bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Antioxidant defences in cybrids harboring mtDNA mutations associated with Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy
Authors: Floreani Maura , Napoli Eleonora , Martinuzzi Andrea , Pantano Giorgia , De Riva Valentina , Trevisan Roberta , Bisetto Elena , Valente Lucia , Carelli Valerio , Dabbeni‐Sala Federica
Published: February 2005

Oxidative stress and imbalance between free radical generation and detoxification may play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON). Mitochondria, carrying the homoplasmic 11778/ND4, 3460/ND1 and 14484/ND6 mtDNA point mutations associated with LHON, were used to generate osteosarcoma‐derived cybrids. Enhanced mitochondrial production of reactive oxygen species has recently been demonstrated in these cybrids [Beretta S, Mattavelli L, Sala G, Tremolizzo L, Schapira AHV, Martinuzzi A, Carelli V & Ferrarese C (2004) Brain127, 2183–2192]. The aim of this study was to characterize the antioxidant defences of these LHON‐affected cells. The activities of glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR), superoxide dismutases (SOD) and catalase, and the amounts of glutathione (GSH) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG) were measured in cybrids cultured both in glucose‐rich medium and galactose‐rich medium. The latter is known to cause oxidative stress and to trigger apoptotic death in these cells. In spite of reduced SOD activities in all LHON cybrids, and of low GPx and GR activities in cells with the most severe 3460/ND1 and 11778/ND4 mutations, GSH and GSSG content were not significantly modified in LHON cybrids cultured in glucose medium. In contrast, in galactose, GSSG concentrations increased significantly in all cells, indicating severe oxidative stress, whereas GR and MnSOD activities further decreased in all LHON cybrids. These data suggest that, in cells carrying LHON mutations, there is a decrease in antioxidant defences, which is especially evident in cells with mutations associated with the most severe clinical phenotype. This is magnified by stressful conditions such as exposure to galactose.
Fluorescence quenching and kinetic studies of conformational changes induced by DNA and cAMP binding to cAMP receptor protein from Escherichia coli
Authors: Tworzydło Magdalena , Polit Agnieszka , Mikołajczak Jan , Wasylewski Zygmunt
Published: February 2005

Cyclic AMP receptor protein (CRP) regulates the expression of more then 100 genes in Escherichia coli. It is known that the allosteric activation of CRP by cAMP involves a long‐distance signal transmission from the N‐terminal cAMP‐binding domain to the C‐terminal domain of CRP responsible for the interactions with specific sequences of DNA. In this report we have used a CRP mutant containing a single Trp13 located in the N‐terminal domain of the protein. We applied the iodide and acrylamide fluorescence quenching method in order to study how different DNA sequences and cAMP binding induce the conformational changes in the CRP molecule. The results presented provide evidence for the occurrence of a long‐distance conformational signal transduction within the protein from the C‐terminal DNA‐binding domain to the N‐terminal domain of CRP. This conformational signal transmission depends on the promoter sequence. We also used the stopped‐flow and Förster resonance energy transfer between labeled Cys178 of CRP and fluorescently labeled DNA sequences to study the kinetics of DNA–CRP interactions. The results thus obtained lead to the conclusion that CRP can exist in several conformational states and that their distribution is affected by binding of both the cAMP and of specific DNA sequences.
Identification of versican as an isolectin B4‐binding glycoprotein from mammalian spinal cord tissue
Authors: Bogen Oliver , Dreger Mathias , Gillen Clemens , Schröder Wolfgang , Hucho Ferdinand
Published: February 2005

Nociceptors are specialized nerve fibers that transmit noxious pain stimuli to the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. A subset of nociceptors, the nonpeptidergic C‐fibers, is characterized by its reactivity for the plant isolectin B4 (IB4) fromGriffonia simplicifolia. The molecular nature of the IB4‐reactive glycoconjugate, although used as a neuroanatomical marker for more than a decade, has remained unknown. We here present data which strongly suggest that a splice variant of the extracellular matrix proteoglycan versican is the IB4‐reactive glycoconjugate associated with these nociceptors. We isolated (by subcellular fractionation and IB4 affinity chromatography) a glycoconjugate from porcine spinal cord tissue that migrated in SDS/PAGE as a single distinct protein band at an apparent molecular mass of > 250 kDa. By using MALDI‐TOF/TOF MS, we identified this glycoconjugate unambiguously as a V2‐like variant of versican. Moreover, we demonstrate that the IB4‐reactive glycoconjugate and the versican variant can be co‐released from spinal cord membranes by hyaluronidase, and that the IB4‐reactive glycoconjugate and the versican variant can be co‐precipitated by an anti‐versican immunoglobulin and perfectly co‐migrate in SDS/PAGE. Our findings shed new light on the role of the extracellular matrix, which is thought to be involved in plastic changes underlying pain‐related phenomena such as hyperalgesia and allodynia.
Pulchellin, a highly toxic type 2 ribosome‐inactivating protein from Abrus pulchellus
Authors: Silva André L. C. , Goto Leandro S. , Dinarte Anemari R. , Hansen Daiane , Moreira Renato A. , Beltramini Leila M. , Araújo Ana P. U.
Published: February 2005

