bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Biochemical characterization of recombinant and circulating human Spα
Authors: Sarrias M.R. , Padilla O. , Monreal Y. , Carrascal M. , Abian J. , Vives J. , Yélamos J. , Lozano F.
Published: March 2004

Abstract:  Human Spα is a soluble protein expressed by macrophages present in lymphoid tissues (spleen, lymph node, thymus, and bone marrow), for which little functional and structural information is available. It belongs to the group B of the scavenger receptor cysteine‐rich superfamily (SRCR‐SF) that includes the lymphocyte surface receptors CD5 and CD6 among others. Spα is able to bind to different cells of the immune system (monocytes and lymphocytes), which suggests that it may play an important role in the regulation of this system. To study Spα, an episomal mammalian expression system (pCEP‐Pu/HEK 293‐EBNA) was used to produce a recombinant form (rSpα) that was utilized for biochemical studies and for the generation of specific hybridomas. Four monoclonal antibodies were selected for their reactivity against rSpα by Western blot, immunoprecipitation, and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assays. The monoclonal antibodies recognized three different epitopes on Spα. The monoclonal antibodies revealed the existence of two Spα isoforms of 38 and 40 kDa, resulting from different sialic acid content. They also showed that Spα is a relatively abundant serum protein (60 µg/ml) that mostly circulates in association with other serum proteins. Accordingly, rSpα allowed affinity chromatography isolation of polyclonal and monoclonal immunoglobulin M (IgM). These data indicate that Spα is a circulating protein that may play a role in the homeostasis of IgM antibodies.
Molecular studies of anti‐HLA‐A2 using light‐chain shuffling: a structural model for HLA antibody binding
Authors: Watkins N.A. , Dafforn T.R. , Kuijpers M. , Brown C. , Javid B. , Lehner P.J. , Navarrete C. , Ouwehand W.H.
Published: March 2004

Abstract:  Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) A2 is one of the most immunodominant HLA antigens. Through a process of light‐chain variable domain (VL) shuffling, we analyzed the VL domains' role in anti‐HLA‐A2/A28‐binding site diversity. This was achieved by combining a VH3‐30‐encoded HLA‐A2/A28‐specific heavy‐chain variable domain with 104 non‐immune VL domains. Twelve HLA‐A2/A28‐specific antibodies were subsequently identified. VL gene analysis demonstrated an absence of Vλ domains and that all have VκI‐encoded light chains. The affinities correlated with the VκI gene present, with the seven highest affinity antibodies using Vκ domains encoded by the O18 gene segment. A 300‐fold difference in affinity was observed between the 12 antibodies, and homology modeling demonstrated a correlation between electrostatic surface potential of the antigen‐binding site and affinity for HLA. Overlap between the T‐cell receptor‐binding site and that of the antibodies was indicated by inhibition of cytotoxic T‐lymphocyte killing of peptide‐pulsed target cells. A model of antibody binding to HLA‐A2 suggested contact with both α helices of the HLA molecule, such that the antigen‐binding site spans the peptide‐binding groove. These data increase the understanding of antibody recognition of HLA and may facilitate the production of clonotypic antibodies with peptide‐specific binding.
Association of polymorphic MHC microsatellites with GVHD, survival, and leukemia relapse in unrelated hematopoietic stem cell transplant donor/recipient pairs matched at five HLA loci
Authors: Li S. , Kawata H. , Katsuyama Y. , Ota M. , Morishima Y. , Mano S. , Kulski J.K. , Naruse T. , Inoko H.
Published: March 2004

Abstract:  In order to determine whether matching/mismatching for microsatellite polymorphism provides useful information on acute graft‐vs‐host disease (GVHD), survival, and leukemia relapse in hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation, we genotyped for polymorphisms at 13 microsatellite loci within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) of 100 unrelated HSC transplant donor–recipient pairs who were matched at five classical human leukocyte antigen (HLA) loci. A high percentage of allele matching was obtained for five microsatellite loci, DQCARII (96%), MICA (93%), MIB (89%), C1‐3‐1 (93%), and D6S510 (97%), that are localized within 100 kb of the HLA‐DR, HLA‐DQ, HLA‐B, HLA‐C, or HLA‐A locus. In contrast, the other eight microsatellites are located farther away from the HLA classical loci and have much lower percentages of allele matching [e.g. tumor necrosis factor a (TNFa) (73%), TNFd (74%), D6S273 (64%), C3‐2‐11 (46%), C5‐3‐1 (50%), C5‐4‐5 (63%), C5‐2‐7 (68%), and D6S265 (81%)]. Therefore, there were at least eight microsatellite markers with relatively high percentages of mismatches in the donor/recipient pairs with acute or chronic GVHD, poor graft survival, and leukemia relapse. However, there were no statistically significant associations between mismatched donor–recipient pairs at the 13 microsatellite loci and acute or chronic GVHD, graft survival, and leukemia relapse. Nevertheless, allele matching at the microsatellite TNFd locus near the TNFa gene was found by the Fisher's exact double‐sided test to be significantly associated with decreased survival in the grade III/IV acute GVHD group. Overall, these results suggest that the matching of microsatellite polymorphisms within the HLA region, especially the ones farthest from the classical HLA loci, was not useful indicator for the outcome of HSC transplantation from unrelated donors. In this regard, the future determination of the genome‐wide microsatellite genotypes in HLA‐matched donor–recipient pairs, outside the MHC, may be a better possibility for identifying minor histocompatibility genes in linkage disequilibria with microsatellites as potential predictive markers for the occurrence of acute GVHD and survival rate in HSC transplantation.
A simple method – based on the carrot fly – for studying the movement of pest insects
Authors: Finch Stan , Collier Rosemary H.
Published: March 2004

