bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Fracture and crack profile fictitious crack modeling of porous poly(methyl methacrylate)
Authors: Jiménez‐Piqué E. , Dortmans L. J. M. G. , De With G.
Published: April 2003

This article presents the fracture behavior and applicability of the fictitious crack (FC) model to describe the fracture of a porous poly(methyl methacrylate) material. Two test geometries, wedge‐opening load and single‐edge‐notched beam, were employed under two different test conditions (room temperature and in water at 45 °C); all presented quasibrittle fracture behavior. The crack profile of a wedge‐opening load sample was visualized and measured with the digital image correlation technique. The mechanical response of all the samples, including the crack profile, was successfully modeled with the FC model, and this showed the good applicability of this model to the fracture of this granular poly(methyl methacrylate) material. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 1112–1122, 2003
In situ bubble‐stretching dispersion mechanism for additives in polymers
Authors: Daming Wu , Qingyun Meng , Ying Liu , Yumei Ding , Weihong Chen , Hong Xu , Dongyun Ren
Published: April 2003

An in situ bubble‐stretching (ISBS) model has been proposed on the basis of an analysis of the dispersion process of inorganic additives in polymers. The ISBS model is applicable to a dispersion of solid granular aggregates in polymer melts because the dispersed phase itself serves as a nucleation agent, giving rise to bubbles that expand at the surface of the microgranules and their aggregates. In terms of bidirectional stretching, the ISBS process can increase the degrees of freedom of granule dispersion, which favors more homogeneous dispersion. According to theoretical predictions and indirect experimental estimations of the dispersion of nanoscale CaCO3 and nanoscale hydrotalcite in high‐density polyethylene (HDPE), when the bubble expands, the stretching rate of the polymer melt on the bubble wall can reach 105–106 s−1. The field emission scanning electron microscopic images indicated that the granular size of dispersed CaCO3 and hydrotalcite in HDPE with the ISBS method is about 60–80 nm, two orders of magnitude smaller than that attained with a shearing rate of 103 s−1 in a capillary rheometer. It is also predicted that elastic bubble oscillations may be generated through suitable control of process parameters and that their oscillatory frequency can be in the ultrasound range. This type of bubble oscillation can also promote dispersion. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 1051–1058, 2003
Polymer crystalline structure and morphology changes in nylon‐6/ZnO nanocomposites
Authors: Zheng Junrong , Siegel Richard W. , Toney C. Gregory
Published: April 2003

The influence of ZnO nanoparticles on the crystalline structures of nylon‐6 under different crystallization conditions (annealing at different temperatures from the amorphous solid, isothermal crystallization from the melt at different temperatures, and crystallization from the solution) has been examined with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared. ZnO nanoparticles can induce the γ‐crystalline form in nylon‐6 when it is cooled from the melted state and annealed from the amorphous solid. This effect of ZnO nanoparticles increases with decreasing particle size and changes under different crystallization conditions. The effects of ZnO nanoparticles on the crystallization kinetics of nylon‐6 have also been studied with DSC. The results show that ZnO nanoparticles have two competing effects on the crystallization of nylon‐6: inducing the nucleation but retarding the mobility of polymer chains. Finally, the melting behavior of the composites has been investigated with DSC, and the multiple melting peaks of composites containing ZnO nanoparticles and pure nylon‐6 are ascribed to the reorganization of imperfect crystals. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 1033–1050, 2003
Benefits of modeling and simulation in implementing a shared component build strategy
Authors: Componation Paul J. , Gholston Sampson E. , Hyatt Leslie A. , Simmons Brandy B.
Published: April 2003

The push for significantly more affordable Department of Defense programs in a limited budget environment has created a need to better understand the cost impacts of manufacturing decisions made during the early phases of system development. To reduce costs, Department of Defense programs are investigating the benefits of implementing a shared component build strategy. To implement this strategy, program managers need tools that will evaluate how their decision will affect the cost of the systems they are developing. This paper reports on the implementation of a shared component build strategy on two major missile system programs. A simulation model was developed to illustrate the impact of a shared build on the manufacturing system that would construct a component. The simulation models the production line of a common component for two major missile programs. The combination of the simulation and the corresponding user interface demonstrates the ease of experimenting with various manufacturing system architectures and highlights the benefits achieved by utilizing modeling and simulation. The results from this simulation showed that selecting an alternative manufacturing system architecture could result in a $3.04 million cost avoidance. These results support the theory that modeling and simulation is an invaluable decision‐making tool that can support evaluation of a shared production build strategy. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Syst Eng 6: 63–75, 2003
Value streams in science & technology: A case study of value creation and intelligent tutoring systems
Authors: Rouse William B. , Boff Kenneth R.
Published: April 2003

