bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Vulnerability, capacity and resilience: Perspectives for climate and development policy
Authors: Gaillard J.C.
Published: February 2010

In the decades since the terms ‘vulnerability’, ‘capacity’ and ‘resilience’ became popular in both the disaster and development literatures, through natural and social science discourses, the terms have been applied to many development‐ and disaster‐related policies and have been the subject of much debate and interpretation amongst various schools of thought. An illustrative review of the use of these terms is given followed by a critique of the main discourses, especially regarding the development and disaster policy advantages and disadvantages. Recommendations are given at different scales for closing some of the gaps identified, especially regarding the policy usefulness of certain theoretical approaches. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
How MetLife balances effective organization design with the need for speed in postacquisition integration
Authors: Jasinski Thomas J.
Published: February 2010

This case study demonstrates that good design and speed to integration can coexist—and, more important, are interdependent levers for achieving the near‐term goals and the longer‐term value of mergers and acquisitions (M&As). The author presents the Organization Effectiveness team's operating model, MetLife's organizational design framework and process, and its alignment with Human Resources' approach to M&As. He then describes MetLife Bank's rapid acquisition of two firms, and the two‐stage organizational design that facilitated the transition. The initial structure preserved business effectiveness, while the combined leadership team clarified longer‐term vision, strategy, and desired organizational capabilities, which led to a second organizational structure nine months later to achieve the efficiencies and benefits of scale and build the capabilities that create competitive advantage for MetLife Bank. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. PLEASE NOTE: This is the corrected version of the article that appeared in the March/April 2010 issue of the journal.
Individual efficiency and club performance: a panel analysis of professional baseball
Authors: Jane Wen‐Jhan , Kong Wei‐Hsin , Wang Yi‐Hsiue
Published: February 2010

This paper investigates whether players' individual‐ and club‐level efficiency has substantial impact on club performance in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). Using data from 1990 to 2000, and a stochastic frontier model, we propose a different way to measure club‐level efficiency. Our empirical results indicate that club‐level efficiency is crucial to club performance, measured by the winning percentage. Although the literature shows that some inefficient clubs with abundant resources are still very successful on the diamond, our results confirm that club‐level efficiency has a moderate impact on the success of a baseball club in the CPBL. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Asymptotic properties of imperfect repair models and estimation of repair efficiency
Authors: Doyen Laurent
Published: February 2010

The aim of this articles is to study the asymptotic behavior of two imperfect repair models, called Arithmetic Reduction of Intensity and Arithmetic Reduction of Age models. These models have been proposed by Doyen and Gaudoin (Reliab Eng Syst Safe 84 (2004) 45–56) and include many usual virtual age models. First, it is proved that the failure intensity of these models is asymptotically almost surely equivalent to a deterministic increasing function with a cumulative error proportional to a logarithm. Second, the almost sure convergence and asymptotic normality of several estimators of repair efficiency are derived, when the wear‐out process without repair is known. Finally, the coverage rate of the asymptotic confidence intervals issued from those estimators is empirically studied. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2010
Maxwell Fluid Model for Generation of Stress–Strain Curves of Viscoelastic Solid Rocket Propellants
Authors: Shekhar Himanshu , Sahasrabudhe A. D.
Published: February 2010

Solid rocket propellants are modeled as Maxwell Fluid with single spring and single dashpot in series. Complete stress–strain curve is generated for case‐bonded composite propellant formulations by taking suitable values of spring constant and damping coefficient. Propellants from same lot are tested at different strain rate. It is observed that change in spring constant, representing elastic part is very small with strain rate but damping constant varies significantly with variation in strain rate. For a typical propellant formulation, when strain rate is varied from 0.00037 to 0.185 per second, spring constant (K) changed from 5.5 to 7.9 MPa, but damping coefficient (D) varied from 1400 to 4 MPas. For all strain rates, stress–strain curve is generated using developed Maxwell model and close matching with actual test curve is observed. This indicates validity of Maxwell fluid model for case‐bonded solid propellant formulations. It is observed that with increases in strain rate, spring constant increases but damping coefficient decreases representing solid rocket propellant as a true viscoelastic material. It is also established that at higher strain rate, damping coefficient becomes negligible as compared to spring constant. It is also observed that variation of spring constant is logarithmic with strain rate and that of damping coefficient follows a power law. The correlation coefficients are introduced to ascertain spring constants and damping coefficients at any strain rate from that at a reference strain rate. Correlation for spring constant needs a coefficient “H,” which is function of propellant formulation alone and not of test conditions and the equation developed is K2=(K1‐H)×{ln(dε2/dt)/ln(dε1/dt)}+H. Similarly for damping coefficient (D) also another constant “S” is introduced and prediction formula is given by D2=D1×{(dε2/dt)/(dε1/dt)}S. Evaluating constants “H” and “S” at different strain rates validate this mathematical formulation for different propellant formulations. Close matching of test and predicted stress–strain curve indicates propellant behavior as viscoelastic Maxwell Fluid. Uniqueness of approach is to predict complete stress–strain curves, which are not attempted by any other researchers.
River channel cutoff dynamics, Sacramento River, California, USA
Authors: Micheli E. R. , Larsen E. W.
Published: February 2010

