bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Intrinsic Arteriovenous Malformation of the Trigeminal Nerve in a Patient with Trigeminal Neuralgia: Case Report
Authors: Karibe Hiroshi , Shirane Reizo , Jokura Hidefumi , Yoshimoto Takashi
Published: December 2004

OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE:

Intrinsic arteriovenous malformation (AVM) of the trigeminal nerve is extremely uncommon and may be associated with trigeminal neuralgia.

CLINICAL PRESENTATION:

A 55-year-old man experienced severe lightning pain in the second and third divisions of the left trigeminal nerve territory. Vertebral angiography demonstrated an AVM fed by the superior cerebellar artery. Magnetic resonance imaging with three-dimensional spoiled gradient recalled acquisition at steady state revealed an AVM intrinsic to the left trigeminal nerve and a small arterial loop causing compression at the root entry zone of the trigeminal nerve.

INTERVENTION:

Intraoperative inspection revealed an indentation of the root entry zone caused by a small arterial loop but not by the AVM. The offending artery was displaced to decompress the root entry zone using a prosthesis without resection of the AVM. The patient was relieved of the neuralgia immediately after surgery without further neurological deficit. He has been free of trigeminal neuralgia during a follow-up period of 2 years and is scheduled to undergo stereotactic radiosurgery for the treatment of the AVM.

CONCLUSION:

Intrinsic AVM of the trigeminal nerve may cause trigeminal neuralgia. However, as in the present case, a coexistent vascular lesion rather than the intrinsic AVM could be a cause of the neuralgia.
Aggressive Intramedullary Melanotic Schwannoma: Case Report
Authors: Santaguida Carlo , Sabbagh Abdulrahman J. , Guiot Marie-Christine , Del Maestro Rolando F.
Published: December 2004

OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE:

Intramedullary melanotic schwannomas are very rare lesions; only four cases have been reported previously. We describe a patient with an intramedullary melanotic schwannoma that had a more aggressive course than those reported in the literature, and we review the theories regarding the cause of these lesions.

CLINICAL PRESENTATION:

A 35-year-old man presented with neck stiffness and paraesthesia extending down his right arm upon neck extension. A magnetic resonance imaging scan revealed an intramedullary lesion extending from C4 to C5.

INTERVENTION:

Gross total resection of the mass was performed, and pathological characteristics were consistent with a melanotic schwannoma. Two years after resection the tumor recurred, and the patient was treated with radiation therapy. The tumor progressed 2 years after radiotherapy, and at repeat resection, multiple pigmented foci were present on the surface of the spinal cord and dura consistent with metastatic seeding.

CONCLUSION:

In a patient with intramedullary melanotic schwannoma with an unusually aggressive course, careful follow-up may be essential.
Unidirectional Notch signaling depends on continuous cleavage of Delta
Authors: Sapir Amir , Assa-Kunik Efrat , Tsruya Rachel , Schejter Eyal , Shilo Ben-Zion
Published: December 2004

Unidirectional signaling from cells expressing Delta (Dl) to cells expressing Notch is a key feature of many developmental processes. We demonstrate that the Drosophila ADAM metalloprotease Kuzbanian-like(Kul) plays a key role in promoting this asymmetry. Kul cleaves Dl efficiently both in cell culture and in flies, and has previously been shown not to be necessary for Notch processing during signaling. In the absence of Kul in the developing wing, the level of Dl in cells that normally receive the signal is elevated, and subsequent alterations in the directionality of Notch signaling lead to prominent phenotypic defects. Proteolytic cleavage of Dl by Kul represents a general mechanism for refining and maintaining the asymmetric distribution of Dl, in cases where transcriptional repression of Dlexpression does not suffice to eliminate Dl protein.
Mouse Disp1 is required in sonic hedgehog-expressing cells for paracrine activity of the cholesterol-modified ligand
Authors: Tian Hua , Jeong Juhee , Harfe Brian D. , Tabin Clifford J. , McMahon Andrew P.
Published: December 2004

Previous studies have demonstrated that Disp1 function is essential for Shh and Ihh signaling in the mouse, and Disp1 gene dose regulates the level of Shh signaling activity in vivo. To determine whether Disp1 activity is required in Shh-producing cells for paracrine signaling in Shh target fields, we used a ShhGFP-Cre (here shortened to ShhCre) knock-in allele and a Disp1 conditional allele to knock down Disp1 activity specifically within Shh-producing cells. The resulting facial and neural tube phenotypes support the conclusion that the primary and probably exclusive role for Disp1 is within hedgehog protein-producing cells. Furthermore, using an allele that produces N-Shh (a noncholesterol modified form of the Shh protein), we demonstrate that N-Shh is sufficient to rescue most of the early embryonic lethal defects in a Disp1-null mutant background. Thus, Disp1 activity is only required for paracrine hedgehog protein signaling by the cholesterol modified form of Shh (N-Shhp), the normal product generated by auto-processing of a Shh precursor protein. In both respects, Disp function is conserved from Drosophila to mice.
Drosophila retained/dead ringeris necessary for neuronal pathfinding, female receptivity and repression offruitlessindependent male courtship behaviors
Authors: Ditch Lynn M. , Shirangi Troy , Pitman Jeffrey L. , Latham Kristin L. , Finley Kim D. , Edeen Philip T. , Taylor Barbara J. , McKeown Michael
Published: December 2004

