bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Regulation of mitochondrial permeability transition pore by PINK1
Authors: Gautier Clement A , Giaime Emilie , Caballero Erica , Núñez Lucía , Song Zhiyin , Chan David , Villalobos Carlos , Shen Jie
Published: June 2012

Background

Loss-of-function mutations in PTEN-induced kinase 1 (PINK1) have been linked to familial Parkinson’s disease, but the underlying pathogenic mechanism remains unclear. We previously reported that loss of PINK1 impairs mitochondrial respiratory activity in mouse brains.

Results

In this study, we investigate how loss of PINK1 impairs mitochondrial respiration using cultured primary fibroblasts and neurons. We found that intact mitochondria in PINK1−/− cells recapitulate the respiratory defect in isolated mitochondria from PINK1−/− mouse brains, suggesting that these PINK1−/− cells are a valid experimental system to study the underlying mechanisms. Enzymatic activities of the electron transport system complexes are normal in PINK1−/− cells, but mitochondrial transmembrane potential is reduced. Interestingly, the opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) is increased in PINK1−/− cells, and this genotypic difference between PINK1−/− and control cells is eliminated by agonists or inhibitors of the mPTP. Furthermore, inhibition of mPTP opening rescues the defects in transmembrane potential and respiration in PINK1−/− cells. Consistent with our earlier findings in mouse brains, mitochondrial morphology is similar between PINK1−/− and wild-type cells, indicating that the observed mitochondrial functional defects are not due to morphological changes. Following FCCP treatment, calcium increases in the cytosol are higher in PINK1−/− compared to wild-type cells, suggesting that intra-mitochondrial calcium concentration is higher in the absence of PINK1.

Conclusions

Our findings show that loss of PINK1 causes selective increases in mPTP opening and mitochondrial calcium, and that the excessive mPTP opening may underlie the mitochondrial functional defects observed in PINK1−/− cells.
Genome-scale metabolic model of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe and the reconciliation of in silico/in vivo mutant growth
Authors: Sohn Seung Bum , Kim Tae Yong , Lee Jay H , Lee Sang Yup
Published: June 2012

Background

Over the last decade, the genome-scale metabolic models have been playing increasingly important roles in elucidating metabolic characteristics of biological systems for a wide range of applications including, but not limited to, system-wide identification of drug targets and production of high value biochemical compounds. However, these genome-scale metabolic models must be able to first predict known in vivo phenotypes before it is applied towards these applications with high confidence. One benchmark for measuring the in silico capability in predicting in vivo phenotypes is the use of single-gene mutant libraries to measure the accuracy of knockout simulations in predicting mutant growth phenotypes.

Results

Here we employed a systematic and iterative process, designated as Reconciling In silico/in vivo mutaNt Growth (RING), to settle discrepancies between in silico prediction and in vivo observations to a newly reconstructed genome-scale metabolic model of the fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, SpoMBEL1693. The predictive capabilities of the genome-scale metabolic model in predicting single-gene mutant growth phenotypes were measured against the single-gene mutant library of S. pombe. The use of RING resulted in improving the overall predictive capability of SpoMBEL1693 by 21.5%, from 61.2% to 82.7% (92.5% of the negative predictions matched the observed growth phenotype and 79.7% the positive predictions matched the observed growth phenotype).

Conclusion

This study presents validation and refinement of a newly reconstructed metabolic model of the yeast S. pombe, through improving the metabolic model’s predictive capabilities by reconciling the in silico predicted growth phenotypes of single-gene knockout mutants, with experimental in vivo growth data.
Late somatic sequelae after treatment of childhood cancer in Slovenia
Authors: Erman Nuša , Todorovski Ljupčo , Jereb Berta
Published: June 2012

Background

This is a long-term follow-up clinical study of adolescents and adults, survivors of childhood cancer. We evaluate and analyze the late somatic sequelae of childhood cancer treatment. Many such studies are susceptible to a strong selection bias, i.e., they employ a limited non-systematic sample of patients, based on a clinical hospital that provided the cancer treatment or performed the follow-up. To address the issue of selection bias, we perform here an analysis of late sequelae on a systematic database of the entire population of the children treated for cancer in Slovenia. Due to the specifics of cancer treatment procedures in Slovenia, they have all been treated and followed-up in the same clinic.

Methods

The data are based on the centralized registry of cancer patients in Slovenia and present a controlled and homogeneous collection. Late sequelae are evaluated following a modified CTCAE, i.e., the National Cancer Institute’s Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 3.0. We use survival analysis method to estimate the incidence of and risk for late sequelae, where the time variable is measured in years from the diagnosis date, while we follow the event of incidence of late sequelae scored other than none. Survival analysis is performed using KaplanMeier estimator and Cox regression model.

Results

The incidence of mild, moderate, or severe late sequelae of childhood cancer treatment significantly decreased from 75% in the group of patients diagnosed before 1975 to 55% for those diagnosed after 1995. The Cox regression analysis of the risk factors for the incidence of late sequelae identifies three significant factors: treatment modalities, age at diagnosis, and primary diagnosis.

