bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Do resources matter? PISA science achievement comparisons between students in the United States, Canada and Finland
Authors: Beese Jane , Xin Liang
Published: December 2010

The PISA 2006 Science Literacy Assessment results report Finland as the first ranked country out of the 30 developed nations that participated in the testing (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2007). The United States was ranked 21st. Closer examination of school and student variables may help explain these outcomes. This article will use the PISA 2006 data to investigate how school resource indicators such as teacher qualifications, school resources, and school type, as well as student level indicators such as socioeconomic status and family resources affect science achievement. Comparisons will include the United States, Canada, and Finland. Due to the differences in the structure of educational systems and the makeup of student populations, findings have given an inaccurate impression that international competitiveness in science is not a viable option for the US (Ginsburg, Leinwand, & Pollock, 2007). Findings indicate school funding practices, teacher quality, school type, and family socioeconomic status impact student science achievement and have an effect on international school rankings.
Online Optimal Ventilation Control of Building Air-conditioning Systems
Authors: Shengwei Wang  , Zhongwei Sun  , Yongjun Sun  , Na Zhu
Published: December 2010

This paper presents a ventilation control strategy for multi-zone variable air volume (VAV) air-conditioning systems; integrating the sequential split-range control strategy for air-handing units with an aim to optimise the fresh air flow rate by compromising the indoor air quality and energy consumption. In this strategy, a CO2 -based adaptive demand-controlled ventilation scheme would employ a dynamic multi-zone ventilation equation for multi-zone air-conditioning systems, in which a CO2-based dynamic occupancy detection scheme would be used for online occupancy detection. The strategy would identify the critical zones online, and fully consider the outdoor air demand of critical zones, while, a model-based fresh air flow rate optimal control scheme is employed for VAV air-conditioning systems with the primary air handling units. An adaptive optimisation algorithm would be used for optimising the fresh air flow rate to minimise the energy consumption. The energy saving potentials in the Hong Kong climate condition by optimising fresh air ventilation and the practical implementation of the control strategy are also discussed in this paper.
On Mothers and Spiders: A face-to-face encounter with Argentina’s mourning
Authors: Sosa Cecilia
Published: December 2010

In the wake of Argentina’s dictatorship (1976—83), this article revisits the activism developed by the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo as a singular experience of live architecture. Over the last 30 years, this group of women has become the figure of an endless trauma, much like a monument, that has colonized the landscape of the central square of Buenos Aires in the name of the 30,000 missing. Assuming an experimental ontology that blurs the boundaries between the living and the non-living, I argue that the stubbornness attached to the Mothers’ performance could be grasped in tune with Spider, a massive installation designed by the artist Louise Bourgeois. As Spiders, the Mothers have captured the viewers in their webs while transforming the personal losses into a collective experience of grief. Ultimately, the affective entity co-enacted by the Mothers—Spiders can teach us how memory is experienced and transmitted in the tremors of the spectatorial body, both as a shelter and a trap.
Women’s affective memories of trauma and the transmission of emotional knowledge in Argentina
Authors: Stockwell Jill
Published: December 2010

It’s been more than 33 years since the military took power, and still Argentina continues to grapple with how to remember the period of political violence and state terrorism of the 1970s and 1980s. This is not new. Over the last few decades, moral and political claims about how this past should be collectively remembered by the nation have caused deep political and societal divisions. It is impossible to understand fully why such deep ruptures continue to persist in Argentine society without acknowledging the role played by individual emotions in generating and shaping collective emotions and affects, thereby helping to produce new forms of antagonism and solidarity within memorial cultures. In this article I explore what happens when divergent narratives of the past confront each other in the public sphere, and what kinds of ideas and conditions can enable a shift away from the politics of antagonism and competition towards one of mutual recognition.
Wild Ryde
Authors: Watson David
Published: December 2010

Last year I completed a meandering two-year pilgrimage on foot across Sydney, Australia, from my home in urban Rozelle to suburban Dundas where I grew up. Next year I will swim home. At a time of intense global flows, I had felt the need to re-acquaint myself with my ‘country’ — the seemingly bland ‘relaxed and comfortable’ mortgage belt municipalities of the Parramatta River corridor. Walking west from the city via Victoria Road I immersed myself in a suburbia laced with three generations of my family, seeking out seams of lost and lesser known cultural fabric. Whilst acknowledging the flâneur and the work of more recent ‘walking artists’, my path echoed increasingly with antipodean walking traditions: those of aboriginal people, early settlers, artists and swagmen. Sometimes my undulating and surprising ‘ride’ began to resemble surfing. At the core of my journey lay a search for memories I felt that I should, but did not, possess. Might such latency be visualized via photography?
Proximal Humeral Fractures
Authors: Rose David M. , Sutter Edward G. , Mears Simon C. , Gupta Rohit R. , Belkoff Stephen M.
Published: December 2010

