bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Myeloma Cell-Osteoclast Interaction Enhances Angiogenesis Together with Bone Resorption: A Role for Vascular Endothelial Cell Growth Factor and Osteopontin
Authors: Tanaka Yoichi , Abe Masahiro , Hiasa Masahiro , Oda Asuka , Amou Hiroe , Nakano Ayako , Takeuchi Kyoko , Kitazoe Kenichi , Kido Shinsuke , Inoue Daisuke , Moriyama Keiji , Hashimoto Toshihiro , Ozaki Shuji , Matsumoto Toshio
Published: February 2007

Purpose: Similar to osteoclastogenesis, angiogenesis is enhanced in the bone marrow in myeloma in parallel with tumor progression. We showed previously that myeloma cells and osteoclasts are mutually stimulated to form a vicious cycle to lead to enhance both osteoclastogenesis and tumor growth. The present study was undertaken to clarify whether myeloma cell-osteoclast interaction enhances angiogenesis and whether there is any mutual stimulation between osteoclastogenesis and angiogenesis.

Experimental Design: Myeloma cells and monocyte-derived osteoclasts were cocultured, and angiogenic activity produced by the cocultures was assessed with in vitro vascular tubule formation assays and human umbilical vascular endothelial cell (HUVEC) migration and survival. Osteoclastogenic activity was determined with rabbit bone cell cultures on dentine slices.

Results: Myeloma cells and osteoclasts constitutively secrete proangiogenic factors, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and osteopontin, respectively. A cell-to-cell interaction between myeloma cells and osteoclasts potently enhanced vascular tubule formation. Blockade of both VEGF and osteopontin actions almost completely abrogated such vascular tubule formation as well as migration and survival of HUVECs enhanced by conditioned medium from cocultures of myeloma cells and osteoclasts. Furthermore, these factors in combination triggered the production of osteoclastogenic activity by HUVEC.

Conclusions: Osteoclast-derived osteopontin and VEGF from myeloma cells cooperatively enhance angiogenesis and also induce osteoclastogenic activity by vascular endothelial cells. These observations suggest the presence of a close link between myeloma cells, osteoclasts, and vascular endothelial cells to form a vicious cycle between bone destruction, angiogenesis, and myeloma expansion.
Automatic Recognition and Analysis of Scanned Non-crimp Fabrics for Calculation of their Fluid Flow Permeability
Authors: Frishfelds V. , Jakovics A. , Lundström T. S.
Published: February 2007

Automatic recognition of scanned images of distorted bi-axial fiber bundle arrangements is considered in order to obtain the overall permeability of the formed fiber network. Scanned images are pre-processed with color normalization followed by usage of a threshold to find the pixels belonging to the bundles, the threads keeping the bundles together, and the distinct gaps formed between the bundles. Since the scanned images virtually have a perfect grayscale, the intensity can be treated as a corresponding signal of the image. Next the regular character of the fiber network is investigated using Fourier analysis on the fiber bundles as well as on the threads. The direction, position, and spatial separation of the fiber bundle and the threads are obtained in this way. In order to recognize the bottom fiber bundle layer a fine structure technique is used. Small clusters falsely identified as belonging to the bottom bundle layer are removed by application of a threshold to the perimeter of the cluster. The gaps in the top bundle layer are identified more clearly in this way. Next, a local Fourier analysis is applied to obtain the local distortion of the bundle and the thread structure yielding the characteristic distribution of the gaps between the bundles. Finally the distribution of the width of the threads is obtained by simply identifying the minimal distance between the sides of the threads.
Fatigue Behavior of Stitched Carbon/Bismaleimide Composite Laminates
Authors: Huang Tao , Jiao Guiqiong , Zhao Long
Published: February 2007

The influence of Kevlar stitches on delaminations, ultimate tensile strength, and tension-tension fatigue life were examined on carbon/bismaleimide laminates of two stacking sequences ([±45/0/90]2S and [±30/±30/90/90]S), as representative of two classes of fiber-dominated and matrix dominated laminates. Through-thickness stitching offered a significant improvement in the static delamination resistance of laminated composites, but had varying effects on the ultimate tensile stress of the laminates under study, with an increase in strength of [±30/±30/90/90]S laminates and a decrease in strength of [±/45/0/90]2S laminates. But the fatigue life of matrix dominated specimens and fiber dominated specimens were all reduced. The radiographs indicated that stitching appeared efficient in arresting delamination in [±30/±30/90/90]S specimens for both static and fatigue loads, but did not prove to be as efficient in extending fatigue life, since Kevlar threads were prone to breakage under cyclic loading. As a conclusion, while the static strength and delamination resistance of matrix dominated composites is improved by stitching, the static tensile strength of fiber dominated composites and the tension-tension fatigue performance for all lamination sequences is proved to be reduced.
Euro-Commentary: The Role of Urban RTI Policy in Stimulating Innovation in the Local Economy: The Case of the City of Vienna
Authors: Kaufmann Alexander
Published: February 2007

