bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Calling depth and time and frequency attributes of harp (Pagophilus groenlandicus) and Weddell (Leptonychotes weddellii) seal underwater vocalizations
Authors: Moors Hilary B , Terhune John M
Published: December 2005

Harp seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus (Erxleben, 1777)) daytime calling depth during the breeding season and Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii (Lesson, 1826)) daytime and nighttime calling depth during the winter and breeding seasons were investigated using a small vertical array with hydrophones placed at depths of 10 and 60 m. Rough calling depth estimates (<35 m, ~35 m, >35 m) and more accurate point depth estimates (±5–10 m in most cases) were obtained. Significantly more calls were produced at depths ≤35 m for both species. The point depth estimates indicated that the calls occurred most frequently at depths >10 m; 60% of harp seal calls and 71% of Weddell seal calls occurred at depths between 10 and 35 m. The seals called predominately within areas of the water column where light would likely penetrate, but still avoided sea-ice interference to some extent. The vocalizations did not change over depth with respect to call type, the number of elements within a call, or total call duration, or with respect to season and light condition for Weddell seals. Frequency (kHz) of calls also did not change with depth, suggesting that harp and Weddell seals control the pitch of their vocalizations with the vocal cords of the larynx.
Population genetic structure of tailed frogs (Ascaphus truei) in clearcut and old-growth stream habitats in south coastal British Columbia
Authors: Wahbe T R , Ritland C , Bunnell F L , Ritland K
Published: December 2005

Ascaphus truei Stejneger, 1899 relies on cool, fast-flowing, forested mountain streams, which receive little protection from logging activities. During recovery of post-logging habitats, local extirpation of Ascaphus is a concern because their recolonization may be slow. In British Columbia, Oregon, and California, coastal Ascaphus populations are designated as "at risk". To infer fragmentation impacts from patterns of genetic structure, we used RAPD molecular markers and compared population genetic structures of Ascaphus larvae in an old growth with an adjacent clearcut stream located in coastal British Columbia. In the clearcut, larvae were less genetically diverse than in the old growth and exhibited no relationship between physical distance and genetic relatedness, whereas in the old growth, genetic similarity decreased with physical distance. Patterns of gene flow between the clearcut and old-growth streams were significantly different. The clearcut population went through a bottleneck/founding event, but also exhibited greater dispersal. The frogs were perhaps searching for new habitat (which would lower isolation by distance) and suffering mortality (which would decrease diversity). Most problems in conservation will require genetic and ecological data, and future research should aim to incorporate methodologies from both fields.
Northern range boundary dynamics of southern flying squirrels: evidence of an energetic bottleneck
Authors: Bowman Jeff , Holloway Gillian L , Malcolm Jay R , Middel Kevin R , Wilson Paul J
Published: December 2005

We undertook a large-scale survey of the distribution of northern, Glaucomys sabrinus (Shaw, 1801), and southern, Glaucomys volans (L., 1758), flying squirrels in Ontario, Canada. Livetrapping was conducted along a north–south transect spanning about 500 km, from 42.5°N to 47.2°N. During 2002–2004, we conducted 42 971 trap-nights at 26 sites and captured 232 northern and 538 southern flying squirrels. During 2002 and 2003, southern flying squirrels occurred >200 km farther north than we expected. However, the range of this species appeared to contract to the south by about 240 km after the winter of 2004. Weather and food data suggested that cold temperatures during January and February 2004 combined with a failed mast crop in the autumn of 2003 resulted in an energetic bottleneck and subsequent population crash. We speculate that prior to 2004 southern flying squirrels had expanded their geographic range in response to recent climate warming. In particular, the nine winters between 1994 and 2004 were relatively warm. By measuring the range expansion over this warm interval, we were able to estimate a rate of spread of 22 km per year, and a diffusion coefficient of 6.9 × 107 m2 per generation.
Common fixed points of single‐valued and multivalued maps
Authors: Liu Yicheng , Wu Jun , Li Zhixiang
Published: December 2005

We define a new property which contains the property (EA) for a hybrid pair of single‐ and multivalued maps and give some new common fixed point theorems under hybrid contractive conditions. Our results extend previous ones. As an application, we give a partial answer to the problem raised by Singh and Mishra.
Prime divisors of some shifted products
Authors: Levieil Eric , Luca Florian , Shparlinski Igor E.
Published: December 2005

We study prime divisors of various sequences of positive integers A(n) + 1, n = 1, …, N, such that the ratios a(n) = A(n)/A(n − 1) have some number‐theoretic or combinatorial meaning. In the case a(n) = n, we obviously have A(n) = n!, for which several new results about prime divisors of n! +1 have recently been obtained.
Interaction of shock waves in gas dynamics: Uniform in time asymptotics
Authors: García-Alvarado M. G. , Flores-Espinoza R. , Omel′yanov G. A.
Published: December 2005

We construct a uniform in time asymptotics describing the interaction of two isothermal shock waves with opposite directions of motion. We show that any smooth regularization of the problem implies the realization of the stable scenario of interaction.
Parallel synchronous algorithm for nonlinear fixed point problems
Authors: Addou Ahmed , Benahmed Abdenasser
Published: December 2005

We give in this paper a convergence result concerning parallel synchronous algorithm for nonlinear fixed point problems with respect to the Euclidian norm in ℝn. We then apply this result to some problems related to convex analysis like minimization of functionals, calculus of saddle point, and convex programming.
Nebivolol Reduces Nitroxidative Stress and Restores Nitric Oxide Bioavailability in Endothelium of Black Americans
Authors: Mason R. Preston , Kalinowski Leszek , Jacob Robert F. , Jacoby Adam M. , Malinski Tadeusz
Published: December 2005

Background—

Alterations in endothelial function may contribute to increased susceptibility of black Americans to cardiovascular disease. The ability to pharmacologically reverse endothelial dysfunction in blacks was tested with nebivolol, a β
1
-selective agent with vasodilating and antioxidant properties.

