bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Arabidopsisand relatives as models for the study of genetic and genomic incompatibilities
Authors: Bomblies Kirsten , Weigel Detlef
Published: May 2010

The past few years have seen considerable advances in speciation research, but whether drift or adaptation is more likely to lead to genetic incompatibilities remains unknown. Some of the answers will probably come from not only studying incompatibilities between well-established species, but also from investigating incipient speciation events, to learn more about speciation as an evolutionary process. The genusArabidopsis, which includes the widely usedArabidopsis thaliana, provides a useful set of model species for studying many aspects of population divergence. The genus contains both self-incompatible and incompatible species, providing a platform for studying the impact of mating system changes on genetic differentiation. Another important path to plant speciation is via formation of polyploids, and this can be investigated in the young allotetraploid speciesA. arenosa. Finally, there are many cases of intraspecific incompatibilities inA. thaliana, and recent progress has been made in discovering the genes underlying both F1and F2breakdown. In the near future, all these studies will be greatly empowered by complete genome sequences not only for all members of this relatively small genus, but also for many different individuals within each species.
What role does natural selection play in speciation?
Authors: Barton N. H.
Published: May 2010

If distinct biological species are to coexist in sympatry, they must be reproductively isolated and must exploit different limiting resources. A two-niche Levene model is analysed, in which habitat preference and survival depend on underlying additive traits. The population genetics of preference and viability are equivalent. However, there is a linear trade-off between the chances of settling in either niche, whereas viabilities may be constrained arbitrarily. With a convex trade-off, a sexual population evolves a single generalist genotype, whereas with a concave trade-off, disruptive selection favours maximal variance. A pure habitat preference evolves to global linkage equilibrium if mating occurs in a single pool, but remarkably, evolves to pairwise linkage equilibrium within niches if mating is within those niches—independent of the genetics. With a concave trade-off, the population shifts sharply between a unimodal distribution with high gene flow and a bimodal distribution with strong isolation, as the underlying genetic variance increases. However, these alternative states are only simultaneously stable for a narrow parameter range. A sharp threshold is only seen if survival in the ‘wrong’ niche is low; otherwise, strong isolation is impossible. Gene flow from divergent demes makes speciation much easier in parapatry than in sympatry.
Speciation genetics: current status and evolving approaches
Authors: Wolf Jochen B. W. , Lindell Johan , Backström Niclas
Published: May 2010

The view of species as entities subjected to natural selection and amenable to change put forth by Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace laid the conceptual foundation for understanding speciation. Initially marred by a rudimental understanding of hereditary principles, evolutionists gained appreciation of the mechanistic underpinnings of speciation following the merger of Mendelian genetic principles with Darwinian evolution. Only recently have we entered an era where deciphering the molecular basis of speciation is within reach. Much focus has been devoted to the genetic basis of intrinsic postzygotic isolation in model organisms and several hybrid incompatibility genes have been successfully identified. However, concomitant with the recent technological advancements in genome analysis and a newfound interest in the role of ecology in the differentiation process, speciation genetic research is becoming increasingly open to non-model organisms. This development will expand speciation research beyond the traditional boundaries and unveil the genetic basis of speciation from manifold perspectives and at various stages of the splitting process. This review aims at providing an extensive overview of speciation genetics. Starting from key historical developments and core concepts of speciation genetics, we focus much of our attention on evolving approaches and introduce promising methodological approaches for future research venues.
MVH in piRNA processing and gene silencing of retrotransposons
Authors: Kuramochi-Miyagawa Satomi , Watanabe Toshiaki , Gotoh Kengo , Takamatsu Kana , Chuma Shinichiro , Kojima-Kita Kanako , Shiromoto Yusuke , Asada Noriko , Toyoda Atsushi , Fujiyama Asao , Totoki Yasushi , Shibata Tatsuhiro , Kimura Tohru , Nakatsuji Norio , Noce Toshiaki , Sasaki Hiroyuki , Nakano Toru
Published: May 2010

VASA is an evolutionarily conserved RNA helicase essential for germ cell development. The mouse PIWI family proteins MILI and MIWI2 are involved in production of Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) in fetal male germ cells through a ping-pong amplification cycle. Expression of retrotransposons is elevated in MILI- and MIWI2-deficient male germ cells due to defective de novo DNA methylation, which is presumably caused by impaired piRNA expression. Here, we report that essentially the same abnormalities are observed in MVH (mouse VASA homolog)-deficient mice. Comprehensive analysis of piRNAs in MVH-deficient fetal male germ cells showed that MVH plays crucial roles in the early phase of the ping-pong amplification cycle.
Coop functions as a corepressor of Pangolin and antagonizes Wingless signaling
Authors: Song Haiyun , Goetze Sandra , Bischof Johannes , Spichiger-Haeusermann Chloe , Kuster Marco , Brunner Erich , Basler Konrad
Published: May 2010

