bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Theoretical control and experimental verification of a calender roller system part I: dynamic system modeling and model predictive controller design
Authors: Kuo Chung-Feng Jeffrey , Chen Jia-Siang , Van Hiep Phung , Tu Hung-Min
Published: August 2010

The objective of this study is to deal with the control of the pressed roller to get high quality of the calendering products. First, the pressed roller is assumed as an Euler-Bernoulli beam and the forces which are produced by the pressing roller are considered as distributed forces. The mathematical model of the system is derived as a continuous system using Hamilton’s principle, Lagrange’s equations and assumed-modes method. Originally, the achieved model is a two-input with one-output system. Since the distributed forces are constants, the model can be simplified to a single-input single-output system by changing variables. An advanced control technique, Model Predictive Control (MPC), is used and a state estimator is designed in order to set up a realizable control system. The control system is implemented for experimental verification as well. It includes pressed and pressing rollers, a personal computer with VisSim software, RT-DAC4/PCI card, inductive proximity sensor and electro-hydraulic actuator. The performance of the proposed control system can be shown through a real implementation.
How Rural Schoolchildren and Teachers Read TV Dramas: A Case Study on Critical Media Literacy in Turkey
Authors: Akar-Vural Ruken
Published: August 2010

This qualitative study attempts to determine favorite TV dramas of children from two rural schools and analyze children’s discourse about messages and values of TV dramas. As parallel to children’s views, teacher perceptions on critical media literacy were investigated in the study. This study aims to explore the content—messages/values—of popular TV dramas through the eyes of fifth-grade students and teachers in two rural schools in Turkey. This study was conducted in two rural public elementary schools in the district of Aydin, Turkey, in 2007. Six volunteer children aged between 10 and 13 (three girls and three boys) and three teachers from two different rural schools were included in this case study. Semistructured interview forms for teachers and children were developed and used in this research for data collection.
Articulating and Contextualizing Multiple Literacies in an Urban Setting
Authors: Voithofer Rick , Winterwood Fawn
Published: August 2010

This study uses articulation theory to frame how social actors and institutions in an urban community in Columbus, Ohio, form linkages and understandings about computer and information literacies. Using interviews with 33 key educators (e.g., principals, computer literacy teachers, library media specialists, district integration specialists), public librarians, and directors from local recreation and community centers, the results show not only how members of this community construct computer and information literacies but also how the participants support these literacies with available resources. Different structural and cultural barriers and opportunities are identified that impact how computer and information literacies are articulated within this community.
Negotiating alone or through the union? Swedish employees’ attitudes in 1997 and 2006
Authors: Bengtsson Mattias , Berglund Tomas
Published: August 2010

It is said that people today are less interested in collective solutions such as union representation, mainly as a result of the processes of individualization that dilute collectivist orientations. On the basis of survey data carried out in Sweden in 1997 and 2006, the article studies attitudes towards two ways of negotiating with the employer — through the union or individually. The results show a minor decrease concerning the union option, while the willingness to negotiate individually has somewhat increased. However, the perceived need for the union was still high in 2006 — six out of 10 employees agreed with the statement. Another main conclusion is that employees’ attitudes are clearly class-based, even though the class differences were somewhat smaller in 2006. Finally, young people are often seen as forerunners in adopting individualistic orientations. However, the results do not confirm that a collectivist attitude has been replaced by an individualistic leaning among younger employees.
Explaining Crossing DIF in Polytomous Items Using Differential Step Functioning Effects
Authors: Penfield Randall D.
Published: August 2010

Crossing, or intersecting, differential item functioning (DIF) is a form of nonuniform DIF that exists when the sign of the between-group difference in expected item performance changes across the latent trait continuum. The presence of crossing DIF presents a problem for many statistics developed for evaluating DIF because positive and negative conditional between-group differences in expected item score can cancel to yield a negligible between-group difference when aggregated across the latent trait continuum. As a result, many DIF detection statistics are insensitive to DIF that is crossing in nature. Currently, little is known about why crossing DIF occurs in polytomous items. This study demonstrates that crossing DIF in polytomous items can be explained by the presence of differential step functioning (DSF) effects that vary in sign across the steps of the polytomous item, suggesting that crossing DIF is caused by the presence of one or more secondary factors that yield a relative advantage for different groups at different steps of the polytomous item. Using this result, this study describes how to use the pattern of the DSF effects to (a) target the search for secondary traits responsible for a crossing DIF effect, (b) identify situations where certain DIF statistics will lead to the conclusion of no DIF despite a substantial crossing DIF effect, and (c) generate realistic crossing DIF effects in simulation research.
International Recommendations for Training Future Toxicologic Pathologists Participating in Regulatory-type, Nonclinical Toxicity Studies
Authors: Bolon (Chair) Brad , Barale-Thomas Erio , Bradley Alys , Ettlin Robert A. , Franchi Carla A. S. , George Catherine , Giusti Anna Maria , Hall Robert , Jacobsen Matthew , Konishi Yoichi , Ledieu David , Morton Daniel , Park Jae-Hak , Scudamore Cheryl L. , Tsuda Hiroyuki , Vijayasarathi S. K. , Wijnands Marcel V. W.
Published: August 2010

