bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Straightforward Synthesis of All Stenusine and Norstenusine Stereoisomers
Authors: Müller Tobias , Dettner Konrad , Seifert Karlheinz
Published: August 2011

All the stereoisomers of stenusine (1) and norstenusine (21) have been efficiently synthesized by the asymmetric hydrogenation of pyridines. The (2R,3S)‐ and (2R,3R)‐isomers of 1, that are difficult to prepare, have been synthesized for the first time using a chemoenzymatic approach in eight steps with an 8 % total yield. All the target compounds were obtained in good stereochemical purity by using very simple and inexpensive reagents and auxiliaries.
Simulations of chemical transport and reaction in a suspension of cells I: an augmented forcing point method for the stationary case
Authors: Yao Lingxing , Fogelson Aaron L.
Published: August 2011

A novel augmented forcing point method is presented to solve the problem of chemical transport in the fluid outside of a collection of suspended cells coupled with chemical reactions on the surfaces of the cells. In this method, the chemical concentrations and the forcing function values are determined simultaneously from an augmented system of equations. The method is more stable and accurate than predictor‐corrector‐type forcing point methods, yields the same solution as a corresponding ghost cell method with much less computational cost, and provides solutions that are pointwise second‐order accurate in space and time, even for closely‐spaced cells. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A Boyden chamber‐based method for characterization of astrocyte protrusion localized RNA and protein
Authors: Thomsen Rune , Lade Nielsen Anders
Published: August 2011

The Boyden chamber assay has been developed for various cell migration and invasion protocols. One variant of the Boyden chamber assay is the pseudopodium isolation assay, which has been developed to identify RNA and proteins localized in pseudopodia cell protrusions. Astrocytes are the most abundant cell type in the CNS and typically extend long cellular protrusions. Increasing interest emerges concerning for example the growth mechanisms and functions of astrocytes in respect to brain development, re‐uptake of neurotransmitters in the synaptic cleft and glial scar formation. Protein and RNA localization mechanisms have been extensively examined in neurons and shown to play pivotal roles for the functional presence of specific protein components in neuronal protrusions. Here we present a simple Boyden chamber based method to isolate astrocyte cell protrusions for biochemical analysis. We have succeeded in isolating protrusion localized RNA and protein from the mouse astrocyte cell line, C8‐S, and mouse primary astrocytes. This is exemplified in biochemical analyses showing specific localization of the mRNA for Ras‐related protein (Rab13), Plakophilin‐4 (Pkp4), Ankyrin Repeat Domain 25 (Ankrd25), and inositol polyphosphate‐1‐phosphatase (Inpp1) in the protrusions of both C8‐S cells and primary astrocytes. Concordant, the Pkp4 protein was also predominantly localized in the protrusions of C8‐S and primary astrocytes. The described methodology can be the basis for both genome wide and specific descriptive and functional studies of RNA and protein localization in the protrusions of astrocytes which could contribute considerably to the existing knowledge of astrocyte functions in the CNS. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Determinants of Spontaneous Surface Antigen Loss in Hepatitis B E Antigen–Negative Patients With A Low Viral Load
Authors: Tseng Tai–Chung , Liu Chun–Jen , Yang Hung–Chih , Su Tung–Hung , Wang Chia–Chi , Chen Chi–Ling , Kuo Stephanie Fang–Tzu , Liu Chen–Hua , Chen Pei–Jer , Chen Ding–Shinn , Kao Jia–Horng
Published: August 2011

Loss of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) usually indicates the cure of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. In spontaneous hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) seroconverters, lower serum HBsAg and HBV DNA levels have been shown to be associated with HBsAg loss over time. However, little is known about their impacts on HBsAg loss in HBeAg–negative patients with limited viral replication. A total of 688 HBeAg–negative patients with baseline serum HBV DNA levels <2000 IU/mL were enrolled in Taiwan. The relationships of HBsAg and HBV DNA levels with subsequent HBsAg loss were investigated. In a mean follow–up of 11.6 years, the average annual rate of HBsAg loss was 1.6%. Baseline HBsAg and HBV DNA levels were inversely associated with subsequent HBsAg loss. When compared to patients who had HBsAg levels >1000 IU/mL, the rates of HBsAg loss were significantly higher in patients with HBsAg levels of 100–999, 10–99, and <10 IU/mL, with hazard ratios of 2.5 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.6–4.0), 2.8 (95% CI, 1.6–5.0), and 13.2 (95% CI, 8.1–21.5), respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that HBsAg level, but not HBV DNA, remained as an independent factor. The adjusted hazard ratio of HBsAg loss was 13.2 (95% CI, 7.8–22.1) for HBsAg level <10 versus ≥1000 IU/mL. When compared to HBV DNA level by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, HBsAg level served as a better predictor of both 5–year and 10–year HBsAg loss.

