bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Explaining Hungary's powerful Constitutional Court: a bargaining approach
Authors: SCHIEMANN JOHN W.
Published: November 2002

Chosen during its negotiated
transition to democracy in 1989,
Hungary's Constitutional Court
has emerged as one of the most
powerful institutions of its kind.
Drawing on round table transcripts
and interviews with key
participants, this paper presents a
bargaining model of institutional
choice that demonstrates how
the greater patience of the
opposition parties forced the
ruling party to make significant
concessions that increased the
authority and independence of
the court.
La conduite automobile: un objet de recherche sociologique?
Authors: PERETTI-WATEL PATRICK
Published: November 2002

Car driving has received little
attention from sociologists.
Existing analyses highlight
the irrationality of drivers,
victims of an ‘illusion of
control’, a ‘bias of optimism’ or
influenced by social and cultural
factors. Using qualitative and
quantitative information, this
article suggests a new perspective,
in which driving is regarded
as a ‘social activity’ (in the Weberian
sense) and it is presumed
that drivers operate on a cognitive
rationality.
Social justice and the three worlds of welfare capitalism
Authors: MERKEL WOLFGANG
Published: November 2002

This essay relates the normative
discussion about social justice in
political philosophy to empirical
results from social policy analysis,
thus linking two lines of discussions
that have hitherto run
mostly separately. The argument
will be developed by answering
four questions. The normative
question: what regulative ideas
of social justice does the debate
about justice in political philosophy
supply? The action-theoretical
question: what criteria for
judgement and political preferences
can be found for a justice-oriented
politics? The empirical
question: how can the ‘three
worlds of welfare capitalism’ be
judged in the light of these hierarchically
ordered criteria of justice?
And finally the institutional
question: which logic should
underpin a reform of the welfare
state, if this reform is to be both
socially just and at the same time
realistically achievable.
Vila Maria Formation (Silurian, Paraná Basin, Brazil):
integrated radiometric and palynological age determinations
Authors: MIZUSAKI ANA M. P. , MELO JOSÉ HENRIQUE G. , VIGNOL-LELARGE MARIA L. , STEEMANS PHILIPPE
Published: November 2002

Fresh shale samples taken from a well-known outcrop section of the Silurian Vila Maria
Formation, located on the northeastern margin of the Paraná Basin (Três Barras Farm, Goiás State,
central-western Brazil), have been analysed for both palynological and radiometric age determinations.
The rocks yielded a fairly diverse, age-definitive cryptospore assemblage, and the same
samples proved suitable for Rb–Sr analysis, despite Silurian sedimentary rocks being rarely suited to
radiometric dating techniques. This study thus introduces an alternative, independent method for
estimating the minimum depositional age of the Vila Maria Formation. The Rb–Sr age value has been
calculated via an isochron diagram that yields 435.9±7.8 Ma. Accordingly, the latter value is interpreted
as the minimum depositional age of the analysed Vila Maria strata, implying their deposition
during Llandovery times. This concurs with the palynological results, which indicate an age no older
than Early Silurian and, more particularly, favour an Early to Middle Llandovery (Rhuddanian–Early
Aeronian) attribution.
Picritic magmas and the Rum ultramafic complex, Scotland
Authors: UPTON B. G. J. , SKOVGAARD A. C. , McCLURG J. , KIRSTEIN L. , CHEADLE M. , EMELEUS C. H. , WADSWORTH W. J. , FALLICK A. E.
Published: November 2002

Three small picritic dykes, intruded at a late stage in the evolution of the Rum basic–ultra-basic
complex, Inner Hebrides, shed new light on the nature of the magmas responsible for the main
complex. The magmas are of transitional (mildly alkalic) type, generated by relatively small-fraction
(6–7%) melting of a depleted mantle source. Melting is tentatively deduced to have commenced at
±100 km, straddling the garnet–spinel transition. Of the three samples, one (M9) is remarkable for the
preservation of very primitive characteristics, with olivines of Fo93 containing highly aluminous
spinels; these appear unique within the British Tertiary Volcanic Province. Sr, Nd and Pb isotopes
indicate only minor ([les ]4%) contamination with Precambrian crustal lithologies, reflecting the rapidity
of ascent of the magma batches. The Rum picrites have 187Os/188Os ratios and trace element characteristics
comparable to those of recent picrites from Iceland, suggesting minimal temporal change of
the depleted parts of the Iceland plume over 60 Ma. Movements of the Long Loch Fault may
have been instrumental in causing decompression melting of the spreading Iceland plume-head and
facilitating ascent of the melts to near-surface levels.
Isotopic stratigraphy suggests Neoproterozoic ages and
Laurentian ancestry for high-grade marbles from the
North-Central Norwegian Caledonides
Authors: MELEZHIK V. A. , GOROKHOV M. , FALLICK A. E. , ROBERTS D. , KUZNETSOV A. B. , ZWAAN K. B. , POKROVSKY B. G.
Published: November 2002

