bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Hesiod's Metallurgy Simile (Th.861–7)
Authors: Rood Naomi
Published: April 2013

Hesiod'sTheogonycontains three similes, each of which elaborates a climactic moment in Zeus' securing of power: an image of bees (594–602) describes the nature of women in the Pandora episode, the aftermath of Zeus' triumph over Prometheus; battle resounds with a crash as if earth and heaven are coming together (699–705) in the climax of the Titanomachy, wherein Zeus and the Olympians overcome the Titans; and Zeus is likened to a craftsman melting ore (861–7) during his conquest of his final challenger, Typhoeus. In each episode complemented by a simile, Zeus' power attains greater stability; in the aftermath of the last of these episodes, the Typhonomachy, his power achieves permanent ascendancy (881–5). Despite the prominent occasions of these similes, they stand largely unexplored. This paper considers the simile of metallurgy in the Typhonomachy, the simile that reconfigures Zeus' final acquisition of power. Positioned at such a critical moment, attention to this simile promises to reveal elements fundamental to an understanding of Zeus' ultimate power.
Euripides,Hippolytus732–75
Authors: Willink C. W.
Published: April 2013

The centrally-placed second stasimon ofHippolytus, following Phaedra's exit (to die) at 731, is one of the finest features of Euripides' finest play, with complex imagery. The wish to become a bird and to fly away to a mythical far-western paradise is in line with a familiartoposas an ‘out of this world escape-wish’, here vicarious – echoing (while also transmuting) the desires for concealment, escape and death expressed by Phaedra. ‘Bird-transformation’ and ‘flight to the far west’ are funereal motifs, notably developed (recently?) by Sophocles, and the image of Phaedra as a ‘vanished bird’ will recur at 828. Then in the second pair of stanzas Phaedra's fate, with the predicted death by hanging, is integrally linked with the ‘white-winged Cretan ship’ that as a doubly bad ὄρνις brought her ‘through beating sea-waves’ from Crete to Athens, with ‘fastening of ropes’ for the ‘going ashore’ at the end of the voyage.

Much has been sufficiently discussed (most recently by Halleran); but many points of detail, in both pairs of stanzas, invite further consideration. I give a modifed text, after Diggle, with modifications also of his apparatus.
The wisdom of Semonides fr. 7
Authors: Morgan Teresa
Published: April 2013

Semonides fr. 7, for a long time one of the poor relations of archaic literature, has recently been basking in the attentions of both literary critics and historians. A comic catalogue of the types of women created by Zeus, each of them derived from an animal, insect or inanimate material and nearly all of them vicious, it has been connected with Hesiod's myth of Pandora and other stories in which women are seen as dangerously and subversively different from men. Along with other invective iambic poetry, it has been sited in the symposium, where scholars have suggested that the exclusion and degradation of women helped to create and reinforce male solidarity. Since as individuals men often like women, and need wives, and their sympotic invective therefore cannot be taken too seriously, readers have highlighted the poem's use of irony and paradox.

In what follows I hope to add something to our reading of both the poem and its context. I shall try to show that Semonides' picture of women and male–female relations is more complex than has been assumed, and that we can place it in a tradition of moralizing literature which is concerned not just to pillory aspects of its world, but to explore its problems and stimulate people to think about them.
In piscibus obsonatores et rhetores: Petr. 39.13
Authors: Korenjak Martin
Published: April 2013

In piscibus (sc. nascuntur) obsonatores et rhetores: thus Trimalchio concludes the sign-by-sign interpretation he gives in Petr. 39 of the astrological repositorium that has been served some chapters before (35.1–5). While the obsonatores – ‘buyers of fish’ (TLL 9.234.49–70), from ὀΨωνέω, ‘buy fish and other dainties’ (LSJ s.v.) – pose no problem, the rhetores have mystified interpreters since Peter Burman, who frankly confessed: ‘Causam non video, cum pisces vulgo muti habeantur, rhetores vero loquaces. Fortasse corrupta vox. An vectores aut veteratores? Haereo.’
The drunk, the reformer and the teacher: agonistic poetics and the construction of persona in the comic poets of the fifth century
Authors: Bakola Emmanuela
Published: April 2013

Although the role of competition in Greek cultural and social practices has been well documented and studied, it is only in the last decades that the extent to which it permeates Athenian drama has been realised. The element of competition in Athenian dramatic performances is now widely used as an interpretative tool, especially in Old comedy, where the competitive conditions of performance are overtly articulated. As research on the fragmentary comic poets proliferates, Aristophanes' rivals have become a far more visible element in the scenery of Old Attic comedy and, as a result, the fiercely competitive dimension of comic performances is more easily traced. We are now able to ask questions from new perspectives, and understand better such issues as authorial collaboration, charges of plagiarism, claims of degeneration and decline in the quality of plays and their authors, as well as illustrate the enormous role of audience reception in the interpretation of Old comedy. Aristophanes' bombastic and self-righteous comments regarding himself and his poetry are now read in a more nuanced manner, as a competitive poetic strategy which constructs a fictionalised ‘Aristophanes’.
Literary politics and the EuripideanVita
Authors: Hanink Johanna
Published: April 2013

