bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Artificial tumor model suitable for monitoring 31P and 13C NMR spectroscopic changes during chemotherapy‐induced apoptosis in human glioma cells
Authors: Mancuso Anthony , Zhu Aizhi , Beardsley Nancy J. , Glickson Jerry D. , Wehrli Suzanne , Pickup Stephen
Published: June 2005

An artificial tumor method was developed to study cells inside the sensitive volume of an NMR spectrometer during growth and apoptosis. The tumor was composed of a 50:50 mixture of tightly packed porous‐collagen and nonporous‐polystyrene microspheres. The porous collagen served as a growth surface for the tumor cells, and the nonporous polystyrene served as a structural support to limit compression of the packed bed during perfusion. The microspheres were held between two porous polyethylene discs that were tightly sealed inside the NMR perfusion chamber. The new method was evaluated with two cell types: a mouse mammary tumor line (EMT6/SF) and a human glioma line (SF188). The results indicate that for both lines, ∼109 metabolically active cells could be sustained for at least 1 week in the 12‐cm3 artificial tumor. Further, cells undergoing chemotherapy‐induced apoptosis (which is known to cause detachment of cells from their surroundings) were retained in the artificial tumor. In preliminary 31P NMR studies, glioma cells treated with temozolomide (TMZ) exhibited reduced phosphocholine (PCh) levels relative to glycerophosphocholine (GPC) and diphosphodiester (DPDE) levels. They also exhibited sharply reduced oxygen consumption and TCA cycle 13C labeling, while they retained glycolytic activity. These metabolic changes are consistent with those that would be expected during mitochondrially‐mediated apoptosis. Magn Reson Med 54:67–78, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Fast high‐resolution T1 mapping of the human brain
Authors: Deichmann Ralf
Published: June 2005

A sequence for the acquisition of high‐resolution T1 maps, based on magnetization‐prepared multislice fast low‐angle shot (FLASH) imaging, is presented. In contrast to similar methods, no saturation pulses are used, resulting in an increased dynamic range of the relaxation process. Furthermore, it is possible to acquire data during all relaxation delays because only slice‐selective radiofrequency (RF) pulses are used for inversion and excitation. This allows for a reduction of the total acquisition time, or scanning with a reduced bandwidth, which improves the signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR). The method generates quantitative T1 maps with an in‐plane resolution of 1 mm, slice thickness of 4 mm, and whole‐brain coverage in a clinically acceptable imaging time of about 19 s per slice. It is shown that the use of off‐center RF pulses does not result in imperfect inversion or magnetization transfer (MT) effects. In addition, an improved fitting algorithm based on smoothed flip angle maps is presented and tested successfully. Magn Reson Med 54:20–27, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Facility location for an extraterrestrial production/distribution system
Authors: McKendree Thomas L. , Hall Randolph
Published: June 2005

This paper extends traditional production/distribution system analysis to address raw material, factories, and markets located beyond Earth. It explains the eventual advantages of such operations and discusses likely sites in the solar system. It furnishes a typology for production/distribution systems, assessing the fit of each type to space operations. It briefly reviews the physics of orbits. It develops transportation and inventory cost functions for the simplest case of Hohmann trajectories, and for transportation between circular orbits of similar radii using higher‐energy trajectories. These cost functions are used to derive a model of production/distribution system cost, the minimization of which selects an optimal factory location. The paper suggests potential extensions to this work, and concludes with ideas for location research on the novel reaches of extraterrestrial space. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2005.
Unique catalytic behavior of chromium complexes having halogenated bis(imino)pyridine ligands for ethylene polymerization
Authors: Nakayama Yuushou , Sogo Kenji , Yasuda Hajime , Shiono Takeshi
Published: June 2005

Reactions of CrCl3(thf)3 with bis(imino)pyridines gave a series of {bis(imino)pyridine}chromium(III) trichloride complexes, {2,6‐(RNCMe)2C5H3N}CrCl3 [R = C6HPr2‐2,6 (1), C6H3Et2‐2,6 (2), C6H3Me2‐2,6 (3), C6H2Me3‐2,4,6 (4), C6H3Me2‐3,5 (5), C6H5 (6), cyclohexyl (7), 2‐methyl‐1‐naphthyl (8), C6H3F2‐2,6 (9), C6H3Br2‐2,6 (10), C6F5 (11)]. Pseudo‐octahedral geometries of 6, 10, and 11 were revealed by X‐ray crystallography. The complexes having bulky substituents such as 1–4 showed high activity for ethylene polymerization in combination with modified methylaluminoxane (MMAO) to give linear polyethylenes. In sharp contrast, the pentafluorophenyl complex 11/modified methylaluminoxane system was found to be moderately active for ethylene homopolymerization to give moderately branched polyethylene with only ethyl branches. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 3368–3375, 2005
Hyperbranched polyesters based on polycondensation of 1,3,5‐tris(2‐hydroxyethyl) cyanuric acid and 3,5‐dihydroxybenzoic acid
Authors: Mansour S. H. , Rozik N. N. , Dirnberger K. , Ikladious N. E.
Published: June 2005

