bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Prolonged Discovery of America
Authors: Verlinden Charles
Published: March 2007

Christopher Columbus did not know, on October 12, 1492, that he had reached a new world. Rather he believed, along with his crew, that he had crossed the ocean separating western Europe from east Asia; or, at the very least, that they were nearing the rich lands described by Marco Polo, which the Genoan had read about and his crew knew of, at least by reputation. In short, Columbus's ideas about the land he had just reached were considerably more inexact than those that Fernão d'Ulmo - that is to say, the Flemish explorer Ferdinand Van Olmen, Commander-Grantee in the service of João II, who presided at Terceira des Açores - had flaunted before the King. Indeed d'Ulmo was to play a more important role in the history of Portuguese discoveries than did Prince Henry the Navigator himself. In 1487, the year in which the great Portuguese sovereign was deciding between three possible routes to the Indies, d'Ulmo (as he is named in a royal diploma, dated July 24, 1486), or de Olmos as he is called in Las Casas's Historia de Indias, had proposed to the King that he “dar achada huûa grande ylha ou ylhas o terra firme per costa que se presume ser a ylha das Sete Cidades.” His proposal was thus to undertake a voyage to the Antilles, where the cartographers of that time placed the Isle of the Seven Cities, and where d'Ulmo conjectured that a neighboring continent (terra firme) might be located. Columbus himself returned from his voyage five years later. In the meantime, d'Ulmo had perished, perhaps having reached this continent whose existence he - but not Columbus - had foreseen. As to the history of the discovery of America: even if we don't know whether d'Ulmo reached it, we do know that Columbus was unaware that he himself had.
Paths of Faith: Following the Blessed Footsteps of Adam to Ceylon
Authors: Abeydeera Ananda
Published: March 2007

“Adam was hurled into Hindustan. In this land there is a mountain called Serandib, and it is reported that there is no higher mountain in all the universe. Adam landed on this mountain.” The subject of Serendib plays an important role in both the geographical and travel literature of the Arabs. Serendib, or Sarandib, is the transcription of the Singhalese name Sinhaladîpa, which means “island of the descendants of lions” (singha, “lions,” in Singhaly). Already, in the Middle Ages, in the year 949, Arab merchants, who were well acquainted with the island of Ceylon, set up a branch in Colombo. The natural beauty and wealth of the island so touched the imagination of Arab voyagers that it appeared in the sixth voyage of Sinbad the Sailor, and it was also believed that Adam lived on the island after having been driven from Paradise: “The island of Serendib is located directly under the equinoctial line…. Men fish for pearls along its banks and at the mouths of its rivers, and some of its valleys are rich in diamonds. As an act of faith I myself took a trip to the mountain, to the very spot where Adam was banished after being exiled from Paradise. I even climbed to its summit.”

This excerpt, from The Thousand and One Nights, well summarizes the feelings of those Arab merchants whose accounts of their travels, in large measure, contributed to the spread of myths and legends about Ceylon.
Imagining America
Authors: Fuentes Carlos
Published: March 2007

We are approaching two dates in our personal and collective calendars that oblige us to pause and reflect on our place in time and on our task in history.

We share the first date with all of humanity. We are coming closer to a new century and a new millenium, leaving behind the epoch of grandeur and servitude that we call “the twentieth century,” even though we live our time, like all times, accompanied by its multiple pasts.
A Tentative Answer to Unanswerable Questions
Authors: d'Ormesson Jean
Published: March 2007

Unesco's first Philosophical Encounters were held last year at Paris on the theme of “What Do We Not Know?” and they were a great success. Diogenes published some of the papers by participants in its No. 169. A second meeting was held from March 27-30, 1996, devoted to a question as simple and difficult as that of the first: “Who Are We?” Once again this journal will not be able to publish all contributions, but is fortunate enough to present at least some of them to its readers.
Imagined Peripheries
Authors: Sato Masayuki
Published: March 2007

… because the thing-in-itself has no abnormality. Anything unusual will appear, after I myself see it: Abnormality belongs not to the thing-in-itself, but to myself.

Kuo P'u (276-324), Shan-hai ching (Scriptures of the Mountains and the Seas)

On my first visit to England, nearly twenty years ago, I experienced a poignant moment of realization, understanding finally why Europeans called Japan a “Far Eastern country,” for it was then that I first saw a Europe-centered world map: Japan really was a small fringe of islands off at the far right edge of the map, in the “Far Eastern” region, from a European point of view.
Ties of Blood and Earth in Japan
Authors: Caillet Laurence
Published: March 2007

Inhabitants of a land that their ancient myths proclaimed to be the creation of divinities, the Japanese have peopled their archipelago with numerous earth gods: giants trees, simple pebbles concealed either in an oratory, a corner of a garden or deep inside a thicket; crossroads stoneposts, steles in the middle of a plot or next to a rice field, tombstones, and rocks that are worshipped on home altars. The imposing presence of these divine proprietors of the provinces and of sites that were once urban settlements, villages, or private residences is still visible in the tall buildings of Tokyo and Osaka. These protean spirits, found on roof tops in the form of stone foxes or redwood porticos, bear witness, even in the heart of the city, to a latent belief: the forces of the earth are still at work in the world, keeping watch over human activities. Although there are very few people left who believe, as the ancients stories tell, that the citizens of Japan are descendants of the gods of the earth and sky, there nevertheless remain many who accept the notion that a single telluric energy inhabits the world of the living, the dead, things, and the gods.
A History of Misunderstandings
Authors: de Saint-Loup Aude
Published: March 2007