Wingless (Wg) signaling regulates expression of its target genes via Pangolin and Armadillo, and their interacting cofactors. In the absence of Wg, Pangolin mediates transcriptional repression. In the presence of Wg, Pangolin, Armadillo, and a cohort of coactivators mediate transcriptional activation. Here we uncover Coop (corepressor of Pan) as a Pangolin-interacting protein. Coop and Pangolin form a complex on DNA containing a Pangolin/TCF-binding motif. Overexpression of Coop specifically represses Wg target genes, while loss of Coop function causes derepression. Finally, we show that Coop antagonizes the binding of Armadillo to Pangolin, providing a mechanism for Coop-mediated repression of Wg target gene transcription.
Reprogramming of miRNA networks in cancer and leukemia
Authors: Volinia Stefano , Galasso Marco , Costinean Stefan , Tagliavini Luca , Gamberoni Giacomo , Drusco Alessandra , Marchesini Jlenia , Mascellani Nicoletta , Sana Maria Elena , Abu Jarour Ramzey , Desponts Caroline , Teitell Michael , Baffa Raffaele , Aqeilan Rami , Iorio Marilena V. , Taccioli Cristian , Garzon Ramiro , Di Leva Gianpiero , Fabbri Muller , Catozzi Marco , Previati Maurizio , Ambs Stefan , Palumbo Tiziana , Garofalo Michela , Veronese Angelo , Bottoni Arianna , Gasparini Pierluigi , Harris Curtis C. , Visone Rosa , Pekarsky Yuri , de la Chapelle Albert , Bloomston Mark , Dillhoff Mary , Rassenti Laura Z. , Kipps Thomas J. , Huebner Kay , Pichiorri Flavia , Lenze Dido , Cairo Stefano , Buendia Marie-Annick , Pineau Pascal , Dejean Anne , Zanesi Nicola , Rossi Simona , Calin George A. , Liu Chang-Gong , Palatini Jeff , Negrini Massimo , Vecchione Andrea , Rosenberg Anne , Croce Carlo M.
Published: May 2010

We studied miRNA profiles in 4419 human samples (3312 neoplastic, 1107 nonmalignant), corresponding to 50 normal tissues and 51 cancer types. The complexity of our database enabled us to perform a detailed analysis of microRNA (miRNA) activities. We inferred genetic networks from miRNA expression in normal tissues and cancer. We also built, for the first time, specialized miRNA networks for solid tumors and leukemias. Nonmalignant tissues and cancer networks displayed a change in hubs, the most connected miRNAs. hsa-miR-103/106 were downgraded in cancer, whereas hsa-miR-30 became most prominent. Cancer networks appeared as built from disjointed subnetworks, as opposed to normal tissues. A comparison of these nets allowed us to identify key miRNA cliques in cancer. We also investigated miRNA copy number alterations in 744 cancer samples, at a resolution of 150 kb. Members of miRNA families should be similarly deleted or amplified, since they repress the same cellular targets and are thus expected to have similar impacts on oncogenesis. We correctly identified hsa-miR-17/92 family as amplified and the hsa-miR-143/145 cluster as deleted. Other miRNAs, such as hsa-miR-30 and hsa-miR-204, were found to be physically altered at the DNA copy number level as well. By combining differential expression, genetic networks, and DNA copy number alterations, we confirmed, or discovered, miRNAs with comprehensive roles in cancer. Finally, we experimentally validated the miRNA network with acute lymphocytic leukemia originated in Mir155 transgenic mice. Most of miRNAs deregulated in these transgenic mice were located close to hsa-miR-155 in the cancer network.
Luciferase Assay
Authors: Smale Stephen T.
Published: May 2010

INTRODUCTION

When a transient or stable transfection assay is developed for a promoter, a primary objective is to quantify promoter strength. Because transfection efficiency in such assays can be low, promoters are commonly fused to heterologous reporter genes that encode enzymes that can be quantified using highly sensitive assays. The reporter protein’s activity or fluorescence within a transfected cell population is approximately proportional to the steady-state mRNA level. A commonly used reporter gene is the luciferase gene from the firefly Photinus pyralis. This gene encodes a 61-kDa enzyme that oxidizes D-luciferin in the presence of ATP, oxygen, and Mg++, yielding a fluorescent product that can be quantified by measuring the released light. Including coenzyme A in the reaction enhances the sensitivity of the assay and provides a sustained light reaction. In this protocol, cells transfected with a luciferase reporter plasmid are lysed using a detergent-containing buffer. Cell debris is removed by microcentrifugation and luciferase activity is measured using a luminometer. Some luminometers directly inject the reagents into the cell lysate. Such automation allows the signal to be measured at a precise time following injection, which can increase the consistency of the results. For manual luminometers, the substrate solution is mixed by hand with the cell lysate, and the fluorescence is read at a defined time following mixing. The luciferase assay is extremely rapid, simple, relatively inexpensive, sensitive, and possesses a broad linear range.
β-Galactosidase Assay
Authors: Smale Stephen T.
Published: May 2010

