bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A current estimate of angiosperm diversity in Mexico
Authors: Espejo-Serna Adolfo , López-Ferrari Ana Rosa , Ugarte Isaías Salgado
Published: February 2008

The importance of documenting the plants of Mexico is undeniable considering its status as a country with biological megadiversity on one hand and the accelerated destruction of its ecosystems on the other. Ten years ago we started to compile species lists and literature for the monocotyledons that grow in Mexico, in an attempt to at least partially remedy the current lack of botanical knowledge that exists in the country. Individual electronic databases of nomenclature, bibliography, and herbarium specimens were developed. Currently these databases contain 15,560, 6,700, and 42,000 records, respectively. To date we have registered for the country 4,529 species (or 4,797 taxa including subspecies and varieties) distributed in 619 genera and 60 families (sensu Dahlgren & al., 1985). Of the total number of families, seven include only introduced representatives, whereas the other 53 possess at least some native species. The number of native species is 4,424 (4,693 taxa including subspecies and varieties). A comparison of the data obtained by us together with data reported in various floristic lists of Mexican states, as well as that from some completed regional floras, allows us to obtain statistical estimates that indicate Mexico should possess between 21,300 and 24,601 species of angiosperms. As a final perspective on the importance of the Mexican flora, if the estimate of number of seed plant species in the world is really 223,300 (Scotland & Wortley, 2003), and if we accept the estimate of number of species for Mexico as 24,601, then Mexico would have 11.01 % of the total seed plant species diversity of the entire planet.
Scabiosa galianoi Devesa, Ortega­Olivencia & J. López, a new name for S. gracilis (Boiss.) Boiss. (Dipsacaceae)
Authors: Devesa Juan Antonio , Ortega-Olivencia Ana , López Josefa
Published: February 2008

Hispano­Lusitanian plants traditionally identified as Scabiosa semipapposa Salzm. ex DC. are recognized with a new name, Scabiosa galianoi Devesa, Ortega­Olivencia & J. López, after it was found that they differ clearly from the Moroccan plants on which De Candolle's description was based.
Typification of Linnaean plant names inCyperaceae
Authors: Cafferty Steve , Jarvis Charles E.
Published: February 2008

Lectotypes, neotypes and epitypes are designated by seven specialists for 35 previously untypified Linnaean plant names (with one epitype being designated for a previously typified name) belonging to the familyCyperaceae. These newly proposed types support the current usage of the names concerned. Earlier but ineffective or supersedable type statements are discussed.
A reappraisal of Trianaeopiper Trelease: convergence of dwarf habit in some Piper species of the Chocó
Authors: Jaramillo M. Alejandra , Callejas Ricardo
Published: February 2008

The genus Trianaeopiper Trealese was described to have axillary inflorescences, a rare character within Piperaceae. Here we present phylogenetic evidence suggesting that Trianaeopiper is not monophyletic and should not be recognized as a distinct genus (new names and combinations are provided). The structure interpreted as an axillary inflorescence is a reduced axillary branch, a by–product of generalized reduction of shoots in these species. Reduction of plant size to a dwarf condition is a phenomenon observed in other angiosperms of the wet tropics. The dwarf habit is correlated with shady environments, suggesting that dwarfism may be an adaptation to the shady understory of wet tropical forests.
Lectotypifications in Neotropical Hypolytrum Rich. (Cyperaceae)
Authors: Alves Marccus , Thomas William Wayt , Wanderley Maria das Graças Lapa
Published: February 2008

Lectotypes for the names Hypolytrum amplum Poepp. & Kunth, H. laxum Kunth, H. macrophyllum Boeck., H. selloianum Boeck., H. strictum Poepp. & Kunth, H. sylvaticum Poepp. & Kunth, and Scirpus pulcher Rudge are designated.
Phylogeny of Pelargonium (Geraniaceae) based on DNA sequences from three genomes
Authors: Bakker Freek T. , Culham Alastair , Hettiarachi Priyani , Touloumenidou Tasoula , Gibby Mary
Published: February 2008

Phylogenetic hypotheses for the largely South African genus Pelargonium L'Hér. (Geraniaceae) were derived based on DNA sequence data from nuclear, chloroplast and mitochondrial encoded regions. The datasets were unequally represented and comprised cpDNA trnL­F sequences for 152 taxa, nrDNA ITS sequences for 55 taxa, and mtDNA nad 1 b/c exons for 51 taxa. Phylogenetic hypotheses derived from the separate three datasets were overall congruent. A single hypothesis synthesising the information in the three datasets was constructed following a total evidence approach and implementing dataset specific stepmatrices in order to correct for substitution biases. Pelargonium was found to consist of five main clades, some with contrasting evolutionary patterns with respect to biogeographic distributions, dispersal capacity, pollination biology and karyological diversification. The five main clades are structured in two (subgeneric) clades that correlate with chromosome size. One of these clades includes a "winter rainfall clade" containing more than 70% of all currently described Pelargonium species, and all restricted to the South African Cape winter rainfall region. Apart from (woody) shrubs and small herbaceous rosette subshrubs, this clade comprises a large "xerophytic" clade including geophytes, stem and leaf succulents, harbouring in total almost half of the genus. This clade is considered to be the result of in situ proliferation, possibly in response to late­Miocene and Pliocene aridification events. Nested within it is a radiation comprising c. 80 species from the geophytic Pelargonium section Hoarea, all characterised by the possession of (a series of) tunicate tubers.
Morphological and molecular investigation of the parentage and maternity of Anacamptis × albuferensis (A. fragrans × A. robusta), a new hybrid orchid from Mallorca, Spain
Authors: Bateman Richard M. , Hollingsworth Peter M.
Published: February 2008

