bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Political Entrepreneurs and Neoliberal Reform in Mexico: The SalinasRequisaof the Port of Veracruz
Authors: Hiskey Jonathan T.
Published: August 2010

This essay extends the discussion on the politics of reform by identifying specific political strategies that allow policymakers to implement difficult economic reforms in the context of an increasingly democratic and contentious policymaking environment. Analyzing the policymaking strategy of Mexican president Carlos Salinas (1988-94) in his efforts to reorganize the Port of Veracruz, it identifies the element of political entrepreneurship as essential to the long-term success of Salinas's port policy. When compared with the mixed record of many of Salinas's other reforms and the authoritarian manner in which they were implemented, the port policy stands out both for its successful outcome and for Salinas's concerted political efforts to implement it. Even in the context of an authoritarian policymaking regime, an effective political strategy is an important element in achieving the long-term goals of market-based reforms.
Democracy without Parties? Political Parties and Regime Change in Fujimori's Peru
Authors: Levitsky Steven , Cameron Maxwell A.
Published: August 2010

Political parties are critical to Latin American democracy. This was demonstrated in Peru, where an atomized, candidate-centered party system developed after Alberto Fujimori's 1992 presidential self-coup. Party system decomposition weakened the democratic opposition against an increasingly authoritarian regime. Since the regime collapsed in 2000, prospects for party rebuilding have been mixed. Structural changes, such as the growth of the informal sector and the spread of mass media technologies, have weakened politicians' incentive to build parties. Although these changes did not cause the collapse of the party system, they may inhibit its reconstruction.
Religious Activity and Political Participation: The Brazilian and Chilean Cases
Authors: Patterson Eric
Published: August 2010

Scholars debate whether the recent conversion of millions of Latin Americans to evangelical Protestantism bodes well for democratic participation or reinforces authoritarian culture and practices. Using a resource model, this study examines the link between participation in religious organizations, political engagement, and political participation in Brazil and Chile. Survey data indicate that religious organizations, particularly Protestant ones, can provide skills that members can transfer to political activity; and that different religions can result in different politics.
Multinational Investment and the Mobility Transition in Mexico and Ireland
Authors: Jones Richard C.
Published: August 2010

Mexico and Ireland, traditionally countries of emigration, experienced pronounced multinationalization of their economies during the 1990s. In Ireland net emigration declined, but in Mexico it remained quite high, suggesting that Ireland advanced in the mobility transition while Mexico did not. Several reasons are offered to explain this, reflecting Mexico's relationships with the United States, multinational corporations, and local income and social conditions in Mexican regions. In Ireland and its relationship with the United Kingdom, by contrast, these factors generally took the reverse direction. This article uses the comparison to examine the relationship between declining emigration and multinational investment and the question of whether Mexico may be expected eventually to reverse its present trends.
The Reality of Virtual Reality: The Internet and Gender Equality Advocacy in Latin America
Authors: Friedman Elisabeth Jay
Published: August 2010

This article examines the internet's potential to democratize gender equality advocacy in Latin America. Based on field research in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico, it challenges the assumption that the internet's horizontal organization and widespread dissemination inherently or inevitably lead to greater democratization. It advances two interrelated arguments. First, the internet's potential to foster democratic relations and effective strategies in civil society depends on the consciousness with which advocates adopt, share, and deploy the technology. Second, the internet is a critical resource for marginalized or socially suspect groups and subjects, providing a unique means to express and transmit often ostracized ideas and identities.
Cooperative Hegemony and Summitry in the Americas
Authors: Mace Gordon , Loiseau Hugo
Published: August 2010

As an instrument for governance, summitry is a novel structure for the management of contemporary hemispheric regionalism in the Americas. Such regionalism is a clear case of the “structuralist paradox” of international cooperation. This article attempts to explain the particular asymmetric regionalism in the Americas by using the concept of cooperative hegemony. The underlying hypothesis is that the U.S. government, since 1994, has pursued a strategy of cooperative behavior, at least in regard to power sharing, in two specific phases of hemispheric regionalism: agenda setting and institutionalization. This study tests the hypothesis through a content analysis of the main documents produced at the Miami, Santiago, and Québec summits, then relates these findings to the progress of institutionalization from 1994 to 2003.
Repression, Opportunity, and Protest: Explaining the Takeoff of Brazil's Landless Movement
Authors: Ondetti Gabriel
Published: August 2010

During the mid-1990s, Brazil experienced a rapid intensification of protest for land reform. Official land reform efforts also accelerated, and the issue became a central topic of public concern and debate. This article seeks to account for the abrupt intensification of collective action and to explain its relationship to the other changes, focusing on the political impact of two massacres of landless protesters in 1995 and 1996. These incidents forced authorities to accelerate land reform and to exercise somewhat greater caution in repressing the movement. The shifts in state behavior then helped to accelerate collective action. This argument lends weight to the idea that state repression against a social movement can sometimes serve to engender even greater protest. It also identifies a previously undescribed causal mechanism, political opportunity, linking repression to protest.
The Authoritarian Executive? Horizontal and Vertical Accountability in Nicaragua
Authors: Anderson Leslie E.
Published: August 2010