Carbon and strontium isotope stratigraphy has been applied to constrain the depositional
ages of high-grade marble sequences in the Ofoten district of the North-Central Norwegian
Caledonides. Two marble formations hosted by diverse schists from the Bogen Group, all previously
correlated over long distances with a Late Ordovician–Early Silurian, low-grade, fossiliferous succession,
have been studied for carbon, oxygen and strontium isotopes. The least altered 87Sr/86Sr ratios
ranging between 0.7062 and 0.7068, and the best preserved δ13C values falling between +5.0 and
+6.5‰ obtained from two marble formations, are consistent with a seawater composition in the time
interval 700–600 Ma. The results obtained do not support the previously proposed correlation of the
Bogen Group with an Ordovician–Silurian lithostratigraphic succession further north. The apparent
depositional ages suggest that the tectonostratigraphic succession studied is inverted and that the
tectonostratigraphy of the region requires revision. The Neoproterozoic depositional ages combined
with the palaeogeographic position of Baltica imply that carbonates were initially accumulated in seas
on a continental shelf, probably Laurentia, and were tectonically transported onto Baltica during
Early Silurian, Scandian collision, at c. 425 Ma. Prospecting for new dolomite marble deposits of the
Hekkelstrand type and carbonate-hosted manganese–iron ores should be restricted to 700–600 Ma
sequences in the Uppermost Allochthon of the Norwegian Caledonides.
Aristotle's Republic or, Why Aristotle's Ethics Is Not Virtue Ethics
Authors: Buckle Stephen
Published: November 2002

Modern virtue ethics is commonly presented as an alternative to Kantian and utilitarian views—to ethics focused on action and obligations—and it invokes Aristotle as a predecessor. This paper argues that the Nichomachean Ethics does not represent virtue ethics thus conceived, because the discussion of the virtues of character there serves a quasi-Platonic psychology: it is an account of how to tame the unruly (non-rational) elements of the human soul so that they can be ruled by reason and the laws it imposes. This is explicitly stated in Book X, where it is also affirmed that the question of which laws reason should impose is addressed in The Politics. The Ethics and Politics can therefore be seen as a unity—as Aristotle's version of Plato's Republic—and it is the failure to recognize this that explains Aristotle's misappropriation by the modern virtue ethicists.
Banking Regulation in Hard Times: Business Cycles, Bank Capital, and the Bank Failure - Credit Crunch Dilemma
Authors: Bernauer Thomas , Koubi Vally
Published: November 2002

Restrictive policies aimed at reducing the likelihood of bank failures during recessions tend to increase the probability of a credit crunch. We examine whether this policy-dilemma is empirically observable, and whether policy-makers concentrate more on preventing bank failures or avoiding a credit crunch. We find that although capital-asset ratios in the total population of US banks in the 1990s are pro-cyclical, the most vulnerable banks (substantially undercapitalized ones) tend to increase their capital-asset ratios during recessions. These findings suggest that policy-makers are indeed experiencing a dilemma, and that they try to balance the relative probabilities of the two evils: they force the weakest banks to improve their capital-asset ratios while mitigating the risk of a credit crunch by accepting a reduction in the capital-asset ratios of less vulnerable banks.
Currency Interdependence: What Economics has to say
Authors: Artis Michael
Published: November 2002

Examining the economic costs and benefits of currency union has value in itself and, insofar as policymakers take non-economic costs into account, doing so helps identify costs they are prepared to accept in order to achieve political objectives. Questions of policy competence have become more complex, however, since Mundell's seminal article of 1961. Krugman provides a simple framework for relating trade integration to currency area membership. Collectively, articles in this issue of the Journal of Public Policy support the conclusion that can also be drawn from reviewing the economic literature on currency union: the costs and benefits of currency union are contingent on many circumstances with the likelihood of contextual and temporal effects.
Beyond the Fringe: Finland and the Choice of Currency
Authors: Mayes David G. , Suvanto Antti
Published: November 2002

This paper seeks to explain why Finland, which is further from the main population and productive centres of Europe and arguably more different and more prone to asymmetric shocks than some countries that have chosen to stay out of Stage 3 of EMU, chose to participate. We argue that economically relatively marginal issues affected the choice. How the decision-making process is conducted can be as important as the balance of information on which the decision is based. We also use evidence after the event on how the economy reacts to show that some of the problems hypothesised beforehand have turned out rather more favourably than expected. In particular Finland has experienced a substantial positive asymmetric shock in the ICT sector where membership of EMU has had a very clear positive effect on the impact on the economy. Lastly we offer some limited evidence that membership of EMU itself forces some of the changes to institutions and behaviour that are required to cope with the new pressures.
National or International Inflation Targeting? The Wicksellian Dilemma of the Euro-outs
Authors: Jonung Lars
Published: November 2002

Inflation targeting is the monetary strategy of all EU member states; whether in the euro area, the two euro-outs, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The latter are now faced with two alternatives to achieve price stability: either remain outside the euro area or join it as full-fledged members. This paper examines this policy choice starting from the views of Knut Wicksell, who considered it in his 1920s analysis of an international monetary system based on price level targeting. Price stability could be achieved either within every country by maintaining flexible exchange rates or jointly on a global scale through a system of fixed exchange rates, that is through a monetary union. To him this was a choice between two ‘evils’: fluctuating price levels in the member states of a global monetary union while the average price level is maintained constant versus fluctuating exchange rates in the absence of a monetary union. To Wicksell, the choice of the proper route towards price stability was less complicated than today because he analysed it solely in monetary terms. The current choice for Sweden and the United Kingdom involves other crucial dimensions, such as the existence of nominal rigidities, and the politics of domestically issued money. Political aspects concerning the euro will be the ultimate determinants of the future monetary path for both countries.
In or Out: The Choice for Britain
Authors: Rollo Jim
Published: November 2002