A new hybrid combination is reported here between two highly divergent (and taxonomically controversial) species, A. robusta (from the basally divergent A. palustris group) and A. fragrans (from the more derived A. coriophora group); this plant, originating from the Albufera wetlands in Mallorca, is here named A. ×albuferensis R.M. Bateman, nothosp. nov. Sequencing of nuclear ITS and plastid trnL regions, together with PCR­RFLP analysis of the ITS region, confirm the suspected parentage of the hybrid and identify A. fragrans as the seed­parent. Production of this hybrid is therefore inferred to have required a minimum travel distance of ca 100 m by the pollen vector from the closest presently available pollen­parent of A. robusta. As usual in orchids, the hybrid is intermediate between its parents in the majority of the 57 morphometric characters scored, but it more closely resembles its mother in three times more characters than its father. Placing this new combination in the context of other records of hybridisation in subtribe Orchidinae provides further evidence of the genetic cohesion of the genus Anacamptis, which was recently expanded to include approximately one third of the species previously assigned to Orchis s.l.
Lord 8 Deer “Jaguar Claw” and the Land of the Sky: The Archaeology and History of Tututepec
Authors: Joyce Arthur A. , Workinger Andrew G. , Hamann Byron , Kroefges Peter , Oland Maxine , King Stacie M.
Published: February 2008

This article balances current understandings of the political landscape of Postclassic Mesoamerica through a conjunctive analysis of the archaeology and ethnohistory of the Mixtec Empire of Tututepec in the lower Río Verde region of Oaxaca. Tututepec has long been known from ethnohistoric sources as a powerful Late Postclassic imperial center. Until recently, however, little has been known of the archaeology of the site. We discuss the founding, extent, chronology, and aspects of the internal organization and external relations of Tututepec based on the results of a regional survey, excavations, and a reanalysis of ethnohistoric documents. Tututepec was founded early in the Late Postclassic period when the region was vulnerable to conquest due to political fragmentation and unrest. Indigenous historical data from three Mixtec codices narrate the founding of Tututepec as part of the heroic history of Lord 8 Deer “Jaguar Claw.” According to these texts, Lord 8 Deer founded Tututepec through a creative combination of traditional Mixtec foundation rites and a strategic alliance with a highland group linked to the Tolteca-Chichimeca. Archaeological and ethnohistoric evidence indicate that Tututepec continued to expand through the Late Postclassic, growing to 21.85 km2, and at its peak was the capital of an empire extending over 25,000 km2.
Architecture and Polity in the Formative Lake Titicaca Basin, Bolivia
Authors: Beck Robin A.
Published: February 2008

A regional approach to public architecture offers a useful medium through which to study changes in the scale of integrative institutions. Changes in political structure are often associated with changes in the scale and complexity of public ritual space. In Bolivia’s Lake Titicaca Basin, Middle Formative period (800–250 B.C.) villagers along the Taraco Peninsula built earthen platforms that visually dominated their settlements. Until recently, research on the peninsula had focused almost exclusively on the site of Chiripa, with the result that little was known of the regional context in which this site and its neighbors emerged. Now, after excavations at the contemporaneous site of Alto Pukara, the sequence of public architecture at Middle Formative communities may be viewed within a regional context. This paper evaluates the trajectory of institutional complexity along the Taraco Peninsula through a formal comparison of public ritual architecture at Alto Pukara and Chiripa. Six criteria for measuring architectural variation—centrality, permanence, accessibility, visibility, scale, and ubiquity—facilitate this comparison. Only through a regional approach can we understand the integrative role of public space in these early village societies.
Still Continents (and an Island) with Two Histories?
Authors: Schmidt-Nowara Christopher
Published: February 2008

Historians of Latin American slavery will find de la Fuente's article to be a particularly trenchant and learned essay on familiar historiographic controversies. The archival research awakens anticipation for the author's in-depth study of the earlier period of Cuban slavery, much neglected in favor of the heyday of the sugar complex of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Concentrating on the law and “slaves' claims-making” (341) allows for an important entry into the subject, complementing recent studies of slavery in Spanish America that have focused on how slaves used the institutions of Spanish colonialism to gain freedom or greater autonomy. However, reviving the Tannenbaum thesis, even in the limited form of the law, inspires less enthusiasm. De la Fuente's interpretation of Cuban slavery, through his rereading of Tannenbuam, does not produce misrepresentations in his treatment of historiography or sources; rather, I sense in this work the static conception of New World slavery created by Tannenbaum's dichotomous vision, both among and within particular colonial and national slave societies.
Preparing for Fusion: Reforming the Nineteenth-Century Court of Chancery, Part I
Authors: Lobban Michael
Published: February 2008