Science and technology (S&T) involves a broad community of investors, sponsors, investigators, adopters, and end‐users. This wide range of stakeholders adds value in a variety of ways, resulting in what are termed value streams. This article focuses on elaborating and formalizing S&T value streams. This formulation is evaluated in the context of a case study of computer‐based intelligent tutoring systems. The value streams identified in this context span several decades of S&T investments, R&D in numerous organizations, and deployments in a variety of school settings. Insights gained from this case study enable proposing a general model of value creation in S&T. The phenomena embodied in this model suggest several central hypotheses. Approaches to evaluating these hypotheses are discussed. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Syst Eng 6: 76–91, 2003
Expanding the role of systems engineers in the age of escalating complexity
Authors: Ren Chiang H.
Published: April 2003

The accomplishments of scientists conducting complex systems research could significantly expand the role of systems engineers currently wrestling with more narrowly defined complex systems. The rapid growth of problems extending from newly formed complex systems in society, economic activities, and geopolitical dynamics argues further for the immediate fusion of scientific insight with practical engineering approaches for problem solving. In supporting this new role for systems engineers, a new class of complex systems engineering tools, along with new analytical techniques, are envisioned. Such tools and techniques can further support the continuing efforts of scientists in unraveling the mysteries of highly complex self‐forming and self‐organizing systems. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Syst Eng 6: 116–121, 2003 DOI 10.1002/sys.10039
Suicidal Behavior in Black South Africans
Authors: Schlebusch Lourens , Vawda Naseema B.M. , Bosch Brenda A.
Published: April 2003

Summary: In the past suicidal behavior among Black South Africans has been largely underresearched. Earlier studies among the other main ethnic groups in the country showed suicidal behavior in those groups to be a serious problem. This article briefly reviews some of the more recent research on suicidal behavior in Black South Africans. The results indicate an apparent increase in suicidal behavior in this group. Several explanations are offered for the change in suicidal behavior in the reported clinical populations. This includes past difficulties for all South Africans to access health care facilities in the Apartheid (legal racial separation) era, and present difficulties of post-Apartheid transformation the South African society is undergoing, as the people struggle to come to terms with the deleterious effects of the former South African racial policies, related socio-cultural, socio-economic, and other pressures.
Networking to Support Suicide Survivors
Authors: De fauw Nico , Andriessen Karl
Published: April 2003

Summary: This paper is the first report on a national program for increasing bereavement support for suicide survivors in the Flemish region in Belgium. A Working Group consisting of representatives of a wide variety of mental health institutions, social programs, and suicide survivor groups in the area determined that a program developing networks between the services seems to hold the greatest promise for both an increase in the number of services available and an improvement in the quality of services offered.
Anguish and Despair in Adolescents with Eating Disorders
Authors: Manley Ronald S. , Leichner Pierre
Published: April 2003

Summary: Adolescents struggling against anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa often experience self-punishing thoughts and behaviors, including self-mutilation, and suicidal ideation and attempts. These arise out of the profound anguish and despair frequently experienced by these young people. This paper outlines four particularly salient clinical themes underlying this despair that have significant implications for treatment. A practice perspective is discussed which emphasizes empathic listening and the development of a strong therapeutic alliance with the adolescent. Treatment recommendations draw from narrative theory and practice, and from feminist perspectives. The paper also draws on cognitive therapy and on recent developments in the areas of spirituality and motivational enhancement. Involving the distressed adolescent's family is also addressed.
Child and Adolescent Survivors of Suicide
Authors: Sethi Sujata , Bhargava S.C.
Published: April 2003

Summary: Suicide in a family is distressing for each and every member. Children and adolescents bereaved by suicide are known to be more at risk of suffering from a variety of psychiatric problems, especially affective disorders. A group of children and adolescents who experienced a suicidal death in the family were assessed for psychiatric problems as well as for social adjustment. The findings suggest that the bereaved children and adolescents are at elevated risk for major depressive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, and impaired social adjustment.
Can a Theory of Suicide Predict All “Suicides” in the Elderly?
Authors: Leenaars Antoon A.
Published: April 2003

Summary: Older adults consistently have the highest rates of suicide in most societies. Despite the paucity of studies until recently, research has shown that suicides in later life are best understood as a multidimensional event. An especially neglected area of research is the psychological/psychiatric study of personality factors in the event. This paper outlines one comprehensive model of suicide and then raises the question: Is such a psychiatric/psychological theory applicable to all suicides in the elderly? To address the question, I discuss the case of Sigmund Freud; raise the topic of suicide and/or dignified death in the terminally ill; and examine suicide notes of the both terminally ill and nonterminally ill elderly. I conclude that, indeed, greater study and theory building are needed into the “suicides” of the elderly, including those who are terminally ill.
A Grounded Approach to Identifying National Competitive Advantage: A Preliminary Exploration
Authors: Thompson Edmund R
Published: April 2003