The choice facing British government about maintaining the status quo for sterling or joining the euro is a choice between long-term policy regimes. Short-term considerations such as the relative position of business cycles or the current level of the sterling-euro exchange rate have a bearing on the adjustment costs and the timing of entry. The article therefore examines the EMU framework versus the British framework for monetary policy; the performance of economic policy in Britain and in Euroland, and especially Germany as Euroland's main precursor; the relevance to the adjustment costs of membership to the Maastricht criteria and the Chancellor of the Exchequer's five economic tests for joining the euro; and whether or not Britain can qualify for joining EMU. The analysis is broadened to include supporting policies for monetary policy, especially fiscal, labour market and other structural policies where relevant.
The relationship between the piano teacher in private practice and music in the National Curriculum
Authors: Goddard Elizabeth
Published: November 2002

This article, based on research for an MA (December 2000), investigates the connections between the private teacher and music in the National Curriculum. In the process present perceptions and practice are explored to gain a clearer understanding of the situation as it is today. Various ways of improving communications between schools and private teachers are looked at, with a view to helping the pupil feel that school and private lessons are working in harmony. From the research it has been found that an awareness exists of the need to develop teaching philosophies that relate the private lesson to music in the National Curriculum.
Music analysis in the practice room
Authors: Vaughan Victoria
Published: November 2002

This article examines the impact of analysis teaching on performance by documenting the progress of 12 students who took part in an advanced undergraduate class in music analysis. Each class participant was asked to keep a diary of their performances, both during practice time and in instrumental lessons, and these are documented and analysed. Finally, the students were given oral viva voce examinations. The data from this short qualitative study shows a variety of results that illustrate the extent to which individual students react to the teaching of music analysis in different ways.
Taking Up the Bet on Connections: a Municipal Contribution
Authors: Saunier Pierre-Yves
Published: November 2002

Globalisation, the buzzword of the late twentieth century, calls for the attention of historians. As others have already suggested, one way to contribute to the historicisation of the phenomena encapsulated in this idiom is to pay attention to connections over long periods. Connections between municipal governments and exchanges about the subject have both been neglected by historical scholarship for various reasons, but they can contribute to the history of the ‘construction of the universal’. Indeed, the information systems of municipal connections – their vectors, actors and structures – have defined, intersected with, nourished or undergone a series of would-be universalist ‘transboundary formations’. These formations are shifting combinations of values, collective actions, practices, rules, organisations and individuals, all of which are advanced as possible futures for mankind. By examining some of these discourses of ‘social order’ and ‘world order’ and the way in which they combine with municipal connections, this article attempts to produce the ‘municipal contribution’ announced in its title.
PROBLEM SOLVING AND REPETITION OF PARASUICIDE
Authors: McAuliffe Carmel , Keeley Helen S. , Corcoran Paul
Published: November 2002

Despite promising findings from problem-solving interventions in the treatment of parasuicide, little is known about problem-solving difficulties that distinguish “Non-Repeaters” from “Repeaters”. The present study examined whether problem-solving ability could be used to identify repeaters of parasuicide. Findings are presented from the follow-up part (N = 35) of a larger investigation (N = 146) of non-consecutive hospital-treated cases of parasuicide, interviewed by the National Suicide Research Foundation in Ireland as part of the WHO/EURO Multicentre Study on Suicidal Behaviour. The median interval from initial to follow-up interview was 15 months. The European Parasuicide Study Interview Schedule (EPSIS II) was used in the follow-up interview. Within this schedule, responses to a questionnaire measuring habitual problem-solving style were analysed. Repeaters scored significantly lower than non-repeaters on the following problem-solving dimensions: Active handling, Comforting cognitions and Seek social support. Repeaters scored significantly higher on the Passive reactions dimension. A logistic regression model including these four problem-solving dimensions correctly identified 79% of the repeaters and 82% of the non-repeaters. Despite the limitations of this sample size, these significant differences in problem solving have implications for the treatment of parasuicide. Further work, using larger samples, is required.
EFFECT OF GUIDED IMAGERY ON CHILDREN'S SOCIAL PERFORMANCE
Authors: Hernández-Guzmán Laura , González Socorro , López Florente
Published: November 2002

The study examined the effect of guided imagery on overt social behavior of children during free play. Forty withdrawn and rejected first-graders (6 to 8 years of age) were randomly assigned to one of five conditions. Four of them were guided imagery conditions: mastery plus peer acceptance, mastery with no social contingency, coping, and gradual rehearsal. A fifth control condition involved no intervention. It was predicted that the four imagery conditions would increase and maintain positive socialization, but the coping condition would be the most effective. Children under the coping condition, which involved guided imagery of failure to get peer acceptance, but progressively mastering the social interaction and finally being accepted by peers, consistently increased positive socialization behaviors from baseline to post-treatment and follow-up, as compared to gradual rehearsal and control. Both mastery conditions increased socialization at post-treatment, but reverted to baseline levels during follow-up.
BRIEF PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENT FOR THE RELIEF OF PANIC DISORDER
Authors: Elsesser Karin , Mosch Angelika , Sartory Gudrun
Published: November 2002

