bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
RBM19 is essential for preimplantation development in the mouse
Authors: Zhang Jian , Tomasini Amber J , Mayer Alan N
Published: December 2008

Background

RNA-binding motif protein 19 (RBM19, NCBI Accession # NP_083038) is a conserved nucleolar protein containing 6 conserved RNA recognition motifs. Its biochemical function is to process rRNA for ribosome biogenesis, and it has been shown to play a role in digestive organ development in zebrafish. Here we analyzed the role of RBM19 during mouse embryonic development by generating mice containing a mutation in the Rbm19 locus via gene-trap insertion.

Results

Homozygous mutant embryos failed to develop beyond the morula stage, showing defective nucleologenesis, activation of apoptosis, and upregulation of P53 target genes. A unique feature of RBM19 is its localization to the cytoplasm in morula stage-embryos, whereas most other nucleolar proteins are localized to the nucleolar precursor body (NPB). The nucleoli in the Rbm19 mutant embryos remain immature, yet they can carry out rRNA synthesis. The timing of developmental arrest occurs after expression of the inner cell mass markers OCT3/4 and NANOG, but prior to the specification of trophectoderm as reflected by CDX2 expression.

Conclusion

The data indicate that RBM19 is essential for preimplantation development, highlighting the importance of de novo nucleologenesis during this critical developmental stage.
Fluorescent-BOX-PCR for resolving bacterial genetic diversity, endemism and biogeography
Authors: Brusetti Lorenzo , Malkhazova Iana , Gtari Maher , Tamagnini Isabella , Borin Sara , Merabishvili Maya , Chanishvili Nina , Mora Diego , Cappitelli Francesca , Daffonchio Daniele
Published: December 2008

Background

BOX-A1R-based repetitive extragenic palindromic-PCR (BOX-PCR) is one of the most used techniques in biogeography studies of microbial isolates. However the traditional separation of BOX-PCR patterns by agarose gel electrophoresis suffers many limitations. The aim of this research was to set up a fluorescent BOX-PCR (F-BOX-PCR) assay in which separation of PCR products is automated in a capillary electrophoresis system. F-BOX-PCR was compared with the traditional BOX-PCR using bacterial strains with different G+C content (Bacillus cereus; Escherichia coli; isolates of the family Geodermatophilaceae). Resolution, discriminatory power and reproducibility were evaluated by assaying different electrophoretic runs, PCR reactions and independent DNA extractions. BOX-PCR and F-BOX-PCR were compared for the analysis of 29 strains of Modestobacter multiseptatus isolated from three different microsites in an altered carbonatic wall from Cagliari, Italy, and 45 strains of Streptococcus thermophilus isolated from 34 samples of the hand-made, yogurt-like product Matsoni, collected in different locations in Georgia.

Results

Fluorophore 6-FAM proved more informative than HEX and BOX-PCR both in agarose gel electrophoresis (p < 0.004 and p < 0.00003) and in capillary electrophoresis (compared only with HEX, p < 2 × 10-7). 6-FAM- and HEX-based F-BOX-PCR respectively detected up to 12.0 and 11.3 times more fragments than BOX-PCR. Replicate separations of F-BOX-PCR showed an accuracy of the size calling of ± 0.5 bp until 500 bp, constantly decreasing to ± 10 bp at 2000 bp. Cluster analysis of F-BOX-PCR profiles grouped M. multiseptatus strains according to the microsite of isolation and S. thermophilus strains according to the geographical origin of Matsoni, but resulted intermixed when a BOX-PCR dataset was used.

Conclusion

F-BOX-PCR represents an improved method for addressing bacterial biogeography studies both in term of sensitivity, reproducibility and data analysis.
Estimating adjusted prevalence ratio in clustered cross-sectional epidemiological data
Authors: Santos Carlos Antônio ST , Fiaccone Rosemeire L , Oliveira Nelson F , Cunha Sérgio , Barreto Maurício L , do Carmo Maria Beatriz B , Moncayo Ana-Lucia , Rodrigues Laura C , Cooper Philip J , Amorim Leila D
Published: December 2008

Background

Many epidemiologic studies report the odds ratio as a measure of association for cross-sectional studies with common outcomes. In such cases, the prevalence ratios may not be inferred from the estimated odds ratios. This paper overviews the most commonly used procedures to obtain adjusted prevalence ratios and extends the discussion to the analysis of clustered cross-sectional studies.

Methods

Prevalence ratios(PR) were estimated using logistic models with random effects. Their 95% confidence intervals were obtained using delta method and clustered bootstrap. The performance of these approaches was evaluated through simulation studies. Using data from two studies with health-related outcomes in children, we discuss the interpretation of the measures of association and their implications.

Results

The results from data analysis highlighted major differences between estimated OR and PR. Results from simulation studies indicate an improved performance of delta method compared to bootstrap when there are small number of clusters.