The geography of national competitiveness is now charted annually by international indices. However, quite what such indices measure is uncertain as the concept of competitiveness as applied to economies has no clear or agreed definition among scholars. Still less is there any consensus regarding the factors that contribute to national competitiveness. Notwithstanding, governments have incorporated this vague and ill-measured concept both into policy parlance and into public expenditure plans, suggesting that an objective and practical method for identifying national competitiveness is urgently needed. The author reports an exploratory, inductive, approach to identifying the components of competitive advantage of a specimen economy (Hong Kong), by using data from 127 firms operating within it. An inventory of forty-one firm-suggested advantages of Hong Kong is scored, then exploratory factor analysis is used to derive a statistically and conceptually robust index of ten scales representing components of Hong Kong's competitive advantage. Results point to a new, grounded, approach to identifying competitiveness, not just of nations, but of regions and cities too.
A Room of One's Own: Housing Consumption and Residential Crowding in Transitional Urban China
Authors: Huang Youqin
Published: April 2003

The goal of this paper is to evaluate the level and examine the dynamics of housing consumption and residential crowding in urban China almost a decade after the housing reform was launched. I argue that housing consumption and residential crowding are affected not only by demographic and socio-economic factors, as they are in market economies, but also by institutional factors that are unique to China because of the dualism in housing reform. Using a 1996 national survey, I find that the level of housing consumption is still low and residential crowding is common. A room of one's own continues to be a dream for most Chinese. However, Chinese households now have more control over their housing, and their housing behaviors are beginning to share similarities with the West. For example, life cycle, household income, housing tenure, and city size have similar effects on housing consumption and residential crowding as they do in Western housing markets. It is still clear, however, that the socialist institution—the hukou system—continues to influence housing consumption, although to a lesser extent than in the prereform period. Households with rural or temporary hukou are at a disadvantage in the housing market, in the sense that they occupy less spacious housing and suffer more from residential crowding than do those with urban and permanent hukou. Yet, these last are more constrained by institutional variables such as job and work-unit characteristics, which affect housing consumption differently across cities.
Reshaping the Dutch Planning System: A Learning Process?
Authors: Wolsink Maarten
Published: April 2003

The Dutch physical planning system is at a turning point. Recently the government proposed a new institutional framework for spatial planning. At first sight, the intended changes look like an example of improvements resulting from a learning process. However, the main lines of the proposal blatantly deviate from the insights into planning, balanced decisionmaking, and ‘governance’ that have emerged during the past decade. This is illustrated and explained from three perspectives. First, the growing need for change was put forward several times by the Scientific Council for Government Policy, a think tank whose task is to advise the government from a certain intellectual distance. The development of ideas by this agency is an example of cognitive learning. Second, the example of infrastructure planning that is crucial in this cognitive development is used to illustrate this by confronting the ideas with the experiences in two major national projects. As a third line, the deviations between the empirical evidence, the analysis, and the advice to the government on the one hand, and the governmental proposal on the other, are explained in relation to the ‘advocacy coalition framework’ theory on policy-oriented learning.
A Tale of Contestation, Disciples, and Damned: The Lessons of the Spread of Globalization into Trinidad and Tobago
Authors: Riddell Barry
Published: April 2003

Globalization has spread throughout the world, reaching into its remotest corners. At a world scale, the recent phase of this diffusion has been enhanced and enforced by a neoliberal global financial architecture. However, within many Third World countries, especially during recent decades when an integral component of their integration has been an agreement with the international financial institutions, the local acceptance of globalization has led to an intense contestation between those who win during incorporation and those who lose. In many Southern nations, the discord is muted, obstructed, or is masked; in others, though, the conflict is open and public. The author employs the voices of the winners and losers in an open and public conflict where the contestation was in fact published in the national press. His focus is the debate over the costs and benefits of international incorporation which occurred in Trinidad and Tobago with structural adjustment programmes. The country, with its democratic government and free expression, serves as a window into an otherwise murky process, for elsewhere this contest has often been unrecoverable and subterranean. Integral to the understanding of the spread of globalization into the Third World is the operation of the winners in a compradorial fashion—here, we learn how such disciples establish a national mindset which assists the international spread of globalization.
Urban Development without more Mobility by Car? Lessons from Amsterdam, a Multimodal Urban Region
Authors: Bertolini Luca , le Clercq Frank
Published: April 2003

The fundamental dilemma in attempts to make urban development less dependent upon mobility by car is the inability of alternatives to match the quality of accessibility provided by private motorized transport. Failure to recognize this means that bringing about environmentally more sustainable urban mobility patterns is only possible at economic, social, and political costs that are unacceptable in most societies. In this paper we identify and discuss ways out of this dilemma, in the form of solutions that pursue the goal of increasing both sustainability and accessibility. We start by contending that what people ask is not a generic mobility, but rather opportunities to participate in spatially disjointed activities. Accordingly, accessibility should be defined as the amount and the diversity of ‘spatial opportunities’ that can be reached within a certain amount of time. Solutions to the accessibility–sustainability dilemma building upon this perspective (that is, planning concepts, policy measures) have been the object of recent research at the Universiteit van Amsterdam and are discussed and we look for, and find, evidence of the feasibility of these solutions in the actual trends in the Amsterdam urban region. Some policy implications of the findings are discussed.
Writing the Asphalt Jungle: Berlin and the Performance of Classical Modernity 1900–33
Authors: Vasudevan Alexander
Published: April 2003