Conclusion:

In HBeAg–negative patients with HBV genotype B or C infection who have HBV DNA level <2000 IU/mL, HBsAg level <10 IU/mL is the strongest predictor of HBsAg loss. (Hepatology 2012;55:68–76)
Chondrogenic differentiation of adult mesenchymal stem cells and embryonic cells in collagen scaffolds
Authors: Ng Karen K. , Thatte Hemant S. , Spector Myron
Published: August 2011

Many cell types and cellular microenvironments have been explored for articular cartilage tissue engineering. We compared the potential of bone marrow‐derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and P19 embryonic carcinoma cells (ECCs), a pluripotent derivative of embryonic stem cells (ESCs), for cartilage histogenesis in porous collagen scaffolds in vitro. We found that while both MSCs and ECCs express α‐smooth muscle actin (α‐SMA), only MSCs exhibit condensation and contraction necessary for cartilage histogenesis. Furthermore, histology confirmed that only MSCs exhibited sulfated glycosaminoglycans and collagen type II formation after 14 days in culture. We conclude that MSCs appear to be superior over ECCs for cartilage regeneration under particular culture conditions. The α‐SMA‐expressing ECCs may not have contracted due to the absence of actin unit polymerization or the absence of myosin molecules. Our observations may explain the absence of a contractile scar in fetal wound healing. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A:, 2011.
Optimized conditions for mesenchymal stem cells to differentiate into osteoblasts on a collagen/hydroxyapatite matrix
Authors: Prosecká E. , Rampichová M. , Vojtová L. , Tvrdík D. , Melčáková Š. , Juhasová J. , Plencner M. , Jakubová R. , Jančář J. , Nečas A. , Kochová P. , Klepáček J. , Tonar Z. , Amler E.
Published: August 2011

Collagen/hydroxyapatite (HA) composite scaffolds are known to be suitable scaffolds for seeding with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) differentiated into osteoblasts and for the in vitro production of artificial bones. However, the optimal collagen/HA ratio remains unclear. Our study confirmed that a higher collagen content increased scaffold stiffness but that a greater stiffness was not sufficient for bone tissue formation, a complex process evidently also dependent on scaffold porosity. We found that the scaffold pore diameter was dependent on the concentration of collagen and HA and that it could play a key role in cell seeding. In conclusion, the optimal scaffold for new bone formation and cell proliferation was found to be a composite scaffold formed from 50 wt % HA in 0.5 wt % collagen I solution. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 2011.
Biosensor Förster resonance energy transfer detection by the phasor approach to fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy
Authors: Hinde Elizabeth , Digman Michelle A. , Welch Christopher , Hahn Klaus M. , Gratton Enrico
Published: August 2011

We present here the phasor approach to biosensor Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) detection by fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) and show that this method of data representation is robust towards biosensor design as well as the fluorescence artifacts inherent to the cellular environment. We demonstrate this property on a series of dual and single chain biosensors, which report the localization of Rac1 and RhoA activity, whilst performing concomitant ratiometric FRET analysis on the acquired FLIM data by the generalized polarization (GP) approach. We then evaluate and compare the ability of these two methods to quantitatively image biosensor FRET signal as a function of time and space. We find that with lifetime analysis in the phasor plot each molecular species is transformed into a two‐dimensional coordinate system where independent mixtures of fluorophores can be distinguished from changes in lifetime due to FRET. This enables the fractional contribution of the free and bound state of a dual chain biosensor or the low and high FRET species of a single chain biosensor to be quantified in each pixel of an image. The physical properties intrinsic to each biosensor design are also accurately characterized by the phasor analysis; thus, this method could be used to inform biosensor optimization at the developmental stage. We believe that as biosensors become more sophisticated and are multiplexed with other fluorescent molecular tools, biosensor FRET detection by the phasor approach to FLIM will not only become imperative to their use but also their advancement. Microsc. Res. Tech., 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A simple synthesis of trisubstituted quinolines through transesterification
Authors: Patil Dipti R. , Deshmukh Madhukar B. , Salunkhe Sonali M. , Anbhule Prashant V.
Published: August 2011

An efficient and simple method has been reported for the synthesis of 2,3,4‐trisubstituted quinolines through zwitterion intermediate under reflux condition in presence of sulfuric acid. The formed dicarboxylate subsequently undergoes transesterification in various alcohols with good yields. Most of the synthesized compounds are newly reported characterized by spectroscopic method. J. Heterocyclic Chem., (2011).
An efficient synthesis of 2,3,4‐trisubstituted quinolines through alkynylation‐cyclization at ambient temperature
Authors: Patil Dipti R. , Salunkhe Sonali M. , Deshmukh Madhukar B. , Anbhule Prashant V.
Published: August 2011

A series of 2,3,4‐trisubstituted quinoline derivatives have been synthesized by reactions between 2‐aminoaryl ketones and dialkyl acetylenedicarboxylate. The synthetic pathway allows for the direct construction of said quinoline derivatives in pyridine/ethanol at ambient temperature through a zwitterion intermediate. J. Heterocyclic Chem., (2011)
Molecular iodine‐catalyzed one‐pot synthesis of tetrahydrobenzo[a]xanthene‐11‐one and diazabenzo[a]anthracene‐9,11‐dione derivatives under microwave irradiation
Authors: Sun X. J. , Zhou J. F. , Zhao P. S.
Published: August 2011

An efficient one‐pot condensation of β‐naphthol, aldehydes, and cyclic 1,3‐dicarbonyl compounds has been achieved with molecular iodine as a catalyst under microwave irradiation, thus a variety of tetrahydrobenzo[a]xanthene‐11‐one and diazabenzo[a]anthracene‐9,11‐dione derivatives were prepared in good yields. J. Heterocyclic Chem., (2011).
2‐Arylhydroxynitroindoles: A new procedure for the cleavage of aryl methyl ethers
Authors: Kokurkina G. V. , Dutov M. D. , Shevelev S. A.
Published: August 2011

