bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Likelihood for Statistically Equivalent Models
Authors: Copas John , Eguchi Shinto
Published: January 2010

In likelihood inference we usually assume that the model is fixed and then base inference on the corresponding likelihood function. Often, however, the choice of model is rather arbitrary, and there may be other models which fit the data equally well. We study robustness of likelihood inference over such ‘statistically equivalent’ models and suggest a simple ‘envelope likelihood’ to capture this aspect of model uncertainty. Robustness depends critically on how we specify the parameter of interest. Some asymptotic theory is presented, illustrated by three examples.
Simultaneous Estimation and Reduction of Nonconformity in Interlaboratory Studies
Authors: Strawderman William E. , Rukhin Andrew L.
Published: January 2010

Several procedures that are designed to reduce nonconformity in interlaboratory studies by shrinking data towards a consensus weighted mean are suggested. Some of them are shown to have a smaller quadratic risk than the vector sample means. Shrinkage towards a weighted mean in a random-effects model and a statistic appearing in models which allow for systematic errors are also considered. The results are illustrated by two examples of collaborative studies.
Minimally Informative Prior Distributions for Non-Parametric Bayesian Analysis
Authors: Bush Christopher A. , Lee Juhee , MacEachern Steven N.
Published: January 2010

We address the problem of how to conduct a minimally informative, non-parametric Bayesian analysis. The central question is how to devise a model so that the posterior distribution satisfies a few basic properties. The concept of ‘local mass’ provides the key to the development of the limiting Dirichlet process model. This model is then used to provide an engine for inference in the compound decision problem and for multiple-comparisons inference in a one-way analysis-of-variance setting. Our analysis in this setting may be viewed as a limit of the analyses that were developed by Escobar and by Gopalan and Berry. Computations for the analysis are described, and the predictive performance of the model is compared with that of mixture of Dirichlet processes models.
SUBJECTIVITY AS A NON‐TEXTUAL STANDARD OF INTERPRETATION IN THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHICAL PSYCHOLOGY
Authors: KAUKUA JARI , LÄHTEENMÄKI VILI
Published: January 2010

Contemporary caution against anachronism in intellectual history, and the currently momentous theoretical emphasis on subjectivity in the philosophy of mind, are two prevailing conditions that set puzzling constraints for studies in the history of philosophical psychology. The former urges against assuming ideas, motives, and concepts that are alien to the historical intellectual setting under study, and combined with the latter suggests caution in relying on our intuitions regarding subjectivity due to the historically contingent characterizations it has attained in contemporary philosophy of mind. In the face of these conditions, our paper raises a question of what we call non‐textual (as opposed to contextual) standards of interpretation of historical texts, and proceeds to explore subjectivity as such a standard. Non‐textual standards are defined as (heuristic) postulations of features of the world or our experience of it that we must suppose to be immune to historical variation in order to understand a historical text. Although the postulation of such standards is often so obvious that the fact of our doing so is not noticed at all, we argue that the problems in certain special cases, such as that of subjectivity, force us to pay attention to the methodological questions involved. Taking into account both recent methodological discussion and the problems inherent in two de facto denials of the relevance of subjectivity for historical theories, we argue that there are good grounds for the adoption of subjectivity as a nontextual standard for historical work in philosophical psychology.
CHALLENGING CERTAINTY: THE UTILITY AND HISTORY OF COUNTERFACTUALISM
Authors: KAYE SIMON T.
Published: January 2010

Counterfactualism is a useful process for historians as a thought‐experiment because it offers grounds to challenge an unfortunate contemporary historical mindset of assumed, deterministic certainty. This article suggests that the methodological value of counterfactualism may be understood in terms of the three categories of common ahistorical errors that it may help to prevent: the assumptions of indispensability, causality, and inevitability. To support this claim, I survey a series of key counterfactual works and reflections on counterfactualism, arguing that the practice of counterfactualism evolved as both cause and product of an evolving popular assumption of the plasticity of history and the importance of human agency within it. For these reasons, counterfactualism is of particular importance both historically and politically. I conclude that it is time for a methodological re‐assessment of the uses of such thought‐experiments in history, particularly in light of counterfactualism's developmental relatedness to cultural, technological, and analytical modernity.
THE LETTER KILLS: ON SOME IMPLICATIONS OF 2 CORINTHIANS 3:62
Authors: GINZBURG CARLO
Published: January 2010

The paper focuses on an argument put forward by Augustine in his De doctrina Christiana: there are passages in the Bible that need to be read in a literal, contextual, and ultimately rhetorical perspective. This approach to the Bible (usually overshadowed by Augustine's own parallel emphasis on the importance of allegory) was needed to deal with customs—for instance the patriarchs' polygamy—that had to be evaluated, Augustine argued, according to standards different from those prevailing in the present day. This need inspired Augustine to utter some sharp remarks on the need to avoid (as we would say today) ethnocentric, anachronistic projections into the Biblical text.