Conclusion

We recommend the use of logistic model with random effects for analysis of clustered data. The choice of method to estimate confidence intervals for PR (delta or bootstrap method) should be based on study design.
Functional characterization of the vaccinia virus I5 protein
Authors: Unger Bethany , Nichols R Jeremy , Stanitsa Eleni S , Traktman Paula
Published: December 2008

The I5L gene is one of ~90 genes that are conserved throughout the chordopoxvirus family, and hence are presumed to play vital roles in the poxvirus life cycle. Previous work had indicated that the VP13 protein, a component of the virion membrane, was encoded by the I5L gene, but no additional studies had been reported. Using a recombinant virus that encodes an I5 protein fused to a V5 epitope tag at the endogenous locus (vI5V5), we show here that the I5 protein is expressed as a post-replicative gene and that the ~9 kDa protein does not appear to be phosphorylated in vivo. I5 does not appear to traffic to any cellular organelle, but ultrastructural and biochemical analyses indicate that I5 is associated with the membranous components of assembling and mature virions. Intact virions can be labeled with anti-V5 antibody as assessed by immunoelectron microscopy, indicating that the C' terminus of the protein is exposed on the virion surface. Using a recombinant virus which encodes only a TET-regulated copy of the I5V5 gene (vΔind I5V5), or one in which the I5 locus has been deleted (vΔI5), we also show that I5 is dispensable for replication in tissue culture. Neither plaque size nor the viral yield produced in BSC40 cells or primary human fibroblasts are affected by the absence of I5 expression.
Hyperfractionated Accelerated Radiotherapy in the Milan Strategy for Metastatic Medulloblastoma
Authors: Gandola Lorenza , Massimino Maura , Cefalo Graziella , Solero Carlo , Spreafico Filippo , Pecori Emilia , Riva Daria , Collini Paola , Pignoli Emanuele , Giangaspero Felice , Luksch Roberto , Berretta Serena , Poggi Geraldina , Biassoni Veronica , Ferrari Andrea , Pollo Bianca , Favre Claudio , Sardi Iacopo , Terenziani Monica , Fossati-Bellani Franca
Published: December 2008

Purpose

With a view to improving the prognosis for patients with metastatic medulloblastoma, we tested the efficacy and toxicity of a hyperfractionated accelerated radiotherapy (HART) regimen delivered after intensive sequential chemotherapy.

Patients and Methods

Between 1998 and 2007, 33 consecutive patients received postoperative methotrexate (8 g/m2), etoposide (2.4 g/m2), cyclophosphamide (4 g/m2), and carboplatin (0.8 g/m2) in a 2-month schedule, then HART with a maximal dose to the neuraxis of 39 Gy (1.3 Gy/fraction, 2 fractions/d) and a posterior fossa boost up to 60 Gy (1.5 Gy/fraction,2 fractions/d). Patients with persistent disseminated disease before HART were consolidated with two myeloablative courses and circulating progenitor cell rescue.

Results

Patients were classified as having M1 (n = 9), M2 (n = 6), M3 (n = 17), and M4 (n = 1) disease. Seven patients younger than 10 years old who achieved complete response after chemotherapy received a lower dose to the neuraxis (31.2 Gy). Twenty-two of the 32 assessable patients responded to chemotherapy; disease was stable in five patients and progressed in five patients. One septic death occurred before radiotherapy. Eight patients experienced relapse after a median of 12 months. Fourteen of the 33 patients underwent consolidation therapy after HART. With a median 82-month survivor follow-up, the 5-year event-free, progression-free, and overall survival rates were 70%, 72%, and 73%, respectively. No severe clinical complications of HART have emerged so far.

Conclusion

HART after intensive postoperative chemotherapy, followed by myeloablative chemotherapy in selected cases, proved feasible in children with metastatic medulloblastoma. The results of our treatment compare favorably with other series treated using conventional therapies.
Phase II Study of Erlotinib Plus Temozolomide During and After Radiation Therapy in Patients With Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma Multiforme or Gliosarcoma
Authors: Prados Michael D. , Chang Susan M. , Butowski Nicholas , DeBoer Rebecca , Parvataneni Rupa , Carliner Hannah , Kabuubi Paul , Ayers-Ringler Jennifer , Rabbitt Jane , Page Margaretta , Fedoroff Anne , Sneed Penny K. , Berger Mitchel S. , McDermott Michael W. , Parsa Andrew T. , Vandenberg Scott , James C. David , Lamborn Kathleen R. , Stokoe David , Haas-Kogan Daphne A.
Published: December 2008

Purpose

This open-label, prospective, single-arm, phase II study combined erlotinib with radiation therapy (XRT) and temozolomide to treat glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and gliosarcoma. The objectives were to determine efficacy of this treatment as measured by survival and to explore the relationship between molecular markers and treatment response.