A new procedure for the cleavage of aryl methyl ethers was developed. On this basis representatives of new types of 2‐arylhydroxynitroindoles were synthesized. J. Heterocyclic Chem., (2011).
Hepatic Blood Flow Plays an Important Role in Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury†
Authors: Kelly Dympna M. , Shiba Hiroaki , Nakagawa Shunichi , Irefin Samuel , Eghtesad Bijan , Quintini Cristiano , Aucejo Federico , Hashimoto Koji , Fung John J. , Miller Charles
Published: August 2011

Severe ischemia/reperfusion (IR) injury is associated with poor hepatic microperfusion. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of hepatic artery flow (HAF) and portal vein flow (PVF) in IR injury. From January 2004 to June 2008, 566 patients underwent orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). The data were retrospectively reviewed via the transplant database. Patients with hepatic artery (HA) or portal vein (PV) thrombosis and retransplant patients were excluded. Intraoperative PVF and HAF values and graft weights were measured routinely, and the central venous pressure, mean arterial pressure, cardiac output, and cardiac index were recorded with hepatic blood flow measurements. Complete data were available for 312 primary OLT recipients (215 males and 97 females; mean age = 54 ± 10 years). The patients' follow-up ranged from 215 to 1746 days (705 ± 408 days). IR injury was defined by the aspartate aminotransferase (AST) level on postoperative day (POD) 2, and the patients were divided into 3 groups: (1) mild IR injury [AST < 500 U/L; n = 160 (51%)], (2) moderate IR injury [AST = 500-1000 U/L; n = 85 (27%)], and (3) severe IR injury [AST > 1000 U/L; n = 67 (21%)]. The demographics and pre-OLT variables (the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease score (MELD), platelet counts, PV thrombosis, transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunts, and shunts on computed tomography scans) were similar in all groups. The graft survival rate was 99% in group 1, 95.2% in group 2 (P = 0.02), and 92.3% in group 3 (P = 0.016). The patient survival rates were similar in the 3 groups. The cold ischemia time (CIT) was significantly higher in group 3 versus group 1 (P < 0.007). In the statistical analysis, low HAF, PVF, total liver blood flow (TLBF), and augmented HAF values were associated with a greater likelihood of elevated AST levels on POD 2. The strongest univariate predictors of AST were reduced augmented HAF (mL/minute/100 g) values (P < 0.001) and reduced TLBF (mL/minute/100 g) values (P < 0.001). In a covariate analysis with adjustments for CIT and donor variables, the blood flow parameters remained important predictors of graft function. In conclusion, this report demonstrates for the first time that reduced hepatic blood flow is a significant finding in patients with severe hepatic IR injury. Liver Transpl, 2011. © 2011 AASLD.
Discrepancies between the electronic medical record, the prescriptions in the Swedish national prescription repository and the current medication reported by patients
Authors: Ekedahl Anders , Brosius Helen , Jönsson Julia , Karlsson Hanna , Yngvesson Maria
Published: August 2011

Purpose

To study discrepancies between (i) the prescribed current treatment stated by patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) compared with patients with other chronic diseases, (ii) the data in the medication list (ML) in the electronic medical record and (iii) the data in the prescription list (PL) on the prescriptions stored in the national prescription repository in Sweden, to determine current, noncurrent, duplicate and missing prescriptions.

Methods

At one healthcare centre, a random sample of patients 18 years and older with a diagnosis of CHF, diabetes mellitus (DM) or osteoarthritis (OA) provided written informed consent to participate. Participants were interviewed by telephone on the prescribed current treatment.

Results

Of 161 invited patients (61 CHF, 50 DM and 50 OA), 66 patients were included. More than 80% of the patients had at least one discrepancy, a noncurrent, a duplicate or a missing prescription, in the ML and PL. The overall congruence for unique prescriptions on current treatment between the ML and the PL was only 55%. Patients with CHF had overall more discrepancies and patients with DM fewer discrepancies in the ML.

Conclusions

Prescriptions for noncurrent treatment, duplicates and missing prescriptions are common in both the ML in the electronic medical record and the list on prescriptions stored in the Swedish National Prescription Repository. Patients with CHF had more discrepancies in the ML. The risk for medication errors in primary care due to incorrect information on prescribed treatment may be substantial. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Direct evidence that the carboxyl‐terminal sequence of a bacterial chemoreceptor is an unstructured linker and enzyme tether
Authors: Bartelli Nicholas L. , Hazelbauer Gerald L.
Published: August 2011