Mutations in the Drosophila retained/dead ringer (retn)gene lead to female behavioral defects and alter a limited set of neurons in the CNS. retn is implicated as a major repressor of male courtship behavior in the absence of the fruitless (fru) male protein. retn females show fru-independent male-like courtship of males and females, and are highly resistant to courtship by males. Males mutant for retn court with normal parameters, although feminization of retn cells in males induces bisexuality. Alternatively spliced RNAs appear in the larval and pupal CNS, but none shows sex specificity. Post-embryonically, retn RNAs are expressed in a limited set of neurons in the CNS and eyes. Neural defects of retn mutant cells include mushroom body β-lobe fusion and pathfinding errors by photoreceptor and subesophageal neurons. We posit that some of these retn-expressing cells function to repress a male behavioral pathway activated by fruM.
Chx10repression ofMitfis required for the maintenance of mammalian neuroretinal identity
Authors: Horsford D. Jonathan , Nguyen Minh-Thanh T. , Sellar Grant C. , Kothary Rashmi , Arnheiter Heinz , McInnes Roderick R.
Published: December 2004

During vertebrate eye development, the cells of the optic vesicle (OV)become either neuroretinal progenitors expressing the transcription factor Chx10, or retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) progenitors expressing the transcription factor Mitf. Chx10 mutations lead to microphthalmia and impaired neuroretinal proliferation. Mitf mutants have a dorsal RPE-to-neuroretinal phenotypic transformation, indicating that Mitfis a determinant of RPE identity. We report here that Mitf is expressed ectopically in the Chx10or-J/or-J neuroretina(NR), demonstrating that Chx10 normally represses the neuroretinal expression of Mitf. The ectopic expression of Mitf in the Chx10or-J/or-J NR deflects it towards an RPE-like identity; this phenotype results not from a failure of neuroretinal specification, but from a partial loss of neuroretinal maintenance. Using Chx10 and Mitf transgenic and mutant mice, we have identified an antagonistic interaction between Chx10 and Mitf in regulating retinal cell identity. FGF (fibroblast growth factor) exposure in a developing OV has also been shown to repress Mitf expression. We demonstrate that the repression of Mitfby FGF is Chx10 dependent, indicating that FGF, Chx10 and Mitf are components of a pathway that determines and maintains the identity of the NR.
Enhancement of twitch force by stretch in a nerve-skeletal muscle preparation of the frogRana porosa brevipodaand the effects of temperature on it
Authors: Ishii Yoshiki , Watari Takashi , Tsuchiya Teizo
Published: December 2004

We investigated the mechanism of the enhancement of twitch force by stretch and the effects of temperature on it in nerve-skeletal muscle preparations of whole iliofibularis muscles isolated from the frog Rana brevipoda. When a preparation was stimulated indirectly and stretched, the twitch force after the stretch was enhanced remarkably in comparison to that observed before a stretch at low temperature. The enhanced force obtained by a stretch of 20% resting muscle length (l0) at low temperature was as high as the force obtained by direct stimulation. The phenomenon was not dependent on the velocity but on the amplitude of stretch. The enhanced force obeyed the length-force relationship when a stretch was long enough. The above results were observed when the frogs were kept at room temperature(20-22°C). Measurements were also taken at low temperature (4°C); when frogs were kept at low temperature for more than 2 months, twitch force obtained without stretch was considerably higher at l0. The amplitude of the action potential recorded extracellularly from the muscle surface increased remarkably after a stretch, but was same before and after a stretch when recorded from the nerve innervating muscle. The effects of temperature on twitch and tetanic force by direct or indirect stimulation without stretch were also studied as basic data of the stretch experiment. The results from this study suggest that stretch-induced force enhancement in a nerve-muscle preparation is caused by an increase in the transmission rate between nerve and muscle, and the amplitude of the enhanced force is determined by the length-force relationship of the muscle. The phenomenon is also strongly affected by the temperature at which the frogs are kept.
Neuronal and neurohormonal control of the heart in the stomatopod crustacean,Squilla oratoria
Authors: Ando Hiroshi , Kuwasawa Kiyoaki
Published: December 2004

The heart of Squilla oratoria contains a cardiac ganglion that consists of 15 intrinsic neurons, supplied by a pair of inhibitory nerves and two pairs of excitatory nerves, arising from the central nervous system. These comprise the extrinsic cardiac innervation. The paired cardio-inhibitor (CI)nerves run out in the 10th pair of nerve roots emerging from the subesophageal ganglion (SEG). The cell bodies of the CI neurons are found in the hemisphere of the 1st segment of the SEG contralateral to the nerve roots in which the CI axons emerge. The two pairs of 1st and 2nd cardio-accelerator (CA1 and CA2)nerves run out in the 16th and 19th pairs of nerve roots of the SEG. The cell bodies of the CA1 and CA2 neurons are found in the hemispheres of the 3rd and 4th segments of the SEG ipsilateral to the nerve roots in which the CA1 and CA2 axons are found.

