bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On Thought Insertion
Authors: Hoerl Christoph
Published: February 2007

In this paper, I investigate in detail one theoretical approach
to the symptom of thought insertion. This approach suggests that patients
are led to disown certain thoughts to which they are subjected, because
they lack a sense of active participation in the occurrence of those
thoughts. I examine one reading of this claim, according to which the
patients' anomalous experiences arise from a breakdown of cognitive
mechanisms tracking the production of occurrent thoughts, before sketching
an alternative reading, according to which their experiences have to
be explained in terms of a withdrawal, on the part of the patients
themselves, from certain forms of active engagement in reasoning. I
conclude with a discussion of the relationship between this view and the
idea that patients' reports of thought insertion reflect a situation in
which the boundaries between the self and the world have become uncertain.
Crafting the Kennedy Legacy
Authors: Murphy John M
Published: February 2007

This essay explores the rhetorical dynamics of the debate between
Lyndon Johnson and Robert Kennedy over the Kennedy legacy in Vietnam. It
situates President Kennedy's rhetoric as a linguistic context that
ultimately framed the dispute between President Johnson and Senator
Robert Kennedy over the escalation of the war in Vietnam. Each sought to
provide the American people with the most authoritative reading of the
past; the winner of that contest won the right to speak with authority on
Vietnam. This critique, then, highlights the significance of the Kennedy
legacy as a rhetorical resource during this time and, in a broader sense,
points to the ways in which rhetors look to the past as a potent source
of rhetorical invention and political authority.
Making Rhetorical History in a Time of Transition: The Occasion, Constitution, and Representation of South African Reconciliation
Authors: Doxtader Erik
Published: February 2007

South Africa's turn to reconciliation did not begin with the formation
of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This essay examines the
role of reconciliation in South Africa's transition from apartheid to
constitutional democracy. It contends that reconciliation is a mode
of rhetorical history-making, a complex set of inventional practices
that both open time for speech and employ speech to make time. Viewed
closely, this middle voice of reconciliation illustrates precise ways
that institutions and citizens can craft the potential for future dialogue
from within historical justifications for violence.
Trains in the Wilderness: The Corporate Roots of Environmentalism
Authors: DeLuca Kevin Michael
Published: February 2007

Environmentalism has been sustained by a mythic
discourse about heroic individuals discovering and saving pristine
wilderness. Although a successful rhetorical strategy, this mythic
discourse erases a complicated history and has significant political
costs. Some contemporary wilderness activists are enacting a new
wilderness vision that integrates wilderness and social concerns in a
way that opens environmentalism to unexpected yet promising alliances
with justice activists, unions, and corporations.
The Rise of the Rhetorical First Lady: Politics, Gender Ideology, and Women's Voice, 1789-2002
Authors: Parry-Giles Shawn J. , Blair Diane M
Published: February 2007

This essay maps the rise of the rhetorical first lady from Martha
Washington through Laura Bush, contextualizing the public and private
documents of these political women within the gender ideology of their
time. In the process of evidencing the ways in which the first lady
role both empowers and restricts the performance of the first lady, we
illustrate the political contributions of first ladies from 1789 to 1920
in the areas of social politicking and benevolent volunteerism, which
served as political antecedents for the gradual rise of the rhetorical
first lady. When first ladies more routinely spoke from the first lady
pulpit (1920-2002), they mimicked the performances of their predecessors,
taking their volunteer efforts to the public stage. In the process, they
extended the nineteenth-century ideology of republican motherhood; the
twentieth-century republican mother, as performed by many contemporary
first ladies, became a more outspoken advocate on behalf of the nation's
children and other pressing social concerns. While the position often
limited the activities of first ladies to perceived nongovernmental
issues, many expanded the political nature of the position, taking their
social politicking to a public stage and helping to craft a role for
women's participation in the political sphere.
College Predisposition at High-Minority Enrollment, Low-Income Schools
Authors: Hamrick Florence A. (Florence Aileen) , Stage Frances K
Published: February 2007

This study incorporated variables suggested by qualitative studies of low-income and minority group students' precollege and college experiences to ascertain how community involvement and mentoring contacts with teachers and other adults affected students' college predisposition decisions. While the modified model was an improvement over a previous analysis, results demonstrate that traditional ways of thinking about college predisposition do not hold for these students.
The Outsider Narrator in Eliza Haywood's Political Novels
Authors: Kvande Marta
Published: February 2007

Although Eliza Haywood's works have generally not been considered political, examination of three of her novels from the 1720s reveals a significant political component. The narrators of these novels identify themselves as political actors by taking up the position of outsiders whose apparently disinterested position endows them with virtue and qualifies them to offer criticisms. These criticisms argue that behavior excused by politicians as merely private is, in fact, political behavior that affects the public sphere. Haywood thus aligns herself with the Tory element of the opposition to Walpole and claims a place for herself within the political sphere.
The Metaphorical Space of Meredith's Diana of the Crossways
Authors: Bradburn Elizabeth
Published: February 2007