The long‐term impact of Augustine's argument was profound. The emphasis on the letter played a significant role in the exchanges between Christian and Jewish medieval readings of the Bible, which affected Nicholas of Lyra's influential commentary (Postilla). The same tradition may have contributed to Valla's and Karlstadt's audacious hermeneutic remarks on the Biblical canon, which covertly or openly focused on contradictions in the Biblical text, questioning the role of Moses as author of Deuteronomy. Traces of those discussions can be detected in Spinoza's Tractatus theologico‐politicus. The paper suggests that the emphasis on a literal, contextual reading of the Bible provided a model for secular reading in general. The possible role of this model in the aggressive encounter between Europe and alien cultures is a matter of speculation.
Welfare program participation among rural‐to‐urban migrant workers in China
Authors: Xu Qingwen , Guan Xinping , Yao Fangfang
Published: January 2010

Xu Q, Guan X, Yao F. Welfare program participation among rural‐to‐urban migrant workers in China

Int J Soc Welfare 2011: 20: 10–21 © 2010 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and International Journal of Social Welfare.

An estimated 225 million Chinese people have migrated to cities from China's rural areas over the past two decades. These rural‐to‐urban migrant workers have greatly challenged China's welfare system. The pre‐reform welfare system was a duel scheme with an urban–rural distinction in which rural residents were not covered by state‐run welfare programs and had to rely on their families and rural collectives. The development of employment‐based social insurance programs in 1999 made social welfare programs available for rural‐to‐urban migrant workers. Using an anonymous survey conducted in seven cities across China in 2006, we found that social insurance program participation rates were low among rural‐to‐urban migrant workers. Individual factors, including lack of knowledge of welfare programs and of a willingness to participate, and macro‐level factors, including type of employer and industry, are critical in determining migrant workers' participation in welfare programs. Implications for policies and practice are discussed.
Social development and the status quo: professionalisation and Third Way co‐optation
Authors: Gray Mel
Published: January 2010

Gray M. Social development and the status quo: professionalisation and Third Way co‐optation

Int J Soc Welfare 2010: 19: 463–470 © 2010 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and International Journal of Social Welfare.

Social development is a massive undertaking that has spawned a multitude of organisational forms. It nevertheless remains an ambiguous term and ill‐defined area of work, though some social development practitioners have succeeded in making small‐scale local differences in particular situations. While largely a tool of the status quo, some believe that social development has transformative potential and provides valuable space to confront inequalities and deprivation. In this article, I argue that in contemporary neoliberal environments social development is being co‐opted by Third Way politics and professionalisation processes. As it professionalises through the creation of professional structures and educational systems, it is becoming increasingly like social work, despite arguments that it is as an alternative approach to poverty and social exclusion. In the process, it is losing its transformative, critical edge, and morphing into a neoliberal, social investment approach that absolves government of its responsibility for the welfare of citizens.
Suggestive evidence of a vesicle‐mediated mode of cell degranulation in chromaffin cells. A high‐resolution scanning electron microscopy investigation
Authors: Crivellato Enrico , Solinas Paola , Isola Raffaella , Ribatti Domenico , Riva Alessandro
Published: January 2010

In this study we used a modified osmium maceration method for high‐resolution scanning electron microscopy to study some ultrastructural details fitting the schema of piecemeal degranulation in chromaffin cells. Piecemeal degranulation refers to a particulate pattern of cell secretion that is accomplished by vesicle‐mediated extracellular transport of granule‐stored material. We investigated adrenal samples from control and angiotensin II‐treated rats, and identified a variable proportion of smooth, 30–60‐nm‐diameter vesicles in the cytoplasm of chromaffin cells. A percentage of these vesicles were interspersed in the cytosol among chromaffin granules but the majority appeared to be attached to granules. Remarkably, the number of unattached cytoplasmic vesicles was greatly increased in chromaffin cells from angiotensin II‐treated animals. Vesicles of the same structure and dimension were detected close to or attached to the cytoplasmic face of the plasma membrane; these, too, were increased in number in chromaffin cells from rats stimulated with angiotensin II. In specimens shaken with a rotating agitator during maceration, the cytoplasmic organelles could be partially removed and the fine structure of the vesicular interaction with the inner side of the plasma membrane emerged most clearly. A proportion of chromaffin granules showed protrusions that we interpreted as vesicular structures budding from the granular envelope. In some instances, the transection plane intersected granules with putative vesicles emerging from the surfaces. In these cases, the protrusions of budding vesicles could be observed from the internal side. This study provides high‐resolution scanning electron microscopy images compatible with a vesicle‐mediated degranulation mode of cell secretion in adrenal chromaffin cells. The data indicating an increase in the number of vesicles observed in chromaffin cells after stimulation with the chromaffin cell secretagogue angiotensin II suggests that this secretory process may be susceptible to fine regulation.
Somatotopic organization of lumbar muscle‐innervating neurons in the ventral horn of the rat spinal cord
Authors: Takahashi Yuzuru , Ohtori Seiji , Takahashi Kazuhisa
Published: January 2010