This paper describes a method for studying the neighbourhood (dispersal) movement of pest insects that overcomes the major problems associated with release/recapture experiments. The method has been developed using the carrot fly, Psila rosae (Fab.) (Diptera: Psilidae), as the experimental insect. It involves building up a large population of insects in an area free of other host plants, and then, as the insects disperse in the spring, monitoring the fall‐off in numbers of insects with increasing distance. Estimates of the fall‐off in numbers of the carrot fly were obtained by using sticky traps to monitor changes in fly numbers in 11 small plots of carrots drilled 130–1300 m away from the site at which the flies emerged (emergence site) in the spring. A strong linear relationship (r2 = 0.96) was obtained between the log10 numbers of flies caught in each plot and the log10 distance the plot was from the emergence site. Few flies were caught more than 1 km from the emergence site. A linear relationship (r2 = 0.86) was also obtained between the date when 50% of the flies were caught in each plot and the distance the plot was from the emergence site. The date of 50% capture was delayed by 1 day for each 100 m the given plot was away from the emergence site. This suggests that when carrot flies move to find new crops, the population moves about 100 m day−1. About one million flies would have to be released in conventional release/recapture experiments to obtain data as robust as those collected using the current method. The major breakthrough of this method is that dispersal can be estimated for an insect species that, although a major pest of field crops of carrots and parsnips, is exceptionally difficult to rear, even in relatively small numbers, under controlled‐environment conditions.
A comparative study of interspecies mating of Phratora vulgatissima and P. vitellinae using behavioural tests and molecular markers
Authors: Peacock Lori , Batley Jacqueline , Dungait Jennifer , Barker Jacqueline H.A. , Powers Stephen , Karp Angela
Published: March 2004

The leaf beetle genus Phratora L. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) has been used to study the ecology of host plant chemicals in herbivore preference, and the evolution of host use in chemical defence. Phratora vulgatissima and P. vitellinae are sympatric species distributed widely across Europe. Their trophic niches are largely separate due to strong differences in their host feeding preference, but they have occasionally been recorded together, feeding on Salix burjatica‘Germany’ and, only in early spring, on Populus trichocarpa (Torr & A. Gray) ‘Trichobel’. Using behavioural tests and recently developed species‐specific microsatellite markers, the intra‐ and interspecific mating of both beetle species were investigated. The microsatellite markers provided evidence that interspecific mating occurred under field conditions. Interspecific mating also took place under laboratory conditions, but less frequently than mating within species. Females of both species laid fewer eggs, and fewer eggs per clutch, when isolated with an interspecific male than with a conspecific male. Female P. vulgatissima were polyandrous, as microsatellite markers showed that their larvae were the progeny of both P. vulgatissima males that had been isolated with a single female. While only 0.55% of eggs laid in interspecific pair combinations hatched, microsatellite markers provided evidence of hybridisation between beetle species; however, these larvae died within a week when reared in a Petri dish containing ‘Germany’ and P. trichocarpa leaves. It can therefore be inferred that reproductive isolation is complete. The results are discussed in relation to species integrity and the implications for diverse mixtures of short‐rotation coppice willow plantations.
Prey feeding increases water stress in the omnivorous predator Dicyphus hesperus
Authors: Sinia Alice , Roitberg Bernard , McGregor R.R. , Gillespie D.R.
Published: March 2004

The effects of water stress (produced by water deprivation and prey feeding) on plant feeding were investigated in the omnivorous predator Dicyphus hesperus Knight (Hemiptera: Miridae). The objective was to determine if prey feeding aggravated water deficits and thus increased plant feeding. We measured plant feeding in a factorial experiment where female D. hesperus were prepared for experiments by providing or withholding water and/or prey for 24 h. We then evaluated the amount of plant feeding on Nicotiana tabacum seedlings by the direct observation of insects at three different densities of the prey, Ephestia kuehniella eggs. The amount of plant feeding, as measured by frequency of plant feeding bouts and time spent plant feeding during observation, was significantly greater for water‐deprived individuals than for those that had been provided with water. Individuals that had been provided with prey fed on plants at a significantly higher frequency than prey‐deprived individuals at two of the prey densities used in the experiment. These results support the hypothesis that plant feeding in zoophytophagous Hemiptera facilitates prey feeding by providing water that is essential for predation.
Robert Henryson and the Popular Fable Tradition in the Middle Ages
Authors: Newlyn Evelyn S.
Published: March 2004