This essay offers a new reading of George Meredith's 1885 novel
Diana of the Crossways from the perspective of cognitive theory
as it has been developed by George Lakoff, Mark Johnson, and
Mark Turner. A cognitive perspective reveals that the novel is as
much a network of interrelated metaphors as it is a narrative
sequence, and sheds light on Meredith's understanding of the
relationship between mind and body. In Diana, marriage is a
creative blend (an idea developed by Turner), and the redistribution
of its input domains constitutes the movement of the narrative.
Coleridge's "The Raven" and the Forging of Radicalism
Authors: Wiley Michael
Published: February 2007

Read in the context of eighteenth-century and romantic forgeries
and political verse fables, Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "The Raven"
(1798) appears as a serious literary hoax. Published during the
controversy over William Henry Ireland's forged Shakespeare
Papers, Coleridge's poem performs a playful metacommentary
on literary forgery at the same time that it addresses contemporary
political issues surrounding the French Revolution crisis.
This article argues that "The Raven" forges in various senses: it
counterfeits an existing text (by Edmund Spenser), and it also
forms social, political, and linguistic meaning.
Jewish Brazilians or Brazilian Jews? A Reflection on Brazilian Ethnicity
Authors: Lesser Jeff
Published: February 2007

How is ethnic and national identity negotiated in
Brazil? By asking how Jews fit into a broadly constructed ethnic Brazil,
this article argues that the field of Jewish Studies will benefit
more from cross-group comparison. It further argues that feelings of
insecurity among Brazilian Jews stem more from a sense that in Brazil
ethnicity should be practiced at home than from actual public attacks
on Jewish ethnic life.
Exiled in the Homeland
Authors: Divine Donna Robinson
Published: February 2007

No idea is more fundamental to the Zionist sense of mission than the
ending of exile for the Jewish people. But the in-gathering of Jews in
their homeland acquired its meaning as an antidote to exile rather than
as an act with its own defined essence. This essay analyzes how exile
functioned not only as a contrast to the society created in Palestine
during the period of British rule but also and more importantly, as a
controlling metaphor of Zionist discourse. Exile was a powerful linguistic
tool justifying a particular distribution of resources and legitimizing
a political hierarchy. Exile's rhetorical force often had a profoundly
unsettling impact on many immigrants unprepared for the experience of
living in a Jewish homeland only to be told that they had not yet been
liberated from the undesirable effects of exile.
Professors and Public Intellectuals in the Information Age
Authors: Brantlinger Patrick
Published: February 2007

The argument that public intellectuals have disappeared into the academy
is compounded by the threatened disappearance of the professoriat. Tenure
and tenure-track positions are eroding, giving way to the cheap labor of
part-time faculty. Even more troubling is increasing reliance on computers
and "virtual" or "distance" education. In his influential "report
on knowledge," The Post-Modern Condition, Jean-Fran�ois
Lyotard argued that the computer meant "the death-knell of the age of the
professor." This essay examines the relations among public intellectuals,
professors, and information technology. It ponders the epistemological
consequences of substituting computerized information especially for
the forms of critique expected of public intellectuals. It also surveys
arguments about the speeding-up and increasing power of computers,
especially in regard to higher education. It concludes that there
is little if any reason to be optimistic about the futures of either
public intellectuals or professors under the relentless impact of the
computerization and commodification of knowledge and education.
Rural Health and State Construction in Post-Revolutionary Mexico: The Nicolaita Project for Rural Medical Services
Authors: Kapelusz-Poppi Ana María
Published: February 2007

In the nineteen twenties a group of graduates from the Colegio de San Nicolás and the Universidad Michoacana in Morelia, the capital city of the state of Michoacán, drafted a program for the economic and social development of the countryside that, in the next decade, influenced federal policies and ideas about health care. This article examines the ideas and efforts of two Morelian physicians, Jesús Díaz Barriga (1891-1971) and Enrique Arreguín Vélez (1907-1989) who, during the 1920s and early 1930s, developed an incipient system of rural health in Michoacán. In 1935 they organized the First Congreso of Rural Hygiene, an event which they hoped would launch a state-managed system of rural health, and eventually the socialization of medicine in Mexico.
Political and Socio-Economic Elites: The Encounter of Provincials with Porteños in Fin-de-Siêcle Buenos Aires
Authors: Bower Stephanie
Published: February 2007

In 1880, following a two-generation-long civil war, Argentina embarked upon a critical period of nation-building, which culminated in the centennial celebrations of 1910. In The Argentine Generation of 1880: Ideology and Cultural Texts, David Foster has commented upon the inconclusiveness of national cultural formation as Argentina turned from the nineteenth to the twentieth century, the uncertainty of how much from the provinces would be incorporated into the elite-constructed culture emanating from the port city of Buenos Aires. The recently published work of Roy Hora, The Landowners of the Argentine Pampas: A Social and Political History 1860-1945, and the work of Tulio Halperin, “The Buenos Aires Landed Class and the Shape of Argentine Politics (1820-1930),” which preceded it, further heighten the significance of provincial-porteño interaction at this point in Argentine history. Halperin and Hora find that during these years, and beyond, the socio-economic and the political elite of Argentina was not a unified whole, but rather two distinctive groups. In the leadership of the socio-economic elite was a landed class based on the estancias of the Argentine pampa and overwhelmingly porteño in character. Provincials dominated the political elite, as the provinces ‘captured’ the federal government in the years following their reunification with the province of Buenos Aires in 1861. Participation in the federal government brought the provincial political elite into contact with the porteño estancieros who dominated the socio-economic elite, as these were almost universally resident in the federal capital. But Roy Hora has described the relationship between the two groups as “problematic.”
Curiosity or Contempt: On Spectacle, the Human, and Activism
Authors: Kershaw Baz
Published: February 2007