In 1850, William Carpenter, a reform-minded journalist, called the court of Chancery “an instrument of oppression” and noted that “[t]he madhouses, the workhouses, and the gaols, in all parts of the kingdom, have within their walls the melancholy and heart-broken victims of the evil it does.” The image of the nineteenth-century Chancery as a ruinously expensive and slow court is familiar and was given its most famous expression in Charles Dickens's Bleak House. Yet the court was also a prime focus of attention for law reformers throughout the nineteenth century, until its incorporation into the Supreme Court of Judicature in the reforms of 1873–75. The process of reform was slow and complex, driven at different times by different parties, who had often divergent notions of the problems to be addressed.
Politics and Procedure in the Trial of Charles I
Authors: Kelsey Sean
Published: February 2008

In the autumn and winter of 1648, England descended into a domestic political crisis unparalleled at any time in the country's history before or since. At Newport on the Isle of Wight, representatives from both Houses of Parliament straggled to conclude a treaty with their king that would end years of civil war and restore some semblance of political order. But many Englishmen trembled to contemplate the consequences of negotiated settlement with a man who had caused so much chaos and bloodshed, who had contrived the violent incursion of a Scottish army onto English soil in the summer of 1648, and even now continued to pin his hopes on an invasion of Catholic forces from Ireland. The officers and men of the New Model Army and their radical supporters in the country at large called for an end to negotiations. They also demanded retributive justice on all those, “from the highest to the lowest,” who had almost drowned the nation in innocent blood, lest they seize the opportunity to finish the job. When the army placed the king himself under physical restraint, MPs proceeded regardless to declare themselves satisfied that the search for peaceful settlement ought to continue. The army now purged the House of Commons of the supporters of the Newport treaty. Many of its officers were eager enough to reach some kind of an understanding with the king themselves, but rather than negotiate, they preferred to dictate terms. When the king refused those that the earl of Denbigh purportedly took to him at Windsor Castle late in December 1648, the officers and their allies in the Rump House of Commons prepared to put Charles on trial instead. Justice would at last be done, and it would be seen to be done.
A New Paradigm for the Second Amendment
Authors: Cornell Saul
Published: February 2008

Second Amendment scholarship has become mired in an intellectual quagmire. Contemporary debate over this provision of the Bill of Rights has been cast in terms of a simple dichotomy: either the Second Amendment protects an expansive individual right similar in nature to freedom of the press or it protects a narrow right of the states to maintain a well-regulated militia. Partisans of the individual rights view argue that the Second Amendment was designed to affirm a basic individual right to own firearms for hunting, recreation, and personal protection. The other view of the amendment, often described as the collective rights view, argues that the amendment was about the allocation of military power in the federal system. According to this view, the Second Amendment was a modest concession to moderate Antifederalists who feared the power of the new federal government. By affirming the right of the people to bear arms as part of a well-regulated militia, Federalists assuaged lingering Antifederalist qualms about the future of the state militias.
The Chancellor, the Chancery, and the History of Law Reform
Authors: Lobban Michael
Published: February 2008

As both James Oldham and Joshua Getzler show in their perceptive and helpful comments, much work remains to be done on the history of both the nineteenth-century Chancery and the wider law reform movement. My discussion of the inconclusive nature of the political debate about Eldon's arrears leads Oldham to ask whether the Chancellor was really overburdened and whether the appointment of the Vice Chancellor was as counterproductive as many contemporaries claimed. On the first of these issues, the data show that while Eldon was in general able to deal with the caseload before him, it was in the 1810s—when “by a series of most important decisions, [he] systematized the law of bankruptcy”—that a dramatic arrear in appeals developed (see Figure 5), which contributed to the political pressure on him in the following decade. Oldham shows from a survey of his notebooks that Eldon heard roughly fifty cases a year from 1801–13; while according to official returns, in the 1820s, he heard more than forty appeals each year. But between 1813 and 1819, the number fell to about twelve cases a year. On the second issue, the data show that the creation of a Vice Chancellor did have an impact, but a relatively modest one. Lacking the distractions of the Great Seal, he could hear more original business; and cases set down and heard in Chancery increased by about 40 percent in the decade and a half after his appointment. While the number of appeals also increased, both numerically and proportionally, they remained at manageable levels.
Bolshevism, Patriarchy, and the Nation: The Soviet “Emancipation” of Muslim Women in Pan-Islamic Perspective
Authors: Edgar Adrienne
Published: February 2008