Sarah is a young deaf woman in revolt, refusing to speak. She marries James, an orthophonist who works in a special school for the deaf. However, what gradually emerges in the course of their relationship is the latent suffering caused by what each of the partners isn't getting. James, tired of acting as Sarah's interpreter, frustrated by the limits of what they can share, shouts out:

You want to be independent of me, you want to be a person in your own right, you want people not to pity you … then you [must] learn to read my lips and you [must] learn to use that little mouth of yours for something besides eating and showing me you're better than hearing girls in bed! Come on! Read my lips? What am I saying? Say what I'm saying … You always have to be dependent on someone, and you always will for the rest of your life until you learn to speak. Now come on! I want you to speak to me. Let me hear it. Speak! Speak! Speak! …
A Socio-Anthropological Perspective of American Deaf Education
Authors: Seamans Patrick
Published: March 2007

During the past decades, the deaf in the United States, as well as those in other countries, have been trying to define themselves within society. They constitute, indeed, a “different” population group, insofar as they are “disabled,” and they also have their own language that they utilize for interpersonal communication. So, as a group, they are called “a group of disabled individuals,” “a distinct Deaf Culture,” “a linguistic minority,” “a society,” “a community,” “a sub-culture,” etc.
Plato, the Mirror of the World and the Book
Authors: Imbert Claude
Published: March 2007

There is a hint of paradox in opening this collection of texts on the procedures for totalizing knowledge in Antiquity by calling to witness the Platonic dialogues. What might they contribute, besides a critique of Sophistic polymathy, Socrates’ nescience, his way of jumping in and interrupting long discourses, the disconcerting interlude of preliminary questions, and the aporetic collapses? A host of questions does not make a book, much less a library - unless the Socratic stratagem defines some entirely new conditions, or unless Plato's argument authorizes, beyond a program of study, a way of constituting knowledge with its hierarchized elements and the articulations called for by this program. A few remarks are in order here.
Greek Philosophy and Encyclopedic Knowledge
Authors: Hadot Ilsetraut
Published: March 2007

What does “encyclopedic knowledge” mean to us today? I believe that, as in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, what we mean by this term is a knowledge that strives to embrace in detail the greatest possible number of sciences and bodies of knowledge. As Sainte-Beuve said in 1850 regarding Madame de Genlis:

All these tastes, all these diverse talents, all these pleasurable arts, all these trades (for she didn't even omit the trades), made her a living Encyclopedia that prided itself upon being the rival and the antagonist of the other Encyclopedia.
Heuristic Mysteries – Invention, Language, Chance
Authors: Durand-Sendrail Béatrice
Published: March 2007

To be able to make “change” happen in the lives of patients entrusted to his care, Watzlawick says he tried to produce a theory about it. He was forced to acknowledge that the mechanisms of change resist systematization and, therefore, all wishes to elicit them as well.

Well-being is to therapy what discovery is to thought and the event is to History: the position – unforeseen, unforeseeable – in reality of what did not hitherto exist. And heuristics would be, if not a science, since there could be no science of change, then at least the name given to reflection on its mystery.
Daily Life in Western Africa During the Era of the “Slave Route”
Authors: Lovejoy Paul E.
Published: March 2007

The slave route from Africa to the Americas is as old as the contact between Europe and the New World itself, and the slave route across the Sahara is older still. Hence to describe the lives of ordinary people in western Africa during the era of slavery would require an examination of the whole of African history over the past five hundred years and more. And in Africa, as in Europe and the Americas, there was tremendous change over this period and extensive variation at any point in time. Life in 1807, when Britain and the United States outlawed the slave trade, was considerably different than in 1492, when Columbus first sailed to the Caribbean. Hence to give an impression of how people in Africa lived during the era of transatlantic slavery is also to understand how the lives of people changed over the course of the slave trade. In 1492, a coup d’état brought a Muslim ruler, Askia Muhammad, to the throne of the great empire of Songhay, and for the next hundred years, Songhay ruled much of West Africa. As empires have always done, Songhay's influence extended to areas beyond its military control. At this time, the slavery of Africans in the Americas was in its infancy. Yet, in 1593, a military invasion from Morocco across the Sahara destroyed Songhay, and much of the internal cohesion of western Africa came to an end, precisely when transatlantic slavery emerged as the principal means of exploiting the agricultural and mineral wealth of the Americas. The lives of ordinary people changed because of this monumental collapse of Songhay. Similarly, the changes imposed by European abolition of the slave trade after 1807, although confusing and often delayed in their impact, were also monumental. Hence the first task in considering how people lived during the slavery era is to identify the differences over time that affected both people who were forced, through slavery, to cross the Atlantic and those who remained behind in Africa. Africa in 1492 or 1593 was not the same as in 1807, any more than Europe and America were.
The Slave Trade and Development
Authors: Meillassoux Claude
Published: March 2007

