bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
MassMatrix: A database search program for rapid characterization of proteins and peptides from tandem mass spectrometry data
Authors: Xu Hua , Freitas Michael A.
Published: February 2009

MassMatrix is a program that matches tandem mass spectra with theoretical peptide sequences derived from a protein database. The program uses a mass accuracy sensitive probabilistic score model to rank peptide matches. The MS/MS search software was evaluated by use of a high mass accuracy dataset and its results compared with those from MASCOT, SEQUEST, X!Tandem, and OMSSA. For the high mass accuracy data, MassMatrix provided better sensitivity than MASCOT, SEQUEST, X!Tandem, and OMSSA for a given specificity and the percentage of false positives was 2%. More importantly all manually validated true positives corresponded to a unique peptide/spectrum match. The presence of decoy sequence and additional variable PTMs did not significantly affect the results from the high mass accuracy search. MassMatrix performs well when compared with MASCOT, SEQUEST, X!Tandem, and OMSSA with regard to search time. MassMatrix was also run on a distributed memory clusters and achieved search speeds of ∼100 000 spectra per hour when searching against a complete human database with eight variable modifications. The algorithm is available for public searches at http://www.massmatrix.net.
A simple workflow to increase MS2 identification rate by subsequent spectral library search
Authors: Ahrné Erik , Masselot Alexandre , Binz Pierre‐Alain , Müller Markus , Lisacek Frederique
Published: February 2009

Searching a spectral library for the identification of protein MS/MS data has proven to be a fast and accurate method, while yielding a high identification rate. We investigated the potential to increase peptide discovery rate, with little increase in computational time, by constructing a workflow based on a sequence search with Phenyx followed by a library search with SpectraST. Searching a consensus library compiled from the search results of the prior Phenyx search increased the number of confidently matched spectra by up to 156%. Additionally matched spectra by SpectraST included noisy spectra, spectra representing missed cleaved peptides as well as spectra from post‐translationally modified peptides.
Mixed valence of a delocalized system: a resonance Raman study of the tetracyanoquinodimethane radical anion
Authors: Hoekstra Ryan M. , Zink Jeffrey I. , Telo João P. , Nelsen Stephen F.
Published: February 2009

The optical absorption spectrum and resonance Raman enhancement of the lowest energy absorption band of K+7,7,8,8‐tetracyanoquinodimethane− (TCNQ) are reported and examined in the mixed valence (MV) framework. The absorption spectrum is assigned, in accordance with previous work, using Koopmans‐based calculations and the neighboring orbital model is constructed from the adiabatic orbital energies. Calculated fits of the lowest energy absorption band and the corresponding resonance Raman enhancement profiles are made using the time‐dependent theory of spectroscopy. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Karst processes and phenomena in the perennially frozen carbonate rocks of the middle Lena River basin
Authors: Spektor V. B. , Spektor V. V.
Published: February 2009

Various karst processes and karst phenomena at scales from the macro to the micro occur in the cryolithozone of the middle Lena River basin. Karst processes have a warming impact on the enclosing perennially cryotic rocks and favour the formation of intra‐permafrost taliks at depths ranging from a few to several tens of metres. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Mesotrione control and pigment concentration of large crabgrass (Digitaria sanguinalis) under varying environmental conditions
Authors: McCurdy James D , McElroy J Scott , Kopsell Dean A , Sams Carl E
Published: February 2009

BACKGROUND: Mesotrione is a carotenoid biosynthesis‐inhibiting herbicide currently labeled for crabgrass (Digitaria spp.) control. Mesotrione control of large crabgrass has been reported to vary with temperature and relative humidity; however, the effect of irradiance on mesotrione efficacy has not previously been reported. Likewise, little is known about pigment concentrations of Digitaria spp. The present research investigated the effects of mesotrione on large crabgrass, Digitaria sanguinalis (L.) Scop., control and pigment concentrations under varying irradiance at three temperatures.

RESULTS: Mesotrione (0.28 kg ha−1) control of large crabgrass did not differ between temperature levels (18, 26 and 32 °C). Control was similar at tested irradiance levels (600, 1100 and 1600 µmol m−2 s−1). Mesotrione reduced large crabgrass chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and total carotenoid concentrations, as well as chlorophyll a to b ratios. Treated plant bleaching was highest 7 days after treatment (DAT) but decreased by 21 DAT. Treated plants were less than 10% necrotic 3 and 7 DAT but nearly 35% necrotic 21 DAT. Treated large crabgrass bleaching was highest and photochemical efficiency was lowest 7 DAT. These results indicate that some plant recovery occurs prior to 21 DAT.