A series of hyperbranched polyesters was produced by the condensation of the monomer 3,5‐dihydroxybenzoic acid with 1,3,5‐tris(2‐hydroxyethyl) cyanuric acid as a trifunctional central core. The monomer‐to‐core ratio was varied between 3 and 45. The resulting polymers were phenolic‐terminated polyesters. The degree of branching of the polyesters was calculated according to the method described by Fréchet and was found to be in the range of 0.7–0.8. The number‐average molecular weights calculated via 1H NMR spectroscopic degree‐of‐polymerization values are in reasonable agreement with the predicted values derived from the monomer‐to‐core ratio for all prepared polyesters. Thermal and photophysical properties were also studied. Glass‐transition temperatures were determined by differential scanning calorimetry and were found to be relatively independent of the theoretical molar mass. The polyesters were found to be blue emitters, and the solutions exhibited intense fluorescence, with a maximum of 430 nm. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 3278–3288, 2005
The effect of insecticide on adipokinetic hormone titre in the insect body
Authors: Kodrík Dalibor , Socha Radomír
Published: June 2005

The effect of an insecticide, permethrin (Ambush 25 EC), on the titre of two adipokinetic hormones in the central nervous system (CNS) and haemolymph of the firebug Pyrrhocoris apterus (L) was tested. Doses of 2.5, 12.5 and 25 ng of the insecticide elicited no significant effect on the titre of the adipokinetic peptides in CNS, but caused their dramatic elevation in the haemolymph of both macropterous and reproductive brachypterous bugs. Changes in diapausing brachypterous bugs were minimal and not significant. Using high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and competitive ELISA, both adipokinetic peptides of P apterus (Pyrap‐AKH and Peram‐CAH‐II) were identified and quantified in the CNS of all experimental groups. The ratios of the two peptides in the CNS of the bugs used were affected by insecticide treatment, but in all three groups of bugs the Pyrap‐AKH level remained dominant. The insecticide‐treated bugs were compared with those exposed to forced running (shaking) and dark shock. Both factors also acted as stressors and enhanced the titre of adipokinetic peptides in the haemolymph but had no effect on hormone titre in CNS. The results indicate an involvement of adipokinetic peptides in the response of insect to various stressors including insecticides. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry
Off‐axis donors in quasi‐two‐dimensional quantum dots with cylindrical symmetry
Authors: Mikhailov I. D. , Marín J. H. , García F.
Published: June 2005

We propose a simple method for calculating the on‐ and off‐axis neutral and negatively charged donors in axially symmetrical quantum dots whose thickness is much smaller than the base diameter. The adiabatic approximation is used to separate the slow in‐plane motion from the rapid transversal displacements. We show that the low‐lying free electron levels can be found by solving a two‐dimensional central force problem with effective potential whose shape strongly depends on the quantum dot profile in radial direction. The energies of the off‐axis neutral and negatively charged donors are calculated by using fractal dimension method. Novel curves and contour plots for the energies of donors confined in quantum disks, lens, pyramids and rings as functions of the base radius and the distance from the axis are presented. (© 2005 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Comparison of density functional theory predictions of gas‐phase deprotonation data
Authors: Liptak Matthew D. , Shields George C.
Published: June 2005

The SVWN, BVWN, BP86, BLYP, BPW91, B3P86, B3LYP, B3PW91, B1LYP, mPW1PW, and PBE1PBE density functionals, as implemented in Gaussian 98 and Gaussian 03, were used to calculate ΔG0 and ΔH0 values for 17 deprotonation reactions where the experimental values are accurately known. The PBE1PBE and B3P86 functionals are shown to compute results with accuracy comparable to more computationally intensive compound model chemistries. A rationale for the relative performance of various functionals is explored. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2005
Localized molecular orbitals in the Hückel model of perturbed alternant hydrocarbons and their relation to the charge–bond order matrix
Authors: Gineityte V.
Published: June 2005

An interrelation is expected between the charge–bond order matrix and the relevant representation matrix of noncanonical (localized) molecular orbitals (NCMOs) of perturbed alternant hydrocarbons (PAHs), as was the case with parent AHs. Accordingly, a single procedure is developed to obtain these matrices directly on the basis of solution of respective noncanonical one‐electron problems in the framework of the simple Hückel model, i.e., of the commutation equation for the one‐electron density matrix and of the block‐diagonalization problem for the Hamiltonian matrix, the latter originating from the Brillouin theorem. The procedure consists of three principal steps: (i) an initial passing to the basis of NCMOs of parent AHs by means of the nonperturbative block diagonalization of the relevant common Hamiltonian matrix (H) represented in the basis of 2pz AOs of carbon atoms; followed by (ii) application of the noncommutative Rayleigh–Schrödinger perturbation theory to solve the above‐specified noncanonical problems; and (iii) subsequent retransformation of the power series obtained into the initial basis of 2pz AOs. Rederivation of the classical results concerning the charge and bond order redistributions in AHs due to perturbation (including the rule of the alternating polarity for one‐center perturbations) following from the above‐described procedure indicates that these results are actually part of the noncanonical theory of MOs for PAHs. The principal achievement of the study, however, consists of obtaining general algebraic expressions for the common NCMO representation matrix of PAHs in terms of submatrices (blocks) of the relevant charge–bond order matrix. These expressions permit not only investigation of the effect of perturbation on the shapes of localized MOs, but also demonstrate the relationship between the given reshaping of these MOs and the respective charge redistribution. For local perturbations of a specific Coulomb parameter, reshaping of a single NCMO is shown to reflect the rule of the alternating polarity, namely of NCMO whose principal AO coincides with the site of perturbation. Moreover, the overall reshaping pattern of NCMOs was found in line with predictions of the simple resonance theory about increased contributions of certain quinoidal structures to the electronic structures of PAHs due to perturbations. NCMOs of pyridine and biphenyl molecules are studied in detail as examples. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2005
A Novel Dinuclear Nickel(II) Complex with Three Bridges of Cl–, OAc– and (‐OCH2CH2O‐) Group of N, N, N′, N′‐Tetrakis(2‐benzimidazolyl methyl‐1, 4‐di‐ethylene amino) Glycol Ether
Authors: Qin Shi‐Dong , Zhu Miao‐Li , Lu Li‐Ping , Feng Si‐Si , Zhang Hong‐Mei , Yang Pin
Published: June 2005

