bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Protocols for Time Tradeoff Valuations of Health States Worse than Dead: A Literature Review
Authors: Tilling Carl , Devlin Nancy , Tsuchiya Aki , Buckingham Ken
Published: January 2010

Background. The time tradeoff (TTO) method of preference elicitation allows respondents to value a state as worse than dead, generally either through the Torrance protocol or the Measurement and Valuation of Health (MVH) protocol. Both of these protocols have significant weaknesses: Valuations for states worse than dead (SWD) are elicited through procedures different from those for states better than dead (SBD), and negative values can be extremely negative. Purpose. To provide an account of the different TTO designs for SWD, to identify any alternatives to the MVH and Torrance approaches, and to consider the merits of the approaches identified. Methods. Medline was searched to identify all health state valuation studies employing TTO. The ways in which SWD were handled were recorded. Furthermore, to ensure that there are no unpublished but feasible TTO variants, the authors developed a theoretical framework for identifying all potential variants. Results. The search produced 593 hits, of which 218 were excluded. Of the remaining 375 articles, only 29 included protocols for SWD. Of these, 23 used the MVH protocol and 4 used the Torrance protocol. The other 2 used 1 protocol for SBD and SWD, one making use of lead time and the other using a 2-stage procedure with chaining. The systematic framework did not identify any alternatives to the Torrance and MVH protocols that were superior to the lead time approach. Conclusions. Few studies elicit values for SWD. The lead time approach is a potential alternative to the Torrance and MVH protocols. Key words: QALY; states worse than dead; health state valuation; preference elicitation.
Fabrication and Characterization of Electrospun PLGA/MWNTs/ Hydroxyapatite Biocomposite Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering
Authors: Hualin Zhang  , Zhiqing Chen
Published: January 2010

Biocomposite scaffolds of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs), and hydroxyapatite (HA) nanoparticles were prepared ‘by electrospinning’ for bone tissue engineering. The structure, surface morphology, and some properties of these PLGA/MWNTs/ HA composites were evaluated. Cultured bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) were seeded on the PLGA/MWNTs/HA scaffolds, and their attachment and proliferation were determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and MTT assay, respectively. The composite scaffolds, a 3D nonwoven fabric construct mimicked the structure of the natural extracellular matrix. The average diameter of the PLGA/MWNTs/HA fibers increased with increasing HA content from 0.5% to 1.5% in the composites. The SEM and MTT results indicated good biocompatibility by the scaffolds, and that the attachment and proliferation of BMSCs were significantly increased in the PLGA/MWNTs/ 1.0%HA and PLGA/MWNTs/1.5%HA scaffolds compared with the PLGA control. These scaffolds, fabricated by electrospinning, indicate good potential for bone tissue engineering applications.
Gender-Based Violence in India: Long-Term Trends
Authors: Simister John , Mehta Parnika S.
Published: January 2010

This article examines long-term trends in Indian society regarding domestic violence between husband and wife, and attitudes to such violence. This article analyzes crime data and uses data from several Indian household surveys: “Work Attitudes and Spending” surveys (1992 to 2007); “World Values Survey” (1990, 1995, 2001, and 2006); and “Demographic and Health Surveys” (1992-1993, 1998-2000, and 2005). Several trends are apparent— some changes suggest that Indian women are becoming more liberated, but others imply worsening conditions for Indian women, such as more violence against women. This increase in violence may be temporary, as India is in transition to a more modern society: There is evidence that some gender-based violence is a male response to increasingly “modern” attitudes among Indian women.
Nicotine poisoning due to intravenous injection of cigarette soakage
Authors: Hagiya Keiichi , Mizutani Taro , Yasuda Susumu , Kawano Satoru
Published: January 2010

A 27-year-old female nurse intravenously injected 5 mL of cigarette soakage solution that contained approximately 5.7 mg nicotine, in a suicidal attempt. Clinical manifestations consisted of nausea, palpitation, abdominal pain, repeated vomiting, and diarrhea. She remained fully conscious during this episode. About 7 hours later, she visited emergency department on foot and received fluid infusion for dehydration. She fully recovered at night of the day. This is the first documented report of acute nicotine poisoning due to intravenous injection of cigarette soakage in humans. Signs and symptoms appeared immediately after the injection, but this case seemed to be relatively mild in terms of clinical manifestation. The elimination half-life of nicotine seems to be short, that is, less than 1 hour. Therefore, if initial treatment is appropriate and the patient can survive acute phase of nicotine poisoning, prognosis is good.
Practice pattern variation in oral glucocorticoid therapy after the induction of response in proliferative lupus nephritis
Authors: Walsh M. , Jayne D. , Moist L. , Tonelli M. , Pannu N. , Manns B.
Published: January 2010