Pulchellin is a type 2 ribosome‐inactivating protein isolated from seeds of the Abrus pulchellus tenuiflorus plant. This study aims to obtain active and homogeneous protein for structural and biological studies that will clarify the functional aspects of this toxin. The DNA fragment encoding pulchellin A‐chain was cloned and inserted into pGEX‐5X to express the recombinant pulchellin A‐chain (rPAC) as a fusion protein in Escherichia coli. The deduced amino acid sequence analyses of the rPAC presented a high sequential identity (> 86%) with the A‐chain of abrin‐c. The ability of the rPAC to depurinate rRNA in yeast ribosome was also demonstrated in vitro. In order to validate the toxic activity we promoted the in vitro association of the rPAC with the recombinant pulchellin binding chain (rPBC). Both chains were incubated in the presence of a reduced/oxidized system, yielding an active heterodimer (rPAB). The rPAB showed an apparent molecular mass of ≈ 60 kDa, similar to the native pulchellin. The toxic activities of the rPAB and native pulchellin were compared by intraperitoneal injection of different dilutions into mice. The rPAB was able to kill 50% of the tested mice with doses of 45 µg·kg−1. Our results indicated that the heterodimer showed toxic activity and a conformational pattern similar to pulchellin. In addition, rPAC produced in this heterologous system might be useful for the preparation of immunoconjugates with potential as a therapeutic agent.
Structure and function comparison of Micropechis ikaheka snake venom phospholipase A2 isoenzymes
Authors: Lok Shee‐Mei , Gao Rong , Rouault Morgane , Lambeau Gerard , Gopalakrishnakone Ponnampalam , Swaminathan Kunchithapadam
Published: February 2005

Comparison of the crystal structures of three Micropechis ikaheka phospholipase A2 isoenzymes (MiPLA2, MiPLA3 and MiPLA4, which exhibit different levels of pharmacological effects) shows that their C‐terminus (residues 110–124) is the most variable. M‐Type receptor binding affinity of the isoenzymes has also been investigated and MiPLA4 binds to the rabbit M‐type receptor with high affinity. Examination of surface charges of the isoenzymes reveals a trend of increase in positive charges with potency. The isoenzymes are shown to oligomerize in a concentration‐dependent manner in a semi‐denaturing gel. The C‐termini of the medium (MiPLA4) and highly potent (MiPLA2) isoenzyme molecules cluster together, forming a highly exposed area. A BLAST search using the sequence of the most potent MiPLA2 results in high similarity to Staphylococcus aureus clotting factor A and cadherin 11. This might explain the myotoxicity, anticoagulant and hemoglobinuria effects of MiPLA2s.
On Swedish Women's Distressing Sexual Dysfunctions: Some Concomitant Conditions and Life Satisfaction
Authors: Öberg Katarina , Fugl-Meyer Kerstin Sjögren
Published: February 2005

Objectives

To explore the associations between women's distressing sexual dysfunctions and different aspects of life satisfaction together with women's concomitant socio-psychological characteristics. Thus, this descriptive article does not discuss causalities.

Methods

A nationally representative sample of sexually active Swedish women aged 18–65 years in a heterosexual steady partner relationship participated in 1996 in a combined structured interview/questionnaire investigation. Personal sexual distress caused by low sexual interest, insufficient lubrication, orgasm dysfunction, dyspareunia, and vaginism was classified as manifest and mild. Concomitant conditions explored were perceived health, stability of domestic situation, perception of male partner's sexual functions/dysfunctions per se, and some socio-demographic factors. Satisfaction with life as a whole and with 10 different domains of life were reported by using the LiSat-11 checklist.

Results

Main results were that a multitude of the independent variables were univariately associated with manifest and, to a lesser extent, mild distressing sexual dysfunctions. This was particularly true for satisfaction with partner relationship and for male's sexual dysfunctions. By performing multiple logistic regressions, the numbers were markedly reduced. The resulting statistical models still contained sexual partner's sexual dysfunctions and satisfaction with partner relationship as dominant covariants of most distressing sexual dysfunctions.

Conclusions

Reported low level of satisfaction with partner relationship and male sexual dysfunctions per se are likely to co-occur with manifest but, to a lesser extent, mild distressing sexual dysfunctions in Swedish women aged 18–65 years.
Olmec Pottery Production and Export in Ancient Mexico Determined Through Elemental Analysis
Authors: Blomster Jeffrey P. , Neff Hector , Glascock Michael D.
Published: February 2005