The purpose of our study was to biomechanically compare, under cyclic loading conditions, fracture site motion, humeral head collapse, and intra-articular hardware penetration in simulated 3-part osteoporotic proximal humeral fractures stabilized with 1 of 2 locking-plate constructs. We performed fixation on simulated 3-part proximal humeral fractures in 10 pairs of cadaveric osteoporotic humeri with a Hand Innovations S3 Proximal Humerus Plate (S3 plate) or an LCP Proximal Humerus Plate (LCP plate; 1 each for each pair). The specimens were potted, mounted on a materials testing machine, and subjected to 5000 cycles of abduction in the scapular plane, loading through the supraspinatus tendon. Interfragmentary displacement at 2 virtual points (the most medial aspect of the calcar and the most superior aspect of the osteotomy line between the greater tuberosity and humeral head) was measured using an optical tracking system. Humeral head rotation was also measured. We used a generalized linear latent and mixed model to check for an effect of cyclic loading and treatment on the parameters of interest (significance, P < .05). After cyclic loading, the S3 plate humeri showed significantly greater displacement of the greater tuberosity fragment and rotation of the humeral head and a trend (not a significant difference) toward greater displacement at the calcar. No hardware penetration was noted for either repair. Although the S3 plate repairs resulted in significantly more fracture site motion, it is unknown whether the magnitude of the motion is clinically significant.
Dementia and Hip Fractures
Authors: Friedman Susan M. , Menzies Isaura B. , Bukata Susan V. , Mendelson Daniel A. , Kates Stephen L.
Published: December 2010

Dementia and hip fractures are 2 conditions that are seen primarily in older adults, and both are associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. An individual with dementia is up to 3 times more likely than a cognitively intact older adult to sustain a hip fracture. This may occur via several mechanisms, including (1) risk factors that are common to both outcomes; (2) the presence of dementia increasing hip fracture incidence via intermediate risk factors, such as falls, osteoporosis, and vitamin D; and (3) treatment of dementia causing side effects that increase hip fracture risk. We describe a model that applies these 3 mechanisms to explain the relationship between dementia and hip fractures. Comprehensive understanding of these pathways and their relative influence on the outcome of hip fracture will guide the development of effective interventions and potentially improve prevention efforts.
Idiopathic pulmonary arteriovenous malformations: clinical and imaging characteristics
Authors: Wong H.H. , Chan R.P. , Klatt R. , Faughnan M.E.
Published: December 2010

Pulmonary arteriovenous malformations (PAVMs) can cause stroke, brain abscess or life-threatening haemorrhage. Most PAVMs are associated with hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT). The aim of the present study was to describe the clinical presentation and treatment outcomes of those with idiopathic PAVMs, which has not previously been described in the literature.

Patients with idiopathic PAVMs were identified at our HHT centre. Retrospective review of charts and imaging were performed.

20 patients were identified with idiopathic PAVMs. The most common symptoms reported were dyspnoea and migraines (50 and 30% of patients, respectively). Previous complications of PAVMs included haemoptysis (20%), stroke (20%) and brain abscess (5%). A total of 28 focal PAVMs were identified. Most patients (80%) had a solitary PAVM. 13 out of 28 PAVMs (46%) were located in the lower lobes. Most were simple and fistulous rather than complex and plexiform. Transcatheter embolotherapy was performed in 17 patients and was successful in improving oxygenation in all cases.

The clinical manifestations and complications of idiopathic PAVMs are similar to those associated with HHT. Idiopathic PAVMs are anatomically similar to HHT-related PAVMs except for a greater number of solitary PAVMs and a lack of lower lobe predominance. Transcatheter embolotherapy is a safe and effective method for treating idiopathic PAVMs.
The impact of using different symptom-based exacerbation algorithms in patients with COPD
Authors: Trappenburg J.C.A. , van Deventer A.C. , Troosters T. , Verheij T.J.M. , Schrijvers A.J.P. , Lammers J-W.J. , Monninkhof E.M.
Published: December 2010

Not all exacerbations are captured by reliance on healthcare contacts. Symptom-based exacerbation definitions have shown to provide more adequate measures of exacerbation rates, severity and duration. However, no consensus has been reached on what is the most useful method and algorithm to identify these events. This article provides an overview of the existing symptom-based definitions and tests the hypothesis that differences in exacerbation characteristics depend on the algorithms used.

We systematically reviewed symptom-based methods and algorithms used in the literature, and quantified the impact of the four most referenced algorithms on exacerbation-related outcome using an existing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) cohort (n = 137).

We identified 51 studies meeting our criteria using 14 widely varying symptom algorithms to define onset, severity and recovery. The most (71%) frequently referenced algorithm (modified Anthonisen) identified an incidence rate of 1.7 episodes·patient-yr−1(95% CI 1.4–2.1), while for requiring only one major or two major symptoms this was 1.9 episodes·patient-yr−1(95% CI 1.6–2.3) and 1.5 episodes·patient-yr−1(95% CI 0.6–1.0), respectively. Studies were generally lacking methods to enhance validity and accuracy of symptom recording.