The earliest surviving poetic representation of Euripides, outside of comedy, appears in a piece of early third-century Alexandrian poetry and the picture it paints of the Athenian tragedian is in some ways a surprising one. In his ‘Catalogue of loves’, a terribly corrupt fragment from the third book of theLeontion, Hermesianax of Colophon introduces his lines on Euripides' doomed romantic infatuation with the affirmation that ‘even he’ (ϰἀϰεîνον), that notorious hater of women, was once ‘struck by the crooked bow’. Night did not relieve his suffering,

ἀλλὰ Μαϰηδονίων πάσας ϰατενίσατο λαύραςΑἰγάων μεθέπων Ἀρχέλεω ταμίην, 66εἰσόϰε <δὴ> δαίμων Εὐριπίδῃ εὕρετ᾿ ὄλεθρονἈρριβίου στυγνῶν ἀντιάσαντι ϰυνῶν. (7.65–8)

66 Αἰγάων Bergk: αἰγιεων A

Rather he went down all the alleyways of Macedonian Aegaein pursuit of the housemaid of Archelaus,until adaemonfound death for Euripideswhen he came across the hated hounds of Arribius.

While one of the themes Hermesianax' catalogue foregrounds is how lovesick poets of the past left home to pursue their beloveds abroad, the lines on Euripides are remarkable for their elision of this poet's native Attica.
The return of the Black Hunter
Authors: Ma John
Published: April 2013

The ‘Black Hunter’ is an expression proposed by P. Vidal-Naquet, to understand certain phenomena within ancient Greek society: it designated a cunning, youthful figure haunting the borders, which was meaningful in implied opposition to a ‘normal’ adult male citizen living in the civilised world. He represents an attempt to interpret Greek culture through Levi-Straussian structural polarities.

As examples of Black Hunters, Vidal-Naquet pointed to the Spartankruptos(young Spartiates sent out for a short time to roam the countryside and kill helots) and the Athenian ephebe (young men, about to become adult, sent into military service for two years, between eighteen and twenty). Thekruptosand the ephebe belonged to Greek rites of passage, where youths become inverted ‘Black Hunters’ before integrating in the community. Another, very interesting case occurs in late Hellenistic Chaironeia, where a local youth, Damon, threatened with rape by a Roman officer stationed in the city, banded up with coaevals and ambushed the Roman: the youths smeared their faces with soot, drank pure wine and slaughtered their man at dawn during a sacrifice, before running away and plundering the territory (they returned to kill the city magistrates at their evening meal) – all marks of anomie, marginality and extremeness.
Systematic identification of proteins that elicit drug side effects
Authors: Kuhn Michael , Al Banchaabouchi Mumna , Campillos Monica , Jensen Lars Juhl , Gross Cornelius , Gavin Anne‐Claude , Bork Peer
Published: April 2013

Side effect similarities of drugs have recently been employed to predict new drug targets, and networks of side effects and targets have been used to better understand the mechanism of action of drugs. Here, we report a large‐scale analysis to systematically predict and characterize proteins that cause drug side effects. We integrated phenotypic data obtained during clinical trials with known drug–target relations to identify overrepresented protein–side effect combinations. Using independent data, we confirm that most of these overrepresentations point to proteins which, when perturbed, cause side effects. Of 1428 side effects studied, 732 were predicted to be predominantly caused by individual proteins, at least 137 of them backed by existing pharmacological or phenotypic data. We prove this concept in vivo by confirming our prediction that activation of the serotonin 7 receptor (HTR7) is responsible for hyperesthesia in mice, which, in turn, can be prevented by a drug that selectively inhibits HTR7. Taken together, we show that a large fraction of complex drug side effects are mediated by individual proteins and create a reference for such relations.
Biochemical and biophysical characterization of four EphB kinase domains reveals contrasting thermodynamic, kinetic and inhibition profiles
Authors: Overman Ross C. , Debreczeni Judit E. , Truman Caroline M. , McAlister Mark S. , Attwood Teresa K.
Published: April 2013

The Eph (erythropoietin-producing hepatocellular carcinoma) B receptors are important in a variety of cellular processes through their roles in cell-to-cell contact and signalling; their up-regulation and down-regulation has been shown to have implications in a variety of cancers. A greater understanding of the similarities and differences within this small, highly conserved family of tyrosine kinases will be essential to the identification of effective therapeutic opportunities for disease intervention. In this study, we have developed a route to production of multi-milligram quantities of highly purified, homogeneous, recombinant protein for the kinase domain of these human receptors in Escherichia coli. Analyses of these isolated catalytic fragments have revealed stark contrasts in their amenability to recombinant expression and their physical properties: e.g., a >16°C variance in thermal stability, a 3-fold difference in catalytic activity and disparities in their inhibitor binding profiles. We find EphB3 to be an outlier in terms of both its intrinsic stability, and more importantly its ligand-binding properties. Our findings have led us to speculate about both their biological significance and potential routes for generating EphB isozyme-selective small-molecule inhibitors. Our comprehensive methodologies provide a template for similar in-depth studies of other kinase superfamily members.
Arabidopsis
nanodomain-delimited ABA signaling pathway regulates the anion channel SLAH3
Authors: Demir Fatih , Horntrich Claudia , Blachutzik Jörg O. , Scherzer Sönke , Reinders Yvonne , Kierszniowska Sylwia , Schulze Waltraud X. , Harms Gregory S. , Hedrich Rainer , Geiger Dietmar , Kreuzer Ines
Published: April 2013

The phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) plays a key role in the plant response to drought stress. Hence, ABA-dependent gene transcription and ion transport is regulated by a variety of protein kinases and phosphatases. However, the nature of the membrane-delimited ABA signal transduction steps remains largely unknown. To gain insight into plasma membrane-bound ABA signaling, we identified sterol-dependent proteins associated with detergent resistant membranes from
Arabidopsis thaliana
mesophyll cells. Among those, we detected the central ABA signaling phosphatase ABI1 (abscisic-acid insensitive 1) and the calcium-dependent protein kinase 21 (CPK21). Using fluorescence microscopy, we found these proteins to localize in membrane nanodomains, as observed by colocalization with the nanodomain marker remorin Arabidopsis thaliana remorin 1.3 (AtRem 1.3). After transient coexpression, CPK21 interacted with SLAH3 [slow anion channel 1 (SLAC1) homolog 3] and activated this anion channel. Upon CPK21 stimulation, SLAH3 exhibited the hallmark properties of S-type anion channels. Coexpression of SLAH3/CPK21 with ABI1, however, prevented proper nanodomain localization of the SLAH3/CPK21 protein complex, and as a result anion channel activation failed. FRET studies revealed enhanced interaction of SLAH3 and CPK21 within the plasma membrane in response to ABA and thus confirmed our initial observations. Interestingly, the ABA-induced SLAH3/CPK21 interaction was modulated by ABI1 and the ABA receptor RCAR1/PYL9 [regulatory components of ABA receptor 1/PYR1 (pyrabactin resistance 1)-like protein 9]. We therefore propose that ABA signaling via inhibition of ABI1 modulates the apparent association of a signaling and transport complex within membrane domains that is necessary for phosphorylation and activation of the S-type anion channel SLAH3 by CPK21.
Metallothioneins negatively regulate IL-27–induced type 1 regulatory T-cell differentiation
Authors: Wu Chuan , Pot Caroline , Apetoh Lionel , Thalhamer Theresa , Zhu Bing , Murugaiyan Gopal , Xiao Sheng , Lee Youjin , Rangachari Manu , Yosef Nir , Kuchroo Vijay K.
Published: April 2013

IL-27–induced type 1 regulatory T (Tr1) cells suppress autoimmunity by producing IL-10. Signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 1 and STAT3 have been described as key transcription factors that promote IL-10 secretion from Tr1 cells induced by IL-27. However, the molecular pathways for negatively regulating Tr1 cell differentiation remain elusive. Here, we show that IL-27 induces metallothioneins (MTs) that in turn prevent Tr1 cell development. MT expression leads to the reduction of STAT1 and STAT3 phosphorylation under Tr1 differentiation condition, resulting in impaired IL-10 production. Accordingly, Tr1 cells derived from MT-deficient mice showed an increased ability to produce IL-10 and potently suppress experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis upon adoptive transfer. Moreover, activation of STAT1 and/or STAT3 can overcome the suppression of IL-10 by MTs, indicating a dynamic balance between STATs and MTs in regulating IL-10 during Tr1 cell differentiation.
Steroidogenic enzyme Cyp11a1 regulates Type 2 CD8+T cell skewing in allergic lung disease
Authors: Jia Yi , Domenico Joanne , Takeda Katsuyuki , Han Junyan , Wang Meiqin , Armstrong Michael , Reisdorph Nichole , O’Connor Brian P. , Lucas Joseph J. , Gelfand Erwin W.
Published: April 2013