Glucocorticoids are standard therapy for induction of response in proliferative lupus nephritis. However, the optimal duration of glucocorticoid therapy is uncertain. We surveyed physicians who treat lupus nephritis regarding their use of glucocorticoids in proliferative lupus nephritis after induction of response and regarding factors associated with different practice patterns. We administered a questionnaire of standardized cases assessing glucocorticoid use after induction of response to specialists with expertise in proliferative lupus nephritis. We examined the association between continuation of glucocorticoids and patient and physician characteristics. Of 90 invited participants, 72 (80%) responded. A total of 24 (33%) respondents attempted to discontinue glucocorticoids in all scenarios, 21 (29%) continued glucocorticoids in all scenarios, and 27 (38%) attempted to discontinue in some scenarios but not others. Responses varied according to the physician group (p < 0.001) and by years in practice (p < 0.001). Of those who discontinued glucocorticoids in selected scenarios, 15/27 (55%) were influenced by the characteristics of the induction of response, 16/27 (59%) by past lupus history, and 9/27 (33%) by the tolerance and use of immunosuppression. We conclude that glucocorticoid therapy after induction of response in proliferative lupus nephritis is varied. This variability likely represents clinical equipoise. A randomized trial evaluating the effect of glucocorticoid use after induction of response is warranted.
Fifteen-year-old girl with systemic lupus erythematosus and unilateral cerebellitis
Authors: Krief P. , Silver A. , Eberhard A. , Maytal J.
Published: January 2010

Cerebellar involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus has rarely been described as one of the neurologic manifestations. There has been only one previous pediatric case of cerebellar edema reported in the literature. The differential diagnosis, magnetic resonance imaging findings and treatment modalities are described in the case of a 15-year-old girl who presented with headache, vomiting, unsteady gait, and sudden change in mental status.
Rapes of Earth and Grapes of Wrath: Steinbeck, Ecofeminism and the Metaphor of Rape
Authors: Gudmarsdottir Sigridur
Published: January 2010

Early ecofeminists often emphasized the similarities of the oppression of women and earth and delineated both as rape. Is it helpful for ecofeminists today to connect women and nature in such a way? Is this metaphor an adequate expression for third wave feminists or does it cast female bodies and the cosmos into passive victimization? This article uses Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath as a platform to tease out three important aspects of the metaphor of rape, by examining the green apolcalypse present in Steinbeck‘s book, by pointing out Steinbeck’s identification of the exploitatoin of nature as a rape, and by thinking about the ways in which women are portrayed as earth mothers. Through an examination of the metaphors of rape as exploitation and grapes as apocalyptic wrath, the article seeks to counter the hidden apocalyptic and dualistic structures of maternal images and ecorapes and to identify them, question them and channel that powerful linguistic energy.
Women on the Himmelstrasse 1943: Spirituality in Judith Gor’s Art of Atrocity
Authors: Gur-Klein Thalia
Published: January 2010

While life thrives on all that is particular, private and personal, arbitrary atrocity conspires to establish itself on the power to destroy it. Conversely, art of atrocity finds its vocation in concentrating on the particular, by magnifying minute details. Individualizing the anonymous victim, ‘art of atrocity' 1 protests the conspiracy of dehumanization that lies with destruction of life.
Resisting Rhetorics of Violence: Women, Witches and Wicca
Authors: Pearson Jo
Published: January 2010

This article examines the early modern idea of‘the witch as a violent space —both as a perpetrator of violent maleficia and as a victim of violence. It then goes on to look at the extent to which the location of violence in the witch figure has been taken up and used by feminist witches and Wiccans, asking what happens when a polyvalent symbol of violence is used as a central identificatory trope. The fact that the violence of the witch is now largely resisted by Wiccans leads me to question how much this resistance is based on a desire to accommodate greater knowledge of witchcraft historiography and an unwillingness to engage in a false rhetoric centred on the violence of abstraction and exclusion. Through an exploration of the rhetorics of violence surrounding representations of ‘the Witch’, I aim to extend analysis of the witch and witchcraft into the contexts of contemporary Feminist Witchcraft and Wicca.
2D Green’s Functions for Two-phase Orthotropic Piezothermoelastic Plane
Authors: Hou Peng-Fei , Luo Zhi-Wei , Leung Andrew Y.T.
Published: January 2010

Green’s functions play an important role in electroelastic analyses of piezoelectric media. However, most works available on this topic are on case of identical temperature. As a further work of 3D Green’s functions for a two-phase transversely isotropic piezothermoelectric media (Hou, P.F. and Leung, A.Y.T. 2009. ‘‘Three-dimensional Green’s Functions for Two-phase Transversely Isotropic Piezothermoelastic Media,’’ J. Intel. Mater. Syst. Str., 16(5): 1915—1923), the 2D Green’s function for a steady line heat source in a two-phase orthotropic piezothermoelectric plane is presented by eight newly induced harmonic functions in form of elementary functions with undetermined constants. The corresponding coupled field can be obtained by substituting these functions into the general solution, and the undetermined constants can be obtained by the continuous conditions and equilibrium conditions.
National Survey of Psychiatric Mental Health Advanced Practice Nursing: The Adequacy of Educational Preparation: Voices of Our Graduates
Authors: Delaney Kathleen R. , Hamera Edna , Drew Barbara L.
Published: January 2010