This review revealed large inconsistencies in definitions, methods and accuracy to define symptom-based COPD exacerbations. We demonstrated that minor changes in symptom criteria substantially affect incidence rates, clustering type and classification of exacerbations.
TLR engagement prior to virus infection influences MHC-I antigen presentation in an epitope-dependent manner as a result of nitric oxide release
Authors: Siddiqui Sarah , Alatery Attiya , Kus Agnieszka , Basta Sameh
Published: December 2010

Microorganisms contain PAMPs that can interact with different TLR-Ls. Cooperative signals from these receptors may modify innate and adaptive immune responses to invading pathogens. Therefore, a better understanding of the role TLRs play in initiating host defense during infections requires assessing the influence of multiple TLR engagement on pAPC activation and antigen presentation. In this study, we investigated the effects of combined TLR2, TLR3, or TLR4 engagement on DC activation and the presentation of LCMV antigens focusing on the major epitopes derived from NP and GP proteins encoded by the virus. Our results demonstrate that combined TLR ligation affected antigen presentation of NP205–212, GP33–41, and GP276–286, but not NP396–404. The altered antigen presentation was associated with changes in proteasomal activities and NO production as a result of TLR engagement. Taken together, the data demonstrate that combined TLR ligation could result in changes of innate effectors that may directly influence the adaptive immune response.
OC-seislet: Seislet transform construction with differential offset continuation
Authors: Liu Yang , Fomel Sergey
Published: December 2010

Many of the geophysical data-analysis problems such as signal-noise separation and data regularization are conveniently formulated in a transform domain, in which the signal appears sparse. Classic transforms such as the Fourier transform or the digital wavelet transform (DWT) fail occasionally in processing complex seismic wavefields because of the nonstationarity of seismic data in time and space dimensions. We present a sparse multiscale transform domain specifically tailored to seismic reflection data. The new wavelet-like transform — the OC-seislet transform — uses a differential offset-continuation (OC) operator that predicts prestack reflection data in offset, midpoint, and time coordinates. It provides a high compression of reflection events. Its compression properties indicate the potential of OC seislets for applications such as seismic data regularization or noise attenuation. Results of applying the method to synthetic and field data examples demonstrate that the OC-seislet transform can reconstruct missing seismic data and eliminate random noise even in structurally complex areas.
Accurate data reconstruction through simultaneous application of statistical and physics-based constraints to multiple geophysical data sets
Authors: Baumstein Anatoly , Neelamani Ramesh
Published: December 2010

Insufficient sampling is a key problem that affects seismic data-processing techniques. Although existing interpolation methods can fill in large gaps in the data under certain assumptions, their performance degrades as shot and receiver sampling becomes coarser. Most existing data-interpolation techniques overcome insufficient sampling by making assumptions regarding either the statistical properties of the data or the physics that explain the data. Recognizing that statistical and physics-based constraints can be expressed as convex sets, we propose overcoming some of the deficiencies of existing methods by incorporating multiple types of prior information and equations describing the mapping between different types of data into a mathematically consistent framework based on the projection onto convex sets (POCS) methodology. The proposed method is easy to implement in practice because it relies only upon the iterative application of projection operators (e.g., soft thresholding). At the same time, full advantage of various forms of prior information can be taken. Using a synthetic example of combining conventional streamer and ocean-bottom–cable (OBC) data, we show that our method provides substantial improvement compared to using statistical assumptions alone. Other potential applications include data reconstruction in the case of over-under streamer acquisition, dual-sensor streamer acquisition, multi-azimuth surveys, and vertical seismic profiling.
Seismic data interpolation by greedy local Radon transform
Authors: Wang Juefu , Ng Mark , Perz Mike
Published: December 2010

We propose a greedy inversion method for a spatially localized, high-resolution Radon transform. The kernel of the method is based on a conventional iterative algorithm, conjugate gradient (CG), but is utilized adaptively in amplitude-prioritized local model spaces. The adaptive inversion introduces a coherence-oriented mechanism to enhance focusing of significant model parameters, and hence increases the model resolution and convergence rate. We adopt the idea in a time-space domain local linear Radon transform for data interpolation. We find that the local Radon transform involves iteratively applying spatially localized forward and adjoint Radon operators to fit the input data. Optimal local Radon panels can be found via a subspace algorithm which promotes sparsity in the model, and the missing data can be predicted using the resulting local Radon panels. The subspacing strategy greatly reduces the cost of computing local Radon coefficients, thereby reducing the total cost for inversion. The method can handle irregular and regular geometries and significant spatial aliasing. We compare the performance of our method using three simple synthetic data sets with a popular interpolation method known as minimum weighted norm Fourier interpolation, and show the advantage of the new algorithm in interpolating spatially aliased data. We also test the algorithm on the 2D synthetic data and a field data set. Both tests show that the algorithm is a robust antialiasing tool, although it cannot completely recover missing strongly curved events.
Crossline wavefield reconstruction from multicomponent streamer data: Part 1 — Multichannel interpolation by matching pursuit (MIMAP) using pressure and its crossline gradient
Authors: Vassallo Massimiliano , Özbek Ali , Özdemir Kemal , Eggenberger Kurt
Published: December 2010