This study compared complaints management training and cognitive therapy (reattribution) in treating panic disorder. Both treatment groups received three sessions with initial psychoeducation. Thirty patients with panic disorder took part in the study. Assessments were carried out before and after treatment and again at a 4-week follow-up. Both groups showed similarly significant improvements and maintenance of the clinical change over the follow-up period. It is concluded that the initial psychoeducation, which conveyed to patients the cognitive-behavioural model of panic disorder, contributed to the treatment outcome.
Hindus Beyond the Hindu Kush: Indians in the Central Asian Slave Trade
Authors: Levi Scott C.
Published: November 2002

Historical analyses of slavery in India generally emphasize the escalation of this social institution during the era of Muslim domination in north India. The present study is not an exception to this rule. However, while historical records make it clear that the Delhi Sultans and Mughal emperors retained slavery in order to suit their political and economic needs, it should be emphasized that Muslim rulers did not introduce slavery to the subcontinent. Sources such as the Arthaśāstra, the Manu-smrti and the Mahābhārata demonstrate that institutionalized slavery was well established in India by the beginning of the common era. Earlier sources suggest that it was likely to have been equally widespread by the lifetime of the Buddha (sixth century BC), and perhaps even as far back as the Vedic period. Furthermore, just as slavery was common in India long before the eighth-century Islamic conquests in Sind, recent work demonstrates that the institution continued, in various manifestations, well after the decentralization of the Mughal Empire in the early eighteenth century. Still, it is argued here that the expansion of slavery in Muslim India is an important component of the medieval and early modern history of the region and, at least in terms of its role in the commercial and cultural relations of India and Central Asia, it is a subject that would benefit from further historical analysis.
Son of Heaven and Son of God: Interactions among Ancient Asiatic Cultures regarding Sacral Kingship and Theophoric Names
Authors: Chen Sanping
Published: November 2002

This article examines the interrelationship and interactions between the notions of Son of Heaven and Son of God with respect to sacral kingship in Inner and East Asia by first uncovering a previously unnoticed synthesis of the two in ancient Inner Asia. The author argues that the Chinese belief of “heaven” and related political and religious concepts may share a common origin with parallel notions in Altaic cultures, possibly intertwined with Indo-European elements. Nevertheless, by studying theophoric names, which existed in all major Old World civilizations except early China, he demonstrates the distinctness of Chinese civilization, as well as the extensive pre-Islamic Iranic influences in East Asia.
Early Buddhist Use of Two Western Themes
Authors: Derrett J. Duncan M.
Published: November 2002

For about 150 years scholars of unusual temerity have asserted that themes found in Buddhist texts, many of them celebrated in surviving Buddhist sculpture, can be found in the New Testament in more or less recognizable forms. If this were true, as in the case of Japanese philosophy showing through the work of M. Heidegger, students of the New Testament, already overburdened with conspissated conjectures, would be obliged to enter into a field which is not only unfamiliar to them, but, as a rival, unsympathetic. Few would take on such an adventure gratis. It has been shown elsewhere that parallels can be sorted into those which could have arisen anywhere, being invented many times over (such as the Golden Rule); those which are unlikely to have been invented more than once, but which can be attributed to one culture or the other, without hope of our deciding which is earlier; and finally those which are completely at home in one culture (say the Jewish) and exotic in the other (say the Buddhist), so that the conjecture that the latter “borrowed” from the former is attractive.
Smallholding, Hobby-Farming, and Commercial Farming: Ethical Identities and the Production of Farming Spaces
Authors: Holloway Lewis
Published: November 2002

This paper explores the production of farming identities and spaces, focusing especially on the relational construction of situated ethical identities. Using three case studies drawn from research with very small-scale farmers, the author examines processes of identification, drawing on ideas which suggest the importance of encounter, farming discourse, physical relation and heterogeneous association in the emergence of ethical identity in specific farming situations and places. The case studies examine the ethical positioning of interviewees, and their mobility of ethical identification, in relation to ‘other’ types of farmer and the human and nonhuman components of their farming assemblages. The paper illustrates the importance of examining situated farming moralities and identities in current debates over alternative ways of thinking about and practising agriculture, and over different ways of using rural space.
Changes in the Proliferative Activity of Human Hematopoietic Stem Cells in NOD/SCID Mice and Enhancement of Their Transplantability after In Vivo Treatment with Cell Cycle Inhibitors
Authors: Cashman J. , Dykstra B. , Clark-Lewis I. , Eaves A. , Eaves C.
Published: November 2002

