bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Expression profile of a human inducible nitric oxide synthase promoter reporter in transgenic mice during endotoxemia
Authors: Yu Zhiyuan , Xia Xuefeng , Kone Bruce C.
Published: October 2004

Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) is involved in many physiological and pathophysiological processes, including septic shock and acute kidney failure. Little is known about transcriptional regulation of the human iNOS gene in vivo under basal conditions or in sepsis. Accordingly, we developed transgenic mice carrying an insertional human iNOS promoter-reporter gene construct. In these mice, the proximal 8.3 kb of the human iNOS 5′-flanking region controls expression of the reporter gene of enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP). Patterns of human iNOS promoter/EGFP transgene expression in tissues were examined by fluorescence microscopy and immunoblotting. Endogenous murine iNOS was basally undetectable in kidney, intestine, spleen, heart, lung, liver, stomach, or brain. In contrast, EGFP from the transgene was basally expressed in kidney, brain, and spleen, but not the other tissues of the transgenic mice. Bacterial lipopolysaccharide induced endogenous iNOS expression in kidney, intestine, spleen, lung, liver, stomach, and heart, but not brain. In contrast, human iNOS promoter/EGFP transgene expression was induced above basal levels only in intestine, spleen, brain, stomach, and lung. Within kidney, human iNOS promoter/EGFP fluorescence was detected most prominently in proximal tubules of the outer cortex and collecting ducts and colocalized with endogenous mouse iNOS. Within the collecting duct, both endogenous iNOS and the human iNOS promoter/EGFP transgene were expressed in cells lacking aquaporin-2 immunoreactivity, consistent with expression in intercalated cells. Although it remains possible that essential regulatory elements reside in remote locations of the gene, our data concerning this 8.3-kb region provide the first in vivo evidence suggesting differential transcriptional control of the human iNOS gene in these organs and marked differences in transcriptional regulatory regions between the murine and human genes.
Organizing Health Care
Authors: Castilla Emilio J.
Published: October 2004

Research has not satisfactorily answered the question of whether institutions are becoming more similar across countries despite the existence of nationally distinctive social, cultural, political and economic factors. This study presents an institutional account for the process of change in national institutions over time, and specifically examines one of the most important national institutions, health care systems (HCSs). Longitudinal data on national health care systems and population health in the OECD countries show that there has been increasing convergence in the general characteristics of national HCSs since 1960, mainly in the expenditure on health and the level of public coverage of medical costs. At the same time, the composition and utilization of such HCSs have diverged, particularly concerning the national availability and utilization of health care resources. Despite these differences in national HCSs due to variations in national cultural traits like the degree of individualism, countries have healthier populations, and improvements in health appear to converge all over the industrialized world. Results from this study indicate that population health is ultimately affected by social variables such as the level of socioeconomic inequality rather than by the way countries organize health care.
The Myth of Marketization
Authors: Williams Colin C.
Published: October 2004

Across the social sciences, a recurring theme is that market production, where goods and services are produced for monetized exchange by capitalist firms for profitmotivated purposes, is replacing non-market production in the advanced economies. The aim of this article is to evaluate critically this marketization thesis. Analysing data on the volume of market and non-market activity in the advanced economies, it reveals not only the relatively shallow penetration of the market sphere but also how for some four decades, contrary to the marketization thesis, the market sphere does not appear to have grown relative to the nonmarket realm. Here, therefore, the view that non-market activity is a vestige of a pre-capitalist past is rejected and its persistence and growth are instead explained in terms of both the prevalence of resistance cultures to marketism and the inherent contradictions embedded in the pursuit of marketization. The article thus concludes with a call to transcend the currently dominant view that the market is victorious, pervasive and hegemonic, and for greater recognition and value to be given to the non-market realm as well as the possibility of alternative futures beyond marketization.
Tacit Notions of Childhood
Authors: Hemrica Jantine , Heyting Frieda
Published: October 2004

This article reports on a reconstruction of some major pragmatic presuppositions in recent Dutch and English discussions in scientific media about the say children should have in devising settlements after parental divorce. Pragmatic presuppositions – such views as discussants implicitly assume to be taken for granted by their audience – were interpreted as indicating implicit conventions with respect to conceptions of childhood that underlie explicit discussions. We concentrated on three dimensions of such underlying conventions: the child’s supposed interests in having a say, supposedly required competences for having a say, and the supposed links between and relative priority of the child welfare perspective and the rights perspective in this issue. Closer examination reveals that not all of the presuppositions that appear to be characteristic for the discussion at hand are selfevident.
Women Negotiating Change
Authors: Guhathakurta Meghna
Published: October 2004

This article explores the abduction and murder of Kalpana Chakma, Organizing Secretary of the Hill Women’s Federation, a local network addressing issues of gendered violence in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. The article reflects on Kalpana Chakma’s views of life and struggle, the incident, and its consequences. Analysing the response of the mainstream women’s movement to the event, I foreground contesting notions of violence and victimization upheld by the state and the women’s movement in Bangladesh. Engaging the processes through which ethnic women have been victimized, this article addresses issues of agency and resistance, and the means by which women, as individuals and in movements, negotiate and resist the subject position of ‘victim’.
Maoist Insurgency in Nepal
Authors: Manchanda Rita
Published: October 2004

