bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Scheidung und Mischung: Sprache und Gesellschaft in Thomas Manns Buddenbrooks
Authors: Wolf Ernest M.
Published: August 2007

Thomas Mann gebraucht in Buddenbrooks drei verschiedene deutsche Sprachformen: das Hochdeutsche, das niederdeutsche Platt und was er den »Lübecker Dialekt« nennt, eine Mischung von Hochdeutsch und Plattdeutsch, die als Missingsch definiert werden kann. Außerdem erwähnt er noch an einer Stelle eine Sonderform der Lübecker kaufmännischen Umgangssprache, die er ebenfalls als »Dialekt« bezeichnet. Dazu kommt noch eine Fremdsprache, das Französische.

Da Buddenbrooks ein Gesellschaftsronman ist, besitzen alle sprachliche Elemente auch eine soziologische Funktion: sie zeigen den Platz einzelner Sprecher oder Gruppen innerhalb des Gesellschaftsgefüges an. Die drei genannten Grundformen des deutschen entsprechen als Standessprachen den Hauptschichten der Lübecker Klassengesellschaft. Die großbürgerliche Oberschicht spricht hochdeutsch, der kleinbürgerliche Miettelstand das Lübecker Missingsch und die unterste Volksschicht plattdeutsch.

Die grundsätzlich geltenden Zuordnung der Sprachformen zu den drei Klassenschichten wird jedoch durch mannigfaltige Sprachmischungen eingeschränkt. Angehörige der Oberschicht sowie auch der Mittelstand sprechen neben ihren primären Standessprachen Häfrig auch noch plattdeutsch. Das Französische wird von dem alten Herrn Johann Buddenbrook in einer eigenartigen Sprachmischung mit dem Plattdeutschen kombiniert.
Proto‐Gothicism: The Infernal Iconography of Walpole's Castle of Otranto
Authors: Frank Frederick S.
Published: August 2007

An analysis of the major supernatural icons or horror symbols of the first Gothic novel, Horace Walpole's Castle of Otranto (1764), suggests that the work's infernal iconography expresses in a fully developed way the central themes of the emergent Gothic tradition: a malign and disorderly cosmos; the impotency of rationalism; supernatural terror and horror as the prevailing conditions of the Gothic universe. The iconography of Gothicism derives from older positive value Systems, codes of religious belief or symbols of social stability, but converts these traditional positive representations of order and security into an iconography of fear, doubt, loss, disintegration of self and disruption of natural law. The primary example of this process of iconographic inversion whereby the negative or darker side of the symbol becomes the dominant object of terror in the Gothic world is the sentient architecture of the haunted Castle of Otranto itself, a former refuge now become a site of terror. Concentrating on the mobile icons of the castle's interior and applying a theory of iconology developed by Theodore Ziolkowski in his Disenchanted Images: A Literary Iconology, the essay explores Walpole's proto‐Gothic achievement in preparing the way for the vast eruption of Gothic fiction that would follow in the last decades of the Eighteenth Century.
Book Review
Authors: Larsen Svend Erik
Published: August 2007

Roland Posner: Rational Discourse and Poetic Communication. Methods of Linguistic, Literary, and Philosophical Analysis, Mouton, Berlin/New York/ Amsterdam (Janua Linguarum Series Maior 103), 1982, 258 pp.
The Stranger's Return: Strindberg, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche
Authors: Pettey John Carson
Published: August 2007

The biblical reference contained in its title has led many critics of August Strindberg's seminal drama, To Damascus, I, to regard only the religious influences in its content. This focus has tended often to ignore the substantial contributions of modern philosophy to the composition of Strindberg's work, especially in terms of dramatic structure and characterization. The following article traces and identifies the importance of Kierkegaard's Repetition and Nietzsche's Thus Spake Zarathustra ‐ two philosophical narratives ‐ for both the theme of the “stranger's return” and its rendering within the drama's symmetrical structure and typification of the dramatis personae.
The Moral‐Esthetic Imperative in Literature: A Study in the Basic Dualism of the Poetics of Sartre in the Forties
Authors: Milman Yoseph
Published: August 2007

This article discusses Sartre's poetic principles both as they are expressed theoretically and as they are applied critically. It tries to show that the mixing of ethical and esthetic criteria we find in Sartre's critical essays does not result from an eclectic approach to the work of art or to a lack of logical consistency. Rather, the normative duality we see in his critical essays stems from the double nature of the linguistic sign and of the art of language as he sees them. This duality expresses his dialectic approach to linguistic works of art, according to which ethical and esthetic values represent two fundamental aspects (connected to each other and arising form each other) of the esthetic object ‐ as a ‘non‐real’ being ‐ and of the‘esthetic joy’‐ as an actualization of the basic freedom inherent in the esthetic experience.
Ratiocination About an Ape A Poeto‐logical Investigation of a Murderer
Authors: Ritter Erich H.
Published: August 2007

This article is an attempt to rationalize consequently the existence of the “Ourang‐Outang” as the murderer in Poe's short story “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” from within the structure of the story. One could even say that it is an attempt to prove “categorically” the necessity of the ape as murderer.