Methods and Results—

The effects of nebivolol on endothelial nitric oxide (NO), superoxide (O
2
−
), and peroxynitrite concentration (ONOO
−
) release were studied in human umbilical vein endothelial cells and iliac artery endothelial cells isolated from age-matched black and white donors. Kinetics and concentrations of NO/O
2
−
/ONOO
−
were measured simultaneously with nanosensors from single cells and shown to have significant interracial differences. The rate of NO release was &5 times slower in blacks than in whites (94 versus 505 nmol · L
−1
· s
−1
), whereas the rates of release were faster by &2 times for O
2
−
and &4 times for ONOO
−
(22.1 versus 9.4 nmol · L
−1
· s
−1
for O
2
−
and 810 versus 209 nmol · L
−1
· s
−1
for ONOO
−
). Pretreatment with 1.0 to 5.0 μmol/L nebivolol restored NO bioavailability in endothelial cells from black donors with concurrent reductions in O
2
−
and ONOO
−
release, similar to levels in the endothelium of whites. The effects of nebivolol were dose-dependent and not observed with atenolol; similar effects were observed with apocynin, an NAD(P)H oxidase inhibitor.

Conclusions—

Reduced endothelial NO bioavailability in American blacks is mainly due to excessive O
2
−
and ONOO
−
generation by NAD(P)H and uncoupled endothelial NO synthase. Nebivolol decreased O
2
−
and ONOO
−
concentrations and restored NO bioavailability in blacks to the level recorded in cells from whites, independently of β
1
-selective blockade.
Endothelial Function in Healthy 11-Year-Old Children After Dietary Intervention With Onset in Infancy
Authors: Raitakari Olli T. , Rönnemaa Tapani , Järvisalo Mikko J. , Kaitosaari Tuuli , Volanen Iina , Kallio Katariina , Lagström Hanna , Jokinen Eero , Niinikoski Harri , Viikari Jorma S.A. , Simell Olli
Published: December 2005

Background—

Early childhood introduction of nutritional habits aimed at atherosclerosis prevention reduces children’s serum total cholesterol concentration, but its effect on vascular endothelial function is unknown.

Methods and Results—

Between 1990 and 1992, we randomized healthy 7-month-old infants (n=1062) to intervention (low-saturated-fat diet) and control (unrestricted diet) groups. At the age of 11 years, endothelium-dependent (flow-mediated) and endothelium-independent (nitrate-mediated) vasodilatory responses of the brachial artery were measured with high-resolution ultrasound in 179 intervention and 190 control children. The effect of intervention on endothelial function was significant in boys (
P
=0.0034) but not in girls (
P
=0.69). The maximum endothelium-dependent dilation response (mean±SD) was 9.62±3.53% and 8.36±3.85% in intervention boys and control boys and 8.84±4.00% and 8.44±3.60% in intervention girls and control girls, respectively. Intervention had no effect on nitrate-mediated dilation. The difference in endothelial function in boys remained significant after adjustment for current serum total or LDL cholesterol but became nonsignificant after adjustment for mean cholesterol measured under 3 years of age (adjusted means: 9.46% [CI 8.68% to 10.24%] versus 8.54% [CI 7.75% to 9.32%],
P
=0.11).

Conclusions—

A low-saturated-fat diet introduced in infancy and maintained during the first decade of life is associated with enhanced endothelial function in boys. The effect is explained in part by the diet-induced reduction in serum cholesterol concentration.
Role Strain and Adaptation Issues in the Strength-Based Model
Authors: Bowman Phillip J.
Published: December 2005

This article applauds the strength-based model (SBM) of counseling but calls for an extension. In the existential or humanistic tradition, the SBM builds on emerging trends in psychology to highlight the importance of individual strengths in counseling interventions. However, a role strain and adaptation (RSA) approach extends the SBM to systematically address diversity, multilevel, and life-span issues among at-risk youth. Guided by cross-cultural research, the RSA extension of SBM explains how universal (etic) and ethnic-specific (emic) strengths facilitate coping. Building on cological studies, the RSA extension also clarifies the operation of risk and protective factors at the individual, family, and community levels. Moreover, the RSA extension provides a life-span framework to examine risk factors and protective strengths as adolescents prepare for early, middle, and elder adulthood. Finally, the RSA extension can help psychologists and other professionals better distinguish between three empowerment goals in interventions with at-risk populations—therapeutic, resiliency, and systemic.
The Benefits and Challenges of Becoming Cross-Culturally Competent Counseling Psychologists
Authors: Heppner P. Paul
Published: December 2005