We measured patterns of river channel migration and cutoff between 1904 and 1997 on a 160 km meandering alluvial reach of the Sacramento River by intersecting a sequential set of river channel centrelines mapped from a field survey and aerial photography. We identified approximate dates and locations of cutoffs and quantified cutoff dimensions. Twenty‐seven chute and 11 partial cutoffs occurred over this 93‐year time interval, with an average of one cutoff approximately every 2.5 years or 0.0029 cutoffs per kilometre per year. The average rate of lateral channel change was over the study period was 5.5 ± 0.6 m year−1 (approximately 0.02 channel widths per year) due to progressive migration and cutoff combined. An average of 5% of the total channel length moved laterally via chute cutoff at a rate of 22.1 ± 3.3 m year−1 versus 94% of channel length that moved via progressive migration at a rate of 4.7 ± 0.5 m year−1. The remaining 1% of channel length migrated via partial cutoff at a rate of 13.0 ± 2.8 m year−1. Although channel cutoff was less predominant mode of channel change than progressive migration in terms of channel length, an average of 20% of the total floodplain area change between successive centrelines was attributable to cutoffs. Peak cutoff frequency was concentrated temporally between 1964 and 1987 and was also spatially clustered in specific active sub‐reaches along the valley axis over the entire study period.

We hypothesize that the probability of channel cutoff is a function of both channel geometry and discharge. Bends that experienced chute cutoff displayed an average sinuosity of 1.97 ± 0.1, an average radius of curvature of 2.1 ± 0.2 channel widths and an average entrance angle of 111 ± 7°, as opposed to average values for bends migrating progressively of 1.31 ± 0.01, 2.8 ± 0.1 and 66 ± 1°, respectively. The sinuosity of Sacramento River bends experiencing chute cutoff appears to have been consistently declining from 2.25 ± 0.35 channel widths in 1904 to 1.54 ± 0.23 channel widths in 1987. We hypothesize that this trend may be due in part to the influence of land‐use changes, such as the conversion of riparian forest to agriculture, on the ‘erodibility’ of bank and floodplain materials. For the post‐dam flow regime (1937 on), cutoff frequency was significantly correlated with an estimate of cumulative overbank flow. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Closed Zone III Rupture of the Flexor Digitorum Profundus Tendons of the Right Index, Long, and Ring Fingers in a Bowler: Gutterball Syndrome
Authors: Ostric Srdjan Andrei , Russell Robert C. , Petrungaro Jason
Published: February 2010

Zone III flexor tendon injuries are relatively rare in comparison to other flexor tendon injuries in zones I, II, IV, and V. Often, these are open injuries resulting from an electrical device like a saw; however, closed injures are even rarer, and those mid-substance ruptures resulting from bowling with no evidence of underlying tendinopathy from diseases like gout are highly unusual. The principles underlying tendon repair remain the same regardless of the etiology. In this case, we delineate some of the options and stress the guiding principles of the various methods available in this interesting and unusual case.
Eurasia: What is it? is it?
Authors: Gleason Abbott
Published: February 2010

Does the former Soviet space have any historico-regional significance, or is it really no more than an area occupied by an imperial aspirant, taking advantage of the weakness of European and Asian powers following the First World War? The author argues that the term “Eurasia” is merely a convenient way of referring to what had been Soviet territory. Recent history has seen attempts to endow it with a larger civilizational significance, but these attempts are rooted in Russian myth-making. Those areas which understand themselves as European and are part of historical Christendom will return to the “democratic,” consumer culture of Europe as rapidly as they can. The nationalities and small nations of the Caucasus and central Asia, predominantly Islamic, are becoming part of the “Middle East,” as it is commonly understood in contemporary geopolitical discourse. Portions of what had been the eastern and southern parts of the Soviet Union are drifting into the orbit of China, and even India may exert a certain influence. The methods used by non-Soviet and Soviet scholars alike to study the Soviet Union are almost entirely irrelevant to contemporary scholarship.
Regime Changes despite Legitimacy Crises: Exit, Voice, and Loyalty in Post-Communist Russia
Authors: Gel'man Vladimir
Published: February 2010

Why do some countries undergo regime changes despite legitimacy crises, while in others de-legitimation dramatically challenges democratic and non-democratic regimes? Post-Communist transformation in Russia can be viewed as a “natural experiment” in legitimacy's changing role during regime change. The de-legitimation of the Soviet political regime greatly contributed to the overthrow of Communist rule. However, although the post-Communism system had multiple troubles which led to the newly-emerged regime's lack of legitimacy, this has not caused major anti-system protests. Still, the legitimacy of Russia's current regime is not deeply rooted among the masses, and is based upon specific rather than diffuse support for the status quo. The article reconsider the analysis of the role of post-Soviet legitimacy (or lack thereof) in the process of regime changes through the prism of the “resigned acceptance” model within Hirschman's framework of “exit, voice, and loyalty”. The author will focus on the dynamics of public opinion and political behavior in the 1990s–2000s and analyze the impact of the “legacy of the past,” regime performance, and political elites and institutions in strengthening and/or challenging the existing status quo in Russian politics.
Cultural Geopolitics and the New Border Regions of Eurasia
Authors: Matsuzato Kimitaka
Published: February 2010

