bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
FATIGUE CRACK GROWTH SIMULATIONS BASED ON FREE FRONT SHAPE DEVELOPMENT
Authors: Nykänen T. J.
Published: August 2010

Abstract— A single‐crack evolution model with eight degrees of freedom and an isotropic Paris law constant was used to simulate fatigue crack growth at the surface of a plate, and from the toe of a transverse non‐load‐bearing fillet weld in a T‐joint. A planar crack was assumed. In the simulated cases fatigue cracks usually propagate through the plate thickness under the dominant effect of the mode I stress system. The crack front shape was modelled as a broken line. The straight sided crack tip elements were tangential to the direction of an initial elliptical crack front. It was found that the simple eight degrees of freedom model performed well and the predicted aspect ratio development was in good agreement with experimental data.
Interlaminar fracture studies in Portugal: past, present and future
Authors: De MORAIS A. B. , REBELO C. C. , De CASTRO P. M. S. T. , MARQUES A. T. , DAVIES P.
Published: August 2010

This paper reviews the state‐of‐the‐art in interlaminar fracture testing of composite materials, with particular emphasis on the work performed in Portugal over the last 15 years. Early work, carried out within the ESIS Polymer and Composite Technical Committee, was concerned with improving test methods on unidirectional [0°]n specimens. The focus was on the mode I double cantilever beam (DCB) test and on mode II end‐notched flexure (ENF) and end loaded split (ELS) tests. In spite of some remaining controversy on mode II testing, the main issue nowadays is fracture toughness measurement on multidirectional specimens. Remaining difficulties are discussed in the light of the most recent work. Guidelines for ongoing and future research are also presented.
The residual stress intensity factors for cold‐worked cracked holes: a technical note
Authors: MOREIRA P. M. G. P. , DE MATOS P. F. P. , PINHO S. T. , PASTRAMǍ Ş. D. , CAMANHO P. P. , DE CASTRO P. M. S. T.
Published: August 2010

Cold‐working of riveted holes reduces the stress intensity factor associated with cracks that may develop at the hole boundary, by creating a compressive residual stress field. The residual stress field is determined using the finite‐element method and the reduction of the stress intensity factor for different values of the interference is evaluated with the weight function method, in the case of an infinite plate made from an elastic–perfectly plastic material, and having a hole with two symmetrical cracks. Once the weight function of the structure is known, further calculation of the stress intensity factors for different loadings such as a remote uniform stress, or a point load that simulates the action of the rivet can be performed without difficulty.
Biaxial fatigue for proportional and non‐proportional loading paths
Authors: REIS L. , LI B. , De FREITAS M.
Published: August 2010

In order to study the use of a local approach to predict crack‐initiation life on notches in mechanical components under multiaxial fatigue conditions, the study of the local cyclic elasto‐plastic behaviour and the selection of an appropriate multiaxial fatigue model are essential steps in fatigue‐life prediction. The evolution of stress–strain fields from the initial state to the stabilized state depends on the material type, loading amplitude and loading paths. A series of biaxial tension–compression tests with static or cyclic torsion were carried out on a biaxial servo‐hydraulic testing machine. Specimens were made of an alloy steel 42CrMo4 quenched and tempered. The shear stress relaxations of the cyclic tension–compression with a steady torsion angle were observed for various loading levels. Finite element analyses were used to simulate the cyclic behaviour and good agreement was found. Based on the local stabilized cyclic elastic–plastic stress–strain responses, the strain‐based multiaxial fatigue damage parameters were applied and correlated with the experimentally obtained lives. As a comparison, a stress‐invariant‐based approach with the minimum circumscribed ellipse (MCE) approach for evaluating the effective shear stress amplitude was also applied for fatigue life prediction. The comparison showed that both the equivalent strain range and the stress‐invariant parameter with non‐proportional factors correlated well with the experimental results obtained in this study.
A high‐cycle fatigue life model for variable amplitude multiaxial loading
Authors: JABBADO M. , MAITOURNAM M. H.
Published: August 2010

A high‐cycle fatigue life model for structures subjected to variable amplitude multiaxial loading is presented in this paper. It treats any kind of repeated blocks of variable amplitude multiaxial loading without using a cycle counting method. This model based on a mesoscopic approach is characterized by the following features: (i) the choice of a damage factor related to the accumulated mesoscopic plastic strain per stabilised cycle; (ii) the use of a mesoscopic mechanical behaviour taking into account the fatigue mechanisms such as plasticity and void growth. This behaviour is a von Mises elastoplastic model with linear kinematic hardening and hydrostatic stress dependent yield stress. The fatigue life model has six parameters identified with one SN curve and two fatigue limits. In‐phase and out‐of‐phase experimental tests from the literature are simulated. The predicted fatigue lives are compared to experimental ones.
Use of the small punch test to determine the ductile‐to‐brittle transition temperature of structural steels
Authors: CONTRERAS M. A. , RODRÍGUEZ C. , BELZUNCE F. J. , BETEGÓN C.
Published: August 2010