Evelyn S. Newlyn's essay is concerned with two issues: the popularity of the fable tradition and Henryson's use of it to comment on various social and political ills. The fable has a long history as a form of literature designed not only to entertain but to instruct, and Henryson's creativity with the form is evidenced in his use of it to address social issues, as well as to incorporate moral instruction with entertainment. The popular representation of various social classes, with all their follies, and the hard‐nosed look at the failure of certain institutions such as the law and the Church, reveal Henryson's awareness of reality as he perceives it.
Tension and Extension: Thoughts on Scottish Surnames and Medieval Popular Culture
Authors: Nicolainsen W. F. H.
Published: March 2004

The answer to the question “What's in a name?” is plenty, according to W.F.H. Nicolaisen in his essay on Scottish surnames and what they can tell us of medieval popular culture. Place names, for example, often provide information about prehistoric strata and come to be equivalent in significance to material items which provide archeological insight into cultures. Surnames, when tied to place names, can give us information on migrations, while other types of names reveal occupational histories. and patterns of kinship. The very act of naming has both communal and personal importance and can yield significant socio‐cultural data.
Surprised By Love: The Dramatic Structure and Popular Appeal of the Wakefield Second Shepherds' Pageant
Authors: Taft Edmund M.
Published: March 2004

The Wakefield Shepherds' Pageant has been one of the most discussed of medieval dramas and deservedly so. Edmund Taft's fresh and insightful essay provides a provocative view o f the play as popular drama, produced by the middle‐class and largely for the middle class. The popular appeal of this drama rests in the technique of dramatic surprise, used so effectively by the Wakefield Master to focus on such contemporary social and moral issues as oppression of shepherds, farmers and hired hands, unfeeling masters, unwanted children and marriages of contract only. The shepherds' play, with its powerful spiritual message of love and charity, reflects not only the Church which directed the drama but also the contemporary world of those medieval burghers who produced it.
Was There a Popular Culture in the Middle Ages?
Authors: Rosenberg Bruce A.
Published: March 2004

With Bruce A. Rosenberg's article, “Was There a Popular Culture in the Middle Ages,” we come full circle, returning to some of the comments made by Charles Altman. Rosenberg's cautionary remark that segmenting the experienced world into “popular,”“folk,” and “elite,” is arbitrary and artificial does not discount thepractical value and necessity of constructing analytic categories in popular culture studies. What is essential, however, is that those of us studying “kopular”artifacts must also examine the ways in which they interact with other cultural aspects or segments.
The Household Encyclopedia as Magic Kit: Medieval Popular Interest in Pranks and Illusions*
Authors: Roy Bruno
Published: March 2004

Each of us has wished at some time to send in three box tops andget a magic kit that contains itchingpowder to give to our enemies, instructions for tricks designed to baffle our friends, and potions to make us more desirable. Exactly so in the Middle Ages. Bruno Roy's delightful essay on medieval do‐it‐yourself magic reveals the strong popular interest in practical jokes, illusions and tricks. People in the Middle Ages were playful and high‐spirited, waiting to entertain and be entertained. The transformative power implicit i n the tricks played by jugglers or entertainers appealed to all classes of society; these same jugglers not only dealt in illusory tricks but often used various chemicalpreparations, giving a “scientific” cast to their pranks. That so many of these tricks were related to the household in terms of the joke itself or the ingredients used suggests the widespread popularity of magic kits, a popularity that today perhaps resides only with the children who save the box tops.
Antecedents of Contemporary Witchcraft in the Middle Ages
Authors: Tucker Elizabeth
Published: March 2004

Present interest in the occult can be seen i n the proliferation of horoscopes included in newspapers, in the incredible business of the palm reader, and i n the tremendous popularity of books like the Exorcist or Rosemary's Baby. I n such interest, the witch has always held a special place, and it should come as no surprise that witches frequently are female. As Elizabeth Tuckerpoints out i n her essay, the practice of herbal “magic” was often the task of so‐called “wise women” in the Middle Ages, who specialized in “white witchcraft,” the cure o f disease with herbal mixtures. Such “white witchcraft,” however, was not favorably looked upon by the Church fathers; one wonders i f the distrust of female practitioners of “magic” had more to do with the fact that they were women who did not, for one reason or another, fit into society. The belief in the dual nature of the witch should not be overlooked; if the witch healed, she could also destroy. That duality remains today i n the instructions for witchcraft in such works as Paul Huson's Mastering Witchcraft.
Feminae Populi: Popular Images of Women in Medieval Literature
Authors: Fries Maureen
Published: March 2004