The article examines the gender dynamics of the political contradictions in the Maoist revolution in Nepal. It probes the tension between a near critical mass of women in the Maoist movement and a male leadership ambivalent about redefining gender relations. Exploring the emancipatory potential of the participation of women in an authoritarian, militarized movement, this article comments on the transformation of cultural identities and the radicalization of the social agenda in Nepal. What does this mean for the development of freedom? How does it impact gender relations? What questions does it raise about accountability for human rights abuses?
Reconstituting Selves in the Karachi Conflict
Authors: Chaudhry Lubna Nazir
Published: October 2004

The article focuses on the efforts of two Mohajir women survivors to reconstitute themselves in the wake of violence in Karachi, Pakistan. For disempowered women in urban society, the reconstruction of self divulges particular nuances in the face of structural violence. How do these women represent themselves as agents within the life-worlds they inhabit? How do postcolonial constructions of ethnicity, gender, and class play out in these representations? Highlighting how agency remains delimited by social positioning and circumstances, the article argues for complex understandings of women’s agency in contexts of armed conflict.
History writing, numbness, and the restoration of dignity
Authors: Dean Carolyn J.
Published: October 2004

This article investigates how historians have sought to foster empathic identification with victims in various narratives on the genocide of European Jewry. It takes historians’ extreme reactions to Daniel Jonah Goldhagen’s Hitler’s Willing Executionersas a point of departure, and argues that most historical narratives fail to address how graphic writing about atrocities generates identification with both perpetrators and victims. The essay then analyses how some historians have sought, successfully or not, to overcome this problem.
The lived analytic: layers of meaning(fullness) in the context of the Holocaust
Authors: Bendix John
Published: October 2004

‘Holocaust consciousness’ has become a confused, monolithic, hortatory mix that can be better disaggregated, this essay suggests, by engaging in a series of moves: first by recasting what we mean by theory; second by drawing on both Tönnies and on family history to meld the analytic and personal perspectives more seamlessly together; and third by successively peeling away historical layers with a series of questions about how German and American society have recently coped with the legacy of the Holocaust, and then how my father and grandfather coped with their situations.
Memory and the Holocaust: processing the past through a gendered lens
Authors: Mushaben Joyce Marie
Published: October 2004

Viewed through the prism of gender, race and generational change, memories of the Holocaust acquire a dynamic and a salience that differ substantially from one group to the next. This article examines the role of gender in sustaining and reconfiguring such memories in Germany; it argues that female victims and perpetrators are moving towards common ground in processing Second World War experiences as they anticipate their own deaths. Ranging from active collaborators to bold resistance fighters, some women proved both deeply reflective, others almost oblivious to the horrors occurring around them, as revealed by (auto)biographical texts. ‘Women under the Nazis’ were not a subordinate, uninformed mass, easily exploited by a megalomaniacal patriarchal establishment; still, their many roles were rated as ‘insignificant’ in configuring the master narrative. The unequal treatment accorded women in the 1940s still shapes the unequal slave-labor compensation accorded women half a century later. This raises new questions about the need to re-establish communication between the generations for the purpose of transmitting lessons of world-historical magnitude linked to the Holocaust.
The concept of learning from the study of the Holocaust
Authors: Pleasants Nigel
Published: October 2004

In his much-discussed Hitler’s Willing Executioners, Daniel Goldhagen claims to bring ‘the critical eye of the anthropologist’ to the task of understanding the motivational state of Holocaust perpetrators. This aspect of his methodology has not received much critical attention. In this article I seek to fill that gap. I do so through consideration of Peter Winch’s reflections on the concept of learning from anthropological study of an alien social and cultural world. Goldhagen tells us that perpetrators acted as they did because they believed it was ‘necessary and just’ to do so. But he only tells us thatthey believed this. We need to know howthey could have believed such a thing. Drawing upon Winch’s reflections, and with recourse to a controversial analogy, I address the ‘phenomenological’ question that Goldhagen poses, but fails, to explore.
Advancing Indigenous Rights at the United Nations: Strategic Framing and Its Impact on the Normative Development of International Law
Authors: Morgan Rhiannon
Published: October 2004

Within the past 30 years, indigenous peoples have emerged as legitimate subjects of international law with rights to exist as distinct peoples. This shift in international law is the result of activity over the last few decades that has involved hundreds of indigenous leaders, community representatives, and lawyers. Indigenous peoples have become actively engaged in efforts to transform the disposition and direction of international law in order that it might become a supportive force of change in the relations between indigenous peoples and the states in which they live. This article explores those efforts on the part of indigenous peoples. Specifically, it examines the ways in which indigenous peoples have articulated strategic ‘frames’ that engender support for their aspirations within the international legal system. In doing so, it contributes to an understanding of why and how these rights have emerged. It also contributes to the framing literature, which has not yet been used to explain social movements’ outcomes. In this article, however, I demonstrate that framing can also make an impact on the development of law and policy.1
Risky Spaces and Dangerous Faces: Urban Surveillance, Social Disorder andCCTV
Authors: Hier Sean P.
Published: October 2004