In order to do this, the article resorts to the conceptualization and the philosophical underpinning of theGestaltof the detective as an aesthete. Such an understanding of the detective and its rationalization literally provokes the connection of two, each other unknown contemporaries: Poe and Kierkegaard; and ‐ last yet not least ‐ it evokes another romantic: E. T. A. Hoffmann. Other intellectual luminaries, like T. W. Adomo and his friend S. Kracauer, helped to blaze the trail; and, of course, a historical and political view helped to keep “things” in line.

Not only does the presented approach help to explain the ape rationally, it also helps to rationalize the unusually young age of Auguste Dupin himself. The explanation of his character is ‐together with the enigma of the ape ‐ one of the most obscure issues in Poe's detective fiction. This treatment of Poe's detective and the ape tries to realize critically Poe's understanding of his term “ratiocination”.
Embarrassments and Predicaments: Patterns of Interaction in James's Writer‐Tales
Authors: Barry Peter
Published: August 2007

In this tales about writers Henry James reproduces the same basic scenario many times, using a narrow range of motifs, characters, and situations. These can be formulated and formalised in the manner of Vladimir Propp's morphology of the Russian folk tale. The tales can then be studied as reworkings of vital pre‐occupations concerning the writer, art, and society. But when juxtaposed and examined in this way the tales offer no support for views often attributed to James about the necessary separation between art and life, the need for artists to dedicate themselves totally to art, and the lamentable timidity and short‐sightedness of editors and the public. Instead, what emerges is a pervasive uncertainty on these issues. The stories place a high valuation on friendship and human contact, and express scepticism about impersonality as an artistic ideal. They also query the value of a unifying thread or ‘secret’ which endows an author's opus with formal perfection, expressing enthusiasm instead for what is fragmentary and spontaneous rather than crafted. The spirit of the tales then, is more akin to the warmth of feeling seen in James's accounts of his relations with Turgenev, Flaubert, and other writers than to the urbane convictions expressed in the prefaces.
Les modèles ďévolution dans Les Météores de Michel Tournier
Authors: Degn Inge
Published: August 2007

Ľarticle présente une analyse de chacun des modèles ďévolution insérés dans Les Météores de Michel Tournier. Ensuite, ľhistoire de la vie et le voyage ďinitiation du personnage principal, Paul, sont interprétés à la lumière de ces modèles. Le jeu compliqué, la résonance, entre ces modèles qui se ressemblent tout en étant différents, permettent de dégager et nuancer les composantes du double conflit de Paul. Une analyse approfondie de la fin de ľhistoire fait ressortir ľambiguïté de ľaboutissement de ľaventure ďinitiation, car la fin n'apporte pas simplement la réconciliation des contraires, comme on pouvait s'y attendre, et comme prétendent la plupart des critiques, die répète ľopposition du début, due àľorigine double, céleste et humaine, des jumeaux. En effet, ďun côté, ľopposition chair‐esprit s'impose par la présence du corps mutilé et les hallucinations du mutilé, et, de ľautre, les hallucinations contiennent, dans une chronologie textuelle, ľopposition entre les pôles féminin/maternel et masculin/paternel. Au lieu ďune médiation, il y a passage de l'un àľautre de ces oppositions, grâce au sacrifice. Le sacrifice devient ainsi ľélément central. Cette interprétation de la fin de ľhistoire incite à confronter revolution de Paul et celle prônée par Thomas Koussek. Une telle confrontation permet de mesurer le fossé qui sépare initiation spirituelle et mutilation, modèle idéal et destin, et met en lumière le caractère conflictuel de la fin des Météores.
Towards a Reassessment of Fin‐de‐Siècle Vienna
Authors: Brzovi« Kathy
Published: August 2007

This article attempts to re‐define the terms of debate surrounding the socio‐historical, political, aesthetic, and philosophical significance of the Impressionist movement in turn‐of‐the‐century Vienna. It calls into question the adequacy of the traditional paradigm of crisis and argues that the Jung Wien movement may be viewed as an attempt by the Austro‐German elite to fashion a form of cultural monism that complemented the political move of the Habsburg monarchy to preserve its empire.
Jules Laforgue: Constructing the Text
Authors: McCann John
Published: August 2007

The article looks at the problems involved in understanding Laforgue's poetry and asks whether these difficulties are, as has been claimed, symptoms of a universe slipping towards chaos or whether the meaninglessness is more apparent than real. It argues that the building‐blocks of Laforgue's poetic language are the letters of the alphabet which are combined and recycled like atoms. Thus, Laforgue is able to create new words such as‘violupté’by breaking up and re‐using existing ones. Language is imbued with change ‐so that it can adapt itself to convey new meanings. Change, therefore, is not totally negative. It is a movement in time that does more than tear down: it permits the recycling, the making new of what has gone before so that something of value can be handed on. Laforgue's extensive use of the intertext is part of this for it represents a renewal of tradition. Laforgue, then, uses protean, shifting language to construct a poetic artefact that will communicate meaning and preserve it for the future.
Ernst Toller's Die Maschinenstürmer: an Expressionist Historical Drama
Authors: Tyson Peter K.
Published: August 2007