Conclusions

The change of treatment modalities in terms of replacement of surgery and radiotherapy with chemotherapy is the main reason for the decrease of the incidence and the risk for late sequelae of childhood cancer treatment; treatment modalities including surgery significantly increase the risk ratio of late sequelae, while those based on chemotherapy only significantly decreases the risk. Risk of late sequelae increases with the diagnosis age: younger children are more susceptible to late effects of treatment. Finally, primary diagnosis significantly influences the risk for late sequelae, but mostly due to the dependency of the treatment modality on the primary diagnosis.
A systems biology analysis of long and short-term memories of osmotic stress adaptation in fungi
Authors: You Tao , Ingram Piers , Jacobsen Mette D , Cook Emily , McDonagh Andrew , Thorne Thomas , Lenardon Megan D , de Moura Alessandro PS , Romano M Carmen , Thiel Marco , Stumpf Michael , Gow Neil AR , Haynes Ken , Grebogi Celso , Stark Jaroslav , Brown Alistair JP
Published: June 2012

Background

Saccharomyces cerevisiae senses hyperosmotic conditions via the HOG signaling network that activates the stress-activated protein kinase, Hog1, and modulates metabolic fluxes and gene expression to generate appropriate adaptive responses. The integral control mechanism by which Hog1 modulates glycerol production remains uncharacterized. An additional Hog1-independent mechanism retains intracellular glycerol for adaptation. Candida albicans also adapts to hyperosmolarity via a HOG signaling network. However, it remains unknown whether Hog1 exerts integral or proportional control over glycerol production in C. albicans.

Results

We combined modeling and experimental approaches to study osmotic stress responses in S. cerevisiae and C. albicans. We propose a simple ordinary differential equation (ODE) model that highlights the integral control that Hog1 exerts over glycerol biosynthesis in these species. If integral control arises from a separation of time scales (i.e. rapid HOG activation of glycerol production capacity which decays slowly under hyperosmotic conditions), then the model predicts that glycerol production rates elevate upon adaptation to a first stress and this makes the cell adapts faster to a second hyperosmotic stress. It appears as if the cell is able to remember the stress history that is longer than the timescale of signal transduction. This is termed the long-term stress memory. Our experimental data verify this. Like S. cerevisiae, C. albicans mimimizes glycerol efflux during adaptation to hyperosmolarity. Also, transient activation of intermediate kinases in the HOG pathway results in a short-term memory in the signaling pathway. This determines the amplitude of Hog1 phosphorylation under a periodic sequence of stress and non-stressed intervals. Our model suggests that the long-term memory also affects the way a cell responds to periodic stress conditions. Hence, during osmohomeostasis, short-term memory is dependent upon long-term memory. This is relevant in the context of fungal responses to dynamic and changing environments.

Conclusions

Our experiments and modeling have provided an example of identifying integral control that arises from time-scale separation in different processes, which is an important functional module in various contexts.
Comprehensive splicing functional analysis of DNA variants of the BRCA2 gene by hybrid minigenes
Authors: Acedo Alberto , Sanz David J , Durán Mercedes , Infante Mar , Pérez-Cabornero Lucía , Miner Cristina , Velasco Eladio A
Published: June 2012

Introduction

The underlying pathogenic mechanism of a large fraction of DNA variants of disease-causing genes is the disruption of the splicing process. We aimed to investigate the effect on splicing of the BRCA2 variants c.8488-1G > A (exon 20) and c.9026_9030del (exon 23), as well as 41 BRCA2 variants reported in the Breast Cancer Information Core (BIC) mutation database.

Methods

DNA variants were analyzed with the splicing prediction programs NNSPLICE and Human Splicing Finder. Functional analyses of candidate variants were performed by lymphocyte RT-PCR and/or hybrid minigene assays. Forty-one BIC variants of exons 19, 20, 23 and 24 were bioinformatically selected and generated by PCR-mutagenesis of the wild type minigenes.

Results

Lymphocyte RT-PCR of c.8488-1G > A showed intron 19 retention and a 12-nucleotide deletion in exon 20, whereas c.9026_9030del did not show any splicing anomaly. Minigene analysis of c.8488-1G > A displayed the aforementioned aberrant isoforms but also exon 20 skipping. We further evaluated the splicing outcomes of 41 variants of four BRCA2 exons by minigene analysis. Eighteen variants presented splicing aberrations. Most variants (78.9%) disrupted the natural splice sites, whereas four altered putative enhancers/silencers and had a weak effect. Fluorescent RT-PCR of minigenes accurately detected 14 RNA isoforms generated by cryptic site usage, exon skipping and intron retention events. Fourteen variants showed total splicing disruptions and were predicted to truncate or eliminate essential domains of BRCA2.

Conclusions

A relevant proportion of BRCA2 variants are correlated with splicing disruptions, indicating that RNA analysis is a valuable tool to assess the pathogenicity of a particular DNA change. The minigene system is a straightforward and robust approach to detect variants with an impact on splicing and contributes to a better knowledge of this gene expression step.
Mammalian tissues defective in nonsense-mediated mRNA decay display highly aberrant splicing patterns
Authors: Weischenfeldt Joachim , Waage Johannes , Tian Geng , Zhao Jing , Damgaard Inge , Jakobsen Janus Schou , Kristiansen Karsten , Krogh Anders , Wang Jun , Porse Bo T
Published: June 2012

Background

Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) affects the outcome of alternative splicing by degrading mRNA isoforms with premature termination codons. Splicing regulators constitute important NMD targets; however, the extent to which loss of NMD causes extensive deregulation of alternative splicing has not previously been assayed in a global, unbiased manner. Here, we combine mouse genetics and RNA-seq to provide the first in vivo analysis of the global impact of NMD on splicing patterns in two primary mouse tissues ablated for the NMD factor UPF2.