The first Mesoamerican civilization, the Gulf Coast Olmec, is associated with hierarchical society, monumental art, and an internally consistent ideology, expressed in a distinct style and salient iconography. Whether the Olmec style arose in just one area or emerged from interactions among scattered contemporaneous societies remains controversial. Using elemental analysis, we determined the regional clay sources of 725 archaeological ceramic samples from across Mesoamerica. Exported Olmec-style ceramics originated from the San Lorenzo region of the Gulf Coast, supporting Olmec priority in the creation and spread of the first unified style and iconographic system in Mesoamerica.
Stem Lagomorpha and the Antiquity of Glires
Authors: Asher Robert J. , Meng Jin , Wible John R. , McKenna Malcolm C. , Rougier Guillermo W. , Dashzeveg Demberlyn , Novacek Michael J.
Published: February 2005

We describe several fossils referable to
Gomphos elkema
from deposits close to the Paleocene-Eocene boundary at Tsagan Khushu, Mongolia.
Gomphos
shares a suite of cranioskeletal characters with extant rabbits, hares, and pikas but retains a primitive dentition and jaw compared to its modern relatives. Phylogenetic analysis supports the position of
Gomphos
as a stem lagomorph and excludes Cretaceous taxa from the crown radiation of placental mammals. Our results support the hypothesis that rodents and lagomorphs radiated during the Cenozoic and diverged from other placental mammals close to the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary.
Sharp Critique of Industry's Influence
Authors: Campbell Eric G.
Published: February 2005

On the Take
How Medicine's Complicity with Big Business Can Endanger Your Health.
By Jerome P. Kassirer
. Oxford University Press, New York, 2004. 271 pp. $28, £16.95. ISBN 0-19-517684-7.

The author analyzes the conflicts of interest that have grown to entangle the relationships among pharmaceutical companies, health-care corporations, researchers, and practicing physicians and that threaten to undermine public trust in doctors
Mars Surface Diversity as Revealed by the OMEGA/Mars Express Observations
Authors: Bibring Jean-Pierre , Langevin Yves , Gendrin Aline , Gondet Brigitte , Poulet François , Berthé Michel , Soufflot Alain , Arvidson Ray , Mangold Nicolas , Mustard John , Drossart P. ,   the OMEGA team
Published: February 2005

The Observatoire pour la Minéralogie, l'Eau, les Glaces, et l'Activité (OMEGA) investigation, on board the European Space Agency Mars Express mission, is mapping the surface composition of Mars at a 0.3- to 5-kilometer resolution by means of visible–near-infrared hyperspectral reflectance imagery. The data acquired during the first 9 months of the mission already reveal a diverse and complex surface mineralogy, offering key insights into the evolution of Mars. OMEGA has identified and mapped mafic iron-bearing silicates of both the northern and southern crust, localized concentrations of hydrated phyllosilicates and sulfates but no carbonates, and ices and frosts with a water-ice composition of the north polar perennial cap, as for the south cap, covered by a thin carbon dioxide–ice veneer.
When the heart is stopped for good: hypotension-bradycardia paradox revisited
Authors: Prakash E. S. , Madanmohan
Published: February 2005

In vasovagal syncope, occurrence of bradycardia/asystole in the wake of hypotension has often been considered paradoxical. The major objective of this teaching module is to critically examine the pathophysiological mechanism and significance of the hypotension-bradycardia paradox unique to this condition. We narrate here how we discussed the pathophysiology of vasovagal syncope in a large classroom session attended by 275 doctors and medical students. A case study was used to describe the typical clinical presentation of vasovagal syncope. The pathophysiological mechanisms involved were then discussed systematically using a series of open-ended questions. We made it clear 1) that the occurrence of bradycardia or asystole in the face of acute severe hypotension is a mechanism to possibly minimize further blood loss, prevent myocardial damage, and increase ventricular filling; and 2) that fainting, which occurs as a consequence of this, is a homeostatic mechanism that serves to restore venous return and cerebral blood flow before blood pressure is normalized by neural reflex mechanisms. Eighty-four percent of participants reported that they were satisfied with the session. The information contained herein could be used to explain to any suitable audience the neural regulation of blood pressure in the face of acute severe hypotension and the pathophysiology of vasovagal syncope.
The locust jump: an integrated laboratory investigation
Authors: Scott Jon
Published: February 2005

The locust is well known for its ability to jump large distances to avoid predation. This class sets out a series of investigations into the mechanisms underlying the jump enabling students to bring together information from biomechanics, muscle physiology, and anatomy. The nature of the investigation allows it to be undertaken at a number of levels of complexity from relatively simple comparative observations to detailed analysis of the properties of the muscles and the energy storage systems involved in powering the jump. The relative size and robustness of the locust make it simple to handle and ideal for such investigations.
New approach to the statistical analysis of cardiovascular data
Authors: Norton Michele R. , Sloan Richard P. , Bagiella Emilia
Published: February 2005

