bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cold War Pop Culture and the Image of U.S. Foreign Policy: The Perspective of the OriginalStar TrekSeries
Authors: Sarantakes Nicholas Evan
Published: September 2005

Star Trek has been a major American cultural phenomenon. In the 1960s, when the original series was in production, the producers, directors, and writers attempted to use it as a forum to comment on a number of political issues. They intentionally designed some episodes to critique U.S. foreign policy in the belief that the United States should seek to foster democracy and refrain from using force that would undermine the country's positive role in international affairs.In part, then, Star Trek was a running effort to reshape the foreign policies of the United States.
The influence of the steepness of dominance hierarchies on reciprocity and interchange in captive groups of bonobos (Pan paniscus)
Authors: de Vries Han , Stevens Jeroen M.G. , Van Elsacker Linda , Vervaecke Hilde
Published: September 2005

Biological market models explain variability in reciprocity and interchange between groups. In groups with a shallow dominance gradient, grooming will be mostly exchanged for itself (i.e. exchange will occur). In groups with steep dominance hierarchies, interchange is expected: individuals will groom higher ranking individuals to get access to limited resources or commodities such as support in conflicts, and grooming will be traded for these commodities.We examine patterns of reciprocity in grooming and support, and of interchange of grooming for support or for tolerance in six captive groups of bonobos. We test whether differences between groups in patterns of reciprocity and interchange can be attributed to differences in a measure of steepness of dominance hierarchies, which is based on dyadic agonistic interactions.We found that grooming was reciprocal in some, but not all groups. Support was highly reciprocal, but this was a side effect of dominance in most groups. Interchange between grooming and support was observed in some groups. Corroborating earlier findings, this was a side effect of individuals preferring high ranking individuals as grooming and support partners, possibly because these high-ranking individuals provide more efficient support in conflicts. There was no evidence for interchange of grooming for tolerance.Variability in grooming reciprocity was explained by differences in steepness of dominance hierarchies, as predicted by the biological market models. In groups with a shallow dominance hierarchy, grooming was more reciprocal. This was not true for reciprocity in support. There was some evidence that individuals groomed dominants more frequently in groups with a steep dominance hierarchy. The variation in interchange relations between grooming and support did not depend on the steepness of dominance hierarchies. We suggest that grooming in itself is a valuable commodity in bonobos, especially under captive conditions, which can be exchanged reciprocally. Bonobos may interchange grooming for another value equivalent, with food sharing as a very likely candidate. This interchange effects seem more dependent on potential to monopolise food than on steepness of dominance hierarchies per se.
The social suppression of caching in western scrub-jays (Aphelocoma californica)
Authors: Emery Nathan J. , Dally Joanna M. , Clayton Nicola S.
Published: September 2005

This study focussed on the social suppression of caching in 3 groups of western scrub-jays (Aphelocoma californica). Each group (3 males and 4 females) were housed in a separate aviary. Only the dominant male and/or his partner cached in each aviary. When the alpha pair was removed from the aviary, however, caching by the beta pair increased significantly. As all subordinate birds cache when housed individually, cache cessation was attributed to social suppression. In each aviary, storers from both the alpha and beta pairs tolerated their partners recovering their caches, but treated all other birds aggressively if they approached a cache site. The storer and their partner tended to move one another's caches around multiple times, possibly making the final location of caches ambiguous. Importantly, caches were only moved around repeatedly on trials where multiple pilfering attempts were made. Western scrub-jays therefore appear to adjust their caching behaviour depending on the risk that observers pose to their caches.
Wandering in male fiddler crabs (Uca tangeri): alternative reproductive tactic or a functional constraint?
Authors: Jordão J.M. , Oliveira R.F.
Published: September 2005

The 'aggressive wandering' behaviour of male fiddler crabs is well documented in several species and is usually described as an apparently random movement through a population, punctuated by threats and combat directed at displaying males, and superficial burrow explorations. It has been suggested that wandering males are mainly low condition individuals with a regenerating major claw, unsuccessful at attracting mates, wandering through the population seeking surface copulations as an alternative to burrow copulations, which may be considered an alternative reproductive tactic. In order to test this hypothesis we have made several predictions. We observed several focal wandering males, compared sizes of wandering and resource holder individuals, and monitored their abundance across the lunar cycle. We did not observe any surface copulation attempts in any of our focal subjects. The number of burrows explored by wandering males was highly variable and not dependent on the subject's size although larger males do spend more time superficially exploring burrows. Wandering males are significantly larger than burrow-holder males and there was a peak in wandering in the first moon quarter. We conclude that it is important to dissociate wandering from surface copulations and that wandering is not an alternative reproductive tactic for lower condition males. The number of wandering males across the lunar cycle still suggests that wandering may be related to mating and we discuss several ways in which it could be possible.
Sexual segregation in bison: a test of multiple hypotheses
Authors: Schaad Eric W. , Wiseman David S. , Huber Royce R. , Mooring Michael S. , Reisig Dominic D. , Osborne Eric R. , Kanallakan Adam L. , Hall Brent M.
Published: September 2005