Results

We developed a bioinformatic pipeline that maps RNA-seq data to a combinatorial exon database, predicts NMD-susceptibility for mRNA isoforms and calculates the distribution of major splice isoform classes. We present a catalog of NMD-regulated alternative splicing events, showing that isoforms of 30% of all expressed genes are upregulated in NMD-deficient cells and that NMD targets all major splicing classes. Importantly, NMD-dependent effects are not restricted to premature termination codon+ isoforms but also involve an abundance of splicing events that do not generate premature termination codons. Supporting their functional importance, the latter events are associated with high intronic conservation.

Conclusions

Our data demonstrate that NMD regulates alternative splicing outcomes through an intricate web of splicing regulators and that its loss leads to the deregulation of a panoply of splicing events, providing novel insights into its role in core- and tissue-specific regulation of gene expression. Thus, our study extends the importance of NMD from an mRNA quality pathway to a regulator of several layers of gene expression.
The genome of the polar eukaryotic microalga Coccomyxa subellipsoidea reveals traits of cold adaptation
Authors: Blanc Guillaume , Agarkova Irina , Grimwood Jane , Kuo Alan , Brueggeman Andrew , Dunigan David D , Gurnon James , Ladunga Istvan , Lindquist Erika , Lucas Susan , Pangilinan Jasmyn , Pröschold Thomas , Salamov Asaf , Schmutz Jeremy , Weeks Donald , Yamada Takashi , Lomsadze Alexandre , Borodovsky Mark , Claverie Jean-Michel , Grigoriev Igor V , Van Etten James L
Published: June 2012

Background

Little is known about the mechanisms of adaptation of life to the extreme environmental conditions encountered in polar regions. Here we present the genome sequence of a unicellular green alga from the division chlorophyta, Coccomyxa subellipsoidea C-169, which we will hereafter refer to as C-169. This is the first eukaryotic microorganism from a polar environment to have its genome sequenced.

Results

The 48.8 Mb genome contained in 20 chromosomes exhibits significant synteny conservation with the chromosomes of its relatives Chlorella variabilis and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The order of the genes is highly reshuffled within synteny blocks, suggesting that intra-chromosomal rearrangements were more prevalent than inter-chromosomal rearrangements. Remarkably, Zepp retrotransposons occur in clusters of nested elements with strictly one cluster per chromosome probably residing at the centromere. Several protein families overrepresented in C. subellipsoidae include proteins involved in lipid metabolism, transporters, cellulose synthases and short alcohol dehydrogenases. Conversely, C-169 lacks proteins that exist in all other sequenced chlorophytes, including components of the glycosyl phosphatidyl inositol anchoring system, pyruvate phosphate dikinase and the photosystem 1 reaction center subunit N (PsaN).

Conclusions

We suggest that some of these gene losses and gains could have contributed to adaptation to low temperatures. Comparison of these genomic features with the adaptive strategies of psychrophilic microbes suggests that prokaryotes and eukaryotes followed comparable evolutionary routes to adapt to cold environments.
Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy Applied to Model the Transformation of Added Organic Materials in Soil
Authors: Kaboré Theodore W. , Pansu Marc Antoine , Hien Edmond , Brunet Didier , Barthès Beernard G. , Houot Sabine , Coulibaly Aboubacar , Zombré Prosper , Thuriès Laurent , Masse Dominique
Published: June 2012

Raw, mixed and composted organic materials (OM) from agricultural and urban wastes were subjected to biochemical analyses, near infrared (NIR) reflectance spectroscopy and laboratory incubations. Respiration during incubations was accurately predicted using a decomposition model [transformation of added organic materials, (TAO)] of very labile, intermediary resistant, and stable OM fractions. Calibrations using NIR spectra were developed to determine the very labile and stable fractions of OM used to predict three-month OM mineralisation in soil. This study has confirmed that OM decomposition is mainly driven by OM quality on a short-term basis. The wavelengths contributing heavily to the prediction of very labile and stable OM components and molecular functions of these fractions were identified. The resulting TAO–NIR spectroscopy model is an efficient tool to study the degradation of natural molecules and its management for plant growth and sustainability of ecosystems. As a sub-model of a more complex C cycle model, it can instantaneously simulate labile and stable fractions of various organic inputs in soil and, as a non-destructive and easily portable spectroscopic method, could be used to assess C dynamics on a regional scale.
Self-dual representations of division algebras and Weil groups: A contrast
Authors: Prasad Dipendra , Ramakrishnan Dinakar
Published: June 2012

Irreducible selfdual representations of any group fall into two classes: those which carry a symmetric
bilinear form, and the others which carry an alternating bilinear form. The Langlands correspondence,
which matches the irreducible representations $\sigma$ of the Weil group of a local field $k$ of dimension
$n$ with the irreducible representations $\pi$ of the invertible elements of a division algebra $D$ over $k$
of index $n$, takes selfdual representations to selfdual representations. In this paper we use global methods
to study how the Langlands correspondence behaves relative to this distinction among selfdual representations.
We prove in particular that for $n$ even, $\sigma$ is symplectic if and only if $\pi$ is orthogonal. More
generally, we treat the case of ${\rm GL}_m(B)$, for $B$ a division algebra over $k$ of index $r$, and $n=mr$.
Integrable embeddings and foliations
Authors: Hector Gilbert , Peralta-Salas Daniel
Published: June 2012