The ventral horn of the rat spinal cord was investigated with respect to the somatotopic organization of the motor neurons that innervate the lumbar muscles. Neurotracer 1,1′‐dioctadecyl‐3,3,3′,3′‐tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate (DiI) was applied to specific sites in lumbar muscles. Spinal cord segments at L1 through L4 levels were cut into 40‐μm serial transverse sections. Labeled neurons were located in the ventromedial nucleus (VM) and lateromedial nucleus (LM) nuclei of Rexed’s lamina IX. Motor neurons innervating the m. interspinales lumborum and m. multifidus were without exception present in the VM, whereas all motor neurons innervating the m. rectus abdominis were present in the LM. Forty percent of motor neurons innervating the m. quadratus lumborum were present in the VM and the other 60% were in the LM. Although most of the motor neurons innervating the m. psoas major were present in the LM, a few labeled neurons existed in the VM. These results suggest that the border zone demarcating the areas of innervation of the dorsal and ventral rami of spinal nerves crosses the m. quadratus lumborum.
Redistribution of nuclear pores during formation of the redundant nuclear envelope in mouse spermatids
Authors: Ho Han‐Chen
Published: January 2010

Extensive morphological modification occurs during mammalian spermiogenesis when spermatids change their spherical shape into cells with a compact head and a long tail. In this study, freeze‐fracture was used to elucidate the alteration of the nuclear envelope during this process. Nuclear condensation resulted in a great reduction of spermatid nuclear volume and the formation of the redundant nuclear envelope. During nuclear condensation, distribution patterns of nuclear pores were greatly affected by the developing acrosome and manchette. As the acrosome enlarged to cap the nucleus, the pores redistributed caudally in the nuclear membranes and became exclusively localized to the redundant nuclear envelope. Manchette microtubules play an important role in shaping the nucleus, and formation of the manchette was associated with exclusion of nuclear pores from the underlying nuclear envelope; therefore, it is likely that the redistribution of nuclear pores was aided by manchette development. The appearance of an electron‐lucent nuclear region surrounded by the nascent redundant nuclear envelope indicated a pathway for transporting degradation products through the nuclear pores to the residual cytoplasm. The packaging of the nuclear pores into the redundant nuclear envelope suggests that they play a role in late stages of sperm maturation or in fertilization, as most other unnecessary organelles of sperm are discarded during spermiogenesis or during shedding of the cytoplasmic droplet.
The nasolacrimal duct of anuran amphibians: suggestions on its functional role in vomeronasal perception
Authors: Nowack Christine , Wöhrmann‐Repenning Angela
Published: January 2010

Tear secretions discharged by the Harderian gland are suggested to function as a solvent for molecules sensed by the vomeronasal organ (VNO) in anurans. It has been assumed that chemical stimuli are absorbed at the surface of the eye to be carried – together with the lacrimal fluid – into the nasal cavity via the nasolacrimal duct. In the study presented herein, we examined the intranasal anatomy of 10 different anuran species to analyse the opening region of the nasolacrimal duct and its functional relationship with the VNO and the external naris. In addition, vital staining of the nasal cavities was conducted. Our results indicate that stimuli reaching the VNO are more likely to be ingested through the nostril than via the eye. In many cases the intranasal orifice of the nasolacrimal duct shows a close proximity to the external naris and simultaneously we observed a noticeable distance to the VNO. We suggest that the secretions of the Harderian gland are carried to the external naris by the nasolacrimal duct, where they bind chemical stimuli that are subsequently actively transported into the VNO. In some of the investigated species the opening region of the tear duct was situated in a more caudal part of the nasal cavity and closer to the VNO. In these cases a conspicuous system of channels can be found, which is suspected to carry the intruding medium of smell from the nostril to the nasolacrimal aperture.
Diffusion‐weighted imaging of cerebral white matter and the cerebellum following preterm birth
Authors: HART ANTHONY R , WHITBY ELSPETH H , CLARK SIMON J , PALEY MARTYN N J , SMITH MICHAEL F
Published: January 2010

Aim  The aim of this study was to determine if apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) generated with diffusion‐weighted imaging of cerebral white matter and the cerebellum are affected by white matter damage.

Method  Seventy‐two preterm infants (32 males, 40 females; mean gestational age at birth 30.3wks, SD 3.0wks; mean birthweight 1458g, SD 534g) underwent magnetic resonance imaging of the brain around term‐equivalent age and were categorized into three groups: normal, overt abnormality, and diffuse excessive high signal intensity (DEHSI). ADC values were calculated from cerebral white matter, cerebellar hemispheres, and cerebellar midline, and were compared between groups. Regression analysis identified clinical parameters correlated with ADC values.

Results  Imaging was normal in 27 infants, and revealed overt abnormalities in 14 and DEHSI in 31. ADC values did not differ between groups. ADC values from cerebral white matter were negatively correlated with the number of episodes of postnatal sepsis (p=0.002). ADC values from cerebellar hemispheres (p=0.007) and cerebellar midline (p=0.036) correlated with gestational age at birth.

Interpretation  ADC values from white matter are not altered in preterm infants with DEHSI but are negatively correlated with the number of episodes of postnatal sepsis. ADC values in the cerebellum are not altered by white matter damage, but are affected by preterm birth itself.
An internet‐based physical activity intervention for adolescents with cerebral palsy: a randomized controlled trial
Authors: MAHER CAROL A , WILLIAMS MARIE T , OLDS TIM , LANE ALISON E
Published: January 2010

Aim  To determine the effectiveness of an 8‐week internet‐based, lifestyle physical‐activity intervention for adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP).

