bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Naturalists from Neuchâtel: America and the dispersal of Agassiz's scientific factory
Authors: Silliman R. H.
Published: November 2007

When Louis Agassiz went to America in 1846, he took with him, or was soon joined by, a whole retinue of Swiss protègès and assistants who in the preceding decade had turned his scientific work into a corporate, collective enterprise. Among the new arrivals were E. Desor, A. Guyot, L. Lesquereux, C. Girard, and L. Pourtalès—a labour pool that enabled Agassiz to re-assemble the Neuchâtel ‘scientific factory’ on American shores. Indeed, some of the troop immediately went to work under Agassiz's supervision, plunging eagerly into the rich new fields of investigation that America afforded them. Although it was seemingly productive, by 1850 the group had dispersed.

Some of the Neuchâtel naturalists, urged on by the egalitarian politics of the day, lost patience with Agassiz's domineering ways and determined to strike out on their own, fashioning independent careers. Others, still loyal to Agassiz, left to establish themselves in regular posts. All of these young naturalists struggled to adapt to American culture and make a go of it. Although Agassiz himself was hospitably received and well provided for, his followers found that they were looked down upon because of their foreign manners, broken English, and idealized scientific pursuits that appeared lacking in usefulness to their practically-minded hosts. Nor did they have abundant prospects for earning a living, obliged as they were to compete with native-born Americans for the few full-time scientific positions then available.

Nevertheless, in the end they were remarkably successful. Lesquereux in palaeobotany and Guyot in physical geography reached the top in their fields in America. These two, along with Pourtalès, were honoured by election to the National Academy of Sciences. As for the others, Desor was launched on a productive career as a Quaternary geologist, when a family matter recalled him to Switzerland, and Girard was building an excellent reputation in ichthyology and herpetology, when he was obliged to return to Europe because of his support for the Confederacy in the Civil War. Working in geology and natural history, where broad experience and comparative observation paid dividends, the Swiss turned their European background into an advantage.
Investigating the colonies: native geological travellers in the Portuguese Empire in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries
Authors: de M. Figueirôa S. F. , Da Silva C. P. , Pataca E. M.
Published: November 2007

The historiography of sciences in Brazil frequently analysed the role and the meaning of foreign—predominantly European—travellers in the country, stressing their discoveries and contributions to science. But these texts systematically omitted the ‘native’ travellers, those who were commissioned by the Portuguese government to survey the territories of the Portuguese empire, especially at the end of the eighteenth century. These expeditions, however, deserve careful attention: they were not sporadic nor dispersed initiatives, but rather co-ordinated, essential parts of a large program of scientific reform and economical reconstruction of the kingdom.

In the second half of the eighteenth century, the Portuguese elite drew upon Enlightenment ideals to reform sectors of the policy considered fundamental to economic growth. The Lisbon Royal Academy of Science (Academia Real de Ciências de Lisboa) was founded in 1779, and from the beginning turned into the focus of a far-reaching policy to promote the more rational exploitation of nature within Portugal and its colonies. The movement reflected a broad awareness of science, conceived as systematic, practical, and useful inquiry.

The academy developed plans to improve agriculture and mining through applied science, and the colonial territories were methodically investigated. The expeditions launched to attend these goals—sometimes entitled ‘
Viagens Philosophicas
’ (Philosophical Travels)—collected thousands of samples (geological, mineralogical, botanical, and zoological), mapped out thousands of linear and square metres of rivers and lands, and produced dozens of
Memoirs
, that filled the Museum of Ajuda and the shelves of the Royal Academy of Science.
Doing and knowing: Charles Darwin and other travellers
Authors: Herbert S.
Published: November 2007

In the 1830s, geology was a young discipline in the process of acquiring uniform standards. This study considers Charles Darwin's work in relation to that of other more practically and less academically oriented travellers. It suggests a continuity exists between the more practically and the more academically-minded groups in such projects as exploring, mining, map and chart making, collecting of specimens, and travel writing. It also highlights the role played by William Fitton as an academically-minded geologist whose instructions on collecting and observing were intended to raise standards for geologists. It suggests that such disciplinary improvements were not unique to geology but reflected a more general willingness at the time to instruct and be instructed.
The quest for limestone in colonial New South Wales, 1788–1825
Authors: Mayer W.
Published: November 2007

In the absence of people with scientific qualifications in the newly established colony of New South Wales, Australia, the search for essential commodities, such as limestone, became the task of a few educated laymen, which included military officers and surgeons. The first discovery of calcareous rocks was made in the colony's outpost at Norfolk Island, which was a boon to that settlement but of limited benefit to the larger establishment at Sydney. For many years the major supply of lime for building came from shells collected from beaches and Aboriginal middens. Attempts to cross the Blue Mountains, long unsuccessful, succeeded in 1813 and led to the discovery of significant deposits of limestone. They provided lime for the needs of inland towns but did not supply Sydney until after the introduction of improved quarrying methods, lime manufacture, and building of roads. The first geological observations in New South Wales were made by people with no formal knowledge of geology, who were motivated by the necessity to find basic materials essential to the success of their settlement. Their efforts provided a crude inventory of rock types, which was improved by contributions from occasional visitors with a scientific background.
Short-term high fat-feeding results in morphological and metabolic adaptations in the skeletal muscle of C57BL/6J mice
Authors: de Wilde Janneke , Mohren Ronny , van den Berg Sjoerd , Boekschoten Mark , Dijk Ko Willems-Van , de Groot Philip , Müller Michael , Mariman Edwin , Smit Egbert
Published: November 2007