When Captain Binger traveled the Niger bend between 1887 and 1889, he saw numerous villages that had been drained of their lifeblood or left in ruins by violent conflicts that had left their mark in the form of fortifications. Above all he was struck by the region's depopulation, which threatened to compromise the potential for colonial exploitation of the country. But these conditions did not prevail throughout the entire area. Prosperous towns were engaged in trade, war parties were living in ostentation, and rulers were collecting taxes from their subjects. The misery of the peasants’ lives contrasted with the opulent luxury of the courts and caravansaries. The black slave trade, and slavery itself, did not exert a uniform effect upon all of Africa.
An investigation of factors that may demotivate secondary school students undertaking project work
Authors: Smith Marian , Hepworth Mark
Published: March 2007

This paper describes an exploratory, qualitative study of the motivational issues associated with project work – a method intended to help encourage independent learning skills. The population studied were United Kingdom secondary school students who attended a state-funded comprehensive school in Derbyshire. The study chose to explore why students, generally, did not engage in the project process and to determine those factors that either motivated or demotivated them during this process. Questionnaires were completed by 26 Year 7 (11-12 year old) students and 10 Year 13 (17-18 year old) students. Interviews were conducted with six Year 7s and 10 Year 13 students. In addition six Year 7 students were involved in a focus group and nine Year 13 students in a separate focus group. Different methods, as well as previous research, enabled triangulation of the data and indicated the validity of the findings. Aspects of the students' experience when undertaking a piece of research were found to be demotivating. In general students did not have a clear understanding of the different elements of information literacy. The majority considered that their information skills were not well developed and they were not confident of completing the research process successfully. Specific factors that had significant impact on the students' motivation included choice of topic, the amount of group work, the level of support and feedback during the process and the study environment. It was also found, in this case study, that educators did not utilize Library and Information Science (LIS) information literacy/information behaviour models or knowledge to teach and support project work. Nor was there any recognition of the attitudes and skills or motivational issues associated with the stages of the project process. This was in contrast to the teaching in school of data analysis and handling, using information and communication technology (ICT), during subject-based project work where there seems to be a more cohesive approach. Based on these findings recommendations for improving the project process and the learning experience are given.
Glimpses of Cosmopolitanism in the Hospitality of Art
Authors: Papastergiadis Nikos
Published: March 2007

Cosmopolitanism has been used as a concept to open the horizons for being in the world. This article re-thinks the philosophical and political dimensions of cosmopolitanism by relating them to the new collaborative practices by artists. The concepts of agency and community will be grounded in a critical examination of the networking strategies and the practice of hospitality that have been cultivated by artistic collectives such as Stalker. The aim of this article is to ‘rescue’ the account of artistic practice from the extreme version of quasi-mystical universalism and dogmatic political activism. It also seeks to argue that the abstract principles of cosmopolitanism are in a dialogue with the multicultural practices of everyday life.
Investigating poor insight in Alzheimer’s disease
Authors: Robertsson Barbro , Nordström Monica , Wijk Helle
Published: March 2007

Persons with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) often seem to have a poor insight into the functional deficits brought about by the dementing process. There are many indications that preserved insight into deficits in dementia is of advantage to a person with AD. Various research approaches have been adopted to investigate poor insight related to AD. The purpose of this article was to present various research approaches for investigating poor insight into deficits in AD. The study is based on a literature survey. The findings show that concept of poor insight has been investigated in detail from different perspectives. Each one of the perspectives found, the neuropsychological, the psychological and the socio-psychological, has its merits, but none of them has yet led to study results that make us fully understand what poor insight implies and involves. We need integrated knowledge from the different perspectives, and in multidisciplinary research settings we believe that such knowledge could be developed.
Lipid mobilization of long-distance migrant birdsin vivo: the high lipolytic rate of ruff sandpipers is not stimulated during shivering
Authors: Vaillancourt Eric , Weber Jean-Michel
Published: March 2007