Human beings in the late twentieth century were increasingly shaped by the society of the spectacle as it was incorporated into the performative society. This process advanced the nature of spectacle as a major component in an emergent global sensorium. This evolution of spectacle can be understood through comparisons between spectacles in history, and through study of why dramatic theory has denigrated spectacle and why legitimate theatre has aimed to tame it. In turn, this indicates new ways in which spectacle participates in the circulation of power in the contemporary world and suggests an urgent need to revise conceptions of what it might mean to be commonly human. Analysis of spectacles of deconstruction in contemporary performance is especially useful for this task. Because spectacle has become a major force in cultural evolution it has special relevance to activists as a means whereby progressive change can be achieved.
The Breakdown of Hierarchies in the Soviet Union and China: A Neoinstitutional Perspective
Authors: Solnick Steven L.
Published: February 2007

Why did modest attempts to decentralize the centrally administered Soviet system lead to its collapse, while more far-reaching decentralization in China left central political and administrative hierarchies intact? This article analyzes the disintegration of centrally planned organizations in the context of a neoinstitutional model of the breakdown of authority within hierarchies. An agency model of hierarchy is presented that incorporates the ambiguous property rights, authority relations, and risk-sharing conditions that prevailed under central planning and then persist during postcommunist transitions. This model suggests that decentralizing reforms could trigger an organizational “bank run,” prompting local agents to seize organizational assets under their control. The article also considers reputation-preserving strategies that central authorities might use to avert disintegration.

As an application of this model, the collapse of Soviet political, industrial, and state fiscal hierarchies are considered and compared with the experience of analogous sectors in China. Reforms in both states transferred significant autonomy from the center to local field agents. In the Soviet case these agents appropriated organizational assets with little interference from the center. In China, by contrast, the center preserved both its capacity for monitoring and its reputation for disciplining transgressions; and the rise of hybrid ownership forms made expropriation of state and Party assets far less attractive.
The Social Construction of an Imperative: Why Welfare Reform Happened in Denmark and the Netherlands but Not in Germany
Authors: Cox Robert Henry
Published: February 2007

This article seeks to explain why Denmark and the Netherlands made dramatic progress reforming their welfare systems in the 1990s and why Germany had a relatively slow start. Some possible explanations found to be incomplete are institutional differences in welfare programs, the uniqueness of circumstances (for example, German unification), and the balance of political power in governing institutions. An important part of the puzzle is an increasing perception of the need to reform that was more widespread in Denmark and the Netherlands. The social construction of an imperative to reform in these countries generated a political consensus that was elusive in Germany but that may be developing under Gerhard Schroder's government.
Seasonal Change in Osteoid Thickness and Mineralization Lag Time in Ambulant Patients
Authors: Need Allan G , Horowitz Michael , Morris Howard A , Moore Robert , Nordin Christopher
Published: February 2007

Low vitamin D levels are common. Bone biopsies taken from 121 ambulant patients were therefore reviewed. Seasonal changes in mineralization correlated inversely with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D but not the more active metabolite, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D. This implies that the latter is produced in bone.

Introduction: It has been 30 yr since a seasonal variation in osteoid surfaces and calcification fronts was noted in bone biopsies from hip fracture patients in Leeds and attributed to vitamin D status. It was suggested at that time that mild vitamin D deficiency might cause osteoporosis from malabsorption of calcium and more severe deficiency osteomalacia, but little has been published on this subject since.

Materials and Methods: We examined bone biopsies, calcium absorption data, and serum vitamin D metabolites in 121 patients attending our osteoporosis clinics in Adelaide. Biopsies were collected from the anterior iliac crest with a Jamshidi needle after two stat oral doses of 1 g of tetracycline 10 days apart, processed into plastic without demineralization, and all parameters were measured by point counting using a Weibel II graticule. Calcium absorption was measured after an oral dose of 5 μCi of 45Ca in 250 ml of water with 20 mg of calcium carrier. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] was measured by radioimmunoassay and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25(OH)2D] by radioimmunoassay after high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

Results: 25(OH)D levels were lower from late autumn to early spring (April to September) than from late spring to early autumn (October to March) (51 ± 23 versus 61 ± 27 [SD] nM; p = 0.040). None of the biopsies yielded a diagnosis of osteomalacia, but osteoid thickness (O.Th.) was greater in the winter than the summer months (8.5 ± 3.6 versus 7.1 ± 2.8 μm; p = 0.015) as was mineralization lag time (MLT; 11.9 ± 5.2 versus 9.5 ± 3.6; p = 0.005). O.Th and log MLT were both inversely related to serum 25(OH)D (p = 0.014 and 0.036) but not serum 1,25(OH)2D. Calcium absorption was related to serum 1,25(OH)2D but not serum 25(OH)D.