In this essay, Adrienne Edgar compares Soviet policies toward Central Asian women in the interwar period with gender policies in two other types of Muslim societies—those ruled by European colonizers and those governed by indigenous national elites. She argues that the Soviet “emancipation” of Muslim women in the 1920s and 1930s had little in common with the policies of French and British colonial rulers. Instead, it resembled much more closely the gender reforms of the neighboring independent Muslim states of Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan. In these Muslim states, as in the Soviet Union, the drive for female emancipation was part of an attempt to create a modern, homogeneous, and mobilized population. Because many Central Asians perceived the Soviet state as fundamentally alien, however, the political dynamic that emerged inresponseto Soviet gender reforms resembled the situation in the colonized Middle East, where feminism and nationalism came to be seen as mutually antagonistic.
U.S. Copyright Relations with Central, East European, and Eurasian Nations in Historical Perspective
Authors: Pilch Janice T.
Published: February 2008

In the last decade, the international copyright environment has been transformed by the rise of digital technology and by a new emphasis on intellectual property as a key to global economic growth. Recent trends have coincided with developments in the postcommunist nations of central and eastern Europe and Eurasia and have changed the rules for the use and dissemination of works originating in these nations. In this article, Janice T. Pilch examines recent developments in a historical context, from the origins of the international copyright system in the mid-nineteenth century and the establishment of U.S. copyright relations with central and east European nations in the early twentieth century, to integration within the international copyright regime today. The chronology details the application of U.S. copyright law to works from these nations, illustrating the effects of copyright restoration in the mid-1990s to foreign works that had previously been in the public domain in the United States, a development of foremost concern to scholars, educators, and librarians whose efforts depend on the continued availability of information.
Jährliche CO2-Flüsse im Wald: Berechnungsmethode für das Treibhausgasinventar | Annual CO2 fluxes in forests: calculation method for the Greenhouse Gas Inventory
Authors: Thürig Esther , Schmid Stéphanie
Published: February 2008

Forests can be carbon sinks as well as carbon sources. In the Kyoto Protocol, forests play a special role. According to Art. 3.4 of the Kyoto Protocol, Switzerland has decided to account for forest management. Since 1990, each participating country must submit the Greenhouse Gas Inventory (GHGI) to the climate convention. These inventories build the basis for the annual estimation of carbon sink and sources under the Kyoto Protocol. This article describes the calculation method of the forest carbon budget in the Swiss GHGI, which is obtained by utilizing the database of the Swiss National Forest Inventory (NFI 1 and 2). Annual CO2-budgets are derived from using the annual wood production, annual climate values, and a climate-sensitive growth model. The large spatial and temporal resolutions of the emission data and factors optimally represent the spatial heterogeneity in Switzerland. The main gaps are in estimating carbon fluxes in dead wood and soil. Moreover, the effect of the annual climate variation on average growth should be investigated in more detail. Once the NFI3 data are available, CO2-budgets will need to be recalculated going as far back as 1995.
Language crimes and the cognitive interview: testing its efficacy in retrieving a conversational event
Authors: Campos Laura , Alonso‐Quecuty María L.
Published: February 2008

Frequently, the only available evidence in ‘language crimes’ (e.g. verbal sexual harassment) is witness statements about criminal conversations. However, previous research has showed that recall for sentences in conversation is very poor. The main aim of this research was to find out how to solve this problem. The cognitive interview (CI) is an interview technique which has shown to be more effective in recalling criminal episodes than a comparison interview. In addition, our experience in research on the CI had been highly satisfactory; therefore, we decided to use the CI as a tool in the research on memory for conversation, so far ignored. Thus, this study tested, for the first time, whether the CI would be also successful in obtaining complete and accurate accounts for a criminal conversation. Different forms of correct recall (verbatim/gist) of the verbal information as well as different types of errors (distortions/fabrications) were also examined. It was predicted that the CI would elicit more correct information without an increase in errors than a comparison interview (i.e. a free‐recall protocol). Results confirmed these hypotheses. Interpretations of the overall findings are offered within the context of theoretical principles concerning the retrieval of information from memory. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Citers' use of citees' names: Findings from a qualitative interview‐based study
Authors: Harwood Nigel
Published: February 2008

This article focuses on why academic writers in computer science and sociology sometimes supply the reader with more details of citees' names than they need to: Why do citers name citees when using the Footnote System, and why do citers include citees' first names when using the Harvard System? These questions were investigated as part of a qualitative, interview‐based study of citation behavior. A number of motivations were advanced by informants, including the desire for stylistic elegance, for informality, to make the text accessible to less informed readers, to mark a close relationship between citer and citee, to alert readers to a little known citee, and to acknowledge seminal sources. In a number of cases, however, informants were unable to offer any motivation, reporting that their behavior had been unconscious or accidental. The study underlines B. Cronin's (1984, 2005) argument that citation is a private and subjective process, and shows that interview‐based studies afford the analyst insights into writers' citing practices which alternative methodologies cannot.
Information culture and information use: An exploratory study of three organizations
Authors: Choo Chun Wei , Bergeron Pierrette , Detlor Brian , Heaton Lorna
Published: February 2008