Fourier-based approaches to analysis of variability of R-R intervals or blood pressure typically compute power in a given frequency band (e.g., 0.01–0.07 Hz) by aggregating the power at each constituent frequency within that band. This paper describes a new approach to the analysis of these data. We propose to partition the blood pressure variability spectrum into more narrow components by computing power in 0.01-Hz-wide bands. Therefore, instead of a single measure of variability in a specific frequency interval, we obtain several measurements. The approach generates a more complex data structure that requires a careful account of the nested repeated measures. We briefly describe a statistical methodology based on generalized estimating equations that suitably handles this more complex data structure. To illustrate the methods, we consider systolic blood pressure data collected during psychological and orthostatic challenge. We compare the results with those obtained using the conventional methods to compute blood pressure variability, and we show that our approach yields more efficient results and more powerful statistical tests. We conclude that this approach may allow a more thorough analysis of cardiovascular parameters that are measured under different experimental conditions, such as blood pressure or heart rate variability.
Length-tension relationships are altered in regenerating muscles of the rat after bupivacaine injection
Authors: Plant David R. , Beitzel Felice , Lynch Gordon S.
Published: February 2005

Intramuscular injection of bupivacaine causes complete degeneration of fibers in extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles of rats, followed by complete regeneration within 60 days. Previous studies have shown that regenerated EDL muscles are protected from contraction-induced injury 60 days after bupivacaine injection. It is possible that these regenerated muscles have altered length-tension relations because of fiber remodeling. We tested the hypothesis that length-tension relations are different in bupivacaine-injected and noninjected control muscles. EDL and soleus muscles of the right hindlimb of deeply anesthetized rats were injected with bupivacaine and then allowed to recover for 7, 14, 21, or 60 days (7D, 14D, 21D, 60D), and isometric contractile properties were assessed. Muscles of the contralateral limb were not injected and served as control. EDL muscles recovered from bupivacaine injection more rapidly than soleus muscles, with mass restored to control levels at 21D, and isometric tetanic force (Po) restored to control at 60D. In contrast, mass and Po of injected soleus muscles was not restored to control even at 60D. In 7D EDL muscles, length-tension curves were shifted leftward compared with control, but in 21D and 60D EDL muscles length-tension curves were right shifted significantly (treatment × muscle length: P < 0.001). Although no clear shift in the position of the length-tension curve was observed in regenerating soleus muscles, force production was enhanced on the descending limb of the curve in 60D soleus muscles (treatment × relative muscle length: P < 0.01). The rightward shift in the length-tension curve of EDL muscles 60 days after bupivacaine injection is likely to contribute to the mechanism for their previously observed protection from contraction-induced injury.
Roles of Gravitational Cues and Efference Copy Signals in the Rotational Updating of Memory Saccades
Authors: Klier Eliana M. , Angelaki Dora E. , Hess Bernhard J. M.
Published: February 2005

Primates are able to localize a briefly flashed target despite intervening movements of the eyes, head, or body. This ability, often referred to as updating, requires extraretinal signals related to the intervening movement. With active roll rotations of the head from an upright position it has been shown that the updating mechanism is 3-dimensional, robust, and geometrically sophisticated. Here we examine whether such a rotational updating mechanism operates during passive motion both with and without inertial cues about head/body position in space. Subjects were rotated from either an upright or supine position, about a nasal–occipital axis, briefly shown a world-fixed target, rotated back to their original position, and then asked to saccade to the remembered target location. Using this paradigm, we tested subjects' abilities to update from various tilt angles (0, ±30, ±45, ±90°), to 8 target directions and 2 target eccentricities. In the upright condition, subjects accurately updated the remembered locations from all tilt angles independent of target direction or eccentricity. Slopes of directional errors versus tilt angle ranged from −0.011 to 0.15, and were significantly different from a slope of 1 (no compensation for head-in-space roll) and a slope of 0.9 (no compensation for eye-in-space roll). Because the eyes, head, and body were fixed throughout these passive movements, subjects could not use efference copies or neck proprioceptive cues to assess the amount of tilt, suggesting that vestibular signals and/or body proprioceptive cues suffice for updating. In the supine condition, where gravitational signals could not contribute, slopes ranged from 0.60 to 0.82, indicating poor updating performance. Thus information specifying the body's orientation relative to gravity is critical for maintaining spatial constancy and for distinguishing body-fixed versus world-fixed reference frames.
Molecular Determinants of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Diversity
Authors: Yoshida Tadashi , Owens Gary K.
Published: February 2005

Although the primary role of vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) is contraction, they exhibit extensive phenotypic diversity and plasticity during normal development, during repair of vascular injury, and in disease states. Results of recent studies indicate that there are unique as well as common transcriptional regulatory mechanisms that control expression of various SMC marker genes in distinct SMC subtypes, and that these mechanisms are complex and dynamic even at the single cell level. This article will review recent progress in our understanding of the transcriptional regulatory mechanisms involved in controlling expression of SMC marker genes with a particular focus on examination of processes that contribute to the phenotypic diversity of SMCs. In addition, because of considerable controversy in the literature regarding the relationship between phenotypically modulated SMCs and myofibroblasts, we will briefly consider both similarities and differences in regulation of gene expression between these cell types.
Religion and Violence: What can Sociology Offer?
Authors: Bruce Steve
Published: February 2005