For long migrations, birds must rely on high flux capacities at all steps of lipid metabolism, from the mobilization of adipose reserves to fatty acid oxidation in flight muscle mitochondria. Substrate kinetics and indirect calorimetry were used to investigate key parameters of lipid metabolism in a highly aerobic shorebird: the ruff sandpiper Philomachus pugnax. In this study, we have quantified the effects of cold exposure because such measurements are presently impossible during flight. Lipolytic rate was monitored by continuous infusion of 2-[3H]-glycerol and lipid oxidation by respirometry. Plasma lipid concentrations (non-esterified fatty acids, neutral lipids and phospholipids) and their fatty acid composition were also measured to assess whether cold exposure causes selective metabolism of specific lipids. Results show that shivering leads to a 47% increase in metabolic rate (44.4±3.8 ml O2kg–1min–1 to 65.2±8.1 ml O2kg–1 min–1), almost solely by stimulating lipid oxidation (33.3± 3.3 ml O2 kg–1min–1 to 48.2±6.8 ml O2kg–1 min–1) because carbohydrate oxidation remains close to 11.5± 0.5 ml O2 kg–1min–1. Sandpipers support an unusually high lipolytic rate of 55–60 μmol glycerol kg–1 min–1. Its stimulation above thermoneutral rates is unnecessary during shivering when the birds are still able to re-esterify 50% of released fatty acids. No changes in plasma lipid composition were observed, suggesting that cold exposure does not lead to selective metabolism of particular fatty acids. This study provides the first measurements of lipolytic rate in migrant birds and shows that their capacity for lipid mobilization reaches the highest values measured to date in vertebrates. Extending the limits of conventional lipid metabolism has clearly been necessary to achieve long-distance migrations.
Finding home: the final step of the pigeons' homing process studied with a GPS data logger
Authors: Gagliardo Anna , Ioalè Paolo , Savini Maria , Lipp Hans-Peter , Dell'Omo Giacomo
Published: March 2007

Experiments have shown that homing pigeons are able to develop navigational abilities even if reared and kept confined in an aviary, provided that they are exposed to natural winds. These and other experiments performed on inexperienced birds have shown that previous homing experiences are not necessary to determine the direction of displacement. While the cues used in the map process for orienting at the release site have been extensively investigated, the final step of the homing process has received little attention by researchers. Although there is general agreement on the relevance of visual cues in navigation within the home area, there is a lack of clear evidence. In order to investigate the final step of the homing process, we released pigeons raised under confined conditions and others that had been allowed to fly freely around the loft and compared their flight paths recorded with a Global-Positioning-System logger. Our data show that a limited view of the home area impairs the pigeons' ability to relocate the loft at their first homing flight, suggesting that the final step of the homing process is mediated via recognition of familiar visual landmarks in the home area.
Preparation and Characterization of Carbon Microcoils (CMCs)
Authors: Motojima Seiji , Chen Xiuqin
Published: March 2007

Carbon micro-coils (CMCs) with 3D-helical/spiral structures and coil diameters on the order of micrometer were obtained by metal-catalyzed pyrolysis of acetylene at 700–800 °C. The preparation conditions, morphology, growth mechanism, microstructure, and some properties of the CMCs were examined in detail. Two pieces of vapor grown carbon fibers grown from a metal catalyst grain curl and entwine each other due to the anisotropic catalytic activity between different crystal faces of the catalyst grain and thus form double-helix CMCs. CMCs have an almost amorphous structure but could be graphitized by high-temperature heat treatment with full preservation of the coiling morphology. The CMCs could effectively generate inductive electromotive force, inductive current and thus Joul’s heat under microwave irradiation. The CMCs/elastic polymer composite elements showed high tactile sensing properties which are comparable to that of human skin. The CMCs are a possible candidate for electromagnetic wave absorbers, remote heating materials, visualization elements of microwaves, tactile sensor elements, micro-antennae, chiral catalysts, bio-activators or bio-deactivators, energy converters, etc.
Synthesis and Luminescence of Four-Coordinate Mononuclear Gold(I) Complex: [Au(biphep)2]PF6
Authors: Saito Ken , Tsukuda Toshiaki , Matsumoto Kenji , Tsubomura Taro
Published: March 2007

A tetrahedral four-coordinate bis-diphosphine gold(I) complex, [Au(biphep)2]PF6 (biphep = 2,2′-bis(diphenylphosphino)-1,1′-biphenyl), was prepared, and the structure was determined by X-ray structure analysis. The complex showed photoluminescence at room temperature in the solid state and in CH2Cl2.
Stable Diaxial Chair Cyclohexanes due to the Adjacent and Bulky trans-Siloxy Groups
Authors: Yamada Hidetoshi , Okajima Kotaro , Imagawa Hiroshi , Mukae Tatsuya , Kawamura Yoshiaki , Nishizawa Mugio
Published: March 2007

The rings of the (±)-trans-1,2-bis(tert-butyldiphenylsiloxy)-, (triisopropylsiloxy)-, and (tert-butyldimethylsiloxy)cyclohexanes prefer a diaxial chair conformation in the crystal state. The ring of the tert-butyldimethylsiloxy derivative switched its chair conformation between the diaxial and a diequatorial conformations in the crystal and in solution, respectively.
Photoisomerization and Fluorescence Properties of para-Substituted Benzyl Ether-Type Stilbene Dendrimers
Authors: Watanabe Shinko , Ikegami Masashi , Nagahata Ritsuko , Arai Tatsuo
Published: March 2007

Stilbene dendrimers were prepared by coupling 4,4′-dihydroxystilbene with first, second, third, or fouth generation benzyl ether-type dendrons. Despite a short lifetime of the core structure (< 1 ns), all the generations of stilbene dendrimers underwent photoisomerization with the same efficiency as that of 4,4′-dimethoxystilbene.
Light Energy Conversion and Storage with Soft Carbonaceous Materials that Solidify Mesoscopic Electrochemical Interfaces
Authors: Miyasaka Tsutomu , Ikeda Nobuyuki , Murakami Takurou N , Teshima Kenjiro
Published: March 2007