During the two decades after the Cold War, interactions between the peripheries of the former Soviet bloc and their neighboring regions activated to the extent that what can be called the New Border Regions emerged. To analyze this phenomenon, the paper proposes a new methodology – cultural geopolitics. While classic geopolitics focused on military, economic, and other material resources exploited by sovereign states (modern empires), cultural geopolitics highlights cognitive crafting by transnational actors, such as religious organizations, transborder nationalities, transnational corporations, and NGOs. Cultural geopolitics exploits the achievements that recent empire and religion studies have made. Cultural geopolitics facilitates the understanding, for example, of the Black Sea Rim region as a typical New Border Region.
‘A Dissonant Note on the Neva’: Historical Memory and City Identity in Russia's Second Capital during the Post-Stalin Era
Authors: Kelly Catriona
Published: February 2010

The importance of idealised visions of the past to local identity in twentieth-century St Petersburg and Leningrad has been widely recognised, but previous discussions have generally assumed an unproblematic continuation between the ‘Old St Petersburg’ preservationism of the early twentieth century and the heritage movement at later eras. This article argues that views of local identity in ‘the city on the Neva’ were more diverse than often recognised, not just because Leningrad artists, in particular architects, were committed to the modernist movement, but because the idea of which ‘past’ should be preserved was also controversial. Even in the 1920s, the ‘Old St Petersburg’ society advocated demolishing what its members considered unimportant and aesthetically unpleasing historical buildings. The revival of preservationism on a wide scale in the 1960s in turn took as its ideal an explicitly ‘Soviet’ view of the city, one where churches and trading zones had a much less important place than in historical St Petersburg before 1917. Drawing on documents from the ‘Old St Petersburg Society’ and the All-Russian Society for the Preservation of Monuments (VOOPIiK) held in St Petersburg archives, the article points to a process by which preservationism has, paradoxically, become more controversial as the territory of heritage has expanded, and the traditional focus on ‘monuments’ and ‘ensembles’ was replaced by a commitment to the preservation of entire ‘zones’, and eventually of the ‘historic centre’ (a term that itself begs many questions about what is counted as ‘historic’, since there are numerous centrally-located pre-1917 buildings that lie beyond this area).
The Pawn of Great Powers: The East–West Competition for Caucasia
Authors: Suny Ronald Grigor
Published: February 2010

My argument in this paper is that Caucasia has become an area of contention, like much of post-Soviet Eurasia, between the East and West, particularly between Russia's Caucasian policy, which revolves around its long-term interest in re-establishing its regional hegemony in the so-called Near Abroad, and the United States’ grander ambition for global hegemony. The South Caucasus has provided the first opportunity for Russia to demonstrate its will to prevent the United States, NATO, and the European Community from penetrating the southern tier of the former USSR. Russia's move is not a program of imperial control, but rather a determined effort to contain or even roll back the influence of other powers, most importantly, the United States and NATO in the regions closest to Russia's borders. The “southern tier” of the former Soviet Union – Caucasia and Central Asia – contains the most vulnerable regions in which other powers might intervene, and it is here where Russia will test its new policies. Up until August 2008 it used primarily “soft power” vigorously to prevent other powers from increasing their influence in the region. In August it demonstrated it was prepared, when pushed, to use “hard power.” The Russo–Georgian War was a watershed in East–West relations with a more assertive Russia willing to take on its more powerful competitors.
Novel Hybrid of LS-SVM and Kalman Filter for GPS/INS Integration
Authors: Xu Zhenkai , Li Yong , Rizos Chris , Xu Xiaosu
Published: February 2010

Integration of Global Positioning System (GPS) and Inertial Navigation System (INS) technologies can overcome the drawbacks of the individual systems. One of the advantages is that the integrated solution can provide continuous navigation capability even during GPS outages. However, bridging the GPS outages is still a challenge when Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) inertial sensors are used. Methods being currently explored by the research community include applying vehicle motion constraints, optimal smoother, and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques. In the research area of AI, the neural network (NN) approach has been extensively utilised up to the present. In an NN-based integrated system, a Kalman filter (KF) estimates position, velocity and attitude errors, as well as the inertial sensor errors, to output navigation solutions while GPS signals are available. At the same time, an NN is trained to map the vehicle dynamics with corresponding KF states, and to correct INS measurements when GPS measurements are unavailable. To achieve good performance it is critical to select suitable quality and an optimal number of samples for the NN. This is sometimes too rigorous a requirement which limits real world application of NN-based methods.