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the fit between practice and graduate education from the perspective of psychiatric mental health advanced practice registered nurses (PMH APRNs).OBJECTIVE: With the purpose of addressing this gap in our knowledge, an e-mail survey that was sent to certified PMH APRNs included a query “Did your program prepare you for your role?” and an open-ended follow-up question: “Please explain how your graduate program did not prepare you adequately for your role?”DESIGN: Descriptive survey.RESULTS: Although 70% of respondents reported satisfaction with their educational programs, content analysis of the comments indicated that the most pressing concerns related to instructional content about psychopharmacology, the practice of prescribing and psychiatric diagnosing, and that there was a perception of a disconnect between the role they were prepared for and their role in the present-day world of work.CONCLUSIONS: The findings reinforce the need for the PMH nursing specialty to further define the optimal methods for preparing APRNs for the full scope of psychiatric services they are licensed to provide as the size of the PMH APRN workforce increases.
The Impact of Opening a Smoking Room on Psychiatric Inpatient Behavior Following Implementation of a Hospital-Wide Smoking Ban
Authors: Crockford David , Kerfoot Karin , Currie Shawn
Published: January 2010

BACKGROUND: Psychiatric patients are significantly more likely to smoke than mentally healthy persons, presenting a challenge for inpatient psychiatric care when smoking bans are instituted.OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of opening a smoking room within a psychiatric unit following a hospital smoking ban.STUDY DESIGN: A staff survey and a chart review of 180 inpatient admissions before and after the opening of a smoking room.RESULTS: Patient records revealed no significant differences between recorded indices of disruptive patient behavior before or after the smoking room opening. The staff survey identified a perceived beneficial impact on unit atmosphere, where less time was spent discussing smoking privileges and off-unit privileges were granted more appropriately.CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of a smoking room failed to reduce indices of disruptive patient behavior. Despite the absence of objective evidence, the attitude among staff was in support of allowing patients to smoke on the unit.
Customer Orientation of Service Employees and Rapport: Influences On Service-Outcome Variables in Full-Service Restaurants
Authors: Kim Wansoo , Ok Chihyung
Published: January 2010

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of the construct of “customer orientation in service employees” (COSE) on service-outcome variables. In particular, the study assesses (a) the direct influence of COSE on two service-outcome variables (“customer satisfaction” and “affective commitment”); (b) the indirect influence of COSE on these two variables via the mediating construct of “rapport”; and (c) ultimately, the effect of COSE on “repurchase intention” via the other variables. The article develops a conceptual model of the constructs involved (COSE, “rapport,” “customer satisfaction,” “affective commitment,” and “repurchase intention”) and proposes hypotheses regarding the relationships within the model. The conceptual model and hypotheses are then tested in a sample of customers of full-service restaurants. The study finds that COSE enhances customer satisfaction and affective commitment, and that rapport mediates the effects of COSE on these variables. The study also finds that COSE ultimately enhances repurchase intention via these variables. The study thus confirms the importance of COSE and rapport in enhancing customer satisfaction and retention in the food-service industry.
Levinas and Political Subjectivity in an Age of Global Biopower
Authors: Stone Matthew
Published: January 2010

A common way in which to apply Emmanuel Levinas’ philosophy to legal and political theory is through an “inverted” liberalist model, whereby the pre-political ethical duty to the other is politicized by the state, institutions, and rights. This paper argues such a position is untenable in the light of a progressive reading of sovereignty, and takes on the task of thinking an approach to Levinas and politics in the wake of law’s complicity with globalized sovereign biopower. In light of this complicity, and retaining the core of Levinas’ philosophical thesis on subjectivity, it proposes ultimately that political subjectivity must be (i) structured against law, (ii) divorced from the goal of a just polity, and (iii) thought through a phenomenology of injustice.
Animal Welfare and the Moral Value of Nonhuman Animals
Authors: Francione Gary L.
Published: January 2010

The animal welfare position, which represents the prevailing paradigm for thinking about our moral and legal obligations to nonhuman animals, maintains that animal life has a lesser value than human life and, therefore, it is morally acceptable to use animals as human resources as long as we treat them ‘humanely’ and do not inflict ‘unnecessary’ suffering on them. According to this position, animals are not self-aware and live in an eternal present; they do not have an interest in continuing to live as distinguished from an interest in not suffering. The use and killing of animals does not per se involve inflicting harm on them. The view that animal life has a lesser moral value cannot be justified in that all sentient beings are self-aware and have an interest in continuing to live. Although we do not treat all humans equally, we accord all humans the right not to be treated as property. We cannot justify not according this one right to all sentient nonhumans.
Taking Dogs Seriously?
Authors: Fox Marie
Published: January 2010

This paper focuses on the ethics of human interventions in the lives of companion animals. It argues that human interaction with dogs can reveal much about what makes us human, but that in order to take dogs seriously and engage with them in an ethical manner we must interrogate a number of practices that have been accepted in dog breeding and owning circles. Here my focus is on querying the ethics of practices that involve direct corporeal interventions on the bodies of dogs, in particular legal attempts to prohibit tail-docking. Although Donna Haraway’s work is a major influence on the paper, I depart from her analysis in arguing that suffering must remain the keystone of our ethical relation to companion animals.
Review: A clinical guide to using intravenous proton-pump inhibitors in reflux and peptic ulcers
Authors: Pang Sandy H. , Graham David Y.
Published: January 2010