Innovation networks have been analysed at several spatial levels, from the local to the global, with increasing interest in innovation systems below the national level.A wide range of regions has been studied including cities as major centres of innovation. But there is often a difference between the importance of a city as a location of innovation activities and to what extent they can be influenced by politics and public institutions at the city level.This commentary focuses on Vienna, the capital of Austria. Analysing the innovation networks of firms located in Vienna shows the potential scope and limits of the city’s influence on innovation relations. Data from an innovation survey of the Viennese economy lead to the conclusion that only a minor share of the innovation relations of local firms can be influenced directly by the city’s institutions. The results give some indication of where and how the city could be able to increase its influence on the innovation activities of the local economy, reducing Vienna’s dependence on Austria’s federal research, technology and innovation policy.
Generating Social Capital?
Authors: Evans Mel , Syrett Stephen
Published: February 2007

In seeking to understand and promote long-term and inclusive models of local economic development the notion of social capital appears potentially important. In the development of the social economy, an aspect of the local economy which has attracted an increased theoretical and policy focus in recent years, the relationship with social capital appears particularly significant.Yet despite the apparent salience of notions of social capital, there remains a lack of understanding of the nature and extent of existing social capital resources and the precise manner in which these are drawn upon in the development of the social economy to generate further social capital within the local development process. In part this is a result of the conceptual confusion surrounding the notion of social capital, but it also reflects a lack of empirical research. This article explores the notion of social capital and the manner in which it is produced, reproduced and used locally within the social economy as part of the local economic development process. Findings are presented from a transnational European research project which examined the development of social enterprises and the social economy within different localities in order to seek to better understand their interrelationships with the local production and use of social capital.These findings emphasize the importance of contextualization in the study of local social capital and the importance of interpretative approaches for area-based policy development.
Ethnicity and Diet of Children: Development of Culturally Sensitive Measures
Authors: Bruss Mozhdeh B. , Applegate Brooks , Quitugua Jackie , Palacios Rosa T. , Morris Joseph R.
Published: February 2007

Obesity is a growing global concern. Examining dietary habits of individuals can facilitate the development of important prevention approaches, which are needed to decrease the incidence of obesity and other related diseases and improve quality of life indices. Because food preferences and dietary habits vary across cultures, it is essential that prevention programs are based on specific populations. Using both ethnographic and quantitative methods, food-consumption patterns were investigated among 1,125 children in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Differences were observed related to food frequency, age of children, and grade level. Exploratory factor analyses suggested that the individual foods were best organized into food-consumption groups that reflected cultural characteristics rather than more commonly referenced food organizational systems. In addition to developmental differences in food consumption patterns, results suggest that the ethnicity of parents may play a role in the diet of children.
Checkpoint-apoptosis uncoupling in human and mouse embryonic stem cells: a source of karyotpic instability
Authors: Mantel Charlie , Guo Ying , Lee Man Ryul , Kim Min-Kyoung , Han Myung-Kwan , Shibayama Hirohiko , Fukuda Seiji , Yoder Mervin C. , Pelus Louis M. , Kim Kye-Seong , Broxmeyer Hal E.
Published: February 2007

Karyotypic abnormalities in cultured embryonic stem cells (ESCs), especially near-diploid aneuploidy, are potential obstacles to ESC use in regenerative medicine. Events causing chromosomal abnormalities in ESCs may be related to events in tumor cells causing chromosomal instability (CIN) in human disease. However, the underlying mechanisms are unknown. Using multiparametric permeabilized-cell flow cytometric analysis, we found that the mitotic-spindle checkpoint, which helps maintain chromosomal integrity during all cell divisions, functions in human and mouse ESCs, but does not initiate apoptosis as it does in somatic cells. This allows an unusual tolerance to polyploidy resulting from failed mitosis, which is common in rapidly proliferating cell populations and which is reduced to near-diploid aneuploidy, which is also common in human neoplastic disease. Checkpoint activation in ESC-derived early-differentiated cells results in robust apoptosis without polyploidy/aneuploidy similar to that in somatic cells. Thus, the spindle checkpoint is “uncoupled” from apoptosis in ESCs and is a likely source of karyotypic abnormalities. This natural behavior of ESCs to tolerate/survive varying degrees of ploidy change could complicate genome-reprogramming studies and stem-cell plasticity studies, but could also reveal clues about the mechanisms of CIN in human tumors.
Low concentrations of transforming growth factor-beta-1 induce tubulogenesis in cultured mammary epithelial cells
Authors: Montesano Roberto , Carrozzino Fabio , Soulié Priscilla
Published: February 2007

Background

Formation of branching tubes is a fundamental step in the development of glandular organs. To identify extracellular cues that orchestrate epithelial tubulogenesis, we employed an in vitro assay in which EpH4-J3B1A mammary epithelial cells form spheroidal cysts when grown in collagen gels under serum-free conditions, but form branching tubules in the presence of fetal calf serum (FCS).