Sexual segregation, in which males and females form separate groups for most of the year, is common in sexually dimorphic ungulates. We tested multiple hypotheses to explain sexual segregation in bison (Bison bison) at National Bison Range, Montana and Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge, Nebraska during June-August of 2002-2003. Fieldwork involved use of GPS to record space use by segregated groups, vegetation transects to measure forage availability, fecal analyses to document diet composition and quality, and behavioural observations to characterize activity budgets. During sexual segregation, males in bull groups used areas with greater per capita abundance of forage, higher proportion of weeds, and less nutritious grasses (as indicated by lower % fecal nitrogen) compared with females in cow or mixed groups. However, there was no difference between the sexes in activity budgets, predation risk factors, or distance to water. Single-sex bull groups were no more synchronized in activity than mixed groups. These results support the 'sexual dimorphism-body size hypothesis', which proposes that males segregate from females because their larger body size requires more abundant forage, while longer ruminal retention permits efficient use of lower-quality forage. The gastrocentric model, based on the digestive physiology and foraging requirements of dimorphic ungulates, supplies the most likely proximate mechanism for bison sexual segregation. Our results would also partly support the 'reproductive strategy-predation risk hypothesis' if females form large groups to reduce predation risk. The predictions of the 'activity budget hypothesis' were not supported for bison.
The optimal foraging strategy of its stickleback host constrains a parasite's complex life cycle
Authors: Milinski Manfred , Christen Mira
Published: September 2005

The cestode parasite Schistocephalus solidus' growth is limited by the size of its second intermediate host, the three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus. S. solidus should thus prefer a large stickleback as host. Since the stickleback is a predator of the parasite's previous intermediate host, a small copepod, the stickleback that consumes the infected copepod will probably be of a size for which this copepod has the optimal prey size. The optimal foraging decision of the stickleback may or may not be compatible with the parasite's preference. Infected copepods are present in early summer when both many size classes of young of the year and adult sticklebacks are potential predators. We offered laboratory bred three-spined sticklebacks of four size classes individually the choice among five prey types: two size classes of copepods, two classes of Daphnia of corresponding size as alternative prey and a third Daphnia size class that was larger than the larger copepod. We found that small copepods, the potential hosts of S. solidus, were most accepted by the smallest sticklebacks of about 1.5 cm of length, larger fish consumed a decreasing proportion; fish larger than 3.8 cm did not consume them at all. Experience with copepods over several weeks increased the acceptance for this prey to some extend but hardly in the largest fish. This suggests that S. solidus will end up usually in sticklebacks that are too small for the parasite so that it has to allow its host's further growth after infection to reach its definitive size.
Socialization of infant blue monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis stuhlmanni): Allomaternal interactions and sex differences
Authors: Förster Steffen , Cords Marina
Published: September 2005

An important part of the ontogeny of social mammals is the establishment of social relationships with non-mothers. Mothers may influence this socialization process, but other factors like the number and kind of potential partners available may also be important. In matrilineal societies, variation in allomaternal social experience is also likely to differ for males and females, relating to differences in their respective life histories. We investigated differences in non-maternal social relationships of 12 infant blue monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis stuhlmanni) in their first six months of life in a wild population. Based on previous findings that blue monkey infants develop spatial independence from their mothers at a relatively early age, we expected that infants would also socialize with non-maternal group members early in life. As possible determinants of variation in infant socialization, we evaluated the effects of age, sex, group composition, and timing of birth relative to the birth season. Allomaternal social relationships of infants differed between social groups, largely but not exclusively in response to differences in group composition. Adjusting for these group differences, we found that infants generally avoided spatial proximity to non-maternal adult females, whereas they associated more than expected by chance with other infants and large juvenile females, when away from their mothers. Close spatial association with other adult females and small juveniles increased when infants were near their mothers. Association with other infants decreased with proximity to the mother, apparently because peer playgroups led infants away from their mothers. Infants were spatially well integrated into the core of the group, associating with most available adult and large juvenile partners. Male infants spent more time in social play than females, and engaged in more rough-and-tumble play bouts, and in bouts of longer duration, than females. Large juvenile females regularly took care of infants, whereas adult females rarely acted as caretakers. There were no sex differences in behavior directed towards infants by non-mothers, but female infants associated more than male infants with adult females when away from their mothers. Although sex differences in social play correspond to similar differences in the importance of fighting skills for adults, alternative explanations for the observed pattern remain plausible. Our data support the hypothesis that allomaternal care functions as infant handling practice for nulliparous females. The relatively rapid social development we observed in our subjects contrasts with the generally slow life history of the species and suggests that developmental rates during infancy and juvenility are promoted and constrained by different factors.
The Role of Social Anthropology in the Debate on Funeral Rites in Africa
Authors: van 't Spijker Gerard
Published: September 2005