Patients and Methods

Sixty-five eligible adults with newly diagnosed GBM or gliosarcoma were enrolled. We intended to treat patients not currently treated with enzyme-inducing antiepileptic drugs (EIAEDs) with 100 mg/d of erlotinib during XRT and 150 mg/d after XRT. Patients receiving EIAEDs were to receive 200 mg/d of erlotinib during XRT and 300 mg/d after XRT. After XRT, the erlotinib dose was escalated until patients developed tolerable grade 2 rash or until the maximum allowed dose was reached. All patients received temozolomide during and after XRT. Molecular markers of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), EGFRvIII, phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), and methylation status of the promotor region of the MGMT gene were analyzed from tumor tissue. Survival was compared with outcomes from two historical phase II trials.

Results

Median survival was 19.3 months in the current study and 14.1 months in the combined historical control studies, with a hazard ratio for survival (treated/control) of 0.64 (95% CI, 0.45 to 0.91). Treatment was well tolerated. There was a strong positive correlation between MGMT promotor methylation and survival, as well as an association between MGMT promotor-methylated tumors and PTEN positivity shown by immunohistochemistry with improved survival.

Conclusion

Patients treated with the combination of erlotinib and temozolomide during and following radiotherapy had better survival than historical controls. Additional studies are warranted.
Sex-specific effects of prenatal testosterone on nestling plasma antioxidant capacity in the zebra finch
Authors: Tobler Michael , Sandell Maria I.
Published: December 2008

Trans-generational transfer of non-genetic, maternal resources such as hormones can have a substantial influence on offspring phenotype in many vertebrate species. In birds, maternal androgens enhance both growth and competitive behaviour, but also suppress the immune system. It has been hypothesised that high levels of egg androgens could also influence the prooxidant–antioxidant balance through their positive effect on growth and metabolism. We tested this hypothesis in the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata). Eggs were injected with testosterone dissolved in sesame oil or sesame oil only (control). We subsequently assessed the effect of the egg hormone manipulation on nestling growth and nestling plasma total antioxidant capacity (TAC). Growth rates of zebra finch nestlings were not significantly affected by egg hormone treatment. However, male offspring hatched from eggs with experimentally elevated testosterone had reduced plasma TAC at 10 days of age compared with male offspring hatching from control eggs. At the age of 34 days, males had similar plasma TAC irrespective of egg treatment. No effects of egg testosterone manipulation on nestling plasma TAC were found in females. Our results demonstrate that embryonic exposure to elevated levels of testosterone modulates chick antioxidant status, but this seems to be independent of chick growth. Sex-specific effects of prenatal testosterone on plasma TAC of zebra finch nestlings may have important consequences for sex allocation.
Multiplicity of expression of Na+,K+–ATPaseα-subunit isoforms in the gill of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar): cellular localisation and absolute quantification in response to salinity change
Authors: Madsen Steffen S. , Kiilerich Pia , Tipsmark Christian K.
Published: December 2008

The ability to reverse the net direction of gill ion transport in response to a salinity change is critical for euryhaline teleosts and involves a complex cellular and molecular remodelling of the gill epithelium. The present study aimed to clarify the cellular localisation and exact quantitative inter-relationship of Na+,K+–ATPase α- andβ-subunit transcripts in Atlantic salmon gill during salinity change. The combined expression level of all α-isoforms in the gill increased by 100% after freshwater (FW) to seawater (SW) transfer. The α1aand α1b isoforms were both in the range 1–6 amol 20 ng–1 total RNA; α1a decreased andα 1b increased after SW-transfer, their ratio changing from 5:1 in FW to 0.26:1 in SW. The α1c and α3levels were 10- and 100-fold lower, respectively. Theβ 1-subunit mRNA level was 0.1–0.3 amol 20 ng–1 total RNA, thus much lower than the sum ofα-subunits. Even though increasing 3-fold after SW-transfer,β-subunit availability may still limit functional pump synthesis. The mRNAs of the predominant α1a and α1bisoforms were localised by in situ hybridisation in specific gill cells of both FW and SW salmon. Labelling occurred mainly in presumed chloride cells and cells deep in the filament but occasionally also on lamellae. Overall, the salinity-induced variation in labelling pattern and intensity matched the quantification data. In conclusion, the predominant switching of Na+,K+–ATPase α-subunit isoform mRNA during salinity acclimation reflects a marked remodelling of mitochondrion-rich cells(MRCs) in the gill and probably tuning of the pump performance to accomplish a net reversal of gill ion transport in hypo- and hypertonic environments.
Non-linearity in experimental journal bearing dynamics - a new approach
Authors: Wale G D , Mba D
Published: December 2008

This article considers the effects of non-linearity in the dynamic properties of a journal bearing and presents a method of constructing the calculations needed in the identification of a non-linear dynamic model of the oil film. The new calculation method, together with its background and development is described and illustrated. The method uses frequency-domain descriptions of the test waveforms and accommodates any reasonable oil film model. It can also be used to predict the orbits. It has been applied to both theoretical and experimental results, and a robust procedure based on the new calculation method for the extraction of higher-order dynamic oil film coefficients is proposed and described.
Analytical investigation of a partially textured parallel slider
Authors: Pascovici M D , Cicone T , Fillon M , Dobrica M B
Published: December 2008