Intravenous (IV) proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) are potent gastric acid suppressing agents, and their use is popular in clinical practice. Both IV and oral PPIs have similarly short half-lives, and their effects on acid secretion are similar, thus their dosing and dosage intervals appear to be interchangeable. The possible exception is when sustained high pHs are required to promote clot stabilization in bleeding peptic ulcers. Continuous infusion appears to be the only form of administration that reliably achieves these high target pHs. IV PPI is indicated in the treatment of high-risk peptic ulcers, complicated gastroesophageal reflux, stress-induced ulcer prophylaxis, Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, and whenever it is impossible or impractical to give oral therapy. The widespread use of PPIs has been controversial. IV PPIs have been linked to the development of nosocomial pneumonia in the intensive care setting and to spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in cirrhotic patients. This review discusses the use of IV PPI in different clinical scenarios, its controversies, and issues of appropriate use.
Bortezomib induces apoptosis in primitive chronic myeloid leukemia cells including LTC-IC and NOD/SCID repopulating cells
Authors: Heaney Nicholas B. , Pellicano Francesca , Zhang Bin , Crawford Lisa , Chu Su , Kazmi Syed M. A. , Allan Elaine K. , Jorgensen Heather G. , Irvine Alexandra E. , Bhatia Ravi , Holyoake Tessa L.
Published: January 2010

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is treated effectively with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs); however, 2 key problems remain—the insensitivity of CML stem and progenitor cells to TKIs and the emergence of TKI-resistant BCR-ABL mutations. BCR-ABL activity is associated with increased proteasome activity and proteasome inhibitors (PIs) are cytotoxic against CML cell lines. We demonstrate that bortezomib is antiproliferative and induces apoptosis in chronic phase (CP) CD34+ CML cells at clinically achievable concentrations. We also show that bortezomib targets primitive CML cells, with effects on CD34+38−, long-term culture-initiating (LTC-IC) and nonobese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficient (NOD/SCID) repopulating cells. Bortezomib is not selective for CML cells and induces apoptosis in normal CD34+38− cells. The effects against CML cells are seen when bortezomib is used alone and in combination with dasatinib. Bortezomib causes proteasome but not BCR-ABL inhibition and is also effective in inhibiting proteasome activity and inducing apoptosis in cell lines expressing BCR-ABL mutations, including T315I. By targeting both TKI-insensitive stem and progenitor cells and TKI-resistant BCR-ABL mutations, we believe that bortezomib offers a potential therapeutic option in CML. Because of known toxicities, including myelosuppression, the likely initial clinical application of bortezomib in CML would be in resistant and advanced disease.
Prevalence and prognostic impact of allelic imbalances associated with leukemic transformation of Philadelphia chromosome–negative myeloproliferative neoplasms
Authors: Thoennissen Nils H. , Krug Utz O. , Lee Dhong Hyun Tony , Kawamata Norihiko , Iwanski Gabriela B. , Lasho Terra , Weiss Tamara , Nowak Daniel , Koren-Michowitz Maya , Kato Motohiro , Sanada Masashi , Shih Lee-Yung , Nagler Arnon , Raynaud Sophie D. , Müller-Tidow Carsten , Mesa Ruben , Haferlach Torsten , Gilliland D. Gary , Tefferi Ayalew , Ogawa Seishi , Koeffler H. Phillip
Published: January 2010

Philadelphia chromosome–negative myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) including polycythemia vera, essential thrombocythemia, and primary myelofibrosis show an inherent tendency for transformation into leukemia (MPN-blast phase), which is hypothesized to be accompanied by acquisition of additional genomic lesions. We, therefore, examined chromosomal abnormalities by high-resolution single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array in 88 MPN patients, as well as 71 cases with MPN-blast phase, and correlated these findings with their clinical parameters. Frequent genomic alterations were found in MPN after leukemic transformation with up to 3-fold more genomic changes per sample compared with samples in chronic phase (P < .001). We identified commonly altered regions involved in disease progression including not only established targets (ETV6, TP53, and RUNX1) but also new candidate genes on 7q, 16q, 19p, and 21q. Moreover, trisomy 8 or amplification of 8q24 (MYC) was almost exclusively detected in JAK2V617F− cases with MPN-blast phase. Remarkably, copy number–neutral loss of heterozygosity (CNN-LOH) on either 7q or 9p including homozygous JAK2V617F was related to decreased survival after leukemic transformation (P = .01 and P = .016, respectively). Our high-density SNP-array analysis of MPN genomes in the chronic compared with leukemic stage identified novel target genes and provided prognostic insights associated with the evolution to leukemia.
Identifying autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome in children with Evans syndrome: a multi-institutional study
Authors: Seif Alix E. , Manno Catherine S. , Sheen Cecilia , Grupp Stephan A. , Teachey David T.
Published: January 2010

Autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome (ALPS) is a disorder of abnormal lymphocyte survival caused by dysregulation of the Fas apoptotic pathway. Clinical manifestations of ALPS include autoimmune cytopenias, organomegaly, and lymphadenopathy. These findings overlap with Evans syndrome (ES), defined by presence of at least 2 autoimmune cytopenias. We hypothesized a subset of patients with ES have ALPS and tested 45 children at 22 institutions, measuring peripheral blood double-negative T cells (DNTs) and Fas-mediated apoptosis. ALPS was diagnosed in 47% of patients tested. Markedly elevated DNTs (≥ 5%) were a strong predictor of ALPS (positive predictive value = 94%), whereas no patients with DNTs less than 2.5% had ALPS on apoptosis testing. Severity of cytopenias and elevated immunoglobulin levels also predicted ALPS. This is the largest published series describing children with ES and documents a high rate of ALPS among pediatric ES patients. These data suggest that children with ES should be screened for ALPS with DNTs.
Therapy of relapsed leukemia after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation with T cells specific for minor histocompatibility antigens
Authors: Warren Edus H. , Fujii Nobuharu , Akatsuka Yoshiki , Chaney Colette N. , Mito Jeffrey K. , Loeb Keith R. , Gooley Ted A. , Brown Michele L. , Koo Kevin K. W. , Rosinski Kellie V. , Ogawa Seishi , Matsubara Aiko , Appelbaum Frederick R. , Riddell Stanley R.
Published: January 2010

The adoptive transfer of donor T cells that recognize recipient minor histocompatibility antigens (mHAgs) is a potential strategy for preventing or treating leukemic relapse after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). A total of 7 patients with recurrent leukemia after major histocompatibility complex (MHC)–matched allogeneic HCT were treated with infusions of donor-derived, ex vivo–expanded CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) clones specific for tissue-restricted recipient mHAgs. The safety of T-cell therapy, in vivo persistence of transferred CTLs, and disease response were assessed. Molecular characterization of the mHAgs recognized by CTL clones administered to 3 patients was performed to provide insight into the antileukemic activity and safety of T-cell therapy. Pulmonary toxicity of CTL infusion was seen in 3 patients, was severe in 1 patient, and correlated with the level of expression of the mHAg-encoding genes in lung tissue. Adoptively transferred CTLs persisted in the blood up to 21 days after infusion, and 5 patients achieved complete but transient remissions after therapy. The results of these studies illustrate the potential to selectively enhance graft-versus-leukemia activity by the adoptive transfer of mHAg-specific T-cell clones and the challenges for the broad application of this approach in allogeneic HCT. This study has been registered at http://clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00107354.
Modelling p-value distributions to improve theme-driven survival analysis of cancer transcriptome datasets
Authors: Czwan Esteban , Brors Benedikt , Kipling David
Published: January 2010

Background

Theme-driven cancer survival studies address whether the expression signature of genes related to a biological process can predict patient survival time. Although this should ideally be achieved by testing two separate null hypotheses, current methods treat both hypotheses as one. The first test should assess whether a geneset, independent of its composition, is associated with prognosis (frequently done with a survival test). The second test then verifies whether the theme of the geneset is relevant (usually done with an empirical test that compares the geneset of interest with random genesets). Current methods do not test this second null hypothesis because it has been assumed that the distribution of p-values for random genesets (when tested against the first null hypothesis) is uniform. Here we demonstrate that such an assumption is generally incorrect and consequently, such methods may erroneously associate the biology of a particular geneset with cancer prognosis.

Results

To assess the impact of non-uniform distributions for random genesets in such studies, an automated theme-driven method was developed. This method empirically approximates the p-value distribution of sets of unrelated genes based on a permutation approach, and tests whether predefined sets of biologically-related genes are associated with survival. The results from a comparison with a published theme-driven approach revealed non-uniform distributions, suggesting a significant problem exists with false positive rates in the original study. When applied to two public cancer datasets our technique revealed novel ontological categories with prognostic power, including significant correlations between "fatty acid metabolism" with overall survival in breast cancer, as well as "receptor mediated endocytosis", "brain development", "apical plasma membrane" and "MAPK signaling pathway" with overall survival in lung cancer.

Conclusions

Current methods of theme-driven survival studies assume uniformity of p-values for random genesets, which can lead to false conclusions. Our approach provides a method to correct for this pitfall, and provides a novel route to identifying higher-level biological themes and pathways with prognostic power in clinical microarray datasets.
Molecular and cellular evidence for biased mitotic gene conversion in hybrid scallop
Authors: Wang Shi , Zhang Lingling , Hu Jingjie , Bao Zhenmin , Liu Zhanjiang
Published: January 2010

Background

Concerted evolution has been believed to account for homogenization of genes within multigene families. However, the exact mechanisms involved in the homogenization have been under debate. Use of interspecific hybrid system allows detection of greater level of sequence variation, and therefore, provide advantage for tracing the sequence changes. In this work, we have used an interspecific hybrid system of scallop to study the sequence homogenization processes of rRNA genes.