A $k$-submanifold $L$ of an open $n$-manifold $M$ is called {\it weakly
integrable (WI)} [resp. {\it strongly integrable (SI)}] if there exists a
submersion $\Phi:M\rightarrow {\Bbb{E}}^{n-k}$ such that $L\subset
\Phi^{-1}(0)$ [resp. $L= \Phi^{-1}(0)$]. In this work we study the
following problem, first stated in a particular case by Costa et al. ({\it
Invent. Math.} 1988): which submanifolds $L$ of an open manifold $M$ are
WI or SI? For general $M$, we explicitly solve the case $k=n-1$ and provide
necessary and sufficient conditions for submanifolds to be WI and SI in
higher codimension. As particular cases we recover the theorem of Bouma
and Hector ({\it Indagationes Math.} 1983) asserting that any open
orientable surface is SI in ${\Bbb{E}}^3$, and Watanabe's and Miyoshi's
theorems ({\it Topology} 1993 and 1995) claiming that any link is WI in an
open $3$-manifold. In the case $M={\Bbb{E}}^n$ we fully characterize WI
and SI submanifolds, we provide examples of $3$- and $7$-manifolds which
are not WI and we show that a theorem by Miyoshi ({\it Topology} 1995)
which states that any link in ${\Bbb{E}}^3$ is SI does not hold in
general. The right analogue to Miyoshi's theorem is also proved, implying
in particular the surprising result that no knot in ${\Bbb{E}}^3$ is SI. Our results applied to the theory of foliations of Euclidean spaces give
rise to some striking corollaries: using some topological invariants we
classify all the submanifolds of ${\Bbb{E}}^n$ which can be realized as
proper leaves of foliations; we prove that ${\Bbb{S}}^3$ can be realized
as a leaf of a foliation of ${\Bbb{E}}^n$, $n \geq 7$, but not in
${\Bbb{E}}^5$ or ${\Bbb{E}}^6$, which partially answers a question by Vogt
({\it Math. Ann.} 1993); we construct open $3$-manifolds which cannot be
leaves of a foliation of any compact $4$-manifold but are proper leaves in
${\Bbb{E}}^4$. The theory of WI and SI submanifolds is a framework where many classical
tools of differential and algebraic topology play a prominent role:
Phillips-Gromov h-principle, Hirsh-Smale theory, complete intersections,
Seifert manifolds, the theory of immersions and embeddings, obstruction
theory, etc.
A boundary criterion for cubulation
Authors: Bergeron Nicolas , Wise Daniel T.
Published: June 2012

We give a criterion in terms of the boundary for the existence of a proper cocompact action of
a word-hyperbolic group on a ${\rm CAT}(0)$ cube complex. We describe applications towards lattices
and hyperbolic 3-manifold groups. In particular, by combining the theory of special cube complexes,
the surface subgroup result of Kahn-Markovic, and Agol's criterion, we find that every subgroup
separable closed hyperbolic 3-manifold is virtually fibered.
Vanishing theorems for real algebraic cycles
Authors: Heller Jeremiah , Voineagu Mircea
Published: June 2012

We establish the analogue of the Friedlander-Mazur conjecture for Teh's reduced Lawson homology groups
of real varieties, which says that the reduced Lawson homology of a real quasi-projective variety $X$
vanishes in homological degrees larger than the dimension of $X$ in all weights. As an application we
obtain a vanishing of homotopy groups of the mod-$2$ topological groups of averaged cycles and a
characterization in a range of indices of dos Santos' real Lawson homology as the homotopy groups of the
topological group of averaged cycles. We also establish an equivariant Poincare duality between
equivariant Friedlander-Walker real morphic cohomology and dos Santos' real Lawson homology.
We use this together with an equivariant extension of the mod-$2$ Beilinson-Lichtenbaum conjecture to
compute some real Lawson homology groups in terms of Bredon cohomology.
Tossing the Pink Parasol: Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm , the New Woman, and Progressive Era Reform
Authors: Sellers Kelli M.
Published: June 2012

This essay examines Kate Douglas Wiggin’s use of New Woman strategies that prophesy new possibilities for girls and revise previous New Woman models. In doing so, Wiggin bridges the gap between adult nostalgia and childhood imagination, providing adult and young readers alike with visions of the new girl’s future.
Much the Same on the Other Side: The Boondocks and the Symbolic Frontier
Authors: Swanigan Pamela
Published: June 2012

In the earliest months of his comic strip The Boondocks , Aaron McGruder critiques the effects of the frontier mentality and future-based thinking in the African-American communities, using his child characters to shed a complicating light on often-simplified concepts such as the suburban dream, school integration, and the “color line” itself.
Harry Potter ’s Ethical Paradigms: Augustine, Kant, and Feminist Moral Theory
Authors: Wolosky Shira
Published: June 2012

Harry Potter has been a maelstrom of religious controversy. This essay argues that the core engagement of the Potter books is ethical rather than doctrinal, drawing on ethical traditions from Augustine and Kant, but treating and critiquing them in ways that accord with current trends in feminist moral theory.
A History of Fijian Women’s Activism (1900–2010)
Authors: Mishra Margaret
Published: June 2012