CONCLUSION: Although mesotrione efficacy has previously been reported to vary according to environmental factors, mesotrione control of large crabgrass did not vary with measured temperature and irradiance levels in this study. On account of crabgrass convalescence, secondary applications of mesotrione may control large crabgrass more effectively when applied prior to 21 DAT. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry
Preparation of SnS films by low temperature sulfurization
Authors: Minemura Takehiro , Miyauchi Keisuke , Noguchi Koji , Ohtsuka Kenichi , Nakanishi Hisayuki , Sugiyama Mutsumi
Published: February 2009

Polycrystalline tin sulfide (SnS) films were grown by sulfurization of Sn precursor at low temperatures of 120–220 °C. The p‐ type conductivity SnS film grown at 170 °C comprises densely packed 3–5‐μm‐diameter columnar grains, which is appropriate for use in photoabsorption layers of solar cells. The SnS film had an optical bandgap of about 1.3 eV. Using an appropriate SnS film, n ‐CdS/p ‐SnS heterojunction was fabricated on Mo‐coated soda‐lime glass substrates. These results are the first step toward realizing an optical device as a solar cell using a SnS film grown using sulfurization. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Mechanisms of hopping conductivity of p‐CdSb:Ni in magnetic field
Authors: Laiho R. , Lashkul A. V. , Lisunov K. G. , Lähderanta E. , Shakhov M. A. , Zakhvalinskii V. S.
Published: February 2009

Hopping conductivity in single crystals of the group II‐V anisotropic diluted magnetic semiconductor p‐CdSb:Ni, oriented along the [100] (# 1), [010] (# 2) and [001] (# 3) axes, is investigated in zero and pulsed magnetic fields B. At B = 0 the Mott variable‐range hopping (VRH) conductivity is observed in # 2, and the Shklovskii‐Efros VRH conductivity in # 1 and # 3 at T ≤ 2.5 K. However, in weak fields of B < 6 T temperature dependence of the resistivity gives evidence for the Mott VRH conductivity in # 1 below ∼ 4.2 K, whereas in # 2 and # 3 the nearest‐neighbour hopping (NNH) conductivity is observed between 3–4.2 K and between 1.5–4.2 K, respectively. Eventually, in high magnetic fields of B up to ∼ 15 T and T ≤ 4.2 K only the NNH conductivity is observed in all investigated samples. The analysis of the resistivity data yields the set of microscopic parameters, such as the localization radius, the widths of the Coulomb gap and of the impurity band, the density of the localized states and the anisotropy coefficients, as well as the values of the acceptor concentration and the dielectric permittivity. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Thin‐film layers and multilayer nano‐structures with controllable properties
Authors: Goncharova O. , Gremenok V. , Kravchenko V. , Leonova T. , Zaretskaya E. , Bente K.
Published: February 2009

Correlations between the electrical and optical properties of the experimental periodical multilayers and reference thin film layers with defined microstructure have been investigated. The results indicate that thin film multilayers composed of nanolayers with thicknesses 150–10 nm might be suggested as low‐cost materials with controllable microstructure and properties. High‐quality multilayer structures with dielectric and semiconductor nanocrystals prepared by thermal evaporation show properties, which is related to high‐quality nanocrystals, but at the same time depends strongly on the defect content, especially as far as their 1–2 ps nonlinearities are concerned. Critical factors are nanocrystal purity and metal excess collection in their boundaries regions. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Impurity band conduction and negative magnetoresistance in p‐ZnSnAs2 thin films
Authors: Asubar Joel T. , Jinbo Yoshio , Uchitomi Naotaka
Published: February 2009

The previously reported transport properties data of the undoped ZnSnAs2 grown on semi‐insulating InP substrates by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) have been reviewed and analysed. We have found out that the temperature dependence of Hall coefficient and resistivity can be well explained by the impurity band model proposed by Isomura and Tomioka. By using the said model, we were able to resolve the experimentally obtained carrier concentration pexp and mobility μexp into valence band carrier concentration pv with mobility μv and acceptor band carrier concentration pa with mobility μa. The computed apparent values papp and μapp are in good agreement with pexp and μexp, respectively. To support the validity of the model, we also have confirmed the presence at low temperatures of negative magnetoresistance expected if impurity band conduction is predominant. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Persistent phenomena in the electrical characteristics of solar cells based on Cu(In,Ga)S2
Authors: Krysztopa A. , Igalson M. , Papathanasiou N.
Published: February 2009

Current‐voltage and capacitance‐voltage characteristics of ZnO/CdS/CuInGaS2 solar cells have been measured in order to investigate persistent changes induced by the reverse bias stress or light soaking. Significant metastable fill factor loss after red illumination under reverse bias condition has been observed. We show a correspondence between relaxation times of the capacitance and photovoltaic parameters after all treatments proving that defects in the absorber are responsible for the changes. Similar phenomena have been observed in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 based devices, therefore we propose similar explanation – negative‐U defects in Cu(In,Ga)S2 which create a highly negatively charged layer close to the interface. They are responsible also for a difference between current transport in the dark and under illumination. Moreover, these defects seem to be a source of an limitation of the open circuit voltage in these devices. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Neutralization of local and systemic toxicity of Daboia russelii venom by Morus alba plant leaf extract
Authors: Chandrashekara K. T. , Nagaraju S. , Nandini S. Usha , Basavaiah  , Kemparaju K.
Published: February 2009