Critics have condemned Ernst Toller's Die Maschinenstürmer as derivative of Gerhart Hauptmann's Die Weber and as an inferior work because of its historical inaccuracy. They have also produced contradictory statements regarding its style. If we examine Die Maschinenstürmer in the context of the Expressionist historical drama, we see that the Expressionist historical drama is more concerned with contemporary problems than with strict historical accuracy and that, stylistically, it is more orthodox than other Expressionist dramas. In this light, the criticism of Die Maschinenstürmer for inaccuracy is invalid – Toller is not interested in producing an authentic nineteenth‐century play, preferring instead the clash between the old and the new, between the short‐sighted Luddites and the visionary, Expressionist “Neuer Mensch.” Stylistically, Die Maschinenstürmer is a typical Expressionist historical drama in its combination of realism and Expressionism.
Musil und die problematische Politik
Authors: von Literatur Zum Verhältnis , Musil Politik bei Robert
Published: August 2007

Der Artikel behandelt, von den späten Tagebucheintragungen ausgehend, Musils kritische Reflexion der Politik. Er will die These stärken, daß politische Fragestellungen einen erheblichen Anteil auch an der Konzeption des Romans «Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften» haben. Im ersten Teil wird vor allem Musils skeptische Haltung gegenüber dem Nationalismus unterstrichen, der ein Beispiel dafür sei, wie die konkrete politische Umsetzung ursprünglich emotiver Bedürfnisse fatale Konsequenzen hat. Gezeigt werden soll, wie Musils psychologische Argumentation auf die Trennung von Politik und einer anthropologisch fundierten Idee von geschlossener Ganzheit zielt. An einem intellektualistischen Geniebegriff orientiert, moniert er die zeitgenössischen ‘genialen’ politischen Führer, die Maßstäbe des Künstlerischen ins Politische übertragen hätten. In einem zweiten Teil wird diese Debatte in einer Auseinandersetzung mit Carl Schmitt noch verschärft und auf den Streit um einen Politikbegriff konzentriert, dessen Definition von der Ausnahmesituation des Kampfes ausgeht. In diesem Politikverständnis entdeckt Musil einen Rationalismus, der seinem existenzialistischen Ursprung nicht entkommt. Zu erkennen wäre, daß Musil seine literarische Theorie einer suggestiv wirkenden Gleichnissprache aueh im Gegenzug zu einer bei Schmitt exemplarisch vorfindlichen juristischen Begrifflichkeit entwickelt, die hinsichtlich der gesellschaftlichen Wirklichkeit eine direkte Einwirkung bezweckt.
Günter Grass: Die Rättin ‐ Struktur und Rezeption
Authors: Kiefer Klaus H.
Published: August 2007

Die «dialektische Einheit zwischen Werkstruktur und Interpretationssystem» (Warning) wird in Grass'Rättin in mehrfacher Weise zum Thema und zum Problem. Es handelt sich nicht nur um die narrative Wiederaufnahme eines alten Motivs (Ratten), einer alter Figur (Oskar) unter veränderten Bedingungen, nicht nur um die Aktualisierung von Textstrukturen im interpretatorischen Diskurs, sondern die Erzählsituation ist post‐futurisch angelegt; derart, daß weder Werk noch Interpretation überhaupt Berechtigung finden. Ist es doch ‐ in der Fiktion ‐ lngst um die ganze Menschheit geschehen, als Publikum bleibt allein die Rättin ‐ und die meisten Rezensenten nehmen zwei Monate vor Tschernobyl Grass' Warnung nicht ernts. Dessen verzweifelter und dennoch vitaler Versuch, die Endzeit als (so gut wie) geschehen zu erzählen und trotzdem «gegen an» zu sprechen, seine kafkaeske Ambivalenz zwischen Alptraum und Wirklichkeit zieht Bilanz hinsichtlich des eigenen Schaffens, der Leistung von Literatur und Fiktion in dieser Zeit, Bilanz auch der Humangeschichte. Grass' kühner Versuch verstößt experimentell gegen die Spielregeln des herkömmlichen Erzählens, allerdings bleibt die Frage der Angemessenheit von Thema und Verfahren ‐ auch und gerade nach Tschernobyl ‐ notwendigerweise offen, sie kann wohl nur von der Geschichte in ihrem zukünftigen Verlauf selber bean two rtet werden.
The Incest Motif in Louise von François's Der Katzenjunker: A Veiled yet Scathing Indictment of Patriarchal Abuse
Authors: Laane Tiiu V.
Published: August 2007

Although the German novelist Louise von François was recognized by contemporaries as a writer of high artistic merit and her works were praised for their probing psychological insights, François's name was seldom mentioned among the writers of the nineteenth century German women's movement. Her narratives carry a covert feminist message which is presented discreetly through the use of subtleties. Cast into intricately interwoven artistic shape, her stories probe the insufficiencies of contemporary patriarchal society which violated women psychologically, socially and economically. The plight of women fettered by male‐dominated institutions, one of the important themes of nineteenth century feminists, is no where more clearly developed than in her story Der Katzenjunker. The narrative lodges a powerful protest against patriarchal family structures, made emblematic in the quasi‐incestuous relationship between “father” and “daughter.” This study examines how François used the dark and frightening undercurrent of incest to systematically depict male brutality and women's humiliating dependency. It analyses her psychologically complex characters and their emotional and sexual relationships, and elucidates her bitter view of the topos of romantic love. The subtle shift from a depiction of female subordination to one of female self‐identity offers hope for nineteenth century women and suggests a vision of more egalitarian social patterns.
Autor und Autobiographie. Die Autorfigur als neuer Zugang zu August Strindbergs Werk
Authors: Behschnitt Wolfgang
Published: August 2007