Method  A randomized controlled trial using concealed allocation with blinded assessments at baseline, 10, and 20 weeks. Forty‐one adolescents with CP participated (26 males, 15 females; mean age 13y 7mo, SD 1y 8mo, range 11–17y; Gross Motor Function Classification System levels: I, n=21; II, n=17; III, n=3; unilateral distribution n=16, bilateral n=25). Primary outcome was physical activity (NL‐1000 accelerometers and self‐report [Multimedia Activity Recall for Children and Adolescents: MARCA]). Secondary outcomes were exercise knowledge (a purpose‐designed scale), attitudes, intention and self‐efficacy (Lifestyle Education for Activity Program II scales), self‐reported sedentary behaviour (MARCA), and functional capacity (6‐min walk test).

Results  At 10 weeks the intervention group showed no increased physical activity compared with the comparison group (weekly steps: change of +2420 vs −12189 steps p=0.06; weekly moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity: change of +70 vs +8min, p=0.06; weekly distance walked: change of +3 vs −9.1km, p=0.05) and exercise knowledge (12% vs 1% improvement, p=0.08). There were no statistically significant differences for these outcomes at 20 weeks, or in self‐reported physical activity at 10 or 20 weeks.

Interpretation  There was a positive short‐term pattern for improvement in physical activity and knowledge. Internet‐based programs may offer an alternative for participants unable to attend regular face‐to‐face physical activity programs.
Insulin inhibits Aβ fibrillogenesis through a decrease of the GM1 ganglioside‐rich microdomain in neuronal membranes
Authors: Yamamoto Naoki , Taniura Hideo , Suzuki Kenji
Published: January 2010

J. Neurochem. (2010) 113, 628–636.

Type 2 diabetes is a risk factor for late‐onset Alzheimer’s disease. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. To investigate whether insulin is associated with the assembly of amyloid β‐protein from the cell surface, we treated nerve growth factor (NGF)‐treated rat pheochromocytoma 12 (PC12) cells with insulin, which is related to the development of diabetes. Insulin treatment induced a decrease in GM1 ganglioside (GM1) levels in detergent‐resistant membrane microdomains of NGF‐treated PC12 cells. The insulin‐induced effects on GM1 levels were regulated by a phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase inhibitor, but not by an extracellular signal‐regulated kinase inhibitor. Pre‐treatment with a protein synthesis inhibitor did not inhibit the decrease in GM1 levels induced by insulin. In addition, insulin failed to induce formation of fibrils from soluble amyloid β‐protein or to accelerate GM1‐induced fibril formation. Furthermore, assembly of amyloid β‐protein in cultures of NGF‐treated PC12 cells was significantly decreased by insulin. These results suggest that insulin inhibits amyloid β‐protein assembly by decreasing GM1 expression in detergent‐resistant membrane microdomains of neuronal membranes.
Lactacidosis modulates glutathione metabolism and oxidative glutamate toxicity
Authors: Lewerenz Jan , Dargusch Richard , Maher Pamela
Published: January 2010

J. Neurochem.(2010)113, 502–514.

Lactate and acidosis increase infarct size in humans and in animal models of cerebral ischemia but the mechanisms by which they exert their neurotoxic effects are poorly understood. Oxidative glutamate toxicity is a form of nerve cell death, wherein glutamate inhibits cystine uptake via the cystine/glutamate antiporter systemleading to glutathione depletion, accumulation of reactive oxygen species and, ultimately, programmed cell death. Using the hippocampal cell line, HT22, we show that lactate and acidosis exacerbate oxidative glutamate toxicity and further decrease glutathione levels. Acidosis but not lactate inhibits system, whereas both acidosis and lactate inhibit the enzymatic steps of glutathione synthesis downstream of cystine uptake. In contrast, when glutathione synthesis is completely inhibited by cystine‐free medium, acidosis partially protects against glutathione depletion and cell death. Both effects of acidosis are also present in primary neuronal and astrocyte cultures. Furthermore, we show that some neuroprotective compounds are much less effective in the presence of lactacidosis. Our findings indicate that lactacidosis modulates glutathione metabolism and neuronal cell death. Furthermore, lactacidosis may interfere with the action of some neuroprotective drugs rendering these less likely to be therapeutically effective in cerebral ischemia.
Evidence that pregabalin reduces neuropathic pain by inhibiting the spinal release of glutamate
Authors: Kumar Naresh , Laferriere Andre , Yu Jonathan S. C. , Leavitt Amelia , Coderre Terence J.
Published: January 2010