Antivenom therapy is the current best therapy available for the treatment of fatal snake envenomation. However, the antivenom offers less or no protection against local effects such as extensive edema, hemorrhage, dermo‐, myonecrosis and inflammation at the envenomed region. Viperidae snakes are highly known for their violent local effects and such effects have been commonly treated with plant extracts without any scientific validation in rural India. In this investigation Morus alba plant leaf extract has been studied against the Indian Vipera/Daboia russelii venom induced local and systemic effects. The extract completely abolished the in vitro proteolytic and hyaluronolytic activities of the venom. Edema, hemorrhage and myonecrotic activities were also neutralized efficiently. In addition, the extract partially inhibited the pro‐coagulant activity and completely abolished the degradation of Aα chain of human fibrinogen. Thus, the extract processes potent antisnake venom property, especially against the local and systemic effects of Daboia russelii venom. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
In vitro Derby Imaging of Cancer Biomarkers Using Quantum Dots
Authors: Ko Mee Hyang , Kim Soonhag , Kang Won Jun , Lee Jung Hwan , Kang Hyungu , Moon Sung Hwan , Hwang Do Won , Ko Hae Young , Lee Dong Soo
Published: February 2009

Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs), which have broad absorption with narrow emission spectra, are useful for multiplex imaging. Here, fluorescence derby imaging using dual color QDs conjugated by the AS1411 aptamer (targeting nucleolin) and the arginine–glycine–aspartic acid (targeting the integrin αvβ3) in cancer cells is reported. Simultaneous fluorescence imaging of cellular distribution of nucleolin and integrin αvβ3 using QDs enables easy monitoring of separate targets in the cancer cells and the normal healthy cells. These results suggest the feasibility of a concurrent visualization of QD‐based multiple cancer biomarkers using small molecules such as aptamer or peptide ligands.
Differential Requirement for Nucleostemin in Embryonic Stem Cell and Neural Stem Cell Viability
Authors: Nomura Jun , Maruyama Masayoshi , Katano Miyuki , Kato Hidemasa , Zhang Jiaxing , Masui Shinji , Mizuno Yosuke , Okazaki Yasushi , Nishimoto Masazumi , Okuda Akihiko
Published: February 2009

Stem cells have the remarkable ability to self-renew and to generate multiple cell types. Nucleostemin is one of proteins that are enriched in many types of stem cells. Targeted deletion of nucleostemin in the mouse results in developmental arrest at the implantation stage, indicating that nucleostemin is crucial for early embryogenesis. However, the molecular basis of nucleostemin function in early mouse embryos remains largely unknown, and the role of nucleostemin in tissue stem cells has not been examined by gene targeting analyses due to the early embryonic lethality of nucleostemin null animals. To address these questions, we generated inducible nucleostemin null embryonic stem (ES) cells in which both alleles of nucleostemin are disrupted, but nucleostemin cDNA under the control of a tetracycline-responsive transcriptional activator is introduced into the Rosa26 locus. We show that loss of nucleostemin results in reduced cell proliferation and increased apoptosis in both ES cells and ES cell-derived neural stem/progenitor cells. The reduction in cell viability is much more profound in ES cells than in neural stem/progenitor cells, an effect that is mediated at least in part by increased induction and accumulation of p53 and/or activated caspase-3 in ES cells than in neural stem/progenitor cells.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is found at the end of this article.
In‐situ observation of chemical state change of sulfur in solid targets during MeV proton irradiation
Authors: Tada T. , Fukuda H. , Hasegawa J. , Oguri Y.
Published: February 2009

Change of fine structures of K x‐ray spectra for sulfur compound targets during MeV proton irradiation was observed in‐situ using a high‐resolution wavelength‐dispersive (WD) x‐ray spectrograph. Five standard samples of sulfur with different chemical states (MoS2, Na2SO3, (NH4)2SO4, Na2SO4, and Na2S2O3) were prepared for this measurement. The proton energy, beam current, and beam spot diameter were 2 MeV, 25–120 nA, and 16 mm2, respectively. We found that the sulfur Kα1 line energy for the Na2SO3 sample (originally S4+) became higher with increase of the proton dose. After irradiation of more than 108 Gy, the Kα1 energy for the Na2SO3 sample was nearly equal to that for the Na2SO4 sample (originally S6+). This result indicates that most of the S4+ on the Na2SO3 target surface has changed into S6+ through the irradiation. Dependence of the chemical state change on the absorption dose and beam current density is also discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Bullae Ablation in Primary Spontaneous Pneumothorax
Authors: Liu Yun‐Hen , Chao Yin‐Kai , Wu Yi‐Chen , Hsieh Ming‐Ju , Wu Ching‐Yang , Lu Ming‐Shian , Liu Chien‐Ying , Ko Po‐Jen , Liu Hui‐Ping
Published: February 2009

Background

The benefit of bullae ablation for the management of primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) has been established. However, various modalities for bullae ablation have been reported from different centers.

Objective

The present study aimed to assess whether endoloop ligation of bullae was as effective as staple bullectomy for preventing the recurrence of pneumothorax.

Methods

Between January 1993 and December 2003, 226 patients (203 men and 23 women) with PSP were recorded and retrospectively reviewed. One hundred thirty (57.5%) patients were treated with endoloop ligation of bullae and the other 96 (42.5%) were treated with staple bullectomy. Mechanical abrasion was performed in all patients after bullae ablation.