Der Aufsatz behandelt das Autobiographische in Strindbergs Werk. Dreißig Jahre nach dem “Tod des Autors” in der postmodernen Literaturtheorie erscheint es gerade im Hinblick auf Strindberg sinnvoll, ein neues Verständnis des Autobiographischen zu entwickeln. Denn das Werk Strindbergs ist auf zugleich offensichtliche und doch höchst problematische Weise von autobiographischen Zügen durchwebt. Das Konzept der “Autorfigur” formuliert einen Vorschlag fär ein solch neues Verständnis und entwickelt damit auch eine neue Perspektive für die Interpretation von Strindbergs Texten insgesamt.
Two sides of an anorexic coin in Die Wahlverwandt‐schaften and Die Verwandlung: Ottilie as Heilige, Gregor as Mistkäfer
Authors: Dickson Sheila
Published: August 2007

Two very different characters, Ottilie from Die Wahlverwandt‐schaften and Gregor from Die Verwandlung, display character traits that are recognised within clinical psychology as conductive to the illness anorexia nervosa. Although termed an eating disorder this illness is a much more complex reflection of self‐hatred and represents an attempt to gain control over one's life by sensitive, intelligent young people in situations where they feel pressured from outside. This body of knowledge is a useful tool with which to analyse the behaviour of these characters and offers new insight into their actions which may change our interpretation of the works as a whole.
Pineal melatonin and the innate immune response: the TNF‐α increase after cesarean section suppresses nocturnal melatonin production
Authors: Pontes Gerlândia N. , Cardoso Elaine C. , Carneiro‐Sampaio Magda M. S. , Markus Regina P.
Published: August 2007

Abstract:  The nocturnal surge of melatonin is the endocrine expression of the circadian system and is essential for organizing the timing of various endogenous processes. Previous works suggest that, in the beginning of a defense response, the increase in circulating tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α) leads to a transient block of nocturnal melatonin production and promotes a disruption of internal time organization. In the present paper, the concentration of melatonin and cytokines [TNF‐α, interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ), interleukin (IL)‐2, IL‐4, IL‐5, IL‐10, IL‐12] in the colostrum (postdelivery day 3) and in the milk (postdelivery days 10, 15, 20 and 30) obtained at midday and midnight from mothers who gave birth by vaginal or cesarean section were compared. The nocturnal melatonin surge observed 3 days after vaginal delivery was absent after cesarean section. IL‐12 presented no daily variation in either case, while daily variations in IFN‐γ, IL‐10, IL‐4 and IL‐5 were observed after vaginal delivery and cesarean section. On the other hand, the increase in TNF‐α after cesarean section resulted in suppression of the nocturnal melatonin surge. Daily variation of IL‐2 was only observed after recovery of the nocturnal melatonin surge, 30 days after cesarean section. The present paper supports the hypothesis of a cross‐talk between the pineal gland and the immune system, which could represent a putative immune–pineal axis.
Construction and biological activity of a full‐length molecular clone of human Torque teno virus (TTV) genotype 6
Authors: Kakkola Laura , Tommiska Johanna , Boele Linda C. L. , Miettinen Simo , Blom Tea , Kekarainen Tuija , Qiu Jianming , Pintel David , Hoeben Rob C. , Hedman Klaus , Söderlund‐Venermo Maria
Published: August 2007

Torque teno virus (TTV) is a non‐enveloped human virus with a circular negative‐sense (approximately 3800 nucleotides) ssDNA genome. TTV resembles in genome organization the chicken anemia virus, the animal pathogen of the Circoviridae family, and is currently classified as a member of a new, floating genus, Anellovirus. Molecular and cell biological research on TTV has been restricted by the lack of permissive cell lines and functional, replication‐competent plasmid clones. In order to examine the key biological activities (i.e. RNA transcription and DNA replication) of this still poorly characterized ssDNA virus, we cloned the full‐length genome of TTV genotype 6 and transfected it into cells of several types. TTV mRNA transcription was detected by RT‐PCR in all the cell types: KU812Ep6, Cos‐1, 293, 293T, Chang liver, Huh7 and UT7/Epo‐S1. Replicating TTV DNA was detected in the latter five cell types by a DpnI‐based restriction enzyme method coupled with Southern analysis, a novel approach to assess TTV DNA replication. The replicating full‐length clone, the cell lines found to support TTV replication, and the methods presented here will facilitate the elucidation of the molecular biology and the life cycle of this recently identified human virus.
Are the Endocrine Society's Clinical Practice Guidelines on Androgen Therapy in Women Misguided? A Commentary
Authors: Traish Abdulmaged , Guay Andre T. , Spark Richard F. ,   the Testosterone Therapy in Women Study Group
Published: August 2007

The Endocrine Society Clinical Guidelines on Androgen Therapy in Women (henceforth referred to as the Guidelines) do not necessarily represent the opinion held by the many health-care professionals and clinicians who are specialized in the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of women's health in androgen insufficiency states. The recommendations provided in the published Guidelines are neither accurate nor complete. We disagree with the therapeutic nihilism promoted by these Guidelines. The members of the Guidelines Panel (henceforth referred to as the Panel), in their own disclaimer, stated that the Guidelines do not establish a standard of care.