In this paper I explore the textual performance of Berlin in the early 20th century, focusing on the multiple spaces of classical German modernity (1900–33) as they are described and reinvented within the poetics of a rapidly modernizing metropolis. It is argued that writing Berlin cannot offer a unifying text or conceptual system which arranges the city ipso facto into a single territory, a generalise space of selected indices and icons. Alternatively, the writing of the city explores the ongoing transformation of the city in text. My purpose in this paper is, therefore, irrefutably bound up with the capacity of the urban text to remap imaginatively the changing condition of the city onto the text itself—hence the fashioning of textual presences as surrogate city spaces. The notion of performance is furthermore deployed to account for the immediacy and evanescence characterizing the Berlin of classical modernity, a period that rehearsed the contradictions of modernization in accelerated form. From journalistic reportage to novels, the textual performance of Berlin necessitates an enabling reception and adaptation to the destabilizing nature of urban industrial modernity, which in turn can be plotted in two interrelated ways: first, in the proliferation of textual strategies which approximate the montage effect of the incipient modernization of the city; second, in the writerly anticipation of cinematic innovations as the scripting of a ‘moving’ urban culture of modernity. Taken together, these writings inhabit traveling geographies which provide models of performative identification for appropriating and embracing the complexity of the modern city.
Commemorative Dis(re)membering: Erasing Heritage, Spatializing Disinheritance
Authors: Landzelius Michael
Published: April 2003

In this paper I develop an idea of commemorative ‘dis(re)membering’ as a tool for a critical, nonessentialist reconfiguration of memorial landscapes, heritage discourse, and dominant official narratives of the past. The notion of commemorative dis(re)membering is not limited to any one particular case but is a general approach which fundamentally questions taken-for-granted assumptions about memorialization as a social process. The empirical focus of the paper is on Swedish labor-company camps established by the military in the late 1930s. I present a historical background to the camps, and proceed to consider the discourse that framed and enabled the creation of them. In reference to Continental European social theory and philosophy, I address the position of the camps in relation to the constitution of the law and the social imaginary. I proceed to situate the argument in the context of recent attempts to address forms of ‘dissonant heritage’ and pave the ground for a critique of heritage logocentrism. This critique is then advanced through an elaboration of dis(re)membering in relation to overarching issues of democracy, subjectivity, identity, citizenship, and the role of the past in the present. Finally, I propose a permanent replacement of the imaginary lineage of heritage with a ‘rhizome history’ of ‘disinheritance‘. In suggesting the erasure of heritage, I propose that objects of the past should be mobilized as disinheritance assemblages for critical and subversive purposes in order to make the past implode into the present and across spatial scales in ways that unsettle fundamental social imaginary significations.
Spaces of Exclusion: The Significance of Cultural Identity in the Formation of European Residential Districts in British Hong Kong, 1877–1904
Authors: Bremner G Alex , Lung David P Y
Published: April 2003

In this paper we discuss the role and significance of European cultural identity in the formation of the urban environment in 19th-century and early-20th-century British Hong Kong. Our purpose is to offer an alternative reading of the social history of Hong Kong-the orthodox accounts of which remain largely predominant in the general historical understanding of that society-by examining the machinations that surrounded attempts by the European colonial elite to control the production of urban form and space in the capital city of Hong Kong, Victoria. Here the European Residential District ordinance of 1888 (along with other related ordinances) is considered in detail. An examination of European cultural self-perception and the construction of colonial identity is made by considering not only the actual ways in which urban form and space were manipulated through these ordinances but also the visual representation of the city in art. Here the intersection between ideas and images concerning civil society, cultural identity, architecture, and the official practices of colonial urban planning is demonstrated. It is argued that this coalescing of ideas, images, and practices in the colonial environment of British Hong Kong not only led to the racialisation of urban form and space there but also contributed to the apparent anxiety exhibited by the European population over the preservation of their own identity through the immediacy of the built environment.
Y Chromosome STR Haplotypes and the Genetic Structure of U.S. Populations of African, European, and Hispanic Ancestry
Authors: Kayser Manfred , Brauer Silke , Schädlich Hiltrud , Prinz Mechthild , Batzer Mark A. , Zimmerman Peter A. , Boatin B. A. , Stoneking Mark
Published: April 2003