Results

Through the use of a hybrid scallop system (Chlamys farreri ♀ × Argopecten irradians ♂), here we provide solid molecular and cellular evidence for homogenization of the rDNA sequences into maternal genotypes. The ITS regions of the rDNA of the two scallop species exhibit distinct sequences and thereby restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) patterns, and such a difference was exploited to follow the parental ITS contributions in the F1 hybrid during early development using PCR-RFLP. The representation of the paternal ITS decreased gradually in the hybrid during the development of the hybrid, and almost diminished at the 14th day after fertilization while the representation of the maternal ITS gradually increased. Chromosomal-specific fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis in the hybrid revealed the presence of maternal ITS sequences on the paternal ITS-bearing chromosomes, but not vice versa. Sequence analysis of the ITS region in the hybrid not only confirmed the maternally biased conversion, but also allowed the detection of six recombinant variants in the hybrid involving short recombination regions, suggesting that site-specific recombination may be involved in the maternally biased gene conversion.

Conclusion

Taken together, these molecular and cellular evidences support rapid concerted gene evolution via maternally biased gene conversion. As such a process would lead to the expression of only one parental genotype, and have the opportunities to generate recombinant intermediates; this work may also have implications in novel hybrid zone alleles and genetic imprinting, as well as in concerted gene evolution. In the course of evolution, many species may have evolved involving some levels of hybridization, intra- or interspecific, the sex-biased sequence homogenization could have led to a greater role of one sex than the other in some species.
Transcription profiles of mitochondrial genes correlate with mitochondrial DNA haplotypes in a natural population of Silene vulgaris
Authors: Elansary Hosam O , Müller Karel , Olson Matthew S , Štorchová Helena
Published: January 2010

Background

Although rapid changes in copy number and gene order are common within plant mitochondrial genomes, associated patterns of gene transcription are underinvestigated. Previous studies have shown that the gynodioecious plant species Silene vulgaris exhibits high mitochondrial diversity and occasional paternal inheritance of mitochondrial markers. Here we address whether variation in DNA molecular markers is correlated with variation in transcription of mitochondrial genes in S. vulgaris collected from natural populations.

Results

We analyzed RFLP variation in two mitochondrial genes, cox1 and atp1, in offspring of ten plants from a natural population of S. vulgaris in Central Europe. We also investigated transcription profiles of the atp1 and cox1 genes. Most DNA haplotypes and transcription profiles were maternally inherited; for these, transcription profiles were associated with specific mitochondrial DNA haplotypes. One individual exhibited a pattern consistent with paternal inheritance of mitochondrial DNA; this individual exhibited a transcription profile suggestive of paternal but inconsistent with maternal inheritance. We found no associations between gender and transcript profiles.

Conclusions

Specific transcription profiles of mitochondrial genes were associated with specific mitochondrial DNA haplotypes in a natural population of a gynodioecious species S. vulgaris.

Our findings suggest the potential for a causal association between rearrangements in the plant mt genome and transcription product variation.
Evidence for a "Founder Effect" among HIV-infected injection drug users (IDUs) in Pakistan
Authors: Rai Mohammad A , Nerurkar Vivek R , Khoja Suhail , Khan Saeed , Yanagihara Richard , Rehman Arish , Kazmi Shahana U , Ali Syed H
Published: January 2010

Background

We have previously reported a HIV-1 subtype A infection in a community of injection drug users (IDUs) in Karachi, Pakistan. We now show that this infection among the IDUs may have originated from a single source.

Methods

Phylogenetic analysis was performed of partial gag sequences, generated using PCR, from 26 HIV-positive IDU samples.

Results

Our results showed formation of a tight monophyletic group with an intra-sequence identity of < 98% indicating a "founder effect". Our data indicate that the HIV-1 epidemic in this community of IDUs may have been transmitted by an HIV positive overseas contract worker who admitted to having contact with commercial sex workers during stay abroad.

Conclusion

Specific measures need to implemented to control transmission of HIV infection in Pakistan through infected migrant workers.
Methylmercury exposure in a subsistence fishing community in Lake Chapala, Mexico: an ecological approach
Authors: Trasande Leonardo , Cortes Juanita E , Landrigan Philip J , Abercrombie Mary I , Bopp Richard F , Cifuentes Enrique
Published: January 2010

Background

Elevated concentrations of mercury have been documented in fish in Lake Chapala in central Mexico, an area that is home to a large subsistence fishing community. However, neither the extent of human mercury exposure nor its sources and routes have been elucidated.

Methods

Total mercury concentrations were measured in samples of fish from Lake Chapala; in sections of sediment cores from the delta of Rio Lerma, the major tributary to the lake; and in a series of suspended-particle samples collected at sites from the mouth of the Lerma to mid-Lake. A cross-sectional survey of 92 women ranging in age from 18-45 years was conducted in three communities along the Lake to investigate the relationship between fish consumption and hair mercury concentrations among women of child-bearing age.

Results

Highest concentrations of mercury in fish samples were found in carp (mean 0.87 ppm). Sediment data suggest a pattern of moderate ongoing contamination. Analyses of particles filtered from the water column showed highest concentrations of mercury near the mouth of the Lerma. In the human study, 27.2% of women had >1 ppm hair mercury. On multivariable analysis, carp consumption and consumption of fish purchased or captured from Lake Chapala were both associated with significantly higher mean hair mercury concentrations.