Photoactive interfaces created by mesoscopic materials realize high-efficiency light to electric conversion as achieved by dye-sensitized photoelectrodes. Combinaiton of soft carbon composite materials with the mesoscopic interfaces enables solidification of the electrochemical charge-transfer interfaces and incorporation of energy storage function. New approaches for solid-state photoelectrochemistry are described.
Gemini Surfactant Directed Preparation and Photocatalysis of m-BiVO4 Hierarchical Frameworks
Authors: Zheng Yan , Wu Ju , Duan Fang , Xie Yi
Published: March 2007

The m-BiVO4 hierarchical frameworks were synthesized using a novel Gemini surfactant-monoalkylated disulfonated diphenyl oxide surfactant (C12-MADS) as the structure-directing reagent and as-obtained m-BiVO4 nanomaterials exhibited good photocatalysis for degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light.
New Synthesis of 3-Bromoflavones via Bromination of 1-(2-Hydroxyphenyl)-3-arylpropane-1,3-dione by CuBr2, and Conversion into 3-Aminoflavones
Authors: Miyake Hideyoshi , Nishino Shouko , Nishimura Akinori , Sasaki Mitsuru
Published: March 2007

A new synthesis of 3-bromoflavones from 1-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-3-arylpropane-1,3-dione using CuBr2 is described. The usefulness of 3-bromoflavone as a precursor of 3-aminoflavone is also described.
Palladium-catalyzed Nucleophilic Substitution of Diarylmethyl Carbonates with Malonate Carbanions
Authors: Kuwano Ryoichi , Kusano Hiroki
Published: March 2007

The nucleophilic substitution of diarylmethyl carbonates with malonate carbanions proceeded in the presence of [Pd(π-C3H5)(cod)]BF4–Cy-Xantphos, giving the desired (diarylmethyl)malonates in up to 90% yield. The yield was extremely affected by choice of the phosphine ligand.
Mukaiyama Aldol Reaction of Ester Acceptors: Organoaluminums Catalyze Nucleophilic Addition of Ketene Silyl Acetals
Authors: Iwata Shin , Hamura Toshiyuki , Matsumoto Takashi , Suzuki Keisuke
Published: March 2007

Organoaluminum reagents catalyze the addition of ketene silyl acetals to esters, affording the β-keto ester derivatives in good to excellent yields.
5H,13H-5,13a-[1′,2′]Benzenocyclopenta[rst]pentaphen-13-one: A New Triptycene Derivative with a Strained Structure
Authors: Kurata Hiroyuki , Kyusho Masahiro , Nishimae Yuichi , Matsumoto Kouzou , Kawase Takeshi , Oda Masaji
Published: March 2007

The title compound, a new anthracene-containing triptycene derivative, was synthesized. The crystal structure shows its strained configuration and intermolecular π–π stacking arrangement. Photochemical [4 + 4] dimerization occurs easily in solution and in the solid state, even under visible-light irradiation.
MEK/ERK Signaling Controls Osmoregulation of Nucleus Pulposus Cells of the Intervertebral Disc by Transactivation of TonEBP/OREBP
Authors: Tsai Tsung-Ting , Guttapalli Asha , Agrawal Amit , Albert Todd J , Shapiro Irving M , Risbud Makarand V
Published: March 2007

Earlier studies have shown that intervertebral disc cells express TonEBP, a transcription factor that permits adaptation to osmotic stress and regulates aggrecan gene expression. However, the mechanism of hyperosmotic activation of TonEBP in disc cells is not known. Results of this study show that hypertonic activation of ERK signaling regulates transactivation activity of TonEBP, modulating its function.

Introduction: In an earlier report, we showed that tonicity enhancer binding protein (TonEBP) positively regulates aggrecan gene expression in disc cells, thereby autoregulating its osmotic environment. Although these studies indicated that the cells of the nucleus pulposus were optimally adapted to a hyperosmotic state, the mechanism by which the cells transduce the osmotic stress was not delineated. The primary goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that, in a hyperosmotic medium, the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway regulated TonEBP activity.

Materials and Methods: Nucleus pulposus cells were maintained in isotonic or hypertonic media, and MAPK activation and TonEBP expression were analyzed. To study the role of MAPK in regulation of TonEBP function, gel shift and luciferase reporter assays were performed. ERK expression in cells was modulated by using expression plasmids or siRNA, and transactivation domain (TAD)-TonEBP activity was studied.

Results: We found that hypertonicity resulted in phosphorylation and activation of ERK1/2 proteins and concomitant activation of C terminus TAD activity of ELK-1, a downstream transcription factor. In hypertonic media, treatment with ERK and p38 inhibitors resulted in downregulation of TonE promoter activity of TauT and HSP-70 and decreased binding of TonEBP to TonE motif. Similarly, forced expression of DN-ERK and DN-p38 in nucleus pulposus cells suppressed TauT and HSP-70 reporter gene activity. Finally, we noted that ERK was needed for transactivation of TonEBP. Expression of DN-ERK significantly suppressed, whereas, WT-ERK and CA-MEK1 enhanced, TAD activity of TonEBP. Experiments performed with HeLa cells indicated that the ERK signaling pathway also served a major role in regulating the osmotic response in nondiscal cells.