Allergic asthma is a heterogeneous inflammatory disorder of the airways characterized by chronic airway inflammation and airway hyperresponsiveness. Numbers of CD8+IL-13+T cells are increased in asthmatics and during the development of experimental asthma in mice. In an atopic environment rich in IL-4, these CD8+T cells mediate asthmatic responses, but the mechanisms regulating the conversion of CD8+effector T cells from IFN-γ– to pathogenic IL-13–producing effector cells that contribute to an asthma phenotype have not been defined. Here, we show that cholesterol side-chain cleavage P450 enzyme, Cyp11a1, is a key regulator of CD8+T-cell conversion. Expression of the gene, protein, and enzymatic activity of Cyp11a1 were markedly increased in CD8+T cells differentiated in the presence of IL-2 plus IL-4 compared with cells differentiated in IL-2 alone. Inhibition of Cyp11a1 enzymatic activity with aminoglutethimide or reduction in the expression of Cyp11a1 using short hairpin RNA prevented the IL-4–induced conversion of IFN-γ– to IL-13–producing cells without affecting expression of the lineage-specific transcription factors T-box expressed in T cells (T-bet) or GATA binding protein 3 (GATA3). Adoptive transfer of aminoglutethimide-treated CD8+T cells into sensitized and challenged CD8-deficient recipients failed to restore airway hyperresponsiveness and inflammation. We demonstrate that Cyp11a1 controls the phenotypic conversion of CD8+T cells from IFN-γ to IL-13 production, linking steroidogenesis in CD8+T cells, a nonclassical steroidogenic tissue, to a proallergic differentiation pathway.
In silico
discovery of small-molecule Ras inhibitors that display antitumor activity by blocking the Ras–effector interaction
Authors: Shima Fumi , Yoshikawa Yoko , Ye Min , Araki Mitsugu , Matsumoto Shigeyuki , Liao Jingling , Hu Lizhi , Sugimoto Takeshi , Ijiri Yuichi , Takeda Azusa , Nishiyama Yuko , Sato Chie , Muraoka Shin , Tamura Atsuo , Osoda Tsutomu , Tsuda Ken-ichiro , Miyakawa Tomoya , Fukunishi Hiroaki , Shimada Jiro , Kumasaka Takashi , Yamamoto Masaki , Kataoka Tohru
Published: April 2013

Mutational activation of the Ras oncogene products (H-Ras, K-Ras, and N-Ras) is frequently observed in human cancers, making them promising anticancer drug targets. Nonetheless, no effective strategy has been available for the development of Ras inhibitors, partly owing to the absence of well-defined surface pockets suitable for drug binding. Only recently, such pockets have been found in the crystal structures of a unique conformation of Ras⋅GTP. Here we report the successful development of small-molecule Ras inhibitors by an
in silico
screen targeting a pocket found in the crystal structure of M-Ras⋅GTP carrying an H-Ras–type substitution P40D. The selected compound Kobe0065 and its analog Kobe2602 exhibit inhibitory activity toward H-Ras⋅GTP-c-Raf-1 binding both in vivo and in vitro. They effectively inhibit both anchorage-dependent and -independent growth and induce apoptosis of H-
ras

G12V

–transformed NIH 3T3 cells, which is accompanied by down-regulation of downstream molecules such as MEK/ERK, Akt, and RalA as well as an upstream molecule, Son of sevenless. Moreover, they exhibit antitumor activity on a xenograft of human colon carcinoma SW480 cells carrying the
K-ras

G12V

gene by oral administration. The NMR structure of a complex of the compound with H-Ras⋅GTP
T35S
, exclusively adopting the unique conformation, confirms its insertion into one of the surface pockets and provides a molecular basis for binding inhibition toward multiple Ras⋅GTP-interacting molecules. This study proves the effectiveness of our strategy for structure-based drug design to target Ras⋅GTP, and the resulting Kobe0065-family compounds may serve as a scaffold for the development of Ras inhibitors with higher potency and specificity.
Nanoscale analysis of pyritized microfossils reveals differential heterotrophic consumption in the ∼1.9-Ga Gunflint chert
Authors: Wacey David , McLoughlin Nicola , Kilburn Matt R. , Saunders Martin , Cliff John B. , Kong Charlie , Barley Mark E. , Brasier Martin D.
Published: April 2013

The 1.88-Ga Gunflint biota is one of the most famous Precambrian microfossil lagerstätten and provides a key record of the biosphere at a time of changing oceanic redox structure and chemistry. Here, we report on pyritized replicas of the iconic autotrophic
Gunflintia–Huroniospora
microfossil assemblage from the Schreiber Locality, Canada, that help capture a view through multiple trophic levels in a Paleoproterozoic ecosystem. Nanoscale analysis of pyritic
Gunflintia
(sheaths) and
Huroniospora
(cysts) reveals differing relic carbon and nitrogen distributions caused by contrasting spectra of decay and pyritization between taxa, reflecting in part their primary organic compositions. In situ sulfur isotope measurements from individual microfossils (δ
34
S
V-CDT
+6.7‰ to +21.5‰) show that pyritization was mediated by sulfate-reducing microbes within sediment pore waters whose sulfate ion concentrations rapidly became depleted, owing to occlusion of pore space by coeval silicification. Three-dimensional nanotomography reveals additional pyritized biomaterial, including hollow, cellular epibionts and extracellular polymeric substances, showing a preference for attachment to
Gunflintia
over
Huroniospora
and interpreted as components of a saprophytic heterotrophic, decomposing community. This work also extends the record of remarkable biological preservation in pyrite back to the Paleoproterozoic and provides criteria to assess the authenticity of even older pyritized microstructures that may represent some of the earliest evidence for life on our planet.
Evidence of a liquid–liquid phase transition in hot dense hydrogen
Authors: Dzyabura Vasily , Zaghoo Mohamed , Silvera Isaac F.
Published: April 2013