Since the early 1990s, there has been a steady increase in the use of closed circuit television cameras to monitor public space(s) across Europe and North America. The existing theoretical literature has tended to explain the resort to CCTV in the context of disciplinary subjection. Whereas one set of studies explains CCTV surveillance using the metaphor of panopticon, more recent argumentation has identified CCTV as a ‘social ordering strategy’ which serves the interests of elite/business partnerships through risk-based modes of neoliberal regulation. This article provides insight into the hitherto neglected emotional and affective dimensions of the adoption of CCTV monitoring programs, privileging the role of social antagonism in the consolidation of public surveillance schemes. Developing one explanation for the ascension of open-street monitoring which advances the literature beyond the dominant materialideological perspective(s), the article engages insights from Foucauldian and psychoanalytic theory to explicate the reciprocal functioning of grievance and risk-based modes of problematization, set in a wider imaginary web of relations, in the symbolic constitution of social disorder as a mechanism of affective governance.
Hybrid Constraint Space Dynamics and Control for Robot Manipulators
Authors: Wong R. , Cherchas D. B.
Published: October 2004

In this paper we present the development of a hybrid constraint space dynamics modeling technique and position/force controller for robotic manipulator control in constrained environments. The method utilizes a constraint space dynamic model in which the model coordinates are displacement along the constraint trajectory and the normal force between the manipulator end-effector and the environment. The dynamic model is constructed by transforming the conventional joint space manipulator dynamics equations into their constraint space equivalents through the application of mapping functions, which relate differential displacements and velocities in the constraint space coordinate system to the joint space coordinate system. Control algorithms may then be applied to the simplified dynamic structure of the constraint space equations of motion in order to produce a vector of manipulator joint torques which will satisfy both position and force requirements along the environmental constraint. Actuator constraints and momentum compensating techniques are also used to ensure that the position and force control problems are completely decoupled from one another. A computer torque control algorithm is then applied to a two-degrees-of-freedom prismatic robot and simulations are carried out with two different constraint surfaces, i.e. a planar, and a concave circular environment. The results of these simulations show that the controller, implemented in hybrid constraint space provides good position and force control.
Vibration Control to Avoid Stick-Slip Motion
Authors: Popp Karl , Rudolph Martin
Published: October 2004

Friction-induced self-sustained oscillations result in a very robust limit cycle that characterizes stick-slip motion. This type of motion should be avoided under any circumstances because it creates noise, wear, and damage. In this paper we show, by simple models, how stick-slip motion can be avoided. Effective methods are: (i) appropriate increase of internal damping that compensates the negative damping induced by a friction characteristic, which decreases with increasing sliding speed; (ii) external excitation that breaks up the limit cycle (however, this often leads to chaotic motion); (iii) passive vibration control by fluctuating normal forces. The last mentioned mechanism is new and will be investigated in detail. The stick-slip oscillator is extended by an additional degree of freedom, which couples the slipping motion to the normal force. The dynamic behavior of the system has been worked out by analytical investigations and numerical integration. Scanning a broad range of values, parameters of the additional system, called the dynamic vibration absorber, have been found that prevent stick-slip and minimize the amplitude of the residual limit cycle. For this task the evaluation of the system behavior has been achieved by observing its energy content. The feasibility of the proposed dynamic vibration absorber is demonstrated by an experiment.
Nuts, bolts, levers and cranks: designing enquiry-based learning in Hartlepool
Authors: Holmes Darren
Published: October 2004

The Hartlepool Networked Learning Community has focused on promoting teacher enquiry as a vehicle for professional learning and raising standards of achievement in schools. This article highlights how the enquiry programme was designed and managed. It describes the ways that teachers have approached their enquiry work, including how some of the obstacles they faced were met and overcome. The enquiry programme has generated real enthusiasm among teachers and has demonstrated considerable potential to deliver on the school improvement agenda. The article offers some insights into the impact that enquiry has made in this programme which is sponsored and facilitated by the National College for School Leadership.
Building sustainable futures: emerging understandings of the significant contribution of the professional learning community
Authors: Andrews Dorothy , Lewis Marian
Published: October 2004

This article draws on the experiences of a range of Australian schools engaging with a teacher-centred process of whole-school renewal known as IDEAS (Innovative Designs for Enhancing Achievement in Schools). IDEAS enhances the professional capacity of teachers to improve school outcomes such as student learning, relationships with the community, and the coherence of school operation. The article explores how through their engagement with IDEAS, teacher leaders emerge from the professional learning community of the school. After outlining the essential elements of IDEAS, the article explores: how teacher leaders can work collaboratively with administrators to create a contextualized pedagogical framework that transforms their practice; the key concepts of parallel leadership; alignment; and professional conversation. Working with IDEAS, schools create their own futures, supported by their particular pedagogical framework and ways of working. Examples are drawn from particular schools to illustrate the diversity of their experiences and of their learning.
Helping schools to know themselves: exploring partnerships between schools and Higher Education Institutions to generate trustful, critical dialogue for review and development
Authors: Durrant Judy , Dunnill Richard , Clements Simon
Published: October 2004