Fijian women collectively challenged their double colonization since the 1900s. Indentured women workers pioneered “embryonic agitations” (evidenced through strikes, physical confrontations, and written petitions) against exploitative colonial officials and Indian overseers. The 1920s saw a shift in the nature of women’s activism towards a discourse of economic empowerment, with the rise of indigenous organic organizations like Qele ni Ruve . This period was followed by the transcultural platform of the Pan-Pacific and Southeast Asian Women’s Association in the 1940s and the contemporary women’s movement of the 1960s led by the Fiji Young Women’s Christian Association. The latter was marked by convergences with and divergences from transnational discourses. The focus-feminisms of the 1980s brought human rights to the forefront of women’s activism. This phase has continued until the present day, although there is now an emphasis on peace and reconciliation in post-coup Fiji.
Jewish Identity in Modern Day Cuba: An Interplay of Continuity and Transformation
Authors: Sweifach Jay , Strug David , LaPorte Heidi Heft
Published: June 2012

This article explores the nature of Jewish identity in modern-day Cuba. The study draws on the perceptions of a sample of Cuban Jews to understand how changes and shifts have affected Jewish identity. A convenience sample of 29 respondents was interviewed. We encouraged the individuals interviewed to tell their stories of what it means to be Jewish in Cuba today. We asked respondents to describe how they live their lives, in what ways they identify as Jews, and in what ways they think and act as Jews. The result was a series of personal narratives that revealed the ways in which Jewish identity is experienced and expressed in present-day Cuba.
Rewriting Israel's History
Authors: Stein Leslie
Published: June 2012

This article provides a brief survey of the major works of the so-called New Israeli Historians. It attempts to explain what distinguishes them from mainstream Israeli scholars and considers the extent to which their writings constitute a unified school of thought. The article makes it clear that there are indeed various gradations of dissent. For one, Benny Morris, while basing himself on archival material that reveals unsavory aspects of Israel's history, nevertheless remains faithful to the Zionist ideal. At the other end of the spectrum Ilan Pappé is far less interested in the veracity of his sources and is far more concerned to denigrate the entire Zionist enterprise by falsely accusing Israel of ethnic cleansing.
Multivocal Narrative and the Teacher as Narrator: The Case of Agnon's "Two Scholars Who Were In Our Town" (שני חלמידי חכמים שהיו בעיךו)
Authors: Shapiro Harvey
Published: June 2012

In this article, I seek to demonstrate how a hermeneutic of multivocal narration suggests several areas for educational inquiry. The dissonant styles and explicitly stated narrative development in Agnon's story, " Two Scholars Who Were in Our Town," suggest the presence of more than one type of narrative voice guiding the reader through the story. The core story is presented primarily as a traditional tale, handed-down orally from previous generations, whereas the story's broader framework can be considered a modern narrator's efforts to distance the reader from the tale (and from its storyteller). Agnon, thus, positions his modern narrator between the traditional storyteller and the reader. The core enigmatic tale is apparently too transgressive for the narrator as it seemingly dismantles his idealized reconstructed memory. The presence of two dissonant narrative voices suggests how narrative mediation functions in teaching and how modern fiction can provide a landscape for engaging students in ethical reflection that transcends a plot's illustration of normative principles.
Embodying Jewishness at the Millennium
Authors: Levine Andrea
Published: June 2012

This essay argues that in evoking and imagining vivid representations of Jewish bodily difference, Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay and Philip Roth's The Plot Against America produce subjects whose distanced, critical relation to U.S. national culture is legible on their bodies. Rendering mid-twentieth-century Jewish visibility in hyperbolic terms, these texts suggest that ethnicity, queerness, and disability should be read in intimate conjunction with one another and as in some way accountable to one another. By contrast, the Jewish Americans in Tony Kushner's Caroline, or Change , while outsiders in Louisiana in the 1960s, inhabit a space of white privilege and align themselves with dominant racial and national narratives. Kushner's text, then, illuminates the stakes of Chabon's and Roth's imaginative (indeed, counter-factual) efforts to denaturalize the link between Jewish bodies and American national identity.
Polish Landscape with Synagogues
Authors: Bergman Eleonora
Published: June 2012

Synagogues used to be an integral part of the Polish landscape as the Jews were integral part of the population of Poland. The article discusses the location, internal arrangement of main prayer rooms, auxiliary spaces, and external appearance of synagogues in various regions of the frequently changing territory of Poland, from the thirteenth until the twentieth century. The decoration and symbolism used in interiors of the most characteristic Polish synagogues of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is given a separate section. Attention is directed to the question of synagogue style in the nineteenth century. After World War II, with only very few Jews living in Poland now and with the diminishing number of synagogues, the last traces of many hundred years of a Jewish presence in towns also disappear.
The Beginnings of Beshtian Hasidism in Poland
Authors: Doktór Jan
Published: June 2012

Polish Hasidism emerged in Poland in the second half of the seventeenth century on a wave of messianic hopes. Its ideology was elitist par excellence . It could be pursued only by a chosen few who focused in their life on Hasidic ideas. After several splits and transformations in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth it eventually developed into a mass movement in the late eighteenth century with unique characteristics unimaginable in any other historical or geographical context. The pivotal moment in the shaping of ascetic Polish Hasidism was the messianic campaign of the year 5500 (1740). The messianic fever lasted several years, and the pilgrimages and discussions caused many Hasidim to abandon the ascetic paradigm, which had been understood as the road to holiness and salvation. This gave rise to new, anti-ascetic trends in Hasidism, from which there emerged the Hasidism known as Beshtian Hasidism.
Prankster Ethics: Borat and Levinas
Authors: Lewis Randolph
Published: June 2012