The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome (MS) is rapidly increasing all over the world. Consequently, there is an urgent need for more effective intervention strategies. Both animal and human studies indicate that lipid oversupply to skeletal muscle can result in insulin resistance, which is one of the characteristics of the MS. C57BL/6J mice were fed a low-fat (10 kcal%) palm oil diet or a high-fat (45 kcal%; HF) palm oil diet for 3 or 28 days. By combining transcriptomics with protein and lipid analyses we aimed to better understand the molecular events underlying the early onset of the MS. Short-term HF feeding led to altered expression levels of genes involved in a variety of biological processes including morphogenesis, energy metabolism, lipogenesis, and immune function. Protein analysis showed increased levels of the myosin heavy chain, slow fiber type protein, and the complexes I, II, III, IV, and V of the oxidative phosphorylation. Furthermore, we observed that the main mitochondrial membrane phospholipids, phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine, contained more saturated fatty acids. Altogether, these results point to a morphological as well as a metabolic adaptation by promoting a more oxidative fiber type. We hypothesize that after this early positive adaptation, a continued transcriptional downregulation of genes involved in oxidative phosphorylation will result in decreased oxidative capacity at a later stage. Together with increased saturation of phospholipids of the mitochondrial membrane this can result in decreased mitochondrial function, which is a hallmark observed in insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes.
Chest Physiotherapy in Cystic Fibrosis: Short-Term Effects of Autogenic Drainage Preceded by Wet Inhalation of Saline versus Autogenic Drainage Preceded by Intrapulmonary Percussive Ventilation with Saline
Authors: Van Ginderdeuren F. , Verbanck S. , Van Cauwelaert K. , Vanlaethem S. , Schuermans D. , Vincken W. , Malfroot A.
Published: November 2007

Background: Chest physiotherapy has been used for many years to assist in the removal of abnormal viscid bronchial secretions in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Objectives:This study compared the short-term effects of two physiotherapy regimens in patients with CF: autogenic drainage (AD) preceded by either saline inhalation (‘salineNEB + AD’) or by intrapulmonary percussive ventilation (IPV) with saline (‘salineIPV + AD’). Methods: In a randomized crossover design, 20 clinically stable CF patients with similar pulmonary function at baseline received either ‘salineNEB + AD’ or ‘salineIPV + AD’ on 2 consecutive days. Transcutaneous oxygen saturation, heart rate, Borg dyspnea score and mucus wet weight were evaluated after 15 min of either salineNEB or salineIPV, and after a subsequent 30 min of AD. Results: There were no significant changes in oxygen saturation, heart rate or Borg score at any point of either physiotherapy intervention. There was no significant difference in sputum wet weight recovered with either salineNEB (2.2 ± 1.8 g, mean ± SD) or salineIPV (1.7 ± 1.9 g) alone. Subsequent AD did produce significantly greater amounts of sputum wet weight (p < 0.0001 for both) than in the initial saline delivery period, yet the amount of wet weight was similar irrespective of whether AD was preceded by salineNEB (9.7 ± 6.5 g) or salineIPV (11.6 ± 7.3 g). Conclusions: Recovered sputum weight is similar whether AD is preceded by salineNEB or salineIPV. The much greater amount of mucus obtained during the AD period than during the saline delivery period warrants further investigation.
How Optimal Stimuli for Sensory Neurons Are Constrained by Network Architecture
Authors: DiMattina Christopher , Zhang Kechen
Published: November 2007

Identifying the optimal stimuli for a sensory neuron is often a difficult process involving trial and error. By analyzing the relationship between stimuli and responses in feedforward and stable recurrent neural network models, we find that the stimulus yielding the maximum firing rate response always lies on the topological boundary of the collection of all allowable stimuli, provided that individual neurons have increasing input-output relations or gain functions and that the synaptic connections are convergent between layers with nondegenerate weight matrices. This result suggests that in neurophysiological experiments under these conditions, only stimuli on the boundary need to be tested in order to maximize the response, thereby potentially reducing the number of trials needed for finding the most effective stimuli. Even when the gain functions allow firing rate cutoff or saturation, a peak still cannot exist in the stimulus-response relation in the sense that moving away from the optimum stimulus always reduces the response. We further demonstrate that the condition for nondegenerate synaptic connections also implies that proper stimuli can independently perturb the activities of all neurons in the same layer. One example of this type of manipulation is changing the activity of a single neuron in a given processing layer while keeping that of all others constant. Such stimulus perturbations might help experimentally isolate the interactions of selected neurons within a network.
The Actor-Critic Learning Is Behind the Matching Law: Matching Versus Optimal Behaviors
Authors: Sakai Yutaka , Fukai Tomoki
Published: November 2007