The article presents a one-dimensional isothermal flow model with analytical solution for partially textured surfaces, nominally parallel. The model allows a simple and elegant parametric analysis of slider performance characteristics (load-carrying capacity, friction force, and friction coefficient) in terms of texture dimensions. It is shown that the friction force and load-carrying capacity do not practically depend on the number of cells. Optimum values of design parameters (dimensionless dimple depth and dimensionless textured length), allowing for maximum load-carrying capacity and minimum friction coefficient, are presented in the dimensionless form. The same model is used to give a phenomenologically based solution for the ‘equivalent step bearing’ in terms of load-carrying capacity or friction coefficient. The results show that the concept of equivalent step bearing is questionable, as the equivalent height of the step bearing is not uniquely determined.
Silencing Survivors’ Narratives: Why Are We Again Forgetting the No Gun Ri Story?
Authors: Choi Suhi
Published: December 2008

This essay examines how the U.S. media has remembered and forgotten again the incident in which U.S. troops killed South Korean civilians who were taking refuge on the trestles of the No Gun Ri bridge in an early stage of the Korean War. Through textual analysis and oral history interviews, the research identifies narratives from both front stage (the U.S. media) and back stage (survivors’ testimonies). The study concludes that through reaffirming the official account of the Korean War—America’s mission of saving Koreans from Communist aggression—the U.S. media largely silenced South Korean survivors’ counter-narratives. As a result, the No Gun Ri story became sanitized as just another anecdotal war story that asks to be forgotten.
Reagan and Reykjavík: Arms Control, SDI, and the Argument from Human Rights
Authors: Howell B. Wayne
Published: December 2008

Following the October 1986 U.S.-Soviet summit in Reykjavík, Iceland, news media in the United States characterized the Reagan-Gorbachev meeting as a failure because President Ronald Reagan refused to compromise on his commitment to the development of a Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). This essay examines Reagan’s rhetoric of public diplomacy surrounding the Reykjavík Summit and suggests an alternative characterization. Reagan used SDI to prod Mikhail Gorbachev toward liberalization and democratization of the Soviet Union, particularly in the area of human rights.
Reading Sonic Culture in Emerson’s “Self-Reliance”
Authors: Hansen Andrew C.
Published: December 2008

In “Self-Reliance,” Emerson alludes to the voice almost 80 times, mentioning it in over half of the essay’s paragraphs. Unpacking these references, one finds an implicit rhetorical theory of sound and voice drawn from assumptions of nineteenth-century Americans’ conceptions of sound. Emerson’s sonic allusions reveal a conceptualization of the essence and rhetorical nature of voice that helps explain Emerson’s notion of self-reliance and oratorical exchanges.
Expanding the Social Frame of Knowledge: Interdisciplinary, Degree-Granting Fields in American Colleges and Universities, 1975–2000
Authors: Brint Steven G. , Turk-Bicakci Lori , Proctor Kristopher , Murphy Scott Patrick
Published: December 2008

The number of interdisciplinary, degree-granting fields in American colleges and universities has grown rapidly, with socially incorporative programs (women’s studies, ethnic studies, and non-Western area studies) accounting for a large share. These fields have diffused widely over time, while other interdisciplinary fields have not. Variables based on ecological features of academic organizations provide a better guide to the location of interdisciplinary fields than variables based on student demographic composition or organizational stratification. Most studies of interdisciplinary change have focused on external resource providers and new technology development, but this study suggests that social movements are another important source.
Privileged Social Identities and Diversity Leadership in Higher Education
Authors: Owen David S.
Published: December 2008

In this paper, I examine the desirability and effectiveness of appointing in predominantly White institutions of higher education diversity leaders who possess privileged social identities. I conclude that the desirability and effectiveness of such individuals depends on their ascribed identities (especially in terms of race, gender, class, and sexual orientation), the prospective leader’s degree of understanding of the nature and functioning of oppression, the institutional history and context, and the broader sociohistorical context in which the institution is embedded. Thus, there will be some situations where appointing diversity leaders with privileged identities can be both desirable and effective.
Tales Told on the Tour: Mythic Representations of Slavery by Docents at North Carolina Plantation Museums
Authors: Modlin E. Arnold
Published: December 2008

Historic house plantation museums are common across the southeastern United States. Often these museums depict an idealized vision of the past that heavily emphasizes the experiences and possessions of the wealthy, white planter class while ignoring the large enslaved community that lived and worked on the plantation. Previous researchers have noted how little is said about slavery at these historic sites and have called for more inclusive, socially responsible narratives. This article suggests that, in general, these calls for inclusion have not been fully realized, finding that slavery is often misrepresented on tours at plantation museum sites in North Carolina, which have gone largely unexplored until now. In documenting marginalization of slavery at plantation sites, I conduct: (1) a content analysis of the frequency of hearing references to the enslaved in docentled tours; and (2) a discourse analysis of the myths and representational strategies used by docents in framing public understanding of the history of slavery.
Imagining Plantations: Slavery, Dominant Narratives, and the Foreign Born
Authors: Butler David L. , Carter Perry L. , Dwyer Owen J.
Published: December 2008