INTRODUCTION

When a transient or stable transfection assay is developed for a promoter, a primary objective is to quantify promoter strength. Because transfection efficiency in such assays can be low, promoters are commonly fused to heterologous reporter genes that encode enzymes that can be quantified using highly sensitive assays. The reporter protein’s activity or fluorescence within a transfected cell population is approximately proportional to the steady-state mRNA level. Although the Escherichia coli lacZ gene, encoding β-galactosidase (β-gal), can be used as a standard reporter for monitoring the strength of a promoter or enhancer in a transient or stable transfection assay, it is predominantly used as an internal control during transient transfection experiments. When used in this manner, cells are usually transfected with the control plasmid (containing a ubiquitously active viral promoter fused to the E. coli lacZ gene) and an experimental plasmid containing another reporter gene (e.g., luciferase or chloramphenicol acetyltransferase [CAT]) under the control of the promoter or enhancer of interest. The basic colorimetric assay described here is the simplest and least expensive assay for quantifying β-gal activity. The cells are lysed and, after determining the total protein concentration in the extracts, an aliquot of the extract is mixed with the reaction substrate, O-nitrophenyl-β-D-galactopyranoside (ONPG), in a buffer containing sodium phosphate and magnesium chloride. When the yellow product becomes visible, the optical densities of the samples are determined spectrophotometrically.
Digital Scanned Laser Light Sheet Fluorescence Microscopy
Authors: Keller Philipp J. , Stelzer Ernst H. K.
Published: May 2010

INTRODUCTION

Modern applications in the life sciences are frequently based on in vivo imaging of biological specimens, a domain for which light microscopy approaches are typically best suited. Often, quantitative information must be obtained from large multicellular organisms on the cellular or even subcellular level and with a good temporal resolution. However, this usually requires a combination of conflicting features: high imaging speed, low photobleaching, and low phototoxicity in the specimen, good three-dimensional (3D) resolution, an excellent signal-to-noise ratio, and multiple-view imaging capability. The latter feature refers to the capability of recording a specimen along multiple directions, which is crucial for the imaging of large specimens with strong light-scattering or light-absorbing tissue properties. An imaging technique that fulfills these requirements is essential for many key applications: For example, studying fast cellular processes over long periods of time, imaging entire embryos throughout development, or reconstructing the formation of morphological defects in mutants. Here, we discuss digital scanned laser light sheet fluorescence microscopy (DSLM) as a novel tool for quantitative in vivo imaging in the post-genomic era and show how this emerging technique relates to the currently most widely applied 3D microscopy techniques in biology: confocal fluorescence microscopy and two-photon microscopy.
Fast Equilibrium Test and Force Distribution for Multicontact Robotic Systems
Authors: Zheng Yu , Chew Chee-Meng
Published: May 2010

In the research of multicontact robotic systems, the equilibrium test and contact force distribution are two fundamental problems, which need to determine the existence of feasible contact forces subject to the friction constraint, and their optimal values for counterbalancing the other wrenches applied on the system and maintaining the system in equilibrium. All the wrenches, except those generated by the contact forces, can be treated as a whole, called the external wrench. The external wrench is time-varying in a dynamic system and both problems usually must be solved in real time. This paper presents an efficient procedure for solving the two problems. Using the linearized friction model, the resultant wrenches that can be produced by all contacts constitute a polyhedral convex cone in six-dimensional wrench space. Given an external wrench, the procedure computes the minimum distance between the wrench cone and the required equilibrating wrench, which is equal but opposite to the external wrench. The zero distance implies that the equilibrating wrench lies in the wrench cone, and that the external wrench can be resisted by contacts. Then, a set of linearly independent wrench vectors in the wrench cone are also determined, such that the equilibrating wrench can be written as their positive combination. This procedure always terminates in finite iterations and runs very fast, even in six-dimensional wrench space. Based on it, two contact force distribution methods are provided. One combines the procedure with the linear programming technique, yielding optimal contact forces with linear time complexity. The other directly utilizes the procedure without the aid of any general optimization technique, yielding suboptimal contact forces with nearly constant time complexity. Effective strategies are suggested to ensure the solution continuity.
EDUCATION FOR DISASTER RISK REDUCTION IN THAILAND
Authors: SIRIPONG ABSORNSUDA
Published: May 2010

Education has been identified by UNESCO as well as the UN/International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR) under the Hyogo Framework for Action as Key to mitigate the impact of natural disasters. Moreover, education — lifelong education for everyone — is the excellent investment for individuals and society as a whole. It is the least expensive and most efficient way for disaster mitigation, even without sophisticated and expensive technologies for early warning, the people can escape from and mitigate the impact of the natural disasters safely if they know the characteristics of the disasters scientifically. Learning early is better than preparedness, because preparedness needs time and efforts. Aristotle once said "What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing." Education is a part of awareness and preparedness. A warning will be useless, if people do not know what to do in case of an emergency. The educational processes and institutions for tsunami mitigation with some problems in Thailand were described.
TSUNAMI DISASTER REDUCTION EDUCATION USING TOWN WATCHING AND MOVING TSUNAMI EVACUATION ANIMATION — TRIAL IN BANDA ACEH
Authors: GOTO YOZO , OGAWA YUJIRO , KOMURA TAKASHI
Published: May 2010

