preprogramming in situations where informative but ambiguous precue information is used. In a response precuing task that involved flexion or extension movements with the right or left index finger, a spatially compatible precue conveyed partial information about side, about direction, no parameter information (ambiguous condition), or no information at all. Advance movement preparation was indicated by reaction‐time shortening for all informative precue conditions. The analysis of stimulus‐ and response‐locked lateralized readiness potential onsets revealed a clear and exclusive motoric origin of the ambiguous‐precue benefit. Additional analyses ruled out a strategic trial by trial choice of just one of the two ambiguous alternatives and provided evidence for a parallel preparation of both response alternatives when information only about direction or ambiguous precue information is provided.
Simple, effective countermeasures to P300‐based tests of detection of concealed information
Authors: Rosenfeld J.Peter , Soskins Matthew , Bosh Gregory , Ryan Andrew
Published: February 2004

We found countermeasures to protocols using P300 in concealed information tests. One, the “six‐probe” protocol, in Experiment 1, uses six different crime details in one run. The countermeasure: generate covert responses to irrelevant stimuli for each probe category. Hit rates were 82% in the guilty group; 18% in the countermeasure group. The average reaction time (RT) distinguished these two groups, but with overlap in RT distributions. The “one‐probe” protocol, in the second experiment, uses one crime detail as a probe. Here, one group was run in 3 weeks as a guilty group, a countermeasure group, and again as in Week 1. Countermeasure: Covert responses to irrelevant stimuli. In Week 1, hit rate was 92%. In Week 2, it was 50%. In Week 3, 58%. There was no overlap in the irrelevant RT distribution in Week 2: Countermeasure use was detectable. However, in Week 3, the RT distributions resembled those of Week 1; test‐beaters could not be caught. These studies have shown that tests of deception detection based on P300 amplitude as a recognition index may be readily defeated with simple countermeasures that can be easily learned.
Hospital–Physician Affiliations and Patient Treatments, Expenditures, and Outcomes
Authors: Madison Kristin
Published: February 2004

Objective. To determine the relationship between hospital–physician affiliations and the treatments, expenditures, and outcomes of patients.

Data Sources. Sources include the Medicare Provider Analysis and Review dataset, the American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Survey, and the Area Resource File (ARF).

Study Design. A multivariate regression analysis of the relationship between hospital–physician affiliations (such as physician–hospital organizations [PHOs] or salaried employment) and the treatment of Medicare patients with a diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction admitted to general medical‐surgical hospitals between 1994 and 1998. Dependent variables include whether the patient received a catheterization or angioplasty or bypass surgery; whether a patient was readmitted, or died within 90 days of initial admission; and expenditures. Independent variables include patient, admission hospital, and market characteristics, as well as hospital and year fixed effects.

Principal Findings. The integrated salary model form of hospital–physician affiliation is associated with slightly higher procedure rates, and higher patient expenditures. At the same time, there is little evidence that hospital–physician affiliations in the aggregate have had any measurable impact on patient treatment or outcomes.

Conclusions. The limited effect of hospital–physician affiliations on patient outcomes is consistent with previous research showing that affiliations have not much changed the nature of health care delivery. However, the finding that the integrated salary model is associated with higher treatment intensity suggests that affiliations may have had some impact on patients, and could have more in the future.
Possible contribution of circulating transforming growth factor‐β1 to immunity and prognosis in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Okumoto Kazuo , Hattori Etsuko , Tamura Kazuko , Kiso Shinichi , Watanabe Hisayoshi , Saito Koji , Saito Takafumi , Togashi Hitoshi , Kawata Sumio
Published: February 2004

Transforming growth factor‐β1 (TGF‐β1) has been implicated in tumor progression. The relationship of this cytokine as measured in plasma to anti‐tumor immunity and prognosis was investigated.