Conclusions

Our preliminary data indicate that, despite a moderate level of contamination in recent sediments and suspended particulate matter, carp in Lake Chapala contain mercury concentrations of concern for local fish consumers. Consumption of carp appears to contribute significantly to body burden in this population. Further studies of the consequences of prenatal exposure for child neurodevelopment are being initiated.
Different subsets of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes correlate with NPC progression in different ways
Authors: Zhang Yi-Lan , Li Jiang , Mo Hao-Yuan , Qiu Fang , Zheng Li-Min , Qian Chao-Nan , Zeng Yi-Xin
Published: January 2010

Background

Increasing amounts of evidence indicate that tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) are correlated with the prognosis of cancer patients. This study focuses on the association between the densities of tumor infiltrating cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL), activated CTL, regulatory T lymphocytes (Treg) and Th17 lymphocytes, and the prognosis and clinicopathological features of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients.

Results

Double immunohistochemical staining was performed in 106 biopsy specimens from newly diagnosed NPC patients. Prognostic values of infiltrating lymphocyte densities were evaluated by Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression. The density of CD8+ TIL was positively correlated with lymph node metastasis, while the density of Foxp3+ TIL was negatively associated with T stage (P < 0.05). For survival evaluation, the density of Foxp3+ TIL or Foxp3+ TIL combined with GrB+ TIL together was associated with better overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) (P < 0.01) in all patients and in the patients with late-stage diseases (Stages III and IV, P < 0.01). Meanwhile a low density of CD8+TIL or high ratio of FOXP3+TIL to CD8+TIL was correlated with better PFS in early stage patients (Stages I and II, P < 0.05). No significant association was found between IL-17+ TIL and clinicopathological characteristic or survival of NPC patients.

Conclusions

Our study identifies for the first time the tumor infiltrating Foxp3+ TIL as an independent favorable factor in the prognosis of NPC patients, especially for the patients with late-stage diseases.
Rapid chromosome territory relocation by nuclear motor activity in response to serum removal in primary human fibroblasts
Authors: Mehta Ishita S , Amira Manelle , Harvey Amanda J , Bridger Joanna M
Published: January 2010

Background

Radial chromosome positioning in interphase nuclei is nonrandom and can alter according to developmental, differentiation, proliferation, or disease status. However, it is not yet clear when and how chromosome repositioning is elicited.

Results

By investigating the positioning of all human chromosomes in primary fibroblasts that have left the proliferative cell cycle, we have demonstrated that in cells made quiescent by reversible growth arrest, chromosome positioning is altered considerably. We found that with the removal of serum from the culture medium, chromosome repositioning took less than 15 minutes, required energy and was inhibited by drugs affecting the polymerization of myosin and actin. We also observed that when cells became quiescent, the nuclear distribution of nuclear myosin 1β was dramatically different from that in proliferating cells. If we suppressed the expression of nuclear myosin 1β by using RNA-interference procedures, the movement of chromosomes after 15 minutes in low serum was inhibited. When high serum was restored to the serum-starved cultures, chromosome repositioning was evident only after 24 to 36 hours, and this coincided with a return to a proliferating distribution of nuclear myosin 1β.

Conclusions

These findings demonstrate that genome organization in interphase nuclei is altered considerably when cells leave the proliferative cell cycle and that repositioning of chromosomes relies on efficient functioning of an active nuclear motor complex that contains nuclear myosin 1β.
Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Inhibits Ether-à-Go-Go-Related Gene K+ Currents in Mouse Gonadotropes
Authors: Hirdes Wiebke , Dinu Crenguta , Bauer Christiane K. , Boehm Ulrich , Schwarz Jürgen R.
Published: January 2010

Secretion of LH from gonadotropes is initiated by a GnRH-induced increase in intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i). This increase in [Ca2+]i is the result of Ca2+ release from intracellular stores and Ca2+ influx through voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels. Here we describe an ether-à-go-go-related gene (erg) K+ current in primary mouse gonadotropes and its possible function in the control of Ca2+ influx. To detect gonadotropes, we used a knock-in mouse strain, in which GnRH receptor-expressing cells are fluorescently labeled. Erg K+ currents were recorded in 80–90% of gonadotropes. Blockage of erg currents by E-4031 depolarized the resting potential by 5–8 mV and led to an increase in [Ca2+]i, which was abolished by nifedipine. GnRH inhibited erg currents by a reduction of the maximal erg current and in some cells additionally by a shift of the activation curve to more positive potentials. In conclusion, the erg current contributes to the maintenance of the resting potential in gonadotropes, thereby securing a low [Ca2+]i by restricting Ca2+ influx. In addition, the erg channels are modulated by GnRH by an as-yet unknown signal cascade.
The Art of Posing Nude: Models, Moralists, and the 1893 Bal Des Quat'z-Arts
Authors: Felter-Kerley Lela
Published: January 2010

This article examines the 1893 Bal des Quat'z-Arts as a flashpoint at which the exhibition of unclothed women became the source of aesthetic and moral debate between conservative and liberal forces, the focus of vice societies, and a target of judicial pursuit. As a collaborative effort between the saucy illustrated paper, Le courrier français, and students of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, the ball satirized the moral hypocrisy and the materialism of bourgeois culture by employing the body of the artist's model as a site of social contestation. The presentation of models as female nudes, outside the studio in a semipublic festival, exposed the conditions under which academic art transformed working-class bodies into ideal forms and let artists actively engage in a wider social campaign testing the limits of individual freedom. The article offers a new perspective on contemporary debates about art and pornography, the New Woman, and morality at the fin de siècle.