Conclusions: We conclude that circulating 25(OH)D affects the mineralization process, whereas circulating 1,25(OH)2D affects bone indirectly through its effect on calcium absorption.
Immunohistochemical Evidence for the Presence of Glucokinase in the Gonadotropes and Thyrotropes of the Anterior Pituitary Gland of Rat and Monkey
Authors: Sorenson Robert L. , Stout Laurence E. , Brelje T. Clark , Jetton Thomas L. , Matschinsky Franz M.
Published: February 2007

A recent report provides new evidence for the presence of glucokinase (GK) in the anterior pituitary. In the present study, immunohistochemistry was used to identify the cells containing GK in the pituitary of rats and monkeys. In rats, GK was detected as a generalized cytoplasmic staining in a discrete population of cells in the anterior pituitary. In colocalization experiments, the majority of cells expressing follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) or luteinizing hormone (LH) also contained GK. In addition to the gonadotropes, GK was observed in a subpopulation of corticotropes and thyrotropes. GK was not detected in cells expressing growth hormone or prolactin. In monkeys, GK was also observed in a discrete population of cells. Intracellular distribution differed from the rat in that GK in most cells was concentrated in a perinuclear location that appeared to be associated with the Golgi apparatus. However, similar to rats, colocalization experiments showed that the majority of cells expressing FSH or LH also contained GK. In addition to the gonadotropes, GK was observed in a subpopulation of corticotropes and thyrotropes. In the monkey, only a few cells had generalized cytoplasmic staining for GK. These experiments provide further evidence for the presence of GK in the anterior pituitary. Although some corticotropes and thyrotropes contained GK, the predominant cell type expressing GK was gonadotropes. In view of the generally accepted role of GK as a glucose sensor in a variety of cells including the insulin-producing pancreatic β-cells as the prototypical example, it is hypothesized that hormone synthesis and/or release in pituitary cells containing GK may be directly influenced by blood glucose.
On moving children: The social implications of Andean child circulation
Authors: LEINAWEAVER JESSACA B.
Published: February 2007

In this article, I draw from ethnographic research in Ayacucho, Peru, to describe how rural‐to‐urban migrants move children between houses as part of a common survival and betterment strategy in the context of social and economic inequality. Such “child circulations” produce and strengthen kinship and are an important part of local family‐making efforts. My investigation of child circulation grounds a critical assessment of Peru's globalized adoption system, which implicitly denaturalizes the parenting of poor, indigenous Peruvians.
The gift in the animal: The ontology of hunting and human–animal sociality
Authors: NADASDY PAUL
Published: February 2007

Many hunting peoples conceive of hunting as a process of reciprocal exchange between hunters and other‐than‐human persons, and anthropologists have tended to view such accounts as purely symbolic or metaphorical. To the extent that our theories deny the validity of northern hunters' conceptions of animals and the ontological assumptions on which they are based, however, we legitimize agents of the state when they dismiss the possibility that aboriginal knowledge and practices might serve as the factual basis for making wildlife management policy. In this article, I argue that our refusal to consider aboriginal accounts of hunting as perhaps literally as well as metaphorically valid has both contributed to the marginalization of aboriginal peoples and foreclosed important avenues of inquiry into hunting societies and the nature of human–animal relations. I focus on human–animal relations as a form of reciprocal exchange and argue that the development of a theoretical framework that can accommodate northern hunters' ontological assumptions is warranted theoretically as well as politically.
Unspoken Intimacy in Henry James's "The Papers"
Authors: Rubery Matthew
Published: February 2007

Henry James's "The Papers" (1903) was among the first works of fiction to identify changing conceptions of intimacy brought about by new communication technologies during the late nineteenth century-a time described by James as "the age of interviewing."This essay's consideration of the interview as a model for supposedly intimate conversation reveals how the public's desire to appear in newsprint ultimately poses a far more profound problem in James's fiction than does the relatively straightforward defense of privacy against invasive journalists for which James has been credited. Such readings fail to explain James's attention to precisely those characters most interested in reading about other people's private lives or even in having their own private lives read about by others, a problem best assessed in terms of interpersonal relationships. What "The Papers" designates as "the unspoken" between the two journalists, Maud Blandy and Howard Bight, might instead be taken to express the story's conception of intimacy as a form of speechlessness defined in opposition to the confessional voice of the interview. A number of conversations involving unspoken intimacy suggest that the lesson of "The Papers" is that intimacy with people we do not know is far easier to establish than intimacy with people we do know.
nup154 Genetically Interacts With cup and Plays a Cell-Type-Specific Function During Drosophila melanogaster Egg-Chamber Development
Authors: Grimaldi Maria R , Cozzolino Laura , Malva Carla , Graziani Franco , Gigliotti Silvia
Published: February 2007