The novel dinuclear Ni2+ complex [Ni2(μ‐Cl)(μ‐OAc) (EGTB)]·Cl·ClO4·2CH3OH, where EGTB is N, N, N′, N′‐tetrakis (2‐benzimidazolyl methyl‐1, 4‐di‐ethylene amino)glycol ether, crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Pnma with a = 15.272(2), b = 14.768(2), c = 22.486(3) Å, V = 5071.4(12) Å3, Z = 4, Dcalc = 1.414 g cm−3, and is bridged by triply bridging agents of a chloride ion, an acetate and an intra‐ligand (‐OCH2CH2O‐) group. The nickel coordination geometry is that of a slightly distorted octahedron with a NiN3O2Cl arrangement of the ligand donor atoms. The Ni–Cl distance is 2.361(2) Å, and two Ni–O distances are 1.996(5) and 2.279(6) Å. The three Ni–N distances are 2.033(7), 2.060(6), and 2.166(6) Å with the Ni–N bond trans to an ether oxygen the shortest, the Ni–N bond trans to an acetate oxygen the middle and the Ni–N bond trans to Cl the longest.
Epidemiology of large bowel cancer
Authors: Levin Kenneth E. , Dozois Roger R.
Published: June 2005

Results from epidemiologic studies have provided insights into the etiology of large bowel cancer. Markedly diverse incidences of colorectal cancer exist in various parts of the world and within different regions of a given country. Studies of migrant populations have revealed a role for environmental factors, particularly dietary, in the etiology of colorectal cancers. Genetic factors and inflammatory bowel disease also place certain individuals at increased risk. Sedentary lifestyle, cholecystectomy, and ureterosigmoidostomy may also increase the risk of developing large bowel cancer.
Principles of surgical technique in the treatment of carcinoma of the large bowel
Authors: Corman Marvin L.
Published: June 2005

The principles of surgical technique for the operative management of colon cancer are described. With the background of the evolution of anastomotic alternatives, the methods for reestablishing intestinal continuity and the approach to the treatment of complicated presentations of colonic cancer are reviewed. While one may construe this paper to have a certain author bias, I have tried to present diverse options where pertinent, but there should be little question as to where my opinion lies.
Cost‐effective management of colon and rectal cancer
Authors: Heine John A. , Rothenberger David A.
Published: June 2005

Health care costs in the United States of America continue to rise. Legislators, economists and third party payers are becoming increasingly concerned with intervention outcomes and the distribution of resources. It is the responsibility of the medical profession to assume a leading role in assessing the cost‐effectiveness of health care interventions. Although many physicians perform informal cost‐effectiveness analyses on a daily basis, health economists employ a variety of more complex methodologies. This article will attempt to provide physicians with an understanding of the value and limitations of the tools used in formal cost‐effectiveness analyses and demonstrate how these tools may be applied to the management of colon and rectal cancer.
Postcolectomy syndromes
Authors: Schoetz David J.
Published: June 2005

Resection of the colon and rectum may produce both transient and permanent alterations in colonic function. Furthermore, the nature of some operative techniques may result in autonomic denervation of the rectum and associated pelvic viscera. An understanding of the mechanism of injury and the subsequent functional abnormalities is necessary to provide adequate therapy.
A perspective on clinical research strategies in carcinoma of the large bowel
Authors: Sugarbaker Paul H.
Published: June 2005

Experience with screening for colorectal cancer has been disappointing. Prevention of this disease seems to be a more beneficial research direction. Although radical surgery presents the best treatment option, it is nonetheless an inadequate strategy by itself. A new dose intensive approach would temporally combine surgery and chemotherapy as a coordinated event. This would allow maximal cytoreduction over a minimal time period and little or no development of resistant cancer cells. This approach has resulted in a 75% projected 5 year survival in patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis from cystadenocarcinoma. Strategies for application of this cytoreductive approach in many patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancer are present.
Auxiliary partial orthotopic liver transplantation (APOLT) for fulminant hepatic failure: First successful case report
Authors: Gubernatis Gundolf , Pichlmayr Rudolf , Kemnitz Josef , Gratz Klaus
Published: June 2005