Human hematopoietic tissue contains rare stem cells with multilineage reconstituting ability demonstrable in receptive xenogeneic hosts. We now show that within 3 wk nonobese diabetic severe combined immunodeficiency (NOD/SCID) mice transplanted with human fetal liver cells regenerate near maximum levels of daughter human hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) able to repopulate secondary NOD/SCID mice. At this time, most of the human HSCs (and other primitive progenitors) are actively proliferating as shown by their sensitivity to treatments that kill cycling cells selectively (e.g., exposure to high specific-activity [3H]thymidine in vitro or 5-fluorouracil in vivo). Interestingly, the proliferating human HSCs were rapidly forced into quiescence by in vivo administration of stromal-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) and this was accompanied by a marked increase in the numbers of human HSCs detectable. A similar result was obtained when transforming growth factor-β was injected, consistent with a reversible change in HSCs engrafting potential linked to changes in their cell cycle status. By 12 wk after transplant, most of the human HSCs had already entered Go and treatment with SDF-1 had no effect on their engrafting activity. These findings point to the existence of novel mechanisms by which inhibitors of HSC cycling can regulate the engrafting ability of human HSCs executing self-renewal divisions in vivo.
PECAM-1 (CD31) Homophilic Interaction Up-Regulates α6β1 on Transmigrated Neutrophils In Vivo and Plays a Functional Role in the Ability of α6 Integrins to Mediate Leukocyte Migration through the Perivascular Basement Membrane
Authors: Dangerfield John , Larbi Karen Y. , Huang Miao-Tzu , Dewar Ann , Nourshargh Sussan
Published: November 2002

Platelet-endothelial cell adhesion molecule (PECAM)-1 has been implicated in leukocyte migration through the perivascular basement membrane (PBM) though the mechanisms involved are unclear. The present results demonstrate that the ability of α6 integrins to mediate neutrophil migration through the PBM is PECAM-1 dependent, a response associated with PECAM-1–mediated increased expression of α6β1 on transmigrating neutrophils in vivo. An anti-α6 integrins mAb (GoH3) inhibited (78%, P < 0.001) neutrophil migration through interleukin (IL)-1β–stimulated cremasteric venules, primarily at the level of the PBM, as analyzed by intravital and electron microscopy. In PECAM-1–deficient mice (KO), a reduced level of neutrophil transmigration elicited by IL-1β (4-h reaction) was observed in both the cremaster muscle (55% inhibition, P < 0.05) and in the peritoneum (57% inhibition, P < 0.01) but GoH3 had no additional inhibitory effect on these responses. FACS® analysis of neutrophils demonstrated increased expression of α6β1 on transmigrated peritoneal neutrophils, as compared with blood neutrophils, in wild-type but not KO mice even though neutrophils from both strains of mice exhibited comparable levels of intracellular expression of α6 as observed by immunofluorescent staining and confocal microscopy. Furthermore, mice deficient in either leukocyte or endothelial cell PECAM-1, as developed by bone marrow transplantation, demonstrated a similar level of reduced neutrophil transmigration and expression of α6β1 on transmigrated neutrophils as that detected in KO mice.

The results demonstrate a role for PECAM-1 homophilic interaction in neutrophil transmigration and increased expression of α6β1 on the cell surface of transmigrated neutrophils in vivo, a response that could contribute to the mechanism of PECAM-1–mediated neutrophil migration through the PBM.
A Key Role for Old Yellow Enzyme in the Metabolism of Drugs by Trypanosoma cruzi
Authors: Kubata Bruno Kilunga , Kabututu Zakayi , Nozaki Tomoyoshi , Munday Craig J. , Fukuzumi Shunichi , Ohkubo Kei , Lazarus Michael , Maruyama Toshihiko , Martin Samuel K. , Duszenko Michael , Urade Yoshihiro
Published: November 2002

Trypanosoma cruzi is the etiological agent of Chagas' disease. So far, first choice anti-chagasic drugs in use have been shown to have undesirable side effects in addition to the emergence of parasite resistance and the lack of prospect for vaccine against T. cruzi infection. Thus, the isolation and characterization of molecules essential in parasite metabolism of the anti-chagasic drugs are fundamental for the development of new strategies for rational drug design and/or the improvement of the current chemotherapy. While searching for a prostaglandin (PG) F2α synthase homologue, we have identified a novel “old yellow enzyme” from T. cruzi (TcOYE), cloned its cDNA, and overexpressed the recombinant enzyme. Here, we show that TcOYE reduced 9,11-endoperoxide PGH2 to PGF2α as well as a variety of trypanocidal drugs. By electron spin resonance experiments, we found that TcOYE specifically catalyzed one-electron reduction of menadione and β-lapachone to semiquinone-free radicals with concomitant generation of superoxide radical anions, while catalyzing solely the two-electron reduction of nifurtimox and 4-nitroquinoline-N-oxide drugs without free radical production. Interestingly, immunoprecipitation experiments revealed that anti-TcOYE polyclonal antibody abolished major reductase activities of the lysates toward these drugs, identifying TcOYE as a key drug-metabolizing enzyme by which quinone drugs have their mechanism of action.
B Lymphocyte Memory
Authors: Barrington Robert A. , Pozdnyakova Olga , Zafari Mohammad R. , Benjamin Christopher D. , Carroll Michael C.
Published: November 2002