We use pulsed-laser heating of hydrogen at static pressures in the megabar pressure region to search for the plasma phase transition to liquid atomic metallic hydrogen. We heat our samples substantially above the melting line and observe a plateau in a temperature vs. laser power curve that otherwise increases with power. This anomaly in the heating curve appears correlated with theoretical predictions for the plasma phase transition.
p53 integrates host defense and cell fate during bacterial pneumonia
Authors: Madenspacher Jennifer H. , Azzam Kathleen M. , Gowdy Kymberly M. , Malcolm Kenneth C. , Nick Jerry A. , Dixon Darlene , Aloor Jim J. , Draper David W. , Guardiola John J. , Shatz Maria , Menendez Daniel , Lowe Julie , Lu Jun , Bushel Pierre , Li Leping , Merrick B. Alex , Resnick Michael A. , Fessler Michael B.
Published: April 2013

Cancer and infection are predominant causes of human mortality and derive, respectively, from inadequate genomic and host defenses against environmental agents. The transcription factor p53 plays a central role in human tumor suppression. Despite its expression in immune cells and broad responsiveness to stressors, it is virtually unknown whether p53 regulates host defense against infection. We report that the lungs of naive p53−/− mice display genome-wide induction of NF-κB response element–enriched proinflammatory genes, suggestive of type 1 immune priming. p53-null and p53 inhibitor–treated mice clear Gram-negative and -positive bacteria more effectively than controls after intrapulmonary infection. This is caused, at least in part, by cytokines produced by an expanded population of apoptosis-resistant, TLR-hyperresponsive alveolar macrophages that enhance airway neutrophilia. p53−/− neutrophils, in turn, display heightened phagocytosis, Nox-dependent oxidant generation, degranulation, and bacterial killing. p53 inhibition boosts bacterial killing by mouse neutrophils and oxidant generation by human neutrophils. Despite enhanced bacterial clearance, infected p53−/− mice suffer increased mortality associated with aggravated lung injury. p53 thus modulates host defense through regulating microbicidal function and fate of phagocytes, revealing a fundamental link between defense of genome and host during environmental insult.
Nitric oxide–mediated regulation of ferroportin-1 controls macrophage iron homeostasis and immune function in Salmonella infection
Authors: Nairz Manfred , Schleicher Ulrike , Schroll Andrea , Sonnweber Thomas , Theurl Igor , Ludwiczek Susanne , Talasz Heribert , Brandacher Gerald , Moser Patrizia L. , Muckenthaler Martina U. , Fang Ferric C. , Bogdan Christian , Weiss Günter
Published: April 2013

Nitric oxide (NO) generated by inducible NO synthase 2 (NOS2) affects cellular iron homeostasis, but the underlying molecular mechanisms and implications for NOS2-dependent pathogen control are incompletely understood. In this study, we found that NO up-regulated the expression of ferroportin-1 (Fpn1), the major cellular iron exporter, in mouse and human cells. Nos2−/− macrophages displayed increased iron content due to reduced Fpn1 expression and allowed for an enhanced iron acquisition by the intracellular bacterium Salmonella typhimurium. Nos2 gene disruption or inhibition of NOS2 activity led to an accumulation of iron in the spleen and splenic macrophages. Lack of NO formation resulted in impaired nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor-2 (Nrf2) expression, resulting in reduced Fpn1 transcription and diminished cellular iron egress. After infection of Nos2−/− macrophages or mice with S. typhimurium, the increased iron accumulation was paralleled by a reduced cytokine (TNF, IL-12, and IFN-γ) expression and impaired pathogen control, all of which were restored upon administration of the iron chelator deferasirox or hyperexpression of Fpn1 or Nrf2. Thus, the accumulation of iron in Nos2−/− macrophages counteracts a proinflammatory host immune response, and the protective effect of NO appears to partially result from its ability to prevent iron overload in macrophages
The dynamic ejecta of compact object mergers and eccentric collisions
Authors: Rosswog Stephan
Published: April 2013

Compact object mergers eject neutron-rich matter in a number of ways: by the dynamical ejection mediated by gravitational torques, as neutrino-driven winds, and probably also a good fraction of the resulting accretion disc finally becomes unbound by a combination of viscous and nuclear processes. If compact binary mergers indeed produce gamma-ray bursts, there should also be an interaction region where an ultra-relativistic outflow interacts with the neutrino-driven wind and produces moderately relativistic ejecta. Each type of ejecta has different physical properties, and therefore plays a different role for nucleosynthesis and for the electromagnetic (EM) transients that go along with compact object encounters. Here, we focus on the dynamic ejecta and present results for over 30 hydrodynamical simulations of both gravitational wave-driven mergers and parabolic encounters as they may occur in globular clusters. We find that mergers eject approximately 1 per cent of a Solar mass of extremely neutron-rich material. The exact amount, as well as the ejection velocity, depends on the involved masses with asymmetric systems ejecting more material at higher velocities. This material undergoes a robust r-process and both ejecta amount and abundance pattern are consistent with neutron star mergers being a major source of the ‘heavy’ (
A
>130) r-process isotopes. Parabolic collisions, especially those between neutron stars and black holes, eject substantially larger amounts of mass, and therefore cannot occur frequently without overproducing gala- ctic r-process matter. We also discuss the EM transients that are powered by radioactive decays within the ejecta (‘macronovae’), and the radio flares that emerge when the ejecta dissipate their large kinetic energies in the ambient medium.
COLLAPSED ABNORMAL POLLEN1Gene Encoding the Arabinokinase-Like Protein Is Involved in Pollen Development in Rice
Authors: Ueda Kenji , Yoshimura Fumiaki , Miyao Akio , Hirochika Hirohiko , Nonomura Ken-Ichi , Wabiko Hiroetsu
Published: April 2013