J. Neurochem.(2010)113, 552–561.

Pregabalin is an anti‐convulsant that successfully treats many neuropathic pain syndromes, although the mechanism of its anti‐hyperalgesic action remains elusive. This study aims to help delineate pregabalin’s anti‐hyperalgesic mechanisms. We assessed the effectiveness of pregabalin at decreasing mechanical and cold hypersensitivity induced in a rat model of neuropathic pain. Thus, we compared the effectiveness of pre‐ or post‐treatment with systemic or intrathecal (i.t.) pregabalin at reducing the development and maintenance of the neuropathic pain symptoms. Pregabalin successfully decreased mechanical and cold hypersensitivity, as a pre‐treatment, but was less effective at suppressing cold hypersensitivity when administered as a post‐treatment. Furthermore, both i.t. and systemic administration of pregabalin were effective in reducing the behavioral hypersensitivity, with the exception of systemic post‐treatment on cold hypersensitivity. We also examined pregabalin’s effects at inhibiting hind paw formalin‐induced nociception in naïve rats and formalin‐induced release of excitatory amino acids in the spinal cord dorsal horn (SCDH) both in naïve rats and in rats with neuropathic pain. Pregabalin dose‐dependently reduced nociceptive scores in the formalin test. We also present the first evidence that pregabalin reduces the formalin‐induced release of glutamate in SCDH. Furthermore, i.t. pregabalin reduces the enhanced noxious stimulus‐induced spinal release of glutamate seen in neuropathic rats. These data suggest that pregabalin reduces neuropathic pain symptoms by inhibiting the release of glutamate in the SCDH.
Identification of significant shorebird areas: thresholds and criteria
Authors: Clemens R. S. , Weston M. A. , Haslem A. , Silcocks A. , Ferris J.
Published: January 2010

Aim  Conservation managers designate significant areas for shorebirds based on imperfect data. Significant wetlands for migratory shorebirds have usually been identified on the basis of whether they exceed certain thresholds, defined either by total abundance (usually 20,000 waterbirds) or percentage of a population (usually 1.0%). We evaluate the performance of existing criteria and determine if lowering thresholds would improve shorebird conservation without adding unreasonable numbers of significant sites.

Location  Australia.

Methods  We evaluated the best available data, which is used by managers to designate significant areas, to describe the effect of lowering thresholds on the number of significant sites identified and the number of shorebirds these sites support using a range of thresholds in existing criteria. We also investigated factors which may explain interspecific differences evident when lowering thresholds.

Results  When the threshold for total abundance was lowered from 20,000 to 2000 shorebirds, an additional 45 shorebird areas, holding 65% more shorebirds, were identified. When thresholds for the percentage of a population criterion were lowered from 1.0 to 0.1%, an additional 86 shorebird areas were identified which held 29% more shorebirds. The proportion of a species population counted within wetlands identified as significant by the application of criteria varied widely between species. The percentage of population criterion always identified a network of areas that included more individuals of each species than the total abundance criterion at all threshold levels tested. The percentage of species populations found in networks of significant areas showed greater increase as thresholds were lowered for species that were abundant, widespread and well represented at existing thresholds.

Main conclusions  Our results suggest lowering thresholds will substantially increase the number of shorebirds in identified significant areas. However, some species will remain under‐represented, partly because of interspecific differences in distribution and inadequate sampling of some shorebird habitats.
Lack of effect of the α2C‐adrenoceptor Del322‐325 polymorphism on inhibition of cyclic AMP production in HEK293 cells
Authors: Montgomery MD , Bylund DB
Published: January 2010

Background and purpose: The α2C‐adrenoceptor has multiple functions, including inhibiting release of noradrenaline from presynaptic nerve terminals. A human α2Cpolymorphism, Del322‐325, a potential risk factor for heart failure, has been reported to exhibit reduced signalling in CHO cells. To further understand the role of the Del322‐325 polymorphism on receptor signalling, we attempted to replicate and further study the reduced signalling in HEK293 cells.

Experimental approach: Human α2Cwild‐type (WT) and Del322‐325 adrenoceptors were stably transfected into HEK293 cells. Radioligand binding was performed to determine affinities for both receptors. In intact cells, inhibition of forskolin‐stimulated cyclic AMP production by WT and Del322‐325 clones with a range of receptor densities (200–2320 fmol·mg−1protein) was measured following agonist treatment.

Key results: Noradrenaline, brimonidine and clonidine exhibited similar binding affinities for WT and Del322‐325. Brimonidine and clonidine also had similar efficacies and potencies for both receptors for the inhibition of cyclic AMP production at all receptor densities tested. A linear regression analysis comparing efficacy and potency with receptor expression levels showed no differences in slopes between WT and Del322‐325.

Conclusions and implications: The α2CWT and Del322‐325 adrenoceptors exhibited similar binding properties. Additionally, inhibition of cyclic AMP production by Del322‐325 was similar to that of WT over a range of receptor densities. Therefore, in intact HEK293 cells, the α2C‐Del322‐325 polymorphism does not exhibit reduced signalling to adenylyl cyclase and may not represent a clinically important phenotype.
Deletion of the distal COOH‐terminus of the A2Badenosine receptor switches internalization to an arrestin‐ and clathrin‐independent pathway and inhibits recycling
Authors: Mundell SJ , Matharu A‐L , Nisar S , Palmer TM , Benovic JL , Kelly E
Published: January 2010

Background and purpose: We have investigated the effect of deletions of a postsynaptic density, disc large and zo‐1 protein (PDZ) motif at the end of the COOH‐terminus of the rat A2Badenosine receptor on intracellular trafficking following long‐term exposure to the agonist 5′‐(N‐ethylcarboxamido)‐adenosine.