The ability to make a correct choice of behavior from various options is crucial for animals' survival. The neural basis for the choice of behavior has been attracting growing attention in research on biological and artificial neural systems. Alternative choice tasks with variable ratio (VR) and variable interval (VI) schedules of reinforcement have often been employed in studying decision making by animals and humans. In the VR schedule task, alternative choices are reinforced with different probabilities, and subjects learn to select the behavioral response rewarded more frequently. In the VI schedule task, alternative choices are reinforced at different average intervals independent of the choice frequencies, and the choice behavior follows the so-called matching law. The two policies appear robustly in subjects' choice of behavior, but the underlying neural mechanisms remain unknown. Here, we show that these seemingly different policies can appear from a common computational algorithm known as actor-critic learning. We present experimentally testable variations of the VI schedule in which the matching behavior gives only a suboptimal solution to decision making and show that the actor-critic system exhibits the matching behavior in the steady state of the learning even when the matching behavior is suboptimal. However, it is found that the matching behavior can earn approximately the same reward as the optimal one in many practical situations.
Patriarchy Matters
Authors: Mikel Brown Lyn , Chesney-Lind Meda , Stein Nan
Published: November 2007

This article explores the role that the sex–gender system plays in shaping both the violence and victimization of girls. Taking first the issue of girls' violence, the article argues that steep increases in girls' arrests are not the product of girls becoming more like boys. Instead, forms of girls' minor violence that were once ignored are now being criminalized. Shifting gears, the article explores how “gender-neutral” relabeling of girls' victimization in schools, a site of much violence against girls, is extremely problematic. Renaming “sexual harassment” as “bullying” tends to psychopathologize gender violence while simultaneously stripping girl victims of powerful legal rights and remedies. To illustrate this latter point, a “model” antibullying program, The Bullying Prevention Program, is reviewed. Offering a one-size-fits-all view of bullying, it assumes all bullying can be approached psychologically or relationally, thereby minimizing the structural underpinnings of such behavior.
Distinct characteristics of signal transduction events by histamine-releasing factor/translationally controlled tumor protein (HRF/TCTP)–induced priming and activation of human basophils
Authors: Vonakis Becky M. , MacGlashan Donald W. , Vilariño Natalia , Langdon Jacqueline M. , Scott Rebecca S. , MacDonald Susan M.
Published: November 2007

We previously identified a negative correlation between histamine release to histamine releasing factor/translationally controlled tumor protein (HRF/TCTP) and protein levels of the Src homology 2 domain–containing inositol 5′ phosphatase (SHIP) in basophils. We have also demonstrated that HRF/TCTP primes basophils to release mediators. The purpose of this study was to begin characterization of signal transduction events directly induced by HRF/TCTP and to investigate these events when HRF/TCTP is used as a priming agent for human basophil histamine release. Highly purified human basophils were examined for surface expression of bound HRF/TCTP, changes in calcium, and phosphorylation of Akt, mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK), extracellular signal–regulated kinase (ERK), Syk, and FcϵRIγ. Results showed that basophils from all donors bound HRF/TCTP. There was a biphasic calcium response to HRF/TCTP, which corresponded to the magnitude of histamine release. Furthermore, those donors who have direct histamine release when exposed to HRF/TCTP (HRF/TCTP responder [HRF/TCTP-R] donors) have phosphorylation of Syk, Akt, MEK, and ERK. Remarkably, basophils from HRF/TCTP-nonresponder (HRF/TCTP-NR) donors do not show phosphorylation of these molecules. This finding is different from IL-3, which also primes basophils for histamine release, but does show phosphorylation of these events. We conclude that priming induced by HRF/TCTP is distinct from that induced by IL-3.
Enhanced transduction of colonic cell lines in vitroand the inflamed colon in mice by viral vectors, derived from adeno-associated virus serotype 2, using virus-microbead conjugates bearing lectin
Authors: Farlow Samuel J , Jerusalmi Alan , Sano Takeshi
Published: November 2007

Background

Virus-mediated delivery of therapeutic transgenes to the inflamed colon holds a great potential to serve as an effective therapeutic strategy for inflammatory bowel disease, since local, long-term expression of the encoded therapeutic proteins in the colorectal system is potentially achievable. Viral vectors, derived from adeno-associated virus (AAV), should be very useful for such therapeutic strategies, particularly because they can establish long-term expression of transgenes. However, few studies have been carried out to investigate the ability of AAV-based vectors to transduce the inflamed colon.

Results

AAV, derived from adeno-associated virus serotype 2 (AAV2), showed a limited ability to transduce colonic cell lines in vitro when used in free form. No appreciable enhancement of the transduction efficiency was seen when AAV2 particles were attached stably to the surfaces of microbeads and delivered to target cells in the form of AAV2-microbead conjugates. However, the transduction efficiency of these colonic cell lines was enhanced substantially when a lectin, concanavalin A (Con A), was co-attached to the microbead surfaces, to which AAV2 particles had been conjugated. This considerable infectivity enhancement of AAV2-microbead conjugates by the co-attachment of Con A may be derived from the fact that Con A binds to α-D-mannosyl moieties that are commonly and abundantly present in cell-surface carbohydrate chains, allowing the conjugates to associate stably with target cells. Intracolonical administration of free AAV2 or AAV2-microbead conjugates without Con A into a mouse colitis model by enema showed very poor transduction of the colonic tissue. In contrast, the delivery of AAV2 in the form of AAV2-microbead conjugates bearing Con A resulted in efficient transduction of the inflamed colon.