The heartbeat was activated by application of glutamate, serotonin,dopamine, octopamine or acetylcholine, which were applied to the heart by perfusion into an organ bath. Joro-spider toxin (JSTX) blocked myocardial excitatory junctional potentials evoked by the cardiac ganglion. Neuronal cell bodies and processes in the heart were examined using immunocytochemical techniques. All 15 neurons of the cardiac ganglion showed glutamate-like immunoreactivity. Glutamate may be a neurotransmitter of the cardiac ganglion neurons.

JSTX also blocked cardiac acceleration by activation of CA1 and CA2 axons. CA1 and CA2 axons showed glutamate-like immunoreactivity. It is likely that glutamate is a neurotransmitter for the cardio-acceleratory neurons.

The heartbeat was inhibited by application of γ-amino-butyric acid(GABA). Cardiac inhibition induced by activation of CI axons was blocked by picrotoxin. CI axons showed GABA-like immunoreactivity. These results may support the identification of GABA as an extrinsic inhibitory neurotransmitter.
Submaximal power output from the dorsolongitudinal flight muscles of the hawkmothManduca sexta
Authors: Tu Michael S. , Daniel Thomas L.
Published: December 2004

To assess the extent to which the power output of a synchronous insect flight muscle is maximized during flight, we compared the maximum potential power output of the mesothoracic dorsolongitudinal (dl1) muscles of Manduca sexta to their power output in vivo. Holding temperature and cycle frequency constant at 36°C and 25 Hz, respectively,we varied the phase of activation, mean length and strain amplitude. Under in vivo conditions measured in tethered flight, the dl1muscles generated only 40–67% of their maximum potential power output. Compared to the in vivo phase of activation, the phase that maximized power output was advanced by 12% of the cycle period, and the length that maximized power output was 10% longer than the in vivo operating length.
Anatomy of a live invertebrate revealed by manganese-enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Authors: Herberholz Jens , Mims Christopher J. , Zhang Xiaodong , Hu Xiaoping , Edwards Donald H.
Published: December 2004

Non-invasive imaging technologies such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)are increasingly in demand by researchers in many biological disciplines. However, when imaging small animals such as invertebrates, not only is the use of high-field magnets necessary to gain satisfactory spatial resolution, but the achievement of adequate contrast between tissues also requires the identification of applicable imaging parameters by means of expensive and time-consuming procedures. Here we report that systemically administered manganese can act as an effective MRI contrast agent for quick and non-invasive imaging of the nervous system and other complex anatomical structures in a small aquatic animal. Due to the tendency of manganese ions to differentially accumulate in most soft tissues, higher overall signal intensity and strongly improved contrast between structures yield data well suited for digital post-processing into three-dimensional models. Within a few hours this technique can efficiently generate anatomical images that are not obtainable with conventional methods, thus demonstrating a new and exciting approach to invertebrate research.
Vestibular compensation in lampreys: restoration of symmetry in reticulospinal commands
Authors: Pavlova Elena L. , Popova Lyudmila B. , Orlovsky Grigori N. , Deliagina Tatiana G.
Published: December 2004

Removal of a vestibular organ (unilateral labyrinthectomy, UL) in the lamprey results in a loss of equilibrium, so that the animal rolls (rotates around its longitudinal axis) when swimming. Owing to vestibular compensation,UL animals gradually restore postural equilibrium and, in a few weeks, swim without rolling. Important elements of the postural network in the lamprey are the reticulospinal (RS) neurons, which are driven by vestibular input and transmit commands for postural corrections to the spinal cord. As shown previously, a loss of equilibrium after UL is associated with disappearance of vestibular responses in the contralateral group of RS neurons. Are these responses restored in animals after compensation? To answer this question, we recorded vestibular responses in RS neurons (elicited by rotation of the compensated animal in the roll plane) by means of chronically implanted electrodes. We found that the responses re-appeared in the compensated animals. This result supports the hypothesis that the loss of equilibrium after UL was caused by asymmetry in supraspinal motor commands, and the recovery of postural control in compensated animals was due to a restoration of symmetry.
The ICCPR as a ‘Living Instrument’: The Death Penalty as Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment
Authors: Mukherjee Amrita
Published: December 2004

This article examines the recent views of the UN Human Rights Committee on the issues related to the death penalty. Obligations under Articles 6 (the right to life) and 7 (the right not to be subjected to torture or other, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment) are correlated. Despite widely divergent opinions within the Committee on the issue, this human rights body is moving towards strengthening the obligations of abolitionist states and, in so doing, restricting the availability of the sanction for retentionist states. This is consistent with the object and purposes approach and the nature of the ICCPR as a living instrument.
Apolipoprotein C-III, n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids, and “Insulin-Resistant” T−455C APOC3 Gene Polymorphism in Heart Disease Patients: Example of Gene-Diet Interaction
Authors: Olivieri Oliviero , Martinelli Nicola , Sandri Marco , Bassi Antonella , Guarini Patrizia , Trabetti Elisabetta , Pizzolo Francesca , Girelli Domenico , Friso Simonetta , Pignatti Pier Franco , Corrocher Roberto
Published: December 2004

Background: Apolipoprotein C-III (apo C-III) is a marker of cardiovascular disease risk associated with triglyceride (TG)-rich lipoproteins. The T−455C polymorphism in the insulin-responsive element of the APOC3 gene influences TG and apo C-III concentrations. Long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) contained in fish have well-known apo C-III-lowering properties.