Nucleoporin Nup154 is a Drosophila component of the nuclear pore complex (NPC), evolutionarily conserved from yeast to humans. While functional studies carried out in both yeast and metazoan cells indicated that Nup154 homologs are key elements of the NPC framework, the striking phenotypic specificity displayed by nup154 hypomorphic mutant alleles suggested that Nup154 might play additional roles in the context of the NPC. Actually, genetic analyses demonstrated that mutant nurse-cell nuclei do not undergo a normal chromosome dispersal process, uncovering an essential requirement for nup154 gene function during oogenesis. In this report, we show that Nup154 interacts genetically and physically with Cup, a germline-specific protein implicated in multiple aspects of female gametogenesis, including the regulation of the nurse-cell chromosome structure. The two proteins colocalize in vivo and are co-immunoprecipitated from ovarian extracts. Moreover, cup, nup154 double mutants exhibit much stronger oogenesis defects than single mutants. Our findings delineate an intriguing scenario where an ubiquitous nucleoporin might directly influence specialized developmental events.
Prediction of Breeding Values and Selection Responses With Genetic Heterogeneity of Environmental Variance
Authors: Mulder H A , Bijma P , Hill W G
Published: February 2007

There is empirical evidence that genotypes differ not only in mean, but also in environmental variance of the traits they affect. Genetic heterogeneity of environmental variance may indicate genetic differences in environmental sensitivity. The aim of this study was to develop a general framework for prediction of breeding values and selection responses in mean and environmental variance with genetic heterogeneity of environmental variance. Both means and environmental variances were treated as heritable traits. Breeding values and selection responses were predicted with little bias using linear, quadratic, and cubic regression on individual phenotype or using linear regression on the mean and within-family variance of a group of relatives. A measure of heritability was proposed for environmental variance to standardize results in the literature and to facilitate comparisons to “conventional” traits. Genetic heterogeneity of environmental variance can be considered as a trait with a low heritability. Although a large amount of information is necessary to accurately estimate breeding values for environmental variance, response in environmental variance can be substantial, even with mass selection. The methods developed allow use of the well-known selection index framework to evaluate breeding strategies and effects of natural selection that simultaneously change the mean and the variance.
Test of Genetical Isochronism for Longitudinal Samples of DNA Sequences
Authors: Liu Xiaoming , Fu Yun-Xin
Published: February 2007

Longitudinal samples of DNA sequences, the DNA sequences sampled from the same population at different time points, have increasingly been used to study the evolutionary process of fast-evolving organisms, e.g., RNA virus, in recent years. We propose in this article several methods for testing genetical isochronism or detecting significant genetical heterochronism in this type of sample. These methods can be used to determine the necessary sample size and sampling interval in experimental design or to combine genetically isochronic samples for better data analysis. We investigate the properties of these test statistics, including their powers of detecting heterochronism, assuming different evolutionary processes using simulation. The possible choices and usages of these test statistics are discussed.
The Genetics of Hybrid Male Sterility Between the Allopatric Species Pair Drosophila persimilis and D. pseudoobscura bogotana: Dominant Sterility Alleles in Collinear Autosomal Regions
Authors: Chang Audrey S , Noor Mohamed A F
Published: February 2007

F1 hybrid male sterility is thought to result from interactions between loci on the X chromosome and dominant-acting loci on the autosomes. While X-linked loci that contribute to hybrid male sterility have been precisely localized in many animal taxa, their dominant autosomal interactors have been more difficult to localize precisely and/or have been shown to be of relatively smaller effect. Here, we identified and mapped at least four dominant autosomal factors contributing to hybrid male sterility in the allopatric species pair Drosophila persimilis and D. pseudoobscura bogotana. Using these results, we tested predictions of reduced recombination models of speciation. Consistent with these models, three of the four QTL associated with hybrid male sterility occur in collinear (uninverted) regions of these genomes. Furthermore, these QTL do not contribute significantly to hybrid male sterility in crosses between the sympatric species D. persimilis and D. pseudoobscura pseudoobscura. The autosomal loci identified in this study provide the basis for introgression mapping and, ultimately, for molecular cloning of interacting genes that contribute to F1 hybrid sterility.
The Nonmuscle Myosin Phosphatase PP1β (flapwing) Negatively Regulates Jun N-Terminal Kinase in Wing Imaginal Discs of Drosophila
Authors: Kirchner Jasmin , Gross Sascha , Bennett Daimark , Alphey Luke
Published: February 2007

Drosophila flapwing (flw) codes for serine/threonine protein phosphatase type 1β (PP1β). Regulation of nonmuscle myosin activity is the single essential flw function that is nonredundant with the three closely related PP1α genes. Flw is thought to dephosphorylate the nonmuscle myosin regulatory light chain, Spaghetti Squash (Sqh); this inactivates the nonmuscle myosin heavy chain, Zipper (Zip). Thus, strong flw mutants lead to hyperphosphorylation of Sqh and hyperactivation of nonmuscle myosin activity. Here, we show genetically that a Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) mutant suppresses the semilethality of a strong flw allele. Alleles of the JNK phosphatase puckered (puc) genetically enhance the weak allele flw1, leading to severe wing defects. Introducing a mutant of the nonmuscle myosin-binding subunit (Mbs) further enhances this genetic interaction to lethality. We show that puc expression is upregulated in wing imaginal discs mutant for flw1 and pucA251 and that this upregulation is modified by JNK and Zip. The level of phosphorylated (active) JNK is elevated in flw1 enhanced by puc. Together, we show that disruption of nonmuscle myosin activates JNK and puc expression in wing imaginal discs.
Pediatric and Emergency Medicine Residents' Attitudes and Practices for Analgesia and Sedation During Lumbar Puncture in Pediatric Patients
Authors: Breakey Vicky R. , Pirie Jonathan , Goldman Ran D.
Published: February 2007

OBJECTIVE. Analgesia and sedation for painful procedures in children are safe and effective, yet our experience is that pain management during lumbar puncture is suboptimal. We aim to document factors that influence residents' decisions to use analgesia and sedation during lumbar puncture and to compare pediatric and emergency medicine residents' practices.