This article uses empirical evidence from Nicaragua to examine Guillermo O'Donnell's argument that new democracies often become undemocratic delegative democracies and that vertical accountability is not enough to stop such encroaching authoritarianism. While events in the last five years have focused attention on illegal executive behavior by former president Alemán, Nicaragua's democracy actually has experienced authoritarian presidencies under all the major parties. Elections and popular mobilization have strengthened the independence of the legislature, however. Mechanisms of vertical accountability thereby have proven more effective than expected in restraining executive authoritarianism and fostering institutions of horizontal accountability. The case of Nicaragua shows that citizens can use the power balance and separate institutional mandate of presidential democracy to limit authoritarianism.
Policy Gatekeepers in Latin American Legislatures
Authors: Alemán Eduardo
Published: August 2010

Legislators who control the congressional agenda have a significant advantage over the membership at large. Policy gatekeepers can restrict change to outcomes they prefer over the status quo and can use this prerogative to keep a legislative party or coalition unified. This article examines agenda-setting rules in 26 Latin American chambers, shows why the institutional structure is theoretically relevant, and reveals some implications for policymaking with evidence from Argentina, Chile, and Mexico. Majority leaders in the Argentine and Chilean lower chambers have successfully blocked passage of legislation opposed by most of their fellow partisans despite the lack of codified gatekeeping rights. Since 1997, none of the major Mexican parties has benefited from the gatekeeping rights established in the rules. Instead, the benefits have come from the parties' advantageous position with respect to the other parties on the steering committee setting the plenary agenda.
Primaries vs. Quotas: Gender and Candidate Nominations in Mexico, 2003
Authors: Baldez Lisa
Published: August 2010

Parties throughout Latin America have recently addressed two distinct kinds of electoral reforms: primary elections and national-level gender quota laws. This study examines how these reforms interact, their mutual compatibility, and their effect on the nomination of men compared to that of women. It develops a series of hypotheses about this relationship by analyzing the 2003 legislative elections in Mexico, a case in which the three main parties relied on both gender quotas and primaries to select their candidates. Although the percentage of women elected to the Mexican Chamber of Deputies rose, the Federal Electoral Institute interpreted the gender quota law in a way that weakened its effect on women and limited the degree of openness in the primaries that were held.
Institutional Weakness and the Puzzle of Argentina's Low Taxation
Authors: Melo Marcus André
Published: August 2010

Current explanations of taxation levels have identified a host of factors, such as levels of economic development and GDP per capita, tax handles, tax morale, and political regimes. But none of them can account for Argentina's exceptionalism. Using a “transaction cost politics” approach and the case of Brazil for comparison, this article argues that the key to explaining low taxation in Argentina is political instability. Systemic instability affects the tax behavior of governments. Facing an uncertain future, incumbent governments choose to extract resources from society through inflation rather than normal taxation. This article argues that political institutions, particularly federalism, contribute to instability and thereby reduce the discount rates of government policymakers.
The Poverty of Democracy: Neoliberal Reforms and Political Participation of the Poor in Mexico
Authors: Holzner Claudio A.
Published: August 2010

Twenty years after governments across Latin America began implementing neoliberal reforms in earnest, concern is growing about their impact on the quality of democracy in the region. This article examines this issue in the case of Mexico by exploring how patterns of political participation, especially among the rural and urban poor, have changed since the implementation of free market reforms. It asks whether the institutional innovations associated with free market reforms make it easier or more difficult for the poor to participate in Mexico's political process. The answer is not encouraging. Despite democratic openings, the new linkages between the state and citizens established as a result of the transition to a free market development model stifle the voice of the poor not through the threat of force or coercion, but by creating obstacles and disincentives for political mobilization that affect the poor more severely than other groups.
From Pariah State to Global Protagonist: Argentina and the Struggle for International Human Rights
Authors: Sikkink Kathryn
Published: August 2010

Democratizing states began in the 1980s to hold individuals, including past heads of state, accountable for human rights violations. The 1984 Argentine truth commission report (Nunca Más) and the 1985 trials of the juntas helped to initiate this trend. Argentina also developed other justice-seeking mechanisms, including the first groups of mothers and grandmothers of the disappeared, the first human rights forensic anthropology team, and the first truth trials. Argentines helped to define the very termforced disappearanceand to develop regional and international instruments to end the practice. Argentina thus illustrates the potential for global human rights protagonism and diffusion of ideas from a country outside the wealthy North. This article surveys Argentina's innovations and proposes possible explanations, drawing on theoretical studies from transitional justice, social movements, and norms cascades in international relations.
Preauthoritarian Institutions and Postauthoritarian Outcomes: Labor Politics in Chile and Uruguay
Authors: Buchanan Paul G.
Published: August 2010

The article argues that preauthoritarian institutions have strongly influenced postauthoritarian labor politics in Chile and Uruguay. The nature of preauthoritarian labor administration—state corporatist in Chile, pluralist in Uruguay—had a strong impact on postauthoritarian collective outcomes, whether or not they were modified by the dictators or the ideological disposition of the postauthoritarian governments. Variation in preauthoritarian labor politics between Chile and Uruguay gave historical foundation to different union fortunes in the postauthoritarian era. That result points to the contemporary influence of preauthoritarian institutions, with or without authoritarian modifiers.
Friends in High Places: Congressional Influence on the Bureaucracy in Chile
Authors: Ferraro Agustín
Published: August 2010