Conclusion

AAV2-microbead conjugates bearing Con A can serve as efficient gene transfer agents both for poorly permissive colonic cell lines in vitro and for the inflamed colon in a mouse colitis model. This efficient transduction system for the inflamed colon should be useful for the development of gene therapy strategies for inflammatory bowel disease.
Enhancing Diversity in Science: Is Teaching Science Process Skills the Answer?
Authors: Dirks Clarissa , Cunningham Matthew
Published: November 2007

The Biology Fellows Program at the University of Washington aims to enhance diversity in science by helping students succeed in the rigorous introductory biology classes and motivating them to engage in undergraduate research. The composite Scholastic Achievement Test scores and high school grade point averages of the Biology Fellows are comparable to those of students who are not in the program; however, they earn, on average, higher grades in introductory biology classes than non-Biology Fellows. Underrepresented minorities and disadvantaged students in the program also earn higher grades in the introductory biology classes than do their non-Biology Fellows counterparts. Analysis of the performance of Biology Fellows shows that the program assists students who are not proficient in certain science process skills and that students who lack these skills are at risk for failing introductory biology. This evaluation provides insight for designing programs that aim to enhance the performance of beginning students of biology, particularly for underrepresented minorities, who want to obtain a life science degree.
Learning to Improve: Using Writing to Increase Critical Thinking Performance in General Education Biology
Authors: Quitadamo Ian J. , Kurtz Martha J.
Published: November 2007

Increasingly, national stakeholders express concern that U.S. college graduates cannot adequately solve problems and think critically. As a set of cognitive abilities, critical thinking skills provide students with tangible academic, personal, and professional benefits that may ultimately address these concerns. As an instructional method, writing has long been perceived as a way to improve critical thinking. In the current study, the researchers compared critical thinking performance of students who experienced a laboratory writing treatment with those who experienced traditional quiz-based laboratory in a general education biology course. The effects of writing were determined within the context of multiple covariables. Results indicated that the writing group significantly improved critical thinking skills whereas the nonwriting group did not. Specifically, analysis and inference skills increased significantly in the writing group but not the nonwriting group. Writing students also showed greater gains in evaluation skills; however, these were not significant. In addition to writing, prior critical thinking skill and instructor significantly affected critical thinking performance, whereas other covariables such as gender, ethnicity, and age were not significant. With improved critical thinking skill, general education biology students will be better prepared to solve problems as engaged and productive citizens.
Are Theories of Imagery Theories of Imagination? An Active Perception Approach to Conscious Mental Content
Authors: Thomas Nigel J.T.
Published: November 2007

Can theories of mental imagery, conscious mental contents, developed within cognitive science throw light on the obscure (but culturally very significant) concept of imagination? Three extant views of mental imagery are considered: quasi‐pictorial, description, and perceptual activity theories. The first two face serious theoretical and empirical difficulties. The third is (for historically contingent reasons) little known, theoretically underdeveloped, and empirically untried, but has real explanatory potential. It rejects the “traditional” symbolic computational view of mental contents, but is compatible with recent situated cognition and active vision approaches in robotics. This theory is developed and elucidated. Three related key aspects of imagination (non‐discursiveness, creativity, and seeing as) raise difficulties for the other theories. Perceptual activity theory presents imagery as non‐discursive and relates it closely to seeing as. It is thus well placed to be the basis for a general theory of imagination and its role in creative thought.
Connectionist Sentence Processing in Perspective
Authors: Steedman Mark
Published: November 2007

The emphasis in the connectionist sentence‐processing literature on distributed representation and emergence of grammar from such systems can easily obscure the often close relations between connectionist and symbolist systems. This paper argues that the Simple Recurrent Network (SRN) models proposed by Jordan (1989) and Elman (1990) are more directly related to stochastic Part‐of‐Speech (POS) Taggers than to parsers or grammars as such, while auto‐associative memory models of the kind pioneered by Longuet–Higgins, Willshaw, Pollack and others may be useful for grammar induction from a network‐based conceptual structure as well as for structure‐building. These observations suggest some interesting new directions for specifically connectionist sentence processing research, including more efficient representations for finite state machines, and acquisition devices based on a distinctively connectionist basis for grounded symbolist conceptual structure.
Biallelic Inactivation of the Dual Oxidase Maturation Factor 2 (DUOXA2) Gene as a Novel Cause of Congenital Hypothyroidism
Authors: Zamproni Ilaria , Grasberger Helmut , Cortinovis Francesca , Vigone Maria Cristina , Chiumello Giuseppe , Mora Stefano , Onigata Kazumichi , Fugazzola Laura , Refetoff Samuel , Persani Luca , Weber Giovanna
Published: November 2007

Context: Dual oxidase 2 (DUOX2) is the catalytic core of the H2O2 generator crucial for the iodination of thyroglobulin in thyroid hormone synthesis. DUOX2 deficiency produces congenital hypothyroidism (CH) in humans and mice. We recently cloned a novel gene, the product of which (dual oxidase maturation factor 2; DUOXA2) is required to express DUOX2 enzymatic activity.

Objective: Our objective was to identify DUOXA2 mutations as a novel cause of CH due to dyshormonogenesis.

Patients: Subjects included 11 CH patients with partial iodine organification defect but negative for other known genetic causes of partial iodine organification defect.

Results: One Chinese patient born to nonconsanguineous parents was homozygous for a nonsense mutation (p.Y246X), producing a truncated DUOXA2 protein lacking transmembrane helix 5 and the C-terminal cytoplasmic domain. The mutant protein was inactive in reconstituting DUOX2 in vitro. Pedigree analysis demonstrated recessive inheritance, because heterozygous carriers had normal thyroid function including negative results in neonatal TSH screening. One heterozygous carrier of Y246X was identified in unrelated Chinese controls (n = 92) but not in Caucasian or Japanese controls, indicating that homozygosity for Y246X could be a frequent cause of CH in Chinese. Functional studies suggest that the DUOXA2 paralog (DUOXA1) can partially compensate DUOXA2 deficiency, consistent with the proband having a milder CH phenotype than patients with biallelic DUOX2 nonsense mutations.