Results

The recurrence rate of pneumothorax was 6.2% (8 patients) in the endoloop ligation group and 17.7% (17 patients) in the staple bullectomy group (p = 0.006). The postoperative complication rate was 14.6 and 20.8% in the endoloop ligation and staple bullectomy groups, respectively (p = 0.221). The long‐term chest discomfort rate after endoloop ligation and staple bullectomy was 14.6 and 13.5%, respectively (p = 0.819)

Conclusions

Endoloop ligation of bullae is as effective as mechanical staple bullectomy for the management of bullae in primary spontaneous pneumothorax.
Bilateral Neck Exploration in Primary Hyperparathyroidism—When Is It Selected and How Is It Performed?
Authors: Moalem Jacob , Guerrero Marlon , Kebebew Electron
Published: February 2009

Background

Although most patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) are ideal candidates for minimally invasive parathyroidectomy, some will have more than one enlarged gland and require bilateral neck exploration to achieve biochemical cure. We evaluated the clinical evidence for when to choose bilateral neck exploration for patients with PHPT.

Methods

We searched PubMed for English‐language studies published from 1996 to 2008. The level of clinical evidence was determined according to the criteria proposed by Sackett (Chest 95[2 Suppl]:2S, 1989), and the grade of recommendation was established according to the criteria proposed by Heinrich et al. (Ann Surg 243:154, 2006).

Results

Level III–IV evidence shows that patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) 1 and PHPT should have a bilateral neck exploration (grade C recommendation). Only level IV evidence indicates that patients with familial PHPT should do so (no recommendation). Although most patients with MEN 2A have single‐gland disease, bilateral neck exploration is still indicated, because they will have either a therapeutic or prophylactic total thyroidectomy for medullary thyroid cancer. A history of head and neck irradiation is associated with PHPT, but the risk of multi‐gland parathyroid disease is apparently no higher than in sporadic cases (level IV evidence, no recommendation). Previous or current lithium therapy confers a higher risk of multi‐gland disease (25%–45%; level IV–V evidence), which may require bilateral neck exploration. Preoperative localizing studies reliably identify most patients with single‐gland but not multi‐gland disease (level II–IV evidence). Negative localizing studies confer an approximately 50% risk of multi‐gland disease and indicate that bilateral neck exploration is necessary. If two localizing studies are concordant, few patients will require bilateral neck exploration (level IV, no recommendation).

Conclusions

No level I or II evidence reliably identifies preoperative clinical risk factors for determining which patients should have routine bilateral neck exploration for multi‐gland disease or for intraoperative decision making to convert to bilateral neck exploration. Imaging studies are positive in most patients (level II). No randomized studies exist to determine when a bilateral neck exploration is indicated based on clinical risk factors or imaging studies that may suggest multi‐gland disease.
Vacuum‐Assisted Closure of Postoperative Abdominal Wounds: A Prospective Study
Authors: Subramonia Sriram , Pankhurst Sarah , Rowlands Brian J. , Lobo Dileep N.
Published: February 2009

Background

We aimed to study outcome in patients with an open abdomen in whom the abdominal vacuum‐assisted closure system (V.A.C.® Therapy™) was used to provide temporary cover and achieve wound closure.

Methods

All patients in whom V.A.C. Therapy was used to manage laparotomy wounds between February 2006 and May 2007 at a University Teaching Hospital were followed up prospectively until successful completion or stoppage of V.A.C. Therapy.

Results

Of the 51 consecutive patients (33 male), V.A.C. Therapy was used to manage a laparostomy in 10 patients and abdominal wound dehiscence in 41. Median (IQR) duration of V.A.C. Therapy was 17 (7–26) days. Wound healing was achieved in 31 (61%) patients, four of whom had additional surgery to assist wound closure. The rest healed by secondary intention. Treatment was withdrawn due to therapy‐related complications in nine patients and due to medical or logistical reasons in seven. Four patients died while on therapy. While most V.A.C. Therapy‐related problems were minor, two patients developed enteric fistulae that necessitated surgical repair. At a median (IQR) follow‐up of 8 (4–13) months, 18 patients had stable cutaneous coverage with no incisional hernia, 12 developed an incisional hernia, 9 were lost to follow‐up, and 12 died.

Conclusions

V.A.C. Therapy is a useful adjunct in the management of the open abdomen and should be considered in the treatment of this problem. Restoration of cutaneous and fascial integrity of the abdominal wall, the risk of fistulisation, and the cost‐effectiveness of this therapy require further evaluation.
Fabrication of Worm-Like Nanorods and Ultrafine Nanospheres of Silver Via Solid-State Photochemical Decomposition
Authors: Navaladian S , Viswanathan B , Varadarajan TK , Viswanath RP
Published: February 2009

Worm-like nanorods and nanospheres of silver have been synthesized by photochemical decomposition of silver oxalate in water by UV irradiation in the presence of CTAB and PVP, respectively. No external seeds have been employed for the synthesis of Ag nanorods. The synthesized Ag colloids have been characterized by UV-visible spectra, powder XRD, HRTEM, and selected area electron diffraction (SAED). Ag nanospheres of average size around 2 nm have been obtained in the presence of PVP. XRD and TEM analyses revealed that top and basal planes of nanorods are bound with {111} facets. Williamson–Hall plot has revealed the presence of defects in the Ag nanospheres and nanorods. Formation of defective Ag nanocrystals is attributed to the heating effect of UV-visible irradiation.
The Interfacial Tension Between Cationic Gemini Surfactant Solution and Crude Oil
Authors: Han Lijuan , Ye Zhongbin , Chen Hong , Luo Pingya
Published: February 2009