Maureen Fries's essay, although not about witches, expands upon Elizabeth Tucker's paper. The duality of women i n the literature examined by Fries show them to be virgin or whore: the woman saint is a model of such desirable qualities as chastity, obedience, and fortitude, while the fabliau woman uses her sexuality for fun and for profit. The literature, in both instances, depicts male values in a male world. Ultimately, the popular image of women can be distilled into the roles of Mary, wholly above feminine weakness, and Eve, who represents theopposite. Possibly the only “mixed” image is that of the Magdalene, who recalls the fallen Eve, but who also is transformed into the virtuous woman. The Lack of flexibility, not noted elsewhere in medieval literature, in the perception of medieval women suggests that we need to know more about the society of the Middle Ages and women's place in it.
Above Rubies: Popular Views of Medieval Women
Authors: Marchalonis Shirley
Published: March 2004

Shirley Marchalonis' essay suggests that it is not always so easy to define the medieval attitude toward womerz in such clear‐cut terms as the virgin or the whore. Nonetheless, Marchalonis admits that the courtly lady of the romances comes awfully close to the passivity of the Virgin Mary. The courtly lady in the romances plays only a minor role i n many instances; she is the prize, more often than not, of the hero at the end of the story. At best, she is a vehicle ofpassive virture, acted upon rather than acting. Obviously such a role is admired: the woman stays within her boundaries, which are defined by men, and so is respected and desired. One of the popular images of women, i n the medieval world at least, is one of dependence; women exist as complements to men.
Lágrimas, risas y amor: Mexico's Most Popular Romance Comic Book
Authors: Tatum Charles
Published: March 2004

Romance comic books, strips, and magazines enjoy immense popularity in the United States. The same is true in Mexico where LLgrimas, risasy amor, the country's most popular romance comic book, sells between 1.2 and 1.5 million copies per week. In his study, Charles Tatum discusses some of the publication's most important aspects including its creators, readership, circulation, and basic plot and character types and settings. He finds that, as in other populargenres Ldgrimas can be reduced to basic narrative formulas which, although they are repetitive, are presented in an interesting fashion and with sufficient variety to continue to attract large numbers of readers. In a comparative section, Tatum observes that this Mexican romance comic book closely resembles its American counterpart in terms of its implicit values and attitudes. Ligrimas is both politically and socially conservative, mute regarding politics and tending to reinforce dominant values towards sex roles, the family and marriage.

Readers will find some interesting parallels between Lagrimas and the fotonovelas analyzed in Flora's study.
The Festival of Progress: The Globalizing World‐System and the Transformation of the Caracas Carnival
Authors: Lavenda Robert H.
Published: March 2004

While the carnival in Latin America functions as a form of popular entertainment, it can also be viewed as having other roles. Robert Lavenda examines the Caracas carnival as an event which is atonce symptomatic of the social reality that surrounds it and able to bring about change within Venezuelan society. As popular culture, the carnival has been an important mediator in directing this society toward the modern capitalist worJd‐system. Lavenda traces how, under the leadership o f Antonio Guzman Blanco, Venezuela took a major step in the second half of the nineteenth certury towards becoming a modern country. Under Guzman's and other modernizers' influence the old carnival, which had been characterized as a wild and rowdy small‐group activity, was transformed to bring it into line with contemporary European models, that is, a highly organized and closely monitored mass celebration. The author discusses how the new power relationships that had developed in the city were reflected by the composition of the carnival's governing board. By setting up a series of oppositions between the South American and European versions of the carnival, Caracas' ruling elite hoped to orient the masses away from the former values and towards the latter.
Be Happy Because Your Father Isn't Your Father: An Analysis of Colombian Telenovelas
Authors: Bibliowicz Azriel
Published: March 2004

Critics of mass‐mediated culture have long maintained that media such as television, radio, and newspapers are instrumental in propagating class values. In his analysis of Colombian telenovelas, Azriel Bibliowicz argues that this apparently harmless form of entertainment also has a political and ideological base whose implicit messages serve to make its viewers forget reality. Just as Levi Strauss believes that mythsplay a central role in society, Bibliowicz claims that the purpose of myths in telenovelas is to have us lose sight o f the origins of the eristingsocial order and to exonerate the dominant class which controls society's means of production. He gives us an overview of the Colombian television industry, describes how a telenovela is made, and analyzes one‐“Manuela”‐which contains a social message. Readers will find some interesting similarities and differences between this study of a Colombian popular art form and the articles by Flora and Bonilla de Ramos which focus on the fotonovela and radio in the same country.
Fotonovelas: Message Creation and Reception
Authors: Flora Carnelia Butler
Published: March 2004

Like the comic book, which is examined elsewhere in this volume‐see the articles by Hinds and Tatum‐the fotonovela is widely disseminated in certain countries in Latin America, thus making it an appropriate subject for a study of mass culture. Cornelia Butler Flora discusses the production of the fotonovela in Colombia, focusing on the messages it contains and how these messages interact with the readers. She contrasts an independent production system of creating this popular genre with a multinational publication house which primarily reproduces Mexican fotonovelas. Her methodologies‐interviews, quantitative and structural content analysis, of the readers' letters, and in‐depth interviews‐serve as a model to others undertaking research in this and related areas. Her description of the production and producers o f fotonovelas is both informative and interesting, giving the reader an insight into the inner workings of the popular publishing business. Flora concludes that, in general, the independent Colombian producers are more responsive to their readers' comments than the multinational producer. She also raises a disturbing question regarding the accuracy of most studies of mass culture that assume how the reader is interpreting the symbols and the content and that within a particular country the audience is homogeneous in its response.
The Parks of Vienna
Authors: O'Brien George M.
Published: March 2004