This research explores the link between information culture and information use in three organizations. We ask if there is a way to systematically identify information behaviors and values that can characterize the information culture of an organization, and whether this culture has an effect on information use outcomes. The primary method of data collection was a questionnaire survey that was applied to a national law firm, a public health agency, and an engineering company. Over 650 persons in the three organizations answered the survey. Data analysis suggests that the questionnaire instrument was able to elicit information behaviors and values that denote an organization's information culture. Moreover, the information behaviors and values of each organization were able to explain 30–50% of the variance in information use outcomes. We conclude that it is possible to identify behaviors and values that describe an organization's information culture, and that the sets of identified behaviors and values can account for significant proportions of the variance in information use outcomes.
Structure analysis and performance of a microbial community from a contaminated aquifer involved in the complete reductive dechlorination of 1,1,2,2‐tetrachloroethane to ethene
Authors: Rossetti Simona , Aulenta Federico , Majone Mauro , Crocetti Gregory , Tandoi Valter
Published: February 2008

An anaerobic microcosm set up with aquifer material from a 1,1,2,2‐tetrachloroethane (TeCA) contaminated site and amended with butyrate showed a complete TeCA dechlorination to ethene. A structure analysis of the microbial community was performed by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with already available and on purpose designed probes from sequences retrieved through 16S rDNA clone library construction. FISH was chosen as identification tool to evaluate in situ whether the retrieved sequences belong to primary bacteria responsible for the biodegradative reactions. FISH probes identified up to 80% of total bacteria and revealed the absence or the marginal presence of known TeCA degraders and the abundance of two well‐known H2‐utilizing halorespiring bacteria, Sulfurospirillum (32.4 ± 8.6% of total bacteria) and Dehalococcoides spp. (14.8 ± 2.8), thereby providing a strong indication of their involvement in the dechlorination processes. These results were supported by the kinetic and thermodynamic analysis which provided indications that hydrogen was the actual electron donor for TeCA dechlorination. The specific probes, developed in this study, for known dechlorinators (i.e., Geobacter, Dehalobacter, and Sulfurospirillum species) represent a valuable tool for any future in situ bioremediation study as well as a quick and specific investigation tool for tracking their distribution in the field. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2008;99: 240–249. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Enzymatic degradation of low soluble compounds in monophasic water:solvent reactors. Kinetics and modeling of anthracene degradation by MnP
Authors: Eibes G. , Moreira M.T. , Feijoo G. , Lema J.M.
Published: February 2008

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are toxic compounds presenting low water solubility and high hydrophobicity, which greatly hampers their natural biodegradation. The enzymatic degradation of a model compound, anthracene, was evaluated in presence of a miscible solvent for an increased solubility. Manganese peroxidase, a ligninolytic enzyme from white‐rot fungi, was used as biocatalyst in a medium containing acetone. The kinetic parameters of the enzymatic degradation of anthracene, obtained from fed‐batch experiments, were applied to model the operation of a continuous reactor. Kinetics comprised a Michaelis–Menten equation, modified with an autocatalytic term, assumed to the effect of quinones acting as electron carriers, and a logistic function related to enzyme activity. The continuous reactor has been operated for 108 h, attaining a 90% of anthracene degradation, which demonstrated the feasibility of the system for its application in the removal of poorly soluble compounds. The model of this reactor permitted to predict accurately anthracene degradation in different conditions, such as external addition of anthraquinone and different enzymatic activities. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2008;100: 619–626. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Low field elliptical MR coil array designed by FDTD
Authors: Giovannetti Giulio , Hartwig Valentina , Viti Vittorio , Zadaricchio Paolo , Meini Lorenzo , Landini Luigi , Benassi Antonio
Published: February 2008

Phased‐array in magnetic resonance systems have to be designed minimizing the mutual interaction among nearby coils and this is generally achieved by overlapping adjacent coils. In this paper we describe the use of a numerical solver based on finite‐difference time‐domain algorithm for determining the overlap distance between two coils that constitute a part of an array system. Using the simulator, we designed a novel array coil composed by two elements with elliptical geometry. The coil was designed for the application in a 0.18 T vertical field MR scanner. A prototype of the designed array was built and tested by laboratory workbench in order to validate the simulated data. Experiments were also done in real low field MR scanner to evaluate the coil performance, which is compared to a standard coil using phantom measurements. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Concepts Magn Reson Part B (Magn Reson Engineering) 33B: 32–38, 2008
Planar self‐biased magnetic resonance microscopy “lenses”
Authors: Barbic Mladen , Barrett Christopher P. , Vltava Lvcian , Emery Teresa H. , Walker Chris , Scherer Axel
Published: February 2008