The small punch test (SPT) consists in punching very small square specimens, measuring 10 × 10 mm2 and 0.5‐mm thickness, until fracture using a 2.5‐mm‐diameter hemispherical punch. Different specimens of a structural steel were tested from room temperature to cryogenic temperatures in order to determine its ductile‐to‐brittle transition temperature (DBTT). The DBTT obtained in SPT (DBTTSTP) is much lower than the DBTT obtained by means of Charpy specimens (DBTTCVN). The variation of the mechanical parameters calculated from the SPTs with temperature was also calculated and the operative fracture micromechanisms defined using a scanning electron microscope.
Comparing different floral resources on the longevity of a parasitic wasp
Authors: Williams Livy , Hendrix Donald L.
Published: August 2010

1 The effects of floral resources of several important non‐crop host plants of Lygus lineolaris on the longevity of Anaphes iole, one of its natural enemies, was studied.

2 Median longevity of A. iole wasps provisioned with floral resources (Erigeron annuus, Oenothera speciosa, Lamium amplexicaule, and Capsella bursa‐pastoris) was in the range 1.27–3.24 days, and did not differ from wasps in the distilled water only control (1.46–2.81 days), but was less than median longevity of wasps provisioned with distilled water + sucrose (5.30–12.46 days). No difference in longevity was observed between gender, although females usually lived slightly longer than males.

3 High‐performance anion‐exchange chromatography analyses of O. speciosa floral nectar revealed that the major carbohydrate components were sucrose, glucose, and fructose.

4 The results indicate that the floral resources of some non‐crop plants that serve as important reproductive hosts for L. lineolaris offer little or no benefit to A. iole.
Enhanced S100 calcium‐binding protein P expression sensitizes human bladder cancer cells to cisplatin
Authors: Shiota Masaki , Tsunoda Toshiyuki , Song YooHyun , Yokomizo Akira , Tada Yasuhiro , Oda Yoshinao , Naito Seiji
Published: August 2010

What’s known on the subject? and What does the study add?

So far, several molecules have been reported to be involved in cisplatin resistance. This study revealed that a decreased expression of S100P is implicated in cisplatin resistance. In addition, S100P overexpression rendered bladder cancer cells sensitive to cisplatin.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the role of S100 calcium‐binding protein P (S100P) in the gain of cis‐diamminedichloroplatinum (II) (cisplatin) resistance in bladder cancer, having previously found, with cDNA microarrays using two pairs of parental (T24, KK47) and their cisplatin‐resistant bladder cancer cell lines (T24/DDP10, KK47/DDP20), that S100P mRNA expression was significantly reduced in cisplatin‐resistant cells.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

S100P mRNA and protein expression levels were investigated by northern and western blot analyses, respectively.

Intracellular S100P localization was examined by immunocytochemistry and immunohistochemistry.

S100P over‐expression, obtained by transfection with S100P expression plasmid, was used to investigate whether or not S100P affected cellular resistance to cisplatin.

RESULTS

S100P mRNA showed increased expression by cisplatin stimulation in parental cell lines.

On the other hand, S100P mRNA and protein expression levels were markedly reduced in cisplatin‐resistant cells.

The over‐expression of S100P in resistant cells resulted in an increased sensitivity to cisplatin.

CONCLUSIONS

In bladder cancer cells, S100P was expressed and localized mainly in the nucleus.

S100P expression was also involved in cisplatin sensitivity.

S100P might thus represent a molecular marker predicting cisplatin sensitivity and a molecular therapeutic target for cisplatin‐based chemotherapy.
Outcomes and timing for intervention of partial adrenalectomy in patients with a solitary adrenal remnant and history of bilateral phaeochromocytomas
Authors: Sanford Thomas H. , Storey Benjamin Barckley , Linehan William Marston , Rogers Craig A. , Pinto Peter A. , Bratslavsky Gennady
Published: August 2010

Study Type – Therapy (case series) Level of Evidence 4

What’s known on the subject? and What does the study add?

At the present time, outcomes of the patients treated with partial adrenalectomy on a solitary adrenal are described in less than 100 patients in the world literature. In patients with bilateral pheochromocytomas, the timing for intervention as well as size threshold to allow for steroid independence is not known. This manuscript provides evidence that staged adrenal surgery as well as operating on the solitary adrenal before the largest tumour reaches 4 cm may allow for best functional outcomes and steroid independence.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the outcomes and timing of intervention for adrenal‐sparing surgery in patients left with a solitary adrenal remnant after bilateral adrenal surgeries.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Patients were included in the study if they had undergone bilateral adrenal surgery as a treatment for phaeochromocytoma and were left with a solitary adrenal remnant.

Perioperative, functional and oncological outcomes were evaluated in 21 patients who met the inclusion criteria.

RESULTS

There was minimal perioperative morbidity and no perioperative mortality.

After a median (range) follow‐up of 21 (3–143) months, there were two cases of persistent disease.

Ten patients (48%) required steroid supplementation upon discharge, with four subsequently discontinuing this treatment. Patients were more likely to require steroid supplementation after surgery if they underwent simultaneous adrenalectomy and contralateral partial adrenalectomy, rather than staged procedures (86 vs 40%, P= 0.02).