We introduce a technique that uses multicomponent seismic measurements to reconstruct the seismic wavefield at any desired crossline position between towed streamers. This method, called multichannel interpolation by matching pursuit (MIMAP), operates on pressure and crossline particle-motion measurements. It is based on the matching-pursuit technique and iteratively reconstructs the signal as a combination of optimal basis functions. Being a data-dependent technique, MIMAP can interpolate severely aliased data without assumptions about seismic events such as linearity or the model related to the seismic wavefield. MIMAP has the capability to perform well in the presence of irregular sampling and is robust when only a small number of samples are available. Using synthetic data examples, we show that the new method has the potential to interpolate signals that are sampled at realistic crossline streamer spacing and in the presence of noise.
Crossline wavefield reconstruction from multicomponent streamer data: Part 2 — Joint interpolation and 3D up/down separation by generalized matching pursuit
Authors: Özbek Ali , Vassallo Massimiliano , Özdemir Kemal , van Manen Dirk-Jan , Eggenberger Kurt
Published: December 2010

Computation of the 3D upgoing/downgoing separated wavefield at any desired position within a marine streamer spread is enabled by multicomponent streamers that can measure the crossline and vertical components of water-particle motion in addition to the pressure. We introduce the concept of simultaneous interpolation and deghosting and describe a new technique, generalized matching pursuit (GMP), to achieve this. This method is based on the matching-pursuit technique and iteratively reconstructs the signal as a combination of optimal basis functions. In the GMP method, the basis functions describing the unknown 3D upgoing wavefield are filtered by appropriate forward ghost operators before being matched to the multicomponent measurements. As a data-dependent method, GMP can operate on data samples that are highly aliased in the crossline direction without relying on assumptions about seismic events such as linearity. The technique is naturally suitable for data with only a small number of samples that may be irregularly spaced. We demonstrate the efficacy and robustness of the GMP method on several synthetic data sets of increasing complexity and in the presence of noise.
Identification of Prolactin-Sensitive GABA and Kisspeptin Neurons in Regions of the Rat Hypothalamus Involved in the Control of Fertility
Authors: Kokay Ilona C. , Petersen Sandra L. , Grattan David R.
Published: December 2010

High levels of circulating prolactin are known to cause infertility, but the precise mechanisms by which prolactin influences the neuroendocrine axis are yet to be determined. We used dual-label in situ hybridization to investigate whether prolactin-receptor (PRLR) mRNA is expressed in GnRH neurons. In addition, because γ-aminobutyric acidergic and kisspeptin neurons in the rostral hypothalamus are known to regulate GnRH neurons and, hence, might mediate the actions of prolactin, we investigated whether these neurons coexpress PRLR mRNA. 35S-labeled RNA probes to detect PRLR mRNA were hybridized together with digoxigenin-labeled probes to detect either GnRH, Gad1/Gad2, or Kiss1 mRNA in the rostral hypothalamus of ovariectomized (OVX), estradiol-treated rats. Additional sets of serial sections were cut through the arcuate nucleus of OVX rats, without estradiol replacement, to examine coexpression of PRLR mRNA in the arcuate population of kisspeptin neurons. PRLR mRNA was highly expressed throughout the rostral preoptic area, particularly in periventricular regions surrounding the third ventricle, and there was a high degree of colocalization of PRLR mRNA in both Gad1/Gad2 and Kiss1 mRNA-containing cells (86 and 85.5%, respectively). In contrast, only a small number of GnRH neurons (<5%) was found to coexpress PRLR mRNA. In the arcuate nucleus of OVX rats, the majority of Kiss1 mRNA-containing cells also coexpressed PRLR mRNA. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that, in addition to a direct action on a small subpopulation of GnRH neurons, prolactin actions on GnRH neurons are predominantly mediated indirectly, through known afferent pathways.
Androgen Receptor Expression in the Caput Epididymal Epithelium Is Essential for Development of the Initial Segment and Epididymal Spermatozoa Transit
Authors: O'Hara Laura , Welsh Michelle , Saunders Philippa T.K. , Smith Lee B.
Published: December 2010

The epididymis plays an essential role in male fertility, and disruption of epididymal function can lead to obstructive azoospermia. Formation and function of the epididymis is androgen-dependent. The androgen receptor (AR) is expressed in both the stromal and epithelial compartments of the epididymis, and androgen action mediated via stromal cells is vital for its normal development and function. However the impact of epithelial specific AR-dependent signaling in the epididymis remains underexplored. To address this, we used conditional gene-targeting in mice to selectively ablate AR from the caput epididymal epithelium, and characterized the resulting phenotype at multiple postnatal ages. Caput epithelium androgen receptor knock-out mice have normal serum testosterone concentrations at day (d) 21 and d100, but do not develop an epididymal initial segment. The remaining caput epithelium displays a significant decrease in epithelial cell height from d11 and lumen diameter from d21 and disruption of the smooth muscle layer of the caput epididymis at d100. From d21, caput epithelium androgen receptor knock-out mice accumulate cell debris, proteinaceous material, and, at later ages, spermatozoa in their efferent ducts, which prevents normal passage of spermatozoa from the testis into the cauda epididymis resulting in infertility when tested at d100. This efferent duct obstruction leads to fluid back-pressure and disruption of the seminiferous epithelium of the adult testis. We conclude that epithelial AR signaling is essential for postnatal development and function of the epididymal epithelium and that disruption of this signaling can contribute to obstructive azoospermia.
Differential Effects of PPAR-γ Activation versus Chemical or Genetic Reduction of DPP-4 Activity on Bone Quality in Mice
Authors: Kyle Kimberly A. , Willett Thomas L. , Baggio Laurie L. , Drucker Daniel J. , Grynpas Marc D.
Published: December 2010

Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus have an increased risk of fracture that can be further exacerbated by thiazolidinediones. A new class of antidiabetic agents control glucose through reduction of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) activity; however the importance of DPP-4 for the control of bone quality has not been extensively characterized. We compared the effects of the thiazolidinedione pioglitazone and the DPP-4 inhibitor sitagliptin on bone quality in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed wild-type mice. In complementary studies, we examined bone quality in Dpp4+/+ vs. Dpp4−/− mice. Pioglitazone produced yellow bones with greater bone marrow adiposity and significantly reduced vertebral bone mechanics in male, female, and ovariectomized (OVX) HFD fed female mice. Pioglitazone negatively affected vertebral volumetric bone mineral density, trabecular architecture, and mineral apposition rate in male mice. Sitagliptin treatment of HFD-fed wild-type mice significantly improved vertebral volumetric bone mineral density and trabecular architecture in female mice, but these improvements were lost in females after OVX. Genetic inactivation of Dpp4 did not produce a major bone phenotype in male and female Dpp4−/− mice; however, OVX Dpp4−/− mice exhibited significantly reduced femoral size and mechanics. These findings delineate the skeletal consequences of pharmacological and genetic reduction of DPP-4 activity and reveal significant differences in the effects of pioglitazone vs. sitagliptin vs. genetic Dpp4 inactivation on bone mechanics in mice.
Dihydrotestosterone Administration Does Not Increase Intraprostatic Androgen Concentrations or Alter Prostate Androgen Action in Healthy Men: A Randomized-Controlled Trial
Authors: Page Stephanie T. , Lin Daniel W. , Mostaghel Elahe A. , Marck Brett T. , Wright Jonathan L. , Wu Jennifer , Amory John K. , Nelson Peter S. , Matsumoto Alvin M.
Published: December 2010

abstract

Context:

Concern exists that androgen treatment might adversely impact prostate health in older men. Dihydrotestosterone (DHT), derived from local conversion of testosterone to DHT by 5α-reductase enzymes, is the principal androgen within the prostate. Exogenous androgens raise serum DHT concentrations, but their effects on the prostate are not clear.

Objective:

To determine the impact of large increases in serum DHT concentrations on intraprostatic androgen concentrations and androgen action within the prostate.

Design:

Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled.

Setting:

Single academic medical center.

Participants:

31 healthy men ages 35–55.

Intervention:

Daily transdermal DHT or placebo gel.

Main Outcome Measures:

Serum and prostate tissue androgen concentrations and prostate epithelial cell gene expression after 4 wk of treatment.

Results:

Twenty-seven men completed all study procedures. Serum DHT levels increased nearly sevenfold, while testosterone levels decreased in men treated with daily transdermal DHT gel but were unchanged in the placebo-treated group (P < 0.01 between groups). In contrast, intraprostatic DHT and testosterone concentrations on d 28 were not different between groups (DHT: placebo = 2.8 ± 0.2 vs. DHT gel = 3.1 ± 0.5 ng/g; T: placebo = 0.6 ± 0.2 vs. DHT gel = 0.4 ± 0.1, mean ± se). Similarly, prostate volume, prostate-specific antigen, epithelial cell proliferation, and androgen-regulated gene expression were not different between groups.

Conclusions:

Robust supraphysiologic increases in serum DHT, associated with decreased serum T, do not significantly alter intraprostatic levels of DHT, testosterone, or prostate epithelial cell androgen–regulated gene expression in healthy men. Changes in circulating androgen concentrations are not necessarily mimicked within the prostate microenvironment, a finding with implications for understanding the impact of androgen therapies in men.
Sustained Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress as a Cofactor of Oxidative Stress in Decidual Cells from Patients with Early Pregnancy Loss
Authors: Liu Ai-Xia , He Wei-Hua , Yin Li-Jun , Lv Ping-Ping , Zhang Yu , Sheng Jian-Zhong , Leung Peter C. K. , Huang He-Feng
Published: December 2010

Background:

Oxidative stress is a common pathological background for different etiologies of early pregnancy loss (EPL). It has been suggested that elevated reactive oxygen species trigger endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress by influencing ER function. However, it is unclear whether ER stress is associated with EPL.

Objectives:

The aim of the study was to determine whether and how ER stress occurs during the development of EPL.

Approaches:

Proteomic analysis was performed on decidua from women with EPL, and then ER stress markers, redox status, apoptotic features, and cell viability were analyzed in EPL decidual cells (DCs).