Results

Initial experiments showed that the tubulogenesis-inducing activity of FCS was markedly increased by heating (70°C) or transient acidification to pH3. We therefore hypothesized that the tubulogenic agent was transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta), a cytokine that is present in serum in latent form and can be activated by heat or acid treatment. We found indeed that the tubulogenic activity of acidified FCS is abrogated by addition of either SB-431542, a selective inhibitor of the TGF-beta type I receptor, or a neutralizing antibody to TGF-beta-1. On the other hand, addition of low concentrations (20–100 pg/ml) of exogenous TGF-beta-1 recapitulated the effect of acidified FCS in inducing morphogenesis of hollow tubes. In contrast, higher concentrations of TGF-beta-1 induced the formation of thin cellular cords devoid of a detectable lumen. To gain insight into the mechanisms underlying TGF-beta-1-induced tube formation, we assessed the potential role of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). By western blot and gelatin zymography, we observed a dose-dependent increase in MMP-9 upon TGF-beta-1 treatment. Tube formation was suppressed by a synthetic broad-spectrum metalloproteinase inhibitor, by recombinant tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-2 (TIMP-2) and by a selective inhibitor of MMP-9, indicating that this morphogenetic process requires the activity of MMP-9.

Conclusion

Altogether, our results provide evidence that, at low concentrations, TGF-beta-1 promotes MMP-dependent branching tubulogenesis by mammary epithelial cells in vitro, and suggest that it plays a similar role during mammary gland development in vivo.
RNase MRP and the RNA processing cascade in the eukaryotic ancestor
Authors: Woodhams Michael D , Stadler Peter F , Penny David , Collins Lesley J
Published: February 2007

Background

Within eukaryotes there is a complex cascade of RNA-based macromolecules that process other RNA molecules, especially mRNA, tRNA and rRNA. An example is RNase MRP processing ribosomal RNA (rRNA) in ribosome biogenesis. One hypothesis is that this complexity was present early in eukaryotic evolution; an alternative is that an initial simpler network later gained complexity by gene duplication in lineages that led to animals, fungi and plants. Recently there has been a rapid increase in support for the complexity-early theory because the vast majority of these RNA-processing reactions are found throughout eukaryotes, and thus were likely to be present in the last common ancestor of living eukaryotes, herein called the Eukaryotic Ancestor.

Results

We present an overview of the RNA processing cascade in the Eukaryotic Ancestor and investigate in particular, RNase MRP which was previously thought to have evolved later in eukaryotes due to its apparent limited distribution in fungi and animals and plants. Recent publications, as well as our own genomic searches, find previously unknown RNase MRP RNAs, indicating that RNase MRP has a wide distribution in eukaryotes. Combining secondary structure and promoter region analysis of RNAs for RNase MRP, along with analysis of the target substrate (rRNA), allows us to discuss this distribution in the light of eukaryotic evolution.

Conclusion

We conclude that RNase MRP can now be placed in the RNA-processing cascade of the Eukaryotic Ancestor, highlighting the complexity of RNA-processing in early eukaryotes. Promoter analyses of MRP-RNA suggest that regulation of the critical processes of rRNA cleavage can vary, showing that even these key cellular processes (for which we expect high conservation) show some species-specific variability. We present our consensus MRP-RNA secondary structure as a useful model for further searches.
Methods for selecting fixed-effect models for heterogeneous codon evolution, with comments on their application to gene and genome data
Authors: Bao Le , Gu Hong , Dunn Katherine A , Bielawski Joseph P
Published: February 2007

Background

Models of codon evolution have proven useful for investigating the strength and direction of natural selection. In some cases, a priori biological knowledge has been used successfully to model heterogeneous evolutionary dynamics among codon sites. These are called fixed-effect models, and they require that all codon sites are assigned to one of several partitions which are permitted to have independent parameters for selection pressure, evolutionary rate, transition to transversion ratio or codon frequencies. For single gene analysis, partitions might be defined according to protein tertiary structure, and for multiple gene analysis partitions might be defined according to a gene's functional category. Given a set of related fixed-effect models, the task of selecting the model that best fits the data is not trivial.

Results

In this study, we implement a set of fixed-effect codon models which allow for different levels of heterogeneity among partitions in the substitution process. We describe strategies for selecting among these models by a backward elimination procedure, Akaike information criterion (AIC) or a corrected Akaike information criterion (AICc). We evaluate the performance of these model selection methods via a simulation study, and make several recommendations for real data analysis. Our simulation study indicates that the backward elimination procedure can provide a reliable method for model selection in this setting. We also demonstrate the utility of these models by application to a single-gene dataset partitioned according to tertiary structure (abalone sperm lysin), and a multi-gene dataset partitioned according to the functional category of the gene (flagellar-related proteins of Listeria).

Conclusion

Fixed-effect models have advantages and disadvantages. Fixed-effect models are desirable when data partitions are known to exhibit significant heterogeneity or when a statistical test of such heterogeneity is desired. They have the disadvantage of requiring a priori knowledge for partitioning sites. We recommend: (i) selection of models by using backward elimination rather than AIC or AICc, (ii) use a stringent cut-off, e.g., p = 0.0001, and (iii) conduct sensitivity analysis of results. With thoughtful application, fixed-effect codon models should provide a useful tool for large scale multi-gene analyses.
Control of human trophoblast function
Authors: Lunghi Laura , Ferretti Maria E , Medici Silvia , Biondi Carla , Vesce Fortunato
Published: February 2007