This study consisted of 70 consecutive patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (median age, 65 years). Forty‐four healthy age‐matched subjects and 32 patients with cirrhosis but no carcinoma served as controls. Patients with HCC were divided into those with plasma TGF‐β1 concentrations above (group A, n=21) or below (group B, n=49) 10 ng/ml (the mean concentration+2SD in the concentrations of the controls with cirrhosis was 8.7 ng/ml).

Age, gender, Child‐Pugh grade, and tumor stage distributions were similar in groups A and B. Considering all tumor stages together and individually, group A had a significantly shorter survival (median for all stages, 2 months) than group B (median for all stages, 10 months; P<0.01, generalized Wilcoxon's test). Groups A and B had significantly shorter survival than controls with cirrhosis (P<0.001 for each). Lymphokine‐activated killer (LAK) activity in group A was significantly lower than that in group B (P<0.001). Natural killer (NK) activity in group A was also significantly lower than that in group B (P<0.05). Plasma TGF‐β1 concentration was a significant predictor of survival by Cox's proportional‐hazards regression analysis (multivariate analysis, P<0.01). LAK and NK activities were also weak but significant predictors (P<0.05 and <0.05, respectively).

These data suggest that plasma TGF‐β1 concentration is a predictor of outcome of patients with unresectable HCC. Circulating TGF‐β1 supposedly contributes to the suppression of anti‐tumor immunity in the advanced disease.
Site‐characteristic expression and induction of trefoil factor family 1, 2 and 3 and malignant brain tumor‐1 in normal and diseased intrahepatic bile ducts relates to biliary pathophysiology
Authors: Sasaki Motoko , Tsuneyama Koichi , Saito Takahito , Kataoka Hiroaki , Mollenhauer Jan , Poustka Annemarie , Nakanuma Yasuni
Published: February 2004

Background/Aim: Trefoil factor family (TFF)1,2,3 are involved in a homeostasis/repair process of mucosal epithelia. In this study, the significance of TFF family and deleted in the malignant brain tumor‐1 (DMBT1), a putative receptor of TFF2, in the intrahepatic biliary tree was investigated in normal and diseased livers.

Materials and Methods: Expression of TFF1,2,3 and DMBT1 were examined immunohistochemically in primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), chronic viral hepatitis (CVH), extrahepatic biliary obstruction (EBO), and normal livers.

Results: In normal livers, TFF1,3 and DMBT1 were infrequently detectable in large and rarely in small bile ducts, respectively. TFF2 was not detectable in large bile ducts. In large bile duct diseases (PSC and EBO), expression of TFF3 and DMBT1 were increased. In small bile duct diseases (PBC and CVH), expression of TFF2/DMBT1 was induced in moderately to severely damaged ducts irrespective of etiology.

Conclusion: The intrahepatic biliary tree shows a site‐characteristic expression and induction of TFF1,2,3 and DMBT1. In large bile ducts, TFF1,3 were constitutively expressed and increased in pathologic bile ducts. In small bile ducts, TFF2/DMBT1 is induced in damaged ducts irrespective of etiologies. However, the cytoprotective/repair property of TFF2/DMBT1 may not be enough to prevent the following bile duct loss in PBC.
Hemochromatosis (HFE) gene mutations and hepatitis C virus infection as risk factors for porphyria cutanea tarda in Hungarian patients
Authors: Nagy Zsuzsanna , Kószó Ferenc , Pár Alajos , Emri Gabriella , Horkay Irén , Horányi Margit , Karádi Oszkár , Rumi György , Morvay Márta , Varga Viktória , Dobozy Attila , Mózsik Gyula
Published: February 2004

Aim: It is not clear whether the mutations in hemochromatosis (HFE) gene and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection act independently in the pathogenesis of porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT). The prevalence of both risk factors varies greatly in different parts of the world. PCT patients from Hungary were evaluated to assess both factors.

Methods: The prevalence of C282Y and H63D mutations in the HFE gene was determined in 50 PCT patients and compared with the reported control frequencies. Furthermore, the presence of HCV infection was determined and related to the patients' HFE gene status.