Conclusions: We report the first mutation in DUOXA2, identified in a patient with CH and dyshormonogenic goiter. Results of our studies provide evidence for the critical role of DUOXA2 in thyroid hormonogenesis. Biallelic DUOXA2 mutations are a novel genetic event in permanent CH.
Cep68 and Cep215 (Cdk5rap2) are required for centrosome cohesion
Authors: Graser Susanne , Stierhof York-Dieter , Nigg Erich A.
Published: November 2007

The centrosome duplicates during the cell cycle but functions as a single microtubule-organising centre until shortly before mitosis. This raises the question of how centrosome cohesion is maintained throughout interphase. One dynamic model proposes that parental centrioles are held together through centriole-associated, entangling filaments. Central to this model are C-Nap1, a putative centriolar docking protein and rootletin, a fibrous component. Here we identify two novel proteins, Cep68 and Cep215, as required for centrosome cohesion. Similar to rootletin, Cep68 decorates fibres emanating from the proximal ends of centrioles and dissociates from centrosomes during mitosis. Furthermore, Cep68 and rootletin depend both on each other and on C-Nap1 for centriole association. Unlike rootletin, overexpression of Cep68 does not induce extensive fibre formation, but Cep68 is readily recruited to ectopic rootletin fibres. These data suggest that Cep68 cooperates with rootletin and C-Nap1 in centrosome cohesion. By contrast, Cep215 associates with centrosomes throughout the cell cycle and does not appear to interact with Cep68, rootletin or C-Nap1. Instead, our data suggest that Cep215 functionally interacts with pericentrin, suggesting that both proteins influence centrosome cohesion through an indirect mechanism related to cytoskeletal dynamics.
Public Participation and State Power: the case of South Yorkshire
Authors: Darke Roy
Published: November 2007

Using evidence gathered during the first Examination in Public of an English Metropolitan County Structure Plan, this paper shows that management of the proceedings, the choice of participants and the form and content of the discussion helped to support a powerful ‘ideological’ critique of the social priority approach to strategic planning adopted in South Yorkshire. The critique was orchestrated by the panel appointed by the Department of the Environment with the examination exposing an explicit conflict between central and local government over economic planning policy. The concept of the relative autonomy of the state from dominant economic interests is explored as one element of an explanation of these events together with evidence of growing centralisation and corporatism of state activity. Such an explanation exposes the rhetoric of the statutory requirement for public participation in strategic planning introduced in the Town and Country Planning Act of 1971.
Subjectivity and Organisational Politics in Policy Analysis
Authors: Jones Sue , Eden Colin , Sims David
Published: November 2007

Traditionally the content of policy models has been dominated by the objectivated, ‘factual’ and particularly rational-analytic aspects of a policy issue. Using examples derived from a current project within a UK local government authority, this paper describes a significantly different approach to policy-modelling. Adopting a deliberate client orientation we have sought to construct for the policy maker client models which are representations of the world as he sees it. They explicitly reflect the policy maker’s subjective, qualitative, idiosyncratic values and beliefs, including those theories and concerns he has about his internal political environment as an individual seeking to influence the outcome of policy decisions. The approach we will describe is founded on our own belief, derived from theory and practice, that many of the problems surrounding interest, commitment and implementation of the work of policy analysts are a consequence precisely of a failure to pay attention to the images of the world that are relevant to the client of policy analysis, rather than the ‘rational’ world of the analyst.
Recognizing Digitization as a Preservation Reformatting Method
Authors: Arthur Kathleen , Byrne Sherry , Long Elisabeth , Montori Carla Q. , Nadler Judith
Published: November 2007

Cultural institutions serve the international community by building, protecting, preserving and ensuring continued access to diverse collections and resources. The challenges of preserving collections have been addressed in different ways over time. Libraries have used conservation to preserve the original artifact and reformatting strategies, such as microfilming and the creation of print facsimiles, to retain content, enhance access, and protect the original from excessive wear. Over the past several years, libraries have moved towards using digitization as an additional method for reformatting endangered and fragile paper-based materials to both preserve and provide access to library collections.
Walter Benjamin: Time and Justice
Authors: Noor Ashraf
Published: November 2007