In view of the actual debate on funeral rites in Christian Churches in Africa, a revision of the old position of missionaries that forbade all traditional ritual concerning death as belonging to paganism should be undertaken on the basis of social anthropological research which analyses structure and function of the funeral practices. Thus the mourning rites are understood as means of purification and reconciliation of the bereaved extended family. Parallels between African rituals and those of Israel of the Old Testament may also be taken into account. The efforts towards contextualisation of the Christian message in days of mourning by the ancient Ethiopian Church and by churches in Zimbabwe of today may serve as guidelines for developing rituals marking the end of mourning focused on reconciliation and the victory of life over death.
The Message of Jesus and our Customary Theological Language: An Indian Approach to a New Language in Theology and Inculturation
Authors: Mattam
Published: September 2005

The Asian Context demands a new language in theology, as both the Bible and the past theological formulations are conditioned by their time, place and problems. The Paschal Mystery needs to be understood in the light of the picture of God given by Jesus as an unconditionally loving Parent. Jesus was killed because of the way he lived and spoke of God. Hence we need to look afresh at the sacrificial interpretation of Jesus' death. The title Christ is conditioned by the expectations of the Jewish people, and Jesus, the Son of God we honour, is more and other than what they expected. Past theological developments did not come from this picture of God, and from Jesus' outlook, his options and priorities; they were responses to the problems of their times, conditioned more by Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy, than by the good news that Jesus proclaimed. In the context of the 'Old Testament' of the peoples of these places, with Jesus' option for the poor, we need to announce the simple message of Jesus to let new theologies and liturgies emerge. Certain conditions are necessary for any true inculturation of the gospel message.
¿Influyeron los procesos de comunicación sobre los sucesos del 11-M en las votaciones del 14-M? la percepción de los jóvenes en función de su ideología política
Authors: López-Sáez Mercedes , Martínez-Rubio José-Luis
Published: September 2005

Se presenta un estudio de archivo en el que se recoge la cronología de los hechos más importantes acaecidos entre los atentados del 11 y las elecciones del 14 de Marzo; algunos titulares de prensa de esos día, y el resumen de un trabajo sobre la participación en los foros políticos de Internet. Este primer estudio da pistas sobre la importancia que pudo tener la comunicación interpersonal y los líderes de opinión en el cambio de opinión pública, y explica el contexto social del segundo estudio. El estudio II analiza, en una muestra de 100 estudiantes, la credibilidad de la información oficial y la extraoficial sobre los atentados, así como la influencia de esta información en el propio voto y en el voto de la población general. Según se predice desde la teoría del juicio social, la credibilidad de la información depende de la ideología de los receptores. Los participantes de derechas creen que les ha influido más en su voto la información oficial, y los de izquierdas más la extraoficial. Entre los de centro no se encontraron diferencias. El efecto tercera persona (diferencia en la percepción de influencia de la información en si mismo y en otros) está mediado por el tipo de fuente, oficial o extraoficial, y por la ideología política.
Un modelo socio-cultural de los rituales: efectos y procesos psico-sociales de la participación en manifestaciones después del atentado del 11 de Marzo
Authors: Páez Darío , Rimé Bernard , Basabe Nekane
Published: September 2005

Desarrollamos un marco de análisis funcionalista de las actividades colectivas de recuerdo, incluyendo el compartir social de las emociones y la participación en ceremonias y rituales, basado en el texto clásico de Durk-heim “Las formas elementales de la vida religiosa”. Las formas colectivas de afrontamiento de las emociones son funcionales porque refuerzan la auto-estima y la afectividad positiva, ayudan a la integración social interpersonal, sirven de soporte a la cohesión social y fortalecen las creencias sociales, mediante el aumento de las emociones compartidas y la percepción de similaridad con otros. Este texto sintetiza una serie de estudios que confirman el modelo neo-durkheimiano: las personas que participaron más en manifestaciones una semana después del 11-M, informaban a las tres semanas de mayor apoyo social subjetivo, menor soledad, más afectividad positiva y mejor auto-concepto, confirmando que los rituales refuerzan la integración social interpersonal. También se confirmó que los rituales fortalecen las creencias sociales positivas: la participación en rituales reforzaba el acuerdo con los beneficios personales, interpersonales y sociales de la reacción al trauma. Altos niveles de participación en manifestaciones predijeron a los dos meses un clima social positivo, confirmando que los rituales refuerzan la cohesión social.
Who Watches Presidential Debates? A Comparative Analysis of Presidential Debate Viewing in 2000 and 2004
Authors: Kenski Kate , Stroud Natalie Jomini
Published: September 2005