Fulminant hepatic failure is a life‐threatening event with a high mortality rate up to 80%. Orthotopic liver transplantation has markedly decreased this mortality rate and is therefore a well established procedure for hepatic failure. However, this treatment neglects the fact that patients surviving hepatic failure without liver transplantation experienced a complete morphologic and functional recovery of their own liver. Temporary support of liver function in such cases could therefore be desirable and adequate therapy. Auxiliary liver transplantation could fulfill this demand. However, the standard technique of auxiliary grafting, transplanting a graft in a heterotopic position, is burdened by problems such as elevated venous back‐pressure, insufficient respectively competing portal blood supply for both livers with an unpredictable long‐term outcome. In order to cope with these problems, we performed an auxiliary transplantation in an orthotopic position. To accomplish this procedure we had to reduce the size of both the recipient and the donor livers. We, thus, performed an auxiliary partial orthotopic liver transplant (APOLT). The first patient was a 33 year old female who was transplanted on November 25, 1989. She developed a HELLP (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, low platelets) syndrome and fell into a deep coma. At the time of transplantation histologic examination of her own liver revealed 80% confluent necrosis. We resected segments 2 and 3 of the recipient liver and transplanted the whole left lobe of the donor liver into this position. The graft showed immediate function. Five months after transplantation both histology and function as detected by cholescintigraphy were normal, and the patient had fully recovered. Sixteen months after transplantation, the immunosuppression was tapered off and the graft shrunk. The patient has since shown permanent recovery. This procedure combines the advantages of auxiliary grafting with the advantages of an orthotopic normal position of the graft. It avoids graft failure due to the heterotopic position. It is a reversible step thus facilitating timely decision making for indication. The APOLT procedure indicates a new way in the treatment of fulminant hepatic failure.
Algebraic lower bounds for the uniform radius of spatial analyticity for the generalized KdV equation
Authors: Grujić Zoran , Kalisch Henrik , Bona Jerry L.
Published: June 2005

The generalized Korteweg–de Vries equation has the property that solutions with initial data that are analytic in a strip in the complex plane continue to be analytic in a strip as time progresses. Established here are algebraic lower bounds on the possible rate of decrease in time of the uniform radius of spatial analyticity for these equations. Previously known results featured exponentially decreasing bounds.

Si la donnée initiale est analytique sur une bande dans le plan complexe, alors la solution de l'équation de Korteweg et de Vries généralisée le reste pour tout temps. Nous montrons que la largeur de cette bande décroit algébriquement en temps. Les résultats antérieurs ne donnaient qu'un taux de décroissance exponentiel.
Effects of coumarin and 7OH‐coumarin on bcl‐2 and Bax expression in two human lung cancer cell lines in vitro
Authors: Elinos‐Báez C.M. , León F. , Santos E.
Published: June 2005

Coumarin and its derivative 7‐hydroxycoumarin (7‐OHC) have antitumor and antimetastatic properties. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possible effects of these compounds on expression of the bcl‐2 and Bax oncoproteins in two human lung cancer cell lines, A427 and Calu‐1. The cells were cultured in vitro for 24 h in RPMI 1640 with 1.5% (v/v) ethanol, 1.0 mM ethanolic coumarin or 1.0 mM ethanolic 7‐OHC. Viability was determined in each cell line by an MTT assay. Total protein was extracted from cell lysates and the bcl‐2 and Bax oncoproteins were identified. Western blotting showed a decrease in bcl‐2 and an increase in Bax in A427 cells cultured with coumarin or 7‐OHC. Neither drug changed bcl‐2 expression in Calu‐1 cells compared to solvent controls, and Bax expression was only slightly increased by coumarin. We conclude that 7‐OHC is a more potent inhibitor of cell proliferation than coumarin and has more marked effects on oncoprotein expression. Also, the A427 cell line was more sensitive to the drugs than Calu‐1.
A review of intrathecal morphine therapy related granulomas
Authors: Miele Vincent J. , Price Kenneth O. , Bloomfield Stephen , Hogg Jeffrey , Bailes Julian E.
Published: June 2005

The development of catheter associated granulomatous masses in intrathecal morphine therapy is an uncommon, but potentially serious problem. While these systems have historically been used in patients with short life expectancies, more recently patients with pain from a benign source have benefited from this therapy, and new complications are being encountered secondary to the patients' longer life spans.

Morphine is the most commonly used intrathecal opioid and evidence exists that the formation of granulomatous masses are related to the use of higher doses. When the patients' requirement of morphine increases significantly, the physician should be alert for signs of spinal cord compression, such as new neurological deficits, myelopathy, or radiculopathy. Patients that require these higher doses should be properly informed of the association with granulomas and their associated risks.

Indolent infection may also be the etiology of granulomatous masses, and the presence of organisms, both aerobic and anaerobic, should be routinely investigated.

Patients with catheter‐associated granulomas appear to share several features. They exhibit the onset of symptoms several months following the initiation of intraspinal opioids and commonly present with an increase in pain that precedes signs and symptoms of neurological deterioration.