Results:

EPL decidua were characterized by decreased levels of glucose-regulated protein 78 (GPR78) and valosin-containing protein and burdened with ubiquitinated proteins. Evidence of ER stress-induced apoptosis in EPL DCs was demonstrated by extensive dilation of ER, morphological features of apoptosis, and activation of caspase-4 and caspase-12. Furthermore, H2O2 reduced the viabilities in both EPL and control DCs, whereas EPL DCs were more vulnerable to additional OS challenge than the controls as a result of failed induction of GRP78 expression. The cell survival percentages of DCs were dose-dependently reduced by H2O2 and could be reversed in the presence of vitamin E. This effect was partly mediated by reducing the amount of misfolded proteins rather than regulating GRP78 expression.

Conclusions:

The sum of these observations demonstrate for the first time that sustained ER stress occurs in EPL DCs and the potentially vicious relationship between ER stress and oxidative stress is likely to play an important role in the development of EPL.
D440N Mutation in the Acid-Labile Subunit of Insulin-Like Growth Factor Complexes Inhibits Secretion and Complex Formation
Authors: Firth Sue M. , Yan Xiaolang , Baxter Robert C.
Published: December 2010

The acid-labile subunit (ALS) regulates IGF bioavailability by forming heterotrimeric complexes with IGFs and IGF-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3). A homozygous missense mutation (D440N) resulting in undetectable circulating levels of ALS with a concomitant reduction in IGF-I and IGFBP-3 has been reported to cause mild growth retardation. To understand how this particular mutation affects ALS circulating levels and IGF-transport function, we expressed recombinant ALS and its variants, D440N-ALS, T442A-ALS, and D440N/T442A-ALS, using adenovirus vectors. Compared with wild-type ALS, the secretion of D440N-ALS was 80% lower. The D440N mutation was proposed to generate an N-glycosylation site additional to the seven existing motifs in ALS. D440N-ALS appeared larger than ALS, attributable to N-linked glycans because deglycosylation with N-glycosidase F reduced both proteins to the same molecular mass. When ALS was incubated with IGF-I and IGFBP-3, 70–80% of IGF-I was detected by gel-filtration chromatography in forms corresponding to the 150-kDa ternary complex. In contrast, when D440N-ALS was tested, less than 30% of IGF-I was found in high molecular mass complexes. Two other ALS variants mutated in the same putative glycosylation site, D440N/T442A-ALS and T442A-ALS, showed similar chromatographic profiles to wild-type ALS. The D440N mutation in ALS generates a hyperglycosylated form with impaired secretion and complex formation, potentially leading to dysregulation of endocrine IGF, thus contributing to the growth retardation observed in the affected patient. This is the first study to explain how a natural mutation, D440N, in ALS impairs its function.
Locating Family Portraits: Everyday Images from 1970s China
Authors: Huang Nicole
Published: December 2010

Family portraits from the 1960s and 1970s have been a source of inspiration for contemporary Chinese artists. In recent experimental works, many artists have used family portraits to reinvent the very ideas of the camera, the album, and the familial gaze as vehicles of longing, remembering, and contesting. This article pursues the prehistory of these images to critically address the recollection and reinvention of familial ties and bloodlines in contemporary Chinese art. The article studies a group of photographs taken during the second half of the Cultural Revolution, the early and mid-1970s, that define the “family portrait [quanjiafu]” as an important cultural genre, in dynamic contrast to photographic propaganda of the same period. Prior to the entrance of contemporary experimental artists, there was a subtle attempt to turn the photographic medium into narratives of personal histories, to locate and reinvent a “past” that was still very much the present. While recent studies of visual culture in postsocialist or post-Holocaust societies focus on “postmemory,” this article examines the mechanisms of materializing and restructuring personal memory that were in place before the Cultural Revolution had drawn to an end.
Gaussian phases in generalized coupon collection
Authors: Mahmoud Hosam M.
Published: December 2010

In this paper we consider a generalized coupon collection problem in which a customer repeatedly buys a random number of distinct coupons in order to gather a large number n of available coupons. We address the following question: How many different coupons are collected after k = kn draws, as n → ∞? We identify three phases of kn: the sublinear, the linear, and the superlinear. In the growing sublinear phase we see o(n) different coupons, and, with true randomness in the number of purchases, under the appropriate centering and scaling, a Gaussian distribution is obtained across the entire phase. However, if the number of purchases is fixed, a degeneracy arises and normality holds only at the higher end of this phase. If the number of purchases have a fixed range, the small number of different coupons collected in the sublinear phase is upgraded to a number in need of centering and scaling to become normally distributed in the linear phase with a different normal distribution of the type that appears in the usual central limit theorems. The Gaussian results are obtained via martingale theory. We say a few words in passing about the high probability of collecting nearly all the coupons in the superlinear phase. It is our aim to present the results in a way that explores the critical transition at the ‘seam line’ between different Gaussian phases, and between these phases and other nonnormal phases.
Limits of large metapopulations with patch-dependent extinction probabilities
Authors: McVinish R. , Pollett P. K.
Published: December 2010