Patients who underwent surgery for tumours >4 cm were more likely to require long‐term steroids than patients who underwent surgery for lesions <4 cm (75 vs 18%, P= 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Patients left with a solitary adrenal remnant after bilateral adrenal surgery have low surgical morbidity, reasonable functional outcomes and low rates of recurrence at an intermediate follow‐up period.

A staged approach could decrease the immediate postoperative need for steroids, and intervention before the largest tumour reaches 4 cm could decrease the rate of long‐term steroid dependence.
VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE OF SEGMENT INFORMATION BY AUSTRALIAN DIVERSIFIED COMPANIES
Authors: McKinnon Jill L. , Dalimunthe Lian
Published: August 2010

This paper reports an examination of economic incentives motivating listed diversified companies in Australia to voluntarily disclose segment information. The study is based on a sample of 65 listed diversified companies. Support is found for ownership diffusion, the level of minority interest in subsidiaries, firm size and industry membership as factors influencing the voluntary disclosure of segment information. No support is found for leverage or diversification into related versus unrelated industries.
THE ACCURACY OF CASH FLOW ESTIMATION PROCEDURES
Authors: Austin Lloyd M. , Bradbury Michael E.
Published: August 2010

Prior research uses mechanical procedures to estimate cash flow data. This study examines the accuracy of these procedures by measuring errors between estimated cash flows and reported cash flows. The results indicate that mechanical rules provide poor estimates for reported cash flows. We also show that the errors between cash flow estimates and reported cash flows can be reduced by adjustments made from footnote disclosures. However, large errors remain, even after adjustments are made from footnote disclosures. These remaining errors are correlated with firm specific characteristics such as sales (firm size), extraordinary items, foreign currency gains and losses, and changes in inventory.
ADVANCES IN LOGISTICS AND THE GROWTH OF INTRA‐FIRM TRADE: THE CASE OF CANADIAN AFFILIATES OF U.S. MULTINATIONALS, 1984–1995*
Authors: KEANE MICHAEL P. , FEINBERG SUSAN E.
Published: August 2010

Intra‐firm trade in intermediates between U.S. multinational parents (MNCs) and their Canadian manufacturing affiliates increased dramatically in the 1984–1995 period (i.e., it roughly doubled). Tariff and transport cost declines were far too small to explain this phenomenon. But we show that the advent of improved logistics management practices, including the ‘just‐in‐time’ (JIT) production system, can explain much of the growth of intra‐firm trade. JIT lowers the inventory carrying cost component of intra‐firm trade, and, by 1984, this was more important than tariff and transport costs in many industries. We combine regression analysis with numerous case studies to draw our conclusions.
Reinterpreting Bretton Woods: International Development and the Neglected Origins of Embedded Liberalism
Authors: Helleiner Eric
Published: August 2010

This article offers a reinterpretation of the origins of the 1944 Bretton Woods Agreements, one that is of particular significance to scholars of international development. Conventional wisdom holds that the Agreements were primarily a product of US–British negotiations between 1942 and 1944, in which little attention was paid to international development issues and the concerns of poorer countries. This article demonstrates that the innovative ‘embedded liberal’ vision of Bretton Woods was in fact first put forward in the context of US–Latin American financial relations in the 1938–42 period, and that this experience influenced the subsequent Bretton Woods negotiations. The analysis highlights that the architects of Bretton Woods did not ignore development issues but rather attempted to pioneer a new model for both North–North and North–South economic relations. If this has been subsequently overlooked by historians, it may be because this latter feature of Bretton Woods was quickly buried by US policy makers in the immediate post‐war years. This historical reinterpretation helps both to explain some important puzzles about the origins of the Bretton Woods Agreements and to shed new light on the place of international development issues in the evolution of the post‐war international economic order.
Fixing the Hole in the Bucket: Household Poverty Dynamics in the Peruvian Andes
Authors: Krishna Anirudh , Kristjanson Patti , Kuan Judith , Quilca Gustavo , Radeny Maren , Sanchez‐Urrelo Alicia
Published: August 2010

Achieving the Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty will require simultaneous action on two separate fronts: helping poor people escapefrompoverty, and stemming the flow of peopleintopoverty. This article examines forty Peruvian communities, and finds that descents into poverty have occurred alongside escapes in every one of them. Escape and descent are asymmetric in terms of reasons: while one set of reasons is responsible for escapes from poverty, another and different set of reasons is associated with descent. Making progress in poverty reduction will require measures to accelerate escapes whilst at the same time slowing down descents. The article looks at the different policies which will be required to serve these two separate purposes.
Patterns of Vulnerability to AIDS Impacts in Zambian Households
Authors: Wiegers Esther , Curry John , Garbero Alessandra , Hourihan John
Published: August 2010

Using household data from Northern Zambia, this article looks at HIV/AIDS impacts on different aspects of people's access to food. The findings draw particular attention to the variances in vulnerability among households burdened by illness and orphans that are headed by men, women and the elderly. It is argued that vulnerability levels to HIV/AIDS impact differ substantially among households and implicitly expose the underlying causal conditions that enable or disable people in their responsiveness. Households affected by HIV/AIDS cannot be treated as a homogeneous group and understanding the differences in vulnerability can play an important policy role in designing targeted support.
New Developments in Latin America's Social Policy
Authors: Barrientos Armando , Gideon Jasmine , Molyneux Maxine
Published: August 2010