Sensory adaptation in bacterial chemotaxis involves reversible methylation of specific glutamyl residues on chemoreceptors. The reactions are catalyzed by a dedicated methyltransferase and dedicated methylesterase. In Escherichia coli and related organisms, control of these enzymes includes an evolutionarily recent addition of interaction with a pentapeptide activator located at the carboxyl terminus of the receptor polypeptide chain. Effective enzyme activation requires not only the pentapeptide but also a segment of the receptor polypeptide chain between that sequence and the coiled‐coil body of the chemoreceptor. This segment has features consistent with a role as a flexible and presumably unstructured linker and enzyme tether, but there has been no direct information about its structure. We used site‐directed spin labeling and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy to characterize structural features of the carboxyl‐terminal 40 residues of E. coli chemoreceptor Tar. Beginning ∼ 35 residues from the carboxyl terminus and continuing to the end of the protein, spectra of spin‐labeled Tar embedded in native membranes or in reconstituted proteoliposomes, exhibited mobilities characteristic of unstructured, disordered segments. Binding of methyltransferase substantially reduced mobility for positions in or near the pentapeptide but mobility for the linker sequence remained high, being only modestly reduced in a gradient of decreasing effects for 10–15 residues, a pattern consistent with the linker providing a flexible arm that would allow enzyme diffusion within defined limits. Thus, our data identify that the carboxyl‐terminal linker between the receptor body and the pentapeptide is an unstructured, disordered segment that can serve as a flexible arm and enzyme tether.
Energy‐Absorbing Properties of Paper Honeycombs under Low and Intermediate Strain Rates
Authors: Wang Zhi‐Wei , E Yu‐Ping
Published: August 2011

The effect of the strain rate on the mechanical behaviour and energy absorption of paper honeycombs is investigated by experiments on an environmental condition designed to simulate the actual logistic environment in most of South China. The strain rate varies from 3.3 × 10−4 to 1.1 × 102 s−1. The experimental results show that the load‐carrying capacity and the energy absorption performance of paper honeycombs are insensitive to the loading speed in low strain rate range (10−4–10−2 s−1). However, the initial peak stress, the plateau stress and the densification strain of paper honeycombs under intermediate strain rate impact (10−2–102 s−1) increase with impact velocity and are obviously higher than that under static compression, thus demonstrating a certain degree of strain rate sensitivity. The restoring force due to gas compression in a confined space of hexagonal cavity contributes to the increase in dynamic plateau stress. A model is developed for the prediction of dynamic plateau stress by considering this restoring force. A good agreement between observation and prediction is obtained, indicating that the model constructed here can be used to evaluate the dynamic plateau stress for paper honeycombs. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Mitochondria‐Targeting Single‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes for Cancer Photothermal Therapy
Authors: Zhou Feifan , Wu Shengnan , Wu Baoyan , Chen Wei R. , Xing Da
Published: August 2011

Nanomaterials have recently attracted much attention as efficient transducers for cancer photothermal therapy, based on their intrinsic absorption properties in the near‐infrared region. This study explores a novel therapy model with mitochondria‐targeting single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), which act efficiently to convert 980‐nm laser energy into heat and selectively destroy the target mitochondria, thereby inducing mitochondrial depolarization, cytochrome c release, and caspase 3 activation. The laser+SWNTs process affords remarkable efficacy in suppressing tumor growth in a breast cancer model, and results in complete tumor regression in some cases. Laser+SWNTs could prove to be a promising selective local treatment modality, while minimizing adverse side effects.
Acetylcholine α7 nicotinic and dopamine D2 receptors are targeted to many of the same postsynaptic dendrites and astrocytes in the rodent prefrontal cortex
Authors: Duffy Aine M. , Fitzgerald Megan L. , Chan June , Robinson Danielle C. , Milner Teresa A. , Mackie Kenneth , Pickel Virginia M.
Published: August 2011

The alpha‐7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7nAChR) and the dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) are both implicated in attentional processes and cognition, mediated in part through the prefrontal cortex (PFC). We examined the dual electron microscopic immunolabeling of α7nAChR and either D2R or the vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT) in rodent PFC to assess convergent functional activation sites. Immunoreactivity (ir) for α7nAChR and/or D2R was seen in the same as well as separate neuronal and glial profiles. At least half of the dually labeled profiles were somata and dendrites, while most labeled axon terminals expressed only D2R‐ir. The D2R‐labeled terminals were without synaptic specializations or formed inhibitory or excitatory‐type synapses with somatodendritic profiles, some of which expressed the α7nAChR and/or D2R. Astrocytic glial processes comprised the majority of nonsomatodendritic α7nAChR or α7nAChR and D2R‐labeled profiles. Glial processes containing α7nAChR‐ir were frequently located near VAChT‐labeled terminals and also showed perisynaptic and perivascular associations. We conclude that in rodent PFC α7nACh and D2R activation can dually modulate (1) postsynaptic dendritic responses within the same or separate but synaptically linked neurons in which the D2R has the predominately presynaptic distribution, and (2) astrocytic signaling that may be crucial for synaptic transmission and functional hyperemia. Synapse, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Mining flexible‐receptor molecular docking data
Authors: Machado Karina S. , Winck Ana T. , Ruiz Duncan D. , Norberto de Souza Osmar
Published: August 2011

Knowledge discovery in databases has become an integral part of practically every aspect of bioinformatics research, which usually produces, and has to process, very large amounts of data. Rational drug design is one of the current scientific areas that has greatly benefited from bioinformatics, particularly a step, which analyzes receptor–ligand interactions via molecular docking simulations. An important challenge is the inclusion of the receptor flexibility since they can become computationally very demanding. We have represented this explicit flexibility as a series of different conformations derived from a molecular dynamics simulation trajectory of the receptor. This model has been termed as the fully flexible receptor (FFR) model. In our studies, the receptor is the enzyme InhA from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is the major drug target for the treatment of tuberculosis. The FFR model of InhA (named FFR_InhA) was docked to four ligands, namely, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, pentacyano(isoniazid)ferrate II, triclosan, and ethionamide, thus, generating very large amounts of data, which needs to be mined to produce useful knowledge to help accelerate drug discovery and development. Very little work has been done in this area. In this article, we review our work on the application of classification decision trees, regression model tree, and association rules using properly preprocessed data of the FFR molecular docking results, and show how they can provide an improved understanding of the FFR_InhA‐ligand behavior. Furthermore, we explain how data mining techniques can support the acceleration of molecular docking simulations of FFR models. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. WIREs Data Mining Knowl Discov 2011 1 532–541 DOI: 10.1002/widm.46