In this cross‐cultural and historical contrast to the American park style, we see an eighteenth‐century Viennese park, the Prater. This park has long been a showcase for the panoply of Viennese popular culture (“To be Viennese has long meant to visit the Prater”), serving as a generous stage for the mixing of classes and cultures. Here was a crossroad where immigrants, travelers, ethnics and the lower echelons could observe and mingle with the middle and upper reaches of society; a living laboratory of acculturation to the life of a cosmopolitan city.

Together with the Schoenbrunn Zoo and other mainstays of the recreational outing, the park also provides an early example of environmental awareness in a rapidly expanding area calling for a balance between urban growth and green space.

These effects indicate that popular culture, even within the limited realm of entertainment such as the amusement park, carries more serious implications for social and environmental issues.
Cedar Point: A Park in Progress
Authors: Hildebrandt Hugo John
Published: March 2004

This is a biography of an amusement park, Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, by its marketing director. This life history, using sources close to the park and in the popular press ouer many decades, traces the many shifts in circumstance, philosophy and mood in its development ouer a span from 1897 to its present status as “one of the great parks of the country.”

This case study of a single park that has incorporated characteristics of many growth stages ofparks ingeneral serues as a capsule history: from its beginnings as a resort; expansion of rides and attractions during the flush years of the 1920s; the backsliding deterioration of the Depression years and the immediatepost‐ War period; the decline of the big‐city parks and the moue to the suburbs in the 50s; and the Disney effect: the advent of the national super theme park, with its revolutionary impact on the traditional park concept.

According to Hildebrandt, Cedar Point is “the only modern superpark that also has an ancient history…. the only old‐time amusement park to successfully make the transition to the new amusement park culture.”
Disneyland and Walt Disney World: Traditional Values in Futuristic Form
Authors: King Margaret J.
Published: March 2004

The Disney parks—Disneyland in California and Walt Disney World in Florida—presented a radical refinement and departure from the traditions of the amusement park: the theme park. Designed for the values of long distance travel, suburban lifestyle, family life, the major vacation excursion, and the new visual culture of telecommunications, these places have grown to attain the status of national popular culture capitals.

Because of their importance to American life, these institutions have suffered more than their share of attacks as key symbols ofpopular culture. Like all such targets of elitist ire (led by such accusations as “plastic” and “mindless”), the Disney parks must be experienced carefully and studied closely to see beyond these simplistic slings and arrows.

Emerging from this study was a contention directly opposed to the common wisdom of the theme parks' futuristic and artificial nature: they may in fact serve as cultural preserves for the most nostalgic images and dreams of a nation. They are a very special kind of museum, of course—of past and future not as they were or will be but as popular taste has shaped and nurtured them in the collective imagination. The Disney “archive” of Americana is thus highly valuable as a display of popular thought on every featured theme.
Main Street U.S.A.: A Comparison/Contrast of Streetscapes in Disneyland and Walt Disney World
Authors: Francaviglia Richard V.
Published: March 2004

All visitors to Disneyland and Walt Disney World must enter the “magic kingdoms” by way of Main Street, U.S.A.—the Disney version of a small town landscape of around the turn of the century, the “classical period” in American streetscape evolution.

Extending far beyond its park setting, Disney's idealized Main Street (along with the overall design of which it is a part) is “one of the most successfully designed streetscapes in human history,” and has exerted enormous impact. Its design and images have influenced city and new town planning and the restoration of real Main Streets across the country, inspiring architectural restoration philosophy and practice; in short, writing an important chapter in the history of America's fondest image of itself.

It was in fact from the ranks of planners and designers, not academic intellectuals or even social commentators (who scorned and reviled Disney's creations), that the initial awareness and appreciation of theme parks as structures and images came, as a leading edge in the breakthrough in perception of popular environments which has occurred only within the past decade.

Richard Francaviglia is concerned with the architecture and design of Main Street U.S.A. as it preserves, controls, modifies and perpetuates a central collective image. But he goes further, comparing the original articulation in California with the Florida version a design generation later. What is ultimately revealing is the contrast of both of these related but distinct ideals within the parks to Main Street as it actually existed.
Part II: Death in Literature. Poetry as Epitaph
Authors: Campbell Karen Mills
Published: March 2004

Anyone tolerably versed in American literature will realize that we could have devoted our entire collection to attitudes toward death in American literature. Such a collection could be tightly organized and valuable, but it might also be redundant for an audience which consists primarily of loosened‐up literary folk to begin with. So we offer, instead of standard selections, a group of essays which, though they are about death in literature, use literature as a vehicle for discussing either theoretical or practical interpretations of death in American society and letters.