Methods: We investigated the possibility of an interactive effect between the APOC3 gene variant and erythrocyte n-3 PUFAs, suitable markers of dietary intake of fatty acids, on apo C-III concentrations in a population of 848 heart disease patients who had coronary angiography.

Results: In the population as a whole, apo C-III concentrations were significantly inversely correlated with total erythrocyte PUFAs, but the correlation was not significant when only −455CC homozygous individuals were taken into account. In the total population and in subgroups with the −455TT and −455CT genotypes, the relative proportions of individuals presenting with increased apo C-III (i.e., above the 75th percentile value calculated on the entire population after exclusion of individuals taking lipids-lowering medications) decreased progressively as the n-3 PUFA and docosahexaenoic acid concentrations increased. The opposite situation was observed in the homozygous −455CC subgroup, in whom increasing erythrocyte n-3 PUFA and docosahexaenoic acid concentrations were associated with higher proportions of individuals with high apo C-III. A formal interactive effect between genotype and n-3 PUFAs was confirmed even after adjustment for possible confounding variables [age, sex, body mass index, smoking, coronary artery disease (CAD)/CAD-free status, or use of lipid-lowering medications] by logistic models.

Conclusion: Patients homozygous for the −455C APOC3 variant are poorly responsive to the apo C-III-lowering effects of n-3 PUFAs.
Urinary Excretion of Homocysteine-Thiolactone in Humans
Authors: Chwatko Grazyna , Jakubowski Hieronim
Published: December 2004

Background: A metabolite of homocysteine (Hcy), the thioester Hcy-thiolactone, has been implicated in coronary heart disease in humans. Because inadvertent reactions of Hcy-thiolactone with proteins can lead to cell and tissue damage, the ability to detoxify or eliminate Hcy-thiolactone is essential for biological integrity. We examined the hypothesis that the human body eliminates Hcy-thiolactone by urinary excretion.

Methods: We used a sensitive HPLC method with postcolumn derivatization and fluorescence detection to examine Hcy-thiolactone concentrations in human urine and plasma.

Results: We discovered a previously unknown pool of Hcy-thiolactone in human urine. Urinary concentrations of Hcy-thiolactone (11–485 nmol/L; n = 19) were ∼100-fold higher than those in plasma (<0.1–22.6 nmol/L; n = 20). Urinary Hcy-thiolactone accounted for 2.5–28.3% of urinary total Hcy, whereas plasma Hcy-thiolactone accounted for <0.002–0.29% of plasma total Hcy. Urinary concentrations of Hcy-thiolactone, but not of total Hcy, were negatively correlated with urinary pH. Clearance of Hcy-thiolactone, relative to creatinine, was 0.21–6.96. In contrast, relative clearance of Hcy was 0.001–0.003.

Conclusions: The analytical methods described here can be used to quantify Hcy-thiolactone in biological fluids. Using these methods we showed that the human body eliminates Hcy-thiolactone by urinary excretion. Our data also suggest that the protonation status of its amino group affects Hcy-thiolactone excretion.
Anomalous Experiences Reported by Field Anthropologists: Evaluating Theories Regarding Religion
Authors: McClenon James , Nooney Jennifer
Published: December 2004

Content analysis of published accounts of 40 anomalous experiences reported by anthropologists allows qualitative evaluationof elements within evolutionary theories pertaining to religion .The analysis supports findings from previous studies indicating that certain anomalous experienceshave cross‐culturally consistent features. Narrative and structural features within the anthropologists' accounts coincide with those gathered in northeastern North Carolina and many other areas.The data also reveal the capacity of these episodes to transform belief, supporting an experiential source theory regarding faith in spirits, souls, life after death, and magical abilities.The narratives indicate that anomalous perceptions cause some anthropologists to consider novel theories.This study supports evolutionary explanations for the origin of religion and provides predictions regarding research directions in anthropology.
Hallucinogens: A Reader
Authors: Lampman Aaron
Published: December 2004

Hallucinogens:. Reader. Edited by Charles S. Grob. M.D. 2002. NewYork: Jeremy P.Tarcher/ Putnam. 298 pages. $16.95 (paperback). ISBN 1‐58542‐166‐9
Expanding “Henry”: Fiction reading and its artifacts in a British literary society
Authors: Reed Adam
Published: December 2004

Members of the Henry Williamson Society talk of what fiction reading does for them. Their experience of literature is connected to their appreciation of the author Henry Williamson as a central and mythic figure. How “Henry” is composed determines the kind of actors readers can be and also explains the capacities assigned to the Williamson artifacts—books and land—that they identify. In this article, I explore a theory of reading as relationship and examine the role of literature as an instrument of social agency. I focus on the relationships that society members draw out around solitary acts of reading and literary society activities, including the way they assign causation within a matrix of relations. As well as examining their culture of owning, reading, and displaying books, I investigate society members' appreciation of geographical location. The article aims to contribute to the development of anthropological theories of literature.
Ontologies of the image and economies of exchange
Authors: Myers Fred
Published: December 2004