This article introduces a special section focusing on the social policy reforms of recent years in Latin America. The essay identifies and discusses the principal trends and challenges in social policy in the region since the 1980s, before providing a summary of the special section and linking up the themes of the four contributions that follow. These highlight the variety of approaches adopted, as well as the differing assessments of recent developments. The authors note that while the reform process itself is unfolding, it is striking that social policy has become a highly visible and contested issue in the region.
The ‘Neoliberal Turn’ and the New Social Policy in Latin America: How Neoliberal, How New?
Authors: Molyneux Maxine
Published: August 2010

The term neoliberal is widely used as shorthand to describe the policy environment of the last three decades. Yet the experience of the Latin American region suggests that it is too broad a descriptor for what is in fact a sequenced, fragmented and politically indeterminate process. This article examines the evolution of social protection in the region, and argues for a more grounded, historical approach to neoliberalism, and for some analytic refinement to capture the different ‘moments’ in its policy evolution, its variant regional modalities, and its co‐existence with earlier policies and institutional forms. It suggests that totalizing conceptions of neoliberalism as imposing an inexorable market logic with predetermined social and political outcomes fail to capture the variant modalities, adaptations and indeed resistance to the global diffusion of the structural reforms. This article outlines the systems of social welfare prevailing in Latin America prior to the reforms, and then examines the principle elements of what has been termed the ‘New Social Policy’ in Latin America, engaging three issues: the periodization of neoliberalism; the role of the state; and the place of politics in the neoliberal reform agenda.
Women Beneficiaries or Women Bearing the Cost? A Gendered Analysis of the Red de Protección Social in Nicaragua
Authors: Bradshaw Sarah , Víquez Ana Quirós
Published: August 2010

Conditional Cash Transfer programmes aim to alleviate short‐term poverty through cash transfers to poor households, and to reduce longer‐term poverty through making these transfers conditional on household investment in the health and education of children. These programmes have become increasingly popular with institutions such as the World Bank. However, the need for conditionalities has been questioned on a number of levels, including its necessity: it has been suggested that the cash transfer in itself may be sufficient to secure most of the programme's wider aims. The example of Nicaragua supports this contention, demonstrating that only a small incentive is needed to bring the desired changes in the uptake of education, since this is something prized by the poor themselves. In health, the Nicaraguan case suggests that demand‐side initiatives might not be as important as supply‐side changes that improve the affordability and accessibility of services. The Nicaragua case also highlights the long‐term limitations of applying such programmes in countries with high levels of poverty and low economic growth. A gendered analysis of the programme highlights the fact that women ‘beneficiaries’ bear the economic and social cost of the programme without apparent benefit to themselves or even necessarily to the household in the short or longer term.
RAOUL HAUSMANN'S REVOLUTIONARY MEDIA: DADA PERFORMANCE, PHOTOMONTAGE AND THE CYBORG
Authors: BIRO MATTHEW
Published: August 2010

This article argues that Hausmann's poetry and performance practices of 1918 and 1919 prepared the ground for the cybernetic imagery that became prevalent in his caricatures, photomontages and assemblages of 1920. Through an examination of Hausmann's poetry and performance strategies, his concept of human identity, and his understanding of the relationship between sexuality and social revolution, a new understanding of Hausmann's visual concerns is developed. In particular, this article investigates why Hausmann's portraits often undermined their sitter's identity; why Hausmann sometimes emphasized sexuality in his representations; and why, in addition to reminding their viewers of mechanized war, Hausmann's images of the human–machine interface anticipated many of the ideas inherent in the concept of the cyborg developed in the later twentieth century.
‘OUR GODS, THEIR MUSEUMS’:1 THE CONTRARY CAREERS OF INDIA'S ART OBJECTS
Authors: GUHA‐THAKURTA TAPATI
Published: August 2010

The paper looks at the way the Western art museum today functions as a complex site for the production of new orders of ‘religious’ value around Indian sculpted objects. One of its main points is to foreground the ambivalence and instability of identities – the unresolved tensions between sacred and aesthetic tropes – that surround the contemporary lives of India's art objects, both within and outside the precincts of museums. Over the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries India offers her own internal history of the growth of the institution of the museum, alongside the disciplines of archaeology and art history, and the unfolding of a long tradition of scholarship and connoisseurship around such collected and conserved objects. Yet, it will be shown, that these historical and artistic consecrations are neither stable nor sealed, and remain continuously prone to contestations. The essay explores the positioning of sculpture as the reigning Indian art object in American museum spaces – while also tracking some of the clashing custodial claims, especially some of the recent modes of religious re‐inscription of these objects, that threaten to dislodge their parallel lives as ‘works of art’. Central to the story here is the theme of the travels abroad of Indian sculpture, and the drama of their returns and repatriations.
RECOMBINATION AND INTRINSICALITY
Authors: Cameron Ross P.
Published: August 2010