The support vector machine (SVM) approach is based on the structural risk minimisation principle, instead of the minimised empirical error principle that is commonly implemented in an NN. The SVM can avoid local minimisation and over-fitting problems in an NN, and therefore potentially can achieve a higher level of global performance. This paper focuses on the least squares support vector machine (LS-SVM), which can solve highly nonlinear and noisy black-box modelling problems. This paper explores the application of the LS-SVM to aid the GPS/INS integrated system, especially during GPS outages. The paper describes the principles of the LS-SVM and of the KF hybrid method, and introduces the LS-SVM regression algorithm. Field test data is processed to evaluate the performance of the proposed approach.
Implementation of a Dual-Frequency GLONASS and GPS L1 C/A Software Receiver
Authors: Nik S. Abbasian , Petovello M. G.
Published: February 2010

These days, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technology plays a critical role in positioning and navigation applications. Use of GNSS is becoming more of a need to the public. Therefore, much effort is needed to make the civilian part of the system more accurate, reliable and available, especially for the safety-of-life purposes. With the recent revitalization of Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), with a constellation of 20 satellites in August 2009 and the promise of 24 satellites by 2010, it is worthwhile concentrating on the GLONASS system as a method of GPS augmentation to achieve more reliable and accurate navigation solutions.
“REVIEWING THE RITES PROPER TO CANONISATION”: NEW WOMAN NOVELS AND NEW CONCEPTUALIZATIONS OF CANONICITY
Authors: Ofek Galia
Published: February 2010

This essay examines theways in which New Woman novelists and their critics negotiated and revised Victorian literary canons in the 1880s and 1890s in light of the controversial publications of the Higher and feminist critics of the Bible. It explores the relationship between nineteenth-century literary and religious canons and the ways in which New Woman writers both drew on and intensified contemporary debates on canonicity. While literary canons are often perceived as allowing the possibility of adding new or re-evaluated works whereas biblical canonization seems final and definitive, nineteenth- century discoveries of early, non-canonical Christian writings and fragmentary gospels such asPistis Sophiaand theGospel of Maryprofoundly problematized late-Victorian understandings of the process of canonicity. The growing recognition of the historical significance of such fragments, as well as fierce theological debates in the leading magazines of the day, highlighted canonization as a political procedure which enforced internal coherence and unity at the expense of cultural diversity. Many writers suggested that canonization involved a repression of ideological controversies and a marginalization of competing narratives, a process which was both dramatized and redressed in New Woman fiction. The scholarship that turned to the era before the biblical canon had been sealed explored the conditions which made it final and unassailable, enabling feminist novelists to examine canonicity imaginatively and critically. By drawing attention to the essentially historical and political forces that governed processes of canon formation, New Woman writers sought to expose the narrowness and the limitations of the literary canon within and against which they worked.
VICTORIANS LIVE
Authors: Sussman Herbert
Published: February 2010

Victorians Live examines the afterlife of the Victorians, the ways that Victorian literature and culture remain alive, continue to live in our own day.

It Was the Worst of Times: A Visit to Dickens World

MARTY GOULD AND REBECCA MITCHELL

Turner in America

JASON ROSENFELD

Holman Hunt at Toronto

HERBERT SUSSMAN

The Afterlives of Aestheticism and Decadence in the Twenty-First Century

MARGARET D. STETZ

Darwin at Yale

MARGARET HOMANS
Introduction
Authors: Kemble John M.
Published: February 2010

The following pages contain a valuable, and in its way, I believe, an unique, document for the illustration of certain social relations in this country during the first half of the fourteenth century. I propose, therefore, to analyse it carefully, bearing well in mind, in all that I say, and all that I derive from its entries, the great economic deductions from which we may reason as to the normal mode of life of our forefathers at that period. It is a very striking chapter in that most interesting of all conceivable histories, the history of culture; and from this certain and positive record of one form of being at a definite period we can, without any very great difficulty, draw some valuable conclusions respecting times both earlier and later than the one whose details are so clearly set before us. It is undoubtedly important for us to know how Englishmen of different grades lived in the year of grace 1338, and we are very fortunate in having an account of undeniable authority, and by a contemporary hand, which enables us to follow, step by step, many of the more interesting and valuable details of the condition of English civilisation at that date. I wish we had similar accounts for other periods, both anterior and subsequent to this one. These would certainly give us a nearer insight into the changes of English life, its progression and its principle, than we can glean from records of public events, which we universally construe by the light of our actual state and knowledge, and consequently, in general, with more or less inaccuracy. But, in the absence of these aids to history, let us still rejoice that we possess in these pages a document by which, with due consideration of circumstances, we can test all other similar documents bearing upon the state of our social life during the mediæval period. The fourteenth century did not stand alone and apart: it was the child of the thirteenth, and it was also the father of the fifteenth—it partakes, therefore, in some degree of both.
A lipopeptide based on the M2 and HA proteins of influenza A viruses induces protective antibody
Authors: Pejoski David , Zeng Weiguang , Rockman Steven , Brown Lorena E , Jackson David C
Published: February 2010

A conserved 15 amino‐acid residue sequence of the ectodomain of the M2 protein of influenza A virus (M2e) induces a strong antibody (Ab) response when incorporated into a synthetic lipopeptide vaccine candidate containing a T‐helper epitope from influenza A hemagglutinin and the dendritic cell‐targeting lipid moiety S‐[2,3‐bis(palmitoyloxy)propyl]cysteine (Pam2Cys). Abs elicited by the truncated M2e sequence were specific for the M2 protein of influenza A virus and were also capable of binding to cells that were infected with influenza A viruses of different subtypes. The Ab titres against the lipopeptide were similar in magnitude to those elicited by the full‐length (23 residue) M2e peptide when administered in Freund's adjuvant. Abs to the truncated M2e sequence were also able to significantly reduce the viral load in airways of BALB/c mice after challenge with live influenza virus.
Phosphorylation and membrane dissociation of the ARF exchange factor GBF1 in mitosis
Authors: Morohashi Yuichi , Balklava Zita , Ball Matthew , Hughes Helen , Lowe Martin
Published: February 2010