This article is categorized under:

Algorithmic Development > Biological Data Mining

Technologies > Data Preprocessing
Invariant diagrams with data refinement
Authors: Preoteasa Viorel , Back Ralph-Johan
Published: August 2011

Invariant based programming
is an approach where we start to construct a program by first identifying the basic situations (pre- and post-conditions as well as invariants) that could arise during the execution of the algorithm. These situations are identified before any code is written. After that, we identify the transitions between the situations, which will give us the flow of control in the program. Data refinement is a technique of building correct programs working on concrete data structures as refinements of more abstract programs working on abstract data types. We study in this paper data refinement for invariant based programs and we apply it to the construction of the classical Deutsch–Schorr–Waite graph marking algorithm. Our results are formalized and mechanically proved in the Isabelle/HOL theorem prover.
Comparison of microbial hosts and expression systems for mammalian CYP1A1 catalysis
Authors: Cornelissen Sjef , Julsing Mattijs K , Schmid Andreas , Bühler Bruno
Published: August 2011

Mammalian cytochrome P450 enzymes are of special interest as biocatalysts for fine chemical and drug metabolite synthesis. In this study, the potential of different recombinant microorganisms expressing rat and human cyp1a1 genes is evaluated for such applications. The maximum specific activity for 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylation and gene expression levels were used as parameters to judge biocatalyst performance. Under comparable conditions, E. coli is shown to be superior over the use of S. cerevisiae and P. putida as hosts for biocatalysis. Of all tested E. coli strains, E. coli DH5α and E. coli JM101 harboring rat CYP1A1 showed the highest activities (0.43 and 0.42 U gCDW  −1, respectively). Detection of active CYP1A1 in cell-free E. coli extracts was found to be difficult and only for E. coli DH5α, expression levels could be determined (41 nmol gCDW  −1). The presented results show that efficient expression of mammalian cyp1a1 genes in recombinant microorganisms is troublesome and host-dependent and that enhancing expression levels is crucial in order to obtain more efficient biocatalysts. Specific activities currently obtained are not sufficient yet for fine chemical production, but are sufficient for preparative-scale drug metabolite synthesis.
Clonal integration in Fragaria vesca growing in metal‐polluted soils: parents face penalties for establishing their offspring in unsuitable environments
Authors: Roiloa Sergio R. , Retuerto Rubén
Published: August 2011

Clonal plants often establish descendent ramets in sites with contrasting presence of favourable and unfavourable factors. Connections between ramets allow translocation of essential resources from established ramets to developing ramets and, as consequence, integration confers net benefits to ramets growing under unfavourable conditions. Therefore, integrated ramets may survive in habitat patches that would be lethal to independent ramets or non‐clonal plants. This experiment aimed to investigate the physiological and morphological responses of the clonal plant Fragaria vesca growing in heterogeneous substrate with patches of contrasting quality (i.e. uncontaminated or heavy‐metal‐contaminated). We observed that parents reduced their photosynthetic efficiencies and growth as consequence of maintaining their offspring. This cost did not affect survival of the parents. Physiological integration brings about benefits to offspring ramets growing both at uncontaminated and heavy‐metal‐contaminated soils. The benefits of integration were detected in both physiological and morphological traits, enhancing the survivorship of offspring ramets in the Cu‐polluted soils. We conclude that integration improves the performance of developing ramets of F. vesca growing in heavy‐metal‐contaminated habitats, allowing clone systems to overcome the establishment risks and maintain their presence in these less favourable sites.
Lipoic Acid Attenuates Innate Immune Infiltration and Activation in the Visceral Adipose Tissue of Obese Insulin Resistant Mice
Authors: Deiuliis J. A. , Kampfrath T. , Ying Z. , Maiseyeu A. , Rajagopalan S.
Published: August 2011

Visceral adipose inflammation mediated by innate and adaptive immune alterations plays a critical role in diet‐induced obesity and insulin resistance (IR). The dietary supplement α‐lipoic acid (αLA) has been shown to ameliorate inflammatory processes in macrophages, however the relative significance of these effects in the context of visceral adipose inflammation and IR remain unknown. In this study we investigated its effects via both intraperitoneal and oral administration in lean and obese transgenic mice expressing yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) under control of a monocyte specific promoter (c‐fmsYFP+). αLA significantly improved indices of insulin‐resistance concomitant with a decrease in total (YFP+CD11b+) and activated (YFP+CD11b+CD11c+) visceral adipose tissue macrophages. Histologically, the visceral adipose tissue of obese mice receiving αLA had fewer “crown‐like structures,” a hallmark of adipose inflammation in murine obesity. Monocyte adhesion assessed by intravital microscopy of cremasteric venules was attenuated by αLA. In cultured WT and toll‐like receptor 4 (TLR4) null primary mouse macrophages, αLA significantly decreased basal CCR‐2, MCP‐1 and TNF‐α expression levels. LPS treatment resulted in increased TNFα, MCP‐1, and IL‐6 expression while αLA partially abrogated the LPS effect on MCP‐1 and TNFα; Interestingly, CCR‐2 was not coordinately regulated. AαLA prevented LPS‐induced nuclear factor kappa B (NFκB) activation in the same cultured macrophages. These data suggest that αLA may modulate visceral adipose inflammation, a critical determinant of IR via TLR4 and NF‐κB pathways.
Ethnic Enclaves and the Earnings of Immigrants
Authors: Xie Yu , Gough Margaret
Published: August 2011