In this paper I argue that warrant for Lewis’ principle of recombination presupposes warrant for a combinatorial analysis of intrinsicality, which in turn presupposes warrant for the principle of recombination. This, I claim, leads to a vicious circularity: warrant for neither doctrine can get off the ground.
JEFFREY STOUT ON DEMOCRACY AND ITS CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN CRITICS
Authors: Wolterstorff Nicholas
Published: August 2010

Jeffrey Stout addresses two of the main criticisms of liberal democracy by its contemporary neotraditionalist Christian critics: that liberal democracy is destructive of social tradition, and thereby of virtue in the citizenry, and that liberal democracy is inherently secular, committed to expunging religious voices from the public arena. I judge that Stout effectively answers these charges: liberal democracy has its own tradition, it cultivates the virtues relevant to that, and it is not inherently hostile to piety. What Stout does not do, I suggest, is take the next step of showing, positively, that Christianity can and should affirm the substance of liberal democratic society. This is due, in good measure, to the fact that Stout never tells us, except in off‐hand comments, what he takes the substance of liberal democracy to be. And this, in turn, is due to his way of employing pragmatism: he uses pragmatism to give an account of human society generally, not of liberal democratic society. I raise some questions about the general account that pragmatism gives of human society, and thus about the account that it would give of liberal democracy.
SELF‐ABANDONMENT AND SELF‐DENIAL  Quietism, Calvinism, and the Prospect of Hell
Authors: Munzer Stephen R.
Published: August 2010

Self‐abandonment and self‐denial are, respectively, Catholic and hyper‐Calvinist analogues of each other. Roughly, each requires the surrendering of a person to God's will and providence through faith, hope, and love. Should the self‐abandoning/self‐denying individual accept his or her own damnation if that be God's will? This article, which is virtually alone in discussing the Catholic and Reformed Protestant traditions together, answers “No.” The unqualified self‐abandonment present in quietism and the radical self‐denial of Samuel Hopkins are perverse and irrational responses to the prospect of hell because they run counter to the Christian's deepest need to spend eternity with God. However, a qualified self‐abandonment is intellectually defensible and offers a viable Christian piety.
WHY RIGHTS? WHY ME?
Authors: Crane Jonathan K.
Published: August 2010

That Jews are concerned about human rights is distinct from why Jews should be concerned about rights in the first place. This project analyzes the reasons Jews in the twentieth century put forward to convince co‐religionists to take rights seriously. Focusing on the content of these arguments facilitates dividing the proffered rationales into three broad categories—the temporal, the innate, and the philosophical. Analysis of each category reveals subdivisions, reflecting the many ways Jews try to persuade each other to care about human rights. This taxonomy, unlike others, highlights the different ways in which Jews conceptualize the burning ethical questions of our day: ofhowandwhyto be Jewishandmodern. These rationales therefore are understood to function as moral reasons and, as such, can be assessed by their relative claims.
MARKETS AND MORALITY
Authors: Hill Peter J. , Lunn John
Published: August 2010

For most of human history, economic systems were personal in nature—people normally interacted with people they knew personally and knew well. Today's modern market economies are impersonal—people normally interact with people they do not know personally. The historical movement from personal to impersonal systems was necessary for societies to develop the specialization of labor needed for modern production technologies. That is, the high standards of living in the developed world are due to these impersonal systems. However, the ethical systems theologians apply to modern market systems were developed for personal societies and are often inappropriate for impersonal societies. In this article, we develop the differences between personal and impersonal systems, examine the writings of a number of theologians who are very critical of market economies, and attempt to show how a different ethical approach is needed.
ON A PARADOX OF CHRISTIAN LOVE
Authors: Liu Qingping
Published: August 2010

The two love commands attributed to Jesus clearly show the basic feature of Christianity as a “religion of love.” However, it may be argued that there is conflict between these commands, so that the Christian idea of love confronts a deep paradox: on the one hand, it takes loving God as the ultimate foundation of loving one's neighbor and loving one's neighbor as the perfect manifestation of loving God. On the other hand, it gives supremacy to loving God over loving one's neighbor, with the result that, in cases of conflict, Christianity has to sacrifice loving one's neighbor to loving God and thus to negate the second great command by the first.
‘A DESIRE UNTO DEATH’: THE DECONSTRUCTIVE THANATOLOGY OF JEAN‐LUC MARION*
Authors: JASON WARDLEY KENNETH
Published: August 2010