Results: The C282Y mutation was found in 8/50 cases (three homozygotes and five heterozygotes), with an 11% allele frequency (vs. 3.8% control) (P<0.05). Seventeen patients were heterozygous, one was homozygous for the H63D mutation, allele frequency 19%, which did not differ significantly from the reported control prevalence of 12.3%. Twenty‐two patients (44%) were HCV‐RNA positive; six out of them were heterozygous for H63D mutation, one only for the C282Y mutation and one was compound heterozygous for both mutations.

Conclusion: HCV infection and HFE C282Y mutation may probably be independent predisposing factors for development of PCT in Hungarian patients.
Effects of ozone oxidative preconditioning on nitric oxide generation and cellular redox balance in a rat model of hepatic ischaemia–reperfusion
Authors: Ajamieh H. H. , Menéndez S. , Martínez‐Sánchez G. , Candelario‐Jalil E. , Re L. , Giuliani A. , Fernández Olga Sonia León
Published: February 2004

Background: Many studies indicate that oxygen free‐radical formation after reoxygenation of liver may initiate the cascade of hepatocellular injury. It has been demonstrated that controlled ozone administration may promote an oxidative preconditioning or adaptation to oxidative stress, preventing the damage induced by reactive oxygen species and protecting against liver ischaemia–reperfusion (I/R) injury.

Aims: In the present study, the effects of ozone oxidative preconditioning (OzoneOP) on nitric oxide (NO) generation and the cellular redox balance have been studied.

Methods: Six groups of rats were classified as follows: (1) sham‐operated; (2) sham‐operated+l‐NAME (Nω‐nitro‐l‐arginine methyl ester); (3) I/R (ischaemia 90 min–reperfusion 90 min); (4) OzoneOP+I/R; (5) OzoneOP+l‐NAME+I/R; and (6) l‐NAME+I/R. The following parameters were measured: plasma transaminases (aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase) as an index of hepatocellular injury; in homogenates of hepatic tissue: nitrate/nitrite as an index of NO production; superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione levels as markers of endogenous antioxidant system; and finally malondialdehyde+4‐hydroxyalkenals (MDA+4‐HDA) and total hydroperoxides (TH) as indicators of oxidative stress.

Results: A correspondence between liver damage and the increase of NO, CAT, TH, glutathione and MDA+4‐HDA concentrations were observed just as a decrease of SOD activity. OzoneOP prevented and attenuated hepatic damage in I/R and OzoneOP+l‐NAME+I/R, respectively, in close relation with the above‐mentioned parameters.

Conclusions: These results show that OzoneOP protected against liver I/R injury through mechanisms that promote a regulation of endogenous NO concentrations and maintenance of cellular redox balance. Ozone treatment may have important clinical implications, particularly in view of the increasing hepatic transplantation programs.
Decreased expression of osteopontin is related to tumor aggressiveness and clinical outcome of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma
Authors: Terashi Takahiro , Aishima Shinichi , Taguchi Kenichi , Asayama Yoshiki , Sugimachi Keishi , Matsuura Shuji , Shimada Mitsuo , Maehara Shinichiro , Maehara Yoshihiko , Tsuneyoshi Masazumi
Published: February 2004

Background: Osteopontin (OPN) is known to be a secreted adhesive glycoprotein. Recent studies have reported that the overexpression of OPN is correlated with tumorigenesis, tumor aggressiveness, and poor prognosis in several types of human cancer. The aim of this study was to determine whether the expression of OPN in cases of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) indicates the clinical outcome.

Methods: The expression of OPN protein was investigated immunohistochemically in surgically resected specimens from 73 patients, and the level of OPN mRNA was also examined by quantitative real‐time reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (real‐time RT‐PCR) in nine samples of ICC. We examined the correlation between the expression of OPN and the clinicopathological factors, including overall survival, in patients with ICC.