The trophoblast, i.e. the peripheral part of the human conceptus, exerts a crucial role in implantation and placentation. Both processes properly occur as a consequence of an intimate dialogue between fetal and maternal tissues, fulfilled by membrane ligands and receptors, as well as by hormone and local factor release. During blastocyst implantation, generation of distinct trophoblast cell types begins, namely the villous and the extravillous trophoblast, the former of which is devoted to fetal-maternal exchanges and the latter binds the placental body to the uterine wall. Physiological placentation is characterized by the invasion of the uterine spiral arteries by extravillous trophoblast cells arising from anchoring villi. Due to this invasion, the arterial structure is replaced by amorphous fibrinoid material and endovascular trophoblastic cells. This transformation establishes a low-resistance, high-capacity perfusion system from the radial arteries to the intervillous space, in which the villous tree is embedded. The physiology of pregnancy depends upon the orderly progress of structural and functional changes of villous and extravillous trophoblast, whereas a derangement of such processes can lead to different types of complications of varying degrees of gravity, including possible pregnancy loss and maternal life-threatening diseases. In this review we describe the mechanisms which regulate trophoblast differentiation, proliferation, migration and invasiveness, and the alterations in these mechanisms which lead to pathological conditions. Furthermore, based on the growing evidence that proper inflammatory changes and oxidative balance are needed for successful gestation, we explain the mechanisms by which agents able to influence such processes may be useful in the prevention and treatment of pregnancy disorders.
Revealing the burden of maternal mortality: a probabilistic model for determining pregnancy-related causes of death from verbal autopsies
Authors: Fottrell Edward , Byass Peter , Ouedraogo Thomas W , Tamini Cecile , Gbangou Adjima , Sombié Issiaka , Högberg Ulf , Witten Karen H , Bhattacharya Sohinee , Desta Teklay , Deganus Sylvia , Tornui Janet , Fitzmaurice Ann E , Meda Nicolas , Graham Wendy J
Published: February 2007

Background

Substantial reductions in maternal mortality are called for in Millennium Development Goal 5 (MDG-5), thus assuming that maternal mortality is measurable. A key difficulty is attributing causes of death for the many women who die unaided in developing countries. Verbal autopsy (VA) can elicit circumstances of death, but data need to be interpreted reliably and consistently to serve as global indicators. Recent developments in probabilistic modelling of VA interpretation are adapted and assessed here for the specific circumstances of pregnancy-related death.

Methods

A preliminary version of the InterVA-M probabilistic VA interpretation model was developed and refined with adult female VA data from several sources, and then assessed against 258 additional VA interviews from Burkina Faso. Likely causes of death produced by the model were compared with causes previously determined by local physicians. Distinction was made between free-text and closed-question data in the VA interviews, to assess the added value of free-text material on the model's output.

Results

Following rationalisation between the model and physician interpretations, cause-specific mortality fractions were broadly similar. Case-by-case agreement between the model and any of the reviewing physicians reached approximately 60%, rising to approximately 80% when cases with a discrepancy were reviewed by an additional physician. Cardiovascular disease and malaria showed the largest differences between the methods, and the attribution of infections related to pregnancy also varied. The model estimated 30% of deaths to be pregnancy-related, of which half were due to direct causes. Data derived from free-text made no appreciable difference.

Conclusion

InterVA-M represents a potentially valuable new tool for measuring maternal mortality in an efficient, consistent and standardised way. Further development, refinement and validation are planned. It could become a routine tool in research and service settings where levels and changes in pregnancy-related deaths need to be measured, for example in assessing progress towards MDG-5.
Introduction of the Thin Prep Imaging System™ (TIS): experience in a high volume academic practice
Authors: Chivukula Mamatha , Saad Reda S , Elishaev Esther , White Susan , Mauser Nancy , Dabbs David J
Published: February 2007

Objective

Since the introduction of the liquid-based ThinPrep testing in 1996, most cytology laboratories across the country have adopted the liquid-based cytology (LBC) for Pap test screening. Subsequent to wide-spread adoption of the ThinPrep Pap test, the ThinPrep Imaging System (TIS) Cytyc Corp, Marlborough, MA was introduced to improve the accuracy and efficiency of screening interpretation. We report our initial experience with the TIS at Magee Women's Hospital. We introduced the TIS in December 2004.

Methods

The imager assisted Pap test results over the first 12 months (December 2004 to December 2005) of implementation were reviewed and analyzed. Our implementation protocol included each cytotechnologist manually prescreening 200 negative slides to gain experience with the imager slides and serve as a quality check for the TIS. We re-screened 3400 slides (200 slides each for 17 cytotechnologists) manually which were initially determined to be negative using the TIS. 104,457 Pap tests were imaged on the TIS. 95,899 manually screened Pap tests, 12 months prior to the introduction of the TIS (December 2003–November 2004) are taken as the historic control group for our study.

Results

The mean ASC-US rate employing the automated imager was 8.70% [9088/104,457]. The mean LSIL detection rate was 4.22% [4409/104,457]. The imager did not miss any detectible high-grade lesions during these months, with a HSIL (+) detection rate of 0.68% in comparison to 0.60% by manual screening confirmed by follow-up biopsies. The difference is statistically significant with a p value of 0.022. The definition of false negative rate for purposes of this study is calculated as the number of false negative cases identified out of number of negatives re-screened. The TIS false negative rate was estimated at 0.012% [4/3400].