Experimental approach: The trafficking of the wild type A2Badenosine receptor and deletion mutants expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells was studied using an enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay in combination with immunofluorescence microscopy.

Key results: The wild type A2Badenosine receptor and deletion mutants were all extensively internalized following prolonged treatment with NECA. The intracellular compartment through which the Gln325‐stop receptor mutant, which lacks the Type II PDZ motif found in the wild type receptor initially trafficked was not the same as the wild type receptor. Expression of dominant negative mutants of arrestin‐2, dynamin or Eps‐15 inhibited internalization of wild type and Leu330‐stop receptors, whereas only dominant negative mutant dynamin inhibited agonist‐induced internalization of Gln325‐stop, Ser326‐stop and Phe328‐stop receptors. Following internalization, the wild type A2Badenosine receptor recycled rapidly to the cell surface, whereas the Gln325‐stop receptor did not recycle.

Conclusions and implications: Deletion of the COOH‐terminus of the A2Badenosine receptor beyond Leu330switches internalization from an arrestin‐ and clathrin‐dependent pathway to one that is dynamin dependent but arrestin and clathrin independent. The presence of a Type II PDZ motif appears to be essential for arrestin‐ and clathrin‐dependent internalization, as well as recycling of the A2Badenosine receptor following prolonged agonist addition.
Microembolic Air Load During Contrast‐Transcranial Doppler: A Trigger for Migraine With Aura?
Authors: Caputi Luigi , Usai Susanna , Carriero Maria R. , Grazzi Licia , D'Amico Domenico , Falcone Chiara , Anzola Gian P. , Del Sette Massimo , Parati Eugenio , Bussone Gennaro
Published: January 2010

(Headache 2010;50:1320‐1327)

Background.— There is a well‐known association between migraine with aura (MA) and right‐to‐left shunt (RILES) because of patent foramen ovale (PFO). The occurrence of MA attacks after microbubble (MB) injection during contrast‐enhanced transcranial Doppler (ce‐TCD) has been recently described.

Objectives.— The aim of this study was to analyze the prevalence of RILES in a consecutive cohort of MA patients and to characterize the occurrence of MA attacks after diagnostic ce‐TCD.

Methods.— A total of 159 consecutive MA patients underwent ce‐TCD with air‐mixed saline to disclose RILES. RILES was characterized in terms of MB amount (small‐moderate or large) and occurrence at rest and/or during Valsalva maneuver (permanent or latent).

Results.— RILES was revealed in 79/159 patients (∼50%). Permanent RILES were detected in 56/79 (71%) and latent RILES in 23/79 (29%) MA patients. The occurrence of a typical MA attack was overall observed in 12/159 patients (7.5%; 95% CI: 4‐12.8%), but arose only in RILES‐positive ones, immediately after ce‐TCD (12/79; 15.2%; P < .001). All 12 patients had permanent RILES (12/56; 21.4%; P = .015) and MA attack was mostly observed in large RILES‐positive patients, even without statistical significance (P = .118).

Conclusions.— Microembolic air load could act as a trigger of MA attack. According to recent studies and to the clinical characteristics observed in our patients, microembolization because of MB injection might provoke a decrease in cerebral oxygen saturation, thus triggering cortical spreading depression and, thereafter, MA attack. Larger and prospective studies will be necessary to confirm our data and observe a wider correlation.
Individual Differences in Alcohol Drinking Frequency Are Associated With Electrophysiological Responses to Unexpected Nonrewards
Authors: Franken Ingmar H. A. , Van den Berg Ivo , Van Strien Jan W.
Published: January 2010

Background:  It has been suggested that alcohol use is related to sensitivity of the reward system. Although there are several studies using self‐reported measures supportive of this notion, objective biological data in humans on this issue are lacking.

Aims:  This study is designed to test whether alcohol drinking frequency is associated with electrophysiological indices of reward processing.

Materials and Methods:  In a passive gambling task, stimuli predicted the presence (reward) and absence (nonreward) of rewards resulting in P2 and medial frontal negativity (MFN) indices of reward processing. Forty‐seven undergraduate students were asked about their habitual drinking frequency and the P2 and MFN to stimuli predicting reward were measured.

Results:  Most importantly, the MFN to unpredicted nonrewards at the frontal midline (Fz) location correlated significantly with drinking frequency, with frequent drinkers showing larger MFN amplitudes. The results did not show a significant association between frequency and alcohol drinking and P2.

Discussion:  Although several studies showing increased reward‐sensitivity in addictive behaviors, the present results indicate that, in frequent alcohol drinkers, electrophysiological responsiveness is particularly activated by unpredicted nonrewards. In general, this may point to the involvement of the reward system in alcohol drinking frequency.