We propose a model for the presence/absence of a population in a collection of habitat patches. This model assumes that colonisation and extinction of the patches occur as distinct phases. Importantly, the local extinction probabilities are allowed to vary between patches. This permits an investigation of the effect of habitat degradation on the persistence of the population. The limiting behaviour of the model is examined as the number of habitat patches increases to ∞. This is done in the case where the number of patches and the initial number of occupied patches increase at the same rate, and for the case where the initial number of occupied patches remains fixed.
Critical epidemics, random graphs, and Brownian motion with a parabolic drift
Authors: van der Hofstad Remco , Janssen A. J. E. M. , van Leeuwaarden Johan S. H.
Published: December 2010

We investigate the final size distribution of the SIR (susceptible-infected-recovered) epidemic model in the critical regime. Using the integral representation of Martin-Löf (1998) for the hitting time of a Brownian motion with parabolic drift, we derive asymptotic expressions for the final size distribution that capture the effect of the initial number of infectives and the closeness of the reproduction number to zero. These asymptotics shed light on the bimodularity of the limiting density of the final size observed in Martin-Löf (1998). We also discuss the connection to the largest component in the Erdős-Rényi random graph, and, using this connection, find an integral expression of the Laplace transform of the normalized Brownian excursion area in terms of Airy functions.
Culture, Cultural Rights, and the Right to Assemble
Authors: Daniels Brian I.
Published: December 2010

This essay examines the relationship between two rights guaranteed by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights: the right to culture and the right to free assembly. While the right to culture has been the focus of anthropological discussions, less attention has been paid to other mechanisms that may encourage cultural preservation. Drawing upon the example of an indigenous tribal constitution, I look to the voluntary association of interest groups as an alternative legal means for sustaining specific cultural practices and conclude with a discussion of their prospects and limitations.
Retrospective and Prospective Forms of Ritual: Suggestions of Social Transformation in a Portuguese Gypsy Community
Authors: Lopes Daniel Seabra
Published: December 2010

Drawing on examples from the Lisbon Gypsies' ritual repertoire, the article attempts to account for the contingencies and fluctuations that traverse rituals as well as the feelings and emotions of its performers. Comparisons to other gypsy ethnographies are made in order to discuss the apparent lack of or fragmentary nature of certain formalized rituals; as a result, some improvised ritual-like performances among the Lisbon Gypsies will be considered. Finally, bearing in mind that ritual configurations are not ahistorical—affected sometimes by radical changes in the encompassing social world, as others undergo more subtle alterations—two concepts are advanced in order to properly place them in social time and explain certain discrepancies between the acts involved in ritual events and what people feel about them: retrospective and prospective forms of ritual.
Contested Performances: At the Crossroads of Local and Global Aesthetic Knowledge and Practice in "Modern" Urban Tamajaq (Tuareg) Theater in Northern Mali
Authors: Rasmussen Susan
Published: December 2010

This essay, based upon this author's cultural anthropological field research among the Tamajaq-speaking Tuareg in the town of Kidal in northern Mali, documents diversity even in local voices by examining local concepts of changing aesthetics in contemporary plays widely considered "modern" by Tamajaq-speaking residents, but which are also part of their local performing arts category called isatsa . Some plays emerged from recent NGO and media-directed theatrical programs, but others emerged from more longstanding poetry, songs, and tales. The data reveal a continued valuing of local cultural production, despite multiple factors integrated into its formation, suggesting more broadly that terms and labels in artistic production are always situated, negotiable, and interested. The essay contributes to wider efforts to translate local aesthetics of verbal art performance across cultural knowledge systems, and to explore how local art forms and those who practice them are situated and situate themselves in broader political contexts. Longstanding expressive forms are not simply shaped by local and/or global forces, but are reflected on, exploited, and adapted in a range of processes fueled by ideologies, current events, and political and economic interests.
Shifting Perspectives on Development: An Actor-Network Study of a Dam in Costa Rica
Authors: Campregher Christoph
Published: December 2010

The article concerns the political negotiations during the planning process of a hydroelectric dam whose construction affects an indigenous community in Costa Rica. In order to allow the thick description of this development-network, the study traces how three actors in the field—development workers, indigenous activists, and an independent researcher—produce cultural representations and concepts with apparently clear boundaries. This multivocal account shows how development projects constitute themselves by associating heterogeneous actors. Simultaneously, it highlights the production of cultural representations and knowledge of development.
Distant Kin: Japan's "War Orphans" and the Limits of Ethnicity
Authors: Efird Rob
Published: December 2010

This paper examines the treatment and repatriation of Japan's "war orphans" (zanryū koji) in order to support a critique of "ethnicity" as an analytical category. War orphans are people of Japanese parentage who as children were stranded in China following World War II. Most of the surviving war orphans were then belatedly repatriated to Japan as adults beginning in the late 1970s. Their stories and circumstances testify to the ways in which concepts of ethnicity and ethnic identity may tragically distort key empirical circumstances in ways that resemble the unscientific assumptions of "race."
Human Rights and Heritage Ethics
Authors: Meskell Lynn
Published: December 2010