While MRI might be the preferred method of detection of intrathecal granulomas, its cost and availability are prohibitive for routine screening. CT myelogram via pump side port injection of contrast can also be performed to detect catheter tip related granulomas/obstructions. Serial neurological examinations for new deficits may be performed and recorded during pump refill visits to recognize a granulomatous mass in its early stages. If an abnormality is identified, imaging studies are appropriate. Awareness of the condition and vigilance are the keys to successful management of this complication.
Efficacy of a short-term psychoeducational intervention for persistent non-organic insomnia in severely mentally ill patients. A pilot study
Authors: Biancosino Bruno , Rocchi Denis , Donà Silvia , Kotrotsiou Vasiliki , Marmai Luciana , Grassi Luigi
Published: June 2005

Insomnia in psychiatric patients is frequently underestimated in clinical practice. Usually drugs are prescribed for the treatment of this disorder but non-pharmacological intervention can be successfully used. The present study aimed at evaluating the efficacy of a two-session psychoeducational intervention in improving persistent non-organic insomnia and reducing the administration of PRN therapy in severely mentally ill patients.

A pre-post study was performed on 36 psychiatric patients admitted to a residential psychiatric unit. The Nocturnal Sleep Onset Scale (NSOS) and Daytime Sleepiness Scale (DSS), the sleep onset latency, the time awake after sleep onset and the numbers of awakenings were gathered 2 weeks before the intervention (T0), immediately prior the intervention (T1), 2 weeks after the last session of the intervention (T2) and a 3-month follow-up (T3). The total number of administrations of PRN therapy from T0 toT1 and from T1 to T2 were also examined. A significant reduction was shown on the NSOS, the sleep onset latency and in the time awake after sleep onset from T1 to T2 and from T1 to T3, while no significant difference was found between T0 and T1. A significant decrease on the mean number of administrations of PRN therapy was also found between 15 days before the intervention (T0–T1) and 15 days after intervention (T1–T2). The initial results of this study seems to suggest the possible efficacy of a short-term psychoeducational intervention on improving persistent non-organic insomnia in severely mentally ill patients. Further control studies are necessary to confirm these findings.
Quorum quenching enzyme activity is widely conserved in the sera of mammalian species
Authors: Yang Fan , Wang Lian-Hui , Wang Jing , Dong Yi-Hu , Hu Jiang Yong , Zhang Lian-Hui
Published: June 2005

Acyl‐homoserine lactone (AHL) quorum sensing signals play a key role in synchronizing virulence gene expression in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which could cause fatal bloodstream infections. We showed that AHL inactivation activity, albeit with variable efficiency, was conserved in the serum samples of all the 6 tested mammalian animals. High‐performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry analyses revealed that mammalian sera had a lactonase‐like enzyme(s), which hydrolyzed the lactone ring of AHL to produce acyl homoserine, with enzyme properties reminiscent of paraoxonases (PONs). We further showed that the animal cell lines expressing three mouse PON genes, respectively, displayed strong AHL degradation activities.
Molecular interaction of δ‐conotoxins with voltage‐gated sodium channels
Authors: Leipold Enrico , Hansel Alfred , Olivera Baldomero M. , Terlau Heinrich , Heinemann Stefan H.
Published: June 2005

Various neurotoxic peptides modulate voltage‐gated sodium (NaV) channels and thereby affect cellular excitability. δ‐Conotoxins from predatory cone snails slow down inactivation of NaV channels, but their interaction site and mechanism of channel modulation are unknown. Here, we show that δ‐conotoxin SVIE from Conus striatus interacts with a conserved hydrophobic triad (YFV) in the domain‐4 voltage sensor of NaV channels. This site overlaps with that of the scorpion α‐toxin Lqh‐2, but not with the α‐like toxin Lqh‐3 site. δ‐SVIE functionally competes with Lqh‐2, but exhibits strong cooperativity with Lqh‐3, presumably by synergistically trapping the voltage sensor in its “on” position.
Nitrite as the major source of nitric oxide production by Arabidopsis thaliana in response to Pseudomonas syringae
Authors: Modolo Luzia V. , Augusto Ohara , Almeida Irene M.G. , Magalhaes Jose R. , Salgado Ione
Published: June 2005

The origin of nitric oxide (.NO) in plants is unclear and an .NO synthase (NOS)‐like enzyme and nitrate reductase (NR) are claimed as potential sources. Here we used wild‐type and NR‐defective double mutant plants to investigate .NO production in Arabidopsis thaliana in response to Pseudomonas syringae pv maculicola. NOS activity increased substantially in leaves inoculated with P. syringae. However, electron paramagnetic resonance experiments showed a much higher .NO formation that was dependent on nitrite and mitochondrial electron transport rather than on arginine or nitrate. Overall, these results indicate that NOS, NR and a mitochondrial‐dependent nitrite‐reducing activity cooperate to produce .NO during A. thaliana–P. syringae interaction.
Semaphorin 4B interacts with the post‐synaptic density protein PSD‐95/SAP90 and is recruited to synapses through a C‐terminal PDZ‐binding motif
Authors: Burkhardt Constanze , Müller Myriam , Badde Anja , Garner Craig C. , Gundelfinger Eckart D. , Püschel Andreas W.
Published: June 2005