Chile presents a paradox for legislative studies. In most comparative research on the political power of presidents and assemblies in Latin America, the Chilean presidency is considered one of the most powerful in the region. The country's congress is seen, accordingly, as weak and lacking influence over public policy. Such evaluations, however, tend to be based on constitutional and legal faculties (that is, formal powers), and they overlook the substantial influence exerted by the Chilean Congress through informal political channels. This article analyzes literature on informal politics that shows the substantial influence of Chile's Congress on public policy; and, for comparison, presents an empirical study that adds several details to current accounts of congressional influence on the bureaucracy in Chile and describes two mechanisms of congressional influence not contemplated by recent research.
Education Funding in a Recentralizing Democracy: A Cautionary Tale of Four Brazilian Cities
Authors: Sands Joseph C.
Published: August 2010

The administration of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso enacted measures to constrain subnational politicians in a newly democratized and highly decentralized federal system. Lacking sufficient accountability at the subnational level, the central government attempted to increase its control of educational funding and minimize local discretion over educational spending. These reforms constrained the distribution of intergovernmental transfers, but entrusted the disbursement of educational spending to local oversight. This article argues that while the constraints protected the federal treasury from predatory practices, the local oversight did not protect educational spending from mayoral discretion. This argument is based on an analysis of initial reform implementation in four municipal school systems. The mayors responded to the federal initiatives in a variety of ways, but these were based on the requirements of their own political survival. The four cases thereby become studies in how one effort to recentralize democracy is working in Brazil.
Policymaking by Referendum in Presidential Systems: Evidence from the Bolivian and Colombian Cases
Authors: Breuer Anita
Published: August 2010

Government-initiated referendums (GIRs) have so far been neglected by the debate on the effects of institutions on policymaking in presidential systems. The literature on Latin American politics has focused on isolated cases of GIRs, which are largely interpreted as epiphenomenal to a regional trend toward personalistic neopopulism. This article provides a conceptual framework for the systematic comparative study of GIRs. It argues that presidents' propensity to promote legal changes through referendums and their concomitant capacity to dominate policymaking are subject to the interaction of two institutional variables (constitutional rules regulating the competences of elected officials in GIR processes and minimum turnout requirements) and two political variables (preference distribution in the legislature and the position of the median voter). These propositions are tested through a comparative analysis of referendum experiences in Colombia and Bolivia, two cases with similar political settings and significant variation in each of the institutional variables.
Causes and Consequences of Political Clientelism: Mexico's PRD in Comparative Perspective
Authors: Hilgers Tina
Published: August 2010

PRD politicians and officials widely use clientelism to structure their relationships with citizens. This is due not only to the entrenchment of clientelism in Mexican politics or to high rates of poverty and inequality, but also to the limited institutionalization of democratic rules inside the party. The last stems largely from the party's electoral strategy in its formative years, and has resulted in uncontrolled factional battles that play out through clientelism. The Brazilian PT faced external and internal conditions quite similar to those of the PRD, but its early focus on organization building and policy change allowed it to avoid clientelism to a greater degree. This analysis problematizes the trend of using minimalist definitions that assume clientelism to be nondemocratic because these approaches result in conceptual stretching and decreased explanatory power.
Old Tools and New Movements in Latin America: Political Science as Gatekeeper or Intellectual Illuminator?
Authors: Motta Sara C.
Published: August 2010

This article argues that social democratic and orthodox Marxist conceptualizations of politics are unable to “engage in solidarity” with many new forms of Latin American popular politics. Such movements challenge the politics of representation, the market economy, and the state form by reinventing territorialized experiments in self-government, which politicize place, subjectivities, and social relations. Developing a critique of these frameworks of political analysis, this article argues that conceptual categories combining the insights of autonomist or open Marxism and poststructuralism and the critical reflections and theorizations by Latin America's newest social movements enable a deeper engagement with such movements. This critique challenges academics committed to progressive social change to reexamine long-held notions about the nature and agents of social transformation and the epistemological categories that orient our research. It argues that if we fail to do this, then we risk becoming gatekeepers of the status quo.
Democracy and Social Policy in Brazil: Advancing Basic Needs, Preserving Privileged Interests
Authors: Hunter Wendy , Sugiyama Natasha Borges
Published: August 2010

Has democracy promoted poverty alleviation and equity-enhancing reforms in Brazil, a country of striking inequality and destitution? The effects of an open, competitive political system have not been straightforward. Factors that would seem to work toward this goal include the voting power of poor people, the progressive 1988 Constitution, the activism of social movements, and governance since 1995 by presidents affiliated with center-left and left parties. Yet these factors have been counterbalanced by the strong political influence and lobbying power of organized interests with a stake in preexisting arrangements of social protection and human capital formation. An analysis of four key federal sectors, social security, education, health care, and public assistance, illustrates the challenges for social sector reforms that go beyond raising basic living standards to enhancing socioeconomic inequality.
Patronage Politics and Contentious Collective Action: A Recursive Relationship
Authors: Auyero Javier , Lapegna Pablo , Poma Fernanda Page
Published: August 2010

Based on ethnographic reanalysis and on current qualitative research on poor people's politics, this article argues that routine patronage politics and nonroutine collective action should be examined not as opposite and conflicting political phenomena but as dynamic processes that often establish recursive relationships. Through a series of case studies conducted in contemporary Argentina, this article examines four instances in which patronage and collective action intersect and interact: network breakdown, patron's certification, clandestine support, and reaction to threat. These four scenarios demonstrate that more than two opposing spheres of action or two different forms of sociability, patronage, and contentious politics can be mutually imbricated. Either when it malfunctions or when it thrives, clientelism may lie at the root of collective action.
Minimum Winning Electoral Coalitions Under Presidentialism: Reality or Fiction? The Case of Brazil
Authors: Machado Aline
Published: August 2010