This paper discusses the efficacy of applying a framework of universal human rights to resolve heritage conflicts. It considers the pitfalls and potentials in particular heritage settings for both archaeologists and the constituencies we seek to represent. A distinction is made throughout the paper between invoking universal human rights, as opposed to other rights or claims more broadly. Specifically, I ask what does the mantle of universal human rights bring to heritage? What additional work might it perform, and who wins and loses when archaeologists elevate cultural heritage to this arena of urgency? If archaeologists want to pursue this route, what steps might they take to be conversant with human rights and, more importantly, effective in practically implementing that knowledge? I then describe the situation in post-apartheid South Africa—a nation that has arguably crafted the world's most liberal constitution, yet in reality faces numerous challenges to instrumentalizing human rights. In terms of South African heritage rights, the archaeological site of Thulamela is offered as an example of conflict resolution at the local level by briefly examining the role of archaeologists and several connected communities each vying for access and ownership of the site. Following Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum I suggest that heritage practitioners might be more effective and ethically responsible by being attendant to pragmatic approaches that enhance human capabilities and human flourishing.
Cultural Heritage Rights: From Ownership and Descent to Justice and Well-being
Authors: Hodder Ian
Published: December 2010

The protection of cultural heritage sites is normally evaluated in terms of universal and scholarly significance criteria, although increasingly the contributions of sites and monuments to the economic and social well-being of communities have been recognized. Human rights discourse, despite its many problems and limitations, offers a possible mechanism for evaluating heritage in terms of social justice and well-being. A cultural heritage right based on descent is particularly problematic and cannot be supported by archaeological, historical, and anthropological theories. A cultural heritage right based on whether people are in practice able to participate in sites and objects in such a way as to fulfill their capabilities is an alternative, as long as it also includes responsibilities to other communities with conflicting interests. However, few archaeologists and heritage managers have the training and expertise to work out short- and long-term economic and social benefits of artifacts, sites, and monuments, and they have limited experience in facilitating human capabilities through heritage beyond scholarship, aesthetics, and identity politics.
Validation Experiences and Persistence among Community College Students
Authors: Barnett Elisabeth A.
Published: December 2010

The purpose of this correlational research was to examine the extent to which community college students' experiences with validation by faculty (Rendon, 1994, 2002) predicted: (a) their sense of integration, and (b) their intent to persist. The research was designed as an elaboration of constructs within Tinto's (1993) Longitudinal Model of Institutional Departure. Four sub-constructs of faculty validation emerged: students known and valued, caring instruction, appreciation for diversity , and mentoring . Students who experienced higher levels of faculty validation were more likely to feel a sense of integration in the college; faculty validation modestly predicted students' intent to persist.
The Impact of Culture on Filipino American Students' Sense of Belonging
Authors: Museus Samuel D. , Maramba Dina C.
Published: December 2010

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of cultural factors on Filipino American students' sense of belonging in college. The authors utilized structural equation modeling techniques to analyze a single-institution sample of 143 Filipino American undergraduates and estimate the impact of pressure to commit "cultural suicide," connections to cultural heritage, and ease of cultural adjustment on those students' sense of belonging to their campus cultures. Results indicate that pressure to commit cultural suicide and connections to cultural heritage indirectly influence sense of belonging via their impact on cultural adjustment. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.
Debunking Anti-Intellectualism: An Examination of African American College Students' Intellectual Self-Concepts
Authors: Cole Darnell
Published: December 2010

Framed within the debate on African American "anti-intellectualism," this study examined a longitudinal sample of 460 African American students' intellectual self-concept and college grades (GPA) through regression analyses resulting from their college experiences. The findings showed that the college environment had a modest influence on African American students' intellectual self-concept but quite a significant impact on students' GPAs. The author suggests that African American academic achievement in college has more to do with the educational environment and a robust intellectual self-concept at college entry than with a culture of "anti-intellectualism" among African American students.
Minority College Students and Tacit "Codes of Power": Developing Academic Discourses and Identities
Authors: White John Wesley , Lowenthal Patrick R.
Published: December 2010

This paper examines an often-overlooked contributing factor to minority student collegiate attrition: students' limited knowledge of—and sometimes resistance to—the kinds of academic discursive practices they need to become "full participants" (Lave & Wenger, 1991) in the university setting. Adopting a Vygotskian view of sociolinguistics, we also posit that linguistic and communicative dissonance from the discourse community of the university prohibits the development of a collegiate academic identify. Rather, because language is so strongly rooted to culture and identity, some minority students openly resist the adoption of the very discursive skills they need to survive and thrive at college.
Considering Our Legacy: Doing Work that Really Matters
Authors: Milem Jeffrey F.
Published: December 2010

In this presidential address, the author challenges readers as a community of scholars to seriously consider the types of legacies that we leave with the scholarly work that we do. Specifically, he addresses the question of what it will take for us to finally heed the call of many previous ASHE presidents to do work that really matters—to do work that informs and improves educational policy and practice. Several obstacles to achieving this goal are presented and examples of work that had some success in doing this are offered as well as the lessons that were learned in this process.