The semaphorins are a large family of proteins that act as guidance signals for axons and dendrites. The class 4 semaphorins are integral membrane proteins that are widely expressed throughout the nervous system. Here, we show that a subclass of these semaphorins is characterized by a PDZ‐binding motif at their carboxy‐terminus. This sequence mediates the interaction with the post‐synaptic density protein PSD‐95/SAP90. Co‐expression of Sema4B with PSD‐95 in COS 7 cells results in the clustering of Sema4B. Sema4B co‐localizes with PSD‐95 at synaptic contacts between cultured hippocampal neurons. This synaptic localization depends on the presence of the PDZ‐binding motif.
Crystal structure of the ubiquitin‐like protein YukD from Bacillus subtilis
Authors: van den Ent Fusinita , Löwe Jan
Published: June 2005

The YukD protein in Bacillus subtilis was identified in a hidden Markov model (HMM) search as being related in sequence to ubiquitin. By solving the crystal structure we show that YukD adopts a fold that is most closely related to ubiquitin, yet has the shortest C‐terminal tail of all known ubiquitin‐like proteins. The endogenous gene of yukD in B. subtilis was disrupted without an obvious phenotypic effect and an inducible copy encoding a C‐Myc and His‐tagged version of the protein was introduced at the ectopic locus amyE. Conjugation assays performed both in vitro and in vivo indicate that YukD lacks the capacity for covalent bond formation with other proteins.
Peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor δ as a molecular target to regulate lung cancer cell growth
Authors: Fukumoto Keiko , Yano Yoshihisa , Virgona Nantiga , Hagiwara Hiromi , Sato Hiromi , Senba Hironobu , Suzuki Kazuyuki , Asano Ryuji , Yamada Kazuhiko , Yano Tomohiro
Published: June 2005

It has been assumed that prostaglandin (PG)I2 signaling contributes to the negative growth control of lung cancer cells; however, the mechanism remains unresolved. PGI2 functions through a cell surface G protein‐coupled receptor (prostaglandin I2‐binding receptor, IP) and also exerts an effect by interacting with a nuclear hormone receptor, peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor δ (PPARδ). We found that PPARδ was a key molecule of PGI2 signaling to give negative growth control of lung cancer cells (A549), using carbarprostacyclin, a PGI2 agonist for IP and PPARδ, and L‐165041, a PPARδ agonist. Furthermore, PPARδ‐induced cell growth control was reinforced by the inhibition of cyclooxygenase. These results suggest that PPARδ activation under the suppression of PG synthesis is important to regulate lung cancer cell growth.
License valuation in the aerospace industry: A real options approach
Authors: Miller Luke , Bertus Mark
Published: June 2005

This paper discusses a practical case application of real options applied to license valuation in the aerospace maintenance, repair, and overhaul industry. After categorizing the available licensing opportunities of the firm, four distinct licensing classes are identified: traditional delay licenses, contingent investment licenses, licenses with cost uncertainties, and indefinite delay licenses. Due to the varying nature of the classes, accepted real option valuation techniques are applied to include the European call, dual asset, exchange, and perpetual option. Appropriate sensitivity analyses and discussion for each license class provide guidelines for decision‐making. In general, it is shown that the real options framework captures value overlooked by discounted cash flow approaches.
Missile Science, Population Science: The Origins of China's One-Child Policy
Authors: Greenhalgh Susan
Published: June 2005

This article traces the origins of China's one-child-for-virtually-all policy to Maoist militarism and post-Mao military-to-civilian conversion. Focusing on the work of Song Jian, leading missile scientist and scientific architect of the strict one-child policy, it shows how during 1978–80 the resources of defence science and the self-confidence of the elite scientist enabled him boldly and arbitrarily to modify the work of the Club of Rome and use that Sinified cybernetics of population to redefine the nation's population problem, create a radical one-child-for-all solution to it, and persuade China's leaders that his “scientific” solution was the only way out. Although the advent of “scientific decision-making” in the population arena helpfully broke a political logjam, allowing China's leaders to adopt a strong policy on population control, the making of social policy by an elite scientist/engineer from the defence world posed dangers for the Party and China's people. The case of population policy is important because it provides rare insight into the way scientists have sometimes shaped elite policy-making and because the social and political consequences of the one-child policy have been so troubling.
“Why Don't We Arm the Left?” Mao's Culpability for the Cultural Revolution's “Great Chaos” of 1967
Authors: Schoenhals Michael
Published: June 2005

This article sets out to describe and explain the events that led, in the summer of 1967, to near civil war in many parts of China. It links the violence on the ground to statements and policies formulated at the highest levels of the CCP, and sets out to show how and why Mao Zedong himself must bear direct personal responsibility for what stands out as one of the darkest chapters in the history of the PRC. Common assumptions about the involvement of senior CCP figures other than Mao, including Lin Biao and Zhou Enlai, are reassessed. Misimpressions that have influenced non-Chinese scholarship on the period are corrected, and evasions and obfuscations on the part of establishment historians in China today are pinpointed.
China's Legislation Law and the Making of a More Orderly and Representative Legislative System
Authors: Paler Laura
Published: June 2005

This article examines the significance of the Legislation Law (lifa fa), passed by the National People's Congress (NPC) in March 2000. The Legislation Law represents an attempt by the NPC to rationalize China's legal system, establish a uniform legislative hierarchy and consolidate its authority over other important lawmaking institutions. The politics behind the Law's development therefore offer insight into the balance of power in China's lawmaking arena, revealing how key institutions – the NPC, the State Council and local people's congresses – engaged in bureaucratic bargaining over fundamental questions of their existence and authority within an evolving system. While the promulgated Law reveals the mixed results of this complex process, it also makes possible a more open and consultative legislative process by sanctioning the emergence of public legislative hearings. Now gaining currency around China, hearings are a new development and could be an important step in institutionalizing more meaningful citizen participation in the legislative process.
Taiwan and the New Regional Political Economy of East Asia
Authors: Dent Christopher M.
Published: June 2005