This article examines three projects in which a Higher Education Institution (HEI) worked in partnership with individual secondary schools to support school self-review. Each project was designed and negotiated to meet the needs of the school. External ‘visitors’ from the HEI worked alongside teachers to gather evidence and develop critical and reflective dialogue as well as working to identify and explore the perspectives of students/learners and other members of the school community. Evidence was presented back to the schools in a variety of forms, supporting accumulation of knowledge through dialogue. The article’s discussion is based on a meeting involving representatives of the HEI and the schools, in which the processes and outcomes of the three projects were examined to consider the values of this kind of approach and the lessons learnt. Issues and challenges both for Higher Education and for schools were identified to foster the use of evidence and dialogue in supporting school improvement.
School effectiveness and the ‘other outcomes’ of secondary schooling: a reassessment of three decades of British research
Authors: Gray John
Published: October 2004

It has long been assumed that schools which were ‘effective’ with respect to one set of outcomes (usually academic performance) were generally more ‘effective’ in relation to others. This article reviews the last three decades of British evidence across a range of affective, social and other non-cognitive outcomes including: pupils’ attitudes to school; their levels of involvement; truancy and attendance; citizenship issues; use of alcohol and drugs. The review draws two main conclusions. First, that schools’ effects on these forms of outcomes do not seem as significant as those relating to academic ones. Second, that the evidence for a single underlying dimension of school effectiveness is limited. The factors which explain differences between schools in terms of academic progress appear to have limited explanatory power in relation to these ‘other’ outcomes. The implications of this reassessment for the analysis of schools’ functioning and the development of accountability systems are subsequently considered.
Subjectivity, intersubjectivity and the historical construction of interlocutor stance: from stance markers to discourse markers
Authors: Fitzmaurice Susan
Published: October 2004

This study draws upon the techniques of corpus linguistics, discourse analysis and historical pragmatics to provide an account of the ways in which speakers recruit markers of epistemic stance to capture their construction of the attitudes of their interlocutors, addressees, or audience. It then examines the ways in which selected markers lose their subjective force over time, whether expressive of the speaker’s attitude or the speaker’s sense of the interlocutor’s attitude, to become interactive markers of the exchange involved in an exchange. The article thus tracks the subtle shifts from speaker subjectivity to the speaker’s projection of subjectivity to the addressee (intersubjectivity), to the association of an expression with the dynamics of the interactive process itself (interactiveness). The article examines instances of semasiological change, that is, changes of meaning associated with the lexical expressions, you know, you see, and you say.
Other-repetition as display of hearing, understanding and emotional stance
Authors: Svennevig Jan
Published: October 2004

In this article, other-repetition after informing statements is investigated in a corpus of institutional encounters between native Norwegian clerks and non-native clients. Such repetition is used to display receipt of information. A plain repeat with falling intonation is described as a display of hearing, whereas a repeat plus a final response particle, ‘ja’ (yes), constitutes a claim of understanding. Repeats with high-tone response particles (rising intonation) in addition display emotional stance, such as surprise or interest, and these are primarily exploited for the purposes of topic organization. In the cross-linguistic context of the current encounters, the native speakers are shown to use receipts as embedded corrections of the non-native speaker’s utterances. The repeats also have certain formal features that are characteristic of the situation, such as less pronominalization and ellipsis, and this is explained as a procedure to ensure the joint construal of linguistic form.
Accession and Reform of the European Union
Authors: König Thomas , Bräuninger Thomas
Published: October 2004

This study examines how the institutional provisions of the Nice Treaty and the constitutional reform of the European Union (EU) will affect agricultural decision-making in the enlarged EU. Although the agricultural sector is a core EU policy domain, we have little knowledge about the effects of institutional reform following the accession of 10 relatively small and poor countries, each having a large primary sector. Based on an input–output taxation model, we identify the positions of old and new member states in the twodimensional space of EU agricultural politics. This allows us to investigate whether and how Council decision-making will change if the Nice Treaty’s provisions for qualified majority voting are replaced by those of the draft constitution of 2004. Our analysis shows that the constitution is an advance providing for more policy change but it falls behind the Laeken proposal, which would have effectively reformed EU agricultural decision-making.
Voting against Spending Cuts
Authors: Mulas-Granados Carlos
Published: October 2004

This article analyses the electoral consequences of fiscal adjustments for the governments that implement them. Using probit analysis on a panel of 15 EU member states between 1960 and 2000, this article tests whether an improving budgetary situation has any effect on the probability of prime minister re-election. Contrary to what previous influential studies concluded, results from this article confirm that governments are held accountable for their fiscal policy decisions. In Europe, the probability of the prime minister’s re-election decreases when fiscal adjustments have taken place, especially if these consolidations relied on spending cuts. Nevertheless, the strong electoral costs associated with expenditure-based adjustments weakened during the post-Maastricht years. The reason for this was partly a change in voters’ tolerance of fiscal discipline and partly because public opinion put the blame on ‘Brussels’ for the strongest budget cuts.
When in Rome
Authors: Soontiens Werner
Published: October 2004