Karen Campbell's essay, “Poetry as Epitaph,” uses Emily Dickinson's poetry to illustrate and embody current international theories about death and language. We place this contribution first in this section because it serves as a transition between Gravestones and Epitaphs and Death in Literature: Dickinson was writing at the same historical moment discussed by Kenneth Ames in “Ideologies in Stone,” a fact the reader may wish to remember while reading “Poetry as Epitaph;” and Karen Campbell treats Dickinson's poetry as epitaphic in style and genre. Sonia Gernes' “Life After Life: Katherine Anne Porter's Version” uses Porter's “Pale Horse, Pale Rider” to illustrate and make provocative suggestions about Raymond Moody's theses in Life After Life. Leslier Fiedler's contribution is an extract from a speech given under the auspices of an organization studying the humanist's response to child abuse, and is part of a series of lectures on that subject. He discusses infanticide through literature and then through popular culture. Marvin Kohl takes issue with some of Professor Fiedler's conclusions.
Disney World as Structure and Symbol: Re‐Creation of the American Experience
Authors: Johnson David M.
Published: March 2004

It has been said that the Disney theme parks are the cities America wishes it had; immune to death and taxes, clean, orderly, crime‐free family style environments of optimism and nostalgia, politically independent, with the advantages but few of the vices of real cities.

Treatments of the amusement park in political terms, such as Michael Harrington's Atlantic article, “To the disney Station,” while invariably critical, indicate the important position these places have attained as complex institutions in themselves—living commentaries on society at Large, as well as important standard‐setters for new social, political and economic philosophy for planning and control in all sectors of national life.

In this way, Disney's worlds—and parks built under their influence—have come to be viewed as societies in miniature, reliable images of work, leisure, human relations and politics in the larger world outside.

Here anthropologist David Johnson uses morphology as the key to discerning the meanings of these prototype parks for basic cultural values in many aspects, including work, class, economic order, technology, individualism, history, and cross‐cultural adventure. In fact, these Disney versions have now themselves become a special mode of first‐hand experience in the repertoire of the great national shared experience.
Baseball in Cuba
Authors: Wagner Eric A.
Published: March 2004

While futbol (soccer) has long been the favorite sport in most of Latin America, baseball holds sway in the circum‐Caribbean region in countries such as Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Cuba. It is perhaps surprising that revolutionary Cuba, with its strong anti‐American foreign policy, should continue to hold dear this sport that was born and nurtured in the United States. Yet Fidel Castro himself, who regularly issues anti‐Yankee attacks, is also proud of demonstrating his skill with the bat andglove. Eric Wagner gives us a valuable overview of the development of baseball on the island, Cuba's singular success in international competition and the game's role in contemporary Cuba. With this background and analysis, it is easy to see why the revolutionary government has not tampered with a sport that is so firmly rooted as a popular national pastime. Regarding baseball in Cuba after 1959, Wagner discusses how it has become an integral part of the new social system in factories, villages, towns, urban neighborhoods and schools. Competition is fierce on both the local and national levels because of its wide appeal among the popular classes, who brought baseball with them when they assumed power in 1959. It is likely to continue to play an essential role in the country's socioeconomic integration.
Film, Television and Traditional Folk Culture in Bye Bye Brasil1
Authors: Johnson Randal
Published: March 2004

Brazilian Cinema Novo [New Cinema] has produced a number of films that have circulated in the United States but perhaps the most familiar to American audiences is Carlos Diegues' Bye Bye Brasil (1980). In his article, Randal Johnson focuses on this film which presents Brazil as a country in a process of rapid transformation, an agro‐pastoral economy giving way to rapid industrialization. He notes that “running throughout [the work] is a subtext which constitutes a good‐humored yet critical retrospective of the trajectory of Brazilian cinema over the last twenty years and its relationship to other conscious‐forming media, notably television.” Johnson examines this subject as well as the complex relationship between cinema, television and popular culture as developed through the device of the Caravana Rolidei, a small‐time circus troupe. Each of its characters represents a different aspect of contemporary Brazilian society, and the film as a whole presents the panoply of Brazilian culture, a mixture of elements from diverse sources, both foreign and domestic.

Randal Johnson teaches literature and film at the University of Florida. He is the co‐author of Brazilian Cinema (1982).
Roasting Donald Duck: Alternative Comics and Photonovels in Latin America
Authors: Flora Cornelia Butler
Published: March 2004

A corollary of dependency theory, which has enjoyed considerable popularity among social scientists in the last fifteen years, is the notion of cultural imperialism. Simply stated, the theory holds that countries with global economic dominance reinforce their hegemonic relationship with lesser developed countries through the manipulation of mass media such as television, radio, film and comic books. A number of radical critiques of Latin America mass media have appeared in response to this perceived relationship. In her article, Cornelia Butler Flora examines several Latin American comic books and photonovels which were created as alternatives to commercial controlled media forms. For example, in Chile during the short‐lived presidency of Salvador Allende (1970–1973), the government publishing house Quimanto brought together artists and communications specialists to produce comic books which would serve as the socialist answer to Donald Duck andbther publications that were seen as purveyors of caplitalist values. Flora also draws on other examplles of comic books and photonovels from Mexico, Ecuador and Peru.
Three Mexico City Tabloid Newspapers: Some Surprises
Authors: Hester Al
Published: March 2004