Presidential debates are a main feature of present-day presidential campaigns. For voters, they are a source of political learning about candidate issue positions. Fluctuations in the level of debate viewership from election to election and, within an election, from debate to debate invite the following questions: What is the composition of debate audiences? In what ways did the audiences in 2004 differ from 2000? In what ways did the audiences change across debates in a given year? Results from the 2000 and 2004 National Annenberg Election Surveys show that debate audiences in 2004 were larger than in 2000. In both elections, the first debate garnered the most viewers. The data also show that those individuals inclined to watch a debate in its entirety tended to be older, be more educated, have higher incomes, and exhibit higher levels of partisan attachment than those who did not watch the debates.
A Perfect Storm
Authors: Robertson Terry
Published: September 2005

Not unlike the causes of a massive meteorological event, several factors played into the “perfect storm” that unseated Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle in the 2002 South Dakota senatorial election. This multipronged case study analysis of the Daschle/Thune Senate race explores why John Thune won the state of South Dakota and thus became the first Senate candidate in 52 years to unseat a majority or minority leader. First, a content analysis of the political ads aired by each candidate is presented. Second, stories concerning Daschle and Thune from the state’s two largest newspapers are content analyzed to determine the framing or agenda-setting relationship of news stories. Finally, the study reports the effects of viewing the Thune/Daschle debate that took place on September 19, 2004. Results suggest that Thune may have captured the seat due to a culmination of factors, including campaign strategies, political ad strategies, and background electoral concerns.
2004 Illinois U.S. Senate Debates
Authors: Airne David , Benoit William L.
Published: September 2005

This study content analyzed the 2004 Illinois U.S. Senate debates between Alan Keyes and Barak Obama. As is the case in presidential debates, acclaims (positive statements) were more common than attacks, which in turn were employed more frequently than defenses. Also consistent with presidential debates, these candidates discussed policy more than character. Both general goals and ideals were employed more often to acclaim than to attack. When they discussed policy, the candidates discussed past deeds and general goals more frequently than future plans. Keyes’s and Obama’s character comments discussed personal qualities more than leadership ability or ideals.
The Evolution of Candidate Bush
Authors: Hart Roderick P. , Childers Jay P.
Published: September 2005

This article examines George W. Bush’s campaign rhetoric in both 2000 and 2004 and compares his style to that of his predecessors. Using DICTION, a computerized language analysis program, the study finds that Bush was quite tentative during the 2000 campaign and eschewed use of a narrative style. By the time his reelection campaign began, however, Bush had dramatically increased his hortatory and narrative scores, meaning he had found both an important story to tell and a forceful way of telling it. Because these qualities increased steadily with time, and because they seem to have been initiated by the terrorist attacks of September 11, they signal important epistemological, sociological, psychological, and political aspects of the Bush presidency and perhaps, of the national electorate itself.
Understanding Diversity Through Social and Community Inquiry
Authors: Hyland Nora E. , Noffke Susan E.
Published: September 2005

This article describes a portion of a long-term, action-research project investigating the teaching of an elementary social studies methods course for preservice teachers from a social justice framework. Other major foci for the course are integrated with topics related specifically to social studies teaching and learning: cultural diversity, an inquiry orientation to teaching, and teaching for social justice. The authors describe and analyze the community and social inquiry assignments used to develop the concepts of marginalization and privilege within the course. By examining their students’ developing understanding of marginality, the authors address particular aspects of assignments that seemed to facilitate and hinder this development, offering new understandings of their own practice as teacher educators for social justice. They frame their ongoing agenda for action research to develop learning experiences designed to promote political understanding among preservice teachers as rooted in the fight for social justice and offer suggestions for other teacher educators working to prepare teachers to teach for positive social change.
Who Should Guard the Gates? Evidentiary and Professional Warrants for Claiming Jurisdiction
Authors: Tamir Eran , Wilson Suzanne M.
Published: September 2005