The reconstruction of Banda Aceh has progressed in these three years and survivors are returning to the areas where they were formerly living. Several refuge buildings are being constructed in the coastal area to ensure safety of the nearby residents. However, people's minds would not be at ease without the confidence that they would obtain safety by taking refuge in the building. The authors studied applicability of two Japan's original disaster education methods for capacity building of community, holding a trainers' training workshop with the cooperation of the Tsunami and Disaster Mitigation Research Center (TDMRC) of Syiah Kuala University. They introduced a visual education using the tsunami inundation and evacuation animation to the teachers, the volunteers, and the students in the area, and executed an exercise of the residents' participation type education using the town watching method. The participants were asked to evaluate these two methods by a questionnaire after the workshop. Most of them evaluated these methods as very effective and easy to use. The results from the questionnaire also showed clearly that the bottle neck in popularizing disaster education was lack of good education materials.
EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON IMPULSIVE FORCE OF DRIFT BODY DUE TO TSUNAMI FLOW
Authors: HIRAISHI TETSUYA , HARUO KAZUTO , SAITOH EIJI
Published: May 2010

In the Indian Ocean Tsunami, numerous drifting bodies like timbers induced by the strong tsunami flow caused the damage of houses. Such influences by the drifting body due to tsunami are worried especially in the Japanese harbor area where a new offshore runway is under construction using the jacket-type structure. The jacket is composed of vertical piers and oblique supporters with about 1 m diameter and is placed in the sea 20 m deep. In the paper, the impulsive wave force by a drifting timber due to tsunami flows is experimentally studied using a wave basin with a current generator.

The target tsunami flow velocity calculated for the design earthquake is 0.9 m/s at the jacket location and the scale in the experiment is 1/10. In the experiments, the maximum total horizontal force acting on a vertical column fixed in a channel was measured and its characteristic was investigated. The collision force was mainly determined in the drifting velocity and timber mass. An experimental equation to evaluate the maximum force was derived and its accuracy was demonstrated.
BUSINESS RESTORATION RELATED TO LIFELINE AFTER TSUNAMI DISASTER
Authors: KUWATA YASUKO , TAKADA SHIRO
Published: May 2010

This paper proposes a method to evaluate functionality of a business after a tsunami disaster. This method has several modules such as damage estimation of business base (building, equipments, and lifeline) caused by tsunami hazard, restoration ratio-to-time model for business base, and the functionality of the business introduced by facility restoration and its influence to the business. As a case study, the tsunami impact to industries and its subsequent restoration process were studied based on an interview survey in southern Sri Lanka after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, and the survey results were applied to the proposed model. Results of application showed that buildings and equipments were slowly restored when they were extensively damaged or flooded. Further, the business restoration depends more heavily on the business facilities restoration than the lifeline restoration, when the business facilities are flooded with tsunami inundation higher than 1 m.
A Decomposition Heuristic for the Maximal Covering Location Problem
Authors: Senne Edson Luiz França , Pereira Marcos Antonio , Lorena Luiz Antonio Nogueira
Published: May 2010

This paper proposes a cluster partitioning technique to calculate improved upper bounds to the optimal solution of maximal covering location problems. Given a covering distance, a graph is built considering as vertices the potential facility locations, and with an edge connecting each pair of facilities that attend a same client. Coupling constraints, corresponding to some edges of this graph, are identified and relaxed in the Lagrangean way, resulting in disconnected subgraphs representing smaller subproblems that are computationally easier to solve by exact methods. The proposed technique is compared to the classical approach, using real data and instances from the available literature.
Biomass Power Generation through Direct Integration of Updraft Gasifier and Stirling Engine Combustion System
Authors: Leu Jai-Houng
Published: May 2010

Biomass is the largest renewable energy source in the world. Its importance grows gradually in the future energy market. Since most biomass sources are low in energy density and are widespread in space, small-scale biomass conversion system is therefore more competitive than a large stand-alone conversion plant. The current study proposes a small-scale solid biomass power system to explore the viability of direct coupling of an updraft fixed bed gasifier with a Stirling engine. The modified updraft fixed bed gasifier employs an embedded combustor inside the gasifier to fully combust the synthetic gas generated by the gasifier. The flue gas produced by the synthetic gas combustion inside the combustion tube is piped directly to the heater head of the Stirling engine. The engine will then extract and convert the heat contained in the flue gas into electricity automatically. Output depends on heat input. And, the heat input is proportional to the flow rate and temperature of the flue gas. The preliminary study of the proposed direct coupling of an updraft gasifier with a 25 kW Stirling engine demonstrates that full power output could be produced by the current system. It could be found from the current investigation that no auxiliary fuel is required to operate the current system smoothly. The proposed technology and units could be considered as a viable solid biomass power system.
Effects of Garlic Oil on the Migration of Neutrophil-Like Cell Studied by Using a Chemotactic Gradient Labchip
Authors: Shih Po-Chen , Kuo Chia-Hao , Juang Jenh-Yih , Liu Cheng-Hsien , Hsu Long , Liu Cheng-Tzu
Published: May 2010