Secretory protein trafficking is arrested and the Golgi apparatus fragmented when mammalian cells enter mitosis. These changes are thought to facilitate cell-cycle progression and Golgi inheritance, and are brought about through the actions of mitotically active protein kinases. To better understand how the Golgi apparatus undergoes mitotic fragmentation we have sought to identify novel Golgi targets for mitotic kinases. We report in the present paper the identification of the ARF (ADP-ribosylation factor) exchange factor GBF1 (Golgi-specific brefeldin A-resistant guanine nucleotide-exchange factor 1) as a Golgi phosphoprotein. GBF1 is phosphorylated by CDK1 (cyclin-dependent kinase 1)–cyclin B in mitosis, which results in its dissociation from Golgi membranes. Consistent with a reduced level of GBF1 activity at the Golgi membrane there is a reduction in levels of membrane-associated GTP-bound ARF in mitotic cells. Despite the reduced levels of membrane-bound GBF1 and ARF, COPI (coat protein I) binding to the Golgi membrane appears unaffected in mitotic cells. Surprisingly, this pool of COPI is dependent upon GBF1 for its recruitment to the membrane, suggesting that a low level of GBF1 activity persists in mitosis. We propose that the phosphorylation and membrane dissociation of GBF1 and the consequent reduction in ARF-GTP levels in mitosis are important for changes in Golgi dynamics and possibly other mitotic events mediated through effectors other than the COPI vesicle coat.
Interesting experimental results in Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex H− ion-source development (invited)
Authors: Ueno A. , Oguri H. , Ikegami K. , Namekawa Y. , Ohkoshi K.
Published: February 2010

The following interesting experimental results observed in Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC) H− ion-source developments are reviewed. It was proven that almost all of H− ions were produced with surface reactions in cesium (Cs)-free J-PARC H− ion-sources. The world’s most intense class H− ion current of 38 mA in Cs-free ion sources for a high-energy linac was attained by an optimal shape and high temperature of the plasma electrode (PE), usage of a lanthanum hexaboride (LaB6) filament, and a newly devised high-power constant-current pulsed-arc power supply indispensable for it. It was also proven that the H− ion current could be increased to more than 40 mA by optimizing LaB6-filament shape. The surface elemental analysis of the PE after operation with a LaB6-filament showed that it was coated by boron (B) 95.5%, lanthanum (La) 2.5%, and oxygen (O) 1.9%. The H− ion current decreased by about 20% when a tungsten (W) filament was used instead of a LaB6-filament. The H− ion current could not be increased by seeding cesium (Cs) if the LaB6-filament was used. On the other hand, it was increased to more than 70 mA with much lower arc current of 150 A if Cs was seeded when a W-filament was used.
Comment on “Primary instability mechanisms on the magnetohydrodynamic boundary layer flow over a rotating disk subject to a uniform radial flow” [Phys. Fluids 21, 074103 (2009)]
Authors: Thess André
Published: February 2010

It is pointed out that the model used in the paper “Primary instability mechanisms on the magnetohydrodynamic boundary layer flow over a rotating disk subject to a uniform radial flow” by Turkyilmazoglu [Phys. Fluids 21, 074103 (2009)] is incomplete since the electric potential has been neglected. The results of the work should therefore be considered as qualitative until the analysis has been repeated using the correct set of equations.
Cholesterol trafficking is required for mTOR activation in endothelial cells
Authors: Xu Jing , Dang Yongjun , Ren Yunzhao R. , Liu Jun O.
Published: February 2010

Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) constitutes a nodal point of a signaling network that regulates cell growth and proliferation in response to various environmental cues ranging from growth factor stimulation to nutrients to stress. Whether mTOR is also affected by cholesterol homeostasis, however, has remained unknown. We report that blockade of cholesterol trafficking through lysosome by a newly identified inhibitor of angiogenesis, itraconazole, leads to inhibition of mTOR activity in endothelial cells. Inhibition of mTOR by itraconazole but not rapamycin can be partially restored by extracellular cholesterol delivered by cyclodextrin. Moreover, other known inhibitors of endosomal/lysosomal cholesterol trafficking as well as siRNA knockdown of Niemann–Pick disease type C (NPC) 1 and NPC2 also cause inhibition of mTOR in endothelial cells. In addition, both the accumulation of cholesterol in the lysosome and inhibition of mTOR caused by itraconazole can be reversed by thapsigarin. These observations suggest that mTOR is likely to be involved in sensing membrane sterol concentrations in endothelial cells, and the cholesterol trafficking pathway is a promising target for the discovery of inhibitors of angiogenesis.
Arboreality has allowed for the evolution of increased longevity in mammals
Authors: Shattuck Milena R. , Williams Scott A.
Published: February 2010