The central thesis of this article is that focusing on cross-cultural competence will enhance both the science and the practice of counseling psychology. Developing cross-cultural competence is a lifelong journey, replete with many joys and challenges, that will (a) increase the sophistication of our research, (b) expand the utility and generalizability of the knowledge bases in counseling psychology, (c) promote a deeper realization that counseling occurs in a cultural context, and (d) increase not only counseling effectiveness but also the profession’s ability to address diverse mental health needs across different populations around the globe. In the future, (a) counseling psychologists will be expected to have an array of cross-cultural competencies, which emphasizes the need to systematically train students to acquire such competencies, and (b) counseling psychology will no longer be defined as counseling psychology within the United States, but rather, the parameters of counseling psychology will cross many countries and many cultures.
Environment, Market, and Peasant Choice
Authors: Zhang Jiayan
Published: December 2005

This article examines the economic behavior of the peasants on the Jianghan plain faced with population pressure, environmental degradation, and market expansion. Focusing on crop choices and the domestic textile industry, it explores how villagers reacted to the environmental change caused by extensive dike construction and frequent inundation in the Jianghan plain in the Qing and the Republic and how they contended with the worsening problems of waterlogging. The article argues that under these circumstances, the environment, rather than the market, was the paramount factor in shaping peasants’ economic behavior in the Jianghan plain.
Authenticity Anxiety and Counterfeit Confidence
Authors: Notar Beth E.
Published: December 2005

This article focuses on a group of Bai minority market women in Dali, Yunnan: while expressing anxiety over “fakes” in China’s reform era, they have, when selling souvenirs to transnational travelers, simultaneously created them, engaging in authenticating and outsourcing techniques that imitate larger global economic processes. The author argues that concern over authenticity does not arise only in a European-style modernity in which individualism is key. Instead, such anxiety proliferates during periods of increased commodification and intensified circulation of unfamiliar people and objects, when the prestige or profits to be gained from impersonation, falsification, and imitation are worth the risk. Moreover, the same people who express anxiety over authenticity as consumers may “counterfeit” as producers and distributors.
Purchasing Power Parity and the Asian Financial Crisis
Authors: Allsopp Louise , Rammal Hussain G. , Zurbruegg Ralf
Published: December 2005

Purchasing power parity (PPP) literature is now vast with literally hundreds of papers offering tests for PPP across a large number of countries. However, despite all the elaborate techniques employed, very little explanation is given as to why PPP is so relevant in policy making. This article provides a basic understanding of PPP and shows why it is considered so important when making policy choices. The discussion also briefly examines how this relates to the Asian economies. Primarily, these economies have been subject to intense scrutiny following the 1997 crisis, particularly with regard to their choice of exchange rate regime and possible monetary unification. The findings of the paper suggests that the PPP has had mixed results in predicting current account difficulties and liquidity crises, such as that experienced in Asia. However, the paper also argues that it still can form an integral part of an ‘early warning system’ designed to foresee economic crisis within a country.
The Foundations of Successful Strategy Implementation
Authors: Shah A.M.
Published: December 2005

While organizations understand the need for strategy and its effective implementation, in most of the organizations implementation often falls short of the goals that the enterprise has set itself. This is because their implementation process often falls victim to a number of formidable obstacles. Keeping this in view, this article attempts to identify obstacles to strategy implementation and focuses on spelling out the factors which help in promoting successful strategy implementation. Based on the data collected from 104 managers of a cross-section of organizations, the study identified 11 obstacles most frequently experienced by companies during implementation of their strategies. In order to remove these obstacles and promote successful strategy implementation, organizations should focus on developing sound strategy, allocate sufficient resources to it, ensure management commitment and leadership, manage employee understanding and commitment, connect financial rewards with performance and establish effective information systems. Companies which are able to address these areas will prevent various implementation problems from occurring and promote success.
American Indians and Suicide
Authors: Olson Lenora M. , Wahab Stéphanie
Published: December 2005

Suicide is a major public health problem for American Indians in the United States. Published studies indicate that American Indians experience the highest rate of suicide of all ethnic groups in the United States. This article synthesizes the epidemiology and risk factors associated with suicide among American Indians, barriers to research, prevention, mental-health services, and recommendations for research and practice. The authors' recommendations arise from the current literature as well as interviews with practitioners and academics in the field of suicide prevention. The authors present significant substantive and methodological issues that inform research on suicide in American Indian communities, as well as existing contemporary interventions. Overall, socioeconomic characteristics, substance abuse, barriers to mental health services and acculturation play a role in the occurrence of suicide in American Indian communities. These findings suggest suicide is an important public health problem that needs to be addressed for American Indians.
Phenotypic and functional profiling of human proinflammatory type-1 and anti-inflammatory type-2 macrophages in response to microbial antigens and IFN-γ- and CD40L-mediated costimulation
Authors: Verreck Frank A W , de Boer Tjitske , Langenberg Dennis M L , van der Zanden Linda , Ottenhoff Tom H M
Published: December 2005