Regional economic relations in East Asia have experienced a period of profound change since the 1997/98 financial crisis. Two developments are particularly notable. The first relates to the ASEAN Plus Three (APT) framework, under which an increasingly coalescent regional economic grouping has emerged in East Asia. Thus far, APT member states (Japan, China, South Korea and the ASEAN group) have devoted much energy to creating new mechanisms of regional financial governance, such as the Chiang Mai Initiative and Asian Bond Market Initiative. The second development concerns the expansion of bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) projects in East Asia and the Asia-Pacific. Many see this as a precursor to forging wider sub-regional or regional trade agreements. Both developments mark a potentially significant shift from regionalization to regionalism in East Asia, and thus “high politics” becomes de facto more important given regionalism is largely founded on inter-(nation-)state agreements. Beijing's continued ardent contestation of Taiwan's nation-statehood has hence limited Taiwan's ability to engage as it would like in East Asia's new regional political economy. This article considers the nature of regional political economy and applies it to the recent East Asian experience, which in turn provides an analytical framework for examining the significance of the APT framework and new FTA trend, and Taiwan's position in relation to them. Special attention is paid to Taiwan's prospects in East Asia's new regional political economy.
Government Capacity and the Hong Kong Civil Service. By John P. Burns. [Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. xvi+468 pp. ISBN 0-19-590597-0.]
Authors: Manion Melanie
Published: June 2005

John Burns has written an exhaustively researched and highly important book for scholars with a particular interest in Chinese politics and, more broadly, for the fields of comparative politics and public management. Burns examines the contributions of the civil service to government capacity in Hong Kong. His focus is the crucial post-1997 period, which presents him with a number of interesting analytical issues. First, post-1997 Hong Kong continues to lack the political institutions linking citizen preferences to government policy outcomes. In this context, the civil service takes on enormous political importance: it identifies and proposes solutions to community problems, roles that would be performed by politicians and political parties in a liberal democracy. Secondly, although post-1997 Hong Kong has significant autonomy, it is a local government, essentially subject to the rule of Communist leaders in Beijing. This raises interesting problems of relations between centre and locality. Finally, and not least of all, the Hong Kong economy suffered a significant decline in the late 1990s. This challenged the performancebased legitimacy of the government and placed new pressures on it to reform the civil service to strengthen government capacity. Evaluation of these reforms is an important contribution of this volume.

Burns examines the civil service from a public management perspective, both describing policies and analysing actual practices, the latter with the use of interviews, surveys and case studies. In the 1980s and 1990s, Hong Kong government capacity was high. Economic growth was rapid, unemployment was low, and public support for the government was strong, based on apparently successful performance.
Envisioning Taiwan: Fiction, Cinema, and the Nation in the Cultural Imaginary. By June Yip. [Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2004. 356 pp. $24.95. ISBN 0-8223-33367-8.]
Authors: Liao Ping-Hui
Published: June 2005

June Yip's Envisioning Taiwan considers Taiwan's emergent discourse on a national identity in light of its regionalist or nativist (hsiang-t'u) literary movement and the New Cinema which flourished in the 1970s and 1980s. The book has seven chapters, largely devoted to the work of artists such as Hwang Chun-ming and Hou Hsiao-hsien. It gives a most sensible and nuanced account of the development of post-colonial global consciousness and of the indigenization processes in post-1987, Taiwan when martial law was lifted. It argues that language, literature and cinema have played a vital part in constructing cultural nationalism. To map the critical paths in which the Taiwanese have struggled to fashion a unique cultural identity, Yip reveals how “the complexities of Taiwanese literature and film have themselves necessitated a reassessment of conventional assumptions about the local, the national, and the global” (p. 11).

Democratization, indigenization and the emergence of a vigorous native consciousness provided parameters that pushed forward local demands for “creative ways to assert the island's undeniable existence as an independent entity without actually declaring itself a nation” (p. 246). According to Yip, the ascendancy of Taiwanese national consciousness was indebted to the political liberation of the 1980s, but was in fact inspired by the hsiang-t'u literature of the 1960s and 1970s. She begins with the literary debates of 1977–78 and uses Hwang Chun-ming as a prime – albeit “curious” – example of someone who provided a voice of local colour in response to capitalist lifestyles, trendy Western ideas and American cultural goods.
New Evidence: The Aesthetics of International Law
Authors: MORGAN ED
Published: June 2005

A war crimes trial embodies a combination of representational and presentational drama. The contemporary war crimes trial owes equal inspiration to the ‘realism’ of Henrik Ibsen and the ‘theatrics’ of Bertolt Brecht. The question for scholars is whether the trial is but a stylized presentation of the ‘real’ events, or a realistic medium through which to eavesdrop on history. This essay explores this question of war crimes and dramatization in the context of Director of Public Prosecutions v. Polyukhovich, the one war crimes case ever taken to trial under Australia's War Crimes Amendment Act of 1988.
‘Killing Three Birds with One Stone’? The Preliminary Objections Judgments of the International Court of Justice in the Legality of Use of Force Cases
Authors: OLLESON SIMON
Published: June 2005