This essay presents a sketch of a sociological approach to the study of possible links between religion and violence. It aims to avoid two unhelpful positions: the structural social science that denies religion causal status and explains everything by circumstance and the popular commentary that gives too much weight to very specific religious ideas. It suggests that instead of trying to explain rare and exotic political action we look for possible links between large abstract features of religious traditions and key features of the culturally-produced social backgrounds which inform how large groups of people orient themselves to other groups, to the issue of individual rights, and to the legitimacy of the state. The example of the involvement of Protestant fundamentalists in the political violence of Northern Ireland is used to illustrate this approach. The refusal of such fundamentalists to engage in holy war is explained by a combination of circumstances and religious ideas.
Theoretical Reflections on Violence and Religion: Identity, Power, Privilege and Difference (With Reference to the Hispanic World)
Authors: de Velasco Francisco Diez
Published: February 2005

The purpose of this paper is to reflect, from a theoretical point of view, on the relationship between violence and religion. The historic examples, taken mainly from the Hispanic world, aim to show that even if violence is an habitual component in religions, it is not at all a necessary combination, either in regards to religion in general or to any religion in particular. For this purpose, four aspects will be brought up in which the binomial religion-violence is manifested in a more characteristic way. The first has to do with identity: religion as a sign of identity can allow for a systematic and religiously correct resource for violence. The second aspect deals with the relationship between power and religion, in particular in its relation to the religious legitimization of power and the violence that goes along with its practice. The third aspect refers to privilege, generator of violence in a number of orders (between humans and animals, men and women, powerful and subjected, center and periphery, religious leaders and their followers, etc.). The last aspect refers to difference and introduces a reflection on multireligiosity, a characteristic of our present world, and in which the combination of religion and violence, even though it endures, tends to be mitigated in view of a global frame of cohabitation which must become stronger from the search for a consensus, necessarily based on the renunciation of religiocentric and ethnocentric stances.
Marx in Hell: The Critique of Political Economy as Katabasis
Authors: Roberts William Clare
Published: February 2005

This paper examines one of the many Judeo-Christian allusions in Marx's corpus, his citations of Dante in the “1859 Preface” and the preface to the first edition of Capital. It demonstrates that Marx borrowed key features of Dante's Inferno for his own critique of political economy, and that Marx thereby situated his critical journey through economics as the heir to the Western tradition of the katabasis, the formative descent into the underworld. This undermines the dichotomization of religion and science prevalent in Marxology, and suggests that Marx must be read outside both of these traditional categories.
The Dialectic of Unenlightenment: Toward a Critical Theory of Islamic Fundamentalism *
Authors: Langman Lauren
Published: February 2005

The foundational critique of modernity, (DoE), showed how the quest for domination, rooted in the Greek pursuit of control over nature, articulated in the emancipatory promise of Enlightenment based rationality, indeed led to new forms of totalitarian thought and practice. While the (il)logic of capital and the erosion of meaning disposed WWII and its final solution, contemporary global capitalism has fostered wide spread anti-modernist, reactionary movements throughout the Islamic world. Understanding Islamisms is by aided Critical Theory's Marxian understanding of the role of political economy, mediated through Weberian insights into the “elective affinity” between political economy and religious ideologies, and Freudian psychodynamics. Islam emerged as a trader's religion that would enable a vast, flourishing empire to flourish. But a seamless web between Sharia law ( kadi justice) and commercial practices would limit the rationalization of commerce, forestall a Reformation, and dispose the relative demise of Islamic hegemony in face of ascendant Christendom. Between indigenous barriers to rationality, and the interventions of capitalist imperialism, globalization has bypassed the Middle East. A powerful ressentiment has taken root among the marginal, disenfranchised and otherwise powerless who are disposed to religious understandings of social problems, with religious based remedial actions to achieve redemption. Fundamentalist doctrines of salvation and renewal preach authoritarian submission, hatred to outsiders (infidels), and demands for death. The fusion of 8th century doctrines and 21st century technologies, portend greater human suffering. The logic of the Frankfurt school remains as relevant as when the world faced its darkest moments.
Social Theory and the Premise of all Criticism: Max Horkheimer on Religion
Authors: Brittain Christopher Craig
Published: February 2005

This essay examines the fragmentary writings of Max Horkheimer on religion. It demonstrates that Horkheimer was consistently drawn to refection on religion throughout his life in response to limitations he perceived within Marxist theory and practice. While he agreed with Marx that the “criticism of religion is the premise of all criticism,” he did not think that “the criticism of religion has been largely complete.” As he struggled to overcome the dogmatism he saw in the Marxism of his age, and in the dominance of scientific method, Horkheimer looked to religion as a site in which one encountered a negative concept of truth, and a substantive moral longing for justice. The essay concludes by exploring two critical evaluations of Hokheimer's perspective.
Marxist Class-Cultural Spirituality in Theory and Practice
Authors: Lundskow George N.
Published: February 2005