The effects of the hydrocarbon chains and spacer groups of gemini surfactants, salt, temperature, and polymer on the interfacial tension of crude oil–water mixtures were investigated in this paper. The length of the alkyl chain is a major factor affecting the properties of a gemini surfactant, and the spacer group is also an important factor influencing the surfactant properties. The addition of salt results in a great decrease in the CMC and favors the reduction of interfacial tension, which shows that a gemini surfactant has a good synergism with salt. Variation in temperature will affect the dynamic and equilibrium interfacial tension, and increasing the temperature can shorten the time to reach the equilibrium and decrease the equilibrium interfacial tension in the range of experimental temperatures. With the addition of polyacrylamide (PAM), it takes longer to reach equilibrium, but this has little effect on the value of equilibrium interfacial tension.
TNF superfamily: Costimulation and clinical applications
Authors: Vinay Dass S. , Kwon Byoung S.
Published: February 2009

The molecules concerned with costimulation belong either to the immunoglobulin (Ig) or tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily. The tumor necrosis superfamily comprises molecules capable of providing both costimulation and cell death. In this review we briefly summarize certain TNF superfamily receptor–ligand pairs that are endowed with costimulatory properties and their importance in health and disease.
Treatment with FTY720 during the induction or effector phase suppresses the development of experimental allergic conjunctivitis in mice
Authors: Sumi Tamaki , Fukushima Atsuki , Nishino Koji , Fukuda Ken , Kumagai Naoki , Nishida Teruo , Ueno Hisayuki
Published: February 2009

Purpose: To investigate whether experimental allergic conjunctivitis (EC) can be suppressed by treatment with the immunomodulatory drug FTY720, which reduces the recruitment of effector T cells into inflammatory sites.

Methods: BALB/c mice were actively immunized with ragweed (RW) and then injected intraperitoneally with FTY720 on days 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 (induction phase treatment) followed by challenge on day 10 with RW‐containing eye drops. Alternatively, naïve mice that received RW‐primed splenocytes were injected intraperitoneally with FTY720 on days 2 and 4 (effector phase treatment) followed by RW challenge on day 4. Twenty‐four hours after RW challenge, conjunctivas and spleens were harvested for histology or immunohistochemistry, and flow cytometric analysis or cytokine assays, respectively.

Results: FTY720 treatment during the induction phase suppressed the conjunctival infiltration of T cells as well as eosinophils and macrophages. The splenocytes from induction phase‐treated mice contained significantly less CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and showed significant suppression of Th2 but not Th1 cytokine production. Effector phase treatment with FTY720 suppressed conjunctival eosinophil infiltration.

Conclusions: These data demonstrate that FTY720 treatment during the induction phase decreases the absolute number of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in the spleen and suppresses Th2 cytokine production by splenocytes. This leads to the suppression of EC. FTY720 treatment also suppresses EC when delivered during the effector phase. Thus, FTY720 treatment may be suitable for treating severe forms of vernal keratoconjunctivitis.
Reversible oxidation of mitochondrial peroxiredoxin 3 in mouse heart subjected to ischemia and reperfusion
Authors: Kumar Vikas , Kitaeff Nailya , Hampton Mark B. , Cannell Mark B. , Winterbourn Christine C.
Published: February 2009

Peroxiredoxins decompose peroxides through reversible oxidation of their active site cysteines. The redox state of the 2‐Cys peroxiredoxins, 1, 2 and 3, was investigated in mouse hearts undergoing ischemia and reperfusion in a Langendorff system. The peroxiredoxins were predominantly reduced in control hearts. Mitochondrial peroxiredoxin 3 underwent significant oxidation to its disulfide‐linked dimer during ischemia. Oxidation was largely reversed during reperfusion. No redox changes in cytoplasmic peroxiredoxins 1 and 2 were apparent. Peroxiredoxin 3 oxidation suggests localized mitochondrial generation of reactive oxidants during ischemia. This local antioxidant activity of peroxiredoxin 3 may have a role in maintaining cardiac function.
A new pelvic muscle trainer for the treatment of urinary incontinence
Authors: Schmidt Adriana P. , Sanches Paulo R.S. , Silva Danton P. , Ramos José G.L. , Nohama Percy
Published: February 2009

Objective

To describe a new device for home treatment of urinary incontinence (UI) by comparing 3 conservative techniques and monitoring compliance and performance.

Methods

Thirty‐two patients with UI were allocated to 1 of 3 intervention groups: pelvic floor muscle exercises (PFME; n = 11) alone; PFME combined with biofeedback (n = 10); or PFME combined with electrical stimulation (n = 11). The outcomes assessed were: changes in quality of life score (QLS), urodynamic and perineometric parameters, episodes of urine loss, subjective assessment of improvement, and actual compliance and performance with treatment.

Results

Increased pelvic muscle contraction strength (P < 0.05), improvement in QLS (P < 0.02), and fewer episodes of urine leakage were observed in all 3 groups (P < 0.05). Compliance was similar among the groups (P = 0.201).