The evolutionary theory of aging predicts that species will experience delayed senescence and increased longevity when rates of extrinsic mortality are reduced. It has long been recognized that birds and bats are characterized by lower rates of extrinsic mortality and greater longevities than nonvolant endotherms, presumably because flight reduces exposure to terrestrial predators, disease, and environmental hazards. Like flight, arboreality may act to reduce extrinsic mortality, delay senescence, and increase longevity and has been suggested as an explanation for the long lifespans of primates. However, this hypothesis has yet to be tested in mammals in general. We analyze a large dataset of mammalian longevity records to test whether arboreal mammals are characterized by greater longevities than terrestrial mammals. Here, we show that arboreal mammals are longer lived than terrestrial mammals at common body sizes, independent of phylogeny. Subclade analyses demonstrate that this trend holds true in nearly every mammalian subgroup, with two notable exceptions—metatherians (marsupials) and euarchontans (primates and their close relatives). These subgroups are unique in that each has experienced a long and persistent arboreal evolutionary history, with subsequent transitions to terrestriality occurring multiple times within each group. In all other clades examined, terrestriality appears to be the primitive condition, and species that become arboreal tend to experience increased longevity, often independently in multiple lineages within each clade. Adoption of an arboreal lifestyle may have allowed for increased longevity in these lineages and in primates in general. Overall, these results confirm the fundamental predictions of the evolutionary theory of aging.
Genetic and dietary regulation of lipid droplet expansion in
Caenorhabditis elegans
Authors: Zhang Shaobing O. , Box Andrew C. , Xu Ningyi , Le Men Johan , Yu Jingyi , Guo Fengli , Trimble Rhonda , Mak Ho Yi
Published: February 2010

Dietary fat accumulates in lipid droplets or endolysosomal compartments that undergo selective expansion under normal or pathophysiological conditions. We find that genetic defects in a peroxisomal β-oxidation pathway cause size expansion in lipid droplets that are distinct from the lysosome-related organelles in
Caenorhabditis elegans
. Expansion of lipid droplets is accompanied by an increase in triglycerides (TAG) that are resistant to fasting- or TAG lipase-triggered lipolysis. Nevertheless, in mutant animals, a diet poor in vaccenic acid reduced the TAG level and lipid droplet size. Our results implicate peroxisomal dysfunction in pathologic lipid droplet expansion in animals and illustrate how dietary factors modulate the phenotype of such genetic defects.
Insulin enhances glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in healthy humans
Authors: Bouche Clara , Lopez Ximena , Fleischman Amy , Cypess Aaron M. , O'Shea Sheila , Stefanovski Darko , Bergman Richard N. , Rogatsky Eduard , Stein Daniel T. , Kahn C. Ronald , Kulkarni Rohit N. , Goldfine Allison B.
Published: February 2010

Islet β-cells express both insulin receptors and insulin-signaling proteins. Recent evidence from rodents in vivo and from islets isolated from rodents or humans suggests that the insulin signaling pathway is physiologically important for glucose sensing. We evaluated whether insulin regulates β-cell function in healthy humans in vivo. Glucose-induced insulin secretion was assessed in healthy humans following 4-h saline (low insulin/sham clamp) or isoglycemic-hyperinsulinemic (high insulin) clamps using B28-Asp insulin that could be immunologically distinguished from endogenous insulin. Insulin and C-peptide clearance were evaluated to understand the impact of hyperinsulinemia on estimates of β-cell function. Preexposure to exogenous insulin increased the endogenous insulin secretory response to glucose by ≈40%. C-peptide response also increased, although not to the level predicted by insulin. Insulin clearance was not saturated at hyperinsulinemia, but metabolic clearance of C-peptide, assessed by infusion of stable isotope–labeled C-peptide, increased modestly during hyperinsulinemic clamp. These studies demonstrate that insulin potentiates glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in vivo in healthy humans. In addition, hyperinsulinemia increases C-peptide clearance, which may lead to modest underestimation of β-cell secretory response when using these methods during prolonged dynamic testing.
Gallstones play a significant role inSalmonellaspp. gallbladder colonization and carriage
Authors: Crawford Robert W. , Rosales-Reyes Roberto , Ramírez-Aguilar María de la Luz , Chapa-Azuela Oscar , Alpuche-Aranda Celia , Gunn John S.
Published: February 2010

Salmonella entericaserovar Typhi can colonize the gallbladder and persist in an asymptomatic carrier state that is frequently associated with the presence of gallstones. We have shown that salmonellae form bile-mediated biofilms on human gallstones and cholesterol-coated surfaces in vitro. Here, we test the hypothesis that biofilms on cholesterol gallbladder stones facilitate typhoid carriage in mice and men. Naturally resistant (Nramp1+/+) mice fed a lithogenic diet developed cholesterol gallstones that supported biofilm formation during persistent serovar Typhimurium infection and, as a result, demonstrated enhanced fecal shedding and enhanced colonization of gallbladder tissue and bile. In typhoid endemic Mexico City, 5% of enrolled cholelithiasis patients carried serovar Typhi, and bacterial biofilms could be visualized on gallstones from these carriers whereas significant biofilms were not detected on gallstones fromEscherichia coliinfected gallbladders. These findings offer direct evidence that gallstone biofilms occur in humans and mice, which facilitate gallbladder colonization and shedding.
Real Life. Real Talk.®: Creating Engagement in Sexual and Reproductive Health among Parents, Teens, Families, and Communities
Authors: Brookes Rebecca , Lehman Thomas C. , Maguire Susan , Mitchell Peter , Mejia Vikina A. , Johnson-Aramaki Tim , Raboni Estelle M.
Published: February 2010