We present novel planar permanent magnet designs that create points above the plane where the magnitude of the static magnetic field is a local nonzero magnetic field point minimum. The designs represent potential magnetic resonance microscopy “lenses” where only a point region of the sample located in the “focus” spot of the structures is resonant. The high magnetic field curvatures of the “lenses” ensure that the regions outside of the “focus” spot are inactive or filtered out in the resonance detection process. In contrast to the original magnetic resonance “lens” design that required an applied uniform external bias field, the new designs are self‐biased. Each planar permanent magnet design is accompanied by the equivalent planar single noncrossing conductor design. We also introduce the concept of Amperean current doubling in planar perpendicularly magnetized thin films that can be used to improve the performance of each permanent magnet design we present. We experimentally constructed macroscale representative permanent magnet and wire structures and measured their magnetic field properties that confirm our numerical predictions. Single conductor current‐carrying designs are suitable for single layer lithographic fabrication, as we also experimentally demonstrate. Finally, we present the case that nanometer scale recording of perpendicular anisotropy thin magnetic films using presently available data storage technology can potentially provide the ultimate miniaturization of the presented designs. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Concepts Magn Reson Part B (Magn Reson Engineering) 33B: 21–31, 2008
A prospective evaluation of computerized tomographic (CT) scanning as a screening modality for esophageal varices
Authors: Perri Roman E. , Chiorean Michael V. , Fidler Jeff L. , Fletcher Joel G. , Talwalkar Jayant A. , Stadheim Linda , Shah Nilay D. , Kamath Patrick S.
Published: February 2008

Patients with cirrhosis require endoscopic screening for large esophageal varices. The aims of this study were to determine the cost-effectiveness and patient preferences of a strategy employing abdominal computerized tomography (CT) as the initial screening test for identifying large esophageal varices. In a prospective evaluation,102 patients underwent both CT and endoscopic screening for gastroesophageal varices. Two radiologists read each CT independently; standard upper gastrointestinal endoscopy was the reference standard. Agreement between radiologists, and between endoscopists regarding size of varices was determined using kappa statistic. Cost-effectiveness analysis was performed to determine the optimal screening strategy for varices. Patient preference was assessed by questionnaire. CT was found to have approximately 90% sensitivity in the identification of esophageal varices determined to be large on endoscopy, but only about 50% specificity. The sensitivity of CT in detecting gastric varices was 87%. In addition, a significant number of gastric varices, peri-esophageal varices, and extraluminal pathology were identified by CT that were not identified by endoscopy. Patients overwhelmingly preferred CT over endoscopy. Agreement between radiologists was good regarding the size of varices (Kappa = 0.56), and exceeded agreement between endoscopists (Kappa = 0.36). Use of CT as the initial screening modality for the detection of varices was significantly more cost-effective compared to endoscopy irrespective of the prevalence of large varices.

Conclusion:

Abdominal CT as the initial screening test for varices could be cost-effective. CT also permits evaluation of extra-luminal pathology that impacts management.
Clinicopathological study on cholangiolocellular carcinoma suggesting hepatic progenitor cell origin
Authors: Komuta Mina , Spee Bart , Borght Sara Vander , De Vos Rita , Verslype Chris , Aerts Raymond , Yano Hirohisa , Suzuki Tetsuya , Matsuda Masanori , Fujii Hideki , Desmet Valeer J. , Kojiro Masamichi , Roskams Tania
Published: February 2008

Cholangiolocellular carcinoma (CLC), a subtype of cholangiocellular carcinoma (CC), is thought to originate from the ductules/canals of Hering, where hepatic progenitor cells (HPCs) are located. We investigated the clinicopathological features of 30 CLCs and their relationship to HPCs. We evaluated the expression of hepatocytic markers (hepatocyte paraffin-1, canalicular polyclonal carcinoembryonic antigen, and CD10), biliary/HPC markers (keratin [K]7, K19, and neural cell adhesion molecule), the adenosine triphosphate binding cassette transporters: multidrug resistance protein 1, multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP)1, MRP3, and breast cancer resistance protein, using immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy. In addition, gene expression profiling of CLC was performed and compared with the profile of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with or without HPC features (K19 expression). In surrounding nontumoral tissue, K7-positive and K19-positive HPCs/ductular reaction were observed. More than 90% of the tumor was composed of CLC areas that showed small monotonous and/or anastomosing glands, strongly positive for K7 and K19. Especially at the tumor boundary, all cases showed a HCC-like trabecular area characterized by canalicular CD10/polyclonal carcinoembryonic antigen expression, and submembranous K7 expression, similar to intermediate hepatocytes. K7-positive/K19-positive HPCs were also seen. Out of 30 cases, 19 showed papillary and/or clear glandular formation with mucin production, representing CC areas. These three different areas showed transitional zones with each other. We observed an increased expression of MRP1, MRP3, and breast cancer resistance protein in the tumor. Electron microscopy findings in HCC-like trabecular areas confirmed the presence of HPCs and intermediate hepatocytes. HPC markers, K7, K19, prominin-1, receptor for stem cell factor c-kit, octamer-4 transcription factor, and leukemia inhibitory factor were upregulated (

P

< 0.05), while albumin was downregulated in CLC (

P

= 0.007) toward K19-negative HCCs. Comparison of CLC with K19-positive HCCs indicated a high homology.