We have designed and fabricated a novel chemotactic gradient Labchip for studying cell migration quantitatively. Owing to the great potential of garlic and its preparations in developing antiinflammatory drugs, the aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of garlic oil on the locomotion of a neutrophil-like cell by measuring the dynamic features of cell migration including migration direction, average migration speed, chemotactic index (CI), and motility index (MI) with the newly designed Labchip. We found that garlic oil treatment lowered the values of CI and MI and reduced the average speed of cell migration from 13 to 8 μm/min. The results indicate that garlic oil is a potential inhibitor for neutrophil-like cell migration and chemotactic responsiveness. By comparing with the effects of nocodazole and cytochalasin B, we also suggest that the antiinflammatory activity exhibited by garlic oil was mainly through inhibiting the assembly-disassembly processes of the cytoskeleton.
Features of Impinging Streams Intensifying Processes and Their Applications
Authors: Wu Yuan , Zhou Yuxin , Guo Jia , Yuan Jun
Published: May 2010

Impinging streams (IS) are classified into gas-continuous and liquid-continuous ones (GIS and LIS). Large number of experimental data has shown GIS promotes transfer very efficiently; while it has the intrinsic faultiness of very short residence time, and its flow configuration is relatively complex, resulting in difficulty in arranging multistage process. Essentially, GIS is applicable only for rapid processes controlled by gas film diffusion. The effect of LIS enhancing transfer is negligible; while it has the features of efficient micromixing and strong pressure fluctuation both which are resulted from the intensive interaction between the opposing streams and can promote process kinetics. All the features of IS, including GIS and LIS, have great potential of application. Reviewing the results of number investigations, mostly worked by the authors, a somewhat detailed introduction to the features of IS and several cases of its successful applications, such as wet FGD, preparation of ultrafine or nano powders, successful industrial application of large scale LIS reactors and crystallizers, etc, are described.
Reconciling the STDP and BCM Models of Synaptic Plasticity in a Spiking Recurrent Neural Network
Authors: Bush Daniel , Philippides Andrew , Husbands Phil , O'Shea Michael
Published: May 2010

Rate-coded Hebbian learning, as characterized by the BCM formulation, is an established computational model of synaptic plasticity. Recently it has been demonstrated that changes in the strength of synapses in vivo can also depend explicitly on the relative timing of pre- and postsynaptic firing. Computational modeling of this spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) has demonstrated that it can provide inherent stability or competition based on local synaptic variables. However, it has also been demonstrated that these properties rely on synaptic weights being either depressed or unchanged by an increase in mean stochastic firing rates, which directly contradicts empirical data. Several analytical studies have addressed this apparent dichotomy and identified conditions under which distinct and disparate STDP rules can be reconciled with rate-coded Hebbian learning. The aim of this research is to verify, unify, and expand on these previous findings by manipulating each element of a standard computational STDP model in turn. This allows us to identify the conditions under which this plasticity rule can replicate experimental data obtained using both rate and temporal stimulation protocols in a spiking recurrent neural network. Our results describe how the relative scale of mean synaptic weights and their dependence on stochastic pre- or postsynaptic firing rates can be manipulated by adjusting the exact profile of the asymmetric learning window and temporal restrictions on spike pair interactions respectively. These findings imply that previously disparate models of rate-coded autoassociative learning and temporally coded heteroassociative learning, mediated by symmetric and asymmetric connections respectively, can be implemented in a single network using a single plasticity rule. However, we also demonstrate that forms of STDP that can be reconciled with rate-coded Hebbian learning do not generate inherent synaptic competition, and thus some additional mechanism is required to guarantee long-term input-output selectivity.
A Critical Appraisal of EU Governance for the Protection of Minority Rights
Authors: Ahmed Tawhida
Published: May 2010

The European Union (EU) has increasing regulatory capacity and capability for minority rights protection. A combination of old and new governance measures have been useful in affording the EU that capacity. Both modes of governance impact on EU migrant groups, particularly where they are free movers of a different nationality, race or ethnic orgin to the (dominant) members of the states to which they have migrated. In addition, new governance measures also allow a degree of impact on other minority groups, such as national minorities, whether or not individuals from these groups exercise free movement rights. Together, old and new governance measures offer certain extents of 'respect' for, 'protection' of and 'promotion' of minority rights.
Caste Discrimination and Minority Rights: The Case of India's Dalits
Authors: Waughray Annapurna
Published: May 2010