This article explores the ethical implications of one of the most celebrated and controversial films of the past decade, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006). The product of a comic provocateur named Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat was hailed as brilliant satire designed to expose the grotesque nature of American racism and antisemitism-an interpretation that the filmmaker took pains to encourage. However, I argue that Borat is a deeply problematic form of cultural intervention, one based on deceit, cruelty, and indiscriminate mockery. By re-framing the film in an intellectual context suggested by the philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, one of the key figures in modern ethics, I highlight the ways in which Borat is not the progressive text that its maker intended.
The You That Wasn't Enough: Walter Kaufmann and Martin Buber
Authors: Pickus David
Published: June 2012

Walter Kaufmann (1921-80), best known for his work on Nietzsche, is also inextricably linked with the dissemination of Martin Buber's work through his 1970 translation of I and Thou (or "I and You"). Some forty years after the publication of this well-known volume, Kaufmann's relationship to Buber remains mostly unexplored, though occasionally harshly criticized. This essay argues that this relationship should not be left unexplored. Kaufmann's involvement with Buber went well beyond the translation and contains ideas about what should be accepted and rejected in Buber that deserve the attention of contemporary Buber scholars. To make this case, this essay covers Kaufmann's personal relation with Buber from the 1930s onward, relating Kaufmann's principal criticisms of Buber's thought to ideas shaped by the strong encounter with Buber himself. It makes the case that Kaufmann's relationship with Buber has not yet been appreciated and deserves a much wider hearing.
The Dibbuk in the Mayse Bukh
Authors: Faierstein Morris M.
Published: June 2012

The ability to exorcise a dibbuk was a significant aspect of the hagiographic literature that grew up around the figure of Rabbi Isaac Luria, the most important kabbalist of sixteenth-century Safed. A letter written by one of his disciples in 1571 described one of the first exorcisms performed by Luria and was circulated to kabbalists in several countries. The story of this exorcism found its way into the Mayse Bukh , a collection of hagiographic stories in Yiddish, first published in Basel in 1602. This article argues that the Mayse Bukh was the first published account of a Safed exorcism and this letter was the source of the story in the Mayse Bukh . It also offers a plausible chain of transmission from the letter to the Mayse Bukh .
Emily Dickinson's Midrash of Jacob and the Angel: Construction of a "Counter Typology"
Authors: Wargacki John P.
Published: June 2012

Explications of Emily Dickinson's 1,775 poems have long attempted to make sense of the poet's tumultuous spiritual journey. Few studies, however, have prioritized her unique use of the Hebrew Bible or what I see as a Midrashic approach to many of its episodes. A product of nineteenth-century New England Protestantism, Dickinson, like her contemporaries, wrestled with the fragmented Puritan sensibilities that defined the period as well as her personal contribution to that dialogue. Yet the integral role of the Hebrew Bible and Midrash has yet to be fully explored within this dynamic Judeo-Christian conversation—a conversation that provides both an index to the times and Dickinson's spiritual journey. In "Emily Dickinson's Midrash of Jacob and the Angel: Construction of a 'Counter Typology,'" I examine her keen rendering of this text and, by extension, ". . . the ways that her rendering of paradigms provided by key Hebrew Bible figures help to establish a richer understanding of the complex, often adversarial, relationship Dickinson posits with the Almighty."
Forgotten Alliance: Jews, Chicanos, and the Dynamics of Class and Race in Denver, Colorado, 1967-1971
Authors: Lee Michael A.
Published: June 2012

This is a narrative history of a short-lived, local Latino reform and cultural initiative, Denver's Centro Cultural, which developed with the support of the American Jewish Committee affiliate in that city. It unfolds within the late 1960s heyday of Black and Brown Power nationally, and in the Denver of Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales's militant Crusade for Justice. The article tells the story of the personalities, and tensions, instrumental in the rise and fall of Centro Cultural. It further opens out onto much broader issues concerning Jewish-Latino relations, and the differing but overlapping trajectories of revolutionary late '60s nationalist movements and ones premised on cultural nationalism and relative moderation.
Yiddish Theatre Actresses and American Jewish Identity
Authors: Power Sharon
Published: June 2012

This article traces out Jewish representations of actresses from the heyday of American Yiddish theatre to explore the role of the Yiddish actress in the gendered negotiation of American Jewish identities in the early twentieth century. I argue that Yiddish actresses functioned as role models and symbols of the ideal balance between modern America and "traditional" Jewishness for the American Jewish immigrant community. The negative stereotypes of Yiddish actresses that did emerge reveal the immigrant community's anxieties about not achieving this balance either by being unable to acculturate, or by losing one's connection to Jewishness.
Hinduism, Torah, and Travel: Jacob Sapir in India
Authors: Marks Richard G.
Published: June 2012