Macrophages (Mφ) comprise a heterogeneous population of cells with various immune and homeostatic functions. Recently, we have described type-1 and type-2 human monocyte-derived Mφ subsets. Although both support outgrowth of intracellular mycobacteria, Mφ-1 secretes interleukin (IL)-23/IL-12 and supports T helper cell type 1 (Th1) responses, whereas Mφ-2 fails to produce IL-23/IL-12, predominantly secretes IL-10, and inhibits Th1 function. Here, we further describe the phenotypic and functional profiles of Mφ-1 and Mφ-2 in response to microbial antigens and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and CD40L as costimulatory T cell back-talk signals. Activated IL-23+/IL-12+ Mφ-1 secreted IL-1β, IL-18, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), as well as IL-8, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), IFN-inducible protein 10 (IP-10), Mφ inflammatory protein-1β (MIP-1β), regulated on activation, normal T expressed and secreted (RANTES), Mφ-derived chemokine (MDC), and (low levels of) pulmonary and activation-regulated chemokine and thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC), corroborating their proinflammatory function. Regardless of the stimulus, Mφ-2 maintained their IL-10+ signature cytokine profile and produced no or relatively low levels of IL-12p40, IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, MDC, or TARC. It is remarkable that Mφ-2 secreted high levels of IL-8, MCP-1, IP-10, MIP-1β, and RANTES, suggesting an active role for these cells in regulating cellular immunity and homeostasis. Mφ-1 and Mφ-2 expressed similar levels of Toll-like receptor and dendritic cell-specific intercellular adhesion molecule-3-grabbing nonintegrin as microbial pattern recognition receptors. Mφ-2, unlike Mφ-1 but like other nonclassical Mφ described previously, expressed CD163 and down-modulated human leukocyte antigen and costimulatory molecules specifically upon activation. These findings demonstrate how Mφ-1/Mφ-2 polarization can differentially skew the host response toward pro- or anti-inflammatory immune responses, respectively. This is likely to be relevant for host-pathogen interactions in chronic bacterial infections and provides a model for dissecting pro- and anti-inflammatory cascades.
Migratory monocytes and granulocytes are major lymphatic carriers of Salmonella from tissue to draining lymph node
Authors: Bonneau Michel , Epardaud Mathieu , Payot Fabrice , Niborski Violeta , Thoulouze Maria-Isabel , Bernex Florence , Charley Bernard , Riffault Sabine , Guilloteau Laurence A , Schwartz-Cornil Isabelle
Published: December 2005

Dendritic cells (DC) are recognized as sentinels, which capture antigens in tissue and migrate to the lymph node, where they initiate immune responses. However, when a vaccine strain of green fluorescent protein-expressing Salmonella abortusovis (SAO) was inoculated into sheep oral mucosa, it induced accumulation of myeloid non-DC in the subcapsular sinus and paracortex of the draining lymph node, and SAO was mainly found associated with these cells (granulocytes and macrophages) but rarely with DC. To analyze how bacteria reached lymph nodes, we used cervical pseudo-afferent lymph duct catheterization. We showed that Salmonella administered in the oral mucosa were traveling free in lymph or associated with cells, largely with lymph monocytes and granulocytes but less with DC. SAO also induced a strong influx of these phagocytic cells in afferent lymph. Migrating DC presented a semi-mature phenotype, and SAO administration did not alter their expression of major histocompatibility complex type 2 and coactivation molecules. Compared with blood counterparts, lymph monocytes expressed lower levels of CD40, and granulocytes expressed higher levels of CD80. The data suggest that immunity to bacteria may result from the complex interplay between a mixture of phagocytic cell types, which transport antigens and are massively recruited via lymph to decisional lymph nodes.
Identification of tyrosine residues crucial for CD200R-mediated inhibition of mast cell activation
Authors: Zhang Shuli , Phillips Joseph H
Published: December 2005

CD200 and its receptor CD200R are type-1 membrane glycoproteins, which contain two immunoglobulin-like domains. Engagement of CD200R by CD200 inhibits activation of myeloid cells. Unlike the majority of immune inhibitory receptors, CD200R does not contain an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif but contains three tyrosine residues (Y286, Y289, and Y297) in the cytoplasmic domain. Y297 is located in an NPxY motif. Previously, we have shown that engagement of CD200R in mouse mast cells induces its tyrosine phosphorylation and recruitment of inhibitory adaptor proteins Dok1 and Dok2, leading to the inhibition of Ras/mitogen-activated protein kinase activation. In the present study, we examined the roles of these three tyrosines in CD200R-mediated inhibition by site-directed mutagenesis in mouse mast cells. Our data show that Y286 and Y297 are the major phosphorylation sites and are critical for CD200R-mediated inhibition of mast cell activation, and Y289 is dispensable. Our data also suggest that the Src family kinase may mediate the phosphorylation of CD200R and Dok.
Cyclin T1 but not cyclin T2a is induced by a post-transcriptional mechanism in PAMP-activated monocyte-derived macrophages
Authors: Liou Li-Ying , Haaland Richard E , Herrmann Christine H , Rice Andrew P
Published: December 2005