The International Federation of Societies of Toxicologic Pathologists (IFSTP) proposes a common global framework for training future toxicologic pathologists who will support regulatory-type, nonclinical toxicology studies. Optimally, trainees should undertake a scientific curriculum of at least five years at an accredited institution leading to a clinical degree (veterinary medicine or medicine). Trainees should then obtain four or more years of intensive pathology practice during a residency and/or on-the-job “apprenticeship,” at least two years of which must be focused on regulatory-type toxicologic pathology topics. Possession of a recognized pathology qualification (i.e., certification) is highly recommended. A nonclinical pathway (e.g., a graduate degree in medical biology or pathology) may be possible if medically trained pathologists are scarce, but this option is not optimal. Regular, lifelong continuing education (peer review of nonclinical studies, professional meetings, reading, short courses) will be necessary to maintain and enhance one’s understanding of current toxicologic pathology knowledge, skills, and tools. This framework should provide a rigorous yet flexible way to reliably train future toxicologic pathologists to generate, interpret, integrate, and communicate data in regulatory-type, nonclinical toxicology studies.
Psychometric Evaluation of the Index of Self-Regulation
Authors: Yeom Hye-A , Choi Myunghan , Belyea Michael , Fleury Julie
Published: August 2010

Index of Self-Regulation (ISR) is a nine-item scale designed primarily to measure individuals’ level of self-regulation for physical activity. The aim of this study is to report psychometric characteristics of the ISR. The ISR scale was administered in a sample of 183 adult patients at 2 weeks following graduation from cardiac rehabilitation, 3 months following graduation, and 6 months following graduation. The internal consistency of the ISR was high at all three time points, with Cronbach’s alphas of .81 to .96 across time points. The test—retest reliability was fairly high, with an overall coefficient of .73. There was evidence of concurrent validity of the ISR based on its moderately significant correlations with other theoretically relevant variables, including self-knowledge and motivational appraisal for physical activity. In conclusion, the ISR is a reliable and valid measure to assess the level of self-regulation in the maintenance of physical activity.
Being “Stresslessly Invisible”: The Rise and Fall of Videophony in David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest
Authors: Ribbat Christoph
Published: August 2010

In a satiric chapter of David Foster Wallace’s novel Infinite Jest, a mock media expert reports how American consumers of the near future recoil from a new communication device known as “videophony” and return to the voice-only telephone of the Bell Era. This article explores the said chapter in the framework of media theories reading the telephone as a “synecdoche of technology,” considering Wallace’s vision of videophony’s rise and fall in a future society from two angles: It discusses the antitechnological bent of the chapter against the background of other visions of future media in 1990s American fiction and it foregrounds the segment’s emphasis on solipsism as a destructive force in all forms of communication. The article argues that Infinite Jest moves beyond questions relevant only to the (video) telephone itself. Rather, Wallace’s novel contrasts literary communication—complex, multilayered, at times monumental—with discourses and practices overly optimistic with regard to the facility of mediated interactions per se.
Thermoplastic composites from curvilinear 3D multi-layer spacer fabrics
Authors: Abounaim Md , Diestel Olaf , Hoffmann Gerald , Cherif Chokri
Published: August 2010

This article reports on the development of thermoplastic composites using innovative curvilinear 3D multi-layer flat knitted spacer fabrics produced by single stage manufacturing. Thermoplastic composites from textile-based, complex-shaped sandwich preforms, for instance, curvilinear-shaped 3D multi-layer spacer fabrics show great potential for lightweight applications. Faster production time and reduction of waste can be achieved by single stage manufacturing of such 3D textile preforms. Spacer-shaped 3D textile preforms were developed using commingled hybrid yarns made of GF and PP filaments. This 3D spacer fabric was consolidated to 3D composite using the developed mechanical tools. In order to predict the mechanical performance of 3D composites, mechanical properties of reinforcement yarns unraveled from 3D spacer fabrics, 2D knit fabrics, and 2D composites using the 2D knit fabrics produced in the same manner as the individual layers of 3D spacer fabrics were studied. The results are promising for applications in high-performance composites.
The Effects of Different Aspects of Supervision Among Female and Male Correctional Staff: A Preliminary Study
Authors: Lambert Eric G. , Hogan Nancy L. , Altheimer Irshad , Wareham Jennifer
Published: August 2010

This study examined a gendered model of the effects of supervisory factors on job outcomes for both men and women. Two competing hypotheses, the importation-differential experiences model and the work role prisonization model, guided the analyses of the effects of supervisor support, supervisor structure, and supervisor trust on job stress, job satisfaction, and affective organizational commitment. Data came from surveys of 160 correctional staff employed at a Midwestern prison. The results provide substantial support for the work model and less support for the importation model. Few differences were found in how men and women respond to supervisory factors. The implications of these results are discussed.
Researching Personal Information on the Public Web
Authors: Wilkinson David , Thelwall Mike
Published: August 2010