A large literature in sociology concerns the implications of immigrants’ participation in ethnic enclaves for their economic and social well-being. The “enclave thesis” speculates that immigrants benefit from working in ethnic enclaves. Previous research concerning the effects of enclave participation on immigrants’ economic outcomes has come to mixed conclusions as to whether enclave effects are positive or negative. In this article, we seek to extend and improve upon past work by formulating testable hypotheses based on the enclave thesis and testing them with data from the 2003 New Immigrant Survey (NIS), employing both residence-based and workplace-based measures of the ethnic enclave. We compare the economic outcomes of immigrants working in ethnic enclaves with those of immigrants working in the mainstream economy. Our research yields minimal support for the enclave thesis. Our results further indicate that for some immigrant groups, ethnic enclave participation actually has a negative effect on economic outcomes.
Metropolitan Structure and Neighborhood Attainment: Exploring Intermetropolitan Variation in Racial Residential Segregation
Authors: South Scott J. , Crowder Kyle , Pais Jeremy
Published: August 2011

Using data from the 1981, 1991, and 2001 waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and several decennial censuses, we examine how characteristics of metropolitan areas are associated with black and white households’ neighborhood racial composition. Results from hierarchical linear models show that about 20% to 40% of the variation in the percentage of households’ tract population that is non-Hispanic white or non-Hispanic black exists across metropolitan areas. Over time, white households’ exposure to non-Hispanic white neighbors has declined, and their exposure to non-Hispanic black neighbors has increased; the reverse trends are observed for blacks. These trends cannot be attributed to changes in the ecological structure of metropolitan areas. Blacks have fewer white neighbors in large metropolitan areas containing sizable minority populations, and blacks have more white neighbors in metropolitan areas with high government employment. Whites have more black neighbors in metropolitan areas with high levels of government employment and ample new housing; whites have fewer black neighbors in metropolitan areas with a high level of municipal fragmentation. The association between metropolitan-area percentage black and tract percentage black is weaker among whites than among blacks, suggesting that whites are especially motivated to self-segregate in metropolitan areas with large black populations.
Commutability of homogenization and linearization at identity in finite elasticity and applications
Authors: Gloria Antoine , Neukamm Stefan
Published: August 2011

We prove under some general assumptions on elastic energy densities (namely, frame indifference, minimality at identity, non-degeneracy and existence of a quadratic expansion at identity) that homogenization and linearization commute at identity. This generalizes a recent result by S. Müller and the second author by dropping their assumption of periodicity. As a first application, we extend their

Γ

-convergence commutation diagram for linearization and homogenization to the stochastic setting under standard growth conditions. As a second application, we prove that the

Γ

-closure is local at identity for this class of energy densities.

Nous démontrons que linéarisation et homogénéisation commutent à lʼidentité sous des hypothèses générales sur la densité dʼénergie élastique (à savoir indifférence matérielle, minimalité à lʼidentité, non-dégénérescence et existence dʼun développement quadratique à lʼidentité). Ceci généralise un résultat récent de S. Müller et du second auteur au cas non-périodique. En particulier, nous étendons au cas de lʼhomogénéisation stochastique leur diagramme de commutation de la linéarisation et de lʼhomogénéisation au sens de la

Γ

-convergence. Par ailleurs, nous démontrons que la

Γ

-fermeture est locale à lʼidentité pour la classe de densités dʼénergie non convexes considérée.
Does selection or genetic drift explain geographic differentiation of morphological characters in house sparrowsPasser domesticus?
Authors: HOLAND ANNA M. , JENSEN HENRIK , TUFTO JARLE , MOE RUNE
Published: August 2011

Understanding the relative influence of genetic drift and selection is fundamental in evolutionary biology. The theory of neutrality predicts that the genetic differentiation of a quantitative trait (QST) equals the genetic differentiation at neutral molecular markers (FST) if the quantitative trait has not been under selection. Thus, the relative magnitude of observedQSTand expectedQSTunder neutral expectations suggests the importance of selection and genetic drift for any observed phenotypic divergence. BecauseQSTis based on additive genetic variance, estimatingQSTbased on phenotypic measurements is problematic due to unknown environmental effects. To account for this, we used a model where the environmental component was allowed to vary when estimatingQST. The model was used on data from 14 house sparrow (Passer domesticus) populations in Norway. In accordance with the significant phenotypic inter-population differences our analyses suggested that directional selection may have favoured different optimal phenotypes for some morphological traits across populations. In particular, different body mass and male ornamental phenotypes seemed to have been favoured. The conclusions are, however, dependent on assumptions regarding the proportion of the observed inter-population variation that is due to additive genetic differences, showing the importance of collecting such information in natural populations. By estimatingQST, allowing the additive genetic proportion of phenotypic inter-population variation to vary, and by making use of recent statistical methods to compare observedQSTwith neutral expectations, we can use data that are relatively easy to collect to identify adaptive variation in natural populations.
The Third Chapter of Ἀbot De-Rabbi Natan
Authors: Goldin Judah
Published: August 2011