Results: We detected the positive expression of OPN protein in 31 of 73 (42.5%) of the primary ICCs. Negative expression of OPN protein was significantly related to lymphatic permeation, perineural invasion, intrahepatic metastasis, and lymph node metastasis (P=0.0029, 0.0072, 0.0134, and 0.0101, respectively). Overall survival was significantly lower among the patients with a negative expression of OPN than it was among those with a positive expression of OPN. The negative expression of OPN protein and the lower levels of OPN mRNA were statistically significant (P=0.0139).

Conclusions: Decreased expression of OPN is considered to be a reliable indicator of tumor aggressiveness and clinical outcome in patients with ICC.
Tamoxifen induces suppression of cell viability and apoptosis in the human hepatoblastoma cell line HepG2 via down‐regulation of telomerase activity
Authors: Brandt Sebastian , Heller Hartmut , Schuster Klaus‐Dieter , Grote Jürgen
Published: February 2004

Background/Aims: Antiproliferative action of tamoxifen in the estrogen receptor‐α‐negative human hepatoblastoma cell line HepG2 was investigated.

Methods: HepG2 cells, seeded at different densities (4000–36 000 cells/cm2), were incubated with tamoxifen (1, 10, or 20 μM) or the telomerase inhibitor 3′‐azido‐3′‐deoxythymidine (AZT) (0.6–3.0 mM) up to 72 h. Cell viability was assessed (MTT‐test), flow cytometric analysis was performed, and telomerase activity was measured (telomeric repeat amplification protocol assay).

Results: Ten or 20 μM tamoxifen induced a reduction of cell viability. Basically reduction of viability was related to an increase in the fraction of G0/1‐phase. When tamoxifen was present at higher concentration (20 μM) or at low cell density (4000/cm2) an additional increase of the rate of apoptotic cells occurred with a delay, aggravating the effect of tamoxifen on cell viability substantially. When apoptosis was induced a significant suppression of telomerase activity preceded regularly. Direct inhibition of telomerase activity with AZT resulted in a decrease of cell viability and apoptotis.

Conclusion: The tamoxifen‐induced reduction of cell viability in HepG2 cells depends on drug concentration and cell density and is due to cytostatic and cytocide effects. The latter may be mediated by a down‐regulation of telomerase activity.
Liver transplantation in the era of model for end‐stage liver disease
Authors: Wang Victor S. , Saab Sammy
Published: February 2004

Abstract: Liver transplantation is challenged by organ shortage and prolonged waiting list time. The goal of the ideal organ allocation system is to transplant individuals least likely to survive without a liver transplantation, and maintain appropriate rates of postoperative survival. Currently, liver allocation in the United States is based on the model for end‐stage liver disease (MELD). Studies have shown MELD to be objective and accurate in predicting short‐term survival in patients with cirrhosis.
Cavernous transformation of the portal vein associated to multiorgan developmental abnormalities
Authors: Sorrentino D. , Labombarda A. , Debiase F. , Trevisi A. , Giagu P.
Published: February 2004

Initial diagnosis of cavernous transformation of the portal vein (portal cavernoma) is rarely made in adults. Its main clinical manifestation is upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage due to variceal bleeding. More rarely, diagnosis is made from obstructive jaundice. In children, this condition is frequently associated to prehepatic portal hypertension and congenital anomalies, the most frequent of which are atrial septal defects or malformations of the biliary tract or of the inferior vena cava.