There are many personal and social issues that are rarely discussed in public and hence are difficult to study. Recently, however, the huge uptake of blogs, forums, and social network sites has created spaces in which previously private topics are publicly discussed, giving a new opportunity for researchers investigating such topics. This article describes a range of simple techniques to access personal information relevant to social research questions and illustrates them with small case studies. It also discusses ethical considerations, concluding that the default position is almost the reverse of that for traditional social science research: the text authors should not be asked for consent nor informed of the participation of their texts. Normally, however, steps should be taken to ensure that text authors are anonymous in academic publications even when their texts and identities are already public.
The Determinants of Global Integration Strategies of Chinese Multinationals—Some Empirical Evidence
Authors: Hobdari Bersant , Sinani Evis , Papanastassiou Marina , Pearce Robert
Published: August 2010

The main purpose of this research is to understand the determinants of global integration strategies of Chinese Multinational Enterprises (MNEs). In this article, we identify four expansion strategies for Chinese MNEs, that is, horizontal, vertical, lateral and risk diversification and we investigate a series of location and firm-level factors that determine the adoption of each strategy. We present empirical evidence based on data from the 2008 Spring edition of the Lexis Nexis Corporate Affiliates Directory. Our results indicate that Chinese MNEs expand internationally through a grid of strategic choices which is diversified geographically and industrially.
Resources Within Reason
Authors: Catlett Camille
Published: August 2010

Consistent findings support how assistive technology (AT) can promote learning and development for young children by allowing them to more effectively participate in activities and routines in their natural environments. Yet the Office of Special Education Programs’ annual reports to Congress between 1998 and 2002 indicated that AT was consistently listed as a service for only 4% of infants and toddlers nationally. One reason for the lack of use of AT with infants and toddlers may be attributed to the limited knowledge of parents and providers. The resources that follow may be helpful in learning more about ways to access and use AT.
The tragedy of offensive realism: Classical realism and the rise of China
Authors: Kirshner Jonathan
Published: August 2010

What is the realist position on how to deal with the rise of China? One prominent realist approach, associated with John Mearsheimer, calls for the US to do whatever it can to slow China’s rise. However, while this is a realist perspective, it is not the realist perspective. In particular, realist approaches that derive from a classical foundation suggest policies fundamentally different from those favored by Mearsheimer. This article argues that realism should return to some of its classical traditions. It reviews why, from a classical realist perspective, the rise of China must be viewed with alarm, but argues that Mearsheimer’s approach — offensive realism — is wrong, and dangerous. Many of these errors are rooted in structuralism; a classical realist approach, which allows for the influence of history and politics, provides greater analytical purchase and wiser policy prescriptions than offensive realism.
Effect of superimposed ultrasound on mechanical properties of copper
Authors: Huang H , Chang B H , Du D
Published: August 2010

Cu wire is increasingly used in microelectronics packaging manufacturing. In the present paper, the deforming procedure of 100 μm diameter Cu free air balls (FABs) is studied using experimental and finite element (FE) methods. Experimental results show that the superimposed ultrasound can make the Cu FAB softer. Then a non-linear FE model is built to study the deforming process of the Cu FAB. Numerical experiments have been carried out to quantify the effects of superimposed ultrasound on the constitutional model of Cu FABs. An improved power law material model is then established to take into the dynamic acoustic softening effects. A good consistency is achieved in numerically predicted and experimentally obtained deformations of the Cu FAB under various ultrasonic intensities.
Influence of dynamic strain aging on plastic instability behaviour of near alpha titanium alloy Timetal 834
Authors: Prasad K.
Published: August 2010

The deformation behaviour of near alpha titanium alloy Timetal 834 was investigated by analysing Considére criterion in temperature range between 300 and 500°C at an interval of 25°C. In the dynamic strain aging (DSA) regime (400–475°C) studied in this material, Considére criterion was satisfied partially at peak DSA temperature (450°C). This was attributed to maximum DSA effect at 450°C which eventually resulted in specimen fracture at low ductility levels. Strain hardening exponent ( n) values was determined using Ludwik plot, Considére criterion and obtained experimentally from uniform strain. The n values obtained from Ludwik plot and Considére criterion were greater than the uniform strain in DSA regime studied.
The Syk inhibitor fostamatinib disodium (R788) inhibits tumor growth in the Eμ- TCL1 transgenic mouse model of CLL by blocking antigen-dependent B-cell receptor signaling
Authors: Suljagic Mirza , Longo Pablo G. , Bennardo Sara , Perlas Emerald , Leone Giuseppe , Laurenti Luca , Efremov Dimitar G.
Published: August 2010

Inhibition of antigen-dependent B-cell receptor (BCR) signaling is considered a promising therapeutic approach in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), but experimental in vivo evidence to support this view is still lacking. We have now investigated whether inhibition of BCR signaling with the selective Syk inhibitor fostamatinib disodium (R788) will affect the growth of the leukemias that develop in the Eμ-TCL1 transgenic mouse model of CLL. Similarly to human CLL, these leukemias express stereotyped BCRs that react with autoantigens exposed on the surface of senescent or apoptotic cells, suggesting that they are antigen driven. We show that R788 effectively inhibits BCR signaling in vivo, resulting in reduced proliferation and survival of the malignant B cells and significantly prolonged survival of the treated animals. The growth-inhibitory effect of R788 occurs despite the relatively modest cytotoxic effect in vitro and is independent of basal Syk activity, suggesting that R788 functions primarily by inhibiting antigen-dependent BCR signals. Importantly, the effect of R788 was found to be selective for the malignant clones, as no disturbance in the production of normal B lymphocytes was observed. Collectively, these data provide further rationale for clinical trials with R788 in CLL and establish the BCR-signaling pathway as an important therapeutic target in this disease.
Podoplanin-Fc reduces lymphatic vessel formation in vitro and in vivo and causes disseminated intravascular coagulation when transgenically expressed in the skin
Authors: Cueni Leah N. , Chen Lu , Zhang Hui , Marino Daniela , Huggenberger Reto , Alitalo Annamari , Bianchi Roberta , Detmar Michael
Published: August 2010