Based on data available in the contemporary literature, on the role of androgens in women's health, we provide in this commentary a point-by-point discussion of the arguments made by the Panel in arriving at their recommendations. It is our view that the Guidelines are not based on the preponderance of scientific evidence.

Health-care professionals, physicians, and scientists often disagree when determining how best to address and manage new and emerging clinical issues. This is where we stand now as we endeavor to understand the role of androgens in a woman's health and welfare. Indeed, some basic facts are not in contention. All agree that dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) production from the adrenal gland begins during the preteen years, peaks in the mid 20s, then declines progressively over time. In contrast, ovarian androgen (i.e., testosterone) secretion commences at puberty, is sustained during a woman's peak reproductive years and declines as a woman ages, with a more rapid and steep decrease after surgical menopause. However, there are ample data to suggest that adrenal androgens play a role in the development of axillary and pubic hair, and that testosterone is critical for women's libido and sexual function.

We take this opportunity to invite members of the Panel on Androgen Therapy in Women to discuss, clarify, comment, or rebut any of the points made in this Commentary. It is our goal to elevate this debate in order to provide women who are afflicted with androgen insufficiency and sexual disorders with the highest quality health care and to relieve their distress and suffering, as well as to improve their quality of life.
Koro—The Psychological Disappearance of the Penis
Authors: Mattelaer Johan J. , Jilek Wolfgang
Published: August 2007

The aim of this article is to present a summarizing overview on ethnomedical aspects of koro (in Chinese called suo-yang), the panic anxiety state in which affected males believe that the penis is shrinking and/or retracting, and perhaps disappearing.

While reduction of penile volume occurs physiologically due to vasoconstriction in cold temperature and intense anxiety, it is believed in certain cultures that genital shrinking leads to impotence and sterility, and eventually to death.

Traditional Chinese medicine treats suo-yang, the reduction of the male principle yang, as a dangerous disturbance of the life-sustaining yin-yang equilibrium of the organism.

Koro has therefore been held to be a Chinese “culture-bound” condition. However , the koro phenomenon is also known among diverse ethnic and religious groups in Asia and Africa, typically in cultures in which reproductive ability is a major determinant of a young person's worth.

Koro epidemics of panic anxiety due to widespread fears of losing one's genitals, procreative ability, and even one's life, are triggered by rumors of genital disappearance supposedly caused in China by female fox spirits, in Singapore and Thailand by mass poisoning, and in Africa by sorcery, usually in the context of socioeconomic or political tension.

Today, in contemporary Western societies, ideas of genital disappearance are not culturally endorsed. But historically, it should be remembered that in the late Middle Ages in Europe, a man could lose his membrum virile through magical attacks by witches.

The conclusion is that the psychological disappearance of the penis is a universal syndrome that was described recently in Asia and Africa and already in Medieval Europe.
Syncretism
Authors: Baerman Matthew
Published: August 2007

Syncretism occurs where two or more distinct morphosyntactic values are collapsed in a single inflected word form. In the current literature, instances of syncretism are being increasingly cited to support particular models of morphology and feature structure. This article takes a critical look at the sorts of analyses that the data actually warrant, in particular showing the limitations of an approach that treats syncretism as dependent on morphosyntactic feature structure.
Work–Family Intersections
Authors: Winslow‐Bowe Sarah
Published: August 2007

Research on the intersections of paid labor and family life has expanded in recent decades, driven in large part by the dramatic increase in women's labor force participation and the concurrent rise in dual‐earner families. This article first reviews the extant literature on three major sources of conflict between work and family – the demands of home, the demands of work, and cultural prescriptions for ‘good’ workers, childhood, and parenting. Then, I turn to a review of policies and programs designed to address the nexus of employment and personal obligations now confronting the majority of American workers, emphasizing that, in the USA, nearly all of these attempts to address work–family conflict occur at the organizational (rather than governmental) level and are thus differentially distributed resources. I conclude with two suggestions for future research – attention to the diversity of American workers and families and examinations of work–family intersections across the life course.
The Generality and Consequences of Stereotype Threat
Authors: McGlone Matthew S. , Pfiester R. Abigail
Published: August 2007

‘Stereotype threat’ refers to the state of psychological discomfort people experience when confronted by an unflattering reputation in a situation where that reputation can be confirmed by one's behavior. Once aroused, stereotype threat can have a number of disruptive effects, among them the short‐term impairment of intelligent thought and academic achievement. Over time, it can prompt defensive adaptations that have far‐reaching effects, such as disengagement from activities or domains where the stereotype is relevant, which in turn can lead to impaired intellectual development. Stereotype threat thus can result in a self‐fulfilling prophecy whereby a person comes to resemble his or her reputation, living up or down to social expectations. This article reviews the development of the stereotype threat construct from Steele and Aronson's (1995) original demonstration to investigations of its generality and mediators and to more recent studies focusing on strategies for reducing its negative effects.
Echocardiographic characterisation of left ventricular geometry of professional male tennis players
Authors: Osborn Ross Q , Taylor Walter C , Oken Keith , Luzano Marcello , Heckman Michael , Fletcher Gerald
Published: August 2007

Background:

The cardiac characteristics of various types of athletes have been defined by echocardiography. Athletes involved in predominately static exercise, such as bodybuilders, have been found to have more concentric hypertrophy, whereas those involved in dynamic exercise, such as long distance runners, have more eccentric hypertrophy. Tennis at the elite level is a sport that is a combination of static and dynamic exercise.