We describe here a case of a 23‐year‐old female presenting with massive hematemesis due to the presence of esophageal and small intestinal varices. She had a cavernous transformation of the portal vein with prehepatic portal hypertension associated with heretofore unreported malformations such as right pulmonary hypoplasia, cardiac dextroposition, and right renal ectopia. A unifying hypothesis (e.g. an intrauterine vascular insult) to explain the pathogenesis of these defects seems unlikely. Appropriate tests failed to identify specific functional abnormalities in these organs. Although she bled more than once, the combination of sclerotherapy and β‐blockers has been, thus far, able to control the major clinical consequences of this disease.
CSRP2, TIMP‐1, and SM22α promoter fragments direct hepatic stellate cell‐specific transgene expression in vitro, but not in vivo
Authors: Herrmann Jens , Arias Monica , Van de Leur Eddy , Gressner Axel M. , Weiskirchen Ralf
Published: February 2004

Background/Aims: The activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSC) and their transdifferentiation into myofibroblasts (MFB) is the key step for development of liver fibrosis. Over the past several years, significant progress has been made in the understanding of the critical pathways involved incells undergoing activation. Cellular activation in the course of transdifferentiation involves, among other biochemical modifications, functionally relevant changes in the control of gene expression. These include the up‐regulation of transcription factors, different extracellular matrix proteins, cell adhesion molecules, smooth muscle specific genes, and proteins involved in matrix remodelling, or cytoskeletal organization. The corresponding regulatory elements of these genes have afforded us the opportunity to express transgenes with antifibrotic potential in a cell type‐ and/or transdifferentiation‐dependent manner.

Methods: In the present study, we have tested several promoters for their ability to mediate cell‐specific expression, including those for CSRP2, SM22α, and TIMP‐1 (CSRP2, gene encoding the LIM domain protein CRP2; SM22α, smooth muscle‐specific gene encoding a 22‐kDa protein; TIMP‐1, gene encoding the tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases‐1), which in liver are specifically expressed in HSC or become strongly activated during the acute remodelling into MFB. We constructed adenoviral reporter vectors in which relevant portions of the promoters were fused to the green fluorescent protein.

Results and Conclusion: Our experiments demonstrate that each of these promoters is sufficient to achieve strong or partially selective expression in vitro but none is able to direct a specific or inducible expression of transgenes in HSC/MFB in vivo.
Systemic and splanchnic haemodynamic effects of sildenafil in an in vivo animal model of cirrhosis support for a risk in cirrhotic patients
Authors: Colle Isabelle , De Vriese An S. , Van Vlierberghe Hans , Lameire Norbert H. , DeVos Martine
Published: February 2004

Objectives: Sildenafil is a selective inhibitor of the cGMP‐specific phosphodiesterase type V (PDE‐V) in the corpus cavernosum. PDE‐V is also present in the mesenteric artery. Cirrhosis is complicated by a splanchnic vasodilation attributed to a local overproduction of nitric oxide (NO). As sildenafil potentiates the effects of NO, it may further decrease mesenteric vascular tone and increase portal venous blood flow. The aim is to evaluate the effects of sildenafil on the systemic and splanchnic haemodynamics in an experimental model of cirrhosis.

Methods: Secondary biliary cirrhosis was induced in male Wistar rats by common bile duct ligation (CBDL, n=8); control rats were sham‐operated (sham, n=7). The mean arterial pressure (MAP), portal venous pressure (PVP) and arterial mesenteric blood flow (MBF) were measured after intramesenteric (0.01–10 mg/kg) and after intravenous (i.v.) (0.01–10 mg/kg) administration of sildenafil.

Results: Baseline PVP was significantly higher in CBDL than in sham rats, whereas baseline MAP tended to be lower and MBF tended to be higher in CBDL compared with sham rats. Both intramesenteric and i.v. injection of sildenafil significantly decreased MAP and increased MBF and PVP in a dose‐dependent way. The decrease in MAP was significantly less important in CBDL than in sham rats. The increase in MBF was importantly lower in CBDL than in sham rats. PVP tended to increase more significantly in sham rats than in CBDL.

Conclusion: Sildenafil increases MBF and PVP and induces systemic hypotension. The effects are less pronounced in cirrhosis, suggesting vascular hyporesponsiveness to sildenafil. Although the rise in PVP in cirrhotic animals is smaller than in controls, it may present a risk for haemorrhagic complications. Further studies are necessary before prescribing sildenafil to patients with cirrhosis.