Podoplanin is a small transmembrane protein required for development and function of the lymphatic vascular system. To investigate the effects of interfering with its function, we produced an Fc fusion protein of its ectodomain. We found that podoplanin-Fc inhibited several functions of cultured lymphatic endothelial cells and also specifically suppressed lymphatic vessel growth, but not blood vessel growth, in mouse embryoid bodies in vitro and in mouse corneas in vivo. Using a keratin 14 expression cassette, we created transgenic mice that overexpressed podoplanin-Fc in the skin. No obvious outward phenotype was identified in these mice, but surprisingly, podoplanin-Fc—although produced specifically in the skin—entered the blood circulation and induced disseminated intravascular coagulation, characterized by microthrombi in most organs and by thrombocytopenia, occasionally leading to fatal hemorrhage. These findings reveal an important role of podoplanin in lymphatic vessel formation and indicate the potential of podoplanin-Fc as an inhibitor of lymphangiogenesis. These results also demonstrate the ability of podoplanin to induce platelet aggregation in vivo, which likely represents a major function of lymphatic endothelium. Finally, keratin 14 podoplanin-Fc mice represent a novel genetic animal model of disseminated intravascular coagulation.
Anti-cytokine autoantibodies are associated with opportunistic infection in patients with thymic neoplasia
Authors: Burbelo Peter D. , Browne Sarah K. , Sampaio Elizabeth P. , Giaccone Giuseppe , Zaman Rifat , Kristosturyan Ervand , Rajan Arun , Ding Li , Ching Kathryn H. , Berman Arlene , Oliveira Joao B. , Hsu Amy P. , Klimavicz Caitlin M. , Iadarola Michael J. , Holland Steven M.
Published: August 2010

Patients with thymic malignancy have high rates of autoimmunity leading to a variety of autoimmune diseases, most commonly myasthenia gravis caused by anti-acetylcholine receptor autoantibodies. High rates of autoantibodies to cytokines have also been described, although prevalence, spectrum, and functionality of these anti-cytokine autoantibodies are poorly defined. To better understand the presence and function of anti-cytokine autoantibodies, we created a luciferase immunoprecipitation system panel to search for autoantibodies against 39 different cytokines and examined plasma from controls (n = 30) and patients with thymic neoplasia (n = 17). In this screen, our patients showed statistically elevated, but highly heterogeneous immunoreactivity against 16 of the 39 cytokines. Some patients showed autoantibodies to multiple cytokines. Functional testing proved that autoantibodies directed against interferon-α, interferon-β, interleukin-1α (IL-1α), IL-12p35, IL-12p40, and IL-17A had biologic blocking activity in vitro. All patients with opportunistic infection showed multiple anti-cytokine autoantibodies (range 3-11), suggesting that anti-cytokine autoantibodies may be important in the pathogenesis of opportunistic infections in patients with thymic malignancy. This study was registered at http://clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00001355.
Mutational analysis of an archaeal minichromosome maintenance protein exterior hairpin reveals critical residues for helicase activity and DNA binding
Authors: Brewster Aaron S , Slaymaker Ian M , Afif Samir A , Chen Xiaojiang S
Published: August 2010

Background

The mini-chromosome maintenance protein (MCM) complex is an essential replicative helicase for DNA replication in Archaea and Eukaryotes. While the eukaryotic complex consists of six homologous proteins (MCM2-7), the archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus has only one MCM protein (ssoMCM), six subunits of which form a homohexamer. We have recently reported a 4.35Å crystal structure of the near full-length ssoMCM. The structure reveals a total of four β-hairpins per subunit, three of which are located within the main channel or side channels of the ssoMCM hexamer model generated based on the symmetry of the N-terminal Methanothermobacter thermautotrophicus (mtMCM) structure. The fourth β-hairpin, however, is located on the exterior of the hexamer, near the exit of the putative side channels and next to the ATP binding pocket.

Results

In order to better understand this hairpin's role in DNA binding and helicase activity, we performed a detailed mutational and biochemical analysis of nine residues on this exterior β-hairpin (EXT-hp). We examined the activities of the mutants related to their helicase function, including hexamerization, ATPase, DNA binding and helicase activities. The assays showed that some of the residues on this EXT-hp play a role for DNA binding as well as for helicase activity.