Conclusions: Together, these studies showed that adaptation of the nucleus pulposus cells to their hyperosmotic milieu is dependent on activation of the ERK and p38- MAPK pathways acting through TonEBP and its target genes.
Genetic Effects on Bone Mechanotransduction in Congenic Mice Harboring Bone Size and Strength Quantitative Trait Loci
Authors: Robling Alexander G , Warden Stuart J , L Shultz Kathryn , Beamer Wesley G , Turner Charles H
Published: March 2007

The degree to which bone tissue responds to mechanical loading events is partially under genetic control. We assess the contribution of three genetic loci (QTLs linked to bone geometry and strength)—located on mouse Chrs. 1, 8, and 13—to mechanically stimulated bone formation, through in vivo skeletal loading of congenic strains. Bone size was not consistently associated with mechano-responsiveness, indicating that the genetic regulation of mechanotransduction is a complex process that involves a number of genes and is sex-specific.

Introduction: We showed previously that C57BL/6J (B6) mice are more responsive to mechanical stimulation than C3H/HeJ (C3H) mice and that B6 mice harboring a 40-Mb region of distal C3H Chromosome (Chr.) 4 are more responsive to mechanical stimulation than are fully B6 mice. Here, we assess the contribution of three more genetic loci—located on mouse Chrs. 1, 8, and 13—to mechanically stimulated bone formation.

Materials and Methods: Three congenic mouse strains were created in which a region of mouse Chr. 1 (∼64 cM; 150 Mb), Chr. 8 (∼45 cM; 86 Mb), or Chr. 13 (∼24 cM; 42 Mb) was moved from C3H stock to a B6 background through selective breeding over nine generations. The regions moved to the B6 background correspond to three of several quantitative trait loci (QTLs) identified for bone size and strength. The resulting congenic mice were 99% B6, with the remaining genomic DNA comprised of the Chr. 1, 8, or 13 QTLs of interest. Male and female congenic (1T, 8T, and 13B) and B6 control mice were subjected to in vivo loading of the right ulna at one of three different load magnitudes. A separate set of animals from each group had strain gauges applied at the ulnar midshaft to estimate strain at each loading level. Loading was conducted once per day for 3 days (60 cycles/d; 2 Hz). Fluorochrome labels were injected intraperitoneally 4 and 11 days after loading began. Using quantitative histomorphometry, bone formation rates were measured in loaded (right) and control (left) ulnas.

Results: All male congenic mice exhibited significantly reduced mechano-responsiveness compared with male B6 controls, but the same comparison among females yielded no difference from controls, with the exception of the 1T congenics, which showed increased responsiveness to loading. Among the congenic strains, smaller bone size was not consistently associated with reduced mechano-responsiveness.

Conclusions: Our results indicate that the genetic regulation of mechanotransduction is a complex process that involves a number of genes and is sex-specific. Our data might explain why different individuals can engage in similar exercise protocols yet experience different results in terms of bone mass accrual.
Fitting Genetic Models Using Markov Chain Monte Carlo Algorithms With BUGS
Authors: van den Berg Stéphanie M. , Beem Leo , Boomsma Dorret I.
Published: March 2007

Maximum likelihood estimation techniques are widely used in twin and family studies, but soon reach computational boundaries when applied to highly complex models (e.g., models including gene-by-environment interaction and gene–environment correlation, item response theory measurement models, repeated measures, longitudinal structures, extended pedigrees). Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms are very well suited to fit complex models with hierarchically structured data. This article introduces the key concepts of Bayesian inference and MCMC parameter estimation and provides a number of scripts describing relatively simple models to be estimated by the freely obtainable BUGS software. In addition, inference using BUGS is illustrated using a data set on follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone levels with repeated measures. The examples provided can serve as stepping stones for more complicated models, tailored to the specific needs of the individual researcher.
Latent Curve Analyses of Longitudinal Twin Data Using a Mixed-Effects Biometric Approach
Authors: McArdle John J.
Published: March 2007