The paper applies Critical Theory to understand the progressive and oppressive potential of contemporary religious revival in the United States. The analysis focuses on Neopaganism as a progressive spirituality, possibly compatible with Marxist theory. Whether religion is progressive (or oppressive/reactionary) depends not on the content of beliefs, but rather, on the type of social relationship a religion establishes between the individual and society. The paper treats Neopaganism and Marxism as practices and worldviews that often inform social movements and sometimes become the basis of functioning communities. They at once correspond to political-economic agendas, but both also assert the cultural foundations of life — the symbolic expression of shared meaning as the legitimization of social relations. In conclusion, Marxism must develop a spiritual component to survive in and critique modern society, and to posit a vision of the future that might exert actual social influence. To accomplish this, the paper proposes the material-mystery thesis.
The Third-Person Perception as Social Judgment
Authors: Paek Hye-Jin , Pan Zhongdang , Sun Ye , Abisaid Joseph , Houden Debra
Published: February 2005

Although numerous studies have shown the third-person perception, explanation of why and how self-other perceptual gaps occur remains underdeveloped. Conceiving message-effect perceptions as a form of social judgment under varying degrees of uncertainty, this study attempts to demonstrate the responsiveness of the perceptual gap to information on message effectiveness and to explicate the uncertainty-reduction interpretation of social distance corollary. Analyzing data from a survey and an experiment, this study finds that credible information on overall message ineffectiveness leads to reductions in estimated effects of the messages on both self and various others and in self-other perceptual gaps when the other is most distant from self. Consistent with the uncertainty reduction argument, the self-other perceptual gaps are related to perceived similarity of the others and vary in response to labels of the others that cue different degrees of similarity with self. Directions for future studies and practical implications are discussed.
Development and Validation of Value-, Outcome-, and Impression-Relevant Involvement Scales
Authors: Cho Hyunyi , Boster Franklin J.
Published: February 2005

Despite scholarly consensus that there is more than one type of involvement, investigators have not developed measures that assess the various types across diverse contexts. The goal of this study was to develop and validate measures of value-, outcome-, and impression-relevant involvement. Items were developed for three social issues (abortion, death penalty, marijuana) and two consumer products (jeans, toothpaste). The results indicate that these items effectively distinguish the three types of involvement. In addition, evidence of construct validity was obtained. Specifically, impression-relevant involvement was associated with other-directedness, outcome-relevant involvement was more strongly associated with information seeking than either value- or impression-relevant involvement, and value-relevant involvement (but also outcome-relevant involvement) was related to attitude extremity.
Rotational Motion Changes in the Glenohumeral Joint of the Adolescent/Little League Baseball Player
Authors: Meister Keith , Day Timothy , Horodyski Marybeth , Kaminski Thomas W. , Wasik Michael P. , Tillman Susan
Published: February 2005

Background

Differences in range of motion and rotational motion between the dominant and nondominant shoulders in throwing athletes are well documented, although the age at which these changes begin to occur is not known.

Hypothesis

Changes in glenohumeral rotational motion in the shoulder of the Little League/adolescent baseball player occur during the most formative years of physical development.

Study Design

Cross-sectional study.

Methods

Elevation, internal rotation at 90° of abduction, and external rotation at 90° of abduction were measured in the dominant and nondominant shoulders of 294 baseball players, aged 8 to 16 years.

Results

Analysis of variance revealed 2-way interactions between arm dominance by age for elevation (P =. 005) and internal rotation (P =. 001). Significant differences were noted between dominant and nondominant arms for internal rotation at 90° (P =.001) and external rotation at 90° (P =. 001). Elevation, internal rotation at 90°, external rotation at 90°, and total range of motion varied significantly (P =. 001) among age groups. Elevation in the dominant arms of 16-year-olds was on average 5.3° less than in 8-year-olds (179.6° vs 174.3°). In the nondominant arms, mean elevation for 16-year-olds was 5.6° less than in 8-year-olds (179.7° vs 174.1°). Internal rotation at 90° for the dominant arms averaged 39.0° at age 8 and only 21.3° at age 16. In the non-dominant arms, internal rotation for 8-year-olds averaged 42.2° and only 33.1° for 16-year-olds.

Conclusions

Elevation and total range of motion decreased as age increased. These changes may be consequences of both bone and soft tissue adaptation. The most dramatic decline in total range of motion was seen between the 13-year-olds and 14-year-olds, in the year before peak incidence of Little Leaguer's shoulder. This decrease in rotational motion may cause increased stress at the physis during throwing.
Posterior Cruciate Ligament Revision Reconstruction, Part 1
Authors: Noyes Frank R. , Barber-Westin Sue D.
Published: February 2005

Background

Posterior cruciate ligament reconstructions have not shown uniformly predictable results in restoration of normal posterior tibial translation. The authors are unaware of any study that has assessed the causes of failure of these operations, and they investigated 52 prior unsuccessful posterior cruciate ligament procedures to determine the factors that contributed to failure of the operations.

Study Design

Case series; Level of evidence, 4.

Methods

The authors studied 52 prior failed posterior cruciate ligament surgeries that had been done in 41 knees (40 patients). Graft reconstructions had been done in 31 cases, primary repairs in 14, synthetic replacements in 4, and thermoplasties in 3. Medical records, operative notes, radiographs, and magnetic resonance imaging scans were reviewed, and a comprehensive knee examination was conducted.