Conclusion

The overall performance of the TIS in our lab appears to be highly satisfactory in terms of improving sensitivity in screening cervical precursor lesions. The increased accuracy of detection of HSIL indicates a positive impact of the TIS in our laboratory.
Notch signaling controls germline stem cell niche formation in theDrosophilaovary
Authors: Song Xiaoqing , Call Gerald B. , Kirilly Daniel , Xie Ting
Published: February 2007

Stem cells, which can self-renew and generate differentiated cells, have been shown to be controlled by surrounding microenvironments or niches in several adult tissues. However, it remains largely unknown what constitutes a functional niche and how niche formation is controlled. In the Drosophila ovary, germline stem cells (GSCs), which are adjacent to cap cells and two other cell types, have been shown to be maintained in the niche. In this study, we show that Notch signaling controls formation and maintenance of the GSC niche and that cap cells help determine the niche size in the Drosophila ovary. Expanded Notch activation causes the formation of more cap cells and bigger niches, which support more GSCs,whereas compromising Notch signaling during niche formation decreases the cap cell number and niche size and consequently the GSC number. Furthermore, the niches located away from their normal location can still sufficiently sustain GSC self-renewal by maintaining high local BMP signaling and repressing bam as in normal GSCs. Finally, loss of Notch function in adults results in rapid loss of the GSC niche, including cap cells and thus GSCs. Our results indicate that Notch signaling is important for formation and maintenance of the GSC niche, and that cap cells help determine niche size and function.
The Snail repressor is required for PMC ingression in the sea urchin embryo
Authors: Wu Shu-Yu , McClay David R.
Published: February 2007

In metazoans, the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a crucial process for placing the mesoderm beneath the ectoderm. Primary mesenchyme cells (PMCs) at the vegetal pole of the sea urchin embryo ingress into the floor of the blastocoele from the blastula epithelium and later become the skeletogenic mesenchyme. This ingression movement is a classic EMT during which the PMCs penetrate the basal lamina, lose adherens junctions and migrate into the blastocoele. Later, secondary mesenchyme cells (SMCs) also enter the blastocoele via an EMT, but they accompany the invagination of the archenteron initially, in much the same way vertebrate mesenchyme enters the embryo along with endoderm. Here we identify a sea urchin ortholog of the Snail transcription factor, and focus on its roles regulating EMT during PMC ingression. Functional knockdown analyses of Snail in whole embryos and chimeras demonstrate that Snail is required in micromeres for PMC ingression. Snail represses the transcription of cadherin, a repression that appears evolutionarily conserved throughout the animal kingdom. Furthermore, Snail expression is required for endocytosis of cadherin, a cellular activity that accompanies PMC ingression. Perturbation studies position Snail in the sea urchin micromere-PMC gene regulatory network (GRN), downstream of Pmar1 and Alx1, and upstream of several PMC-expressed proteins. Taken together, our findings indicate that Snail plays an essential role in PMCs to control the EMT process, in part through its repression of cadherin expression during PMC ingression, and in part through its role in the endocytosis that helps convert an epithelial cell to a mesenchyme cell.
Redundancy and specialization among plant microRNAs: role of theMIR164family in developmental robustness
Authors: Sieber Patrick , Wellmer Frank , Gheyselinck Jacqueline , Riechmann José Luis , Meyerowitz Elliot M.
Published: February 2007

In plants, members of microRNA (miRNA) families are often predicted to target the same or overlapping sets of genes. It has thus been hypothesized that these miRNAs may act in a functionally redundant manner. This hypothesis is tested here by studying the effects of elimination of all three members of the MIR164 family from Arabidopsis. It was found that a loss of miR164 activity leads to a severe disruption of shoot development,in contrast to the effect of mutation in any single MIR164 gene. This indicates that these miRNAs are indeed functionally redundant. Differences in the expression patterns of the individual MIR164 genes imply,however, that redundancy among them is not complete, and that these miRNAs show functional specialization. Furthermore, the results of molecular and genetic analyses of miR164-mediated target regulation indicate that miR164 miRNAs function to control the transcript levels, as well as the expression patterns, of their targets, suggesting that they might contribute to developmental robustness. For two of the miR164targets, namely CUP-SHAPED COTYLEDON1 (CUC1) and CUC2, we provide evidence for their involvement in the regulation of growth and show that their derepression in miR164 loss-of-function mutants is likely to account for most of the mutant phenotype.
Effect of Back Support Condition on Seat to Head Transmissibilities of Seated Occupants under Vertical Vibration
Authors: Wang Wenping , Rakheja Subhash , Boileau Paul-Émile.
Published: February 2007