Conclusion

All 3 techniques were effective for home treatment of UI, with significant control of symptoms and improved quality of life. The device effectively monitored compliance and performance of exercises.
Ectopic expression of plasma membrane targeted subunits of the Ndc80‐complex as a tool to study kinetochore biochemistry
Authors: Holmström Tim H. , Rehnberg Jonathan , Ahonen Leena J. , Kallio Marko J.
Published: February 2009

Genomic stability depends on the normal function of the kinetochore, a multi‐protein assemblage, which consists of over 80 molecules including both constitutive and transiently binding components. Information regarding the spatial–temporal assembly of kinetochore subcomplexes is often limited by technical difficulties in their isolation. To study kinetochore subcomplex formation, we targeted separately Hec1 and Spc24, two subunits of the Ndc80 kinetochore compilation, to the plasma membrane by fusing them with the amino‐terminal palmitoylation and myristoylation (pm) sequence of the receptor tyrosine kinase Fyn. We found that in early mitotic cells, pm‐GFP–Hec1 and pm‐GFP–Spc24 fusion proteins localised to the plasma membrane and were able to recruit all subunits of the Ndc80 complex (Ndc80/Hec1, Nuf2, Spc24 and Spc25) to these foci. In interphase cells, only Hec1–Nuf2 and Spc24–Spc25 heterodimers accumulated to the plasma membrane foci. The results propose that the assembly of Ndc80 tetramer can take place outside of the kinetochore but requires co‐factors that are only present in mitotic cells. These findings provide the first experimental evidence on the successful employment of the plasma membrane targeting technique in the study of kinetochore biochemistry.
A new body of highly diamondiferous kimberlites in the Nakyn field of the Yakutian kimberlite province
Authors: Tolstov A.V. , Minin V.A. , Vasilenko V.B. , Kuznetsova L.G. , Razumov A.N.
Published: February 2009

We report the first data on the contents of main oxides and REE in rocks and the compositions of pyropes and almandines from the Maiskoe kimberlite body recently discovered in the Nakyn field of the Yakutian kimberlite province.

The kimberlites are characterized by low contents of Ti, a slight domination of Mg over Ca, and high contents of K2O in some samples. The pyropes have high contents of Cr2O3 (up to 14.5 wt.%); many of them (∼16%) are poor in Ca. In petrochemical and mineralogical features the kimberlites of the Maiskoe body are complementary to the highly diamondiferous kimberlites of the nearby Botuobinskaya and Nyurbinskaya pipes. At the same time, they are not the final link in the evolution of kimberlite magmatism in the Nakyn field, which makes the latter still more promising for diamonds.
Social Conflict and Change in the Mining Communities of North-West Derbyshire, c. 1600–1700
Authors: Wood Andy
Published: February 2009

Increased demand for lead on both domestic and international markets spurred on technological and organizational innovation in Derbyshire's lead mining industry. Population expanded due to immigration into the mining areas, and problems of poverty and proletarianization were created as the traditional small producers were marginalized by new capitalized mineworkings owned by aristocrats, merchants and gentlemen. Social conflict intensified over the ownership of mining rights; in particular, this dispute revolved around popular and élite notions of property and legality. This conflict engendered new forms of popular resistance and provides evidence of a language of class in the seventeenth century. The eighteenth century saw the marginalization of the independent free miner, but memories of lost liberties conditioned the class consciousness of Derbyshire's new working class at the end of the century.
Class Formation and the Labor Movement as the Subject of Dialectic Social History
Authors: Zwahr Hartmut , Geyer Donah , van der Linden Marcel
Published: February 2009

As an introduction to this essay, three points need to be made. First, the European labor movements of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, on which we focus here, were part of bourgeois society. Secondly, they were a factor that challenged bourgeois society and thus contributed in several different ways to its change. Thirdly, as a result of this interaction, the labor movements themselves underwent changes. All of those were lasting changes. The systemic changes, imposed by revolutionary or military force, that accompanied the experiment in socialism, were not. In countries where the labor movement pursued socialist aims prior to the First World War on the crumbling foundations of a primarily pre-bourgeois society, such as in eastern and south-eastern Europe, it was the most radical force behind political democratization and modernization (Russia; Russian Poland: the Kingdom of Poland, Bulgaria). But it could not compensate for the society's evident lack of basic civic development, whereas the socialist experiment in Soviet Russia led not only to the demise of democratization but also to a halt of embourgeoisement.
History of Symbols as Social History? Ten preliminary notes on the image and sign systems of social movements in Germany
Authors: Korff Gottfried , Drost Harry
Published: February 2009

The last two centuries have produced, transformed and destroyed a myriad of political symbols of a linguistic, visual and ritual form. Between, say 1790 and 1990 the political sphere witnessed both an explosion in the generation of symbols and a radical decline of symbols. This calls for explanations.
Race and the Working-Class Past in the United States: Multiple Identities and the Future of Labor History
Authors: Roediger David
Published: February 2009