To investigate geographic structure within U.S. ethnic populations, we analyzed 1705 haplotypes on the basis of 9 short tandem repeat (STR) loci on the Y-chromosome from 9–11 groups each of African-Americans, European-Americans, and Hispanics. There were no significant differences in the distribution of Y-STR haplotypes among African-American groups, whereas European-American and Hispanic groups did exhibit significant geographic heterogeneity. However, the significant heterogeneity resulted from one sample; removal of that sample in each case eliminated the significant heterogeneity. Multidimensional scaling analysis of RST values indicated that African-American groups formed a distinct cluster, whereas there was some intermingling of European-American and Hispanic groups. MtDNA data exist for many of these same groups; estimates of the European-American genetic contribution to the African-American gene pool were 27.5%–33.6% for the Y-STR haplotypes and 9%–15.4% for the mtDNA types. The lack of significant geographic heterogeneity among Y-STR and mtDNA haplotypes in U.S ethnic groups means that forensic DNA databases do not need to be constructed for separate geographic regions of the U.S. Moreover, absence of significant geographic heterogeneity for these two loci means that regional variation in disease susceptibility within ethnic groups is more likely to reflect cultural/environmental factors, rather than any underlying genetic heterogeneity.
Chromosomal Deletion Formation System Based on Tn5 Double Transposition: Use For Making Minimal Genomes and Essential Gene Analysis
Authors: Goryshin Igor Y. , Naumann Todd A. , Apodaca Jennifer , Reznikoff William S.
Published: April 2003

In this communication, we describe the use of specialized transposons (Tn5 derivatives) to create deletions in theEscherichia coli K-12 chromosome. These transposons are essentially rearranged composite transposons that have been assembled to promote the use of the internal transposon ends, resulting in intramolecular transposition events. Two similar transposons were developed. The first deletion transposon was utilized to create a consecutive set of deletions in the E. coli chromosome. The deletion procedure has been repeated 20 serial times to reduce the genome an average of 200 kb (averaging 10 kb per deletion). The second deletion transposon contains a conditional origin of replication that allows deleted chromosomal DNA to be captured as a complementary plasmid. By plating cells on media that do not support plasmid replication, the deleted chromosomal material is lost and if it is essential, the cells do not survive. This methodology was used to analyze 15 chromosomal regions and more than 100 open reading frames (ORFs). This provides a robust technology for identifying essential and dispensable genes.

[Supplemental material is available online at www.genome.org and is supplied as an extended table enumerating genes lost in two multiple round deletion strains (Δ20-1 and Δ20-4). These data are summarized in Table 1.]
Spectral Biclustering of Microarray Data: Coclustering Genes and Conditions
Authors: Kluger Yuval , Basri Ronen , Chang Joseph T. , Gerstein Mark
Published: April 2003

Global analyses of RNA expression levels are useful for classifying genes and overall phenotypes. Often these classification problems are linked, and one wants to find “marker genes” that are differentially expressed in particular sets of “conditions.” We have developed a method that simultaneously clusters genes and conditions, finding distinctive “checkerboard” patterns in matrices of gene expression data, if they exist. In a cancer context, these checkerboards correspond to genes that are markedly up- or downregulated in patients with particular types of tumors. Our method, spectral biclustering, is based on the observation that checkerboard structures in matrices of expression data can be found in eigenvectors corresponding to characteristic expression patterns across genes or conditions. In addition, these eigenvectors can be readily identified by commonly used linear algebra approaches, in particular the singular value decomposition (SVD), coupled with closely integrated normalization steps. We present a number of variants of the approach, depending on whether the normalization over genes and conditions is done independently or in a coupled fashion. We then apply spectral biclustering to a selection of publicly available cancer expression data sets, and examine the degree to which the approach is able to identify checkerboard structures. Furthermore, we compare the performance of our biclustering methods against a number of reasonable benchmarks (e.g., direct application of SVD or normalized cuts to raw data).
Homotypic Regulatory Clusters in Drosophila
Authors: Lifanov Alexander P. , Makeev Vsevolod J. , Nazina Anna G. , Papatsenko Dmitri A.
Published: April 2003

Cis-regulatory modules (CRMs) are transcription regulatory DNA segments (∼1 Kb range) that control the expression of developmental genes in higher eukaryotes. We analyzed clustering of known binding motifs for transcription factors (TFs) in over 60 known CRMs from 20 Drosophila developmental genes, and we present evidence that each type of recognition motif forms significant clusters within the regulatory regions regulated by the corresponding TF. We demonstrate how a search with a single binding motif can be applied to explore gene regulatory networks and to discover coregulated genes in the genome. We also discuss the potential of the clustering method in interpreting the differential response of genes to various levels of transcriptional regulators.
Identification of Novel Imprinted Genes in a Genome-Wide Screen for Maternal Methylation
Authors: Smith Rachel J. , Dean Wendy , Konfortova Galia , Kelsey Gavin
Published: April 2003