Positive transcription elongation factor b (P-TEFb) is an RNA polymerase II elongation factor which exists as multiple complexes in human cells. These complexes contain cyclin-dependent kinase 9 as the catalytic subunit and different cyclin subunits—cyclin T1, T2a, T2b, or K. Cyclin T1 is targeted by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) Tat protein to activate transcription of the HIV provirus. Expression of this P-TEFb subunit is highly regulated in monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs). Cyclin T1 is induced early during differentiation and is shut off later by proteasome-mediated proteolysis. Cyclin T1 can be reinduced by pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) or HIV infection. In this study, we analyzed regulation of P-TEFb in MDMs by examining 7SK small nuclear RNA and the HEXIM1 protein; these factors associate with P-TEFb and are thought to regulate its function. 7SK and HEXIM1 were induced early during differentiation, and this correlates with increased overall transcription. 7SK expression remained high, but HEXIM1 was shut off later during differentiation by proteasome-mediated proteolysis. Significantly, the cyclin T2a subunit of P-TEFb was not shut off during differentiation, and it was not induced by activation. Induction of cyclin T1 by PAMPs was found to be a slow process and did not involve an increase in cyclin T1 mRNA levels. Treatment of MDMs with PAMPs or a proteasome inhibitor induced cyclin T1 to a level equivalent to treatment with both agents together, suggesting that PAMPs and proteasome inhibitors act at a similar rate-limiting step. It is therefore likely that cyclin T1 induction by PAMPs is the result of a reduction in proteasome-mediated proteolysis.
HIV gp41-induced apoptosis is mediated by caspase-3-dependent mitochondrial depolarization, which is inhibited by HIV protease inhibitor nelfinavir
Authors: Garg Himanshu , Blumenthal Robert
Published: December 2005

Apoptotic loss of CD4+ T cells has been proposed as a mechanism of T cell depletion in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections resulting in immunodeficiency. The Env glycoprotein has been implicated in apoptosis of uninfected bystander cells via gp120 binding to CD4/CXC chemokine receptor 4 as well as the fusion/hemifusion process mediated by gp41. Using an in vitro model of coculture of Env-expressing cells as effectors and CD4+ T cells as targets, we find that apoptosis mediated by Env glycoprotein in bystander cells in fact correlates with gp41-induced hemifusion. Further, the apoptotic pathway initiated by this interaction involves caspase-3-dependent mitochondrial depolarization and reactive oxygen species production. HIV gp41-induced mitochondrial depolarization is inhibited by protease inhibitor nelfinavir but not by other HIV protease inhibitors or inhibitors of calpain and cathepsin. This “kiss of death” (hemifusion) signaling pathway is independent of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase and p53, making it distinct from the apoptosis seen in syncytia. We also show that virion-induced apoptosis is gp41-dependent. Our findings provide new insights into the mechanism via which HIV gp41 mediates apoptosis in bystander cells.
Identification of a phenotypically and functionally distinct population of long-lived neutrophils in a model of reverse endothelial migration
Authors: Buckley Christopher D , Ross Ewan A , McGettrick Helen M , Osborne Chloe E , Haworth Oliver , Schmutz Caroline , Stone Philip C W , Salmon Mike , Matharu Nick M , Vohra Rajiv K , Nash Gerard B , Rainger G Ed
Published: December 2005

Recent studies have demonstrated that neutrophils are not a homogenous population of cells. Here, we have identified a subset of human neutrophils with a distinct profile of cell-surface receptors [CD54high, CXC chemokine receptor 1low (CXCR1low)], which represent cells that have migrated through an endothelial monolayer and then re-emerged by reverse transmigration (RT). RT neutrophils, when in contact with endothelium, were rescued from apoptosis, demonstrate functional priming, and were rheologically distinct from neutrophils that had not undergone transendothelial migration. In vivo, 1–2% of peripheral blood neutrophils in patients with systemic inflammation exhibit a RT phenotype. A smaller population existed in healthy donors (≈0.25%). RT neutrophils were distinct from naïve circulatory neutrophils (CD54low, CXCR1high) and naïve cells after activation with formyl-Met-Leu-Phe (CD54low, CXCR1low). It is important that the RT phenotype (CD54high, CXCR1low) is also distinct from tissue-resident neutrophils (CD54low, CXCR1low). Our results demonstrate that neutrophils can migrate in a retrograde direction across endothelial cells and suggest that a population of tissue-experienced neutrophils with a distinct phenotype and function are present in the peripheral circulation in humans in vivo.
Multipopulation Analysis of Polymorphisms in Five Mononucleotide Repeats Used to Determine the Microsatellite Instability Status of Human Tumors
Authors: Buhard Olivier , Cattaneo Francesca , Wong Yick Fu , Yim So Fan , Friedman Eitan , Flejou Jean-François , Duval Alex , Hamelin Richard
Published: December 2005

Purpose

Human gastrointestinal tumors with inactivated DNA mismatch repair system (microsatellite instability [MSI] tumors) have distinct molecular and clinicopathologic profiles, and are associated with favorable prognosis. There is evidence suggesting that colorectal cancer patients with MSI tumors respond differently to adjuvant chemotherapy as compared with patients with non-MSI tumors. Finally, determination of the MSI status has clinical application for assisting in the diagnosis of suspected hereditary cases. It is thus becoming increasingly recognized that testing for MSI should be conducted systematically in all human cancers potentially of this type. We recently described a pentaplex polymerase chain reaction of five mononucleotide repeats to establish the MSI status of human tumors, and showed that this assay was 100% sensitive and specific. Moreover, these markers are quasimonomorphic in germline DNA of the white population (ie, individuals of Eurasian origin), and could be used for tumor MSI determination without the requirement for matching normal DNA in this group.

Patients and Methods

In this study, we analyzed a comparable panel of five mononucleotide markers in germline DNA from 1,206 individuals encompassing 55 different populations worldwide.