I Kinds of Time

The following remarks concern the question of time in Walter Benjamin's thought on ethics and justice. This theme is intimately connected to his attempt to locate the idea of human action beyond the confines of the subject conceived as the underlying instance to which the will is attributed. His thought in this area is exploratory. In Benjamin's discussions and correspondence with Gershom Scholem, he experiments with ideas deriving from Jewish thought in order to create a locus for his understanding of the ways in which the human being is inserted into the order of justice. It is not prejudicial to the seriousness of this attempt if one notes that this is also partly what was at work in Benjamin's relation to the ideas espoused by Brecht and Adorno. Yet it is above all in the thought broached in the discussions and correspondence with Scholem, in the years preceding the publication of the article “Zur Kritik der Gewalt” in 1921, that Benjamin takes the major steps in his meditation on justice as an order of being. In his essays “Zwei Gedichte von Friedrich Hölderlin” and “Über die Sprache des Menschen und über Sprache überhaupt” of 1914 and 1916 respectively, Benjamin works out the main features of the displacement of the centre of the literary work of art and of language from the subject to the world, to essences, and, in the latter case, to God. In fragments and essays following these first major formulations of his thought, he develops the views on justice that were to find a radical expression in his text “Zur Kritik der Gewalt”. It is not fortuitous that in one of these fragments, “Zur Bedeutung der Zeit in der moralischen Welt”, which probably dates from 1920/21, he employs the image of the storm to evoke the working of God's forgiveness in history. The image was to return in an enigmatic passage in the ninth of his “Geschichtsphilosophische Thesen” of 1940.
„Eine Karikatur der Theorie“. Zur neueren Adorno-Biographik
Authors: von Wussow Philipp
Published: November 2007

I Leben und Objektivierung

Die Hegelsche Forderung, „in der Sache zu sein und ‚nicht immer darüber hinaus‘ “, hat Adorno nicht nur als Anweisung für die philosophische Arbeit verstanden. Sein ganzes Leben galt dem Versuch, sich zu objektivieren – in der Doppelbedeutung objektiv, das heißt konkret gegenständlich zu denken und Gegenstände, nämlich Werke zu produzieren. Der Bezug zur Sache ist für Adorno Maßnahme, um noch im „Freiluftgefängnis“ der Moderne seiner selbst mächtig zu bleiben. Das Subjekt gewinnt sich, indem es sich an das Objekt entäußert – dieser klassischen Idee der Bildung hat er eine neue Fassung gegeben, die explizit als Gegenmittel zu den Regressionen des 20. Jahrhunderts formuliert ist. Denn umgekehrt ist der Ausbruch des Bösen eine Folge der Objektlosigkeit, und der Antisemitismus wird als Projektion verstanden, in der die Beziehung zum Objekt verloren gegangen und die Reflexion ausgefallen sei. Adornos Leben und Werk enthält demgegenüber das anspruchsvolle Programm, es mit der komplexen und schlechten Welt intellektuell aufzunehmen, indem man ihre kulturellen Objektivationen deutet: die großen Kunstwerke und Philosophien ebenso wie die Formen der Popkultur, bis hin zu Umfragen in Frauenzeitschriften und zur Horoskopspalte der Los Angeles Times. Nicht der schlechteste Grund, sich heute mit Adorno zu beschäftigen, ist sein Denken an den Gegenständen entlang.
Magnocellular Projections as the Trigger of Top-Down Facilitation in Recognition
Authors: Kveraga Kestutis , Boshyan Jasmine , Bar Moshe
Published: November 2007

Object recognition is traditionally viewed as a hierarchical, bottom-up neural process. This view has been challenged recently by theoretical models and by findings indicating that top-down processes are involved in facilitating recognition. However, how such high-level information can be activated quickly enough to facilitate the bottom-up processing is yet unknown. We propose that such top-down facilitation is triggered by magnocellular information projected early and rapidly to the orbitofrontal cortex. Using human neuroimaging, we show that stimuli designed to bias processing toward the magnocellular pathway differentially activated the orbitofrontal cortex compared with parvocellular-biased stimuli. Although the magnocellular stimuli had a lower contrast than the parvocellular stimuli, they were recognized faster and just as accurately. Moreover, orbitofrontal activity predicted the performance advantage for the magnocellular, but not for the parvocellular-biased, stimuli, whereas the opposite was true in the fusiform gyrus. Last, analyses of effective connectivity using dynamic causal modeling showed that magnocellular-biased stimuli significantly activated pathways from occipital visual cortex to orbitofrontal cortex and from orbitofrontal cortex to fusiform gyrus. Conversely, parvocellular-biased stimuli significantly activated a pathway from the occipital visual cortex to fusiform gyrus. Our findings support the proposal that fast magnocellular projections linking early visual and inferotemporal object recognition regions with the orbitofrontal cortex facilitate object recognition by enabling the generation of early predictions.
Exogenous Delivery of Heat Shock Protein 70 Increases Lifespan in a Mouse Model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Authors: Gifondorwa David J. , Robinson Mac B. , Hayes Crystal D. , Taylor Anna R. , Prevette David M. , Oppenheim Ronald W. , Caress James , Milligan Carolanne E.
Published: November 2007

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a debilitating neurodegenerative disorder that results in the progressive loss of motoneurons (MNs) in the CNS. Several survival and death mechanisms of MNs have been characterized and it has been determined that MNs do not appear to mount a complete stress response, as determined by the lack of heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) upregulation after several stress paradigms. Hsp70 has been shown to confer neuroprotection and the insufficient availability of Hsp70 may contribute to MNs' susceptibility to death in ALS mice. In this study, recombinant human Hsp70 (rhHsp70) was intraperitoneally injected three times weekly, beginning at postnatal day 50 until endstage, to G93A mutant SOD1 (G93A SOD1) mice. The administration of rhHsp70 was effective at increasing lifespan, delaying symptom onset, preserving motor function and prolonging MN survival. Interestingly, injected rhHsp70 localized to skeletal muscle and was not readily detected in the CNS. Treatment with rhHsp70 also resulted in an increased number of innervated neuromuscular junctions compared with control tissue. Together these results suggest rhHsp70 may delay disease progression in the G93A SOD1 mouse via a yet to be identified peripheral mechanism.
Enhanced Accumulation of Phosphorylated α-Synuclein and Elevated β-Amyloid 42/40 Ratio Caused by Expression of the Presenilin-1 ΔT440 Mutant Associated with Familial Lewy Body Disease and Variant Alzheimer's Disease
Authors: Kaneko Hiroyuki , Kakita Akiyoshi , Kasuga Kensaku , Nozaki Hiroaki , Ishikawa Atsushi , Miyashita Akinori , Kuwano Ryozo , Ito Genta , Iwatsubo Takeshi , Takahashi Hitoshi , Nishizawa Masatoyo , Onodera Osamu , Sisodia Sangram S. , Ikeuchi Takeshi
Published: November 2007