The ICJ in its judgments on the preliminary objections in the Legality of Use of Force cases held that it had no jurisdiction to hear the claims. Despite the unanimous concurrence in that result, it is clear that there were deep divisions within the Court as to the ground on which that decision should have been reached; only a bare majority subscribed to the reasoning that the Court was required to rule on the question of its jurisdiction ratione personae in relation to Serbia and Montenegro's uncertain status within the United Nations prior to 2000. The minority judges were highly critical of the choice of that basis of decision, in particular given its apparent implications for other cases pending before the Court.
The Relationship between Hate Propaganda and Incitement to Genocide: A New Trend in International Law Towards Criminalization of Hate Propaganda?
Authors: TIMMERMANN WIBKE KRISTIN
Published: June 2005

This article focuses on the development of the crime of incitement to genocide and the prohibition of hate propaganda. It first examines the conflict which exists between these and the right to freedom of speech and concludes that a limitation of this right through prohibition of hate propaganda and criminalization of incitement to genocide is justifiable. The article then analyses how the crime of incitement to genocide and the prohibition of hate propaganda first developed historically, focusing on judgments by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg and the Genocide Convention, on the one hand, and on international conventions and case law by the Human Rights Committee and the European Court of Human Rights, on the other. Next, recent ICTR decisions are examined, in which the ICTR has considerably clarified and extended the concept of incitement to genocide. The tribunal has brought it closer to encompassing vicious hate propaganda by acknowledging that in order to incite individuals to commit genocide, incitement in the sense of instigation is insufficient; it requires the prior creation of a certain climate in which the commission of such crimes is possible. Hate propaganda leads to the creation of such a climate. It is argued that, for several reasons, virulent hate propaganda must be accorded the status of an international crime. Genocide could be prevented more effectively if such speech were criminalized. Several efforts to outlaw hate propaganda internationally in the past are examined. The article concludes that it can be regarded as a crime punishable under the Genocide Convention if a purposive interpretative approach is used, and that hate propagandists should be prosecuted for direct and public incitement to genocide if their hate speech is engaged in with the specific intent to commit genocide, and creates a substantial danger of genocide.
Prosecutor v. Taylor: The Status of the Special Court for Sierra Leone and Its Implications for Immunity
Authors: DEEN-RACSMÁNY ZSUZSANNA
Published: June 2005

On 31 May 2004, the Appeals Chamber of the Special Court for Sierra Leone ruled in a sweeping but brief decision that the Court had jurisdiction over Charles Ghankay Taylor, President of Liberia at the time of his indictment. The judges reached this conclusion finding that the accused could not invoke immunities ratione personae before this institution, an international criminal court. As this article demonstrates, the Chamber's argumentation lacks specificity and displays confusion over certain issues related to UN law, the law of international institutions and international immunities. The factual outcome is a welcome one, facilitating the prosecution of international crimes. Yet, the Appeals Chamber's approach is regrettable, especially if one considers that the same result could have been reached through less controversial avenues, without endangering the credibility of the Court and thereby the idea of international criminal justice through internationalized criminal courts.
Geochemical signatures of the Namibian diatom belt: Perennial upwelling and intermittent anoxia
Authors: Borchers S. L. , Schnetger B. , Böning P. , Brumsack H.‐J.
Published: June 2005

A gravity core from the Nambian diatom belt (83 m water depth) was analyzed for major (Al, Ca, Fe, K, Mg, P, Si, Ti) and minor elements (Ag, As, Ba, Bi, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Mo, Ni, Rb, Re, Se, Sr, Tl, U, V, Zn, Zr), as well as C and S. The major element geochemistry is dominated by the contribution of biogenic phases (opal and minor amounts of carbonate and phosphate), whereas terrigenous components of eolian and fluvial origin form only a minor admixture of <15%. Examination of the Fe/S/C‐relationship reveals a completion of pyritization close to the sediment‐seawater interface. Higher than average shale Fe/Al ratios reflect the presence of highly reactive iron oxides in terrigenous source material from the Namibian desert and suggest little loss of Fe within the OMZ. The low total Fe content likely represents an important factor responsible for sporadic H2S eruptions. The upwelling system off Namibia may be regarded as an intermediate system, combining high productivity typical for upwelling areas with the sporadic presence of H2S in the water column. By examining the source‐sink relationship of individual trace metals, two different trends are discernible: Mo, Re, and U accumulate following seawater availability, whereas Ag, Cd, Cu, Ni, Tl, and Zn require a biological preconcentration step. Trace metals like As, Ba, Cr, Se, and V show an intermediate behavior. Metal enrichment is favored by high interstitial water sulfide concentrations close to the sediment‐seawater interface, leading to slightly elevated Co contents as opposed to extremely low Mn/Al ratios, reflecting the overall reducing character of the Namibian system. Maximum contents of Cu, Ni, and Zn are significantly lower than those reported previously. This may in part be related to the absence of fecal material and a stronger dilution by biosiliceous material at this location compared to the seaward flank of the diatom belt.