Conclusions

These results implicate several current theories regarding helicase activity by this critical hexameric enzyme. As the data suggest that EXT-hp is involved in DNA binding, the results reported here imply that the EXT-hp located near the exterior exit of the side channels may play a role in contacting DNA substrate in a manner that affects DNA unwinding.
Do differences in the administrative structure of populations confound comparisons of geographic health inequalities?
Authors: Jackson Andrew L , Davies Carolyn A , Leyland Alastair H
Published: August 2010

Background

Geographical health inequalities are naturally described by the variation in health outcomes between areas (e.g. mortality rates). However, comparisons made between countries are hampered by our lack of understanding of the effect of the size of administrative units, and in particular the modifiable areal unit problem. Our objective was to assess how differences in geographic and administrative units used for disseminating data affect the description of health inequalities.

Methods

Retrospective study of standard populations and deaths aggregated by administrative regions within 20 European countries, 1990-1991. Estimated populations and deaths in males aged 0-64 were in 5 year age bands. Poisson multilevel modelling was conducted of deaths as standardised mortality ratios. The variation between regions within countries was tested for relationships with the mean region population size and the unequal distribution of populations within each country measured using Gini coefficients.

Results

There is evidence that countries whose regions vary more in population size show greater variation and hence greater apparent inequalities in mortality counts. The Gini coefficient, measuring inequalities in population size, ranged from 0.1 to 0.5 between countries; an increase of 0.1 was accompanied by a 12-14% increase in the standard deviation of the mortality rates between regions within a country.

Conclusions

Apparently differing health inequalities between two countries may be due to differences in geographical structure per se, rather than having any underlying epidemiological cause. Inequalities may be inherently greater in countries whose regions are more unequally populated.
Protective effects of a gastrointestinal agent containing Korean red ginseng on gastric ulcer models in mice
Authors: Oyagi Atsushi , Ogawa Kenjirou , Kakino Mamoru , Hara Hideaki
Published: August 2010

Background

Korean red ginseng (KRG) is a ginseng that has been cultivated and aged for 4-6 years or more, and goes through an extensive cleaning, steaming and drying process. KRG contains more than 30 kinds of saponin components and has been reported as having various biological properties, such as anti-fatigue action, immune restoration, and neurovegetative effect. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of a KRG-containing drug (KRGCD) on gastric ulcer models in mice.

Methods

Stomach ulcers were induced by oral ingestion of hydrochloride (HCl)/ethanol or indomethacin. Treatment with KRGCD (30, 100, and 300 mg/kg, p.o.) occurred 1 hr before the ulcer induction. Effect of KRGCD on anti-oxidant activity and gastric mucosal blood flow with a laser Doppler flowmeter in mice stomach tissue was evaluated.

Results

KRGCD (100 and 300 mg/kg, p.o.) significantly decreased ethanol- and indomethacin-induced gastric ulcer compared with the vehicle-treated (control) group. KRGCD (100 and 300 mg/kg) also decreased the level of thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) and increased gastric mucosal blood flow compared with the control group.

Conclusions

These results suggest that the gastroprotective effects of KRGCD on mice ulcer models can be attributed to its ameliorating effect on oxidative damage and improving effect of gastric mucosal blood flow.
Assessing the association of the HNF1A G319S variant with C-reactive protein in Aboriginal Canadians: a population-based epidemiological study
Authors: Ley Sylvia H , Hegele Robert A , Connelly Philip W , Harris Stewart B , Mamakeesick Mary , Cao Henian , Gittelsohn Joel , Retnakaran Ravi , Zinman Bernard , Hanley Anthony J
Published: August 2010

Background

C-reactive protein (CRP), a biomarker of inflammation, has been associated with increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Common variants of the hepatocyte nuclear factor 1A (HNF1A) gene encoding HNF-1α have been associated with plasma CRP in predominantly European Caucasian samples. HNF1A might therefore have an impact on vascular disease and diabetes risk that is mediated by CRP. In an Aboriginal Canadian population, a private polymorphism, HNF1A G319S, was associated with increased prevalence of type 2 diabetes. However, it has not been investigated whether this association is mediated by CRP. We aimed to investigate whether CRP was mediating the association between HNF1A G319S and type 2 diabetes in an Aboriginal Canadian population with a high prevalence of diabetes.

Methods

A total of 718 individuals who participated in a diabetes prevalence and risk factor survey were included in the current analysis. Participants were genotyped for HNF1A G319S. Fasting plasma samples were analyzed for CRP. Fasting plasma glucose and a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test were obtained to determine type 2 diabetes.

Results

The prevalence rate of type 2 diabetes was 17.4% (125/718) using the 1999 World Health Organization definition and was higher among S319 allele carriers compared to G/G homozygotes (p < 0.0001). Among participants without type 2 diabetes, CRP levels were higher among G/G homozygotes (1.64 [95% confidence interval 1.35-2.00] mg/l) than in S319 carriers (1.26 [1.04-1.54] mg/l) (p = 0.009) after adjustment for age, sex, 2-h post-load glucose, waist circumference, and serum amyloid A. CRP levels were elevated among those with diabetes after similar adjustment (4.39 [95% confidence interval 3.09-6.23] and 4.44 [3.13-6.30] mg/L, respectively), and no significant difference in CRP was observed between S319 carriers and non-carriers (p = 0.95).