Addressing questions of comparative religion and the phenomenology of travel, this essay analyzes Rabbi Jacob Sapir's encounter with Hinduism during his travels in India in 1859-61. The introduction of his travelogue, Even Sapir , sets up an opposition between the study of Torah in Jerusalem, his home, on the one side, over against outward travel and the traveler's mind, on the other. Sapir's experience of India and especially Hinduism centered on this duality, so that he viewed Hinduism through the rabbinic category and vocabulary of idolatry, and travel meant wandering in exile. But Sapir bridged the two perspectives in various ways detailed in this essay, such as applying a concept of perceptual holiness to Hindu practices, and his reports of Indian life and Hindu religion sometimes transcended pre-judgments and expressed attentive interest in foreign life observed beyond home and study-house.
Tracing Theory on the Body of the "Walking Dead": Der Muselmann and the Course of Holocaust Studies
Authors: Skitolsky Lissa
Published: June 2012

The history of philosophical positions about the meaning of Holocaust victim experience can be organized around three general stances identified by the moral implications that follow: the "redemptive," "nihilistic," and "narcissistic" positions. Further, each stance includes a distinct view of the muselmann—that category of Holocaust victim generally referred to as the "walking dead"—that serves to confirm its larger theoretical claims. These categories have served as a helpful pedagogical tool when teaching a wide variety of texts in the field of Holocaust studies, and students can identify the limitations of each position in terms of the caricature of the muselmann on which it rests. Lastly, organizing a syllabus around these three positions encourages a certain intellectual progression from moral judgment, to moral uncertainty, to renewed engagement with the world.
Growth and Morphology of Graphene on Silicon Carbide Nanoparticles
Authors: Gruen Dieter M. , Mendelsohn Marshall H. , Kirk Marquis
Published: June 2012

Catalytic synthesis of graphene occurs when methane reacts with cubic SiC nanopowder at 1000-1200K. The composite, created under relatively mild experimental conditions, consists primarily of 30-40 nm diameter cylinders with aspect ratios near unity whose walls are composed of 10-20 layers of graphene surrounding nano-SiC particles. Sputtering by electron irradiation sequentially removes the graphene shells thus exposing the SiC cores. Electron as well as X-ray diffraction studies reveal the highly crystalline nature of the graphene shells which constitute 90 mol% of the composites. Raman data support a model involving growth of graphene on carbon rather than on silicon terminated SiC.
Optical and Electrical Effect of Texture Morphology on the Performance of Thin-Film Solar Cells
Authors: Kanematsu Daiji , Matsumoto Mitsuhiro , Yata Shigeo , Aya Yoichiro , Terakawa Akira , Iseki Masahiro
Published: June 2012

We correlated the texture morphology and the solar cell properties by measuring the distribution in the texture morphology. As a result, the short-circuit current ISC was approximated across various types of substrates by the standard texture height. Furthermore, we investigated the texture morphology from the point of view of the electrical effects. With regard to this point, the open-circuit voltage VOC was correlated to the steepest texture angle. Therefore, we consider that the both of the ISC and the VOC can be improved by controlling the distribution in the texture morphology.
Hellfest: The thing that should not be?
Authors: Guibert Gérôme , Sklower Jedediah
Published: June 2012

This article is an account of how one metal festival—the Hellfest organized in western France—struggled with legitimacy under pressure of condemnation from representatives of the Catholic Church, but managed to win the hearts of the local community despite initial reservations. The authors use the case to discuss how the ‘controversiality’ of metal is dependent on the social and cultural context and the interpretations that that context allows and enables.
Black metal
Authors: Fellezs Kevin
Published: June 2012

For all of metal’s globalization, metal is frequently associated with white, working-class men. This article focuses attention on the African-American minority within US metal scenes, drawing on a case study of the all-black thrash metal band Stone Vengeance, who ‘while enjoying a primarily white male audience, formed their aesthetic in recognition, even celebration, of their blackness’. The band face a predicament in how far to resist or to play with stereotypical constructions as blackness—embodied in the description of the band as ‘lords of heavy metal soul’. Interviews with Stone Vengeance frontman Mike Coffey show how he both situates heavy metal within a tradition of black music and at the same time desires to locate himself simply as a heavy metal musician. This tension between individual empowerment and a commitment to the collective runs through the wider field of heavy metal.
‘[I] hate girls and emo[tion]s'
Authors: Overell Rosemary
Published: June 2012

The article confronts the construction of gender within metal, particularly the violent misogyny that can be found in some types of death metal and grindcore. Drawing on a case study of grindcore music in Melbourne, Australia, the author explores the nature of ‘brutality’ that is identified by scene members as the essence of its affect. Grindcore offers an affective ‘intensity’ that partially transcends representations of gender, opening up possibilities for female scene members. While misogynistic rhetoric and representation may suffuse metal scenes, it is undermined and ironized in various ways.
'How you gonna see me now'
Authors: Klypchak Brad
Published: June 2012

Three acts, Black Sabbath, KISS, and Alice Cooper, are unquestionably influential in terms of their respective impacts on the history of heavy metal as a musical form, its subcultural development, and its extended reach into the consciousness of larger popular culture practices. In particular, each act pushed the bounds of perceived social propriety, sparking controversy and a series of conservative protests reflective of moral panic. Now, decades later, the same artists are no longer threatening. Rather, they are welcomed into mainstream popular culture, despite maintaining many of the very actions deemed offensive or profane years ago. In the article, it is argued that through conscious acts of reversion, each artist has recontextualized the meanings loaded onto their past careers while subsequently adding new layers of discursive considerations to heavy metal’s own conceptualization of rebellion and resistance as well as its ongoing historic legacy.
Heavy metal as controversy and counterculture
Authors: Hjelm Titus , Kahn-Harris Keith , Levine Mark
Published: June 2012