Mexico today enjoys one of the most dynamic and varied print media in Latin America. Dating from 1542 when the first news flier came off the press in Mexico City, print journalism has had a lively history culminating in a most favorable situation in the 1980s in which this country's population counts on a daily deluge of newspapers, magazines and other publications. Al Hester concentrates on three tabloids which make up over one‐tenth of the total daily circulation of papers in the capital. He examines their textual and pictorial content, sources of news, the importance of news coverage in comparison with advertising space, the general characteristics of the papers in the way they approach their tasks, how the communicators perceive their missions and their readers, and finally what contributions these tabloids make to Mexico City readers. Hester discovers that the tabloids do not fit the traditional picture of sensationalist publicatons but to varying degrees provide hard news, variety, even investigative reporting, and socially conscious types of content.
The syntax of nominalized complex verbal predicates in Dagaare
Authors: Bodomo Adams B.
Published: March 2004

Abstract.  Nominalization and verb serialization are widely attested phenomena in the generative linguistic literature, but an in‐depth study of their interaction remains to be undertaken. Based on data from Dagaare, a Gur language of West Africa, this paper analyzes a type of complex predicate construction, nominalized serial verbs, in which only one of the verbs carries a nominalization affix. With this, a number of issues about the nature of complex predicatehood, syntactic alternations, and lexical categorial differences involving nouns and verbs across languages are addressed. The paper proposes that, basically, serial verb nominalizations are VPs headed by a NomP functional projection.
Long‐distance agreement in Hindi: Some theoretical implications
Authors: Boeckx Cedric
Published: March 2004

Abstract.  In this paper I offer an analysis of Long‐Distance (Object) Agreement in Hindi that crucially relies on the operation Agree introduced in Chomsky (2000). I show that an Agree‐based account captures the core facts pertaining to Long‐Distance Agreement, and is superior to feature movement or Spec‐Head agreement alternatives. I also argue that Long‐Distance Agreement is a phenomenon akin to clitic climbing, and extend Wurmbrand's (2001) analysis of restructuring in terms of bare VP complement selection to Hindi. Such an extension allows me to view Case and agreement as two sides of the same coin.
The prophenoloxidase‐activating system in invertebrates
Authors: Cerenius Lage , Söderhäll Kenneth
Published: March 2004

Summary:  A major innate defense system in invertebrates is the melanization of pathogens and damaged tissues. This important process is controlled by the enzyme phenoloxidase (PO) that in turn is regulated in a highly elaborate manner for avoiding unnecessary production of highly toxic and reactive compounds. Recent progress, especially in arthropods, in the elucidation of mechanisms controlling the activation of zymogenic proPO into active PO by a cascade of serine proteinases and other factors is reviewed. The proPO‐activating system (proPO system) is triggered by the presence of minute amounts of compounds of microbial origins, such as β‐1,3‐glucans, lipopolysaccharides, and peptidoglycans, which ensures that the system will become active in the presence of potential pathogens. The presence of specific proteinase inhibitors prevents superfluous activation. Concomitant with proPO activation, many other immune reactions will be produced, such as the generation of factors with anti‐microbial, cytotoxic, opsonic, or encapsulation‐promoting activities.
The major histocompatibility complex origin
Authors: Danchin Etienne , Vitiello Verane , Vienne Alexandre , Richard Olivier , Gouret Philippe , McDermott Michael F. , Pontarotti Pierre
Published: March 2004

Summary:  The present review focuses on the history of genes involved in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), with a special emphasis on class I function in peptide presentation. The MHC class II story is covered in less detail, as it does not have a major impact on the general understanding of the MHC evolution. We first redefine the MHC as the definition evolved over time. We then use phylogenetic analysis to investigate the history of genes involved in the MHC class I process. As not all the genes involved in this process have been phylogenetically analyzed and because new sequences have been recently released in biological databases, we have re‐investigated this matter. In the light of the phylogenetic analysis, the functions of the orthologs of the genes involved in MHC processes are examined in species not having an MHC system. We then demonstrate that the emergence of this new function is due to various levels of co‐option.
Primitive immune systems: Are your ways my ways?
Authors: Rinkevich Baruch
Published: March 2004