The most magnificent drama in the last thousand years of human history is the transportation of ten million human beings out of the dark beauty of their mother continent into the new-found Eldorado of the West. They descended into Hell; and in the third century they arose from the dead, in the finest effort to achieve democracy for the working millions which this world had ever seen. It [post-Civil War Reconstruction in the U.S.] was a tragedy that beggared the Greek; it was an upheaval of humanity like the Reformation and the French Revolution. Yet we are blind and led by the blind. We discern in it no part of our labour movement [ … ]1
Connecting Household History and Labour History
Authors: van der Linden Marcel , Mitzman Lee
Published: February 2009

Labour historians have always shown an interest in working class men and women who participated in strikes, unions, and political parties. However, even when historians are receptive to the importance of family life behind public activism these scholars continue to use the “public sphere” as an approach for studying the family. This approach runs counter to historical logic because the daily life of those who join social movements and organizations involves far more than merely labour activism. To understand the true causes of collective resistance among workers, it is necessary to use the “private sphere” as an approach for studying labour protests as well. While this reverse perspective may not prove a panacea for all problems associated with analysing labour history, it will provide insight into the rather obscure motives of the working class for deciding whether or not to support the development of workers' movements. Furthermore, Jean H. Quataert wrote that examining working-class households makes it possible to keep “in focus at all times the lives of both men and women, young and old, and the variety of paid and unpaid work necessary to maintain the unit”.
“Forward, But Forgetting Nothing!” The shift in the use and meaning of socialist symbolism in East Germany scince 1989
Authors: Warneken Bernd Jürgen
Published: February 2009

Symbols and rituals held high status in East German public life.2 They allowed, as is now stressed, state socialism to bind the people to the ruling system, while also affirming the links between this system and the traditions and programmes of the pre-stalinist and pre-communist labour movement and pointing to a future in which the red banners would no longer be used to conceal dilapidated facades. Moreover, they represented a society which tried to compensate its members for what they lacked materially with non-material gratification; or put another way, it replaced the struggle to distribute economic capital by a struggle for social and thus symbolic capital.
Liberty and Fraternities in the English Revolution: The Politics of London Artisans' Protests, 1635–1659
Authors: Carlin Norah
Published: February 2009

A series of artisan revolts in the London corporations between 1635 and 1659 found both radical ideas of individual liberty and the guild ethos of fraternity relevant to their aims. The apparent paradox of democratic demands combined with calls for stricter economic regulation can be explained only by examining the participants' concrete grievances and specific demands. The protesters were neither rising industrial capitalists nor a new wage-earning class, but small masters attempting to restrain competition, the use of cheap labour, and the enlargement of enterprises. Their concerns had something in common with those of the Levellers, but the movements diverged in significant ways.
Stalin's Bolshevism: The First Decade
Authors: van Ree Erik
Published: February 2009

This article discusses Stalin's Bolshevism during his Tiflis and Baku periods in the first decade of the century. It focuses on his position in the inner-faction debate between Lenin and Bogdanov. It holds that Dzhugashvili's tactical and organizational views in the years from 1907 to 1909 moved from sympathetic to Bogdanov to a position near Lenin, though remaining somewhat to the left of the latter. Dzhugashvili never belonged to the leftist tendency. He was a typical representative of the “Russian” praktiki, whose main concern was to further conciliation in the Bolshevik faction.
Colliery Deputies in the British Coal Industry Before Nationalization
Authors: Ackers Peter
Published: February 2009

This article challenges the militant and industrial unionist version of British coal mining trade union history, surrounding the Miners' Federation of Great Britain and the National Union of Mineworkers, by considering, for the first time, the case of the colliery deputies' trade union. Their national Federation was formed in 1910, and aimed to represent the three branches of coal mining supervisory management: the deputy (or fireman, or examiner), overman and shotfirer. First, the article discusses the treatment of moderate and craft traditions in British coal mining historiography. Second, it shows how the position of deputy was defined by changes in the underground labour process and the legal regulation of the industry. Third, it traces the history of deputies' union organization up until nationalization in 1947, and the formation of the National Association of Colliery Overmen, Deputies and Shotfirers (NACODS). The article concludes that the deputies represent a mainstream tradition of craft/professional identity and industrial moderation, in both the coal industry and the wider labour movement.
“An Irresistible Phalanx”: Journeymen Associations in Western Europe, 1300–1800
Authors: Lis Catharina , Soly Hugo , Mitzman Lee
Published: February 2009

The paths of historical research resemble the forces in the sea. As some topics surface and rise to ever greater heights, others may be dragged to the depths of silence and cease to affect the beating of the waves. In most western European countries, research on journeymen has suffered this second fate. Along with the decline in interest in guild-based economies, the issue of whether pre-industrial journeymen associations were predecessors (or perhaps adumbrations) of modern trade unions, which had inspired widespread debate during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, faded from the agenda following World War II. This trend does not mean that the new generation of social historians has blithely ignored disputes involving journeymen. Nevertheless, many authors designate such events as crowd movements or view them as obvious forms of traditional resistance.
Marks of Capital: Colonialism and the Sweepers of Delhi
Authors: Prashad Vijay
Published: February 2009