This article studies the motivations of party leaders to form “minimum winning” electoral coalitions—alliances that cease to be winning if one member is subtracted. In Brazil, concurrent elections stimulate political actors' coordination, and electoral alliances are allowed. In 2002 and 2006, moreover, the Electoral Supreme Court obliged those parties with presidential candidates to replicate this electoral arrangement in the district. Under “verticalization,” parties with presidential candidates could not form alliances with rival parties in the concurrent legislative and gubernatorial elections. Verticalization arguably pushed party leaders to form minimum winning electoral coalitions. This new rule forced them to reconsider the contributions of each possible ally in the elections for president, federal deputy, and governor. Examining the elections from 1998 to 2006, this study finds that under verticalization, while parties did form more electoral coalitions with those partners they considered crucial to win, they did so at the expense of policy.
Executive Assaults and the Social Foundations of Democracy in Ecuador
Authors: Barndt William T.
Published: August 2010

Although Ecuadorian presidents tolerate most opposition voices most of the time, they routinely try to restrict the basic political liberties of particular critics. In doing so, they initiate executive assaults. Why do some of these executive assaults succeed while others fail? This article analyzes patterns of support for and opposition to publicly contested assaults in Ecuador between 1979 and 2004. Using a combination of statistical tests and a case study, it develops an argument based on the relative power of different types of organizations and associations to influence the outcomes of assault conflicts. The analysis demonstrates that executive assaults fail only when neither the state security forces nor the business sector supports them. In this situation, particular business organizations are able to force presidents to back down. The analysis provides new insights into the social foundations of democratic practice in Ecuador, and Latin America more broadly.
Crack Patterns in Ceramic Plates after Quenching
Authors: Shao Yingfeng , Xu Xianghong , Meng Songhe , Bai Guanghui , Jiang Chiping , Song Fan
Published: August 2010

The crack patterns generated in a real ceramic plate and in a plate stacked by ceramic slabs under quenching are experimentally studied. The results here reveal that there are some distinct differences between the two crack patterns. The reasons that caused the differences are the size and boundary effects of the slabs. These crack patterns are very useful to understand the failure mechanisms of ceramic materials in thermal shock.
Electrical Properties of Highly Conducting SnO2:Sb Nanocrystals Synthesized using a Nonaqueous Sol–Gel Method
Authors: Conti Tiago G. , Chiquito Adenilson J. , Da Silva Rafael O. , Longo Elson , Leite Edson R.
Published: August 2010

This work describes the synthesis of highly conducting antimony‐doped tin oxide (ATO) nanocrystals prepared via a nonaqueous sol–gel route in the size range of 4–6 nm and provides insights into its electrical properties. The antimony composition was varied from 1 to 18 mol% and the lowest resistivity (4.0 × 10−4Ω·cm) was observed at room temperature in the SnO2:8.8 mol% Sb composition. The samples were evaluated by X‐ray diffraction, high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy, energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscope, and resistivity measurements were taken in the four‐probe mode in the temperature range of 13–300 K. The results show highly crystalline nanoparticles in a monodisperse colloidal system, dependence on the shape of ATO nanoparticles as a function of Sb distribution, low resistivity, and semiconductor–metal transition.
Crystallization of Pb((Zn,Mg)1/3Nb2/3)O3–PbTiO3 Thin Films Via Immobilization of Pb2+ Ions During Sol–Gel Process
Authors: Du Zehui , Zhu Minmin , Zhang Tianshu , Ma Jan
Published: August 2010

In this work, a modified sol–gel process using a crown ether, 18‐crown‐6 (18C6) as complexing agent to synthesize 0.77(0.6Pb(Zn1/3,Nb2/3)O3–0.4Pb(Mg1/3,Nb2/3)O3))–0.23PbTiO3(PZMN–PT) thin films is reported. With the addition of 18C6, perovskite phase directly crystallized from the amorphous films at a temperature as low as 460°C and the crystallinity was significantly enhanced. The promotion of 18C6 on perovskite formation can be attributed to the immobilization of Pb2+ ions, which facilitates the columbite‐like crystallization route. The pure‐perovskite films obtained by annealing at 460°C exhibit the optical and electrical properties comparable to literature data. Our studies therefore indicate a general approach by using crown ethers as complexing agent to synthesize the thermodynamically unstable ferroelectric materials, such as PMN‐ and PZN‐based systems.
Crystal Structure and Photoluminescence Properties of Red‐Emitting Ca9La1−x(VO4)7:xEu3+ Phosphors for White Light‐Emitting Diodes
Authors: Liu Lihong , Xie Rong‐Jun , Hirosaki Naoto , Li Yuanqiang , Takeda Takashi , Zhang Chen‐Ning , Li Jiguang , Sun Xudong
Published: August 2010