In a recent article McArdle and Prescott (2005) showed how simultaneous estimation of the bio-metric parameters can be easily programmed using current mixed-effects modeling programs (e.g., SAS PROC MIXED). This article extends these concepts to deal with mixed-effect modeling of longitudinal twin data. The biometric basis of a polynomial growth curve model was used by Vandenberg and Falkner (1965) and this general class of longitudinal models was represented in structural equation form as a latent curve model by McArdle (1986). The new mixed-effects modeling approach presented here makes it easy to analyze longitudinal growth-decline models with biometric components based on standard maximum likelihood estimation and standard indices of goodness-of-fit (i.e., χ2, df, εa). The validity of this approach is first checked by the creation of simulated longitudinal twin data followed by numerical analysis using different computer programs (i.e., Mplus, Mx, MIXED, NLMIXED). The practical utility of this approach is examined through the application of these techniques to real longitudinal data from the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging (Pedersen et al., 2002). This approach generally allows researchers to explore the genetic and nongenetic basis of the latent status and latent changes in longitudinal scores in the absence of measurement error. These results show the mixed-effects approach easily accounts for complex patterns of incomplete longitudinal or twin pair data. The results also show this approach easily allows a variety of complex latent basis curves, such as the use of age-at-testing instead of wave-of-testing. Natural extensions of this mixed-effects longitudinal approach include more intensive studies of the available data, the analysis of categorical longitudinal data, and mixtures of latent growth-survival/ frailty models.
Semiparametric Maximum Likelihood Variance Component Estimation Using Mixture Moment Structure Models
Authors: Markon Kristian E.
Published: March 2007

Nonnormal phenotypic distributions introduce significant problems in the estimation and selection of genetic models. Here, a semiparametric maximum likelihood approach to analyzing non-normal phenotypes is described. In this approach, distributions are explicitly modeled together with genetic and environmental effects. Distributional parameters are introduced through mixture constraints, where the distribution of effects are discretized and freely estimated rather than assumed to be normal. Semiparametric maximum likelihood estimation can be used with a variety of genetic models, can be extended to a variety of pedigree structures, and has various advantages over other approaches to modeling nonnormal data.
Nostalgic memories. Qualitative reception analysis of Flemish TV fiction, 1953–1989
Authors: Dhoest Alexander
Published: March 2007

This article describes a qualitative inquiry into the historical reception of Flemish television fiction broadcast by the monopolistic Flemish broadcaster BRT between 1953 and 1989. This is a relatively homogeneous period, both in terms of broadcasting policies and fiction output. What do viewers remember of this period? Can patterns be discerned in these memories, and if so, why? To answer these questions, this research uses semi-structured interviews with older viewers. First, the article discusses the particular problems of this method, mostly ‘faulty’ memory and nostalgic reinterpretation. Then, the findings are presented, reflecting on processes of (collective) memory formation. One clear finding concerns the selective and homogeneous nature of memories; the same few serials are remembered in similar ways by most, leading to clichéd memories of (representations of) the past.
Systems approaches and communication research. The age of entropy
Authors: Gunaratne Shelton
Published: March 2007

This essay examines the contemporary approaches to systems theory, the strengths and limitations of these approaches, and how communication researchers can apply them creatively. It points out that using system approaches requires communication scholars to study the mutual interaction of both information inputs and matter/energy inputs. Overloads of these inputs coupled with storage problems could engender positive feedback loops and move the system away from the linear region of stability toward the edge of chaos (bifurcation). It could then self-organize as a more complex system in a new phase space of its trajectory. This complexity approach could be used to trace the trajectory of the global mass communication system or to conduct empirical research on all or any of the information-processing subsystems within the eight hierarchical levels of nested systems ranging from cell to supranational systems. Although systems thinking is writ large in the onto-cosmology of Eastern philosophies, its epistemological and methodological refinements did not occur until quantum physics challenged the ‘atomism’ of the dominant Newtonian-Cartesian model.
Ein Rätsel gelöst: Die Angaben zur Venediger-Handschrift (V) der älteren armenischen Version der Basilius-Anaphora in den bisherigen Veröffentlichungen
Authors: Winkler Gabriele
Published: March 2007

One of the most important witnesses to the Anaphora of Basil is the first Armenian redaction, which has survived in only three known manuscripts and several fragments.

Problems arose when the Venice manuscript (V) appeared with differing numbers in several older and more recent publications. The author traces the development of the variing references to this important manuscript and clarifies the prior and recent numbering concerning the Venice manuscript. The author wishes to thank her colleague, Ł.B. Zekiyan, and the Armenian monks of the Mechitarist Congregation in Venice for their assistance to obtain all pertinent documents while being in Venice.
Die Anfänge des Geburtsfestes Jesu in Ägypten Neuedition von P. Vindob. G. 19.934
Authors: Förster Hans
Published: March 2007

It is very common to assume that there is a more or less direct link between the feast of the Basilideans (according to Clemens of Alexandria str. I,XXI, 146,1f., some celebrating the baptism of Christ on 6th and others on 10th of January) and the Christian feast of Epiphany. A very interesting text on a papyrus in the collection of the Austrian National Library in Vienna raises the question of whether this is actually the case. The papyrus text was classifi ed as a “song for Christmas”. However, some allusions to Old Testament passages seem to point in a different direction. The article discusses whether the text on the papyrus was a song for Epiphany. This would, however, mean that in Egypt the Christian feast of Epiphany originally celebrated only the birth of Christ. This would in turn call into question the supposed link between the feast of the Basilideans and the Christian feast. If the birth of Christ was the original topic of Epiphany, it is even more improbable that a feast of a Gnostic group of the second century could have influenced in any way a feast of the Church celebrated from the fourth century onwards.
Writing Politics: Isocrates' Rhetoric of Philosophy
Authors: Livingstone Niall
Published: March 2007