In Australia the internationalization of education implies an increasing amount of ‘non-Anglo’, predominantly South-East Asian, students from different ethnic and language backgrounds in the classroom. This impacts on the effectiveness of action learning of professional skills, which is highly valued and supported by Australian educational institutions and is incorporated to reach all students. This paper reflects on the perceived improvement of students’ writing, presenting and teamwork skills integrated in the International Management academic unit at an ‘Anglo’ (Australian, English-medium) university. The analysis compares ‘Anglo’ (Australian and English first language) students to ‘non-Anglo’ (non-Australian, non-English first language) students.
The role of hemodialysis machines dedication in reducing Hepatitis C transmission in the dialysis setting in Iran: A multicenter prospective interventional study
Authors: Shamshirsaz Alireza Abdollah , Kamgar Mohammad , Bekheirnia Mir Reza , Ayazi Farzam , Hashemi Seyed Reza , Bouzari Navid , Habibzadeh Mohammad Reza , Pourzahedgilani Nima , Broumand Varshasb , Shamshirsaz Amirhooshang Abdollah , Moradi Maziyar , Borghei Mehrdad , Haghighi Niloofar Nobakht , Broumand Behrooz
Published: October 2004

Background

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a significant problem among patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis (HD). We conducted a prospective multi-center study to evaluate the effect of dialysis machine separation on the spread of HCV infection.

Methods

Twelve randomly selected dialysis centers in Tehran, Iran were randomly divided into two groups; those using dedicated machines (D) for HCV infected individuals and those using non-dedicated HD machines (ND). 593 HD cases including 51 HCV positive (RT-PCR) cases and 542 HCV negative patients were enrolled in this study. The prevalence of HCV infection in the D group was 10.1% (range: 4.6%– 13.2%) and it was 7.1% (range: 4.2%–16.8%) in the ND group. During the study conduction 5 new HCV positive cases and 169 new HCV negative cases were added. In the D group, PCR positive patients were dialyzed on dedicated machines. In the ND group all patients shared the same machines.

Results

In the first follow-up period, the incidence of HCV infection was 1.6% and 4.7% in the D and ND group respectively (p = 0.05). In the second follow-up period, the incidence of HCV infection was 1.3% in the D group and 5.7% in the ND group (p < 0.05).

Conclusions

In this study the incidence of HCV in HD patients decreased by the use of dedicated HD machines for HCV infected patients. Additional studies may help to clarify the role of machine dedication in conjunction with application of universal precautions in reducing HCV transmission.
Effects of a Graduate Preparation Program on Undergraduate Psychology Majors
Authors: Neimeyer Greg J. , Lee Geoffrey A. , Saferstein Jocelyn , Pickett Yohance
Published: October 2004

We conducted 2 studies to assess and enhance levels of graduate preparation. In Study 1, 248 undergraduates and 28 graduate students completed a new measure of graduate preparation, the Grad Prep Quiz. Results documented the psychometric utility and the predictive validity of the measure, with graduate students scoring significantly higher on this measure than undergraduates. Study 2 provided a controlled study of a graduate preparation program. Compared to the control group, participants in the graduate preparation program demonstrated a significant increase in their Grad Prep Quiz scores. These results support efforts to enhance effective preparation for graduate study in psychology.
Calcium-mediated protein secretion potentiates motility in Toxoplasma gondii
Authors: Wetzel Dawn M. , Chen Lea Ann , Ruiz Felix A. , Moreno Silvia N. J. , Sibley L. David
Published: October 2004

Apicomplexans such as Toxoplasma gondii actively invade host cells using a unique parasite-dependent mechanism termed gliding motility. Calcium-mediated protein secretion by the parasite has been implicated in this process, but the precise role of calcium signaling in motility remains unclear. Here we used calmidazolium as a tool to stimulate intracellular calcium fluxes and found that this drug led to enhanced motility by T. gondii. Treatment with calmidazolium increased the duration of gliding and resulted in trails that were twice as long as those formed by control parasites. Calmidazolium also increased microneme secretion by T. gondii, and studies with a deletion mutant of the accessory protein m2AP specifically implicated that adhesin MIC2 was important for gliding. The effects of calmidazolium on gliding and secretion were due to increased release of calcium from intracellular stores and calcium influx from the extracellular milieu. In addition, we demonstrate that calmidazolium-stimulated increases in intracellular calcium were highly dynamic, and that rapid fluxes in calcium levels were associated with parasite motility. Our studies suggest that oscillations in intracellular calcium levels may regulate microneme secretion and control gliding motility in T. gondii.
Platelet-activating factor stimulates cytoplasmic alkalinization and granule acidification in human eosinophils
Authors: Bankers-Fulbright Jennifer L. , Kephart Gail M. , Bartemes Kathleen R. , Kita Hirohito , O'Grady Scott M.
Published: October 2004