The seat-to-head transmissibility (STHT) of seated human subjects has been investigated through measurements of vertical seat vibration transmitted to the head in both vertical and fore-and-aft directions. The experiment was performed using 12 adult male subjects exposed to whole-body vertical random vibration in the 0.5–15 Hz frequency range. The effects of back support conditions on the transmitted vibration were investigated by considering three back support conditions (No back support, vertical back support, and inclined back support), and two different hands positions (hands in lap and hands on the steering wheel) while exposed to three magnitudes of excitation (0.25, 0.5 and 1.0 m/s2 rms acceleration). A helmet-strap-mounted accelerometer mounting system was designed to measure the head acceleration motions along the three translational axes. The results attained from ANOVA suggested a strong influence of the back support condition on the magnitude of both the vertical and fore-and-aft STHT. The results also revealed the nonlinear response of the seated body with respect to the excitation magnitude, while the effect of hands position was judged to be insignificant.
Rattling Thresholds of Windows and Doors by Ground Vibration
Authors: Kitamura Toshiya , Imai Shin-Ya , Sano Shuhei , Yamada Hiroyuki , Sugiyama Toshiyuki , Hasebe Masaki , Yamada Shinji
Published: February 2007

This paper reports the rattling thresholds of windows or doors caused by ground vibrations. The frequency characteristics of the threshold curves by vertical and horizontal vibration were measured. The threshold for horizontal vibration is lower than the threshold for vertical vibration. When rattling occurs, the acceleration level of the 3rd and 5th harmonic frequencies increases sharply.
MESOMARK™: A Potential Test for Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma
Authors: Beyer Heather L , Geschwindt Ryan D , Glover Curtis L , Tran Ly , Hellstrom Ingegerd , Hellstrom Karl-Erik , Miller M Craig , Verch Thorsten , Allard W Jeffrey , Pass Harvey I , Sardesai Niranjan Y
Published: February 2007

Background: Soluble mesothelin-related peptides (SMRP)have been reported to be potential biomarkers for malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). We report analytical and preliminary clinical studies of MESOMARK™, a quantitative assay for SMRP.

Methods: The MESOMARK assay is a 2-step immunoenzymatic assay in an ELISA format with a 6-point calibration curve (0–32 nmol/L). We assessed analytical imprecision, analyte stability, and analytical interferences. We measured SMRP by this assay in 409 apparently healthy individuals (reference interval study), 177 patients with nonmalignant conditions, and 500 cancer patients, including 88 with MPM.

Results: The limit of detection was 0.16 nmol/L. At 2–19 nmol/L, intraassay imprecision (CV) was 1.1%–5.3%, and total imprecision was 4.0%–11.0%. The mean dilution recovery for 5 samples was 109% (range, 99%–113%). No interference was seen from added bilirubin (200 mg/L), hemoglobin (500 mg/L), triglycerides (30 g/L), chemotherapeutic agents, or other tested substances. Recombinant mesothelin was stable in serum upon freeze/thaw at −70 °C and upon storage for at least 7 days at 2–8 °C. The 99th percentile of the reference group was 1.5 nmol/L [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.2–1.6 nmol/L; n = 409], and mean SMRP was significantly higher in sera from patients with MPM (7.5 nmol/L; 95% CI, 2.8–12.1 nmol/L; n = 88). SMRP was increased in 52% and 5% of MPM patients and asbestos-exposed individuals, respectively. Concentrations in other nonmalignant and malignant conditions were similar to those in healthy controls.

Conclusions: The MESOMARK assay is analytically robust and may be useful for the detection and management of mesothelioma.
Identification of Quantitative Trait loci and Environmental Interactions for Accumulation and Remobilization of Water-Soluble Carbohydrates in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Stems
Authors: Yang De-Long , Jing Rui-Lian , Chang Xiao-Ping , Li Wei
Published: February 2007

Genetic analyses of nine traits associated with stem water-soluble carbohydrate (SWSC) accumulation and remobilization at grain-filling period under drought stress (DS) and well-watered (WW) conditions were undertaken using doubled haploid lines (DHLs) derived from two Chinese common wheat cultivars. Some significantly and very significantly positive correlation was observed among nine traits associated with SWSC. Higher phenotypic values for most traits were detected under DS. Broad sense heritabilities ($\batchmode \documentclass[fleqn,10pt,legalpaper]{article} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath} \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} \(h_{\mathrm{B}}^{2}\) \end{document}$) of the traits showed wide fluctuations between two water treatments. A total of 48 additive and 62 pairs of epistatic QTL for nine traits were identified as distributing on all 21 chromosomes. A majority of QTL involved significant additive and epistatic effects with interactions of QTL and environments (QEIs). Two additive and two pairs of epistatic loci involved only QEIs without corresponding significant additive or epistatic effects. The contributions of the additive QEIs were two- to fourfolds higher than those of their corresponding additive QTL. Most of the additive QEIs for traits associated with SWSC interacted with DS. In addition, some QTL for the grain-filling efficiencies and thousand-grain weight were colocated in the same or adjacent chromosome intervals with QTL for accumulation and remobilization efficiency of SWSC before 14 days after flowering.
Evolutionary Strata on the X Chromosomes of the Dioecious Plant Silene latifolia: Evidence From New Sex-Linked Genes
Authors: Bergero Roberta , Forrest Alan , Kamau Esther , Charlesworth Deborah
Published: February 2007