This article examines the responses of over 1000 tourists to an exit survey at Laura Plantation, a tourist museum site located outside of New Orleans, Louisiana. Using Critical Race Theory, we evaluate visitor interest in slavery at the plantation compared to other, more dominant narratives commonly associated with promoting plantation history throughout the U.S. South. By separating the respondents on the basis of race and country of origin, we examined the relative importance of different narratives between these various socio-demographic groups. Findings from some white visitors were not surprising; they out-ranked other visitors groups in their interest in dominant narratives other than slaves. However, the responses from sub-groups of black and foreign born visitors were surprising in that the foreign born group was most interested in slavery at the plantation, even over that of some blacks.
Debating Race through the Tourist Plantation: Analyzing a New York Times Conversation
Authors: Montes Josefer , Butler David L.
Published: December 2008

On June 22, 2000 Ginger Thompson's "Reaping what was sown on the old plantation" was published in the New York Times (NYT) as part of a series of articles on race relations in America. That article examined a controversy manifested through two people, one representing the history of the old white establishment and the other representing the history of former slaves at a tourist plantation. With the Critical Race Theory tenet of storytelling as theoretical background, a qualitative content analysis of the feedback from "Reaping what was sown. . ." was completed. From the NYT message posting forum, 419 messages were archived, classified, and interpreted. While there are differences in how blacks and whites view tourist plantations, there is ample commonality, with many nuanced online responses that defy common generalizations. These recorded responses challenge the impression that blacks and whites view tourist plantations entirely differently. In this respect, museums and historical sites related to slavery have an impact on public dialogue and debate well beyond direct visitation. As illustrated here, the very mention of these sites and the range of feelings they evoke serve as an important springboard for a much broader discussion of race and race relations in America.
Symbolic Excavation and the Artifact Politics of Remembering Slavery in the American South: Observations from Walterboro, South Carolina
Authors: Alderman Derek H. , Campbell Rachel M.
Published: December 2008

While historic sites in the American South have tended not to engage visitors in critical discussions of slavery, there are indications that this pattern is changing. In understanding how the history of slavery is resurrected and narrated through memorials, museums, and other public places of memory, it is perhaps useful to think about it as a process of "symbolic excavation." The metaphor of excavation prompts us to realize that the unearthing of difficult and long suppressed (and repressed) historical narratives can only happen through memory work, the construction and representation of the past. This excavation calls for developing an "artifact politics" that involves active participation with the material traces of slavery as well as the appropriation and reinterpretation of artifacts previously associated with the white planter class. To explore the ongoing symbolic excavation of slave history in the South, we focus on a recent addition to the region's tourism landscape—the Slave Relic Museum in Walterboro, South Carolina—and its African American owner and curator, Danny Drain. Drain provides visitors with the opportunity to see and touch some of the artifacts of slavery, including chains and shackles. Establishing this tactile relationship between museum visitor and historical object does more than simply assist Drain in vividly narrating the history of the slave trade. It is also involves the visitor in the excavation and memory recovery process as a bodily performance. Physically engaging these chains forces museum visitors to participate in the memory work of not forgetting or trivializing the enslaved and their experiences.
Feminist Performance Criticism and the Popular: Reviewing Wendy Wasserstein
Authors: Dolan Jill
Published: December 2008

This essay suggests that the taxonomy of feminisms—liberal, cultural, and materialist—while usefully lending precision to our analysis, has inadvertently become hierarchical, privileging materialist feminist projects at the expense of more popular or mainstream plays and productions by liberal feminist playwrights. By returning to the oeuvre of Wendy Wasserstein, the author argues that although some of her initial critical misgivings about the playwright’s relationship to the feminist movement maintain, Wasserstein’s liberal feminist success on Broadway and in regional theatres needs careful consideration for what it accomplished for women. The essay analyzes two recent productions of Wasserstein’s final play, Third , written just before her death from cancer in 2006. Although the Geffen theatre production in Los Angeles panders to anti-or post-feminist perspectives, the Philadelphia theatre company production explores the tensions and contradictions between second-and third-wave feminists in ways both illuminating and useful to contemporary academics and activists.
Queering Tango: Glitches in the Hetero-National Matrix of a Liminal Cultural Production
Authors: Pellarolo Sirena
Published: December 2008