Objective:

To characterise left ventricular geometry including left ventricular hypertrophy by echocardiography in male professional tennis players.

Design:

Retrospective study of screening echocardiograms that were performed on male professional tennis players.

Setting:

All echocardiograms were performed at the Mayo Clinic (Jacksonville, Florida, USA) between 1998–2000.

Participants:

A total of 41 male professional tennis players, with a mean age of 23.

Results:

Left ventricular hypertrophy was present in 30 of 41 subjects (73%, 95% CI: 57%–86%). The majority of players manifested eccentric hypertrophy (n = 22, 54%). Concentric hypertrophy (n = 9, 22%) and normal geometry (n = 7, 17%) were encountered with similar frequency. Only 7% (n = 3) manifested concentric remodelling. The mean thickness of both the interventricular septum and the posterior wall was 11.0 mm. The mean LVEDd was 55 mm. The mean RWT was 0.41. The mean LVMI was 130 gm/m2and the mean EF was 64%. Five of the 41 subjects had an abnormal septal thickness of 13 mm.

Conclusion:

This was the first study to specifically describe the full range of echocardiographically-determined left ventricular geometry in professional male tennis players. The majority of subjects exhibited abnormal geometry, predominantly eccentric hypertrophy.
Negotiating the nucleosome: factors that allow RNA polymerase II to elongate through chromatinThis paper is one of a selection of papers published in this Special Issue, entitled 28th International West Coast Chromatin and Chromosome Conference, and has undergone the Journal's usual peer review process.
Authors: Armstrong Jennifer A.
Published: August 2007

Initiation by RNA polymerase II (Pol II) involves a host of enzymes, and the process of elongation appears similarly complex. Transcriptional elongation through chromatin requires the coordinated efforts of Pol II and its associated transcription factors: C-terminal domain kinases, elongation complexes, chromatin-modifying enzymes, chromatin remodeling factors, histone chaperones (nucleosome assembly factors), and histone variants. This review examines the following: (i) the consequences of the encounter between elongating Pol II and a nucleosome, and (ii) chromatin remodeling factors and nucleosome assembly factors that have recently been identified as important for the elongation stage of transcription.
How many remodelers does it take to make a brain? Diverse and cooperative roles of ATP-dependent chromatin-remodeling complexes in developmentThis paper is one of a selection of papers published in this Special Issue, entitled 28th International West Coast Chromatin and Chromosome Conference, and has undergone the Journal's usual peer review process.
Authors: Brown Elvin , Malakar Sreepurna , Krebs Jocelyn E.
Published: August 2007

The development of a metazoan from a single-celled zygote to a complex multicellular organism requires elaborate and carefully regulated programs of gene expression. However, the tight packaging of genomic DNA into chromatin makes genes inaccessible to the cellular machinery and must be overcome by the processes of chromatin remodeling; in addition, chromatin remodeling can preferentially silence genes when their expression is not required. One class of chromatin remodelers, ATP-dependent chromatin-remodeling enzymes, can slide nucleosomes along the DNA to make specific DNA sequences accessible or inaccessible to regulators at a particular stage of development. While all ATPases in the SWI2/SNF2 superfamily share the fundamental ability to alter DNA accessibility in chromatin, they do not act alone, but rather, are subunits of a large assortment of protein complexes. Recent studies illuminate common themes by which the subunit compositions of chromatin-remodeling complexes specify the developmental roles that chromatin remodelers play in specific tissues and at specific stages of development, in response to specific signaling pathways and transcription factors. In this review, we will discuss the known roles in metazoan development of 3 major subfamilies of chromatin-remodeling complexes: the SNF2, ISWI, and CHD subfamilies.
Noncoding but nonexpendable: transcriptional regulation by large noncoding RNA in eukaryotesThis paper is one of a selection of papers published in this Special Issue, entitled 28th International West Coast Chromatin and Chromosome Conference, and has undergone the Journal's usual peer review process.
Authors: Yazgan Oya , Krebs Jocelyn E.
Published: August 2007

Genome sequencing and annotation has advanced our understanding of genome organization and gene structure but initially only allowed predictions of how many genes might be present. Mechanisms such as alternative splicing reveal that these predictions only scratch the surface of the true nature of the transcriptome. Several thousand expressed partial gene fragments have been cloned but were considered transcriptional noise or cloning artifacts. We now know that genomes are indeed expressed at much higher levels than was previously predicted, and much of the additional transcription maps to intergenic regions, intron sequences, and untranslated regions of mRNAs. These transcripts are expressed from either the sense or the antisense strand and can be confirmed by conventional techniques. In addition to the already established roles for small RNAs in gene regulation, large noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) are also emerging as potent regulators of gene expression. In this review, we summarize several illustrative examples of gene regulatory mechanisms that involve large ncRNAs. We describe several distinct regulatory mechanisms that involve large ncRNAs, such as transcriptional interference and promoter inactivation, as well as indirect effects on transcription regulatory proteins and in genomic imprinting. These diverse functions for large ncRNAs are likely to be only the first of many novel regulatory mechanisms emerging from this growing field.
Che-1/AATF, a multivalent adaptor connecting transcriptional regulation, checkpoint control, and apoptosisThis paper is one of a selection of papers published in this Special Issue, entitled 28th International West Coast Chromatin and Chromosome Conference, and has undergone the Journal's usual peer review process.
Authors: Passananti Claudio , Floridi Aristide , Fanciulli Maurizio
Published: August 2007