To dissect the influence of CD21/CD35 and FcγRIIB in antigen retention and humoral memory, we used an adoptive transfer model in which antigen-primed B and T lymphocytes were given to sublethally irradiated wild-type mice or mice deficient in CD21/CD35 (Cr2−/−) or FcγRIIB receptors (FcγRIIB−/−). Cr2−/− chimeras showed impaired memory as characterized by a decrease in antibody titer, reduced frequency of antibody secreting cells, an absence of affinity maturation, and significantly reduced recall response. The impaired memory in Cr2−/− chimeras corresponded with the reduced frequency of antigen-specific memory B cells. Interestingly, FcγRIIB−/− chimeras showed a differential phenotype with impaired splenic but normal bone marrow responses. These data suggest that CD21/CD35 on stroma, including follicular dendritic cells, is critical to the maintenance of long-term B lymphocyte memory.
Radial temperature distributions of C6+ions in the TEXTOR edge plasma measured with lithium beam activated charge exchange spectroscopy
Authors: R.P. Schorn  , E. Wolfrum  , F. Aumayr  , E. Hintz  , D. Rusbüldt  , H. Winter
Published: November 2002

A new method of obtaining the temperature of highly charged carbon ions in the boundary layer of tokamak discharges is described. Lithium beam activated charge exchange spectroscopy (Li-CXS) has been employed to measure the spectral profiles of the optical radiation following the electron transfer between impurity ions and a neutral lithium diagnostic beam. By assuming a Maxwellian velocity distribution, ion temperatures are deduced fitting a Gaussian profile to Doppler broadened charge emission lines. Additional line broadening caused by magnetic fields (Zeeman effect) and collisional l-level mixing of the upper electronic state, which may both give rise to several overlapping transitions of slightly different wavelengths, is discussed. The method does not depend on the presence of neutral injection heating beams and is therefore useful for investigating various heating situations, such as Ohmic discharges, beam heated plasmas and high frequency heated plasmas, as well as combinations thereof. The authors present measurements of ohmically heated and beam heated discharges and discusses their implications with regard to the determination of the plasma D+temperature and the amount of carbon removed from limiter surfaces owing to C6+to C self-sputtering
Response of bootstrap current and electron thermal conductivity to shaping in an ECRH plasma in the CHS heliotron/torsatron
Authors: H. Yamada  , S. Kubo  , K. Watanabe  , H. Iguchi  , S. Okamura  , S. Morita  , H. Idei  , I. Yamada  , H. Arimoto  , K. Matsuoka  , K. Nishimura  , S. Sakakibara  , C. Takahashi  , Y. Takita
Published: November 2002

The bootstrap current and electron thermal conductivity have been investigated in ECRH plasmas on the CHS heliotron/torsatron. The neoclassical transport coefficients have been externally controlled over a wide range by changing the ellipticity of the plasma cross-section. While local thermal conductivity, as well as global confinement, have shown inconsistency with the neoclassical predictions, the observed toroidal net current has been successfully explained by considering the three dimensional geometry with the available neoclassical theory. The present experimental results indicate that the transport parallel to the magnetic field lines (bootstrap current) is likely to be neoclassical but that the perpendicular transport (thermal conductivity) is anomalous, which is common in current less plasmas as well as tokamaks
Systematic Learning of Gene Functional Classes From DNA Array Expression Data by Using Multilayer Perceptrons
Authors: Mateos Alvaro , Dopazo Joaquı́n , Jansen Ronald , Tu Yuhai , Gerstein Mark , Stolovitzky Gustavo
Published: November 2002

Recent advances in microarray technology have opened new ways for functional annotation of previously uncharacterised genes on a genomic scale. This has been demonstrated by unsupervised clustering of co-expressed genes and, more importantly, by supervised learning algorithms. Using prior knowledge, these algorithms can assign functional annotations based on more complex expression signatures found in existing functional classes. Previously, support vector machines (SVMs) and other machine-learning methods have been applied to a limited number of functional classes for this purpose. Here we present, for the first time, the comprehensive application of supervised neural networks (SNNs) for functional annotation. Our study is novel in that we report systematic results for ∼100 classes in the Munich Information Center for Protein Sequences (MIPS) functional catalog. We found that only ∼10% of these are learnable (based on the rate of false negatives). A closer analysis reveals that false positives (and negatives) in a machine-learning context are not necessarily “false” in a biological sense. We show that the high degree of interconnections among functional classes confounds the signatures that ought to be learned for a unique class. We term this the “Borges effect” and introduce two new numerical indices for its quantification. Our analysis indicates that classification systems with a lower Borges effect are better suitable for machine learning. Furthermore, we introduce a learning procedure for combining false positives with the original class. We show that in a few iterations this process converges to a gene set that is learnable with considerably low rates of false positives and negatives and contains genes that are biologically related to the original class, allowing for a coarse reconstruction of the interactions between associated biological pathways. We exemplify this methodology using the well-studied tricarboxylic acid cycle.
Structural Characterization of the Human Proteome
Authors: Müller Arne , MacCallum Robert M. , Sternberg Michael J.E.
Published: November 2002

This paper reports an analysis of the encoded proteins (the proteome) of the genomes of human, fly, worm, yeast, and representatives of bacteria and archaea in terms of the three-dimensional structures of their globular domains together with a general sequence-based study. We show that 39% of the human proteome can be assigned to known structures. We estimate that for 77% of the proteome, there is some functional annotation, but only 26% of the proteome can be assigned to standard sequence motifs that characterize function. Of the human protein sequences, 13% are transmembrane proteins, but only 3% of the residues in the proteome form membrane-spanning regions. There are substantial differences in the composition of globular domains of transmembrane proteins between the proteomes we have analyzed. Commonly occurring structural superfamilies are identified within the proteome. The frequencies of these superfamilies enable us to estimate that 98% of the human proteome evolved by domain duplication, with four of the 10 most duplicated superfamilies specific for multicellular organisms. The zinc-finger superfamily is massively duplicated in human compared to fly and worm, and occurrence of domains in repeats is more common in metazoa than in single cellular organisms. Structural superfamilies over- and underrepresented in human disease genes have been identified. Data and results can be downloaded and analyzed via web-based applications athttp://www.sbg.bio.ic.ac.uk.