Conclusion:  More specifically, the results demonstrate an increased vulnerability of high frequency drinkers to signals of (frustrative) nonrewards.
Technology's Effect on Property–Casualty Insurance Operations
Authors: Puelz Robert
Published: January 2010

Abstract

The post‐Glass–Steagall era has presented insurers with new opportunities and risks during a time when information flows and business processes are being impacted by changing technology. In this article, we explore how insurers use and perceive current technology to carry out their operations by reporting results from a sample of insurers that includes some of the nation's largest property and casualty insurers. We find among insurers in our sample that an online channel is having a significant impact on customer retention and revenue enhancement, but a lesser impact on cost reduction. Interestingly, about two‐thirds of our sample has experienced an increase in their overall number of transactions following the adoption on an online channel. Moreover, while the Internet is perceived as giving marketing benefits it is not being used as a substitute for agents. We find that 65 percent of respondents have used technology to integrate customer data across functional areas and another 23 percent plan to do so in the next 3 years. Nearly 71 percent of respondents have or plan to adopt service‐oriented architecture in their technology infrastructure.
First‐Party Versus Third‐Party Compensation for Automobile Accidents: Evidence From Canada
Authors: Kelly Mary , Kleffner Anne , Tomlinson Maureen
Published: January 2010

Abstract

Insurance regimes for compensating losses arising from automobile accidents vary by jurisdiction, ranging from a pure tort system to a pure no‐fault system, with both systems having well‐documented benefits and costs. The majority of published research focuses on the benefits and costs associated with the compensation for bodily injury. This article extends the existing literature by examining the differences between first‐party and third‐party recovery for both physical damage and bodily injury losses in Canada. Our comparison of auto insurance costs per insured vehicle suggests that government‐run, pure no‐fault provinces have lower average costs than provinces with private tort and modified no‐fault. Lower costs arise from the elimination of tort costs associated with noneconomic damages, lower claims settlement costs due to first‐party compensation, and scales of economy arising from monopoly power. The second goal of the article is to examine the impact of first‐ versus third‐party compensation on the settlement of property damage claims. We analyze the claim files of a large insurer that operates within both a traditional tort (third‐party) environment and a first‐party recovery environment for property damage. We find that in a first‐party recovery regime claims are settled sooner, settlement costs are lower, and not‐at‐fault drivers are compensated at a higher rate than in the traditional tort environment.
Cultivating ignorance of Aboriginal realities
Authors: GODLEWSKA ANNE , MOORE JACKIE , BEDNASEK C DREW
Published: January 2010

The principal problem in Aboriginal education in Canada is the education of Canadians. This article exposes Canada's long history of ignorance of Aboriginal Peoples and suggests that while education may not be the source of ignorance, it is now perpetuating it. Using the Ontario secondary school curriculum as an example, this article looks at mainstream Canadian and World Studies, of which geography is an integral part, and Native Studies courses, offered in Ontario since 1999, but available for study to few young Ontarians. Curricular reforms during recent decades have removed the worst expressions of racism, but have not addressed fundamental colonial attitudes in the mainstream curriculum. As a citizenry we are complacent about a deep‐seated ignorance of the country's past and present, affecting both Aboriginal and non‐Aboriginal Canadians. Lack of interest in traditional and modern Aboriginal cultures doom immigrants and established settlers to a dysfunctional relationship with the growing and increasingly internationally recognized indigenous population. As university educators and teachers of teachers, geographers must assume responsibility for promoting truthful and inclusive perceptions of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada and, in recognizing the subtle strategies of cultivating ignorance, examine how geography as it is currently taught in schools might exclude Aboriginal People and understanding.
Ethics, tradition, authority: Toward an anthropology of the fatwa
Authors: AGRAMA HUSSEIN ALI
Published: January 2010

Prevailing approaches to the fatwa construe it as primarily an instrument of Islamic doctrinal change and reform, as bridging the constant gap between a settled doctrinal past and a future of continual novelty. Underpinning these approaches are familiar but questionable assumptions about temporality, imitation, creativity, and tradition that obscure the fatwa's integral ethical dimensions and our understandings of its pervasive authority. This article unsettles these assumptions and, through ethnography of the Fatwa Council of Al‐Azhar in Cairo, offers a different view of the fatwa that helps us both understand its ethical authority and challenges conventional oppositions between authority and ethical agency.
Resting at creation and afterlife: Distant times in the ordinary strategies of Muslim women in the rural Fouta Djallon, Guinea
Authors: SMID KAREN
Published: January 2010

Although anthropologists have discredited use of the liberal and secular concept of “agency” for explaining Muslim women's behavior, their evidence comes from women who still appear rather agentive to Western readers, hence, muting the necessity and consequences of discovering and applying the women's own ethical and religious terms in their analysis. In Guinea's rural Fouta Djallon, women are not prone to mobilize and make self‐interested decisions with immediately observable outcomes. Therefore, understanding them on their own terms requires greater attention to their religious frameworks, namely, to their use of visions of creation and afterlife to define themselves and strategize for redemption.
Indigeneity across borders: Hemispheric migrations and cosmopolitan encounters
Authors: DELUGAN ROBIN MARIA
Published: January 2010