From 2004 to 2008, in four U.S. test markets, Planned Parenthood Federation of America implemented Real Life. Real Talk.®, an initiative designed to foster open, honest, and balanced communication about sex and health among parents/caregivers, their children, and the general public. Funded by private donors and foundations, including the Ford Foundation, Real Life. Real Talk, combined community organizing and collaboration, education, community events, and promotion in an intervention that addressed the entire marketing mix. Through building local grassroots partnerships and providing a host of coordinated local educational events, including repeated offerings of Sex Ed for Parents™, Real Life. Real Talk. sought to reduce the public's level of shame, intolerance, and avoidance and, subsequently, to increase openness, acceptance, and engagement about issues of sexual health. Parents who participated in Sex Ed for Parents reported that these events were useful, and nearly all participating parents said they would recommend Sex Ed for Parents to a friend. Results from community-wide surveys show modest program awareness and several promising trends that correspond with the goals of the initiative. Real Life. Real Talk. is an example of community-level social marketing that evolved for continual improvement. Real Life. Real Talk. maintained an iterative design and implementation process. It allowed each community to embrace engagement on its own terms, and, as a result, each community contributed unique cultural elements.
Bleomycin and IL-1β–mediated pulmonary fibrosis is IL-17A dependent
Authors: Wilson Mark S. , Madala Satish K. , Ramalingam Thirumalai R. , Gochuico Bernadette R. , Rosas Ivan O. , Cheever Allen W. , Wynn Thomas A.
Published: February 2010

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a destructive inflammatory disease with limited therapeutic options. To better understand the inflammatory responses that precede and concur with collagen deposition, we used three models of pulmonary fibrosis and identify a critical mechanistic role for IL-17A. After exposure to bleomycin (BLM), but not Schistosoma mansoni eggs, IL-17A produced by CD4+ and γδ+ T cells induced significant neutrophilia and pulmonary fibrosis. Studies conducted with C57BL/6 il17a−/− mice confirmed an essential role for IL-17A. Mechanistically, using ifnγ−/−, il10−/−, il10−/−il12p40−/−, and il10−/−il17a−/− mice and TGF-β blockade, we demonstrate that IL-17A–driven fibrosis is suppressed by IL-10 and facilitated by IFN-γ and IL-12/23p40. BLM-induced IL-17A production was also TGF-β dependent, and recombinant IL-17A–mediated fibrosis required TGF-β, suggesting cooperative roles for IL-17A and TGF-β in the development of fibrosis. Finally, we show that fibrosis induced by IL-1β, which mimics BLM-induced fibrosis, is also highly dependent on IL-17A. IL-17A and IL-1β were also increased in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of patients with IPF. Together, these studies identify a critical role for IL-17A in fibrosis, illustrating the potential utility of targeting IL-17A in the treatment of drug and inflammation-induced fibrosis.
An optimal experimental design approach to model discrimination in dynamic biochemical systems
Authors: Skanda Dominik , Lebiedz Dirk
Published: February 2010

Motivation: Finding suitable models of dynamic biochemical systems is an important task in systems biology approaches to the biosciences. On the one hand, a correct model helps to understand the underlying mechanisms and on the other hand, one can use the model to predict the behavior of a biological system under various circumstances. Typically, before the correct model of a biochemical system is found, different hypothetical models might be reasonable and consistent with previous knowledge and available data. The main goal now is to find the best suited model out of different hypotheses. The process of falsifying inappropriate candidate models is called model discrimination.

Results: We have developed a new computational tool to compute optimal experiments for biochemical kinetic systems with underlying ordinary differential equation (ODE) models for the purpose of model discrimination. We were inspired by the demands of biological experimentalists which perform one run measurement where perturbations to the system are possible. We provide a criterion which calculates the number and location of time points of optimal measurements as well as optimal initial conditions and optimal perturbations to the system.

Availability: The model discrimination algorithm described here is implemented in C++ in the package ModelDiscriminationToolkit. The source code can be downloaded from http://omnibus.unifreiburg.de/~ds500/_software.html

Contact:  dirk.lebiedz@biologie.uni-freiburg.de

Supplementary information:  Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Genome annotation and comparative analyses of the odorant‐binding proteins and chemosensory proteins in the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum
Authors: Zhou J.‐J. , Vieira F. G. , He X.‐L. , Smadja C. , Liu R. , Rozas J. , Field L. M.
Published: February 2010