India's Dalits (formerly known as Untouchables) number around 167 million or one-sixth of India's population. Despite constitutional and legislative prohibitions of Untouchability and discrimination on grounds of caste they continue to suffer caste-based discrimination and violence. Internationally, caste discrimination has been affirmed since 1996 by the UN committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination as a form of racial discrimination prohibited by the Inter national Convention for the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, and since 2000 as a form of discrimination prohibited by international human rights law. India's Dalits have also pursued minority rights and indigenous peoples' approaches before international forums. Yet the Dalits do not readily meet the internationally-agreed criteria for minorities or for indigenous peoples, while in India they are not classified legally as a minority, enjoying a constitutional status and constitutional protections in the form of affirmative action provisions distinct from those groups classified as minorities. This article is concerned with the characterisation of the Dalits in international and Indian law. In particular it focuses on India's provisions on Dalits and minorities respectively, examining the origins and limitations of the Scheduled Caste category (the constitutional term for the Dalits) and the relationship between Scheduled Caste status and religion. The article addresses arguments for the extension of Scheduled Caste status to Muslim and Christian Dalits (currently excluded from the constitutional category on grounds of religion) and concludes by endorsing calls for re-examination of the domestic legal categories encompassing victims of caste discrimination and of the legal strategies for the elimination of such discrimination, while arguing that internationally caste discrimination might be more effectively addressed by the conceptualisation of caste as a sui generis ground of discrimination as in India.
Constitutional Design for Divided Societies. Integration or Accommodation?
Authors: Marko Joseph
Published: May 2010

Constitutional Design for Divided Societies: Integration or Accommodation? raises important conceptual questions of consociational theory and powersharing mechanisms and tests them against a wide range of regional case studies from Europe, Africa and Asia. The axiomatic, underlying interest for analysis is the question: how can and should culturally divided societies be politically managed, not the least through constitutional arrangements? All of the articles are based on the conceptual distinction of “integration” versus “accomodation” as a follow-up to the Lijphart-Horowitz debate. However, the main achievement of the book is the insight into the necessity to de-construct this conceptual dichotomy and to develop better refinements by bridging the gap between comparative politics and comparative constitutional law. In the end the book thus provides fresh food for thought on how to reconcile consociational theory and powersharing mechanisms with the problems of self-determination disputes usually overlooked by the former concepts.
Teaching Graduate and Undergraduate Research Methods
Authors: Shostak Sara , Girouard Jennifer , Cunningham David , Cadge Wendy
Published: May 2010

This article describes a departmental initiative designed to integrate the teaching of graduate and undergraduate sociology through research methodology and the completion of actual research projects. The goal was to develop a multilevel team approach within which faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates would view their work as part of a connected project. The authors describe the three central components of the multilevel approach: a newly required research seminar for graduate students, an approach to teaching research methods in a joint seminar of graduate and undergraduate students, and an approach to teaching undergraduate research methods that includes having graduate students model research techniques for undergraduates. The authors then assess each of these components based on course evaluations and additional data gathered from participants. The authors conclude with a series of suggestions about how this model might be expanded and developed further in their own and other institutional contexts.
Teaching Beginning Undergraduates How to Do an In-depth Interview
Authors: Healey-Etten Victoria , Sharp Shane
Published: May 2010

In-depth interviewing is now a common method in sociology. Although there are many potential benefits of in-depth interviewing assignments for both majors and nonmajors, few have developed tools one can use to teach this method at the first and second year, especially in substantive classes where instruction in interviewing is constrained by time and practical circumstances. In this note, the authors present an in-class exercise and tip sheet they developed to teach beginning undergraduates how to conduct quality in-depth interviews. Comparative analysis of students’ preliminary and final interview guides, as well as the results of a student survey, support the teaching effectiveness of the workshop and tip sheet.
A Constructive Controversy Approach to “Case Studies”
Authors: Bird Sharon R. , Erickson Karla A.
Published: May 2010

On the basis of analysis of student responses to a case study titled “Drinks and Dinner,” the authors evaluate the pedagogical potential of using constructive controversy case studies to teach about inequality. “Drinks and Dinner” is designed to capture the complexity of social interactions that defy simple solutions to engage students in increasingly sophisticated discussions of subtle gender bias and the practical contingencies of power in the workplace. Having taught the case several times in two distinct institutional cultures, the authors use student reactions to this classroom exercise to consider some of the pedagogical payoffs of constructive controversy case studies. The intentional ambiguities written into “Drinks and Dinner” defy simple solutions and require students to discuss while incorporating, honoring, and addressing differences of opinion, not only among the characters in the story but also among the students in the classroom. In the authors’ preliminary implementations of the case, they found that students applied course concepts, considered multiple viewpoints, and, in some cases, moved from individualized explanations to structural analysis of how inequality is reproduced. The authors conclude with ideas for how to implement similar cases in other courses that could benefit from requiring students to actively and collectively solve problems related to inequality and the routine use of power.
Creating Standardized Metrics and Benchmarking for Health, Absence and Productivity Management Programs: The EMPAQ Initiative
Authors: Curcio James A.
Published: May 2010