One of the most persistent questions in modern theology has been that of how we can adequately acknowledge the stranger. Drawing upon the work of post‐Heideggerian theorist of language and death, Jacques Derrida, and his own creative re‐reading of Martin Heidegger and Emmanuel Levinas, the Catholic theologian and phenomenologist Jean‐Luc Marion has attempted to reconstruct what he regards as a genuinely Husserlian phenomenology. In so doing he has mapped out a phenomenology of love and a phenomenology of that divine gift as ‘being given as givenness’; that is, a condition of life itself. In fact, as I will argue, this rests on the boundary between theology and thanatology (the philosophy of our encounter with that most radical stranger, death) and in his recent reflections upon ‘saturated phenomena’ Marion has explored the interplay between traditional theological topics such as hope and death and contemporary arguments on meaning, symbol and ritual. Christian hope resides in an act of remembrance and Marion argues for the eucharist – in its recollection of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ – as the site of human hope; only this crucial eucharistic move upwards and outwards can overcome the burden of Western metaphysics. It is a literary move which takes us some way towards elevating the language which we use in talking about and recognising the other beyond that of the narrow model offered to us by some commentators of Levinas and one which encourages us to look again at poetry, hymn and Scripture.
An Experimental Study of Auditor Analytical Review Judgements
Authors: Lin Kenny Z. , Fraser Ian A. M. , Hatherly David J.
Published: August 2010

This paper provides evidence as to how five factors highlighted in the current UK auditing standard are taken into account by auditors in analytical review (AR) judgements. While the relative importance of particular cues was generally found to be consistent with the standard, certain factors were taken into account only to a marginal extent. Little evidence of configural cue usage was identified. The study also provides evidence of a tendency towards conservatism in the way auditors approach AR. The results suggest both that the potential to substitute AR for other substantive procedures may be realised only imperfectly and that the issue of configural reasoning should be addressed in the auditing standard.
Trading‐off Corporate Control and Personal Diversification through Capital Structure and Merger Activity
Authors: Holmen Martin , Knopf John D. , Peterson Stefan
Published: August 2010

Abstract:  In this study we use direct estimates of the portfolio diversification of the largest shareholder in a firm to study the impact of shareholder diversification on the firm. For firms where the controlling shareholder is an individual, our tests indicate that the owner‐managers use debt, dual class shares and corporate control transactions (merger activity) to strategically trade off corporate control and the drawback of poor portfolio diversification. However, for firms where the controlling shareholder is an institution, our results indicate that control but not diversification is important.
Disclosure Interactions and the Cost of Equity Capital: Evidence From the Spanish Continuous Market
Authors: Espinosa Mónica , Trombetta Marco
Published: August 2010

Abstract:  The purpose of this paper is to provide some new evidence on the relationship between disclosure and the cost of equity capital. We propose a new specification for the empirical test based on the idea that in the previous models one crucial variable was missing: accounting policy choice. We test our theoretical hypothesis using a sample of Spanish firms quoted on the Spanish continuous market from 1999 to 2002. We adopt the ex‐ante approach to measure the cost of equity capital, taking analysts predictions as a proxy for expected earnings. As an explanatory variable we use an index measuring annual report disclosure quality. This measure of disclosure is combined with a proxy for the accounting policy choice of the firm. We measure firms' conservatism using the modified Jones model of Dechow et al. (1995) to estimate discretionary accruals. Our results confirm that the relationship between disclosure and cost of capital is affected by the choice of accounting policy.
γ‐Hydroxybutyrate and the GABAergic footprint: a metabolomic approach to unpicking the actions of GHB
Authors: Nasrallah Fatima A. , Maher Anthony D. , Hanrahan Jane R. , Balcar Vladimir J. , Rae Caroline D.
Published: August 2010

J. Neurochem.(2010)115, 58–67.

Gamma‐hydroxybutyrate is found both naturally in the brain and self‐administered as a drug of abuse. It has been reported to act at endogenous γ‐hydroxybutyrate (GHB) receptors and GABA(B) receptors [GABA(B)R], and may also be metabolized to GABA. Here, the metabolic fingerprints of a range of concentrations of GHB were measured in brain cortical tissue slices and compared with those of ligands active at GHB and GABA‐R using principal components analysis (PCA) to identify sites of GHB activity. Low concentrations of GHB (1.0 μM) produced fingerprints similar to those of ligands active at GHB receptors and α4‐containing GABA(A)R. A total of 10 μM GHB clustered proximate to mainstream GABAergic synapse ligands, such as 1.0 μM baclofen, a GABA(B)R agonist. Higher concentrations of GHB (30 μM) clustered with GABA(C)R agonists and the metabolic responses induced by blockade of the GABA transporter‐1 (GAT1). The metabolic responses induced by 60 and 100 μM GHB were mimicked by simultaneous blockade of GAT1 and GAT3, addition of low concentrations of GABA(C)R antagonists, or increasing cytoplasmic GABA concentrations by incubation with the GABA transaminase inhibitor vigabatrin. These data suggest that at concentrations > 30 μM, GHB may be active via metabolism to GABA, which is then acting upon an unidentified GABAergic master switch receptor (possibly a high‐affinity extrasynaptic receptor), or GHB may itself be acting directly on an extrasynaptic GABA‐R, capable of turning off large numbers of cells. These results offer an explanation for the steep dose–response curve of GHB seenin vivo, and suggest potential target receptors for further investigation.
Relationship of adiponectin and resistin levels in umbilical serum, maternal serum and placenta with neonatal birth weight
Authors: WANG Jing , SHANG Li‐Xin , DONG Xing , WANG Xin , WU Nan , WANG Shu‐He , ZHANG Fang , XU Li‐Ming , XIAO Ying
Published: August 2010

Objective:  Adiponectin and resistin have been postulated to play a role in the regulation of energy metabolism during pregnancy. However, relationship of adiponectin and resistin levels in umbilical serum, maternal serum and placenta with neonatal birth weight remains to be poorly understood. The purpose of the study was to clarify the correlations between adiponectin and resistin levels and neonatal birth weight.