This paper reports the crystal structure and photoluminescence properties of Ca9La1−x(VO4)7:xEu3+ (x=0–1) phosphors synthesized at various temperatures (850°–1350°C) in air for 12 h using traditional solid‐state reaction method. Rietveld refinement of powder X‐ray diffraction pattern of Ca9Eu(VO4)7 indicated that the structure of Ca9Eu(VO4)7 consisted of [VO4] tetrahedra and Ca/Eu atoms were filled in the space between the tetrahedral groups, with a random distribution for Eu3+ ions on four individual Ca crystallographic sites. A major intense sharp emission line, locating at 613 nm under 465 nm excitation, was observed due to the 5D0−7F2 transition of Eu3+ within 4f configurations, which originates from the lower site symmetry in Ca9La1−x(VO4)7:xEu3+. Interestingly, no concentration quenching was found in this phosphor, and thermal quenching was nearly not affected by Eu3+ concentration. The experimental results suggested that this novel red‐emitting phosphor could be applied in white light‐emitting diodes.
Prognostic significance of nucleolar organizer regions (NORS) in malignant melanoma
Authors: Ronan Salve G. , Farolan Miguel J. , McDonald Andrew , Manaligod Jose R. , Gupta Tapas K. Das
Published: August 2010

Nucleolar organizer regions (NORs) are loops of ribosomal DNA (rDNA) in the nucleolus and are associated with acidic proteins. They are seen in routinely processed paraffin sections by using a one‐step colloidal silver (Ag) staining method; they appear as black dots termed “AgNORs”. The quantitative assay of AgNORs has been used to differentiate benign from malignant neoplasms. Melanocytic lesions differ significantly in AgNOR counts between malignant melanoma and nevi. However, conflicting results have been reported as to AgNORs' prognostic value in melanoma. A recent study showed AgNOR counts to be a more accurate prognostic indicator than Breslow's thickness. In this study, we counted the AgNORs in 26 patients with primary cutaneous melanomas (CMM) between 2.0 mm and 2.5 mm thick. Of these, 14 are alive without disease (AN) at 5 years after diagnosis (group 1), and 12 are dead of disease (DD) in less than 5 years (group 2). The AgNORs were scored in 30 nuclei per tumor, and the means were calculated. For group 1, the mean number of AgNORs per nucleus was 6.88, ranging from 3.73 to 12.70. For group 2, the mean number was 6.97, ranging from 3.63 to 11.67. Statistical analysis using analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed no significant difference between the groups (p=0.33). In our study, AgNOR counts did not prove to be of prognostic value in malignant melanoma.

Ronan SG, Farolan MJ, McDonald A, Manaligod JR, Das Gupta TK. Prognostic significance of nucleolar organizer regions (NORs) in malignant melanoma.
Sclerosing B‐cell lymphoma involving the skin
Authors: Cruz‐Ramon Julio C. , Blodgett Thomas P. , Puthuff Denise L. , Wilkin Jonathan K. , Pellegrini Arthur E.
Published: August 2010

We report a case of sclerosing B‐cell lymphoma involving the skin. The patient is a 43‐year‐old man who came to our institution with a 4‐year history of multinodular masses in the back. A thoracic CT scan demonstrated subcutaneous masses with extension to the posterior parietal pleura and compression of several epidural spaces. An incisional biopsy was performed and demonstrated an infiltrative process in the lower dermis composed of interconnected thick sclerosing bands forming compartments around groups of large neoplastic cells. These neoplastic cells were shown to be B lymphocytes using immunohistochemical stains. A diagnosis of diffuse sclerosing B‐cell lymphoma, large cell type, was made. Our case is reported to alert dermatologists and dermatopathologists lo the occurrence of this neoplasm in the skin which could be confused with a deep inflammatory process or other neoplastic conditions.

Cruz‐Ramon JG, Blodgett. TP, Puthuff DL, Wilkin JK, Pellegrini AE. Sclerosing B‐cell lymphoma involving the skin.
Hyperimmunoglobulinemia D and periodic fever syndrome in children. Review on therapy with biological drugs and case report
Authors: Korppi M , van Gijn ME , Antila K
Published: August 2010

Hyperimmunoglobulinemia D syndrome (HIDS) is a rare, autosomal recessively inherited autoinflammatory disease caused by mutations in the mevalonate kinase gene. HIDS usually starts in infancy with recurrent fever episodes lasting 3–7 days and recurring every 4–6 weeks, with only partial symptom decrease in adulthood. Fever is typically accompanied by abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and cervical lymphadenopathy, and sometimes by skin and joint symptoms. Blood leukocytes and serum C‐reactive protein are elevated during the episode, and in addition, high levels of interleukine‐1 (IL‐1), IL‐6 and tumour necrosis factor (TNF) and respective soluble receptors have been measured. Instead, serum immunoglobulin D (IgD) is usually normal until 3 years of age. Currently, there is no established treatment for HIDS. Thus far, four children have been successfully treated with etanercep, TNF‐alpha inhibitor, and three children with anakinra, IL‐1 receptor antagonist.