This article explores empirical and theoretical literature relevant to accreditation of teacher education programs. The lack of substantial research on accreditation makes it impossible to make empirically based claims about the value-added of such processes, including how accreditation processes enhance the professionalization of teacher education. Contemporary scholarship, especially in sociology, also raises questions, especially about the uncritical acceptance of the professionalization movement in teacher education. After briefly reviewing three lines of criticism concerning professionalization, the authors use that literature to “read” both Wise’s (2005) description of the benefits of NCATE’s work and Murray’s (2005) description of TEAC’s role in enhancing professionalism in teacher education. Both authors presume that professionalization is a good; both fail to confront some of the central concerns about the exclusionary practices of professions in their descriptions of NCATE and TEAC. The authors conclude by suggesting that the professionalism movement within teacher education—while important—requires that we encourage and embrace both internal and external forms of criticism.
Suddenly, my hands were shaking
Authors: Bannister Matthew
Published: September 2005

Bannister, who was anchoring Radio Five Live on 7 September, writes: "Such is the pressure of fronting a live broadcast during a major breaking news story that personal emotional considerations take a back seat. It was only after I came off air that the true enormity of what had happened to my home city really hit me. I called my daughter, who sometimes travels through Edgware Road on her way to work. Once I knew she was safe and I had spoken to my son at home, I noticed that my hands were shaking uncontrollably as I put down the phone."
The Return of Faith and Reason to Laïcité
Authors: McCaffrey Enda
Published: September 2005

In 1985, Marcel Gauchet wrote of the ‘retour du religieux’ as an end to the social role of religion and the beginning of its privatisation. However, far from an indication of the withering of religion on the vine of modernity, the return of a religious discourse was resurrected by the democratisation of the ‘croyant’ in the mid-1980s. The ‘âge égalitaire’, coupled with the specificity of the ‘croyant’, created a platform on which to challenge the model of laïcité in contemporary France. This discourse sought to re-appropriate reason from the logic of secular objectivity and postmodern self-reliance, and re-signify it within a Catholic theological language of belief and faith. The transmission of religious ‘knowledge’ would also be seen to compete for intellectual equality with the forms and transmission of knowledge approved by laïcité in the republican school. Régis Debray's report to the Ministry of Education in 2002 on the teaching of the ‘fait religieux’ in French schools advances this debate by defending the introduction of the study of religion in school from the perspectives of theological rigour, the indivisibility of knowledge (the coexistence of ‘témoin’ and ‘savant’), and the inextricable links between faith and reason in their production of knowledge with a valid claim for public consumption.
‘La Féminité Salvatrice’
Authors: Jones Anwen
Published: September 2005

Olivier Py's interpretation of Paul Claudel's masterpiece, Le Soulier de satinwas an eleven-hour production staged as part of the Edinburgh International Festival's main programme of events in August 2004. One of the fundamental aspects of Claudel's Christian worldview is his perception of the paradoxical role of the female in the drama of spiritual salvation. In her relations with her male counterpart, the female embodies both the human desire for, and distance from, the world of the spirit. Py recognised the ascendancy of the spirit in the play's dramatic universe, but he re-aligned the balance of power in order to claim equality for the male in a spiritual hierarchy dominated by the female. The originality of his interpretation came to a height in the play's fourth and final day by means of his audacious decision to cast a cross-dressed male performer in the role of the ‘actress’. By unsettling the hierarchical framework set up by Claudel's rationalisation of the female's spiritual privilege, Py stamped his own authority on the play and issued his own unique challenge to his audience.
Qualitative Career Assessment: An Overview and Analysis
Authors: Whiston Susan C. , Rahardja Daryn
Published: September 2005

Qualitative career assessments are theoretically based interventions that are grounded in constructivism. Constructivism is a departure from the traditional logical positive worldview that has influenced the development of many traditional career assessments. A central concept to constructivism is the importance of meaning, which can only be understood in relation to context. Qualitative career assessment is idiographic in nature, and the individual serves as the reference point in both identifying pertinent themes and interpreting the meaning of those events. Furthermore, there is often a focus on social processes and the understanding that one’s view of the world is not static and is concurrently influenced by historical and cultural contexts that are continually changing and developing. Qualitative assessment often is seen as a potentially useful method for attending to issues related to diversity in career assessment. Because the purpose of qualitative assessment often is to co-construct a working narrative, the clinician must be skillful enough to not misinterpret clients’ discourse or unduly influence clients’ understanding of the meaning of their experiences. In addition, the advantages of integrating qualitative and quantitative career assessments are explored.
Qualitatively Assessing Family Influence in Career Decision Making
Authors: Chope Robert C.
Published: September 2005

Assessing influential factors in the family relative to career decision making is consistent with evolving postmodern approaches to career counseling. However, the challenge of measuring family influence is technically demanding considering the ongoing revolutionary changes in the structure of the family. Moreover, while measuring the impact of families on children, researchers may be inadvertently measuring the effects of children on the family. Nevertheless, currently available assessment methods are described and evaluated. Retrospective questionnaires, career genograms, Career-O-Grams, and critical incident techniques are reviewed. Although clinicians will find that qualitative assessment methods can be applied to career counseling, the tools are time consuming and demand a high level of clinical skill to use effectively. Researchers will discover that making generalizations from current qualitative methods may be difficult.
Nonstandard Career Trajectories and Their Various Forms
Authors: Fournier Geneviève , Bujold Charles
Published: September 2005