Conclusions

CRP levels were lower in S319 allele carriers of the HNF1A gene compared to non-carriers among individuals without diabetes, but this difference was not present among those with diabetes, who uniformly had elevated CRP levels. Therefore, while HNF1A appears to influence CRP concentrations in the non-diabetic state, chronic elevation of CRP is unlikely mediating the association between the HNF1A polymorphism and the high prevalence of type 2 diabetes in this Aboriginal population.
Enhancement of solubility in Escherichia coli and purification of an aminotransferase from Sphingopyxis sp. MTA144 for deamination of hydrolyzed fumonisin B1
Authors: Hartinger Doris , Heinl Stefan , Schwartz Heidi Elisabeth , Grabherr Reingard , Schatzmayr Gerd , Haltrich Dietmar , Moll Wulf-Dieter
Published: August 2010

Background

Fumonisin B1 is a cancerogenic mycotoxin produced by Fusarium verticillioides and other fungi. Sphingopyxis sp. MTA144 can degrade fumonisin B1, and a key enzyme in the catabolic pathway is an aminotransferase which removes the C2-amino group from hydrolyzed fumonisin B1. In order to study this aminotransferase with respect to a possible future application in enzymatic fumonisin detoxification, we attempted expression of the corresponding fumI gene in E. coli and purification of the enzyme. Since the aminotransferase initially accumulated in inclusion bodies, we compared the effects of induction level, host strain, expression temperature, solubility enhancers and a fusion partner on enzyme solubility and activity.

Results

When expressed from a T7 promoter at 30°C, the aminotransferase accumulated invariably in inclusion bodies in DE3 lysogens of the E. coli strains BL21, HMS174, Rosetta 2, Origami 2, or Rosetta-gami. Omission of the isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) used for induction caused a reduction of expression level, but no enhancement of solubility. Likewise, protein production but not solubility correlated with the IPTG concentration in E. coli Tuner(DE3). Addition of the solubility enhancers betaine and sorbitol or the co-enzyme pyridoxal phosphate showed no effect. Maltose-binding protein, used as an N-terminal fusion partner, promoted solubility at 30°C or less, but not at 37°C. Low enzyme activity and subsequent aggregation in the course of purification and cleavage indicated that the soluble fusion protein contained incorrectly folded aminotransferase. Expression in E. coli ArcticExpress(DE3), which co-expresses two cold-adapted chaperonins, at 11°C finally resulted in production of appreciable amounts of active enzyme. Since His tag-mediated affinity purification from this strain was hindered by co-elution of chaperonin, two steps of chromatography with optimized imidazole concentration in the binding buffer were performed to obtain 1.45 mg of apparently homogeneous aminotransferase per liter of expression culture.

Conclusions

We found that only reduction of temperature, but not reduction of expression level or fusion to maltose-binding protein helped to produce correctly folded, active aminotransferase FumI in E. coli. Our results may provide a starting point for soluble expression of related aminotransferases or other aggregation-prone proteins in E. coli.
Long noncoding RNA genes: conservation of sequence and brain expression among diverse amniotes
Authors: Chodroff Rebecca A , Goodstadt Leo , Sirey Tamara M , Oliver Peter L , Davies Kay E , Green Eric D , Molnár Zoltán , Ponting Chris P
Published: August 2010

Background

Long considered to be the building block of life, it is now apparent that protein is only one of many functional products generated by the eukaryotic genome. Indeed, more of the human genome is transcribed into noncoding sequence than into protein-coding sequence. Nevertheless, whilst we have developed a deep understanding of the relationships between evolutionary constraint and function for protein-coding sequence, little is known about these relationships for non-coding transcribed sequence. This dearth of information is partially attributable to a lack of established non-protein-coding RNA (ncRNA) orthologs among birds and mammals within sequence and expression databases.

Results

Here, we performed a multi-disciplinary study of four highly conserved and brain-expressed transcripts selected from a list of mouse long intergenic noncoding RNA (lncRNA) loci that generally show pronounced evolutionary constraint within their putative promoter regions and across exon-intron boundaries. We identify some of the first lncRNA orthologs present in birds (chicken), marsupial (opossum), and eutherian mammals (mouse), and investigate whether they exhibit conservation of brain expression. In contrast to conventional protein-coding genes, the sequences, transcriptional start sites, exon structures, and lengths for these non-coding genes are all highly variable.

Conclusions

The biological relevance of lncRNAs would be highly questionable if they were limited to closely related phyla. Instead, their preservation across diverse amniotes, their apparent conservation in exon structure, and similarities in their pattern of brain expression during embryonic and early postnatal stages together indicate that these are functional RNA molecules, of which some have roles in vertebrate brain development.
“The Archaeology of Sound”: Derek Jarman'sBlueand Queer Audiovisuality in the Time ofaids
Authors: Khalip Jacques
Published: August 2010