It was Solomon Schechter who (in accordance also with the emendation of many Commentators) first (1887) suggested in his important edition that the third chapter of Version A of Ἀbot de-Rabbi Natan begins with the quotation of the second clause in the saying of the Ἀnshe Keneset ha-Gedolah, “and raise many disciples,” and the comments of the Shammaites and Hillelites which follow: “For the School of Shammai says: One ought to teach only him who is talented and meek and of distinguished ancestry and rich. But the School of Hillel says: One ought to teach every man, for there were many in Israel who had been sinners and were drawn to the study of Torah, and from them descended righteous (ṣaddiqim), pious (hasidim), and worthy folk.”
The Christian God of Philosophy
Authors: Keating James W.
Published: August 2011

For over thirty years, Gilson and others have defended the thesis that “Christian philosophy” is not only a possibility, but also an actuality. This position has had many critics and the debate continues to this day. It appears, however, that Gilson has never been challenged on a subsidiary, but more radical, thesis. It is startling to find that, while the phrase “Christian philosophy” has been debated for decades, Gilson's peculiar and strained usage of the much more common phrase, “the Christian God,” has gone unchallenged, apparently even unnoticed. As the term is generally understood, the Christian God is the Triune, the Incarnate God, the Redeemer of mankind as well as the Creator of all things. Gilson, of course, would readily admit all of this. But it is his contention, perhaps a unique one, that we can speak of the Christian God of philosophy as well as of revealed theology. The former, the Christian God of metaphysics, is born of a recognition of the existential import of God's proper name as He revealed it to Moses.
Barth on Feuerbach
Authors: Glasse John
Published: August 2011

In view of the fatefulness of Ludwig Feuerbach for religion in the modern world, it is curious that recent theologians have written so little about him. For the most widely effective critiques of religion in our time, those by Marx and Freud, are both variations on a theme that received its classic expression not from them but from him. Yet Karl Barth is the one major theological figure of today who has explicitly concerned himself with Feuerbach over the years. Even if Barth had no other bearing on our situation than this, his reflections on Feuerbach would merit the attention I propose to give them by considering three questions: (1) Who is the Feuerbach with whom Barth has been concerned? (2) How has Barth responded to him? (3) Has he answered him?
Notes on Patristic Philosophy
Authors: Wolfson Harry A.
Published: August 2011

Three eminent scholars, Professors Robert M. Grant, T. A. Burkill, and Cyril C. Richardson, in their reviews of my Religious Philosophy, have raised certain problems touching on topics in Patristic philosophy. The problems are of such importance as to call for further consideration.
Yahweh and the God of the Patriarchs
Authors: Cross Frank Moore
Published: August 2011

The modern discussion of Patriarchal religion may be said to begin with the brilliant essay of Albrecht Alt, Der Gott der Väter, published in 1929. Alt proposed to use new means to penetrate into the pre-history of Israel's traditions of the old time. He repudiated the methods of such earlier scholars as Robertson Smith and Julius Wellhausen, who attempted to reconstruct the pre-Yahwistic stage of the tribal forebears of Israel by sifting Israel's early but fully Yahwistic sources for primitive features, primitive in terms of an apriori typology of religious ideas derived largely from nineteenth century idealism. Such procedures, Alt recognized, yielded merely the superstitious dregs of Israelite religion at any of its stages. As early as 1929, it was obvious to him that the archaeological data bearing on the second millennium gave a very different picture from that painted by the older historians. At least it was clear that the religion of Israel's neighbors was on a very much more sophisticated level than that being predicated for the pre-Mosaic tribes.
Four Medieval Views of Creation
Authors: Gay John H.
Published: August 2011

It is possible to view the natural world in two ways: as necessary, bound by consubstantial ties to whatever else has being; or as contingent, possessing being only through the free power of something else which is itself necessary. These two positions in their purest form are naturalism and supernaturalism, the one monistic and the other dualistic. According to the first, the natural world is all that is; and self-understanding and self-realization are the proper activities of man. According to the second, the natural world must bow before its Creator, Who brought it into being from pure nothingness; and the proper activities of man are work and worship. Exemplary of these positions are the Timaeus of Plato and the creation narrative of Genesis 1:1–2:4a.
To Heaven in A Swing: The Transcendentalism of Cyrus Bartol
Authors: Hutchison William R.
Published: August 2011

Among the many popular descriptions of New England Transcendentalism which ran current in its own day, the most usual and least malicious were those which stressed its ethereality. Transcendentalism means “a little beyond,” said Emerson's friend with a wave of her hand. A meeting of the Club was like going to heaven in a swing, according to one earth-bound observer. And for many Bostonians “the model Transcendentalist,” as O. B. Frothingham pointed out, was not Emerson or Parker but Cyrus Bartol, minister of the West Church. For Bartol appeared to fit the public preconception. “He seems a man who lives above the clouds,” Frothingham remarked, “— not always above them, either.”
A Further Link Between the Judean Covenanters and the Essenes
Authors: Talmon Shemaryahu
Published: August 2011