The increasing migration of indigenous people from Latin America to the United States signals a new horizon for the study of indigeneity—complexly understood as subjectivities, knowledge, and practices of the earliest human inhabitants of a particular place and including legal and racial identities that refer to these people. Focusing on indigenous migration to San Francisco, California, I explore how government, service providers, and community organizations respond to the arrival of new ethnic groups while also contributing to an expanding Urban Indian collective identity. In addition to reviewing such governmental practices as the creation of new census categories and related responses to indigenous ethnic diversity, I illustrate how some members of a diverse Urban Indian population unite through participation in rituals such as the Maya Waqxaqi’ B’atz’ (Day of Human Perfection), transplanted to San Francisco from Guatemala. The rituals recall homelands near and far in a broader social imagination about being and belonging in the world. The social imagination, borne in part through migration and diaspora, acknowledges the local and the particular in a framework of shared values about what it means to be human. I analyze this meaning making as cosmopolitanism in practice. By merging indigeneity and cosmopolitanism, I join other scholars who strive to decenter classical notions of cosmopolitan “worldliness,” drawing attention to alternative sources of beneficent sociality and for cultivating humanity.
The road: An ethnography of the Albanian–Greek cross‐border motorway
Authors: DALAKOGLOU DIMITRIS
Published: January 2010

This article is an ethnographic study of a 29‐kilometer stretch of cross‐border highway located in South Albania and linking the city of Gjirokastër with the main checkpoint on the Albanian–Greek border. The road, its politics, and its poetics constitute an ideal point of entry for an anthropological analysis of contemporary South Albania. The physical and social construction, uses, and perceptions of this road uniquely encapsulate three phenomena that dominate social life in postsocialist South Albania: the transition to a market economy, new nationalisms, and massive emigration (mainly to Greece). Taking this cross‐border road section as my main ethnographic point of reference, I suggest the fruitfulness of further discussion of the relationship between roads, narratives, and anthropology.
Learning affects prey selection in larvae of a generalist coccinellid predator
Authors: Boivin Guy , Roger Caroline , Coderre Daniel , Wajnberg Eric
Published: January 2010

Under natural conditions, generalist predatory insects have to cope with a variety of potential prey species that are not all equally suitable. Under these circumstances, learning may be adaptive if it allows adjustment to variations in resource quality and availability. Under laboratory conditions, we examined the learning ability and memory in the prey selection process of larvae of the predatory coccinellid Coleomegilla maculata ssp. lengi Timberlake (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae). Using choice tests, we studied prey rejection behaviour of C. maculata fourth instars towards prey of different quality and we also tested the influence of hunger and prior experience with other food types on the prey rejection behaviour of coccinellid larvae. Coleomegilla maculata larvae gradually changed their behaviour and rejected low‐quality hosts more frequently, whereas high‐quality hosts were nearly always accepted. After 48 h, the learned behaviour appeared to be partially forgotten. Hunger and experience with other food types prior to the test had little effect on the gradual change of behaviour but the quality of the food ingested influenced the initial level of prey rejection. Our results demonstrate that (1) C. maculata larvae can adjust their prey selection behaviour with experience to reject progressively less suitable prey, and (2) previous experience with other prey types can influence their initial preference.
Inhibition of DNA methyltransferase induces G2 cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in human colorectal cancer cells via inhibition of JAK2/STAT3/STAT5 signalling
Authors: Xiong Hua , Chen Zhao‐Fei , Liang Qin‐Chuan , Du Wan , Chen Hui‐Min , Su Wen‐Yu , Chen Guo‐Qiang , Han Ze‐Guang , Fang Jing‐Yuan
Published: January 2010

DNA methyltransferase inhibitors (MTIs) have recently emerged as promising chemotherapeutic or preventive agents for cancer, despite their poorly characterized mechanisms of action. The present study shows that DNA methylation is integral to the regulation of SH2‐containing protein tyrosine phosphatase 1 (SHP1) expression, but not for regulation of suppressors of cytokine signalling (SOCS)1 or SOCS3 in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells. SHP1 expression correlates with down‐regulation of Janus kinase/signal transducers and activators of transcription (JAK2/STAT3/STAT5) signalling, which is mediated in part by tyrosine dephosphorylation events and modulation of the proteasome pathway. Up‐regulation of SHP1 expression was achieved using a DNA MTI, 5‐aza‐2′‐deoxycytidine (5‐aza‐dc), which also generated significant down‐regulation of JAK2/STAT3/STAT5 signalling. We demonstrate that 5‐aza‐dc suppresses growth of CRC cells, and induces G2 cell cycle arrest and apoptosis through regulation of downstream targets of JAK2/STAT3/STAT5 signalling including Bcl‐2, p16ink4a, p21waf1/cip1 and p27kip1. Although 5‐aza‐dc did not significantly inhibit cell invasion, 5‐aza‐dc did down‐regulate expression of focal adhesion kinase and vascular endothelial growth factor in CRC cells. Our results demonstrate that 5‐aza‐dc can induce SHP1 expression and inhibit JAK2/STAT3/STAT5 signalling. This study represents the first evidence towards establishing a mechanistic link between inhibition of JAK2/STAT3/STAT5 signalling and the anticancer action of 5‐aza‐dc in CRC cells that may lead to the use of MTIs as a therapeutic intervention for human colorectal cancer.