Mutations in thePSEN1gene encoding presenilin 1 (PS1) are linked to a vast majority of pedigrees with early-onset, autosomal dominant forms of familial Alzheimer's disease (FAD). Lewy body (LB) pathology is frequently found in the brains of FAD patients harboringPSEN1mutations. We recently reported on a novel PS1 mutation with the deletion of threonine at codon 440 (ΔT440) in a familial case diagnosed as having the neocortical type of dementia with LBs (DLB) and variant AD. In this report, we investigated the possible involvement of PS1 ΔT440 mutation in aberrant α-synuclein accumulation. We established cell lines that stably express either wild-type (WT) PS1 or the FAD-linked PS1 H163R, E280A, ΔE9, and PS1 ΔT440 mutants and now demonstrate that the expression of the PS1 ΔT440 mutant led to a marked elevation in the ratio of β-amyloid (Aβ) 42/40 peptides in a conditioned medium. More importantly, we report here that the levels of phosphorylated α-synuclein increase in neuronal and non-neuronal cells expressing the PS1 ΔT440 mutant compared with cells that express WT PS1 or the PS1 H163R and E280A variants that are not associated with LB pathology. This finding is consistent with our demonstration of elevated levels of phosphorylated α-synuclein in the detergent-resistant fraction prepared from a patient's brain with PS1 ΔT440 mutation. These observations raise the intriguing suggestion that the mechanism(s) by which the PS1 ΔT440 mutant causes DLB and variant AD are by enhancing the phosphorylation of α-synuclein and the ratio of Aβ42/40peptides, respectively, in the brain.
Índices plaquetários em indivíduos com doença hepática alcoólica crônica
Authors: Costa Ana Cláudia , Ribeiro Barbara , Costa Elísio
Published: November 2007

OBJETIVO: Detectar alterações nos índices plaquetários em indivíduos com doença hepática alcoólica crónica e trombocitopenia e determinar o seu grau de correlação com outros parâmetros hematológicos. MÉTODOS: Foram estudados um total de 65 indivíduos, divididos em dois grupos: controlos (n = 35) e com doença hepática alcoólica crónica e trombocitopenia (n = 30). O grupo controlo foi emparelhado por idade e sexo com o grupo de doentes. A todos eles, foi efectuado hemograma completo, incluindo índices plaquetários. RESULTADOS: Os doentes com doença hepática alcoólica crónica apresentaram contagem de eritrócitos, leucócitos e plaquetas significativamente inferiores aos encontrados na população controlo. O mesmo se verificou com os valores de hemoglobina, hematócrito e valores absolutos de linfócitos e neutrófilos. O volume globular médio, a hemoglobina globular média e o RDW ("red cell distribution width") revelaram-se significativamente superiores no grupo de doentes. Relativamente aos índices plaquetários, foi encontrado aumento estatisticamente significativo do PDW ("platelet distribution width") e uma diminuição estatisticamente significativa no plaquetrócrito no grupo de doentes quando comparado com o grupo controlo. Em relação ao volume plaquetário médio não se encontraram diferenças estatisticamente significativas entre os dois grupos. Foi encontrada correlação estatisticamente significativa entre a contagem de plaquetas e os outros parâmetros hematológicos analisados. O plaquetrócito revelou-se o índice plaquetário que mais se relaciona com os restantes parâmetros hematológicos. CONCLUSÃO: Os doentes com doença hepática alcoólica crónica apresentam diminuição nas três linhas hematopoiéticas, possivelmente associada com o hiperesplenismo que estes doentes apresentam. Adicionalmente às alterações numéricas, encontraram-se alterações morfológicas a nível dos eritrócitos e plaquetas, demonstráveis pelos índices eritrocitários e plaquetários.
Estimulação mecânico-térmica dos pilares palatoglosso
Authors: Alvite Maria de Fátima Lago , Lopes Renata Lobbé Cotta , Costa Milton M. B.
Published: November 2007