This essay unveils a notorious gender ambiguity in the early tango culture, anxiously covered up by a practice that dramatizes the binarism of heterosexuality in an almost parodic way. The study identifies ruptures in this cultural production, historically construed as an iconic and normalizing referent in the formation of a modern national, gendered identity in Argentina (1900–30), promoted by an active interaction between the culture industry and its audiences/consumers. This exchange reflected the need in the public sphere for the creation of a modern feminine identity remarkably documented in the performativity of “public” women—for the purposes of this essay, women tango singers. These performers became a raging success in the stages of commercial theatres, the cabaret scene, and the radio and film industries. While singing mostly a repertoire of male-authored lyrics that delivered a message of control over modern women’s independence, the public availability of their performing bodies contradicted the representation of abjection, prostitution, and destruction suffered by the women represented in the tango lyrics they sang. In addition, their practice of cross-dressing provided a strong vernacular model that was not devoid of gender contradictions, as it defied national canons of female beauty and sexuality. Female working-class audiences felt identified with these cross-dressed actresses and singers, and were furthermore pleased to see mimicked onstage forlorn vernacular types that affirmed a national identity: the slick compadrito , and the more exotic gaucho style. This embracing of a popular national aesthetic in the midst of the internationalization of tango diverted attention from the mischievous gender-play that Argentine audiences would at the time deny as being the reflection of a hidden gender ambiguity. These women tango singers have consequently become living documents of a fissure in the heteronormativity of the apparently seamless identity construction of the modern Argentine nation.
Usable Performance Feminism for Our Time: Reconsidering Betty Friedan
Authors: Chansky Dorothy
Published: December 2008

This essay uses Betty Friedan’s writing and persona as touchstones to consider how her ideas—and by extension second-wave feminism—have remained relevant to theatre practitioners and performance analysts with feminist goals. Styles in the acceptable “presentation of self in everyday life” as well as tropes in the portrayal of feminism in mainstream theatre paralleled both Friedan’s concerns in her six books and also, ironically, her increasing marginalization within the evolving feminist movement. Friedan was schooled in leftist unionism and also believed in the power of theatre to convey social ideology. It is worth examining these ideas in order to ask how the goals this essay situates as still radical can be addressed by theatre and performance. Much about the (feminine) mystique of stardom still remains at odds with whatever dramaturgical or topical inroads a playwright might make. The essay suggests that “third-wave theatre” (if there is such a thing) and present-day feminist performativity can no more afford to jettison second-wave ideals than can third-wave politics.
Ästhetische Radikalität und politische Gewalt. Brecht und das soziale Imaginäre in Alain Badious Hermeneutik des 20. Jahrhunderts
Authors: Schöning Matthias
Published: December 2008

The French philosopher Alain Badiou attempts to derive new political impulses from twentieth-century aesthetic radicalism. This would, above all, exonorate the art of the Avant-garde from complicitousness with totalitarian politics in the first half of the century. Starting with a reconstruction of Badiou's point of departure, and a side glance at the interwar years, we subject Badiou's hermeneutics of the century to a critical examination. One can principally agree with Badiou's differentiation between political and aesthetic radicalism, but his interpretation of Brecht's Maßnahme reveals a certain one-sidedness.
Die ›Heidelberger Falkenheilkunde‹ des Codex Palatinus germanicus 551
Authors: Giese Martina
Published: December 2008

The 15th century Codex Palatinus germanicus 551 of the University Library of Heidelberg contains a German text on the taming, feeding and healing of falcons used as birds of prey. This text is analysed and for the first time presented in a critical synoptic edition together with the related German works, the ›Wiener Falkenheilkunde‹ (15th c.) and the ›Beizbüchlein‹ (first published about 1480). All three treatises are based on a latin compilation of sources of unknown provenance and the ›Epistola ad Ptolomaeum‹ in the version cited by Thomas of Cantimpré (about 1241) in his ›Liber de natura rerum‹.
An IS Quality Measurement Using Gap and Multicriteria Decision-Making Model: A Case Study for Supply Chain Management System
Authors: Chang Che-Wei , Horng Der-Juinn , Lin Hung-Lung
Published: December 2008

This study proposes a novel method for controlling and measuring supply chain management software quality. The expert decision-making algorithm-based method offers an evaluation method that can provide information system (IS) industry decision makers or administrators with a valuable reference for evaluating the IS quality between the end user and developer. Importantly, the proposed model can provide a reference material for decision makers or administrators, making it highly applicable for academic and management purposes.
Inference of Historical Changes in Migration Rate From the Lengths of Migrant Tracts
Authors: Pool John E , Nielsen Rasmus
Published: December 2008

After migrant chromosomes enter a population, they are progressively sliced into smaller pieces by recombination. Therefore, the length distribution of “migrant tracts” (chromosome segments with recent migrant ancestry) contains information about historical patterns of migration. Here we introduce a theoretical framework describing the migrant tract length distribution and propose a likelihood inference method to test demographic hypotheses and estimate parameters related to a historical change in migration rate. Applying this method to data from the hybridizing subspecies Mus musculus domesticus and M. m. musculus, we find evidence for an increase in the rate of hybridization. Our findings could indicate an evolutionary trajectory toward fusion rather than speciation in these taxa.
What Can Data Tell Us About the Quality and Relevance of Current Pediatric Residency Education?
Authors: Leslie Laurel K.
Published: December 2008