Results

A single factor that caused the operations to fail was identified in 23 (44%) of 52 operations, and multiple factors were identified in 29 (56%). The most common probable causes of failure were associated posterolateral ligament deficiency (40%), improper graft tunnel placement (33%), associated varus malalignment (31%), and primary suture repair (25%). Sixteen of 21 (76%) prior posterolateral ligament procedures had failed, as had 9 of 19 (47%) prior anterior cruciate ligament reconstructions. Twenty-nine knees (71%) presented with pain with activities of daily living. Thirty-four knees (83%) had compounding problems of joint arthritis, prior meniscectomy, associated ligament deficiencies, or varus malalignment. Posterior cruciate revision surgery was done in 22 knees (54%). Eleven knees (27%) had severe joint damage that contraindicated revision, and 8 (19%) declined further operations.

Conclusions

Failure to restore associated ligament instabilities and incorrect tunnel placement were major factors contributing to surgical failure. The results suggest the need for greater emphasis on the initial reconstruction in graft tunnel placement, correction of associated ligament instabilities, and correction of varus osseous malalignment. Failure of concurrent posterolateral ligament reconstructions was frequently encountered, suggesting the need for higher strength augmentation procedures or anatomical graft replacement.
The Role of Technology Management in the Dynamics of Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Household Energy Use in Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Bailis Robert , Ezzati Majid , Kammen Daniel M.
Published: February 2005

The authors analyzed the dynamics of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from household fuel use in sub-Saharan Africa from 2000 to 2050. The scenarios included a business-as-usual (BAU) scenario, in which fuel consumption and tree-harvesting practices change little except through population growth and urbanization, and large-scale shifts to charcoal- and petroleum-based fossil fuels. The authors also considered the role of charcoal production technologies and sustainability of biomass harvesting. GHG emissions from the various scenarios varied by a factor of 4, with the lowest emissions in the BAU fuel-use scenario with charcoal production and sustainable biomass harvesting and the highest in the charcoal fuel scenario without sustainable harvesting and charcoal production. In only two scenarios, those with sustainable biomass harvesting and charcoal production, the emissions had an inverted-U pattern. Therefore, an inverted-U pattern was highly dependent on technology and policy instruments.
The cleaning lady: An Exploration of Class and Gender in a Rural Wyoming Family
Authors: Halley Jean
Published: February 2005

This is the fourth article in a series of experimental writing exploring childhood trauma and its subject. In this piece, the author examines or narrates herself and her childhood experience within a social and familial context framed by gender and socioeconomic class. Through this experimental writing method, she explores a repetitive, nonlinear way of knowing and speaking of the world that both complements and challenges more traditional sociological ways of knowing.
The Ethnographic Process of Gender Management: Doing the “Right” Masculinity With Wives of Professional Athletes
Authors: Ortiz Steven M.
Published: February 2005

In this reflexive account of a neglected aspect of cross-gender fieldwork, a male sociologist examines his use of the “right” masculinity in long-term fieldwork with wives of professional athletes. The gender and impression management strategy of “muted masculinity” was applied as a method to avoid the hegemonic masculinity these wives dislike. The ethnographic strategy is identified and examined by evaluating its characteristics and the part it played in developing collaborative relationships, conducting sequential interviews, establishing rapport and trust, becoming regarded as a male expert, and gaining acceptance into the wives’ private world. Although a male fieldworker’s gender can become a complicated issue in a female world, it is proposed that an outsider strategy can be constructed and applied in ways that benefit the fieldwork and the researched.
Losing My Vision
Authors: Krieger Susan
Published: February 2005

This article is about the author’s experience of losing her eyesight, but it is also, more broadly, a reflection on the nature of vision—what it is, how it can be maintained, and how unique inner visions can be valued. When the author began to lose her eyesight, and the outer world became no longer visible to her as it had been before, she began to create a counterposing internal vision so that her sense of her own value would remain intact. She thinks we are all to some extent blind, to some extent sighted, and each of us moves in a world of unique inner vision, an interior landscape that is composed of meanings, of sights and sounds, and feelings deeply held.
Performance Text for Chicago Women I Love or “Hey, Girlfriend”
Authors: Smith Carrol A. M.
Published: February 2005

Chicago women with high-risk behaviors were recruited to participate at a large university site of a national HIV-prevention project. Their voices remind us of the everyday difficulties of negotiating life when there is rarely enough: enough food, enough help with the children, enough money, enough respect, or enough of whatever it takes to get you through to the next day. Some of their experiences were difficult to hear, and there were many moments of shared laughter. Working with the women and learning from them for 2½ years created feelings of great humility among the research team. This text represents a few powerful memories of one team member’s experience.
Training Movement
Authors: Gambs Deborah
Published: February 2005