Prudent feedback from employer surveys has indicated that standardized metrics and integrated decision-support tools are essential for identifying opportunities to improve programs and reinforce a culture of health and productivity. This article reports on an innovative, nationally standardized metric and benchmarking initiative that provides employers with practical workplace tools and solutions to evaluate the effectiveness of their company’s health, absence and productivity management programs, including workers’ compensation, family and medical leave, disability, incidental absence, employee assistance programs and group health. The initiative, titled EMPAQ (Employer Measures of Productivity, Absence and Quality), was created in 2001 by the National Business Group on Health’s Council on Employee Health and Productivity (CEHP). EMPAQ was successfully launched and implemented by many major companies nationwide in 2003. EMPAQ data collection, analysis and reporting are performed through a partnership with the University of Michigan Health Management Research Center (UM-HMRC). To date, more than 1,600 employers from 21 U.S. industry sectors have submitted more than 30,000 standardized data sets, including industry-level detail and demographic data, for benefit program benchmarking and analysis. The development of EMPAQ standardized metrics has helped employers bring data to life and served as an industry-wide tool for change in how benefit programs are designed, delivered and measured.
Teachers’ Perceptions of a Response to Intervention (RTI) Reform Effort in an Urban Elementary School: A Consensual Qualitative Analysis
Authors: Greenfield Renée , Rinaldi Claudia , Proctor C. Patrick , Cardarelli Amanda
Published: May 2010

Federal policies to increase student achievement and improve teacher quality underlie this study. After the first year of implementation, eight elementary teachers were interviewed about how they viewed a Response to Intervention (RTI) reform effort. RTI is a federal policy intended to reform instruction by using a tiered, school-wide system. The following question drove our research: After the first year of implementation, how do educators view the RTI change process? Data were analyzed using a consensual qualitative methodology. Results indicated that teachers positively viewed the reform effort. However, many teachers expressed concerns about the implementation of RTI. The majority of teachers associated the following positive outcomes with the first year of reform: using data to inform instructional planning, using progress monitoring to measure the effectiveness of the instruction, and better knowing “when” to refer English language learners for special education services. Teachers identified the culture of the school as “positively mixed,” meaning positive shifts are taking place and teachers are working along a continuum of understanding and adoption practices. Key concerns of implementation are also presented as implications for effective adoption of the model at the elementary school level.
Due Process Hearing Systems Under the IDEA: A State-by-State Survey
Authors: Zirkel Perry A. , Scala Gina
Published: May 2010

The primary mechanism for dispute resolution under IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) is a due process hearing. The total number of adjudicated hearings under IDEA has dropped from the high level during the latter part of the 1990s and the early part of the current decade. Yet relatively few jurisdictions, led by the District of Columbia and New York, account for the overwhelming majority of these decisions. This article presents the results of a state-by-state survey of the hearing officer system. This current “snapshot” identifies the key features, including (a) whether the system is one-tier or two-tiered; (b) whether the IHOs are part-time or full-time; (c) whether their legal background is primarily in law or special education; (d) which agency assigns them and its procedures for the assignment; and (e) what is the updated volume of adjudicated hearings—i.e., those conducted to completion resulting in a written decision.
Seismic wave-equation demigration/migration
Authors: Chauris Hervé , Benjemaa Mondher
Published: May 2010

Reverse-time migration is a well-known method based on a single-scattering approximation; it is designed to obtain seismic images in the case of a complex subsurface. It can, however, be a very time-consuming task because the number of computations is directly proportional to the number of processed sources. In the context of velocity model-building, iterative approaches require that one derives a series of migrated sections for different velocity models. We propose to replace the summation over sources by a summation over depth offsets or time delays defined in the subsurface. For that, we have developed a new relationship between two migrated sections obtained for two different velocity models. Starting from one of the two images, we obtain a second section correctly and efficiently. For each time delay, we compute a generalized source term by extending the concept of exploding reflector to nonzero offset. We obtain the final migrated section by solving the same wave equation in the perturbed model with the modified source term. Our work included testing the methodology on 2D synthetic data sets, particularly when the initial and perturbed velocity models differ greatly.
Mother-Infant Hearing Status and Intuitive Parenting Behaviors During the First 18 Months
Authors: Koester Lynne Sanford , Lahti-Harper Eve
Published: May 2010