Summary:  Although vertebrate immune systems have been commonly conceived as exquisitely developed to combat pervasiveness by pathogens, they are not infallible. The enigmatic expression of histocompatibility in vertebrates, the manifestation of natural chimerism, autoimmunity, malignancy, and other puzzling outcomes hint that immunity did not arise in evolution to fight infections and that this capacity is a late evolutionary appendage, owing its appearance to the redeployment of a system developed for other reasons. Allorecognition in the colonial tunicate Botryllus schlosseri serves here as a platform for a contending paradigm, advocating that immunity has developed as a surveillance machinery against and for purging of nascent selfish cells (stemmed from a kin organism or from transformed cells within the organism of origin). Defense against pathogens (always representing xenogeneic aliens) appeared later, revealing the multiplicity of newly developed phenomena. Allorecognition events characteristic of the Botryllus primitive immune system, such as fusion versus rejection, the morphological resorption with its expressed hierarchy, and the somatic/germ‐cell parasitic outcomes, provide clues to the evolutionary basis of allorecognition. Recent work on Botryllus immunity that highlights the cost of littering individuality by somatic variants/allogeneic cells is discussed.
Invertebrate immune systems – not homogeneous, not simple, not well understood
Authors: Loker Eric S , Adema Coen M. , Zhang Si‐Ming , Kepler Thomas B.
Published: March 2004

Summary: The approximate 30 extant invertebrate phyla have diversified along separate evolutionary trajectories for hundreds of millions of years. Although recent work understandably has emphasized the commonalities of innate defenses, there is also ample evidence, as from completed genome studies, to suggest that even members of the same invertebrate order have taken significantly different approaches to internal defense. These data suggest that novel immune capabilities will be found among the different phyla. Many invertebrates have intimate associations with symbionts that may play more of a role in internal defense than generally appreciated. Some invertebrates that are either long lived or have colonial body plans may diversify components of their defense systems via somatic mutation. Somatic diversification following pathogen exposure, as seen in plants, has been investigated little in invertebrates. Recent molecular studies of sponges, cnidarians, shrimp, mollusks, sea urchins, tunicates, and lancelets have found surprisingly diversified immune molecules, and a model is presented that supports the adaptive value of diversified non‐self recognition molecules in invertebrates. Interactions between invertebrates and viruses also remain poorly understood. As we are in the midst of alarming losses of coral reefs, increased pathogen challenge to invertebrate aquaculture, and rampant invertebrate‐transmitted parasites of humans and domestic animals, we need a better understanding of invertebrate immunology.
Innate immunity in plants and animals: striking similarities and obvious differences
Authors: Nürnberger Thorsten , Brunner Frédéric , Kemmerling Birgit , Piater Lizelle
Published: March 2004

Summary:  Innate immunity constitutes the first line of defense against attempted microbial invasion, and it is a well‐described phenomenon in vertebrates and insects. Recent pioneering work has revealed striking similarities between the molecular organization of animal and plant systems for nonself recognition and anti‐microbial defense. Like animals, plants have acquired the ability to recognize invariant pathogen‐associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) that are characteristic of microbial organisms but which are not found in potential host plants. Such structures, also termed general elicitors of plant defense, are often indispensable for the microbial lifestyle and, upon receptor‐mediated perception, inevitably betray the invader to the plant's surveillance system. Remarkable similarities have been uncovered in the molecular mode of PAMP perception in animals and plants, including the discovery of plant receptors resembling mammalian Toll‐like receptors or cytoplasmic nucleotide‐binding oligomerization domain leucine‐rich repeat proteins. Moreover, molecular building blocks of PAMP‐induced signaling cascades leading to the transcriptional activation of immune response genes are shared among the two kingdoms. In particular, nitric oxide as well as mitogen‐activated protein kinase cascades have been implicated in triggering innate immune responses, part of which is the production of anti‐microbial compounds. In addition to PAMP‐mediated pathogen defense, disease resistance programs are often initiated upon plant‐cultivar‐specific recognition of microbial race‐specific virulence factors, a recognition specificity that is not known from animals.
Peptidoglycan recognition proteins: on and off switches for innate immunity
Authors: Steiner Håkan
Published: March 2004

Summary:  Insects rely on innate immune mechanisms to defend themselves against microbes. The inducible anti‐microbial peptides constitute an important arm of this defense. In Drosophila, the Toll and the Imd pathways are the major routes to induce the peptides, and it has become clear that to a certain extent, these pathways can discriminate between different microbes and mount an appropriate response to eliminate the intruder. This review discusses the proteins responsible for this discriminatory recognition, the peptidoglycan recognition proteins (PGRPs). The serum protein PGRP‐SA triggers a humoral cascade of proteases upon infection by certain gram‐positive bacteria to activate the Toll pathway. The membrane‐bound receptor PGRP‐LC activates the Imd pathway in response to certain gram‐ negative bacteria or their peptidoglycans. Other PGRPs have enzymatic activity, cleaving lactylamide bonds in peptidoglycan to eliminate its immunogenicity, thus turning off the immune response. The PGRP family is conserved from insects to man. Short mammalian PGRP variants are synthesized in neutrophils and stored in granules. These PGRPs seem to influence the survival of phagocytosed non‐pathogenic bacteria. Long PGRP variants are expressed in the liver and secreted into the bloodstream where their peptidoglycan‐degrading activity might serve scavenger functions.