The Residency Review and Redesign (R3P) Project relied on both qualitative and quantitative data in developing its recommendations regarding residency education. This article reviews quantitative data in the published literature of import to the R3P Project as well as findings by Freed and colleagues published in this supplement to Pediatrics. Primary questions of interest to the R3P Project included: What factors drive decision-making regarding residency selection? Do current training programs have the flexibility to meet the needs of residents, no matter what their career choice with pediatrics? What areas need greater focus within residency training? Should the length of training remain at 36 months? Based on the available data, the R3P Project concluded that more diversity needs to be fostered with training programs. By promoting innovative and diverse approaches to improving pediatric residency education, members of the R3P Project hope to enhance learning, encourage multiple career paths within the broad field of pediatrics, and, ultimately, improve patient and family outcomes.
A Continuum of Competency Assessment: The Potential for Reciprocal Use of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Toolbox and the Components of the American Board of Pediatrics Maintenance-of-Certification Program
Authors: Brown H. James , Miles Paul V. , Perelman Robert H. , Stockman James A.
Published: December 2008

Reduction of unexplained variation in medical practice and health outcomes is of paramount importance, which indicates a need for a continuum of medical learning that begins in medical school and continues until the end of a professional career. That, in turn, indicates need for continuing assessment of professional competence. The American Board of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education are working together to develop a common approach to documenting acquisition of competence during residency and maintenance of competence thereafter. A common approach will eliminate redundancy and make it possible to follow the evolution of professional competence over time.
It Is Time! Accelerating the Use of Child Health Information Systems to Improve Child Health
Authors: Fairbrother Gerry , Simpson Lisa A.
Published: December 2008

Articles in this issue show clearly the enormous impact that the use of health information technology can have on the quality of health care for children. However, they also point out the challenges that need to be overcome to realize fully the potential of health information technology to improve the quality and efficiency of health care.
Use of Health Information Technology by Children's Hospitals in the United States
Authors: Menachemi Nir , Brooks Robert G. , Schwalenstocker Ellen , Simpson Lisa
Published: December 2008

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to examine the adoption of health information technology by children's hospitals and to document barriers and priorities as they relate to health information technology adoption.

METHODS. Primary data of interest were obtained through the use of a survey instrument distributed to the chief information officers of 199 children's hospitals in the United States. Data were collected on current and future use of a variety of clinical health information technology and telemedicine applications, organizational priorities, barriers to use of health information technology, and hospital and chief information officer characteristics.

RESULTS. Among the 109 responding hospitals (55%), common clinical applications included clinical scheduling (86.2%), transcription (85.3%), and pharmacy (81.9%) and laboratory (80.7%) information. Electronic health records (48.6%), computerized order entry (40.4%), and clinical decision support systems (35.8%) were less common. The most common barriers to health information technology adoption were vendors' inability to deliver products or services to satisfaction (85.4%), lack of staffing resources (82.3%), and difficulty in achieving end-user acceptance (80.2%). The most frequent priority for hospitals was to implement technology to reduce medical errors or to promote safety (72.5%).

CONCLUSION. This first national look at health information technology use by children's hospitals demonstrates the progress in health information technology adoption, current barriers, and priorities for these institutions. In addition, the findings can serve as important benchmarks for future study in this area.
Policy and System Strategies in Promoting Child Health Information Systems, Including the Role of Medicaid, the State Children's Health Insurance Program, and Public Financing
Authors: MacTaggart Patricia , Bagley Bruce
Published: December 2008

Government, through its unique roles as regulator, purchaser, provider, and facilitator, has an opportunity and an obligation to play a major role in accelerating the implementation of electronic health record systems and electronic health information exchange. Providers, who are expected to deliver appropriate care at designated locations at an appropriate cost, are dependent on health information technology for efficient effective health care. As state and federal governments move forward with health care purchasing reforms, they must take the opportunity to leverage policy and structure and to align incentives that enhance the potential for provider engagement in electronic health record adoption.
Electronic and optical properties of ZnSxSe1âˆ’x
alloys
Authors: Feng Zhenbao , Hu Haiquan , Cui Shouxin
Published: December 2008

A series of calculations from first principles have been carried out to study structural, electronic, and optical properties of ZnSxSe1âˆ’x alloys. Our results show that the lattice constant scales linearly with sulfur composition. The imaginary parts of the dielectric function are calculated, which are in good agreement with the experimental data. We have also interpreted the origin of the spectral peaks on the basis of band structure and density of states. Additionally, we find that no bowing effect in the absorption edge is observed, unlike other II-VI semiconductor alloys.
Conditional approach to thermo-superstatistics
Authors: Abe Sumiyoshi
Published: December 2008

A conditional approach is developed for establishing a generalized thermodynamic-like formalism for superstatistical systems. In this framework, the existence of two largely-separated time scales is explicitly taken into account. A generalization of Einstein’s relation for fluctuations is derived based on the restricted conditional maximum-entropy method.
Diffraction microtomography with sample rotation: influence of a missing apple core in the recorded frequency space
Authors: Vertu Stanislas , Delaunay Jean-Jacques , Yamada Ichiro , Haeberlé Olivier
Published: December 2008