METHODS. A survey was developed and sent to pediatric and emergency medicine residents from across Canada that inquired about clinical practices, learning experiences, current use of analgesia and sedation for lumbar puncture, and their clinical reasoning for using or abstaining from using analgesia and sedation. The Student's t and χ2 tests were used to compare the 2 resident groups.

RESULTS. Of the 374 residents to whom the survey was sent, 245 completed the survey. Pediatric residents reported performing lumbar punctures with no local anesthetic much more frequently. Pediatric residents used EMLA (AstraZeneca, Wilmington, DE) more frequently and injectable lidocaine less frequently. Pediatric residents used sedation for lumbar puncture at least once, more frequently than emergency medicine residents, and used mostly benzodiazepines. Both groups used ketamine at a similar rate. Pediatric residents reported that they witnessed adverse events of sedation more frequently. Although pediatric residents were responsible for teaching trainees the lumbar-puncture procedure significantly more frequently, they reported less educational opportunities during residency themselves and that they were less likely to recommend the use of local anesthetic during lumbar puncture when teaching the procedure.

CONCLUSIONS. Several significant differences exist between the pediatric residents and emergency medicine residents we surveyed. Pediatric residents were using less injectable local anesthesia for lumbar puncture in children and more sedation for the procedure and have had notably less training in the use of sedation. Pediatric residents have more teaching responsibilities than their emergency medicine residents colleagues and are inconsistently recommending the use of local anesthetics for lumbar puncture.
Differentiating Human Embryonic Stem Cells Express a Unique Housekeeping Gene Signature
Authors: Synnergren Jane , Giesler Theresa L. , Adak Sudeshna , Tandon Reeti , Noaksson Karin , Lindahl Anders , Nilsson Patric , Nelson Deirdre , Olsson Björn , Englund Mikael C.O. , Abbot Stewart , Sartipy Peter
Published: February 2007

Housekeeping genes (HKGs) are involved in basic functions needed for the sustenance of the cell and are assumed to be constitutively expressed at a constant level. Based on these features, HKGs are frequently used for normalization of gene expression data. In the present study, we used the CodeLink Gene Expression Bioarray system to interrogate changes in gene expression occurring during differentiation of human ESCs (hESCs). Notably, in the three hESC lines used for the study, we observed that the RNA levels of 56 frequently used HKGs varied to a degree that rendered them inappropriate as reference genes. Therefore, we defined a novel set of HKGs specifically for hESCs. Here we present a comprehensive list of 292 genes that are stably expressed (coefficient of variation <20%) in differentiating hESCs. These genes were further grouped into high-, medium-, and low-expressed genes. The expression patterns of these novel HKGs show very little overlap with results obtained from somatic cells and tissues. We further explored the stability of this novel set of HKGs in independent, publicly available gene expression data from hESCs and observed substantial similarities with our results. Gene expression was confirmed by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis. Taken together, these results suggest that differentiating hESCs have a unique HKG signature and underscore the necessity to validate the expression profiles of putative HKGs. In addition, this novel set of HKGs can preferentially be used as controls in gene expression analyses of differentiating hESCs.
Differential Requirements for Hematopoietic Commitment Between Human and Rhesus Embryonic Stem Cells
Authors: Rajesh Deepika , Chinnasamy Nachimuthu , Mitalipov Shoukhrat M. , Wolf Don P. , Slukvin Igor , Thomson James A. , Shaaban Aimen F.
Published: February 2007

Progress toward clinical application of ESC-derived hematopoietic cellular transplantation will require rigorous evaluation in a large animal allogeneic model. However, in contrast to human ESCs (hESCs), efforts to induce conclusive hematopoietic differentiation from rhesus macaque ESCs (rESCs) have been unsuccessful. Characterizing these poorly understood functional differences will facilitate progress in this area and likely clarify the critical steps involved in the hematopoietic differentiation of ESCs. To accomplish this goal, we compared the hematopoietic differentiation of hESCs with that of rESCs in both EB culture and stroma coculture. Initially, undifferentiated rESCs and hESCs were adapted to growth on Matrigel without a change in their phenotype or karyotype. Subsequent differentiation of rESCs in OP9 stroma led to the development of CD34+CD45− cells that gave rise to endothelial cell networks in methylcellulose culture. In the same conditions, hESCs exhibited convincing hematopoietic differentiation. In cytokine-supplemented EB culture, rESCs demonstrated improved hematopoietic differentiation with higher levels of CD34+ and detectable levels of CD45+ cells. However, these levels remained dramatically lower than those for hESCs in identical culture conditions. Subsequent plating of cytokine-supplemented rhesus EBs in methylcellulose culture led to the formation of mixed colonies of erythroid, myeloid, and endothelial cells, confirming the existence of bipotential hematoendothelial progenitors in the cytokine-supplemented EB cultures. Evaluation of four different rESC lines confirmed the validity of these disparities. Although rESCs have the potential for hematopoietic differentiation, they exhibit a pause at the hemangioblast stage of hematopoietic development in culture conditions developed for hESCs.
Leukemia Inhibitory Factor Influences the Fate Choice of Mesenchymal Progenitor Cells
Authors: Falconi Dominic , Oizumi Kiyoshi , Aubin Jane E.
Published: February 2007