A characteristic of imprinted genes is that the maternal and paternal alleles show differences in methylation. To perform a genome-wide screen for novel imprinted loci, we applied methylation-sensitive representational difference analysis (Me-RDA) to parthenogenetic mouse embryos, to identify differentially methylated regions (DMRs) methylated specifically on the maternal allele. We isolated a total of 26 distinct clones from known and novel DMRs and identified three novel imprinted genes. Nap1l5 is located on proximal chromosome 6 and encodes a protein with homology with nucleosome assembly proteins (NAPs); it has tissue-specific imprinting with expression from the paternal allele. We identified two DMRs on chromosome 15, a chromosome that was not thought to contain imprinted loci, and demonstrated that each is associated with a paternally expressed transcript. Peg13 gives rise to a noncoding RNA that is highly expressed in the brain and imprinted in all tissues examined. A DMR was also identified at the chromosome 15 Slc38a4 gene, which encodes a system A amino acid transporter; we show thatSlc38a4 is imprinted in a tissue-specific manner. Interestingly, two of the three novel genes identified in this screen are located within the introns of other genes; their identification indicates that such “microimprinted” domains may be more common than previously thought.

[The sequence data from this study have been submitted to GenBank under accession nos. AY151252 andAY151253. The following individuals kindly provided reagents, samples, or unpublished information as indicated in the paper: C. Beechey, J. Peters and D. Bodle.]
Comparative Evolutionary Genomics Unveils the Molecular Mechanism of Reassignment of the CTG Codon inCandidaspp.
Authors: Massey Steven E. , Moura Gabriela , Beltrão Pedro , Almeida Ricardo , Garey James R. , Tuite Mick F. , Santos Manuel A.S.
Published: April 2003

Using the (near) complete genome sequences of the yeastsCandida albicans, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, andSchizosaccharomyces pombe, we address the evolution of a unique genetic code change, which involves decoding of the standard leucine-CTG codon as serine inCandidaspp. By using two complementary comparative genomics approaches, we have been able to shed new light on both the origin of the novelCandidaspp. Ser-tRNACAG, which has mediated CTG reassignment, and on the evolution of the CTG codon in the genomes ofC. albicans,S. cerevisiae, andS. pombe. Sequence analyses of newly identified tRNAs from theC. albicansgenome demonstrate that the Ser-tRNACAGis derived from a serine and not a leucine tRNA in the ancestor yeast species and that this codon reassignment occurred ∼170 million years ago, but the origin of the Ser-tRNACAGis more ancient, implying that the ancestral Leu-tRNA that decoded the CTG codon was lost after the appearance of the Ser-tRNACAG. Ambiguous CTG decoding by the Ser-tRNACAGcombined with biased AT pressure forced the evolution of CTG into TTR codons and have been major forces driving evolution of the CTN codon family inC. albicans. Remarkably, most of the CTG codons present in extantC. albicansgenes are encoded by serine and not leucine codons in homologousS. cerevisiaeandS. pombegenes, indicating that a significant number of serine TCN and AGY codons evolved into CTG codons either directly by simultaneous double mutations or indirectly through an intermediary codon. In either case, CTG reassignment had a major impact on the evolution of the coding component of theCandidaspp. genome.

[Supplemental material is available online athttp://www.genome.organd athttp://www.bio.ua.pt/genomica/Lab/Genomedata.html. The following individuals kindly provided reagents, samples, or unpublished information as indicated in the paper: N. Federspiel.]
Efficient High-Throughput Resequencing of Genomic DNA
Authors: Miller Raymond D. , Duan Shenghui , Lovins Elizabeth G. , Kloss Ellen F. , Kwok Pui-Yan
Published: April 2003

Targeted resequencing of genomic DNA from organisms such as humans is an important tool enabling experimental access to variation within the species and between similar species. Taking full advantage of the reference genome sequences in designing robust, specific PCR assays and using stringent conditions, resequencing can be done efficiently without purification of the PCR product. By using a 10-fold greater amount of one primer when setting up the PCR initially in a new version of asymmetric PCR, one simply adds the rest of the sequencing reagents at the end of PCR and allows the sequencing reaction to proceed, with the excess PCR primer serving as the sequencing primer. We demonstrated that this streamlined protocol can be used with PCR products up to 1300 bp and had up to a 97% success rate in high-throughput analysis of allele frequencies for >30,000 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). SNP primers and characterization results are provided athttp://snp.wustl.edu.
Computationally Identifying Novel NF-κB-Regulated Immune Genes in the Human Genome
Authors: Liu Rongxiang , McEachin Richard C. , States David J.
Published: April 2003

Identifying novel NF-κB-regulated immune genes in the human genome is important to our understanding of immune mechanisms and immune diseases. We fit logistic regression models to the promoters of 62 known NF-κB-regulated immune genes, to find patterns of transcription factor binding in the promoters of genes with known immune function. Using these patterns, we scanned the promoters of additional genes to find matches to the patterns, selected those with NF-κB binding sites conserved in the mouse or fly, and then confirmed them as NF-κB-regulated immune genes based on expression data. Among 6440 previously identified promoters in the human genome, we found 28 predicted immune gene promoters, 19 of which regulate genes with known function, allowing us to calculate specificity of 93%–100% for the method. We calculated sensitivity of 42% when searching the 62 known immune gene promoters. We found nine novel NF-κB-regulated immune genes which are consistent with available SAGE data. Our method of predicting gene function, based on characteristic patterns of transcription factor binding, evolutionary conservation, and expression studies, would be applicable to finding genes with other functions.
Data-Mining Approaches Reveal Hidden Families of Proteases in the Genome of Malaria Parasite
Authors: Wu Yimin , Wang Xiangyun , Liu Xia , Wang Yufeng
Published: April 2003