Conclusion:

All these findings highly suggest a progenitor cell origin of CLC.
Telomere biology in giant cell tumour of bone
Authors: Forsyth RG , De Boeck G , Bekaert S , De Meyer T , Taminiau AHM , Uyttendaele D , Roels H , Praet MM , Hogendoorn PCW
Published: February 2008

Giant cell tumour of bone (GCTB) is a benign bone tumour known for the unpredictable clinical behaviour of recurrences and, in rare instances, distant metastases. It consists of uniformly distributed osteoclastic giant cells in a background of mononuclear rounded and spindle‐shaped cells. Cytogenetically, telomeric associations are the most common chromosomal aberrations, which, however, are normally almost exclusively found in high‐grade malignancies. GCTB has often been regarded as a polyclonal tumour, but more recently a recurrent specific aberration was reported, which suggests a possible role for disturbed telomere maintenance. Here we further investigate telomere maintenance in GCTB using 19 samples from 19 patients. A combination of immunofluorescence and FISH was performed, applying antibodies directed against promyelocytic leukaemia body‐related antigen and hTERT and using telomere peptide nucleic acid probes. The TRAP assay and telomere restriction fragment length analysis were performed for functional detection of telomerase activity and alternative telomere lengthening. Both osteoclastic giant cells and mononuclear cells showed positivity for hTERT and promyelocytic leukaemia body‐related antigen. In most mononuclear cells, co‐expression was present. The TRAP assay demonstrated heterogeneous telomerase activity, while telomere restriction fragment length analysis showed non‐heterogeneous telomere lengths, indicating the absence of alternative telomere lengthening. Confocal microscopy showed stereometric co‐localization of nucleolin with promyelocytic leukaemia body‐related antigen in association with telomeres in the spindle‐shaped cells. hTERT was more diffusely distributed throughout the nucleus. Our results show that GCTB demonstrates remarkable telomere maintenance of activated telomerase and inactivated alternative telomere lengthening in the presence of normal mean telomere restriction fragment lengths. These findings strongly suggest that these aggregates, while activating telomerase, are part of a structural telomere protective‐capping mechanism rather than of a telomere‐lengthening mechanism. Telomere maintenance could be considered an important key factor in the pathogenesis of GCTB. Copyright © 2008 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The galectin family and digestive disease
Authors: Demetter P , Nagy N , Martin B , Mathieu A , Dumont P , Decaestecker C , Salmon I
Published: February 2008

The soluble‐type lectins or galectins constitute a family of proteins defined by shared consensus amino acid sequence and affinity for beta‐galactose‐containing oligosaccharides. These molecules are widely distributed in the animal kingdom; to date, 15 mammalian galectins have been described but more are likely to be discovered. These proteins are involved in many biological processes including cell–cell and cell–matrix adhesion, growth regulation, signaling, and cytokine secretion. Over the last decade, a vast amount of reports has shown the importance of several galectins in the development and progression of malignancies in the digestive tract, mainly colorectal cancers. More recent data indicate that some of these molecules are also involved in inflammatory bowel diseases. This review focuses on the current knowledge of galectin expression and putative functions in the oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, and colon. It also highlights that the rapid accumulation of research data promises future scenarios in which individual members of the galectin family and/or their ligands will be used as diagnostic and therapeutic modalities for neoplastic as well as inflammatory disorders. However, the concretization of these potential modalities requires substantial improvements in terms of standardization of galectin expression evaluation together with prospective validation of the present data. Copyright © 2008 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Occurrence and cellular localization of PrPd in kidneys of scrapie‐affected sheep in the absence of inflammation
Authors: Sisó S , Jeffrey M , Steele P , McGovern G , Martin S , Finlayson J , Chianini F , González L
Published: February 2008

Following a preliminary description of disease‐associated prion protein (PrPd) deposition in the kidneys of scrapie‐affected sheep, detailed studies have been undertaken in order to evaluate the factors that could account for such PrPd accumulation and to determine the precise location of PrPd in the renal papillae. Immunohistochemical (IHC) examinations for PrPd were conducted in kidneys collected at post‐mortem from 30 naturally and 37 experimentally infected sheep. In addition, PrPd detection by western blot analysis (WB) and ultrastructural examination was carried out in a selection of kidneys. PrPd‐specific, multifocal IHC labelling with antibody R145 was achieved in the kidneys of 44% and 51% of the naturally and experimentally infected sheep, respectively. The specificity of these results was confirmed by further IHC and WB using several PrP antibodies raised to different amino acid sequences, and by examination of control tissues. PrPd was shown to accumulate in the interstitium of the renal papillae, in association with the cell membrane and lysosomes of fibroblast‐like cells, or extracellularly, in close contact with collagen and basal membranes. These deposits were unrelated to inflammatory changes in the kidney as shown by routine histology and by IHC for different immune cell markers. PrPd accumulated in the kidney of sheep that showed widespread PrPd deposition in the lymphoreticular system and had long incubation periods; these findings argue for a haematogenous origin of renal PrPd, although the precise site and mechanism–glomerular filtration and reabsorption at Henle's loop, or extravasation from vasa recta capillaries, or both–by which PrPd leaves the blood to accumulate in the interstitium of renal papillae remain to be determined. Either of these pathogenetic mechanisms could lead to environmental contamination via urine. Crown copyright © 2008. Reproduced with the permission of Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Molecular recognition and physicochemical properties in the discovery of selective antibacterial minor groove binders
Authors: Suckling Colin J.
Published: February 2008