The last lines of CD plate xi (lines 21–23) have baffled commentators although the text is practically intact, except for a lacuna at the very end of line 23. The words employed in the passage by themselves are easily understood. It is their combination which causes difficulties. Especially the latter part of the passage under review—xi. 22b–xii. 1a—as yet has not been convincingly interpreted. The legal matter there dealt with remains unexplained. When editing CD for the first time S. Schechter frankly admitted: “The meaning of the law is entirely obscure to me.” And with C. Rabin's painstaking edition at hand H. Bardtke still maintains: “die Vorschrift Zeile 22b–23 kann nur unbefriedigend erklaert werden.” In view of this impasse a new attempt at a solution may be permitted.
Mortality and Contemporary Literature
Authors: Wilder Amos N.
Published: August 2011

If we speak here of contemporary literature, let us nevertheless recall that in all ages men have recorded certain common responses to death and mortality that vary little. The universal themes of dread and stupor, of grief and compunction, of transience and corruptibility — such poignancies of our finite condition underlie whatever special cultural or even religious influences come into play, or whatever particular hopes are projected. It is for this reason that elegies for fallen heroes and laments for toppled cities and broken hopes, in Job or Homer, are still moving, or the heartbreak in a papyrus letter, or the plangent grief of Catullus as he comes across many seas to his brother's grave,

ut te postremo donarem munere mortis

et mutam nequiquam adloquerer cinerem.

Indeed, we must say that it is only in total openness to such common experience of grief and trepidation that other more positive overtones of death can make themselves felt and justify themselves.
Jonathan Edwards on the Sense of the Heart
Authors: Miller Perry
Published: August 2011

The reputation of Jonathan Edwards, impressive though it is, rests upon only a fragmentary representation of the range or profundity of his thinking. Harassed by events and controversies, he was forced repeatedly to put aside his real work and to expend his energies in turning out sermons, defenses of the Great Awakening, or theological polemics. Only two of his published books (and those the shortest), The Nature of True Virtue and The End for which God Created the World, were not ad hoc productions. Even The Freedom of the Will is primarily a dispute, aimed at silencing the enemy rather than expounding a philosophy. He died with his Summa still a mass of notes in a bundle of home-made folios, the handwriting barely legible. The conventional estimate that Edwards was America's greatest metaphysical genius is a tribute to his youthful Notes on the Mind — which were a crude forecast of the system at which he labored for the rest of his days — and to a few incidental flashes that illumine his forensic argumentations. The American mind is immeasurably the poorer that he was not permitted to bring into order his accumulated meditations.
The Consecration of Faustina the Elder and Her Daughter
Authors: Mattingly Harold
Published: August 2011

That there is something strange and unusual about the ‘consecration’ coinage of Faustina the Elder, and, to a less degree, of her daughter too, has always been apparent to the student: it was forced on my own attention while I was writing the Introduction to B. M. C. Empire, IV. If I return to the subject, it is because it seems that there is still something to be added to the results already obtained.
Neotera
Authors: Bonner Campbell , Nock Arthur Darby
Published: August 2011

A small gem in the possession of Mr. Henri Seyrig, Director of the French Archaeological Institute in Beyrouth, may be briefly described as follows:

Obverse. Inscription in five lines, μέγα τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ κυρίου Σάραπις. Crescent moon under the last line.

Reverse. Inscription in six and a half lines,μεγάλη τύχη τῆς ἀνικήτον νεωτέρας. Star after the last letter.

Brown and dark green jasper. Upright oval, 18 × 13 mm.

The obverse inscription, without κυρίου, encircles a bust a Sarapis engraved on a jasper in the British Museum; see British Museum Quarterly, 11, 33-34. Several more examples, all omitting κυρίου, are cited by Peterson (Heis Theos, 208 f.). Almost all of them treat the name Σάραπις as indeclinable. Evidently the sentence is a common acclamation, which requires no further comment.

The inscription on the reverse, which has not been found elsewhere in just this form, needs closer examination.
Keres and Lemures
Authors: Rose Herbert Jennings
Published: August 2011

It is well-nigh an article of faith, repeated from one manual to another, that at the end of the third day of the Anthesteria at Athens, the Chytroi, the Athenians used to say θύραζε κῆρες, οὐκέτ᾽ ᾿Ανθεστήρια and that this meant “go away, ghosts, the Anthesteria are over.” It is the more interesting because, if κῆρες means “ghosts” here, it is the only passage in all literature where it does so; and also because this is far from being the only account of the saying, be it an old liturgical formula or not, that has come down to us. In what seems the better tradition of Zenobios the paroemiographer we have Kᾶρες, which probably goes back to Didymos and through him to some older author still, it may be Demon, i.e., to early Hellenistic times. It is accompanied by a silly, pseudohistorical explanation, clearly coined to suit the occasion, that in old days a part of Attica was held by Karians, who were allowed to come into Athens for the festival and then told to go away when it was over. A later MS. tradition, still in Zenobios, says that “some” said κῆρες, but offers no explanation. Photios in his lexicon and Suidas copying him quote the saying in both forms, but this time with a different explanation of Kᾶρες it means “Karian slaves” and bids them go about their work (presumably in the fields) now that the festival, in which they were allowed to share, is at an end.