In the early 1970s, the Aboriginal artist and activist Wandjuk Marika asked the Australian government to investigate the unauthorized use of Yolngu clan designs on a variety of commodity forms, inaugurating a process of recognizing Indigenous ownership of “copyright” in such designs. This treatment of design—and of culture—as a form of property involves understandings and practices of materiality and subjectivity that differ from those informing indigenous, Aboriginal relationships to cultural production and circulation. In this article I explore the significance for material culture theory of recent work on and events in the development of notions of cultural property. One of my main concerns is the relevance of local understandings of objectification, or objectness, and human action—as embedded in object‐ideologies. I discuss the limited capacity of legal discourses of cultural property to capture and reflect the concerns of Indigenous Australians about their own relation to culture, to creativity, and to expression.
Text and performance in an African church: The Book, “live and direct”
Authors: Engelke Matthew
Published: December 2004

In this article I examine textual authority and religious language in an African Christian church. Known as the Masowe weChishanu, members of this church refer to themselves as “the Christians who don't read the Bible.” I focus on how religious language in Masowe ritual highlights the performative nature of religious authority. In particular, I show how prophets in the church denigrate the role of religious text by working to create a “live and direct” connection to God through their sermons. Drawing on the ethnography of reading and ritual, and contributing to the newly emerging interest in an anthropology of Christianity, I show how Masowe recast the authority of the text as a political and religious object by making it unnecessary. The Bible becomes significant in its absence, challenging an understanding of scriptural religion as objectified in texts.
Incitements to desire: Sexual cultures and modernizing projects
Authors: Babb Florence E.
Published: December 2004

This review essay considers recent work on sexuality and modernity, broadly conceived. Examining two studies from China and two from parts of Latin America, I suggest that fruitful research and writing is focusing on regions that are undergoing economic transitions marked by growing private sectors and market reform as a consequence of globalization. In these areas one finds both economic and sexual “opening up” to change, with diverse cultural and political implications at the local and the national levels.
Heteroglossia, “common sense,” and social memory
Authors: Smith Andrea L.
Published: December 2004

In this article I analyze internally contradictory narratives articulated by former settlers of Algeria. By adopting a discourse‐centered approach to these stories of colonial assimilation, I show that what are often described as “commonsense” forms in popular memory can be viewed as examples of Bakhtinian heteroglossia. Passages from taped conversations illustrate multiple voices in dynamic interaction. Research in cognitive anthropology and psychology suggests that it is not unusual for individuals to retain multiple and conflicting viewpoints simultaneously. Narratives about the past may be especially multivocal, for reasons I discuss here. I reflect on implications of these insights for anthropological models of social memory.
The memorialization of September 11: Dominant and local discourses on the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site
Authors: Low Setha M.
Published: December 2004

An inherent tension exists between the meanings of the World Trade Center site created by dominant political and economic players and the significance of the space for those who actually live near it. Most of the writing on and analysis of the site have focused on the construction of a memorial space for an imagined national and global community of visitors who identify with its broader, state‐produced meanings. But New Yorkers, in general, and downtown residents, in particular, bring to meaning making their own personal involvement in and knowledge of a located history that has social, political, and economic significance for their everyday lives. These meanings are as much a part of memorialization as the dominant players' political machinations and economic competition for space and status. Uncovering and eliciting these local memorial discourses is part of an ethnographic project that focuses on how personalized narratives of loss emerge and are manipulated within mass‐mediated representations of the World Trade Center space. My contribution to understanding how the memorial process works has been to analyze what downtown residents say about their experience of September 11 and its aftermath, to record their feelings about a memorial, and, in so doing, to contest, expand, and modify the dominant media and governmental representations of September 11 and its memorialization.
From being to becoming: Nüshu and sentiments in a Chinese rural community
Authors: Liu Fei‐wen
Published: December 2004

In this article, I explore the sentiments of kelian (the miserable) that were accentuated in the Chinese literature written in a script called nüshu (female writing), which men could not read. Not known to the outside world until the 1980s when it was becoming extinct, nüshu was used for centuries by peasant women in Jiangyong County, Hunan Province, southern China. By examining the textual, contextual, and performative meanings of nüshu, I argue that sentiment is not only part of human phenomenological experience, but it also partakes in the way lives are defined, articulated, reflected, and reconfigured. In Jiangyong, sentiment was not merely a carrier of nüshu women's worldview or an embodiment of their existence as isolated and powerless beings in a Confucian–androcentric agrarian community. More importantly, it functioned as an energy flow that prompted inspiration and engagement—which these women needed to offset and transform their isolation and powerlessness. This research fills the void in understandings of peasant women's expressive traditions in rural China in the early 20th century. It also lends insights into the dialectical relations between human existence (perspective and lived reality, being and becoming, subjectivity and collectivity) and forms of emotional expression.
Disappearing youth: Youth as a social shifter in Botswana
Authors: Durham Deborah
Published: December 2004