Cet article analyse le Bal des Quat'z-Arts de 1893 en tant que moment où l'exposition des femmes déshabillées devint le point de départ d'un débat esthétique et moral entre les forces conservatrices et libérales. Le Bal attira l'attention des ligues morales et fit l'objet d'enquêtes judiciaires. Une collaboration entre une revue grivoise, Le courier français, et les étudiants de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, le Bal des Quat'z-Arts de 1893 se moqua de l'hypocrisie moraliste et le matérialisme de la bourgeoisie en faisant du corps du modèle un site de contestation sociale. L'exposition des modèles comme femmes nues, hors de l'atelier et dans une fête semipublique, mit en lumière les conditions dans lesquelles l'art académique a su changer des corps de la classe ouvrière en formes idéales. Sous le prétexte d'étudier « l'art pour l'art », les artistes s'embarquèrent dans une plus grande campagne pour repousser les limites de la liberté d'individuelle. La dispute qui s'ensuivit entre les moralistes et les critiques de la moralité bourgeoise devint une cause célèbre qui nous offre une nouvelle perspective sur les débats contemporains concernant l'art et la pornographie, la Nouvelle Femme et la moralité à la fin du XIXe siècle.
The Silver Foxhole: The Gis and Prostitution in Paris, 1944–1945
Authors: Roberts Mary Louise
Published: January 2010

As the “brothel of Europe,” Paris became the favored destination of GIs on leave in 1944–45. The entry of the Americans into Paris transformed sexual commerce, leading to the downfall of the legal regulation of prostitution, ironically because the soldiers so sharply raised the demand for sexual labor. As the legal system broke down under the weight of demand, prostitution became chaotic and unprofessional, and prostitutes were left poor and unprotected. At the same time, a new culture of prostitution emerged in Paris with its own language, geography and protective customs. For the French, the prostitute came to symbolize a loss of French respectability and honor, as well as the domination of French culture by American wealth and power.

En tant que « Bordel de l'Europe », Paris est devenu la destination préférée des G.I. En permission en 1944 et 1945. L'entrée en scène des Américains a transformé le commerce sexuel à Paris, menant à l'effondrement de la réglementation juridique de la prostitution, ironiquement du à la montée en flèche de la demande des soldats pour le travail sexuel. Alors que le système juridique s'écroulait sous les exigences des soldats, la prostitution manqua totalement du professionnalisme et devint chaotique, laissant les prostituées pauvres et sans protection. En même temps, une nouvelle culture liée à la prostitution émergea à Paris avec ses propres langage, topographie des quartiers et habitudes de protection. Pour les Français, la prostituée devint un symbole de la perte de la respectabilité et de l'honneur, ainsi que de la domination de la culture française par la richesse et le pouvoir américain.
French Sexual Politics from Human Rights to the Anthropological Function of the Law
Authors: Robcis Camille
Published: January 2010

Since the 1980s, amid debates around assisted reproductive technologies, nontraditional families, same-sex parenting, filiation, and transsexuality, French judges and legislators have referred to the “anthropological” or “symbolic” function of the law. This idea was originally developed by a group of legal scholars, influenced by structuralist anthropology and psychoanalysis, who posited the primary purpose of the law as the proper integration of individuals into a “symbolic order” defined by a normative construction of heterosexuality. Civil law, they argued, upheld the social world and guaranteed psychic cohesion. This essay offers a historical hypothesis to account for why this rhetoric emerged in the context of these discussions around sexual politics. It argues that legal scholars began to invoke the “anthropological function of the law” in response to individuals who relied on the discourse of human rights to make a series of demands in the fields of gender, sexuality, and reproduction.

Depuis les années 1980, lors des débats autour de la procréation médicalement assistée, des familles recomposées, de l'homoparentalité, de la filiation et de la transsexualité, plusieurs législateurs et magistrats français ont invoqué la fonction « anthropologique » ou « symbolique » du droit. Selon cette idée, formulée à l'origine par un groupe de juristes influencés par l'anthropologie et la psychanalyse structuraliste, le rôle principal du droit est d'assurer l'intégration des individus dans un « ordre symbolique » défini autour d'une construction normative de l'hétérosexualité. Le droit civil maintiendrait ainsi à la fois la cohérence du social et du psychique. Cet article propose une hypothèse historique pour expliquer l'émergence de cette rhétorique en France, dans le contexte de ces discussions autour des politiques de la sexualité. Sa thèse centrale est que « l'anthropologie dogmatique » a été érigée en rempart contre ceux qui se sont appuyés sur le discours des droits de l'homme dans le but d'acquérir divers droits dans les domaines du genre, de la sexualité et de la reproduction.