In the late 20th century, sociology’s interest in social phenomena related to human life was extended to “the body”—meaning the human body. Scholars in the sociology of science have suggested that new technologies are drawing us to theorize “bodies” in ways other than simply the human. This piece of experimental writing explores an expanded treatment of social bodies, beyond the level of the human organism, through the movement and transformation of bodies at the cellular/muscular level. Influenced by the writing of Patricia Clough and based on a reading of the treatment of affects in Deleuzian philosophy, this writing is about the crossing of bodymind/mindbody in the process of physical training. It takes up the work done with a personal trainer over time, exploring the affects and sensations of movement in a way that complicates the relations of agency, power, and culture as they come to mingle in a human body-becoming-runner.
The Heartland Chronicles Revisited: The Casino’s Impact on Settlement Life
Authors: Foley Douglas
Published: February 2005

This article chronicles the cultural, political, and economic impact of casino gaming on the Mesquaki settlement. It is based on extensive interviews with tribal members conducted 9 years after the original fieldwork for the ethnography The Heartland Chronicles. The article highlights a breakdown in the Mesquaki political system that resulted in a factional split that closed the casino. Tribal elders fear that the casino has created rampant materialism, which is undermining the traditional religion and leading youth away from higher education into drugsn and underemployment. In addition, a women’s rights movement has emerged to challenge the Mesquaki’s patrilineal enrollment rules and housing policies. Enrollment has become a major issue with a rise in marriages to non-tribal members. On the positive side, the casino has greatly reduced unemployment and increased income levels as well as the quality of housing, education, and healthcare.
Concentrations of cyclosporin A and FK506 that inhibit IL-2 induction in human T cells do not affect TGF-β1 biosynthesis, whereas higher doses of cyclosporin A trigger apoptosis and release of preformed TGF-β1
Authors: Minguillón Jordi , Morancho Beatriz , Kim Seong-Jin , López-Botet Miguel , Aramburu José
Published: February 2005

Cyclosporin A (CsA) and FK506 suppress T cell activation by inhibiting calcineurin and the calcineurin-dependent transcription factors nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAc), which are central regulators of T cell function. It was reported that CsA up-regulated the transcription of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) in lymphocytes and other cells and activated its promoter in A549 lung carcinoma cells, but the mechanisms involved are poorly understood, and it is unclear whether calcineurin plays any role. We have studied the regulation of TGF-β1 in normal human lymphocytes and cell lines. In Jurkat T cells, the TGF-β1 promoter was activated by calcineurin and NFATc and inhibited by CsA and FK506. However, the promoter was insensitive to both drugs in A549 cells. In human T cells preactivated with phytohemagglutinin, biosynthesis of TGF-β1, induced by the T cell receptor (TCR) or the TGF-β receptor, was not substantially affected by CsA and FK506 concentrations (≤1 μM) that effectively inhibited interleukin-2 production. However, pretreatment of fresh lymphocytes with CsA or FK506 during primary TCR stimulation reduced their production of TGF-β1 during secondary TCR activation. Finally, high concentrations of CsA (10 μM), in the range attained in vivo in experiments in rodents, caused apoptosis in human T cells and the release of preformed, bioactive TGF-β1. These effects are unlikely to owe to calcineurin inhibition, as they were not observed with FK506. Our results indicate that CsA and FK506 are not general inducers of TGF-β1 biosynthesis but can cause different effects on TGF-β1 depending on the cell type and concentrations used.
Crypt-restricted proliferation and commitment to the Paneth cell lineage following Apc loss in the mouse intestine
Authors: Andreu Pauline , Colnot Sabine , Godard Cécile , Gad Sophie , Chafey Philippe , Niwa-Kawakita Michiko , Laurent-Puig Pierre , Kahn Axel , Robine Sylvie , Perret Christine , Romagnolo Béatrice
Published: February 2005

Loss of Apc appears to be one of the major events initiating colorectal cancer. However, the first events responsible for this initiation process are not well defined and the ways in which different epithelial cell types respond to Apc loss are unknown. We used a conditional gene-ablation approach in transgenic mice expressing tamoxifen-dependent Cre recombinase all along the crypt-villus axis to analyze the immediate effects of Apc loss in the small intestinal epithelium, both in the stem-cell compartment and in postmitotic epithelial cells. Within 4 days, Apc loss induced a dramatic enlargement of the crypt compartment associated with intense cell proliferation, apoptosis and impairment of cell migration. This result confirms the gatekeeper role of Apc in the intestinal epithelium in vivo. Although Apc deletion activatedβ-catenin signaling in the villi, we observed neither proliferation nor morphological change in this compartment. This highlights the dramatic difference in the responses of immature and differentiated epithelial cells to aberrant β-catenin signaling. These distinct biological responses were confirmed by molecular analyses, revealing that Myc and cyclin D1, two canonical β-catenin target genes, were induced in distinct compartments. We also showed that Apc is a crucial determinant of cell fate in the murine intestinal epithelium. Apc loss perturbs differentiation along the enterocyte,goblet and enteroendocrine lineages, and promotes commitment to the Paneth cell lineage through β-catenin/Tcf4-mediated transcriptional control of specific markers of Paneth cells, the cryptdin/defensin genes.