In this article, I explore the discourses of youth in Botswana, focusing the analysis on 1995 protests over the murder of a student. I argue that youth should be examined as a social shifter: When invoked, youth indexes sets of social relationships that are dynamic and constructed in the invocation. As people argue over who youth are and how they behave, they index shifting relationships of power and authority, responsibility and capability, agency and autonomy, and the moral configurations of society.
A passion for the nation: Masculinity, modernity, and nationalist struggle
Authors: Elliston Deborah
Published: December 2004

In the mid‐1990s, young Polynesian men emerged at the frontlines of proindependence sentiment and mobilization in the Society Islands of France's “overseas territory,” French Polynesia. In this article, I ask why. In pursuing that question, I argue for the theoretical and empirical productivity of shifting the associations between masculinity and nationalist struggle out of the realm of common sense and into that of the sociological; that is, of moving away from the analytics of gender foundationalism and into interrogations of the very social processes through which gender differences, masculinities more specifically, are produced. Through ethnographic analysis of gendered labor practices and their mediation by and through households, I track how young men's positioning within those most local arenas of social action shaped their engagements with competing local formulations of “tradition” and “modernity” and, through those engagements, their commitments to large‐scale nationalist struggle.
Filial nationalism among Chinese teenagers with global identities
Authors: Fong Vanessa
Published: December 2004

In this article, I look at the apparent contradiction between Chinese teenagers' nationalism and their identification with a global imagined community that deemed China inferior. I examine how teenagers I knew in Dalian City, China, attempted to resolve this contradiction through the idiom of filial devotion, which they found more convincing than state‐sponsored discourses of nationalism that emphasized China's admirability. Despite their admiration for wealthier societies, they maintained a strong sense of filial nationalism, which they saw as analogous to their unconditional loyalty to their parents. Such nationalism could not be nullified by their disgust with China's low status in the capitalist world system.
The Ideal Christmas Dinner
Authors: kaufman cathy
Published: December 2004

Christmas dinner emerged for the first time as an important and distinctive meal in mid-nineteenth century America, fueled by changing attitudes towards the Christmas holiday, changing meal patterns, and the need to unify Americans after the Civil War and to assimilate waves of immigrants. Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol provided an ideal template for meals centering on turkey and plum pudding, and that model has continued to inform many middle and working class tables. But by the end of the nineteenth century, cookery writers for the more affluent market began to disdain turkey at Christmas, and the uniform tapestry of Christmas foods began to unravel. Christmas dinner in twentieth-century America became more a statement of class than of national identity.
Edible Art: Springerle Cookies
Authors: hudgins sharon
Published: December 2004

Edible Arte: Springerle Cookies

Springerle are white, anise-flavored cookies with a picture or design imprinted on the tops by specially carved rolling pins or flat molds. Sometimes the raised designs are also painted to enhance their appearance. A regional specialty of German Schwabia, Springerle are also baked in Alsace, Switzerland, Bavaria, and Bohemia. With roots in the pre-Christian era, Springerle are among several kinds of cookies shaped, molded, or decorated to depict animate or inanimate objects. The designs embossed on the tops of Springerle include religious figures, plants and animals, secular motifs, and symbolic images. The carving of wooden Springerle molds is an art in itself, and many European museums have collections of historical cookie molds. Today Springerle are traditionally baked for the Christmas season, although the motifs on historical molds indicate that these cookies were also made for religious holidays and secular events throughout the year in northern Europe.
Late Night in the Lion's Den: Chinese Restaurant-Nightclubs in 1940s San Francisco
Authors: spiller harley
Published: December 2004

Late Night in the Lion's Den: A Social History of Chinese-American Restaurant-Nightclubs in the 1940s

Restaurant menus can serve as excellent primary source material for social histories. The springboard for this article is a 1940s menu from San Francisco's Lion's Den, a Chinese-American restaurant and nightclub. A thorough review of the food and drink offerings is bolstered by an interview with a former Lion's Den dancer and emcee, Ms. Nora Wong. She tells stories of growing up Chinese in the U.S., and provides vivid insight into the real life of Chinese performers in the mid-twentieth century. The article is illustrated with period menus and the first-ever public glimpse of a telling behind-the-scene photograph from Ms. Wong's personal album. Beginning with 1930s Shanghai, the world nightlife capital that inspired imitators in the U.S., this article explores the naissance, development, heated competition, and eventual demise of Chinese nightclubs in both California and New York City. Many Chinese restaurant/nightclubs of the period are discussed, and other well-known performers are featured. Other topics discussed include the Western exotification of Asia, stereotyping, sexism, and racism.
Jesuit Fish in Chinese Nets: Athanasius Kircher and the Translation of the Nestorian Tablet
Authors: BILLINGS TIMOTHY
Published: December 2004

ABSTRACT This essay offers a “sinographic” reading of Athanasius Kircher's bilingual critical edition of a famous Tang dynasty monument (discovered in 1625) about Nestorian Christians, which frames the material in China Illustrata (1667). The author argues that Kircher's mode of translation is a doctrinal polemic that attempts to reconstruct an imaginary originary text from the Chinese inscription in order to contain unorthodox meanings that interfere with the Jesuit identity that is positively projected onto the stone.
Cloning and expression of a novel CREB mRNA splice variant in human testis
Authors: Huang Xiaoyan , Zhang Jun , Lu Li , Yin Lanlan , Xu Min , Wang Youqun , Zhou Zuomin , Sha Jiahao
Published: December 2004