Conclusion: This review summarizes currently available data on the use biological medicines for HIDS in children. A Finnish 1.5‐year‐old patient with disease onset at 6 months of age, treated successfully with anakinra, is presented.
THE EFFECT OF D‐PENICILLAMINE AND METHYLPREDNISOLONE ON THE MORPHOLOGY OF EXPERIMENTAL GRANULATION TISSUE IN RATS
Authors: HØLUND BERIT , JUNKER PETER , CHRISTOFFERSEN PER , LYON HANS , LORENZEN IB
Published: August 2010

The effect of D‐penicillamine and methylprednisolone on the formation of granulation tissue was studied in rats with Visella‐sponge induced granulation tissue after 42 days of treatment. D‐penicillamine in doses of 20 mg‐, 100 mg‐, and 500 mg/kg/day caused no morphological differences compared with the control groups as regards ingrowth of granulation tissue and its content of collagen fibres, inflammatory cells, vessels and glycosaminoglycans. Treatment with methylprednisolone, 0.2 mg‐, 2.0 mg‐, and 5.0 mg/kg/day caused a dose dependent reduction in the ingrowth of granulation tissue. Methylprednisolone caused a reduction in the number of fibroblasts and collagen fibres, but no differences in the content of glycosaminoglycans could be demonstrated between the treated and the control groups. Granulation tissue produced during combination treatment with D‐penicillamine 100 mg and methylprednisolone 2.0 mg/kg/day did not differ from that observed after methylprednisolone treatment alone. Thus, only high doses of methylprednisolone gave rise to an antiinflammatory action in this morphological study on granulation tissue, whereas D‐penicillamine had no effect within the present dose interval. The quantitative alterations are in agreement with parallel biochemical analyses. However, the inhibitory effect of D‐penicillamine on collagen crosslinking was not associated with light microscopic changes in the ultrastructure of the collagen fibres.
HETEROTRANSPLANTATION OF TWO HUMAN TUMOURS IN ATHYMIC MICE AND ASPLENIC‐ATHYMIC MICE
Authors: TROPÉ CLAES , WENNERBERG JOHAN , ALM PER , VON EYBEN FINN EDLER
Published: August 2010

The growth in athymic mice (Balb/c nu/nu mice) and athymic‐asplenic mice (BALB/c nu/nu Dh/+»lasat« mice) of two human tumour lines (one nasopharyngeal carcinoma and one testicular germ cell tumour), established in athymic mice, were compared. No significant difference in take rate was observed: 13 of 16 inocula grew in athymic mice and 11 of 12 inocula in lasat mice. Estimated by the square root of the relative tumour size related to time, the tumour growth was slightly, but insignificantly, less in lasat mice than in athymic mice. When the transplants removed from either athymic or lasat were compared by light microscopical examination, each of the two tumours demonstrated a similar appearance. The athymic mice prospered, while the lasat mice failed to thrive in similar laboratory surroundings. Thus this study does not confirm that heterotransplantation of human solid tumours on lasat mice is preferable to transplantation in athymic mice.
LAMELLAR BODIES IN BENIGN AND MALIGNANT SCHWANNOMAS
Authors: HWANG W. S. , BENEDIKTSSON H.
Published: August 2010

A light and electron microscopic study was done on seven cases of schwannomas, four of which were benign and three were malignant. Spherical or oval cytoplasmic inclusion bodies, one to three microns in diameter, were detected in all cases. These inclusions were demonstrable by Luxol fast blue stain. Ultrastructurally, the inclusions appeared as whorls of cell membranes reminiscent of myelin sheath. These lamellar bodies probably reflect the peculiar membrane characteristics of Schwann cells, and they provide a useful marker for recognition of benign or malignant schwannomas.
DIAGNOSTIC BONE‐MARROW STUDIES EXTENDED ROUTINELY BY ILIAC CREST BIOPSY, USING THE METHOD OF SCHAADT‐FISCHER
Authors: BIRCH CARSTEN D. , FISCHER SIMON , ZIBELL ASBJØRN , JENSEN MERETE E.
Published: August 2010

The value of routinely including biopsy of the iliac crest in the haematological diagnostic programme in medical departments of haematology is elucidated by analysis of 129 biopsies. At the same time, imprints of the biopsies and aspirate smears were compared as regards diagnostic efficacy, which proved 15% greater for imprints and biopsies. The frequency of an inadequate bone biopsy was 7.7%, often because the biopsies were less than 5 mm in length (16%). The individual categories, bone biopsy, imprint, and aspiration smears were of equal diagnostic efficacy in 76%. Guidance for the haematological diagnosis was obtained in 80% of the cases. The incidence of dry tap was 1.6% and the complication rate 1.6%. The optimal result, viz. sufficiently long biopsies (54% over 10 mm in length), is obtained by taking the biopsy with a conically tipped needle (the Jamshidi or Schaadt‐Fischer needle) and by making imprints before embedding the biopsies in methacrylate JB IV. The preparation and safety measures in embedding in JB IV and subsequent special staining, including cytochemical studies, are described. By the technique used, it is possible, with some practice, to obtain adequate biopsies in 80–90% of all patients and to take a biopsy and perform aspiration in one session. The patient's position, lying on his side, seems to make him less apprehensive.
CAPILLARY NEOFORMATION IN THE HEART OF DIPYRIDAMOLE‐TREATED RATS
Authors: TORNLING G.
Published: August 2010

Rats were given dipyridamole i.p. (3 mg/kg initial body weight) twice a day, 5 days/week for a period of 6 weeks. Morphometric analysis of the capillary network in the myocardium was performed by electron microscopy. The capillary/fibre ratio was increased by 24% when compared with sham‐injected controls. The newly‐formed capillaries were located in postions where they were in contact with only two muscle fibres.
MAJORITY AND MINORITY CELL POPULATIONS IN SMALL‐INTESTINAL CARCINOIDS
Authors: LUNDQVIST MONALILL , WILANDER ERIK
Published: August 2010