Despite its recent evolutionary origin, the sex chromosome system of the plant Silene latifolia shows signs of progressive suppression of recombination having created evolutionary strata of different X–Y divergence on sex chromosomes. However, even after 8 years of effort, this result is based on analyses of five sex-linked gene sequences, and the maximum divergence (and thus the age of this plant's sex chromosome system) has remained uncertain. More genes are therefore needed. Here, by segregation analysis of intron size variants (ISVS) and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), we identify three new Y-linked genes, one being duplicated on the Y chromosome, and test for evolutionary strata. All the new genes have homologs on the X and Y chromosomes. Synonymous divergence estimated between the X and Y homolog pairs is within the range of those already reported. Genetic mapping of the new X-linked loci shows that the map is the same in all three families that have been studied so far and that X–Y divergence increases with genetic distance from the pseudoautosomal region. We can now conclude that the divergence value is saturated, confirming the cessation of X–Y recombination in the evolution of the sex chromosomes at ∼10–20 MYA.
Clove Oil Used at Lower Concentrations is Less Effective than MS-222 at Reducing Cortisol Stress Responses in Anesthetized Rainbow Trout
Authors: Sink Todd D. , Strange Richard J. , Sawyers R. Eric
Published: February 2007

Anesthetics are widely used for surgical, field sampling, and experimental procedures in fisheries sciences. Given the high cost and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) mandatory withdrawal time of the only FDA-approved fisheries anesthetic, tricaine methanesulfonate (MS-222), clove oil has emerged as an alternative anesthetic that is generally regarded as safe. However, studies regarding the effectiveness of clove oil in retarding the stress response of fish are contradictory. This study evaluated the effectiveness of MS-222 (60 mg/L), clove oil (30 mg/L) emulsified in ethanol, and clove oil (30 mg/L) mechanically emulsified in water in reducing the stress response of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss during a 15-min confinement. Clove oil emulsified in ethanol (mean, 56.3 ng cortisol/mL) was not as effective in reducing the cortisol response as MS-222 (mean, 33.4 ng/mL). Furthermore, clove oil emulsified in ethanol and clove oil mechanically emulsified in water (means, 49.0 and 56.2 ng/mL, respectively) produced a greater cortisol response in undisturbed fish. Our results suggest that clove oil is less effective than MS-222 in reducing cortisol responses in rainbow trout subjected to handling and confinement. Our results also indicate that clove oil can induce stress and possibly lead to greater release mortality of field-handled fish.
Influence of Party Size and Trip Length on Angler Catch Rates on Oneida Lake, New York
Authors: VanDeValk Anthony J. , Jackson James R. , Krueger Scott D. , Brooking Thomas E. , Rudstam Lars G.
Published: February 2007

Angler catch rates have been used to compare angler success in sport fisheries among years or systems, to assess relative fish abundance, and to evaluate management efforts. Understanding the factors that influence angler catch rates is critical for the proper interpretation and application of these data. Information for 10,998 angler trips was collected through an angler diary program conducted during 1994–1998 and direct-contact roving creel surveys conducted during 1997 and 2002–2004 to examine the influences of angler party size and trip length on the catch rates for walleye Sander vitreus, smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu, and yellow perch Perca flavescens at Oneida Lake, New York. Party size and trip length were correlated; therefore, we constructed separate models combining data for year, party size, and trip length to examine the relationship between these factors and the angler catch rate. In both the diary program and the creel survey, the angler catch rates for all species decreased significantly as the party size increased. For diary program data only, trip length also was negatively related to the angler catch rate, but party size typically accounted for more of the variation in angler catch rates than did trip length. Our results indicate that when party size or trip length varies among systems or years, failure to account for these factors may hinder the ability to accurately measure and compare angler catch rates. In addition, angler catch rates calculated with data from roving interviews (incomplete trips) may be biased because of party size. Catch data should be collected from each angler individually for parties consisting of more than one angler.
Emerson on The Scholar, 1833–1837
Authors: Sealts Merton M.
Published: February 2007

“The American Scholar” (1837) grew organically out of Emerson's thinking about his own vocation after he left the pulpit and began secular lecturing in 1833. The scholar described first in his journal is like Emerson himself at the time, an inactive observer or “Watcher” preparing himself for some still-undefined public service. Later, Emerson developed his ideal figure of “the true scholar” as a writer and teacher who actively guides and inspires mankind, just as he hoped to do when composing his first book, Nature, in 1836. The scholar as Emerson draws him is successively the “intellectual” or “spiritual” man, “the great Thinker” who “thinks for all,” and finally the type of Emerson's Universal Man. As “Man Thinking” the scholar is neither a narrow specialist nor the parrot of other men's thoughts; he exemplifies “the active soul” by creatively transforming temporal events into timeless truth. It is self-reliant originality and creativity, the objects of Emerson's own dedication, that became the central themes of the oration as he shaped it during July and August of 1837.
A Reading of Kleist's Michael Kohlhaas
Authors: Cary John R.
Published: February 2007