Identification of genes specifically expressed in adult and fetal testis is important in furthering our understanding of testis development and function. In this study, a novel human transcript, designated human testis cAMP-responsive element-binding protein (htCREB), was identified by hybridization of adult and fetal human testis cDNA probes with a human cDNA microarray containing 9216 clones. The htCREB transcript (GenBank Accession no. AY347527) was expressed at 2.35-fold higher levels in adult human testes than in fetal testes. Sequence and ntBLAST analyses against the human genome database indicated that htCREB was a novel splice variant of human CREB. RT-PCR-based tissue distribution experiments demonstrated that the htCREB transcript was highly expressed in adult human testis and in healthy sperm, but not in testes from patients with Sertoli cell-only syndrome. Taken together, these results suggest that the htCREB transcript is chiefly expressed in germ cells and is most likely involved in spermatogenesis.
Spermatozoa motility in the Persian sturgeon, Acipenser persicus: effects of pH, dilution rate, ions and osmolality
Authors: Alavi Sayyed Mohammad Hadi , Cosson Jacky , Karami Mahmoud , Mojazi Amiri Bagher , Akhoundzadeh Mohammd Ali
Published: December 2004

Sperm motility is a prerequisite factor determining semen quality and fertilizing capacity. The effects of environmental factors including pH, cations and osmolality as well as the role of dilution rate on sperm motility parameters inAcipenser persicuswere studied. The best pH and dilution rate for activation of spermatozoa were pH 8.0 and dilution ratio 1:50. Ionic factors can stimulate the initiation of sperm activation. The maximum percentage of motile sperm and total duration of sperm motility were observed in solutions containing 25 mM NaCl, 0.2 mM KCl, 3 mM CaSO4, 10 mM MgSO4and sucrose with an osmolality of 50 mosmol kg−1. The present study provides us with some basic knowledge about sturgeon spermatozoa biosensitivity to ionic and osmolality effects. A sensitivity ofA. persicussperm was observed after induction of activation of sperm motility in solution containing cations or sucrose with high osmolality. Concentrations more than 50 mM Na+, more than 1 mM K+, more than 3 mM Ca2+and more than 10 mM Mg2+had negative effects on sperm motility. Also, osmolality more than 100 mosmol kg−1had an inhibitory effect. It is clear that ions and osmolality stimulate the motility of spermatozoa by changes in the properties of the plasma membrane including its potential and its ionic conductance. The inhibitory role of high osmolality of the swimming medium (more than 100 mosmol kg−1) and insufficient osmolality of the seminal plasma to inhibit semen motility suggested that osmolality is not the principal factor preventing sperm motility in seminal fluid but that K+is a major inhibitory factor of sperm motility in seminal plasma.
Direct in vivo effects of leptin on ovarian steroidogenesis in sheep
Authors: Kendall N R , Gutierrez C G , Scaramuzzi R J , Baird D T , Webb R , Campbell B K
Published: December 2004

Leptin, the metabolic fat hormone, has been shown to have effects on reproduction in mice and to modulate steroid production by cultured ovarian somatic cells in a number of species. However, a direct role of leptin on normal ovarian function in vivo has not been shown. In this paper the effect of passive immunisation against leptin (experiment 1; 20 ml antiserum or non-immune plasma i.v.; n = 6/treatment) and direct ovarian infusion of leptin (experiment 2; 0, 2 or 20 μg recombinant ovine leptin; n = 4/treatment) during the early follicular phase was investigated in sheep with ovarian autotransplants, which allow recovery of ovarian venous blood and regular non-invasive scanning of the ovary.

Passive immunisation against leptin resulted in an acute increase (P < 0.05) in ovarian oestradiol secretion but had no effect on gonadotrophin concentrations, ovulation or subsequent luteal function. Conversely, direct ovarian arterial infusion of the low dose of leptin resulted in an acute decline (P < 0.05) in ovarian oestradiol secretion whereas the high dose, which resulted in supra-physiological leptin concentrations, had no effect on oestradiol production compared with the controls. Neither dose of leptin had any effect on gonadotrophin concentrations or ovulation but both doses resulted in an increase (P < 0.05) in progesterone concentrations over the subsequent luteal phase.