Abstract Isocrates uses the word philosophia, which he claims as his own métier, in three distinct ways: (i) practical wisdom common to all men; (ii) all systems of education; (iii) the system of education which he practices, the only true one. He makes use of oppositions among the three to conceal a paradox: that he wishes his own philosophia to be at the same time close to common wisdom, and to be unique in perfection and value. Like the speeches of Thucydides, his written works crystallize the everyday rhetoric of the polis but strip it of its oppositional aspect. They create a unified, harmonious logos politikos, seemly and decorous, but without the resource of his own critical judgement.
Turning Fifty: Sociological Perspectives and the Pacific Sociological Association
Authors: Dorn Dean S.
Published: March 2007

To commemorate the beginning of the fiftieth volume of Sociological Perspectives, the author describes the development of the journal, the early decisions to make it a national rather than a strictly regional journal, the role of the Pacific Sociological Association as a sponsor of the journal, and the social and economic forces that played a part in the journal development. The author concludes with a discussion of the current state of journal publication and commentary on the future of the journal.
Theoretical investigation of the time-dependent behaviour of rockfill
Authors: Oldecop L. A. , Alonso E. E.
Published: March 2007

Long-term strain records obtained in large-diameter oedometer tests on compacted gravels demonstrated that strains could be linearly related with the logarithm of time. Delayed compressibility coefficients were found proportional to the conventional stress-induced compressibility coefficients. A framework rooted on the phenomenon of crack propagation in rock particles induced by stress corrosion mechanisms is adopted to explain macroscopic observations. A model of crack propagation in loaded disc-shaped particles has been developed in order to explain the nature of particle breakage and its relationship with time, macroscopic stress and total suction. Experimental observations such as the existence of threshold stresses that mark the onset of delayed deformations are explained by the model. It was also found that the main features of the delayed deformation of rockfill could be physically explained within the developed framework. In particular, a simple closed-form relationship between the coefficient of delayed deformation, the compressibility coefficient and a parameter describing the rate of crack propagation could be found. It was found to be consistent with experimental observations.
Strengthening a steel bridge with CFRP composites
Authors: Moy S. S. J. , Bloodworth A. G.
Published: March 2007

The present paper reports the successful strengthening of Acton Bridge on the London Underground system using carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) plates. The adhesive used to bond the plates to the steel had to cure while trains continued to run over the bridge. Concerns arising from this were the effect of cyclic load during curing on the final bond strength and whether adhesive flexibility affected the reinforced section properties. Tests to investigate these concerns are also reported. These tests involved reinforced beams subjected to cyclic loading of different intensities in bending during adhesive cure and tested statically at intervals to determine the build up of stiffness. The tests showed that, generally, adequate bond develops but at higher load intensities the strength of the bond is reduced and above limiting values of slip or developed shear stress at the steel/CFRP interface no bond will develop. A further conclusion was that adhesive flexibility does reduce section properties but by less than about 7%. Lap-shear tests conducted on specimens cut from the reinforced beams confirmed the bending test results. These showed that the biggest reductions in bond strength were at the ends of the beams where slip and shear stress were greatest.
Assessing the Efficacy of the Protective Action–Completion Nexus for Sexual Victimizations
Authors: Fisher Bonnie S. , Daigle Leah E. , Cullen Francis T. , Santana Shannon A.
Published: March 2007

Research has shown that protective actions are often used by rape victims, and some actions, namely, forceful physical resistance, are more effective in preventing a completed rape than other types of actions, such as nonforceful verbal resistance. The research is less clear, however, on the extent to which women who are victims of nonrape sexual victimization use protective measures and on the effectiveness of these actions. There is also uncertainty on the nature of the relationship between different types of protective actions, contextual characteristics, and the likelihood of completion of nonrape sexual victimization incidents. To investigate these issues, we used data from a national-level study of 4,446 female college students. Our results indicate that the use of protective action varied across type of sexual victimization and that the effectiveness of these actions on reducing the risk of a completed act is differentially related to type of sexual victimization. The findings suggest the need for sexual victimization prevention and education programs to include information regarding the efficacy of protective actions in both rape and nonrape incidents.
Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm: Validity of a Brief Schedule of Use
Authors: Golomb Beatrice A. , Cortez-Perez Myrna , Jaworski Beth A. , Mednick Sarnoff , Dimsdale Joel
Published: March 2007

The Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm (PSAP) is a validated behavioral measure of aggression in response to provocation. Canonically, multiple sessions continue until performance asymptotes, requiring significant time. We sought to examine whether use of the PSAP-first-session (“PSAP-FS”) had acceptable construct validity for group data, potentially expanding the settings in which the PSAP may be useful. One hundred male and female young adult subjects completed the PSAP-FS and additional behavioral measures of aggression, and provided information related to risk factors. The PSAP-FS correlated significantly with known risk factors of aggression. The PSAP-FS, which measures aggression in the present, correlated well with measures of recent aggression and less strongly with life history of aggression. The PSAP-FS had satisfactory validity properties for use where group-level data are of interest.