Che-1/AATF (Che-1) was originally characterized as an interacting protein for RNA polymerase II. In addition to transcriptional regulation, the evidence suggests that Che-1 has a viral factor-like S phase promoting role in counteracting Rb repression to facilitate E2F-dependent transactivation during G1–S transition. Recently, Che-1 was found to play an important role in the DNA damage response and cell-cycle checkpoint control. Genetic studies in mice revealed that Che-1 is essential for preimplantation development and the establishment of embryonic gene expression. Importantly, several findings showed that Che-1 participates in inhibiting apoptotic process. Thus, Che-1 emerges as an important adaptor that connects transcriptional regulation, cell-cycle progression, checkpoint control, and apoptosis.
Nucleosome organization and targeting of SWI/SNF chromatin-remodeling complexes: contributions of the DNA sequenceThis paper is one of a selection of papers published in this Special Issue, entitled 28th International West Coast Chromatin and Chromosomes Conference, and has undergone the Journal's usual peer review process.
Authors: Montecino Martin , Stein Janet L. , Stein Gary S. , Lian Jane B. , van Wijnen Andre J. , Cruzat Fernando , Gutiérrez Soraya , Olate Juan , Marcellini Sylvain , Gutiérrez José L.
Published: August 2007

Chromatin organization within the nuclear compartment is a fundamental mechanism to regulate the expression of eukaryotic genes. During the last decade, a number of nuclear protein complexes with the ability to remodel chromatin and regulate gene transcription have been reported. Among these complexes is the SWI/SNF family, which alters chromatin structure in an ATP-dependent manner. A considerable effort has been made to understand the molecular mechanisms by which SWI/SNF catalyzes nucleosome remodeling. However, limited attention has been dedicated to studying the role of the DNA sequence in this remodeling process. Therefore, in this minireview, we discuss the contribution of nucleosome positioning and nucleosome excluding sequences to the targeting and activity of SWI/SNF complexes. This discussion includes results from our group using the rat osteocalcin gene promoter as a model. Based on these results, we postulate a model for chromatin remodeling and transcriptional activation of this gene in osteoblastic cells.
Characterization of breast cancer by array comparative genomic hybridizationThis paper is one of a selection of papers published in this Special Issue, entitled 28th International West Coast Chromatin and Chromosome Conference, and has undergone the Journal's usual peer review process.
Authors: Climent J. , Garcia J.L. , Mao J.H. , Arsuaga J. , Perez-Losada J.
Published: August 2007

Cancer progression is due to the accumulation of recurrent genomic alterations that induce growth advantage and clonal expansion. Most of these genomic changes can be detected using the array comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) technique. The accurate classification of these genomic alterations is expected to have an important impact on translational and basic research. Here we review recent advances in CGH technology used in the characterization of different features of breast cancer. First, we present bioinformatics methods that have been developed for the analysis of CGH arrays; next, we discuss the use of array CGH technology to classify tumor stages and to identify and stratify subgroups of patients with different prognoses and clinical behaviors. We finish our review with a discussion of how CGH arrays are being used to identify oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, and breast cancer susceptibility genes.
Habitat attributes and chestnut-backed chickadee nest site selection in uncut and partial-cut forests
Authors: Mahon C. Lisa , Martin Kathy , Steventon J.D.
Published: August 2007

We examined the relationship between habitat attributes and nest-site selection by chestnut-backed chickadees ( Poecile rufescens (Townsend, 1837); hereinafter chickadees) in uncut and partial-cut forests in northwest British Columbia. We described the characteristics of uncut sites and compared them with structurally modified partial-cut sites (mature and old forests). We then compared the use and selection of habitat by chickadees at uncut and partial-cut sites at three spatial scales: (1) the stand (19–24 ha uncut or partial-cut stand), (2) the nest patch (a 0.031 ha patch centered on nest trees), and (3) the nest tree. At the stand scale, we found no correlation between the density of breeding chickadees and the characteristics of uncut and partial-cut sites. At the nest-patch scale, chickadees in uncut and old partial-cut sites selected nest patches with higher densities of broken-top trees compared with available habitat within territories. At the nest-tree scale, chickadees selected nest trees with boring insects and broken tops in uncut and mature partial-cut sites and large trees with boring insects in old partial-cut sites. Our results suggest that chickadees exhibited flexibility in resource selection but also selected resources with similar attributes at the nest-patch and nest-tree scales. Managed stands that maintain a range of tree species and conditions, including live trees with areas of disease, insect attack, and damage, will provide the specific structural attributes used for nesting by weak cavity excavators such as the chickadee.
Comparing gain and optimum test size from progeny testing and phenotypic selection in Pinus sylvestris
Authors: Hannrup Björn , Jansson Gunnar , Danell Öje
Published: August 2007