In conclusion, together these data provide strong in vivo evidence that leptin can modulate ovarian steroidogenesis directly and acutely in ruminants and suggest that leptin is an alternate regulatory system whereby nutritional status can regulate reproductive activity.
Exogenous interferon-γ alters murine inner cell mass and trophoblast development. Effect on the expression of ErbB1, ErbB4 and heparan sulfate proteoglycan (perlecan)
Authors: Fontana Vanina , Choren Virginia , Vauthay Liliana , Calvo Juan Carlos , Calvo Lucrecia , Cameo Monica
Published: December 2004

Implantation is a crucial event in human pregnancy. The participation of cytokines in the implantation process has been widely documented, although the role of many of these molecules is still a matter of controversy. In a previous report from our laboratory, we demonstrated that addition of interferon-γ to the culture medium produces deleterious effects on mouse embryo development. In this study we investigated the effect of this cytokine on outgrowing embryo morphology and on the expression of epidermal growth factor receptors (ErbBs) and heparan sulfate proteoglycan (perlecan) in mouse embryos culturedin vitro. Morphological assessment of inner cell mass and trophoblast development was carried onin-situfixed and stained outgrowths. Localization of ErbB1, ErbB4 and perlecan on pre- and peri-implantation embryos was investigated by immunocytochemistry. Addition of interferon-γ produced a deleterious effect on both inner cell mass and trophoblast morphology. Immunostaining demonstrated that ErbB1, ErbB4 and perlecan are present on pre-implantation embryos and blasto-cysts; interferon-γ altered the expression of ErbB4 and Perlecan at the blastocyst stage. We propose that the effects produced by this cytokine could be related to the altered acquisition of adhesion competence and low implantation rates observed in certain reproductive immunological disorders.
Phospholipase Cζ causes Ca2+ oscillations and parthenogenetic activation of human oocytes
Authors: Rogers N T , Hobson E , Pickering S , Lai F A , Braude P , Swann K
Published: December 2004

At fertilization in mammals the sperm activates development of the oocyte by inducing a prolonged series of oscillations in the cytosolic free Ca2+concentration. One theory of signal transduction at fertilization suggests that the sperm cause the Ca2+oscillations by introducing a protein factor into the oocyte after gamete membrane fusion. We recently identified this sperm-specific protein as phospholipase Cζ (PLCζ), and we showed that PLCζ triggers Ca2+oscillations in unfertilized mouse oocytes. Here we report that microinjection of the complementary RNA for human PLCζ causes prolonged Ca2+oscillations in aged human oocytes that had failed to fertilize duringin vitrofertilization or intracytoplasmic sperm injection. The frequency of Ca2+oscillations was related to the concentration of complementary RNA injected. At low concentrations, PLCζ stimulated parthenogenetic activation of oocytes. These embryos underwent cleavage divisions and some formed blastocysts. These data show that PLCζ is a novel parthenogenetic stimulus for human oocytes and that it is unique in its ability to mimic the repetitive nature of the Ca2+stimulus provided by the sperm during human fertilization.
High-Resolution Mapping and Functional Analysis of se2.1
Authors: Chen Kai-Yi , Tanksley Steven D
Published: December 2004

The degree to which stigmas are exserted above the stamen in flowers is a key determinant of cross-pollination (and hence allogamy) in many plant species. Most species in the genus Lycopersicon are obligate or facultative outcrossers and bear flowers with highly exserted stigmas. In contrast, the cultivated tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) bears flowers with flush or inserted stigmas promoting self-fertilization. It has been observed that a major QTL, se2.1, on chromosome 2 is responsible for a large portion of phenotypic variation for this trait and that mutation(s) at this locus were likely involved in the evolution from allogamy to autogamy in this genus. To understand the genetic and molecular basis of stigma exsertion, we have conducted a high-resolution mapping at the chromosome region harboring the se2.1 QTL. The results indicate that this is a compound locus, comprising at least five tightly linked genes, one controlling style length, three controlling stamen length, and the other affecting anther dehiscence, a taxonomic character used to distinguish Lycopersicon species from other solanaceous species. This cluster of genes may represent the vestiges of an ancient coadapted gene complex in controlling mating behavior.
Instructors' Practices in and Attitudes Toward Teaching Ethics in the Genetics Classroom
Authors: Booth Joan M , Garrett Jinnie M
Published: December 2004

There is strong consensus among educators that training in the ethical and social consequences of science is necessary for the development of students into the science professionals and well-rounded citizens needed in the future. However, this part of the curriculum is not a major focus of most science departments and it is not clear if, or how, students receive this training. To determine the current status of bioethics education of undergraduate biology students in the United States, we surveyed instructors of introductory genetics. We found that there was support for more ethics education both in the general curriculum and in the genetics classroom than is currently being given. Most instructors devote <5% of class time to ethical and social issues in their genetics courses. The majority feels that this is inadequate treatment of these topics and most cited lack of time as a major reason they were unable to give more attention to bioethics. We believe biology departments should take the responsibility to ensure that their students are receiving a balanced education. Undergraduate students should be adequately trained in ethics either within their science courses or in a specialized course elsewhere in the curriculum.
Mapping Quantitative Trait Loci With Censored Observations
Authors: Diao Guoqing , Lin D Y , Zou Fei
Published: December 2004

The existing statistical methods for mapping quantitative trait loci (QTL) assume that the phenotype follows a normal distribution and is fully observed. These assumptions may not be satisfied when the phenotype pertains to the survival time or failure time, which has a skewed distribution and is usually subject to censoring due to random loss of follow-up or limited duration of the experiment. In this article, we propose an interval-mapping approach for censored failure time phenotypes. We formulate the effects of QTL on the failure time through parametric proportional hazards models and develop efficient likelihood-based inference procedures. In addition, we show how to assess genome-wide statistical significance. The performance of the proposed methods is evaluated through extensive simulation studies. An application to a mouse cross is provided.