In a sub-field of Marxism, A.G. Frank and E. Laclau debated the intricate details of Frank's critique of the “dualist thesis”. That thesis argued that capitalism failed to overcome feudalism in its colonial adventure; Frank argued that to posit the duality between capital and feudal forms does violence to the structural integration of feudal forms into the logic of capital. Frank's critique, however, remained wedded to a level of abstraction which was unable to reveal the full implications of his suggestions. In this essay, I attempt to show that the logic of capital during colonial rule produced a municipal sanitation regime which relied upon the control over the labor of manual sweepers mediated through jobbers, overseers and contractors. Far from being the embodiment of “tradition”, the sweepers since colonial India bear on their bodies the marks of capital. This essay reveals those marks as well as demonstrating the integral relation between the logic of capital and barbaric colonial rule.
Wobblies and Mexican Workers in Mining and Petroleum, 1905–1924
Authors: Caulfield Norman
Published: February 2009

The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), or “Wobblies”, represented a transitional stage in Mexican labor movement history. The Wobblies enjoyed support from workers because their philosophy corresponded to the Mexican labor movement's deeply-rooted anarchosyndicalist traditions. While cooperating with Mexican radical labor organizations, the IWW advocated workers' control, better pay, conditions, and union recognition. In mining and petroleum, the IWW built upon the earlier organizational efforts of mutual and gremial organizations. And, although the Wobblies failed to establish a permanent foothold inside Mexico, their efforts resulted in the eventual organization of industry-wide unions.
Reply to Utsa Patnaik: If the Cap Fits …
Authors: Brass Tom
Published: February 2009

In her comments on my article, Utsa Patnaik makes a number of interrelated claims. First, that I unjustifiably characterize the “semifėdal” thesis as revisionist. Second, that my view about the existence of a link between capitalism and unfree labour is commonplace. And third, that I fail to differentiate unfreedom in terms of its implications for and effects on metropolitan capitalist countries on the one hand and developing ex-colonial countries on the other. According to her, this difference arises from a situation in which surpluses generated by Indian agriculture during the colonial era were exported to finance industrialization in metropolitan contexts, resulting in forced commercialization by landlord, trader and usurer; in short, a process which failed to eliminate semi-feudal unfree agrarian relations and consequently to develop capitalism in colonial countries, and thus promoted in these contexts not proletarianization but pauperization.
The Siamese Twins: Citizenship Rights, Cleavage Formation, and Party-Union Relations in Western Europe
Authors: Ebbinghaus Bernhard
Published: February 2009

Prophecies of doom for both working-class party and labor unions have gained popularity in the Western industrial democracies over the last two decades. The “old” Siamese twins, working-class party and labor unions, have a century-long history of their combined struggle to achieve political and industrial citizenship rights for the working class. Both forms of interest representation are seen as facing new challenges if not a crisis due to internal and external changes of both long-term and recent nature. However, despite these prophecies political parties and union movemehts have been differently affected and have responded in dissimilar ways across Western Europe. The Siamese twins, party and unions, as social institutions, their embeddedness in the social structure, and their linkages, were molded at an earlier time with long-term consequences. Hence, we cannot grasp today's political unionism, party-union relations and organized labor's capacity for change, if we do not understand the social and political conditions under which the organization of labor interests became institutionalized. An understanding of the origins and causes of union diversity helps us to view the variations in union responses to current challenges.
Projecting Democracy: The Formation of Citizenship Across Youth Networks in Brazil
Authors: Mische Ann
Published: February 2009

In August 1992 Brazil was swept by a series of protest demonstrations to demand the impeachment on corruption charges of the country's first elected president in thirty years. The principal protagonists of the rallies were high school and college students who turned out in massive numbers for exuberant, hastily organized marches that closed down the principal avenues of Brazil's major cities. The rallies joined heterogeneous sectors of young people, many with no prior experience of political activism, who became known as thecaras pintadas(painted faces) for the improvised, carnavelesque gesture of painting their faces with the colors of the Brazilian flag. In the words of Lindberg Farias, president of the National Union of Students (UNE), “Our faces were diverse. From those wearing Che Guevara T-shirts to the frequenters of shopping centers. Student researchers on scholarships, together with heavy metal fans and skateboarders”.
Citizenship and National Identity in Early Meiji Japan, 1868–1889: A Comparative Assessment
Authors: Ikegami Eiko
Published: February 2009

After the collapse of the long-standing Tokugawa regime (1603–1867), Japan under the Meiji emperor (1867–1912) rapidly implemented the process of modern nation-building by effectively utilizing the venerable institution of the emperor (Tennō) as its new national symbol. Following the imperial restoration, the Meiji government abolished the socioeconomic and political privileges of the samurai class, namely its exclusive right to bear arms, hold office and receive hereditary stipends. By 1900, Japan had already equipped itself with a modern Constitution that defined citizens' rights and obligations, a parliamentary system, an updated judicial system, universal education, a restructured national and local bureaucracy, national standing army, private ownership of land, and a nation-wide taxation system. None of these institutions had existed prior to 1868. All of the developmental innovations listed above were instituted within little more than a quarter century after the collapse of their predecessor's political structures. Before the Meiji restoration, Japanese society had been governed exclusively by its hereditary samurai elites for two and a half centuries. It was only during the early Meiji period – a little more than two decades or so – that the concept ofkokumin(usually translated as “citizen”, more literally “country-person”) entered the popular vocabulary for the first time in Japanese history. The complex social and political dynamics of this initial period of development for Japanese citizenship rights is the primary object of my inquiry.