Infants enter the world prepared to learn about their environments and to become effective social partners, while most parents are equally prepared to support these early emergent skills. Through subtle, nonconscious behaviors, parents guide their infants in the regulation of emotions, language acquisition, and participation in social exchanges. For example, Deaf mothers modify their signed communication when it is directed to an infant, in much the same way that hearing adults vary their pitch and melodic contours when speaking to an infant. Both hearing and Deaf parents may also accommodate to an infant's hearing status during play interactions in ways that facilitate the child's attention to both the object and the social world. In the present study, such intuitive parenting behaviors were compared at infant ages 6, 9, 12, and 18 months, based on observations of Deaf and hearing mother-infant dyads.
Ego non sum Ego : John Dunton and the Consolations of Print
Authors: Greene Jody
Published: May 2010

Through an exploration of the autobiographical writings of John Dunton, this essay interrogates the technology of
printing as a means of accumulating immaterial goods for middle-class citizens in the seventeenth century. Dunton, a
bookseller and prolific producer of autobiographical materials, saw in the technology of print—and particularly in the
genre of popular autobiography—an opportunity for psychic as well as social mobility. Even more than an avenue for
financial success, Dunton understood print to be a means of moving himself out of less tangible but still straitened
conditions, including marital strife, anxiety, loneliness, and even the fear of death. For Dunton, print represented not a
“stigma” but a mode of reparation, and one available to anyone who could scrape together the means to bring his
private musings into the public eye.
Radical Moral Authority and Desire: The Image of the Male Romantic Poet in Frontispiece Portraits of Byron and Shelley
Authors: Egan Gerald
Published: May 2010

This paper considers the history and iconography of frontispiece portraits of Byron and Shelley from the late
eighteenth to the nineteenth centuries. In particular, the paper argues that the frontispiece reproductions are
products of a nexus of technological, cultural, and economic circumstances that in the nineteenth century would
change the way that poetry was established and the emotional responses that poets evoked in their audiences. By
eliciting in their viewers emotions associated with radical moral authority, vulnerability, and loss, the portraits portray
the male Romantic poet as as the subversive/angelic prophet of social and secual reform whose image powerfully
influenced the nineteenth-century construction of Romanticism.
Pituso en blackface : una mascarada racial en Fortunata y Jacinta
Authors: Surwillo Lisa
Published: May 2010

This article analyzes the function of blackface in the "falso Pituso" episode of Benito Pérez Galdós' Fortunata y Jacinta . The representation of the false heir of Spain's new dominant class serves as a point ofo departure for this paper's analysis of how the novel explores the significance of race at the end of the nineteenth century, on the eve of the loss of Spain's colonies, while also addressing its characterization of the bourgeoisie as white and European, its racilization of the working class and the poor (the Fourth Estate) and the problem of conceptualizing an ambiguous Spanish race.
Kafka en Argentina
Authors: Yelin Julieta
Published: May 2010

This article deals with the initial critical reception of the work of Franz Kafka in Argentina by focusing on articles and reviews published in Sur and on essays by Jorge Luis Borges and Ezequiel Martinez Estrada that appeared in other publications. By looking at a significant emergence of animal imaginaries and a search for a new mode of appropriation of the fable and the bestiary traditions,

the analysis traces the literary effects that such readings had on Argentine short-story writing in the 1950s. The texts analyzed in this article belong to Bestiario by Julio Cortázr,

Mundo animal by Antonio Di Benedetto,

and La furia and Las invitadas by Silvina Ocampo.
Literature and Politics in the Early Republic Views from the Bridge
Authors: O'Donnell Catherine
Published: May 2010

This essay surveys recent scholarship on secular literature and politics in the early republic. The work of Jurgen Habermas and Benedict Anderson has influenced scholarship focusing on the constitutive power of print during this era. Gender scholarship has contributed investigation of the implicit and explicit exclusions of print communities, as well as of the contributions of women authors and readers to the national imaginary. Research into literary networks has made visible the human infrastructure of print capitalism and political parties. Other scholars have explored the relationship between literature and politics through periodicals and children's literature, attempting to use those sources to penetrate the mystery of how texts were read. In general, the scholarship of literature and politics has emphasized nation-building and national distinctiveness, even as American exceptionalism has been criticized in other realms. But recent work on the Atlantic world and on Latin American–United States connections, as well as on African American "counterpublics," has brought the relevance of transnational and subnational communities to the fore. The essay concludes by calling for more attention to the imaginative and emotional purposes of politics and literature, as well as to the development of separate cultural and political elites during the early republican era.
Martha E. Williams: Pioneer Information Scientist and Online Industry Guru
Authors: Smith Linda C. , Tenopir Carol
Published: May 2010

Martha E. Williams (1934-2007) defined herself early in her career as an information scientist, joining the American Documentation Institute in 1958. This article explores her multifaceted contributions to shaping the field over more than four decades. Emphasis is on three spheres in which she had the greatest impact: her research in information retrieval, her work as editor of the Annual Review of Information Science and Technology and president of the American Society for Information Science, and her activities related to the online database industry.