The search for novel antimalarial drug targets is urgent due to the growing resistance of Plasmodium falciparum parasites to available drugs. Proteases are attractive antimalarial targets because of their indispensable roles in parasite infection and development, especially in the processes of host erythrocyte rupture/invasion and hemoglobin degradation. However, to date, only a small number of proteases have been identified and characterized in Plasmodiumspecies. Using an extensive sequence similarity search, we have identified 92 putative proteases in the P. falciparum genome. A set of putative proteases including calpain, metacaspase, and signal peptidase I have been implicated to be central mediators for essential parasitic activity and distantly related to the vertebrate host. Moreover, of the 92, at least 88 have been demonstrated to code for gene products at the transcriptional levels, based upon the microarray and RT-PCR results, and the publicly available microarray and proteomics data. The present study represents an initial effort to identify a set of expressed, active, and essential proteases as targets for inhibitor-based drug design.

[Supplemental material is available online at www.genome.org.]
LAGAN and Multi-LAGAN: Efficient Tools for Large-Scale Multiple Alignment of Genomic DNA
Authors: Brudno Michael , Do Chuong B. , Cooper Gregory M. , Kim Michael F. , Davydov Eugene , Program NISC Comparative Sequencing , Green Eric D. , Sidow Arend , Batzoglou Serafim
Published: April 2003

To compare entire genomes from different species, biologists increasingly need alignment methods that are efficient enough to handle long sequences, and accurate enough to correctly align the conserved biological features between distant species. We present LAGAN, a system for rapid global alignment of two homologous genomic sequences, and Multi-LAGAN, a system for multiple global alignment of genomic sequences. We tested our systems on a data set consisting of greater than 12 Mb of high-quality sequence from 12 vertebrate species. All the sequence was derived from the genomic region orthologous to an ∼1.5-Mb region on human chromosome 7q31.3. We found that both LAGAN and Multi-LAGAN compare favorably with other leading alignment methods in correctly aligning protein-coding exons, especially between distant homologs such as human and chicken, or human and fugu. Multi-LAGAN produced the most accurate alignments, while requiring just 75 minutes on a personal computer to obtain the multiple alignment of all 12 sequences. Multi-LAGAN is a practical method for generating multiple alignments of long genomic sequences at any evolutionary distance. Our systems are publicly available athttp://lagan.stanford.edu.
Microarray Analyses of Xylella fastidiosa Provide Evidence of Coordinated Transcription Control of Laterally Transferred Elements
Authors: Nunes Luiz R. , Rosato Yoko B. , Muto Nair H. , Yanai Giane M. , da Silva Vivian S. , Leite Daniela B. , Gonçalves Edmilson R. , de Souza Alessandra A. , Coletta-Filho Helvécio D. , Machado Marcos A. , Lopes Silvio A. , de Oliveira Regina Costa
Published: April 2003

Genetically distinct strains of the plant bacterium Xylella fastidiosa (Xf) are responsible for a variety of plant diseases, accounting for severe economic damage throughout the world. Using as a reference the genome of Xf 9a5c strain, associated with citrus variegated chlorosis (CVC), we developed a microarray-based comparison involving 12 Xf isolates, providing a thorough assessment of the variation in genomic composition across the group. Our results demonstrate that Xf displays one of the largest flexible gene pools characterized to date, with several horizontally acquired elements, such as prophages, plasmids, and genomic islands (GIs), which contribute up to 18% of the final genome. Transcriptome analysis of bacteria grown under different conditions shows that most of these elements are transcriptionally active, and their expression can be influenced in a coordinated manner by environmental stimuli. Finally, evaluation of the genetic composition of these laterally transferred elements identified differences that may help to explain the adaptability of Xf strains to infect such a wide range of plant species.