The effects of platelet-activating factor (PAF) and IL-5 on intracellular pH were investigated in human eosinophils. Purified peripheral blood eosinophils were loaded with the ratiometric fluorescent pH indicator BCECF-AM ester. Stimulation of eosinophils with PAF produced time-dependent alkalinization of the cytoplasm from an initial pH of 7.1±0.04 to 7.5±0.05. A similar alkalinization response was produced by the calcium ionophore, ionomycin and by the calcium ATPase inhibitor, thapsigargin. These compounds as well as PAF produce significant increases in cytoplasmic calcium ([Ca2+]i). In contrast, IL-5 and the protein kinase C (PKC) activator phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) did not produce cytoplasmic alkalinization and had no effect on [Ca2+]i in eosinophils. PAF-stimulated alkalinization was not inhibited under conditions that blocked plasma membrane Na+-H+ exchange, proton channel or plasma membrane H+-ATPase activities. Measurements of intragranule pH with a cell permeant pH indicator (LysoSensor Yellow/Blue DND-160), which partitions into intracellular acidic compartments, revealed that PAF-stimulated cytosolic alkalinization correlated with intragranule acidification. These results suggest that the increase in [Ca2+]i after PAF stimulation activates a H+-ATPase present in the granule membranes, leading to enhanced granule acidification and cytoplasmic alkalinization. We propose that granule acidification is an important step in solubilization of major basic protein crystals, which are stored within the granule core, in preparation for degranulation and release of these proteins.
Salmonella typhimuriumtranscytoses flagellin via an SPI2-mediated vesicular transport pathway
Authors: Lyons Sean , Wang Lixin , Casanova James E. , Sitaraman Shanthi V. , Merlin Didier , Gewirtz Andrew T.
Published: October 2004

Apical colonization of polarized epithelia by Salmonella typhimurium results in translocation of flagellin to the basolateral membrane domain, thus enabling activation of toll-like receptor 5 (TLR5)-mediated pro-inflammatory gene expression. Such flagellin transcytosis occurred without a change in epithelial permeability to 40 kDa FITC dextran, did not require bacterial motility and was independent of transepithelial movement of intact bacteria. Flagellin transcytosis was blocked at 20°C, suggesting dependence on vesicular transport consistent with results from confocal microscopy that showed flagellin independent of bacteria inside epithelial cells. Furthermore, vesicles isolated from S. typhimurium-infected epithelia were highly enriched in flagellin. Flagellin transcytosis was dependent upon genes of Salmonella pathogenicity island (SPI)-2, which alter vesicular trafficking, but independent of SPI-1 that mediates bacterial invasion. Furthermore, such SPI-2 mutants were unable to mediate the localization of flagellin into intracellular vesicles consistent with flagellin transcytosis mediated by a S. typhimurium take-over of host vesicle trafficking pathways. As a result of their inability to transcytose flagellin, apical colonization by SPI-2 mutants induced substantially less epithelial IL-8 secretion than wild-type strains suggesting that such SPI-2 mediated transcytosis of flagellin plays a role in the pathogenesis of the mucosal inflammation characteristic of human Salmonellosis.
Increase of Adhesion Force of Poly(carboxylate) Ligand on Calcium Phosphate Crystals by an NH···O (Oxyanion) Hydrogen Bond
Authors: Takahashi Kazuyuki , Doi Mototsugu , Mohri Hiroshi , Okamura Taka-aki , Yamamoto Hitoshi , Ueyama Norikazu
Published: October 2004

Ca–O bond is strengthened by carboxylate ligand with an intramolecular NH···O hydrogen bond. A novel NH···O hydrogen-bonded polymer, poly[1-carboxylato-2-(1-ethoxycarbonyl-3-methylsulfanylpropylcarbamoyl)-ethylene-alt-ethylene] exhibits higher adhesion force on the surface of calcium phosphate crystals than the non-NH···O one.
Recurrent Infusion Phlebitis Induced by Cyclosporine
Authors: Rottenberg Yakir , Fridlender Zvi G
Published: October 2004

OBJECTIVE

To report a case of recurrent infusion phlebitis during cyclosporine treatment, which, as of October 14, 2004, is a previously unreported adverse effect of this drug.

CASE SUMMARY

A 28-year-old man previously diagnosed with ulcerative colitis was admitted to the internal medicine department due to exacerbation of the condition and treated with intravenous hydrocortisone, followed by treatment with intravenous cyclosporine. During this treatment, the patient experienced quick, recurrent, and significant infusion phlebitis. The intravenous catheter and its site needed to be replaced repeatedly during the continuum of treatment, eventually leading to complete remission of the ulcerative colitis. After 8 months, the patient was still in remission, with no permanent signs of damage to the involved phlebitic veins.

DISCUSSION

Infusion phlebitis induced by drugs is a common phenomenon that causes pain and difficulty in a patient's treatment. Many drugs, mainly antibiotics and cytotoxic drugs, have previously been reported to induce infusion phlebitis. We describe the first report of a patient with cyclosporine–induced recurrent infusion phlebitis. According to the Naranjo probability scale, the relationship of the encountered phlebitis to cyclosporine therapy is probable.

CONCLUSIONS

Recurrent infusion phlebitis is a previously unreported adverse effect encountered during treatment with cyclosporine. This important adverse effect must be considered when treating patients with this unique drug.
Endogenous regulators of protein phosphatase-1 during mouse oocyte development and meiosis
Authors: Wang Xia , Swain Jason E , Bollen Mathieu , Liu Xiao-Tie , Ohl Dana A , Smith Gary D
Published: October 2004