Methods:  Enzyme immunoassay was used to measure the adiponectin and resistin levels in maternal and umbilical serum from 40 normal pregnant women (control group), 30 women with macrosomia (macrosomia group) and 30 women with fetal growth restriction (FGR group). Immunohistochemistry was used to measure adiponectin and resistin levels in placenta.

Results:  Serum adiponectin and resistin levels were significantly increased in control women compared with that in macrosomia mothers, but significantly decreased compared with that in FGR mothers. The levels of adiponectin and resistin in control babies were significantly higher than that in macrosomic babies, whereas significantly lower than that in FGR babies. The placental expressions of adiponectin and resistin in macrosomia, control and FGR group were gradually elevated, and there was a significant difference between them. Umbilical serum adiponectin levels and placental adiponectin expression were inversely correlated with birth weight. Umbilical serum levels and placental expression of resistin had positive correlation with maternal serum resistin and negative correlation with birth weight. In addition, maternal serum resistin levels were inversely correlated with birth weight.

Conclusion:  It is suggested that adiponectin and resistin play an important role in controlling body weight and may be related to the occurrence of fetal macrosomia and FGR.
Identification of Target Genes of Oncogenic Transcription Factors
Authors: Boyd Kathryn E. , Farnham Peggy J.
Published: August 2010

Disregulation of many transcription factors is associated with the development of human neoplasia. Transcription factors regulate cell growth, differentiation, and apoptosis by binding to specific DNA sequences within the promoter regions of growth‐regulatory genes and modulating expression of these genes. This simple model is complicated by the fact that mammalian transcription factors are often members of large protein families that bind to similar DNA sequences. This raises the question as to whether members of a particular family regulate expression of overlapping or unique sets of genes. This review is focused on addressing this question using the Ets, Myc, and E2F transcription factor families as examples. Deregulated activity of some, but not all, members of these families is observed in cancer. Here, we summarize the data illustrating the concept that binding of individual members of these families of factors can result in promoter‐specific responses and review the studies that have provided some insight into how target gene specificity is achieved. Since, for all of these oncogenic transcription factors, it remains unclear exactly which target genes are important in neoplasia, we have also reviewed the many approaches researchers are using to identify target genes of the various Ets, Myc, and E2F family members.
Vascular Dilatatory Responses to Sodium Nitroprusside (SNP) and α‐Adrenergic Antagonism in Female and Male Normal and Diabetic Rats
Authors: Martínez‐Nieves Brenda , Dunbar Joseph C.
Published: August 2010

Diabetes is associated with impaired vascular dilatatory responses that appear to be influenced by sex as well as diabetic state. Therefore, we hypothesized that vascular and sympathetic control function exhibit a greater deterioration following the induction of diabetes in female than in male rats. We conducted a comparative determination of the effect of sodium nitroprusside (SNP, a nitrous oxide donor) and that of an α1‐adrenergic antagonist, prazosin, on selective vascular flows, mean arterial pressure (MAP), and heart rate (HR), in female and male normal and diabetic rats. Rats were made diabetic using streptozotocin (50 mg/kg, iv) and maintained for 5–6 weeks. Following anesthesia with urethane/α‐chloralose, the femoral artery and vein were cannulated for recording and sampling. Flow probes were placed on the iliac, renal, and superior mesenteric arteries. SNP (1, 5, 10, and 20 μg/kg) infusions resulted in a dose‐dependent decrease in MAP in normal and diabetic rats. The decrease in MAP in normal males was 37% less at the 20 μg/kg concentration of SNP when compared to normal females. The HR was not significantly changed in response to the hypotensive effect of SNP; however, reflex tachycardia was more prominent in diabetic males. The vascular conductance (flow/MAP) was increased by SNP in normal and diabetic rats in a dose‐dependent fashion; however, the responsiveness was decreased in the iliac and superior mesenteric and increased in the renal arteries in diabetics when compared to normals. Diabetic males were 42% and 28% less responsive to SNP in the iliac and superior mesenteric arteries, respectively. On the other hand, diabetic females were 1.5‐fold more responsive in the renal artery when compared to normals. Prazosin (4 mg/kg) decreased the MAP in normal and diabetic rats to a comparable degree. Prazosin increased the vascular conductance in all three vascular beds in normal and diabetic rats with the greater increase occurring in the iliac (118%) and superior mesenteric (110%) arteries. We concluded that diabetes is associated with an increased response to NO in the renal vessels and a decreased response in the iliac and superior mesenteric vessels in both females and males. α‐Adrenergic tone was greatest in diabetic female and male rats. This study suggests that decreased vascular flow in diabetes is a result of a combination of decreased sensitivity to NO and increased adrenergic tone.
Molecular Genetics of the Hair Follicle: The State of the Art
Authors: Van Steensel M. A. M. , Happle R. , Steijlen P. M.
Published: August 2010