A quantitative study of argentaffin and argyrophil cells in 12 typical small intestinal carcinoids was made. The tumours contained 20–74 per cent of argentaffin cells (mean, 59 per cent) and 11–64 per cent of argyrophil cells (mean, 28 per cent). Five to 37 per cent (mean, 13 per cent) were unreactive to both silver stains. The argentaffin cells constituted the majority cell population in all tumours except one, in which the argyrophil cells predominated. At electron microscopy, pleomorphic secretory granules of the enterochromaffin cell type were found in argentaffin tumour cells, while the argyrophil tumour cells contained round granules. The silver staining properties and the ultrastructural morphology of the small‐intestinal carcinoids are consistent with the opinion that these tumours are multi‐hormonal.
INFLAMMATORY FIBROUS HISTIOCYTOMA OF THE URINARY BLADDER
Authors: HENRIKSEN OLE B. , MOGENSEN PETER , ENGELHOLM ANNI J.
Published: August 2010

Malignant fibrous histiocytomas of the retroperitoneum and abdominal cavity constitute 10–16 per cent of reported cases of this sarcoma. Primary location in organs is only rarely found. The clinicopathological aspects of a case of inflammatory fibrous histiocytoma in the urinary bladder are reported. The serious prognosis of deeply situated malignant fibrous histiocytomas calls for a long follow‐up period.
ULTRASTRUCTURE OF THE UMBILICAL ARTERY FROM A NEWBORN DELIVERED AT TERM BY A MOTHER WHO SMOKED 80 CIGARETTES PER DAY
Authors: ASMUSSEN INGER
Published: August 2010

The ultrastucture was studied of an umbilical artery from a newborn child delivered by a healthy mother who smoked as many as 80 cigarettes per day. Focal areas in the luminal part of the media appeared acellular consisting of collagen fibers only. In the deeper parts of the media the smooth muscle cells were hypertrophic and showed sign of proliferation. These smooth muscle cells had accumulated huge amounts of glycogen in the perinuclear region. The glycogen accumulations were always found in close connection with the mitochondria and often associated with lipid droplets. Occasionally phagocytosis and degradation of collagen by the smooth muscle cells were visualized.
EXPERIMENTAL HYPERPARATHYROIDISM AND ITS EFFECT ON SERUM GASTRIN, GASTRIN CELLS AND ANTRAL GASTRIN IN THE RAT
Authors: SELKING ÖRJAN , GRIMELIUS LARS , JOHANSSON HENRY , LUNDQVIST GUDMAR , PORTELA‐GOMES GUIDA
Published: August 2010

Parathyroid glands from inbred rats were transplanted to rats of the same strain. The transplantation resulted in hyperparathyroidism and persistent hypercalcaemia. These hypercalcaemic animals were compared with the hypocalcaemic donors and with untreated controls. No significant differences in serum gastrin values were found between the different groups. In all three groups, one series of animals was killed 6 weeks after the transplantation (6w series) and another after 14 weeks (14w series). Quantitative studies of the antral gastrin cells showed an increase in the number of these cells per unit volume in the 6w series in the hyperparathyroid recipient animals. The number of gastrin cells per unit segment was also higher in the recipient animals than in the parathyroidectomized and untreated groups in both the 6w and 14w series. The amount of gastrin extracted from antral mucosa did not differ between the different groups. The findings show that an experimentally induced hyperparathyroidism in the rat gives a transient increase in the number of antral gastrin cells but no changes in the antral gastrin or serum gastrin levels.
MORPHOLOGY OF RAT PROSTATIC LOBES AND SEMINAL VESICLES AFTER LONG‐TERM ESTROGEN TREATMENT
Authors: ANDERSSON HÅKAN , TISELL LARS‐ERIC
Published: August 2010

The growth of the prostatic lobes and seminal vesicles of castrated rats was studied morphologically after long‐term treatment with estradiol benzoate. Estradiol promoted slightly the growth of the prostatic lobes but more markedly the seminal vesicles, although it had catabolic effects as reflected in low body and levator ani weights. Histologically there was proliferation of the fibromuscular stroma. In the coagulating glands and seminal vesicles there was squamous metaplasia of the epithelium. The histological study also revealed features of special interest, i.e. mucoid epithelium of the coagulating glands. Electron‐microscopical and histochemical studies of the mucoid epithelium showed that it had similar characteristics as goblet cells of the intestine of the rat.
RICINUS COMMUNIS AGGLUTININ I BINDING TO THE CELL MEMBRANE IN BENIGN, PREMALIGNANT AND MALIGNANT EPIDERMAL LESIONS
Authors: GRÆM NIELS
Published: August 2010

Membrane changes in keratinocytes were studied in a selected series of skin biopsies from 58 patients comprising cases of healing wounds, keratoachanthomas, actinic keratoses, Bowen's disease and squamous and basal cell carcinomas. The changes were demonstrated by means of a fluorescein‐conjugated lectin ricinus communis agglutinin I, which specifically binds to beta‐D‐galactopyranosyl residues normally present on the keratinocyte surface. The RCA I binding equalled the binding of the normal epidermis in hyperplastic epidermis adjacent to healing wounds and in keratoachanthomas, but was slightly decreased in actinic keratoses and cases of Bowen's disease. In epidermal outgrowths from the edges of healing wounds and in squamous and basal cell carcinomas a heavy loss of RCA I binding was seen. The results are supported by previous in vivo and in vitro studies of normal and transformed cells, and it is suggested that the presented histochemical RCA I binding technique could be a valuable diagnostic tool.
IN VITRO CHANGES IN CELL MEDIATED IMMUNITY FOLLOWING TUBERCULIN SKIN TESTING IN HUMANS
Authors: Jensen J. R. , Thestrup‐Pedersen K.
Published: August 2010