Reversible phosphorylation, involving protein kinases and phosphatases (PP), is important in regulating oocyte meiosis. Okadaic acid (OA) inhibition of PP1 and/or PP2A stimulates oocyte germinal vesicle breakdown (GVB). In oocytes, PP1 is localized in the cytoplasm and nucleus, yet endogenous regulation of oocyte PP1 has not been investigated. The objectives of the study were to identify intra-oocyte mechanisms regulating PP1 during acquisition of OA-sensitive meiotic competence and meiotic resumption. Immunohistochemical studies revealed that GVB-incompetent oocytes contained equivalent cytoplasmic and nuclear PP1. Upon development of OA-sensitive meiotic competence, PP1 displayed differential intracellular localization with significantly greater nuclear staining with distinct nucleolar rimming compared with cytoplasmic staining. Germinal vesicle-intact oocytes contained neither nuclear inhibitor of PP1, nor PP1 cytoplasmic inhibitor-1 transcripts or proteins. Reverse transcription-PCR with PP1 cytoplasmic inhibitor-2 (I2) primers and oocyte RNA amplified a predicted 330-bp product with the identical sequence to mouse liver I2. Oocytes contained a heat-stable PP1 inhibitor with biochemical properties of I2. Phosphorylation of PP1 at Thr320 by cyclin dependent kinase-1 (CDK1) causes PP1 inactivation. Germinal vesicle-intact oocytes did not contain phospho-Thr320-PP1. Upon GVB, PP1 became phosphorylated at Thr320 and this phosphorylation did not occur if GVB was blocked with the CDK1 inhibitor, roscovitine (ROSC). Inhibition of oocyte GVB with ROSC was reversible and coincided with PP1 phosphorylation at Thr320. Increased oocyte staining of nuclear PP1 compared with cytoplasmic staining at a chronological stage when oocytes gain meiotic competence, and phosphorylation and inhibition of PP1 by CDK1 at or around GVB appear to be important mechanisms in regulating oocyte PP1 activity and meiosis. In addition, these studies provide further support for PP1 being the OA-sensitive PP important in the regulation of the acquisition of meiotic competence, nuclear events during meiotic arrest, and GVB.
Two insulin-responsive glucose transporter isoforms and the insulin receptor are developmentally expressed in rabbit preimplantation embryos
Authors: Navarrete Santos Anne , Tonack Sarah , Kirstein Michaela , Kietz Silke , Fischer Bernd
Published: October 2004

Glucose is the most important energy substrate for mammalian blastocysts. Its uptake is mediated by glucose transporters (GLUT). In muscle and adipocyte cells insulin stimulates glucose uptake by activation of the insulin receptor (IR) pathway and translocation of GLUT4. GLUT4 is expressed in bovine preimplantation embryos. A new insulin-responsive isoform, GLUT8, was recently described in mouse blastocysts. Thus, potentially, two insulin-responsive isoforms are expressed in early embryos. The mechanism of insulin action on embryonic cells, however, is still not clear. In the present study expression of IR, GLUT1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 8 was studied in rabbit preimplantation embryos using RT-PCR, Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. The rabbit mRNA sequences for the complete coding region of IR, GLUT4 and a partial GLUT8 sequence were determined by RACE-PCR and sequencing. GLUT4 was expressed in 3-day-old morulae and in 4- and 6-day-old blastocysts. IR and GLUT8 transcripts were detectable only in blastocysts. Blastocysts also expressed GLUT1 and 3, but not GLUT2 and 5. Transcript numbers of GLUT4 and 8 were higher in trophoblast than in embryoblast cells. Translation of IR, GLUT4 and 8 proteins in blastocysts was confirmed by Western blotting. GLUT4 was localized mainly in the membrane and in the perinuclear region in trophoblast cells while in embryoblast cells its localization was predominantly in the perinuclear cytoplasm. The possible function(s) of two insulin-responsive isoforms, GLUT4 and GLUT8, in rabbit preimplantation embryos needs further investigation. It may not necessarily be linked to insulin-stimulated glucose transport.
Use of parentage testing to determine optimum insemination time and culture media for oocyte transfer in mares
Authors: Carnevale Elaine M , Coutinho da Silva Marco A , Maclellan Lisa J , Seidel George E , Squires Edward L
Published: October 2004

Parentage identification was used to test the developmental competence of oocytes cultured under different conditions and fertilizedin vivoafter oocyte transfer. Oocytes were collected transvaginally from follicles of estrous mares approximately 22 h after administration of human chorionic gonadotropin. Oocytes were cultured for approximately 16 h in one of three media, with or without addition of hormones and growth factors. Groups of three or four oocytes, cultured in different media, were transferred into the oviduct contralateral to a recipient’s own ovulation. Recipients were inseminated with semen from two different stallions at 15 h before and 2.5 h after oocyte transfer. Sixteen days after transfer, embryos were recovered from uteri and submitted for parentage testing. The percentage of oocytes resulting in embryonic vesicles was nearly identical (P> 0.05) for transferred oocytes (32/44, 73%) versus ovulated oocytes of recipients (9/13, 69%). More (P< 0.01) oocytes were fertilized by sperm inseminated before (35/38, 92%) versus after (3/38, 8%) oocyte transfer. Tissue culture medium (TCM)-199 was superior to equine maturation medium I (EMMI; a SOF-based medium) for culturing oocytes (P< 0.05), although addition of hormones and growth factors during culture did not improve (P> 0.05) development of embryos.
The direct measurement of embryogenic volume and nucleo-cytoplasmic ratio during mouse pre-implantation development
Authors: Aiken Catherine E M , Swoboda Peter P L , Skepper Jeremy N , Johnson Martin H
Published: October 2004