A sample of 124 participants (62 men, 62 women) was used in this qualitative research study of people having experienced nonstandard work for the last 3 years. Those participants were met for individual semistructured interviews of approximately 2 hours in length. On the basis of a content analysis with the use of the NUD*IST analysis software, 4 trajectories and 14 subtrajectories were identified: ascending (constant progression, final recovery, uncertain outcome), descending (sudden drop, caught in a trap, long descent, noninsertion), interesting maintenance (accepted job insecurity, project continuity, new project), and uninteresting maintenance (bogged down, leitmotif, adapted, and 180 degrees). The descending and uninteresting maintenance trajectories were predominant, comprising more than two thirds of the participants. Differences were found between genders, age groups, and educational levels. The results are discussed with respect to the scientific literature and to the differences that were observed.
Normalizing Postpartum Depressive Symptoms With Social Support
Authors: Scrandis Debra A.
Published: September 2005

BACKGROUND: Postpartum depression can be a significant disability for women if left untreated. The context of seeking social support for this population has not been examined. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to generate a theory of how women experiencing postpartum depressive symptoms mobilize social supports. STUDY DESIGN: Strauss and Corbin’s grounded theory methodology was used to discover the context and process of seeking social support of women with postpartum depression. RESULTS: Postpartum women with depressive symptoms have a natural desire to connect with others for symptom normalization. These connections occurred with other women, groups, or health care providers. The process of normalizing through connection included four components: initiating socialization, staying with, drifting away, and incorporating self into new role. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses can assist postpartum women in developing positive connections with other individuals or groups in their lives. Psychoeducation about postpartum depression may empower women to seek assistance for their depression.
On Saint-Venant's Principle for an Inhomogeneous Curvilinear Rectangle
Authors: Iovane Gerardo
Published: September 2005

A two-dimensional inhomogeneous isotropic elastic material is considered in the arch-like region a ≤ r ≤ b,0 ≤ θ ≤ α, where ( r,θ) denotes plane polar coordinates. It is envisaged that three of the edges r = a, r = b, θ = α are traction-free, while the edge θ = 0 is subjected to an (in-plane) self-equilibrated load. An appropriate energy-like measure E( θ) of the Airy stress function φ in the region between arbitrary θ and θ = α is defined, and it is proved to be positive definite provided that some appropriate assumptions are satisfied by the material and geometric characteristics of the arch-like region. Then, a version of Saint-Venant's Principle for the curvilinear strip is established.
Solutions for Edge Dislocation in Anisotropic Film–substrate System by the Image Method
Authors: Wu M. S. , Wang H. Y.
Published: September 2005

In this paper, the problem of an edge dislocation in an elastically anisotropic dissimilar film-substrate is formulated exactly using the method of continuously distributed image dislocations. The resulting singular Cauchy integral equations are transformed into non-singular Fredholm integral equations, and the solutions are given in the form of series. The formulation and solution are greatly facilitated by the use of certain integral transforms and their iterative operations which are developed in this paper. The numerical solutions are verified by convergence study, direct checking of the governing equations and comparison with previous results. The technique of transforming singular to non-singular integral equations can be used for other physical problems. The truncated solutions can be employed as Green functions for solving problems involving cracks and dislocations and in the boundary element method. The image method can also be generalized for the analysis of multilayered composites. Numerical results for an edge dislocation located in film–substrate systems and strips demonstrate the importance of elastic anisotropy and material inhomogeneity in determining the image forces and the stress components.
Stress Echocardiography
Authors: Adams Michael W.
Published: September 2005

Stress echocardiography is a noninvasive diagnostic method to detect and assess known or suspected coronary artery disease. There are two basic forms of stress echocardiography. One uses a treadmill or an ergometer (upright or supine) to exercise the heart. The other uses various drug agents to simulate exercise. The physician performing the tests and institutional policies will dictate the type of exercise performed and/or the drug agent of choice. The goal is to induce myocardial ischemia by augmentation of oxygen supply to the heart muscle. During the process, electrocardiogram and blood pressure are recorded, and ultrasound images are captured to detect changes in wall motion that may occur. The images are compared with the simultaneously captured electrocardiographic tracings to indirectly assess coronary perfusion to the various segments of the left ventricular myocardium. The purpose of this article is to familiarize the reader with the objectives of stress echocardiography, the needed resources, and the basic protocols for exercise stress echo-cardiography (ESE) and dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE). Exercise and pharmacologic stress echocardiography are similar in form and function. Except for the actual protocols, information will be presented in combination, with DSE- and ESE-specific information being indicated.
Polyorchidism
Authors: Jackson Donald F. , Bronson Mark A. , Neff Wesley G.
Published: September 2005