This article concentrates on the substance of audition in Derek Jarman's Blue. In his last feature film, Jarman makes a decisive ethical and aesthetic break: he shifts value away from the overdetermined cultural premiums associated with the visual ``spectacle'' and onto the indeterminate event of aurality that reconceptualizes queer belonging in terms of the erotics of the ear. Tracing the impact of Jarman's audiovisual project, the essay begins with the argument that the relationship of sound to image in Blue is defined by an entropic or unvisualized audition. This relationship in turn corresponds to a technical nonproductivity inscribing certain constructions of the aural spectacle in philosophies and theories of film sound. Blue's model of aural spectacularization is then linked to Michel Foucault's remarks on speakability/unspeakability, voice, and listening in The History of Sexuality and The Hermeneutics of the Subject. What lies unthought in these texts, this article contends, is something Foucault can only imply: a groundwork for a mode of audition that poses a moving counterweight to the ocular- and logocentric assumptions that often underwrite queer theory.
Beyond the Strai(gh)ts: Transnationalism and Queer Chinese Politics
Authors: Liu Petrus , Rofel Lisa
Published: August 2010

In the introduction to the special issue, the guest editors examine the key issues in the current dialogue on Chinese politics and transnational queer formations. The editors explain the origins of the special volume in a transnational queer conference, emphasizing that the volume is not merely a scholarly reflection on the changing meanings of transnational Chinese queer politics, but the result of an effort to build such transnational connections. The scholars, activists, and artists in the volume come from a wide range of locations and backgrounds. Some are based in China; others are in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Taiwan. Some write in a more academic idiom, while others report directly from their experiences. The diverse answers they bring to the question of how transnationalism has transformed queer Chinese politics today indicate that both “Chineseness” and “queer” are highly contested, overdetermined, heterogeneous, and mobile terms. By showing how boundaries are crossed at all times, the contributors highlight the ways in which transnational queer Chinese politics might contribute to the decolonization of U.S.-dominated theory.
Imagined Concubinage
Authors: Naifei Ding
Published: August 2010

Imagined concubinage refers to fictional representations of urban marriage and romantic love in crisis in early 1980s Taiwan by women writers in short stories, novellas, and novels featuring female protagonists. This article's main question arises from a Taiwan context wherein a populist feminist antisex sentiment necessitates renewed understanding of its cultural-historical lineage and affinities. One aspect of feminist antisex sentiment is embedded in an imagined concubinage against which an exemplary wife-in-monogamy envisions continuous battle. To the extent that this cultural and psychic battle is ongoing in Taiwan today, I argue that wife-in-monogamy feels as if it can never be fully installed as a structure of feeling, and that the very installment of such a structure of feeling entails reactivating in different ways an imagined concubinage (imagined to the extent that it is no longer viable as a legal institution, though is it not extinct as practice in both privileged and nonprivileged forms), against which an embattled wife-in-monogamy is sculpted in relief. The wife-in-monogamy in such a cultural-social milieu is thus constitutively produced as always at risk.

Fictional representations are one site where we may reread how status shame gets recoded as new sexual stigma. Feminist fictions invented a new subject as they constructed her for a rapidly changing Taiwan, pointing to how middle-class femininity needed to be reconstituted toward envisioning a gender-equal family-nation. Status shame for the wife-in-monogamy becomes reconstituted into stigmatic sex in new emergent social subjects and practices, such as mistresses and live-in migrant domestic maids, sex workers and predatory single urban professional women, adulterous women and men, promiscuous sex, commercial sex, and nonnormative and queer sex. Figuring the latter through recycled concubinage imaginaries places a limitation on the would-be modern feminine subject, programmatically warning her against what she cannot and must not become.
From Glass Clique to Tongzhi Nation: Crystal Boys, Identity Formation, and the Politics of Sexual Shame
Authors: Huang Hans Tao-Ming
Published: August 2010

This article proposes a historically and movement-wise contextualized reading of Pai Hsien-yung's Crystal Boys, known as the first “gay” novel in Taiwan. As the novel was taken up as a signifier in the new tongzhi politics in 1990s Taiwan, the article shows, its legacy as a historical representation of male prostitution culture was left out entirely. Through genealogical investigation, the article argues that tongzhi politics and subjectivity as articulated through Crystal Boys is founded upon the normative exclusion of the gendered prostitute subject and that such a repudiation is complicit with the dominant moral-sexual order upheld by Taiwan's state culture. In querying this limiting continuity, this artcile demonstrates in particular that the novel represents a particular “state affect” of gendered sexual shame linked to prostitution, a shame that later came to be displaced by the emerging tongzhi_movement through its political praxis of “coming out.” By tracing the trajectory of identity formation process via the (re)articulation of Crystal Boys, this paper thus highlights the centrality of prostitution in the state production of heteronormativity in Taiwan as it argues for a queer politics that critically engages that normative condition.
The Communist International of Queer Film
Authors: Zi'en Cui
Published: August 2010

This conference speech given by a famous queer Chinese filmmaker provocatively proposes that the vibrant culture of underground queer film festivals in China is the true Communist International. Chinese viewers of queer films gain insight into global trends, while these festivals also provide foreigners an opportunity to develop networks of solidarity and support with the Chinese.
The Queer Space of China: Expressive Desire in Stanley Kwan's Lan Yu
Authors: Eng David L.
Published: August 2010