Odorant‐binding proteins (OBPs) and chemosensory proteins (CSPs) are two families of small water‐soluble proteins, abundant in the aqueous fluid surrounding olfactory receptor neurons in insect antennae. OBPs are involved in the first step of olfactory signal transduction, carrying airborne semiochemicals to the odorant receptors and can be classified into three groups: Classic OBPs, Plus‐C OBPs and Atypical OBPs. Here, we identified and annotated genes encoding putative OBPs and CSPs in the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum using bioinformatics. This identified genes encoding 13 Classic and two Plus‐C OBPs and 13 CSPs. Homologous OBP sequences were also identified in nine other aphid species, allowing us to compare OBPs across several aphid and non‐aphid species. We show that, although OBP sequences are divergent within a species and between different orders, there is a high similarity between orthologs within a range of aphid species. Furthermore, the phylogenetic relationships between OBP orthologs reflect the divergence of aphid evolution lineages. Our results support the ‘birth‐and‐death’ model as the major mechanism explaining aphid OBP sequence evolution, with the main force acting on the evolution being purifying selection.
Genomic insight into the amino acid relations of the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum, with its symbiotic bacterium Buchnera aphidicola
Authors: Wilson A. C. C. , Ashton P. D. , Calevro F. , Charles H. , Colella S. , Febvay G. , Jander G. , Kushlan P. F. , Macdonald S. J. , Schwartz J. F. , Thomas G. H. , Douglas A. E.
Published: February 2010

The pea aphid genome includes 66 genes contributing to amino acid biosynthesis and 93 genes to amino acid degradation. In several respects, the pea aphid gene inventory complements that of its symbiotic bacterium, Buchnera aphidicola (Buchnera APS). Unlike other insects with completely sequenced genomes, the pea aphid lacks the capacity to synthesize arginine, which is produced by Buchnera APS. However, consistent with other insects, it has genes coding for individual reactions in essential amino acid biosynthesis, including threonine dehydratase and branched‐chain amino acid aminotransferase, which are not coded in the Buchnera APS genome. Overall the genome data suggest that the biosynthesis of certain essential amino acids is shared between the pea aphid and Buchnera APS, providing the opportunity for precise aphid control over Buchnera metabolism.
Identification of ion channel genes in theAcyrthosiphon pisumgenome
Authors: Dale R. P. , Jones A. K. , Tamborindeguy C. , Davies T. G. E. , Amey J. S. , Williamson S. , Wolstenholme A. , Field L. M. , Williamson M. S. , Walsh T. K. , Sattelle D. B.
Published: February 2010

Aphids are major pests of crops, causing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of damage annually. Ion channel proteins are often the targets of modern insecticides and mutations in ion channel genes can lead to resistance to many leading classes of insecticides. The sequencing of the pea aphid,Acyrthosiphon pisum,genome has now allowed detailedin silicoanalysis of the aphid ion channels. The study has revealed significant differences in the composition of the ion channel families between the aphid and other insects. For exampleA. pisumdoes not appear to contain a homologue of the nACh receptor alpha 5 gene whilst the calcium channel beta subunit has been duplicated. These variations could result in differences in function or sensitivity to insecticides. The genome sequence will allow the study of aphid ion channels to be accelerated, leading to a better understanding of the function of these economically important channels. The potential for identifying novel insecticide targets within the aphid is now a step closer.
Chitinase‐like proteins encoded in the genome of the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum
Authors: Nakabachi A. , Shigenobu S. , Miyagishima S.
Published: February 2010

In insects, chitinases play an essential role in the degradation of old exoskeleton and turnover of the gut lining. In silico screening of the entire genome of the pea aphid (Hemimetabola), Acyrthosiphon pisum, detected nine genes encoding putative chitinase‐like proteins, including six enzymatically active chitinases, one imaginal disc growth factor, and one endo‐beta‐N‐acetylglucosaminidase. Screening of the genomes of Aedes aegypti, Anopheles gambiae, Apis mellifera, Bombyx mori, Culex quinquefasciatus, Drosophila melanogaster, Nasonia vitripennis, Pediculus humanus corporis, and Tribolium castaneum suggested repeated gene duplications in holometabolous lineages. Quantitative reverse transcription‐PCR demonstrated the expression of four and two distinct chitinase‐like genes of A. pisum to be highly up‐regulated in the embryo and the midgut, respectively, suggesting specific roles in these pea aphid tissues.
Mind the gap: MIND, the mental hygiene movement and the trapdoor in measurements of intellect
Authors: Toms J.
Published: February 2010

Background  The National Association for Mental Health adopted the ‘brand name’ MIND as part of its transformation into a campaigning pressure group at the turn of the 1970s. This article examines the historical antecedents to key statements made by the organisation at this time regarding the relationship of mental health with, what was then called, ‘mental handicap’.

Methods  The National Association is placed within the historical context of the movement for mental hygiene. The article traces how the movement theorised mental health as critically related to intellect and emotionality.

Results  The movement relegated people deemed ‘mentally deficient’ from therapeutic policies based on family relationships believed to promote mental health. However, a late 1950s experiment known as the Brooklands study subverted this discrimination. This was paradoxical since it built on mental hygiene theorising.

Conclusions  Theorisations of the relationship between intellect, emotion and mental health are still potentially discriminatory.
The Human Genetics Historical Library: an international resource for geneticists and historians
Authors: Harper PS , Pierce K
Published: February 2010

Harper PS, Pierce K. The Human Genetics Historical Library: an international resource for geneticists and historians.