Abstract. For those who are interested in the biology of skin and its derivatives, these are interesting times indeed. In a mere 5 years, the field has been revolutionized by the application of molecular genetics to human congenital skin disorders. Where dermatology first was limited to observation and empirics, there are now DNA‐diagnostics, rational drug design, and perhaps even gene therapy available soon. In particular, the study of rare human syndromes involving abnormalities of hair growth and structure has yielded new insights into the regulation of cell growth and differentiation in the hair follicle. As this structure shows a cyclic pattern of differentiation, it may give new information concerning the regulation of cell differentiation in general. This review covers the recent developments in this fast‐moving field. First, we will give a short introduction to (structural) hair biology. Next, we will try to fit these data into the framework of what is already known and attempt to present a unified model for hair follicle growth and differentiation.
Mechanisms of Action of Conjugated Linoleic Acid: Evidence and Speculation
Authors: Pariza Michael W. , Park Yeonhwa , Cook Mark E.
Published: August 2010

Abstract. Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) has been shown to inhibit carcinogenesis and atherosclerosis, enhance immunologic function while protecting against the catabolic effects of immune stimulation, affect body composition change (reducing body fat gain while enhancing lean body mass gain), and stimulate the growth of young rats. We discuss possible biochemical mechanisms that underlie these physiological effects. We emphasize the importance of considering the effects, both individually and combined, of the two CLA isomers (cis‐9, trans‐11 CLA and trans‐10, cis‐12 CLA) that have been shown to exhibit biological activity and which appear to exert their effects via different biochemical mechanisms.
How the Blood Talks to the Brain Parenchyma and the Paraventricular Nucleus of the Hypothalamus During Systemic Inflammatory and Infectious Stimuli
Authors: Rivest Serge , Lacroix Steve , Vallières Luc , Nadeau Sylvain , Zhang Ji , Laflamme Nathalie
Published: August 2010

Abstract.There are exciting new developments regarding the molecular mechanisms involved in the influence of circulating proinflammatory molecules within cells of the blood‐brain barrier (BBB) during systemic immune challenges. These molecules, when present in the circulation, have the ability to trigger a series of events in cascade, leading to either the mitogen‐activated protein (MAP) kinases/nuclear factor kappa B (NF‐κB) or the janus kinase (JAK)/signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) transduction pathways in vascular‐associated cells of the central nervous system (CNS). The brain blood vessels exhibit both constitutive and induced expression of receptors for different proinflammatory ligands that have the ability to stimulate these signaling molecules. Depending on the challenges and the cytokines involved, the transduction signal(s) solicited in cells of the BBB may orient the neuronal activity in a very specific manner in activating the transcription and production of soluble factors, such as prostaglandins (PGs). It is interesting to note that cytokines as well as systemic localized inflammation stimulate the cells of the BBB in a nonselective manner (i.e., within both large blood vessels and small capillaries across the brain). This nonselectivity raises several questions with regard to the localized neuronal activation induced by different experimental models of inflammation and cytokines. It is possible that the selectivity of the neuronal response is a consequence of the fine interaction between nonparenchymal synthesis of soluble mediators and expression of specific receptors for these ligands within parenchymal elements of different brain nuclei. This review will present the recent developments on this concept and the mechanisms that take place in cells of the BBB, which lead to the neuronal circuits involved in restoring the body's homeostasis during systemic immunogenic challenges. The induction of fever, the hypothalamic‐pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis, and other autonomic functions are among the physiological outcomes necessary for the protection of the mammalian organism in the presence of foreign material.
Phospholipase C Activation by Prostacyclin Receptor Agonist in Cerebral Microvascular Smooth Muscle Cells
Authors: Parkinson Pauline A. , Parfenova Helena , Leffler Charles W.
Published: August 2010

Abstract.The mechanism through which iloprost permits cerebral vasodilation induced by specific stimuli is incompletely understood. Previous study suggests there might be interplay between the adenylyl cyclase and phospholipase C (PLC) systems. Coupling of the prostacyclin receptor with the PLC pathway system was investigated. Iloprost, a stable prostacyclin analog, was used as a prostacyclin receptor agonist. We investigated the effects of iloprost (10−12–10−6M) on inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate (IP3) production by piglet cerebrovascular smooth muscle cells in primary culture. Iloprost caused concentration‐ and time‐dependent increases in IP3production in control cells and in cells pretreated with LiCl (to prevent further IP3metabolism). Iloprost treatment (10−12M) of cerebrovascular smooth muscle cells, in the absence and presence of 20 mMLiCl, resulted in 2‐fold and 4‐fold increases in the formation of IP3, respectively. In contrast, 10−10Mto 10−6Miloprost, either in the presence or absence of LiCl, induced moderate or no increase in IP3formation. Iloprost (10−10–10−12M) strongly stimulated diacylglycerol (DAG) generation, whereas higher concentrations (10−8M) did not induce an increase. In conclusion, the results suggest that prostacyclin receptors on cerebromicrovascular smooth muscle can couple to PLC, generating the second messengers, IP3and DAG.