The polyamide minor groove binders (MGBs), distamycin and netropsin, have been known for many years to have significant biological activities but high toxicity. Strategies are described for the development of more selective MGBs taking advantage of hydrophobic interactions with the minor groove of DNA. The introduction of branched alkyl side chain substituents, planar aromatic head groups and alkene isosteres of the amides have all been investigated. MGBs designed using these strategies and built from heterocyclic and aromatic amino acids with the ability to recognise short sequences of DNA have been found to be potent and selective antibacterial agents. Detailed structural and strength of binding investigations (NMR, capillary electrophoresis (CE), DNA footprinting, melting temperature measurement, ITC) show that their activity depends primarily upon molecular recognition in terms of both molecular shape and specific hydrogen bonding. However the lack of toxicity depends upon their basic tail group structure, the pKa of which has a major influence on access to bacterial and mammalian cells. Lead compounds are active in vivo at doses competitive with recently introduced antibacterial drugs. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
SEREX, Proteomex, AMIDA, and beyond: Serological screening technologies for target identification
Authors: Rauch Jens , Gires Olivier
Published: February 2008

Despite the great body of knowledge about the aetiology, pathogenesis, risk factors, and associated molecular processes, cancer remains a prime health concern. Over the past decades scientific and medical research focused on the identification of biomarkers and target molecules for the diagnosis and therapy of cancer. Such markers may allow for improved and early diagnosis, as well as for immunotherapeutic approaches for cancer treatment. A plethora of technologies dedicated to the identification of target molecules was developed including those relying on a humoral response against tumour‐associated antigens (TAA) in diseased individuals. As for other diseases, cancers elicit immune responses that result in the induction of T and B lymphocytes specific for tumour‐associated proteins, largely self‐antigens, but also those comprising viral and bacterial proteins. Cancer‐specific serum antibodies are of great use for the isolation and subsequent identification of their cognate antigens. The present review will concentrate on three major serological target identification methods,i.e.SEREX, Proteomex, and AMIDA, concluding with a summary of the milestones in the clinical advancement and applications of serological TAA.
Crystal structure of yeast hexokinase PI in complex with glucose: A classical “induced fit” example revised
Authors: Kuser Paula , Cupri Fabio , Bleicher Lucas , Polikarpov Igor
Published: February 2008

Hexokinase is the first enzyme in the glycolytic pathway that catalyzes the transfer of a phosphoryl group from ATP to glucose to form glucose‐6‐phosphate and ADP. Two yeast hexokinase isozymes are known, namely PI and PII. Here we redetermined the crystal structure of yeast hexokinase PI from Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a complex with its substrate, glucose, and refined it at 2.95 Å resolution. Comparison of the holo‐PI yeast hexokinase and apo‐hexokinase structures shows in detail the rigid body domain closure and specific loop movements as glucose binds and sheds more light on structural basis of the “induced fit” mechanism of reaction in the HK enzymatic action. We also performed statistical coupling analysis of the hexokinase family, which reveals two co‐evolved continuous clusters of amino acid residues and shows that the evolutionary coupled amino acid residues are mostly confined to the active site and the hinge region, further supporting the importance of these parts of the protein for the enzymatic catalysis. Proteins 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Docking analysis of transient complexes: Interaction of ferredoxin‐NADP+ reductase with ferredoxin and flavodoxin
Authors: Medina Milagros , Abagyan Ruben , Gómez‐Moreno Carlos , Fernandez‐Recio Juan
Published: February 2008

Ferredoxin (Fd) interacts with ferredoxin‐NADP+ reductase (FNR) to transfer two electrons to the latter, one by one, which will finally be used to reduce NADP+ to NADPH. The formation of a transient complex between Fd and FNR is required for the electron transfer (ET), and extensive mutational and crystallographic studies have been reported to characterize such protein–protein interaction. However, some aspects of the association mechanism still remain unclear. Moreover, in spite of their structural differences, flavodoxin (Fld) can replace Fd in its function and interact with FNR to transfer electrons with only slightly lower efficiency. Although crystallographic structures for the FNR:Fd association have been reported, experimental structural data for the FNR:Fld interaction are highly elusive. We have modeled here the interactions between FNR and both of its protein partners, Fd and Fld, using surface energy analysis, computational rigid‐body docking simulations, and interface side‐chain refinement. The results, consistent with previous experimental data, suggest the existence of alternative binding modes in these ET proteins. Proteins 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.