Results

With the exception of two Biaka Pygmies and one San individual for whom three markers showed variant alleles (three cases [0.2%]), the remaining 1,203 individuals showed no alleles of variant size (1,055 cases [87.5%]), or only one (122 cases [10.1%]) or two (26 cases [2.2%]) markers with variant alleles. All 60 MSI tumors investigated display instability in at least four of the five markers.

Conclusion

We demonstrated that tumor MSI status can be determined using the pentaplex reaction for all human populations without the need for matching normal DNA.
Prognostic Significance of Chromosome Aberrations in High-Grade Soft Tissue Sarcomas
Authors: Mertens Fredrik , Strömberg Ulf , Rydholm Anders , Gustafson Pelle , Bauer Henrik C.F. , Brosjö Otte , Mandahl Nils
Published: December 2005

Purpose

To investigate whether previously observed correlations between tumor karyotype and risk of metastases could be reproduced in an independent set of high-grade soft tissue sarcomas (STSs).

Patients and Methods

In a previous study on high-grade STSs with clonal chromosome aberrations, we identified a number of cytogenetic variables, besides tumor grade and size, that were associated with significantly increased risk of metastases. In the present study, we have tested the predictive value of these cytogenetic variables in a new set of 156 high-grade STSs, all located in the extremities or trunk wall.

Results

Of the 10 cytogenetic variables that turned out to provide prognostic information in the previous series, encompassing 122 trunk wall or extremity STSs, three were significantly associated with metastases also in the new series. In a final Cox regression analysis including these three cytogenetic variables, as well as tumor grade and size, on the combined series of 278 high-grade STSs, four parameters were found to be significantly associated with metastasis risk: tumor grade 3, tumor size ≥ 5 cm, breakpoint in region 1p1, and gain of region 6p1.

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that independent prognostic information may be gained from cytogenetic analysis of high-grade STS.
Phase II Study of Oral Fludarabine Phosphate in Relapsed Indolent B-Cell Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
Authors: Tobinai Kensei , Watanabe Takashi , Ogura Michinori , Morishima Yasuo , Ogawa Yoshiaki , Ishizawa Ken-ichi , Minami Hironobu , Utsunomiya Atae , Taniwaki Masafumi , Terauchi Takashi , Nawano Shigeru , Matsusako Masaki , Matsuno Yoshihiro , Nakamura Shigeo , Mori Shigeo , Ohashi Yasuo , Hayashi Masaki , Seriu Taku , Hotta Tomomitsu
Published: December 2005

Purpose

Although intravenous (IV) fludarabine phosphate is effective against indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (B-NHL), IV administration for 3 to 5 consecutive days is inconvenient in an outpatient setting. To assess the efficacy and toxicity of oral fludarabine phosphate in patients with indolent B-NHL, we conducted a multicenter phase II study.

Patients and Methods

Patients with relapsed indolent B-NHL received fludarabine phosphate tablets orally once daily on days 1 through 5 every 28 days for three to six cycles. The efficacy was separately analyzed in a mantle-cell lymphoma (MCL) cohort and indolent B-NHL except for MCL (IL) cohort. The primary end point was the overall response rate (ORR).

Results

Fifty-two patients, including 46 in the IL cohort (41 with follicular lymphoma) and six in the MCL cohort, were registered, and all patients were eligible. Forty-one patients (79%) had received rituximab as prior therapy. In the IL cohort, the ORR and complete response rate were 65% (30 of 46 patients; 95% CI, 50% to 79%) and 30% (14 of 46 patients; 95% CI, 18% to 46%), respectively. One of six patients with MCL achieved a partial response. The median times to treatment failure for the 46 patients in the IL cohort and for the six patients in the MCL cohort were 8.6 and 6.1 months, respectively. Hematologic toxicities, including grade 4 neutropenia (37%), were the most frequent toxicities, and nonhematologic toxicities were mild.

Conclusion

Oral fludarabine phosphate is highly effective in patients with relapsed indolent B-NHL who have mostly been pretreated with rituximab and is more convenient than the IV formulation.
A LAST LECTURE
Authors: CASSIDY FREDERIC G.
Published: December 2005

frederic g. cassidy (10 Oct. 1907-14 June 2000) was a philologist, lexicographer, and linguistic geographer whose interests encompassed the history of English, Creole languages, American English, and lexicography. He published scores of articles over a career of more than 60 years (most of it spent at the University of Wisconsin-Madison) but is probably best known for his groundbreaking Dictionary of Jamaican English (1967, 1980) and his monumental Dictionary of American Regional English (1985-).
THE NORTH AMERICAN REGIONAL VOCABULARY SURVEY: NEW VARIABLES AND METHODS IN THE STUDY OF NORTH AMERICAN ENGLISH
Authors: BOBERG CHARLES
Published: December 2005

This paper presents the results of a new survey of lexical variation in North American English, called the North American Regional Vocabulary Survey(NARVS). Apart from introducing many new variables that have not been previously studied, the paper examines the use of two quantitative methods,net variation and major isoglosses, as ways of distinguishing the most important regional lexical divisions and the most powerful lexical variables from regional divisions and variables of lesser importance. The quantitative analysis motivates several conclusions. English-speaking Canada is shown to comprise six principal lexical regions:the West, Ontario, Montreal, New Brunswick-Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island,and Newfoundland. A list of the most powerful variables for distinguishing Canadian regions is presented, headed by the set of regional terms for a`house in the country where people go on summer weekends' (cabin,cottage, etc.). A similar analysis of lexical differences across the Canada-United States border is developed, which concludes that no region of Canada can be reliably distinguished as relatively more American than any other and that Canadian regions have more in common at the lexical level with each other than any of them has with the United States.
LOW BACK VOWEL MERGER IN MISSOURI SPEECH: ACOUSTIC DESCRIPTION AND EXPLANATION
Authors: MAJORS TIVOLI
Published: December 2005