Social scientific studies of metal music and culture have tended to focus on two distinct aspects of the phenomenon: Firstly, scholars have analysed the social reactions to metal music—especially in the ‘moral panics’ genre. Secondly, the creation and reproduction of different metal subcultures, or ‘scenes’, has been an increasingly popular approach. This article brings together these two aspects of scholarship by arguing that ‘controversy’ is an integral aspect of creating metal ‘countercultures’. That is, the transgressive aspects of metal make it antagonistic in different social contexts—whether or not this is the intention of scene members themselves—and the metal scene is in turn shaped by these controversies. The first part of the article presents a theoretical approach to controversies and examines the meaning of metal as ‘counterculture’ in a globalizing world. The second part discusses how the other articles in this special issue each in their own way contribute to the understanding of metal as controversy and counterculture.
Lack of mutations in the leptin receptor gene in severely obese children
Authors: Dias Natasha Favoretto , Fernandes Ariana Ester , Melo Maria Edna de , Reinhardt Heidi Lui , Cercato Cintia , Villares Sandra Mara Ferreira , Halpern Alfredo , Mancini Marcio C.
Published: June 2012

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the LEPR gene in obese children and to investigate the associations between molecular findings and anthropometric and metabolic features. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Thirty-two patients were evaluated regarding anthropometric characteristics, blood pressure, heart rate, serum glucose, insulin, leptin levels, and lipid profile. The molecular study consisted of the amplification and automatic sequencing of the coding region of LEPR in order to investigate new mutations. RESULTS: We identified a high prevalence of metabolic disorders: impaired fasting glucose in 12.5% of the patients, elevated HOMA-IR in 85.7%, low HDL-cholesterol levels in 46.9%, high triglyceride levels in 40.6%, and hypertension in 58.6% of the patients. The molecular study identified 6 already described allelic variants: rs1137100 (exon-2), rs1137101 (exon-4), rs1805134 (exon-7), rs8179183 (exon-12), rs1805096 (exon-18), and the deletion/insertion of the pentanucleotide CTTTA at 3'untranslated region. CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of alleles observed in this cohort is similar to that described in the literature, and was not correlated with any clinical feature. The molecular findings in the analysis of the LEPR did not seem to be implicated in the etiology of obesity in these patients.
Influência da função tireoidiana nos níveis séricos de CPK
Authors: Lima Josivan Gomes de , Nóbrega Lúcia Helena Coelho , Nóbrega Maria Lúcia Coelho , Santos Júnior Antônio Correia dos , Fernandes Flávia da Costa , Mesquita Deciara Jácome Torres Medeiros de , Souza Alexandre Barbosa Câmara de
Published: June 2012

OBJETIVO: Determinar a variação da CPK sérica em função do TSH e T4 livre (FT4) e avaliar a CPK sérica nos estados patológicos da tireoide (hipertireoidismo e hipotireoidismo), em relação ao eutireoidismo. MATERIAIS E MÉTODOS: Analisaram-se, retrospectivamente, 6.230 exames laboratoriais de 2007 a 2011, com as dosagens de TSH e CPK. Destas, 3.369 com dosagens de FT4. Avaliou-se a correlação entre CPK com TSH e com os estados patológicos da tireoide. RESULTADOS: A correlação entre TSH e CPK foi positiva (r = 0,065), enquanto entre CPK e FT4 foi inversamente proporcional (r = -0,091, p < 0,05). Do total, 586 (9,4%) medidas foram de hipertireoidismo com mediana (intervalo) do CPK de 98 U/L (27 a 1.113) e 556 (8,9%), hipotireóideos com CPK de 114 U/L (25-4.182). CONCLUSÃO: Houve correlação positiva entre CPK sérica e TSH e negativa com FT4, sendo a CPK menor no grupo com hipertireoidismo e maior no grupo de hipotireoidismo.
Tendência secular da idade da menarca avaliada em relação ao índice de massa corporal
Authors: Castilho Silvia Diez , Pinheiro Caroline Damasceno , Bento Caroline Agnelli , Barros-Filho Antônio de Azevedo , Cocetti Monize
Published: June 2012

OBJETIVO: Avaliar a tendência secular da menarca de acordo com o índice de massa corporal (IMC). SUJEITOS E MÉTODOS: Seiscentos e oitenta e cinco meninas (7-18 anos) avaliadas em 2001 foram comparadas a 750 avaliadas em 2010. Elas foram agrupadas pelo Z-escore do IMC em: (magreza + eutrofia) e (sobrepeso + obesidade). A menarca foi relatada pelo status quo e a idade, estimada pelo logito. Foram utilizados os testes Qui-quadrado, Mann-Whitney e a Regressão logística, com significância de 5%. RESULTADOS: A menarca adiantou 3,24 meses entre 2001 e 2010. Houve aumento da obesidade e diminuição de eutróficas. O evento antecipou 1,44 mês no grupo magreza + eutrofia e 5,76 meses no sobrepeso + obesidade. Não houve interação entre os efeitos determinados pelo período avaliado e diagnóstico nutricional. CONCLUSÕES: Embora tanto o período quanto o IMC tenham influenciado a menarca, não se pode atribuir essa antecipação só à mudança do perfil nutricional da amostra. Outros fatores não testados podem estar contribuindo também para isso.