[Supplemental material is available online at http://www.genome.org.]
Detection of Peptides, Proteins, and Drugs That Selectively Interact With Protein Targets
Authors: Serebriiskii Ilya G. , Mitina Olga , Pugacheva Elena N. , Benevolenskaya Elizaveta , Kotova Elena , Toby Garabet G. , Khazak Vladimir , Kaelin William G. , Chernoff Jonathan , Golemis Erica A.
Published: November 2002

Genome sequencing has been completed for multiple organisms, and pilot proteomic analyses reported for yeast and higher eukaryotes. This work has emphasized the facts that proteins are frequently engaged in multiple interactions, and that governance of protein interaction specificity is a primary means of regulating biological systems. In particular, the ability to deconvolute complex protein interaction networks to identify which interactions govern specific signaling pathways requires the generation of biological tools that allow the distinction of critical from noncritical interactions. We report the application of an enhanced Dual Bait two-hybrid system to allow detection and manipulation of highly specific protein–protein interactions. We summarize the use of this system to detect proteins and peptides that target well-defined specific motifs in larger protein structures, to facilitate rapid identification of specific interactors from a pool of putative interacting proteins obtained in a library screen, and to score specific drug-mediated disruption of protein–protein interaction.

[Supplemental material is available online at http://www.genome.org. The following individuals kindly provided reagents, samples, or unpublished information as indicated in the paper: A. Taliana, M. Russell, M. Berman, and R. Finley.]
The Effects of Primary Thoracic Blast Injury and Morphine on the Response to Haemorrhage in the Anaesthetised Rat
Authors: Sawdon M. , Ohnishi M. , Watkins P. E. , Kirkman E.
Published: November 2002

Primary thoracic blast injury causes a triad of bradycardia, hypotension and apnoea mediated in part via a vagal reflex. Blast casualties may also suffer blood loss, and the response to progressive simple haemorrhage is biphasic: an initial tachycardia followed by a vagally mediated reflex bradycardia which can be attenuated by μ opioid agonists. The aims of this study were to determine the effects of thoracic blast injury on the response to subsequent haemorrhage, and the effects of morphine, administered after blast, on the response to blood loss. Male Wistar rats, terminally anaesthetised with alphadolone‐alphaxolone (19‐21 mg kg−1 h−1 I.V.), were allocated randomly to one of three groups: Group I, sham blast; Group II, thoracic blast; Group III, thoracic blast plus morphine (0.5 mg kg−1 I.V. given 5 min after blast). Blast (Groups II and III) resulted in significant (P < 0.05, ANOVA) bradycardia, hypotension and apnoea. Sham blast (Group I) had no effect. Ten minutes later, haemorrhage (40% of the estimated total blood volume (BV)) in Group I produced a biphasic response comprising a tachycardia followed by a peak bradycardia after the loss of 33% BV. Arterial blood pressure did not fall significantly until the loss of 13.3% BV. In Group II the haemorrhage‐induced tachycardia was absent and the bradycardia was augmented: peak bradycardia was seen after the loss of 23% BV. Mean arterial blood pressure (MBP) began to fall as soon as haemorrhage commenced and was significant after the loss of 10% BV. Morphine (Group III) prevented the haemorrhage‐induced bradycardia and delayed the significant fall in MBP until the loss of 30% BV. It is concluded that the response to thoracic blast injury augments the depressor response to haemorrhage while morphine attenuates this response.
The Length of Cooperative Units on the Thin Filament in Rabbit Psoas Muscle Fibres
Authors: Ding Wei , Fujita Hideaki , Kawai Masataka
Published: November 2002

The length of cooperative units along the thin filament of rabbit psoas single muscle fibres was determined by reducing filament length by treatment with the thin filament severing protein, gelsolin, in the presence of Ca2+ and 2,3‐butanedione 2‐monoxime (BDM). The average time for 50% reduction in isometric tension was 6.7 min at 22 °C. The pCa‐tension relationship was measured at 22 °C, pH 7.00 and ionic strength 200 mM, and the data were fitted to the Hill equation to determine the half‐saturation point (K) and the cooperativity (n). Our results demonstrate that the cooperativity does not change much when the remaining isometric tension was in the range 20‐100%. The cooperativity quickly diminished when the remaining tension was reduced to less than 20%. Our results further demonstrate that the change in the pK value was minimal and averaged 0.075 (less Ca2+ sensitive) as the thin filament length was reduced. We infer from the first observation that the thin filament cooperativity extends up to 0.2 μm, which includes the maximum of about four basic cooperative units consisting of seven actin molecules, one tropomyosin dimer and one troponin complex. We infer from the second observation that the Ca2+ sensitivity is slightly reduced by removal of the cooperative interaction between neighbouring cooperative units.
Remote Noxious Stimuli Modulate Jaw Reflexes Evoked by Activation of Periodontal Ligament Mechanoreceptors in Man
Authors: Mason Andrew G. , Scott Brendan J. J. , van der Glas Hilbert W. , Linden Roger W. A. , Cadden Samuel W.
Published: November 2002