RACIONAL: Os pilares palatoglosso foram admitidos como a principal sede dos receptores responsáveis por iniciar a fase faríngea da deglutição. Essa fase reflexa iniciar-se-ia em resposta ao estímulo produzido pelo progresso do bolo e da língua em sentido posterior. Esses conceitos deram base à manobra mecânico-térmica que visa estimular os receptores desses pilares, produzindo respostas motoras capazes de potencializar a recuperação da função faríngea comprometida. O conceito de possível resposta motora ao estímulo desses pilares, embora comum, não é unanimemente aceito. OBJETIVO: Verificar as possíveis respostas motoras produzidas pelo estímulo mecânico- térmico sobre os pilares palatoglosso. MÉTODOS: Por entender que indivíduos sadios são capazes de prover respostas reflexas mais efetivas do que as que seriam obtidas em pacientes, avaliaram-se 51 voluntários adultos sadios de ambos os sexos reproduzindo o estímulo sobre os pilares, usando sonda metálica de ponta romba resfriada em água mantida a 10°C. RESULTADOS E CONSIDERAÇÕES: O estudo mostrou que o estímulo mecânico-térmico sobre os pilares não foi capaz de produzir qualquer resposta motora envolvida na dinâmica da fase faríngea da deglutição. É possível que as respostas contráteis observadas em alguns estudos devam-se ao reflexo de gag inadequadamente interpretado ou a contrações voluntárias inconscientes por esforço de manutenção da abertura da boca e externalização da língua durante a exposição dos pilares para execução da manobra de estimulação mecânico-térmica.
Tolerância de Bradyrhizobium sp. de mimosoideae à acidez em meio de cultura
Authors: Ribeiro Júnior Walter Quadros , Franco Avílio Antonio , Lopes Eli Sidney
Published: November 2007

Foram realizados testes em meio de cultivo acidificado para avaliar a tolerância de 59 estirpes de Bradyrhizobium sp. isolados de Mimosoideae. As culturas, por via de regra, apresentaram crescimento rápido e alcalinização do meio. Das estirpes testadas, dez apresentaram crescimento em meio com valor de pH 4,6 (três, crescimento rápido; um, médio e seis, lento). Destas, oito não induziram alteração visual na cor do indicador bromotimol-azul incluído no meio. A estirpe SMS-513, uma entre essas oito, promoveu acidificação no meio com valor de pH 6,2, sendo considerada tolerante à acidez. Algumas estirpes cresceram em meio de cultura acidificado, somente com alta concentração inicial de células.
Melhoramento do trigo: XXII. Comportamento de linhagens originárias de trigos de inverno e de primavera no Estado de São Paulo
Authors: Camargo Carlos Eduardo de Oliveira , Felício João Carlos , Ferreira Filho Antonio Wilson Penteado , Freitas José Guilherme de , Santos Rui Ribeiro dos , Sabino José Carlos
Published: November 2007

Compararam-se entre si vinte e quatro linhagens e um cultivar comercial de trigo quanto à produção de grãos, componentes da produção e resistência às doenças, através de ensaios instalados em diferentes localidades paulistas, em condição de irrigação por aspersão e de sequeiro. Em casa de vegetação, efetuaram-se estudos de resistência às misturas de raças prevalecentes dos agentes causais da ferrugem-do-colmo e da folha e, em condições de laboratório, estudos da tolerância ao alumínio, em soluções nutritivas. As linhagens IAC-156 e IAC-141 salientaram-se quanto à produção de grãos em condição de irrigação por aspersão e as linhagens IAC-139, IAC-143, IAC-152 e IAC-157 em condição de sequeiro. Em relação à ferrugem-do-colmo (Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici), as linhagens IAC-142, IAC-144, IAC-145, IAC-146, IAC-148, IAC-149, IAC-150, IAC-152, IAC-153, IAC-157 e IAC-158 e o 'Alondra-S-46' exibiram resistência às duas misturas de raças prevalecentes, em estádio de plântula. As linhagens IAC-143 e IAC-150 apresentaram resistência em estádio de plântula às três misturas de raças prevalecentes de ferrugem-da-folha (P. recondita) em casa de vegetação. Esses genótipos também foram resistentes a essa ferrugem em condição de infecção natural no campo, no estádio de planta adulta. As linhagens IAC-140, IAC-143, IAC-145, IAC-150 e IAC-153 mostraram-se resistentes ao oídio, em condição de campo. As linhagens IAC-139, IAC-143, IAC-145, IAC-146, IAC-152, IAC-154, IAC-155 e IAC-158 e o cultivar Alondra-S-46 exibiram plantas de porte baixo. A IAC-147 mostrou ser fonte genética do caráter espiga comprida; a IAC-142, de maior número de espiguetas por espiga; IAC-146 e IAC-147, de maior número de grãos por espiga; IAC-146, IAC-147 e IAC-148, de maior número de grãos por espigueta, e IAC-157, de grãos mais pesados. As linhagens IAC-143, IAC-149, IAC-150 e IAC-156 foram as mais tolerantes à toxicidade de Al3+, porém num grau significativamente menor em relação ao 'BH-1146'.
Deficiência de boro em mamona
Authors: Paulo Edison Martins , Bataglia Ondino Cleante , Kasai Francisco Seiiti , Cavichioli José Carlos
Published: November 2007

No ano agrícola 1987/88, na Estação Experimental de Agronomia da Alta Paulista em Adamantina (SP), foram observados, após um período de seca, em plantas de mamona (Ricinus communis L.) var. IAC-80, sintomas de enrugamento das folhas, necrose do ápice de racemos primários, redução do número de frutos e necrose no caule. Após o reinicio das chuvas, as plantas com sintomas, comparadas às sem sintomas, tinham concentrações mais elevadas de todos os nutrientes, porém apresentavam valores semelhantes de boro. Amostras de solo coletadas sob plantas deficientes tinham concentrações mais baixas de boro do que sob plantas normais. Os dados disponíveis e a semelhança com sintomas observados em outras plantas levaram à conclusão que aqueles estão provavelmente associados à deficiência de boro.