Across much of the United States, the phonemic contrast between the vowels of cot and caught is being lost through a sound change known as the low back vowel merger. This paper examines the spread of this merger in the state of Missouri. Acoustic examination of F0, F1,F2, F3, and vowel duration reveals that speakers in the greater St. Louis area maintain the phonemic distinction between /a/ andɔ/, while in much of the state, this distinction is being lost or diminished. In addition to static formant measures, the formant trajectories of the two vowels are examined, and it is found that in St. Louis speech, the VC consonantal transition of F2 is accomplished more quickly for/ɔ/ than for /a/. Although the F2 transitions of the two vowels differ, their overall spectral shapes are more similar than other comparable vowel pairs such as /æ/ and /g=e/, which are not undergoing widespread merger. The dynamic similarity between /a/ and /ɔ/ is posited as a partial explanation for why this particular merger is spreading so rapidly throughout the United States.
MALE CHAUVINIST, FEMINIST, SEXIST, ANDSEXUAL HARASSMENT: DIFFERENT TRAJECTORIES IN FEMINIST LINGUISTIC INNOVATION
Authors: MANSBRIDGE JANE , FLASTER KATHERINE
Published: December 2005

The usage of the term male chauvinist, commonly thought to have arisen in the late 1960s, is tracked in the New York Times from 1851 to 1999 using the Pro-Quest Historical Newspapers online archive, along withfeminist, another revivified word, and the new coinagessexist and sexual harassment. Male chauvinist reveals the characteristic pattern of a vogue word in its relatively swift rise and slower decline, while the other words, once introduced or reintroduced, have a more sustained trajectory. A comparison through survey research of male chauvinist with sexist reveals greater cross-class and cross-race usage of male chauvinist.
The Millennium, Not the Cargo?
Authors: Bieniek Jan , Trompf Garry W.
Published: December 2005

This article compares ideas about the coming millennium in two culturally different parts of Papua New Guinea: Sek in Madang Province and Kasap in Enga Province. In both areas the Catholic church is historically predominant. Concerns and questions about whether the millennium will be marked by Christ's Second Coming are expressed with equal fervency in both areas, and there has been a transformation from more materialistic interests in cargo to more spiritual hopes of a “good time” that may follow the millennium. In both areas religious news continues to predominate as ways of looking at the world.
Confusion, Native Skepticism, and Recurring Questions about the Year 2000: “Soft” Beliefs and Preparations for the Millennium in the Arapesh Region, Papua New Guinea
Authors: Bashkow Ira
Published: December 2005

This paper is a report on millennial rumors that were circulating in 1998 in the Arapesh-speaking region of East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. Given New Guinea's anthropological reputation as the land of millennial movements,we might expect the turning of the millennium to generate extravagant expectations and drama. But most year 2000 stories circulating in the region are actually variants of stories being diffused worldwide through evangelical networks and regular mass media. Papua New Guineans are intensely interested in millennial predictions because they perceive the millennium as a potentially momentous phenomenon of the wider world of Christianity and development of which they believe strongly that they are and must be a part. But the colorful stories people tell and retell about the year 2000 should not be taken as transparent statements of their “beliefs.” The paper suggests (1) that questioning and confusion is the dominant tone of current millennial thinking in the area; (2) that confusion stems from the fact that millennial beliefs are authorized primarily through foreign sources and media that do not satisfy indigenous notions of evidence and truth, and are not substantiated for individuals in their locally lived experience; and (3) that people are beginning to resolve this conflict by taking the meaning of the“year 2000” into their own hands in specifically local millennial projects that are aligned with their basic cultural values, especially unity and development.
The Fire Next Time: The Conversion of the Huli Apocalypse
Authors: Ballard Chris
Published: December 2005

Christian notions of the Apocalypse, which were first introduced to Huli speakers of the Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea during the 1950s,encountered an existing indigenous eschatology, or doctrine of last things. Precontact Huli cosmology posited a moral constitution for the fertility of the universe in which the health of people and the land reflected the state of moral order in Huli society. Failure in social behaviour, which could be gauged from the declining condition of the “skin” of the land, was attributed to an inexorable process of loss of the knowledge of customary lore. Human agency, however, was accorded a significant role in redressing this universal tendency to entropy, and ritual leaders claimed the ability to induce an apocalyptic, earth-renewing fall of fertile soil from the sky. The adoption of Christian understandings of the Apocalypse as the revelation of divine will, and the abandonment of most of the precontact rituals, have thus had significant consequences for Huli conceptions of the role of human agency in history, and for the nature of their engagement with the land.
The Return of the Kingdom:Agamaand the Millennium among the Imyan of Irian Jaya, Indonesia
Authors: Timmer Jaap
Published: December 2005