We isolated a pollen-defective mutant, collapsed abnormal pollen1 (cap1), from Tos17 insertional mutant lines of rice (Oryza sativa). The cap1 heterozygous plant produced equal numbers of normal and collapsed abnormal grains. The abnormal pollen grains lacked almost all cytoplasmic materials, nuclei, and intine cell walls and did not germinate. Genetic analysis of crosses revealed that the cap1 mutation did not affect female reproduction or vegetative growth. CAP1 encodes a protein consisting of 996 amino acids that showed high similarity to Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) l-arabinokinase, which catalyzes the conversion of l-arabinose to l-arabinose 1-phosphate. A wild-type genomic DNA segment containing CAP1 restored mutants to normal pollen grains. During rice pollen development, CAP1 was preferentially expressed in anthers at the bicellular pollen stage, and the effects of the cap1 mutation were mainly detected at this stage. Based on the metabolic pathway of l-arabinose, cap1 pollen phenotype may have been caused by toxic accumulation of l-arabinose or by inhibition of cell wall metabolism due to the lack of UDP-l-arabinose derived from l-arabinose 1-phosphate. The expression pattern of CAP1 was very similar to that of another Arabidopsis homolog that showed 71% amino acid identity with CAP1. Our results suggested that CAP1 and related genes are critical for pollen development in both monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous plants.
Not just a place to sleep: homeless perspectives on libraries in central Michigan
Authors: Kelleher Angie
Published: April 2013

Purpose

This study aims to focus on a qualitative and quantitative assessment of how homeless people in the USA use libraries. Libraries, especially in urban areas, have a complicated relationship with homeless patrons. It is easy to assume that homeless populations use libraries as a safe place to avoid the elements or to sleep. This paper considers the other ways that people without permanent housing are using libraries, how they perceive libraries, and what their specific information needs might be.

Design/methodology/approach

The primary method of data collection involved surveys conducted with over 100 homeless individuals in central Michigan in 2009, supplemented with information about area library policies that specifically affect this population.

Findings

Many homeless people in central Michigan use libraries frequently. They most often read for entertainment and use the internet. Survey respondents tended to be appreciative of library services. Local social service agencies are a primary source of information for homeless people in this area.

Research limitations/implications

The challenges of identifying homeless people led to a respondent pool which seemed to be very high‐functioning. Homeless people who are mentally ill or struggling with serious substance abuse may not have been as prevalent at the venues which were used to survey respondents.

Originality/value

Most articles regarding homelessness in the library literature focus on how librarians can handle these “problem patrons.” However, little substantive information is known about how homeless people themselves view libraries. This paper provides insight into the needs of homeless people and how US libraries might best serve them. It also references international studies on the homeless and libraries.
What kind of services supply to the poor? A survey directed toward homeless
Authors: Gaudet Françoise
Published: April 2013

Purpose

The Bibliothèque Publique d'information (Bpi), a large public reference library, located inside the Centre Pompidou in Paris, welcomes visitors from students to professionals and including the homeless community. In order to precisely diagnose the situation, the Bpi asked the French sociologist Serge Paugam to conduct a study of all these poorly housed or homeless users (refugees, migrants, people with mental health issues, etc.). This paper seeks to address these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was based on participant observations and in‐depth interviews throughout a six‐month period of time.

Findings

Paugam looks upon social downgrading as a process and he distinguishes three steps he calls “Fragility”, “Dependency”, and “Rupture”. His hypothesis stated that the three stages of this process should be observed in the library. This was proved to be true. Moreover, the survey finding showed there are links between the stage of the process where people happen to be and their uses of the library.

Originality/value

This is the first French study directed toward homeless library users. It shows that although a public library welcomes everyone, social inequalities do not disappear. The survey finding confirms the diversity of the public, even among those users with poor living conditions, and the difficulty to offer services relevant to everybody, in a large public library such as the Bpi. Should the library offer the same set of activities to all those it serves? Or should it target specific groups of users and operate programs to meet their specific needs?
Recordkeeping informatics: re‐figuring a discipline in crisis with a single minded approach
Authors: Upward Frank , Reed Barbara , Oliver Gillian , Evans Joanne
Published: April 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the widespread crisis facing the archives and records management professions, and to propose recordkeeping informatics, a single minded disciplinary approach, as a way forward.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper reflects an Australasian perspective on the nature of the crisis besetting archives and records management professions as people struggle to adjust to digitally converged information ecologies. It suggests recordkeeping informatics as an approach for refiguring thinking, systems, processes and practices as people confront ever increasing information convergence, chaos and complexity. It discusses continuum thinking and recordkeeping metadata as two key building blocks of the approach, along with three facets of recordkeeping analysis involving the understanding of organisational culture, business process analysis and archival access.