[Supplemental material is available online at www.genome.org.]
Species-Specific Class I Gene Expansions Formed the Telomeric 1 Mb of the Mouse Major Histocompatibility Complex
Authors: Takada Toyoyuki , Kumánovics Attila , Amadou Claire , Yoshino Masayasu , Jones Elsy P. , Athanasiou Maria , Evans Glen A. , Lindahl Kirsten Fischer
Published: April 2003

We have determined the complete sequence of 951,695 bp from the class I region ofH2,the mouse major histocompatibility complex (Mhc) from strain 129/Sv (haplotypebc). The sequence contains 26 genes. The sequence spans from the last 50 kb of theH2-Tregion, including 2 class I genes and 3 class I pesudogenes, and includes theH2-Mregion up toGabbr1.A 500-kb stretch of theH2-Mregion contains 9 class I genes and 4 pseudogenes, which fall into two subfamilies,M1andM10, distinct from other mouse class I genes. ThisM1/M10class I gene-cluster is separated from the centromericH2-Tand the telomericH2-M4, -5 and-6class I genes by “nonclass I genes”. Comparison with the corresponding 853-kb region of the humanMhc,which includes theHLA-Aregion, shows a mosaic of conserved regions of orthologous nonclass I genes separated by regions of species-specific expansion of paralogousMhcclass I genes. The analysis of this mosaic structure illuminates the dynamic evolution of theMhcclass I region among mammals and provides evidence for the framework hypothesis.

[Supplemental material is available online atwww.genome.org. The sequence data from this study have been submitted to GenBank under accession nos.AC005413,AC005665,AF532111–AF532117. A preliminary draft sequence was earlier submitted asAC002615and replaced this year by NT002615.]
How training can add real value to the business: part 2
Authors: Hale Richard
Published: April 2003

In his first article the author argued that a number of myths have emerged due to an over‐reliance by the training community on the Kirkpatrick levels of evaluation. This included: beliefs that learning is the responsibility of the trainer; that statistics prove learning; that good course evaluations prove learning. The author proposed that learning should be seen as the responsibility of the learner and that proving learning is integral to the process of learning. He went so far as to say the role of the training officer and training manager will not exist in five years’ time and that we should be seeing the emergence of effective facilitators who accept that learning is inextricably linked to action and the job. Here the author extends the argument first by adding to the myths with myths four and five which lead to the argument that there are two main areas for future focus, mentoring and the accreditation of work‐based action learning as the new form of evaluation.
Influencing the UK skills agenda
Authors: Duff Christopher
Published: April 2003

This article looks at the UK demand for skills, examines the reasons why UK organisations need to play an active role in skills issues and explains why the time has never been better for employers to influence the Government’s education and skills agenda. It outlines the Government’s renewed commitment to skills and describes the role of Sector Skills Councils, which operate within a UK‐wide network given the umbrella title of “Skills for Business”.
Chairing – developing a key skill
Authors: Rees W. David , Porter Christine
Published: April 2003

The skill of chairing meetings is a key one that can greatly influence personal and organisational effectiveness. However, it is often assumed that people know how to handle meetings by a process of osmosis. Sometimes this is justified but often not, and standards of chairing vary widely. In this article the basic skills of chairing meetings are identified, with emphasis being on the ways in which they can be systematically developed. This includes analysis of interactions at meetings, particularly those interactions involving the chair. The difference between procedural, process and substantive contributions is also examined and the importance of these distinctions, particularly for whoever is chairing a meeting.
Management by jazz – creating innovation from the principles of chaos and order
Authors: Walzer Nana , Salcher Andreas
Published: April 2003

Three jazz musicians from three different cultures (USA, Japan, Europe), not knowing each other personally, met for the first time on stage at this year’s ASTD conference (American Society for Training and Development) in New Orleans. They quickly found a common level of understanding and set out to create a common product (music). The principles of jazz were demonstrated live and made it possible to deal with one of the most challenging topics of global economy – finding a common understanding and being ready for action. Aims to provide basic insights for organisations in the following fields: understanding cultural differences; changing leadership and empathy; and creativity by improvisation. Highlights short business studies of international companies (McDonalds, LOWE) to show how these principles work in practice.
Calculating the real value of e‐learning
Authors: Deeny Eugene
Published: April 2003

Many companies view their training budget strictly as a cost centre which is susceptible to cuts when the business needs to reign in expenses. In this article, the author explores the benefits of training investments with a particular focus upon measuring the value of delivering training via an enterprise e‐learning initiative. In addition to the many hard/measurable returns, the piece explores the greater “benefit halo” of an e‐learning initiative and offers a number of formulas for calculating the ROI and justifying the cost to senior managers. The article concludes with a case study detailing the experiences of Rockwell Automation when the company implemented an enterprise e‐learning initiative to deliver much of its training to both employees and customers.
Modelling consumer response to differing levels of comparative advertising
Authors: del Barrio‐García Salvador , Luque‐Martínez Teodoro
Published: April 2003

In order to analyse consumer response to differing levels of comparative advertising, we have designed a causal model that includes various measurements of advertising effectiveness (cognitive, affective and connative), along with some of the main moderating factors considered in prior academic research. Thus, we carried out an experimental study in Spain using a total sample of 720 consumers spread out over four large geographical areas of the country. The results drawn from estimating the proposed model indicate that the greater the comparative advertising intensity, the lower the consumer’s perception of believability. Likewise, the number of counter‐arguments presented by the consumer increases, which negatively affects both attitudes and purchase intentions. However, the less well‐known brands on the market are those that benefit most from this advertising strategy, increasing the audience’s attention and improving purchase intentions.