After fertilization, the mammalian conceptus undergoes cleavage, a process of cell proliferation in the absence of interphase growth. It is not known when cleavage ends and gives way to fully replicative cell cycles with a stable nucleo-cytoplasmic ratio. We have used two-photon excitation and confocal microscopy to measure directly volumes and nucleo-cytoplasmic ratios of whole murine concepti and their individual constituent blastomeres during pre-implantation development up to the early uterine attachment stage (day 5). We show that the total cytoplasmic volume of the conceptus remains constant during pre-implantation development, and that the average nucleo-cytoplasmic ratio increases exponentially throughout the same period. Data from individual blastomeres show that both volume and nucleo-cytoplasmic ratio diverge in the inner and outer subpopulations evident from the 16-cell stage (fifth developmental cycle) onwards. Cells from emergent outer trophoblast populations are larger and have smaller nucleo-cytoplasmic ratios than those from emergent inner pluriblast populations. Moreover, the nucleo-cytoplasmic ratio of the trophoblast appears to be stabilizing, suggesting that for this subpopulation cleavage may end at the 16–32-cell transition. Putative hypoblast and epiblast cell subpopulations within the pluriblast were not distinguishable by volume or nucleo-cytoplasmic ratio. Embryonic stem cell volume was higher than that of either cell subpopulation of expanded blastocysts, and their nucleo-cytoplasmic ratio was similar to that of trophoblast cells.
Análise funcional dos estabilizadores patelares
Authors: Bevilaqua Grossi Débora , Pedro Vanessa Monteiro , Bérzin Fausto
Published: October 2004

O músculo vasto medial obliquo (VMO) desempenha importante papel na estabilização medial da patela. No entanto, o padrão de recrutamento dos componentes laterais, o músculo vasto lateral longo (VLL) e vasto lateral obliquo (VLO) não está estabelecido. O objetivo deste trabalho foi analisar a atividade eletromiográfica dos músculos VMO, VLL e VLO de 21 indivíduos saudáveis (X=23,3 e DP=2,9), sendo 10 mulheres e 11 homens, sem história clínica de dor ou lesão osteomioarticular. Para tanto foi utilizado um eletromiógrafo NICOLET VIKING II de 8 canais (NICOLET Biomedical Instruments) e eletrodos bipolares de superfície para registrar a atividade elétrica dos músculos VMO, VLL e VLO durante a realização de exercícios isométricos de extensão do joelho a 15º e 90º de flexão. Os dados eletromiográficos foram normalizados pela contração isométrica voluntária máxima de extensão do joelho a 50º de flexão e revelaram que os músculos VLL e VLO apresentam diferença significativa no padrão de recrutamento podendo ser considerados fisiologicamente distintos. O músculo VMO desempenhou juntamente com o VLO um papel recíproco e sincrônico na estabilização patelar e apresentou maior ativação em relação ao músculo VLL nos exercícios isométricos de extensão do joelho a 90º.
Estudo anatômico das inserções distais do tendão extensor longo do polegar
Authors: Caetano Maurício Benedito Ferreira , Albertoni Walter Manna , Caetano Edie Benedito
Published: October 2004

Registramos pelo presente estudo que o músculo (ELP) e seu tendão apresentaram poucas variações anatômicas. Não registramos a presença de tendões acessórios e nem a ausência desse músculo ou de seu tendão. Verificamos em todas as preparações a passagem do tendão pelo terceiro compartimento osteofibroso, cruzando sobre os extensor radial curto (ERCC) e longo (ERLC) do carpo e dirigindo-se ao polegar. A alteração no trajeto tendinoso, desviando-se no sentido radial foi verificada em uma das preparações (1,6%). A duplicação parcial do tendão proximal a articulação metacarpofalângica (AMFP) foi verificada em 3 observações (4,8%), sendo 1 bilateral, e distal à articulação em 5 (8,3%), 2 bilateralmente. A inserção óssea na base da falange distal (BFD) foi encontrada em todas as observações. Durante sua passagem pela articulação metacarpofalângica, registramos sua inserção na cápsula articular em 14 observações (23,3%), porém não registramos a inserção óssea nesse local. O padrão mais comum em relação ao músculo ELP foi a presença constante de 1 tendão, passando pelo terceiro compartimento osteofibroso dorsal do punho com inserção óssea na base da falange distal do polegar.
Method for Preparation of Semiconductor Quantum‐Rod Lasers in a Cylindrical Microcavity
Authors: Kazes M. , Lewis D. Y. , Banin U.
Published: October 2004

An efficient method for preparation of semiconductor quantum rod films for robust lasing in a cylindrical microcavity is reported. A capillary tube, serving as the laser cavity, is filled with a solution of nanocrystals and irradiated with a series of intense nanosecond laser pulses to produce a nanocrystal film on the capillary surface. The films exhibit intense room‐temperature lasing in whispering‐gallery modes that develop at the film–capillary interface as corroborated from the spacing detected for the lasing modes. Good lasing stability is observed at moderate pump powers. The method was applied successfully to several quantum‐rod samples of various sizes.