The profit from tree breeding is dependent on the amount of money invested and how these resources are spent, particularly in the testing of selection candidates. Simulations of within-family selection were used to find the optimum balance among the number of candidates, progenies per candidate, and test sites for a given investment level and to compare the profit from progeny testing and phenotypic selection. The simulations were based on genetic parameters estimated from 66 Pinus sylvestris L. progeny trials in southern Sweden and on compilations of breeding costs. For progeny testing the optimum number of candidates and test sites increased with increasing investment level, whereas the number of progenies per candidate and site decreased and stabilized at ca. 10 individuals. The maximum annual profit for the phenotypic selection was higher and occurred at a lower investment level than for progeny testing. Among the two alternatives of progeny testing studied, the intensive alternative with practices to stimulate early flowering showed a higher maximum annual profit than the base alternative.
Free fatty acid transport across adipocytes is mediated by an unknown membrane protein pump
Authors: Kampf J. Patrick , Parmley Danielle , Kleinfeld Alan M.
Published: August 2007

The role of cell membranes in regulating the flux of long chain free fatty acids (FFA) into and out of adipocytes is intensely debated. Four different membrane proteins including, FABPpm, CD36/FAT, caveolin-1, and FATP have been identified as facilitating FFA transport. Moreover, CD36 and caveolin-1 are also reported to mediate transport in conjunction with lipid rafts. The principal evidence for these findings is a correlation of the level of FFA uptake with the expression level of these proteins and with the integrity of lipid rafts. The 3T3-L1 and 3T3-F442A cell lines in their preadipocyte states reveal little or no expression of these proteins and correspondingly low levels of uptake. Here we have microinjected the adipocyte and preadipocyte cell lines with ADIFAB, the fluorescent indicator of FFA. The ADIFAB fluorescence allowed us to monitor the intracellular unbound FFA concentration during FFA influx and efflux. We show that these measurements of transport, in contrast to FFA uptake measurements, correlate neither with expression of these proteins nor with lipid raft integrity in preadipocytes and adipocytes. Transport characteristics, including the generation of an ATP-dependent FFA concentration gradient, are virtually identical in adipocytes and preadipocytes. We suggest that the origin of the discrepancy between uptake and our measurements is that most of the FFA transported into the cells is lost during the uptake but not in the transport protocols. We conclude that long chain fatty acid transport in adipocytes is very likely mediated by an as-yet-unidentified membrane protein pump.
Sensitivity to metabolic signals in late-gestation growth-restricted fetuses from rapidly growing adolescent sheep
Authors: Wallace Jacqueline M. , Milne John S. , Aitken Raymond P. , Hay William W.
Published: August 2007

Fetal sensitivity to insulin and glucose was investigated during fetal hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic (HI-euG, n = 18) and hyperglycemic-euinsulinemic (HG-euI, n = 12) clamps. Singleton bearing adolescent ewes were fed high (H) or control (C) nutrient intakes to induce compromised or normal placental/fetal size, respectively. Catheters were inserted in the umbilical vein (v), fetal artery, (a) and veins, and studies were conducted between day 126 and 133 of gestation. Umbilical blood flow (UmBF) was determined by the steady-state transplacental diffusion technique using3H2O, and glucose fluxes were quantified by the Fick principle. For the HI-euG study, fetal glucose utilization was measured at spontaneously occurring fetal insulin concentrations and two additional higher levels, whereas fetal glucose was clamped at the initial baseline level. For the HG-euI study, fetal insulin was suppressed by somatostatin infusion, and fetal glucose utilization was determined at baseline (before somatostatin) glucose concentrations, and at 150 and 200% of this value. Placentome weight (219 vs. 395 g), fetal weight (2,965 vs. 4,373 g), and UmBF (519 vs. 794 ml/min) were lower ( P < 0.001) in H than in C groups. Relative to control fetuses, glucose extraction (G[v − a]/G[v] × 100) in the nonperturbed state was higher (21.7 vs. 15.9%) in growth-restricted fetuses despite lower glucose (0.78 vs. 1.05 μmol/ml) and insulin (8.5 vs. 16.9 μU/ml) concentrations (all P < 0.001). During the HI-euG study, total fetal glucose utilization rate increased in response to higher insulin concentrations (65 and 64% in H and C groups). Similarly during the HG-euI study, a twofold increase in glucose supply increased fetal glucose utilization by 41 and 44% in H and C groups, respectively. Throughout both studies, absolute total fetal glucose utilization rates were reduced in H vs. C groups ( P < 0.01) but were similar when expressed per kilogram fetus (HI-euG: 34.7, 49.5, and 57.5 in H vs. 34.7, 51.2, and 56.1 μmol·min−1·kg−1in C, HG-euI: 28.7, 35.7, and 40.8 in H vs. 32.9, 34.5, and 43.8 μmol·min−1·kg−1in C). These normal body weight-specific metabolic responses to short-term experimental increases in plasma insulin and glucose in response to chronic IUGR indicate maintained mechanisms of insulin action and glucose uptake/utilization capacity, which, if persistent, might predispose such IUGR offspring to excessive energy deposition in later life.