Tuberculin skin testing with purified protein derivative (PPD) was found to induce alterations of in vitro measures of cell mediated immunity. T lymphopenia with proportionate decreases of TM and To cell numbers were observed two days after skin testing. A relative augmentation of TM cells was demonstrated after one week. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from negative skin responders had normal in vitro reactivity to PPD stimulation suggesting a cutaneous abberation in these individuals. Macrophage dependent depressed PHA reactivity of mononuclear cells was demonstrated two days after skin testing. No change in natural killer cell cytotoxicity was observed. Cytotoxicity was positively correlated to the number of TG cells in the assay.
LOCALIZATION OF Fcy RECEPTORS IN THE HUMAN CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
Authors: Nyland Harald , Nilsen Rune
Published: August 2010

Immune complexes of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and rabbit IgG antibodies to HRP were used to study the Fcy receptors in the human central nervous system (CNS). The peroxidase activity was demonstrated with 3,3′‐diaminobenzidine tetrahydrochloride and H2O2. The majority of the pia and arachnoid cells of the leptomeninges, the stroma cells of the arachnoid granulations and the adventitial cells in the perivascular spaces of the nervous tissue were stained. The villi of the choroid plexus were also stained. By electron microscopy the reaction products were localized to the plasma membranes of the stroma cells and at the basal aspects of the epithelial cells in the choroid villi. In addition, reaction product was demonstrated on pericytes of some of the brain capillaries. The immune complexes did not bind to the brain parenchyma.
THE HETEROLOGOUS IMMUNE COMPLEX GLOMERULONEPHRITIS:
Authors: Iversen B. M. , Matre R. , Ofstad J.
Published: August 2010

The pathophysiology, histology and immunohistology of acute and chronic heterologous immune complex glomerulonephritis were investigated in a long‐term study in male Wistar rats. The glomerulonephritis showed 3 phases; an initial nephrotic syndrome, a latent phase with stable proteinuria (40 mg/24 h), and a terminal phase with increasing proteinuria and blood pressure, and declining serum protein concentration and creatinine clearance. Antiserum doses of 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 ml induced maximal proteinuria (112, 257 and 272 mg/24 h respectively) after 14 days whereas normal rabbit serum and 0.5 ml antiserum gave no proteinuria. After 100 days, the rats injected with 1.0 ml of antiserum did not show physiological signs of renal disease; in the rats injected with 1.5 ml of antiserum the disease run a chronic course. Equal amounts of rabbit IgG, rat IgG and rat C3 were found in 10 glomeruli from rats 100 days after injection of 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 ml (p>0.10). Intramembranous deposits and spike formation were observed in all groups. All changes increased with greater antiserum doses. Chronically diseased animals observed from 500 to 750 days showed deposits of rabbit IgG in the basement membrane, and in most animals small amounts of rat IgG and rat C3 were also observed. This is compatible with a sustained stimulus for antibody formation throughout the course of this type of glomerulonephritis.
FETAL ARTERIAL INVOLVEMENT IN BEHCET'S DISEASE: AN ELECTRON MICROSCOPE STUDY
Authors: Clausen JøRgen , Bierring Franz
Published: August 2010

A fetus, 16 weeks old, was removed by hysterotomy from a patient suffering from Behcet's disease. The patient received systemic steroids during pregnancy. Electron microscopy of the fetal thoracic aorta revealed edema of the sub‐endothelial space and of the luminal part of the tunica media, as well as a pronounced rarefaction and disarrangement of the smooth‐muscle cells. Results obtained from two human fetal aortae used as controls suggest that the fetal aortic lesions were caused by the maternal disease and not by the exposure to steroids.
ALPHA‐FETOPROTEIN (AFP) AND HUMAN CHORIONIC GONADOTROPIN (HCG) IN TESTICULAR GERM CELL TUMOURS
Authors: Jacobsen Grete Krag , Jacobsen Marianne
Published: August 2010

189 orchidectomy specimens with germ cell tumours (95 pure seminomas and 94 non‐seminomas) were studied for the presence of alpha‐fetoprotein (AFP) and human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) with the indirect immunoperoxidase technique. All seminomas were AFP negative, while 66% of the non‐seminomas were positively stained for AFP. 21% of pure embryonal carcinomas (EC), 25% of EC components in mixed tumours, all yolk sac tumour (YST) components, 20% of pure teratomas (T) and 47% of T components were AFP positive. In EC and YST the immunohistochemical staining depicted characteristic previously unrecognized histological structures, presumably representing patterns of further differentiation. HCG was demonstrated in all choriocarcinoma (CC) components in the syncytiotrophoblasts and in syncytiotrophoblast‐like cells (STLC) in 8% of seminomas and 30% of non‐seminomas. 70% of all non‐seminomatous tumours were positively stained for AFP and/or HCG. Neither AFP nor HCG positivity of the tumour tissue was especially associated with metastatic disease. Carcinoma‐in‐situ (CIS) present in seminiferous tubules adjacent to the tumours was never positively stained for AFP, but for HCG in a few cases.