Findings

Discussion of information and communication technologies as a “wild frontier” highlights the breaking down of recordkeeping processes within them. The causes for this chaos are complex and there is an urgent need to develop more coherent frameworks to identify and address the issues. Such frameworks need to grow from, and be conversant with, strong symbiotic relationships between social formations, recordkeeping processes, and archives, so that they may be applicable in an increasingly diverse range of organisational and community contexts. Embracing complexity is a must if the wild frontier is not to grow wilder.

Originality/value

The paper outlines a new disciplinary base from which new and old recordkeeping methods can be launched that are appropriate for this era.
Effect of channel congruence on a retailer's image
Authors: Bezes Christophe
Published: April 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess whether the image of a retailer – beyond the distinct contributions of the website and the stores ‐ is improved by the perceived congruence of its channels, and for what types of customers.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey was conducted on 1,478 customers taken from the behavioural databases of a major French multichannel retailer. Structural modelling and one‐way ANOVA were used to test the working hypotheses.

Findings

Congruent channels improve retailer image even when these channels have a less good image. However, channel congruence cannot be elevated to a universal guiding principle as it only affects multichannel and online buyers, with no detrimental impact on retailer image.

Research limitations/implications

The study is mainly limited by the type of retailer studied, and the choice of an online questionnaire, limiting the representativeness of the offline purchasers.

Practical implications

In order to improve its image, a multichannel retailer must seek maximum congruence of its website and stores. Congruent channels lead to benefits for the retailer even when they are poorly valued by consumers.

Originality/value

Despite a broad theoretical consensus, this is the first study to demonstrate empirically that website and store congruence improves retailer image, and not only online purchase intentions. It is also one of the first published researches that uses congruence as a mediating variable.
International retailers' strategic responses to institutional environment of emerging market
Authors: Cao Lanlan , Pederzoli Daniele
Published: April 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the international retailers' strategic responses to the institutional environment in emerging markets.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on in‐depth interviews with top managers from a grounded‐theory perspective, the research provides a comprehensive analysis of the implications of the institutional environment for the strategic choices of international retailers in an emerging market, especially in China.

Findings

The international retailer's strategic choices are often identified as pragmatism, dynamism, public policy‐orientation, seeking lead position in the market and decentralization if the institutional distance between the home country and host country is high. Moreover, when international retailers can commit to cultivating local markets and creating shared added value, they are better able to respond proactively to an institutional environment that is geared to a collective social network and still in a phase of transition.

Research limitations/implications

This paper focuses on only one country, China.

Originality/value

The major value of this paper is to highlight the specificities of international retailers' strategic responses to the institutional environment of an emerging market. Attention to these specificities would enable researchers to analyze better the reality of retail internationalization process in an emerging market.
Multi‐culture consumer behaviour in the Abu Dhabi markets
Authors: Menon Vadakepat Vanaja
Published: April 2013

Purpose

Globalization has brought apparent transformations to the UAE market. Shift in market trends due to a growing multicultural population induces marketers to update their marketing strategies. Focusing on the purchase behavior and level of satisfaction of consumers coming from different regions, the purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of multi‐cultural consumers in the buying behaviour in the Abu Dhabi market for durable and non‐durable consumer products.

Design/methodology/approach

The sampling frame to examine the impact of heterogeneous culture in a geocentric market comprised 300 consumers belonging to different nationalities working in the UAE. Satisfaction Index, Kendall's Coefficient of Concordance and Kruskal–Wallis test were used to test hypotheses constructed from literature.

Findings

The three hypotheses formulated to test inter‐cultural differences revealed the influence of multi‐culture on consumers' buying behaviour. This paper recommends that by optimizing the utility of well‐advanced digital media in the Emirates, marketers can customize strategies by which to penetrate culturally segmented niches.

Originality/value

Global marketing is emerging in the Arab markets, assuming that global culture will bring about a paradigm shift from homogenous to heterogeneous buying habits. Exploring the influence of multicultural consumerism, the study illustrates the divergent demands of Abu Dhabi consumers.
Fixing holes where the rain gets in
Authors: Calma Angelito
Published: April 2013

Purpose

Little attention is paid to understanding generic skills in business. Even less attention is paid to collecting evidence of students' development of these skills. This paper aims to fill this gap.

Design/methodology/approach

Four generic skills in business undergraduate and graduate programs are examined – written communication; critical thinking; use of mathematical and statistical tools; and information literacy. A total of 341 individual student assessments were reviewed.

Findings

Results suggest that there are skills deficits in effectively using language and coherence in writing; taking different perspectives and integrating ideas; understanding, presenting and solving a problem; and evaluating information to produce new and original thought.