Diffraction microtomography in coherent light is foreseen as a promising technique to image transparent living samples in three dimensions without staining. Contrary to conventional microscopy with incoherent light, which gives morphological information only, diffraction microtomography makes it possible to obtain the complex optical refractive index of the observed sample by mapping a three-dimensional support in the spatial frequency domain. The technique can be implemented in two configurations, namely, by varying the sample illumination with a fixed sample or by rotating the sample using a fixed illumination. In the literature, only the former method was described in detail. In this report, we precisely derive the three-dimensional frequency support that can be mapped by the sample rotation configuration. We found that, within the first-order Born approximation, the volume of the frequency domain that can be mapped exhibits a missing part, the shape of which resembles that of an apple core. The projection of the diffracted waves in the frequency space onto the set of sphere caps covered by the sample rotation does not allow for a complete mapping of the frequency along the axis of rotation due to the finite radius of the sphere caps. We present simulations of the effects of this missing information on the reconstruction of ideal objects.
Fine structure of the dipole excitations of the even-even 160Gd nucleus in the spectroscopic region
Authors: Ertuğral Filiz , Guliyev Ekber , Kuliev Ali , Yildirim Zemine
Published: December 2008

In this study, the result of calculations using rotational, translational and Galilean invariant quasiparticle random-phase approximation is presented for the low-lying dipole excitations in the even-even 160Gd nucleus. Calculations are carried out for both ΔK=1 and ΔK=0 branches. The analysis shows that the main part of spin-1 states, observed at energy 2.4–4 MeV in 160Gd, have M1 character and are interpreted as main fragments of the scissors mode. The calculations indicate the presence of a few prominent negativeparity dipole ΔK=1 states in the investigated energy region, in agreement with experiment.
Perspectives for Medical Informatics
Authors: Ganslandt T. , Prokosch H. U.
Published: December 2008

Objectives: Even though today most university hospitals have already implemented commercial hospital information systems and started to build up comprehensive electronic medical records, reuse of such data for data warehousing and research purposes is still very rare. Given this situation, the focus of this paper is to present an overview on exemplary projects, which have already tackled this challenge, reflect on current initiatives within the United States of America and the European Union to establish IT infrastructures for clinical and translational research, and draw attention to new challenges in this area.

Methods: This paper does not intend to provide a fully comprehensive review on all the issues of clinical routine data reuse. It is based, however, on a presentation of a large variety of historical, but also most recent activities in data warehousing, data retrieval and linking medical informatics with translational research.

Results: The article presents an overview of the various international approaches to this issue and illustrates concepts and solutions which have been published, thus giving an impression of activities pursued in this field of medical informatics. Further, problems and open questions, which have also been named in the literature, are presented and three challenges (to establish comprehensive clinical data warehouses, to establish professional IT infrastructure applications supporting clinical trial data capture and to integrate medical record systems and clinical trial databases) related to this area of medical informatics are identified and presented.

Conclusions: Translational biomedical research with the aim “to integrate bedside and biology” and to bridge the gap between clinical care and medical research today and in the years to come, provides a large and interesting field for medical informatics researchers. Especially the need for integrating clinical research projects with data repositories built up during documentation of routine clinical care, today still leaves many open questions and research challenges. Consideration of regulatory requirements, data privacy issues, data standards as well as people/organizational issues are prerequisites in order to vanquish existing obstacles.
TWO-FREQUENCY CONTINUOUS WAVE ULTRASONIC SYSTEM FOR TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT IN AN INFANT INCUBATOR
Authors: HUANG C. F. , HUANG K. N. , LI Y. C. , YOUNG M. S.
Published: December 2008

In this paper, we develop a new ultrasonic measurement method based on the speed of sound to measure the temperature. The average temperature of the air between the pair of ultrasonic T/R transducers is positively associated with the speed of sound. The method presented here is based upon the comparative phase shifts generated by two continuous ultrasonic waves with different but closely spaced frequencies. In the infant incubator, two low cost 40 kHz ultrasonic transducers are set face to face and used to transmit and receive ultrasound. Two frequencies are transmitted serially, each generating its own phase shift. Comparison of the phase shifts allows a highly accurate evaluation of the ultrasonic velocity when the distance between the transmitter and receiver is fixed. Ultrasonic velocity measurement system can provide a quick and precise monitoring of the temperature in an infant incubator. A single-chip microcomputer-based two-frequency continuous wave generator and phase detector was designed to record and compute the phase shift information and the resulting temperature, which is then sent to PC. The PC is used for calibrating the system and recording or controlling the temperature in an infant incubator. Experimentally, the accuracy of temperature measurement was found to be within ±0.02 °C when the distance between the transmitter and receiver is 1 m. The main advantages of this ultrasonic temperature measurement system are high resolution, low cost, and ease of implementation.