In Michael Kohlhaas, Kleist brings two kinds of law, human and extra-human, into conflict with each other. Kohlhaas, denied the protection of the written law, is driven to rebellion. Simultaneously, he gains the aid of the laws of fate through the gypsy soothsayer, who is an agent of Nemesis, goddess of justice. Kohlhaas is associated with the animal figures in the work, the horses and the stag, in his virtual death at the hands of men and his return from the dead with the aid of supernatural law to wreak his inhuman vengeance on the Elector of Saxony. The latter is depicted as a pragmatist whose attempts to deal with Kohlhaas within the rational written law are doomed from the start. It is the basic tragedy of the work that the rational ruler and his passionate subject are drawn into mortal conflict with each other because each operates according to a different kind of law. This underlying conflict between human and extra-human justice accounts for the paradox and irony, as well as for the complex plotting, of the work. Kleist creates an ambiguous world in which all the figures, including the judges and the judged, are at once innocent and guilty.
Keats and The Chemistry of Poetic Creation
Authors: Sperry Stuart M.
Published: February 2007

Keats often imagines the poetic process (the way poetry is created or conceived) as a flight from reality to some dreamworld of imagination. At other times it seems an identification with and heightening of the concrete and actual. What mediates between these two apparently contradictory views of aesthetic experience are certain fundamental analogies borrowed from contemporary science, in particular chemistry, that underlie his whole view of the poetic imagination and its operation. Keats's favorite metaphors for poetic creation reveal how the imagination transmutes material phenomena or sensations into poetic or “essential” form in accordance with the principles of ethereal chemistry described by such a writer as Sir Humphry Davy and by a process remarkably akin to that of chemical distillation. The essential forms of poetry derive their reality both from the identity of material phenomena and the transforming power of the mind. Later, however, Keats's attitude toward this process undergoes a notable change. Thus the Hermes episode in Lamia can be read as a parody of his whole earlier sense of the poetic process and its authenticity. Keats's knowledge of and reliance on science becomes an integral part of the more ambivalent view of poetry that characterizes his later career.
The Dickens Controversy in The Spirit of The Times
Authors: Hauck Richard
Published: February 2007

The history of the piracy of Dickens' humorous works in the New York Spirit op the Times shows that both his presence in and his disappearance from the paper contributed to the shape of early comic realism in America. The Spirit (1831-61) is generally thought to have been devoted to the tall tales and humorous yarns of the South and Southwest, but its editor, William T. Porter, also pirated British serials such as Pickwick just when potential American humorists were beginning to read and contribute to the Spirit. The evidence in the journal indicates that they deliberately imitated Dickens. After the publication of American Notes, letters to the editor violently attacking Dickens reveal some acute American sensitivities of the period. When Porter saw that American Notes was creating a controversy, he stopped pirating Dickens' works and encouraged his contributors as humorists in their own right. Thus Dickens inadvertently played an influential role in what is usually thought of as a purely native American literary genre.
Unity, Death, and Nothingness–Poe's “Romantic Skepticism”
Authors: Thompson G. R.
Published: February 2007

It is inaccurate to maintain (see Joseph J. Moldenhauer, PMLA, lxxxiii, 1968, 284-297) that Edgar Allan Poe's vision of death and dissolution is totally ecstatic and beatific simply because the metaphysical and esthetic “Unity” presented by death is part of the basic “design” of the Universe as Poe conceived it. Instead, the esthetic cosmology of Eureka and the implicit themes of other of Poe's works, especially Pym, “A Descent into the Maelstrom,” “The Pit and the Pendulum,” present a tension between hope and despair, reason and madness, Divine Purpose and seeming Nothingness which must be called “skeptical.”
“Nor Man It Is”: The Knight of Justice in Book v of Spenser's Faerie Queene
Authors: Anderson Judith H.
Published: February 2007

Artegall's limitations and those of his Legend are largely inherent in the nature of justice. The subject of justice leads to the dream of a Golden Age in Book v, but it leads also to the presence of historical allegory, often a painful reminder of Elizabethan shortcomings. Artegall's experiences in Book v reflect both the historic and the symbolic poles in the poem; hence they mirror a strain and a more general duality in the techniques and concerns of the Book. From the beginning of Book v, Artegall is divided against himself. With two exceptions, brief moments of unified identity found in his meetings with Arthur and Britomart, Artegall has always a choice between being Justice, a virtue and an abstraction, and being a Knight, a virtuous man and a human being. (JHA)
Imagery and Method in An Essay on Criticism
Authors: Spacks Patricia Meyer
Published: February 2007

The poetic method of Pope's An Essay on Criticism is to demonstrate how wit can operate, through imagery, as both controlling and creative power. The poem's imagery suggests the relatedness of all human endeavor, defines the special place of criticism, indicates standards of value. Images modify one another to achieve subtle effects, communicate complex and delicate judgments. The multiplicity of imagery is never random; it works by purposeful reinforcement. Even individual images supply poetic and philosophic density. Particularly important is the figure of the “good man” which emerges gradually through the poem, exemplifying a technique characteristic of much of Pope's poetry: the heightening of significant figures to emblematic proportions to exemplify the reality of key abstractions. The form as well as the content of Pope's imagery is important, with metaphors in general indicating more crucial connections than similes reveal. Pope, unlike such predecessors as Cowley, uses both metaphor and simile to convey a set of complicated paraphrasable ideas. He attempts to promulgate doctrine and to enjoin the proper feelings and beliefs about it. The Essay on Criticism indicates that metaphor can provide organization without comprising the sole substance of a poem.