The purpose of the study was to investigate whether jaw reflexes evoked by selective stimulation of periodontal ligament mechanoreceptors are susceptible to modulation by remote noxious stimulation. Experiments were performed on 10 volunteer subjects. Skin surface recordings were made from the jaw‐closing masseter muscle. The subjects activated the muscle to approximately 10% of maximum by biting on a rubber impression of their molar teeth while they received visual feedback of the electromyogram (EMG) of the muscle. Reflexes were produced by the application of gentle mechanical stimuli to an upper central incisor tooth. The stimuli were in the form of ‘ramp and hold’ forces with a 5 ms rise‐time and a 1.5 N plateau which lasted 350 ms. The resulting reflexes were recorded both under control conditions and while the subjects received a remote noxious stimulus (immersion of a hand in water at 3 °C). In all 10 subjects, the stimuli produced a single period of inhibition of masseteric activity (latency, 12.8 ± 0.4 ms; duration, 18.1 ± 1.3 ms; means ± S.E.M.), which was usually followed by a period of increased masseteric activity. The period of inhibition constituted a downward wave in full‐wave rectified, averaged signals. The integrals of such waves were significantly smaller (by 17 ± 6.5%; P = 0.027; Student's t test) when the reflex was evoked during remote noxious stimulation rather than under control conditions. As such reflexes are believed to play a modulatory role during normal oral function, this finding may be relevant to disorders of mastication associated with pain.
Comparing productionbiomass ratios of benthos and suprabenthos in macrofaunal marine crustaceans
Authors: Cartes J E , Brey T , Sorbe J C , Maynou F
Published: November 2002

Using available data from the literature, we compared the productionbiomass ratios (P/B) between the suprabenthic (= hyperbenthic) and the benthic (infaunaepifauna) species within the group of the macrofaunal marine crustaceans. This data set consists of 91 P/B estimates (26 for suprabenthos and 65 for infaunaepifauna) for 49 different species. Suprabenthic crustacean P/B was significantly higher than P/B of benthic crustacean (post-hoc Scheffé test; one-way analysis of covariance, ANCOVA; p < 103) and also of other (noncrustacean) benthic invertebrate (p < 104). Predictive multilinear regression (MLR) analysis for macrofaunal marine crustaceans showed P/B to depend significantly on mean annual temperature (T) and mean individual weight (W) (R2 = 0.367). Adding the variable swimming capacity increased goodness-of-fit to R2 = 0.528. The higher P/B of suprabenthic (= swimming) macrofauna in comparison with that of the benthic compartment seems to be related to the most apparent feature of the suprabenthos, its swimming capacity. The high P/Bs reported for suprabenthic species indicate how a nontrivial part of benthic production can be ignored if suprabenthos is not well sampled, therefore biasing the models of energy flow generated for trophic webs.
Optimal in-season management of pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) given uncertain run sizes and seasonal changes in economic value
Authors: Su Zhenming , Adkison Milo D
Published: November 2002

In this study, we developed a stochastic simulation model that simulates the in-season abundance dynamics of pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) stocks, the fleet dynamics, and management of purse seine fisheries in the northern Southeast Alaska inside waters. Uncertainties in annual stock size and run timing, fleet dynamics, and both preseason and in-season forecasts were accounted for explicitly in this simulation. The simulation model was applied to evaluating four kinds of management strategies with different fishing opening schedules and decision rules. The ranking of the management strategies is apparently determined by the evaluation criteria applied. When only flesh quality is concerned, both the current and a more aggressive strategy, as long as they adapted themselves to the run strength, were able to provide higher quality fish without compromising the escapement objectives. When the value of the eggs is also a concern, the management strategies that have more intensive late opening schedules might be preferable. When both flesh quality and the value of eggs are considered, the ranking of the management strategies depends on the timing of the stocks.
Enhancing the reproductive potential of local populations of coastal Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua)
Authors: Wroblewski J S , Hiscock H W
Published: November 2002

We investigate the feasibility of enhancing the reproductive potential of northern Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.) populations resident in Newfoundland and Labrador bays by "catch, grow out, and release". This entails trapping juvenile and young adult fish from the local population, increasing their growth, maturation rate, and potential fecundity by feeding them a natural diet in net pens, and then returning the fish to their natal bay habitat to spawn. To determine whether multiyear farming affects spawning success, we determined the spawning period and egg quality of cod held in captivity for three growth seasons. Farmed cod spawned in a net pen concurrently with wild cod in Trinity Bay during 1995 and produced fertilized eggs from which viable larvae hatched. Sonic tracking showed that cod farmed for 3 years and then released reintegrated with wild cod aggregations over known spawning grounds. Recaptures of tagged fish several years after release suggest that farmed fish remained in the bay as members of the resident population. Fishing mortality (bycatch in coastal fisheries for lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus) and winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus)) of released farmed cod was not negligible, emphasizing that any enhancement effort must be carried out under a complete fishing moratorium.