This essay examines the contemporary emergence of gay and lesbian life in the People's Republic of China through an analysis of Stanley Kwan's 2001 film Lan Yu and in relation to liberal distinctions between public space and private desires. Following anthropologist Lisa Rofel's recent scholarship on expressive desire, I investigate the ways certain self-identified Chinese gays and lesbians are positioning themselves as individuals who are uniquely capable of embracing their private desires and thus at the vanguard of a new modernity in China. Lan Yu complicates this developmental narrative by presenting us with a queer space and time dissonant to conventional protocols of Western visual and political representation. The film explores what happens when neoliberal ideals and global gayness “fail” to translate. Ultimately, Kwan's discrepant modernity comes to function as a critical tool for organizing and evaluating not just the contemporary emergence of nonnormative sexualities and desires in (post)socialist China but also, and more urgently, historical continuities and ruptures among China's (semi)colonial past, its revolutionary aspirations for a socialist modernity, and its contemporary investments in a neoliberal capitalist world order. From this perspective, this essay interrogates (homo)sexuality as a discourse of development on the global stage, while examining the conditions of possibility and limits of globalizing queer studies.
Protein mobilities and P-selectin storage in Weibel–Palade bodies
Authors: Kiskin Nikolai I. , Hellen Nicola , Babich Victor , Hewlett Lindsay , Knipe Laura , Hannah Matthew J. , Carter Tom
Published: August 2010

Using fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) we measured the mobilities of EGFP-tagged soluble secretory proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and in individual Weibel–Palade bodies (WPBs) at early (immature) and late (mature) stages in their biogenesis. Membrane proteins (P-selectin, CD63, Rab27a) were also studied in individual WPBs. In the ER, soluble secretory proteins were mobile; however, following insertion into immature WPBs larger molecules (VWF, Proregion, tPA) and P-selectin became immobilised, whereas small proteins (ssEGFP, eotaxin-3) became less mobile. WPB maturation led to further decreases in mobility of small proteins and CD63. Acute alkalinisation of mature WPBs selectively increased the mobilities of small soluble proteins without affecting larger molecules and the membrane proteins. Disruption of the Proregion–VWF paracrystalline core by prolonged incubation with NH4Cl rendered P-selectin mobile while VWF remained immobile. FRAP of P-selectin mutants revealed that immobilisation most probably involves steric entrapment of the P-selectin extracellular domain by the Proregion–VWF paracrystal. Significantly, immobilisation contributed to the enrichment of P-selectin in WPBs; a mutation of P-selectin preventing immobilisation led to a failure of enrichment. Together these data shed new light on the transitions that occur for soluble and membrane proteins following their entry and storage into post-Golgi-regulated secretory organelles.
Cdc14: a highly conserved family of phosphatases with non-conserved functions?
Authors: Mocciaro Annamaria , Schiebel Elmar
Published: August 2010

CDC14 was originally identified by L. Hartwell in his famous screen for genes that regulate the budding yeast cell cycle. Subsequent work showed that Cdc14 belongs to a family of highly conserved dual-specificity phosphatases that are present in a wide range of organisms from yeast to human. Human CDC14B is even able to fulfill the essential functions of budding yeast Cdc14. In budding yeast, Cdc14 counteracts the activity of cyclin dependent kinase (Cdk1) at the end of mitosis and thus has important roles in the regulation of anaphase, mitotic exit and cytokinesis. On the basis of the functional conservation of other cell-cycle genes it seemed obvious to assume that Cdc14 phosphatases also have roles in late mitosis in mammalian cells and regulate similar targets to those found in yeast. However, analysis of the human Cdc14 proteins (CDC14A, CDC14B and CDC14C) by overexpression or by depletion using small interfering RNA (siRNA) has suggested functions that are quite different from those of ScCdc14. Recent studies in avian and human somatic cell lines in which the gene encoding either Cdc14A or Cdc14B had been deleted, have shown – surprisingly – that neither of the two phosphatases on its own is essential for viability, cell-cycle progression and checkpoint control. In this Commentary, we critically review the available data on the functions of yeast and vertebrate Cdc14 phosphatases, and discuss whether they indeed share common functions as generally assumed.
Trialkyl(pentafluorocyclotriphosphazenyl)ammonium Bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide Acting as Nonflammable Room-temperature Ionic Liquids
Authors: Shiragami Tsutomu , Nakamura Yoko , Matsumoto Jin , Otsuki Masashi , Yasuda Masahide
Published: August 2010

Trialkyl(pentafluorocyclotriphosphazenyl)ammonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide were synthesized. They were nonflammable room-temperature ionic liquid which showed low ionic conductivity (0.29–2.32 mS cm−1) and viscosity (33.3–56.2 mPa s). They displayed extremely low viscosity in spite of the high molecular weight.
A Facile Approach for Preparing Polymethylphenylsilsesquioxane with Well-defined Ladder Structure via Nonhydrolytic Condensation
Authors: Jia Xiu Wei , Rong Min Zhi , Zhang Ming Qiu , Ye Xiao Ji
Published: August 2010

A novel nonhydrolytic condensation approach was proposed, which enabled successful synthesis of well-ordered ladder-like polymethylphenylsilsesquioxane for the first time. In comparison with aqueous hydrolysis, the present route is more promising, which is easily carried out with readily available starting materials, and is applicable to a wide range of organosilanes.