Imyan people of the southwestern Bird's Head Peninsula of Irian Jaya await an event that promises wealth, justice, and a new world order: Jesus Christ's kingdom on earth. Millennial beliefs among the Imyan derive from a potent blend of Christian doctrine, ancestral transgressions, relationships with sky deities, and a long history of contact with the kingdom of Sailolof, a tributary principality of the North Moluccan sultanate of Tidore. By analyzing the present-day Imyan fear of a growing divide between heaven and earth, this article shows how male Imyans reconcile their current marginality within the Indonesian state to a future that is rooted in local myth and Christian doctrine.
Settlement Patterns and the Origins of African Jamaican Society: Seville Plantation, St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica
Authors: Armstrong Douglas V. , Kelly Kenneth G.
Published: December 2005

Archaeological and historical research at Seville Plantation, Jamaica, are used to explain changes in settlement patterns within the estate's African Jamaican community between 1670 and the late nineteenth century. Sugar plantations, such as Seville, are marked by well-de.ned spatial order based upon economic and power relations that was imposed upon enslaved communities by planters andmanagers. Archaeological evidence is used to explore how enslaved Africans modified this imposed order and rede.ned boundaries in ways that correspond with the development of a distinct African Jamaican society. The rigidly de.ned linear housing arrangements initially established by the planter, and their relations to the Great House, sugar works, and .elds, were reinterpreted by the enslaved residents of the village to create a degree of autonomy and freedom from constant surveillance that was at odds with themotives of the planter class.These changes occurred within the spatial parameters established by the planter, yet they re.ect dynamic and creative social processes that resulted in the emergence of an African Jamaican community.
The Journey to Freedom: Maroon Forebears in Southern Venezuela
Authors: Pérez Berta E.
Published: December 2005

Many of the black slaves brought to the Americas by European colonizers developed strategies of resistance and survival in reaction to colonial slavery. Grand marronnage—or the permanent flight of black slaves from their European oppressors—is one of these strategies used by Aripaeño forebears. This essay examines their journey to freedom, which involved historical processes of ethnogenesis within a diverse and complex ecological and cultural scenario presented by the Guianas during the eighteenth century.
TheHazomangaamong the Masikoro of Southwest Madagascar: Identity and History
Authors: Dina Jeanne
Published: December 2005

In this article Masikoro identity is linked to the Sakalava of western and northwestern Madagascar. An analysis that associates two ritual objects, the hazomanga (a wooden pole symbolizing a lineage, sometimes shaped like a cross,upon which sacrificial blood is consecrated to ones raza or ancestors) and the jiny (ancestral relics), is presented in support of the Sakalava-Masikoro link. A number of rituals involving jiny and hazomanga are considered,including circumcision and adoption of a new member into a lineage. The role of women in relation to these ritual objects is historicized and compared briefly to a contemporary politicized context.
The Vezo of the Fihereña Coast, Southwest Madagascar: Yesterday and Today
Authors: Marikandia Mansaré
Published: December 2005

Some scholars think that the designation Vezo relates solely to the way of life of fisher populations along the southwestern coast of Madagascar. Yet both Vezo and migrant fishers occupy this space. Prohibitions on sheep observed by all Vezo lineages of the Fihereña coast illustrate a “Vezoization” of these immigrants. Furthermore, the myth of the“Mère-Sirène,” Ampelamananisa, supports their identity construction. The Vezo environment includes both marine and terrestrial areas. The patriarch, the ritual pole holder, draws political and religious power by asking help from the ancestors. Today, fishing intensification and destructive capture techniques threaten to unbalance the Vezo world. Nevertheless, the process of forming a Vezo ethnic group is ongoing and merits multidisciplinary research.
A Case of Identity: Ethnogenesis of the New Houma Indians
Authors: Davis Dave D.
Published: December 2005

Throughout the twentieth century, anthropologists and historians have regarded the Houma Indians of southern Louisiana as the descendants of the Houma Indians encountered along the Mississippi River by French explorers and settlers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Oral history of the contemporary Houma traces the group's origin to Native Americans of the Houma and other tribes who moved into the bayou country of southeastern Louisiana during the late eighteenth or early nineteenth centuries. However,anthropologists and historians from the Bureau of Indian Affairs have concluded that there is no documentary evidence of any cultural or genealogical link between the modern Houma and the Houma of the French colonial period. Available documentary sources indicate that the modern Houma originated in the nineteenth century as a multiethnic group that included Europeans, African Americans, and some Native Americans, none of whom are known to have been Houmas. The genesis of the modern group's identity as Houma Indians can be understood as a response to legally sanctioned racial classifications and race discrimination in Louisiana from the late nineteenth century on.
Keres: Engendered Key to the Pueblo Puzzle
Authors: Miller Jay
Published: December 2005

Almost a thousand years separate the flourishing of Chaco Canyon from the Keresan Pueblos of today, yet their distinctive and regionally overwhelming native priesthoods provide a direct link between these people and their place,as still confirmed by their neighbors. The carefully preplanned construction of Chacoan towns in the open—away from cliffs, walls, caverns, and pinnacles—further emphasizes their human-defined shapes as D or O quadrants linked by roads, beacons, and pilgrimages. After a long“engendering” developmenxt during the Archaic period, these priesthoods became enshrined by the building of more than a dozen great-houses at Chaco, with others in outlying “clan” districts, that continue to benefit all of the Pueblos to this day.