The authors present a case study of polyorchidism in a young adolescent. Polyorchidism is a rare occurrence but may be discovered with greater frequency due to the widespread use of sonography. Sonographers should be aware of the clinical symptoms, sonographic presentations, and advantages of sonography over other modalities or more invasive means of diagnosis. Polyorchidism is the rare presence of one or more additional testes. The supernumerary (additional) testis may appear in a variety of ways to include its development and location. According to some theories, the development of the super-numerary testis is dependent on which division occurs during the embryonic stage. The discovery of polyorchidism is usually an incidental finding during inguinal hernia repairs and other imaging modalities, but with the use of color Doppler, power Doppler, and various imaging planes, sonography is the modality of choice to assist in the diagnosis.
Chromosomal clustering of a human transcriptome reveals regulatory background
Authors: Vogel Jan H , von Heydebreck Anja , Purmann Antje , Sperling Silke
Published: September 2005

Background

There has been much evidence recently for a link between transcriptional regulation and chromosomal gene order, but the relationship between genomic organization, regulation and gene function in higher eukaryotes remains to be precisely defined.

Results

Here, we present evidence for organization of a large proportion of a human transcriptome into gene clusters throughout the genome, which are partly regulated by the same transcription factors, share biological functions and are characterized by non-housekeeping genes. This analysis was based on the cardiac transcriptome identified by our genome-wide array analysis of 55 human heart samples. We found 37% of these genes to be arranged mainly in adjacent pairs or triplets. A significant number of pairs of adjacent genes are putatively regulated by common transcription factors (p = 0.02). Furthermore, these gene pairs share a significant number of GO functional classification terms. We show that the human cardiac transcriptome is organized into many small clusters across the whole genome, rather than being concentrated in a few larger clusters.

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that genes expressed in concert are organized in a linear arrangement for coordinated regulation. Determining the relationship between gene arrangement, regulation and nuclear organization as well as gene function will have broad biological implications.
A linear memory algorithm for Baum-Welch training
Authors: Miklós István , Meyer Irmtraud M
Published: September 2005

Background:

Baum-Welch training is an expectation-maximisation algorithm for training the emission and transition probabilities of hidden Markov models in a fully automated way. It can be employed as long as a training set of annotated sequences is known, and provides a rigorous way to derive parameter values which are guaranteed to be at least locally optimal. For complex hidden Markov models such as pair hidden Markov models and very long training sequences, even the most efficient algorithms for Baum-Welch training are currently too memory-consuming. This has so far effectively prevented the automatic parameter training of hidden Markov models that are currently used for biological sequence analyses.

Results:

We introduce the first linear space algorithm for Baum-Welch training. For a hidden Markov model withMstates,Tfree transition andEfree emission parameters, and an input sequence of lengthL, our new algorithm requiresO(M) memory andO(LMTmax(T + E)) time for one Baum-Welch iteration, whereTmaxis the maximum number of states that any state is connected to. The most memory efficient algorithm until now was the checkpointing algorithm withO(log(L)M) memory andO(log(L)LMTmax) time requirement. Our novel algorithm thus renders the memory requirement completely independent of the length of the training sequences. More generally, for an n-hidden Markov model and n input sequences of lengthL, the memory requirement ofO(log(L)Ln-1M) is reduced toO(Ln-1M) memory while the running time is changed fromO(log(L)LnMTmax+Ln(T+E)) toO(LnMTmax(T+E)).

An added advantage of our new algorithm is that a reduced time requirement can be traded for an increased memory requirement andvice versa, such that for anyc∈ {1, ..., (T+E)}, a time requirement ofLnMTmaxcincurs a memory requirement ofLn-1M(T+E-c).

Conclusion

For the large class of hidden Markov models used for example in gene prediction, whose number of states does not scale with the length of the input sequence, our novel algorithm can thus be both faster and more memory-efficient than any of the existing algorithms.
Genome annotation of Anopheles gambiae using mass spectrometry-derived data
Authors: Kalume Dário E , Peri Suraj , Reddy Raghunath , Zhong Jun , Okulate Mobolaji , Kumar Nirbhay , Pandey Akhilesh
Published: September 2005

Background

A large number of animal and plant genomes have been completely sequenced over the last decade and are now publicly available. Although genomes can be rapidly sequenced, identifying protein-coding genes still remains a problematic task. Availability of protein sequence data allows direct confirmation of protein-coding genes. Mass spectrometry has recently emerged as a powerful tool for proteomic studies. Protein identification using mass spectrometry is usually carried out by searching against databases of known proteins or transcripts. This approach generally does not allow identification of proteins that have not yet been predicted or whose transcripts have not been identified.