Osteoblasts and adipocytes derive from a common mesenchymal precursor, and in at least some circumstances, differentiation along these two lineages is inversely related. For example, we have recently observed that concomitant with inhibition of osteoblast differentiation and bone nodule formation, leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) induces genes regulating lipid metabolism in fetal rat calvaria (RC) cell cultures. In this study, we further investigated the adipogenic capacity of LIF-treated RC cells. Quantitative analyses revealed that LIF increased the adipocyte differentiation induced by the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ agonist BRL49653 (BRL) in RC cell populations. Gene expression profiling of individual RC cell colonies in untreated cells or cells treated with LIF, BRL, or combined LIF-BRL suggested that some adipocytes arose from bipotential or other primitive precursors, including osteoprogenitors, since many colonies co-expressed osteoblast and adipocyte differentiation markers, whereas some arose from other cell pools, most likely committed preadipocytes present in the population. These analyses further suggested that LIF and BRL do not act at the same stages of the mesenchymal hierarchy, but rather that LIF modifies differentiation of precursor cells, whereas BRL acts later to favor adipocyte differentiation. Taken together, our data suggest that LIF increased adipocyte differentiation at least in part by altering the fate of osteoblastic cells and their precursors.
Regulation of body mass and adiposity in the field vole, Microtus agrestis: a model of leptin resistance
Authors: Król Elżbieta , Speakman John R
Published: February 2007

Adult mammals are typically highly resistant to perturbations in their energy balance. In obese humans, however, this control appears to be lost. Apart from a few exceptional cases, this loss of control occurs despite appropriate levels of circulating leptin – suggesting that elevated adiposity may be a consequence of failure to respond to the leptin signal: leptin resistance. When cold-acclimated male field voles (Microtus agrestis) are transferred from short (SD, 8 h light) to long (LD, 16 h light) photoperiods, they increase dramatically in body mass and fatness for about 4 weeks. After this period, their mass stabilizes at a new plateau about 25% higher than animals maintained in SD. The increase in adiposity is not caused by significant increases in food intake, but reflects an increase in digestive efficiency. Measures of circulating leptin reveal that the increased adiposity is matched by increased circulating leptin. By infusing voles with exogenous leptin, we have demonstrated that SD voles are leptin sensitive (reducing both body mass and food intake), whereas LD animals are leptin resistant. Voles may therefore be a useful model for understanding the process of leptin resistance. The change in leptin sensitivity in voles was not associated with changes in the levels of gene expression of the orexogenic or anorexogenic neuropeptides, such as neuropeptide Y, agouti-related peptide, POMC and cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript, measured in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARC). During the phase that body mass was increasing, however, there was a transient increase in the ARC expression of suppressor of cytokine signalling-3 (SOCS3). These data suggest that the changes in the expression of SOCS3 in the ARC may be involved in leptin resistance. However, the mechanism by which these changes may be linked to alterations in digestive efficiency that underpin the changes in adiposity, or how the differences are signalled by changes in photoperiod, remains unclear.
Effects of maternal undernutrition during lactation on aromatase, estrogen, and androgen receptors expression in rat testis at weaning
Authors: Teixeira Cíntia Vilanova , Silandre Dorothée , de Souza Santos Alba Marcelly , Delalande Christelle , Sampaio Francisco J B , Carreau Serge , da Fonte Ramos Cristiane
Published: February 2007

The goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of maternal malnutrition during lactation on serum levels of testosterone and estradiol, testicular testosterone concentration, aromatase, testicular androgen (AR) and estrogen α (ERα) receptors expression in the pups at weaning. From parturition until weaning, Wistar rats were separated into three groups: (C) control group, with free access to a standard laboratory diet containing 23% protein; protein-energy restricted (PER) group, with free access to an isoenergy and protein-restricted diet containing 8% protein; and energy-restricted (ER) group, receiving standard laboratory diet in restricted quantities, which were calculated according to the mean ingestion of the PER group. All pups were killed at weaning, corresponding to 21 days post partum. Compared with the C group, body weights (C = 48 ± 2.3 g; PER = 20 ± 1.3 g; ER = 25.4 ± 0.9 g; P < 0.01) and testicular weights (C = 0.15 ± 0.02 g, PER = 0.05 ± 0.01 g, ER = 0.06 ± 0.02 g, P < 0.001) of both PER and ER groups were lower. However, there was no significant difference in the testicular/body weight ratio in PER and ER groups compared with the C group. The testosterone serum concentration (ng/ml) was significantly higher in the PER group compared with ER and C groups (C = 0.09 ± 0.012; PER = 0.45 ± 0.04; ER = 0.15 ± 0.03, P < 0.01). Testicular testosterone concentration (C = 2.1 ± 0.43; PER = 6.5 ± 0.7; ER = 13 ± 2.3, P < 0.01) was increased in treated groups when compared with controls. The estradiol serum concentration (pg/ml) was lower in both dietary groups (C = 74 ± 4.6; PER = 49 ± 3.2; ER = 60 ± 5.5, P < 0.01). The amounts of aromatase mRNA and ERα transcripts were significantly lower (P < 0.05) in PER and ER groups; conversely AR (both mRNA and protein) was significantly enhanced (P < 0.05) in treated animals. The nutritional state in early phases of development is important since we have demonstrated here that the maternal malnutrition during lactation leads to alterations in estradiol and testosterone serum concentrations, testicular testosterone concentration, AR and ERα expression together with a decrease of aromatase expression. All together, these changes of steroid status may be deleterious for future germ cell development and reproductive function of these male pups submitted to early malnutrition.
Mutual regulation of vasopressin- and oxytocin-induced glucagon secretion in V1b vasopressin receptor knockout mice
Authors: Fujiwara Yoko , Hiroyama Masami , Sanbe Atsushi , Yamauchi Junji , Tsujimoto Gozoh , Tanoue Akito
Published: February 2007

[Arg8]-vasopressin (AVP) and oxytocin (OT) are neurohypophysial hormones which exert various actions, including the control of blood glucose, in some peripheral tissues. To investigate the type of receptors involved in AVP- and OT-induced glucagon secretion, we investigated the effect of these peptides on glucagon secretion in islets of wild-type (V1bR+/+) and vasopressin V1b receptor knockout (V1bR−/−) mice. AVP-induced glucagon secretion was significantly inhibited by the selective V1b receptor antagonist, SSR149415 (30%), and OT-induced glucagon secretion by the specific OT receptor antagonist, d(CH2)5[Tyr(Me)2, Thr4, Tyr-NH29]OVT (CL-14-26) (45%), in islets of V1bR+/+mice. AVP- and OT-induced glucagon secretions were not by the antagonist of each, but co-incubation with both 10−6 M SSR149415 and 10−6 M CL-14-26 further inhibited AVP- and OT-induced glucagon secretions in islets of V1bR+/+ mice (57 and 69% of the stimulation values respectively). In addition, both AVP and OT stimulated glucagon secretion with the same efficacy in V1bR−/− mice as in V1bR+/+ mice. AVP- and OT-induced glucagon secretion in V1bR−/− mice was significantly inhibited by CL-14-26. These results demonstrate that V1b receptors can mediate OT-induced glucagon secretion and OT receptors can mediate AVP-induced glucagon secretion in islets from V1bR+/+mice in the presence of a heterologous antagonist, while AVP and OT can stimulate glucagon secretion through the OT receptors in V1bR−/−mice, suggesting that the other receptor can compensate when one receptor is absent.
Evaluation of the Electrochemical Behavior of Pentachlorophenol by Cyclic Voltammetry on Carbon Paste Electrode Modified by Humic Acids
Authors: Airoldi Flávia P. S. , Da Silva Wilson T. L. , Crespilho Frank N. , Rezende Maria O. O.
Published: February 2007

Humic substances, or natural recalcitrant organic matter, have an important role in the environment for their plant nutritional functions or for their capability to control the mobility of xenobiotic substances, such as pesticides. To verify the electrochemical behavior of pentachlorophenol (PCP), cyclic voltammetry was used because of its versatility. The following two different electrodes were used: carbon paste electrode (CPE) and carbon paste electrode chemically modified with humic acid (HACMCPE). The results demonstrated that PCP was better accumulated at the HACMCPE electrode, as a consequence of a larger current signal than at the CPE electrode. Cyclic voltammograms showed oxidation steps of PCP itself and probable production of quinonelike compounds.
Management of Adverse Effects of a Public Water Supply Well Field on the Aquatic Habitat of a Stratified Drift Stream in Eastern Connecticut
Authors: Nadim Farhad , Bagtzoglou Amvrossios C. , Baun Sandrine A. , Warner Glenn S. , Ogden Fred , Jacobson Richard A. , Parasiewicz Piotr
Published: February 2007

A study was conducted to determine the effect of water withdrawals from the University of Connecticut's (Storrs) water supply wells on the fisheries habitat of the Fenton River adjacent to the well field. The study was designed to investigate the relationships between in‐stream flow and selected fish habitat in the section of the Fenton River situated in the main zone of influence of the pumping field. With the aid of historical data, new data collection, and mathematical simulation modeling, the relation between the magnitude and timing of groundwater withdrawals on the stage and flow of water in the stream was derived. Fish sampling and habitat modeling were used to assess the effects of human influence on certain reaches of the Fenton River. Among the various water management scenarios studied, several are presented that would optimize water withdrawals, while minimizing adverse effects on the stream flow and in‐stream habitat.