Results

We searched 3,967 mass spectra from 16 LC-MS/MS runs of Anopheles gambiae salivary gland homogenates against the Anopheles gambiae genome database. This allowed us to validate 23 known transcripts and 50 novel transcripts. In addition, a novel gene was identified on the basis of peptides that matched a genomic region where no gene was known and no transcript had been predicted. The amino termini of proteins encoded by two predicted transcripts were confirmed based on N-terminally acetylated peptides sequenced by tandem mass spectrometry. Finally, six sequence polymorphisms could be annotated based on experimentally obtained peptide sequences.

Conclusion

The peptide sequences from this study were mapped onto the genomic sequence using the distributed annotation system available at Ensembl and can be visualized in the context of all other existing annotations. The strategy described in this paper can be used to correct and confirm genome annotations and permit discovery of novel proteins in a high-throughput manner by mass spectrometry.
Effect of dataset selection on the topological interpretation of protein interaction networks
Authors: Hakes Luke , Robertson David L , Oliver Stephen G
Published: September 2005

Background

Studies of the yeast protein interaction network have revealed distinct correlations between the connectivity of individual proteins within the network and the average connectivity of their neighbours. Although a number of biological mechanisms have been proposed to account for these findings, the significance and influence of the specific datasets included in these studies has not been appreciated adequately.

Results

We show how the use of different interaction data sets, such as those resulting from high-throughput or small-scale studies, and different modelling methodologies for the derivation pair-wise protein interactions, can dramatically change the topology of these networks. Furthermore, we show that some of the previously reported features identified in these networks may simply be the result of experimental or methodological errors and biases.

Conclusion

When performing network-based studies, it is essential to define what is meant by the term "interaction" and this must be taken into account when interpreting the topologies of the networks generated. Consideration must be given to the type of data included and appropriate controls that take into account the idiosyncrasies of the data must be selected
Characteristic wave detection in ECG signal using morphological transform
Authors: Sun Yan , Chan Kap Luk , Krishnan Shankar Muthu
Published: September 2005

Background

Detection of characteristic waves, such as QRS complex, P wave and T wave, is one of the essential tasks in the cardiovascular arrhythmia recognition from Electrocardiogram (ECG).

Methods

A multiscale morphological derivative (MMD) transform-based singularity detector, is developed for the detection of fiducial points in ECG signal, where these points are related to the characteristic waves such as the QRS complex, P wave and T wave. The MMD detector is constructed by substituting the conventional derivative with a multiscale morphological derivative.

Results

We demonstrated through experiments that the Q wave, R peak, S wave, the onsets and offsets of the P wave and T wave could be reliably detected in the multiscale space by the MMD detector. Compared with the results obtained via with wavelet transform-based and adaptive thresholding-based techniques, an overall better performance by the MMD method was observed.

Conclusion

The developed MMD method exhibits good potentials for automated ECG signal analysis and cardiovascular arrhythmia recognition.
Generation of human antibody fragments recognizing distinct epitopes of the nucleocapsid (N) SARS-CoV protein using a phage display approach
Authors: Flego Michela , Di Bonito Paola , Ascione Alessandro , Zamboni Silvia , Carattoli Alessandra , Grasso Felicia , Cassone Antonio , Cianfriglia Maurizio
Published: September 2005

Background

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV is a newly emerging virus that causes SARS with high mortality rate in infected people. Successful control of the global SARS epidemic will require rapid and sensitive diagnostic tests to monitor its spread, as well as, the development of vaccines and new antiviral compounds including neutralizing antibodies that effectively prevent or treat this disease.

Methods

The human synthetic single-chain fragment variable (scFv) ETH-2 phage antibody library was used for the isolation of scFvs against the nucleocapsid (N) protein of SARS-CoV using a bio panning-based strategy. The selected scFvs were characterized under genetics-molecular aspects and for SARS-CoV N protein detection in ELISA, western blotting and immunocytochemistry.

Results

Human scFv antibodies to N protein of SARS-CoV can be easily isolated by selecting the ETH-2 phage library on immunotubes coated with antigen. These in vitro selected human scFvs specifically recognize in ELISA and western blotting studies distinct epitopes in N protein domains and detect in immunohistochemistry investigations SARS-CoV particles in infected Vero cells.

Conclusion

The human scFv antibodies isolated and described in this study represent useful reagents for rapid detection of N SARS-CoV protein and SARS virus particles in infected target cells.