Originality/value

This paper presents some important findings from the evaluation of student development of four different generic skills promoted in business disciplines.
The current state of female leadership in the United Arab Emirates
Authors: Kemp Linzi J. , Madsen Susan R. , El‐Saidi Mohammed
Published: April 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to research the state of affairs in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the presence (or absence) of women in senior business leadership positions, and to investigate where they are located within organizations (e.g. board members, chief officers, vice presidents, top management, division or unit heads).

Design/methodology/approach

This is a quantitative gender analysis of 954 organizations; based on data available from the Zawya database that tracks information about public and private companies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Findings

Women are still underrepresented in senior company and top department leadership positions, however, they are found slightly (but not significantly) more in departmental leadership, pseudo services and hospitality industries, and in smaller and public companies.

Research limitations/implications

The database utilized did not contain completed company data; specifically any response variable; hence, the study was descriptive in nature and lacked advanced statistical techniques for comparison and relationship analysis.

Practical implications

This study provides helpful insights for government leaders, as well as educators, and scholars, who work to help prepare women for leadership in this region. For business practitioners, the presence and development of female business leaders extends choice and increases value in the human resource pool.

Social implications

The authors believe that it is important that UAE females take up roles in both the public and private sector so they can become more effective role models to a rising generation of female workers.

Originality/value

This is one of the first scholarly studies conducted on the presence of women leaders in various sectors within the UAE.
The impact of shareholders' types on corporate social responsibility: evidence from Japanese firms
Authors: Nakamura Eri
Published: April 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to use an empirical model to investigate the effects of eight types of shareholders on corporate social responsibility (CSR) investments in terms of the monetary amount and ratio of each investment.

Design/methodology/approach

Cross‐sectional data obtained from Japanese companies in 2010 were used and three equations were estimated which reflect the effects of various shareholders on three types of CSR using ordinary least squares (OLS).

Findings

The study finds that the effects of shareholders on CSR investment are different depending on shareholder types. Investment funds and top management shareholders decrease each CSR investment, while the government, foreign companies and individuals, financial institutions, brokerages, and domestic companies and individuals increase CSR investments. Moreover, different shareholder types are interested in different CSR. Most shareholders are concerned with environmental policies, while foreign shareholders are also concerned with work‐life balance policies. Investment funds shareholders pay attention to all kinds of CSR. In addition, most outside shareholders are only concerned about individual CSR investments rather than a company's entire CSR resource allocation strategy.

Originality/value

This study empirically analyzes various types of shareholders, determining which hypothesis is valid and what type of shareholder increases or decreases CSR investment. This study considers shareholders' effects not only on each CSR action, but also in terms of an overall CSR strategy. This study provides guidance for managers that they should take into account in order to respond to each type of shareholder when they make decisions on CSR.
Mental health crisis information for people with intellectual disabilities
Authors: Hemmings Colin , Obousy Shaymaa , Craig Tom
Published: April 2013

Purpose

The use of accessible, portable, mental health crisis information in people with intellectual disabilities has not been previously reported. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether crisis information could be modified to be made accessible and meaningful for people with intellectual disabilities.

Design/methodology/approach

Personalized information to help in a mental health crisis was recorded on folded A4 sized sheets that could be carried in a conveniently sized wallet.

Findings

Three quarters of the participants carried their crisis information wallets on a daily basis for six months before evaluation. They and their carers expressed positive feedback about them carrying the crisis information. No one carrying the information actually experienced a mental health crisis in the six months follow up period so their usefulness in such crises could not be evaluated. However, they were unexpectedly used in other non‐mental health settings and reported to have been helpful.

Originality/value

The sample size in this was small but the findings suggested that the carrying of crisis information might be a helpful measure for some people with intellectual disabilities. A further, larger scale trial is warranted.
Using explanatory models in the care of a person with intellectual disabilities
Authors: Inwang Francis , Hemmings Colin , Hvid Cindy
Published: April 2013

Purpose

This case study seeks to explore the differences between carer and professional perspectives in the assessment and treatment of a young man with intellectual disabilities, autism and mental health problems.

Design/methodology/approach

The opinions and perspectives of psychiatrists involved in the care and treatment of “S” and “S”'s mother about the aetiology, course, treatment and prognosis of “S”'s condition, are explored using “explanatory models”.

Findings

This paper shows the similarities and the differences of opinions and perspectives about the mental health care of a person with intellectual disabilities.

Originality/value

It shows how the explicit comparison of notions about a person's condition, assessment and treatment may help all involved to work together for the common ground of achieving the best outcomes for service users.
Expert opinions on community services for people with intellectual disabilities and mental health problems
Authors: Hemmings Colin , Al‐Sheikh Alaa
Published: April 2013

Purpose

There has been limited evidence on which to base services in the community for people who have intellectual disabilities and coexisting mental health problems. Recent research involving service users, carers and professionals has identified a number of key service components that community services should provide. More detail is needed to explore how best these components could be implemented and delivered. This paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 14 multidisciplinary professionals from specialist intellectual disabilities services in the UK were interviewed about their opinions on four key areas of community service provision. These included the review and monitoring of service users, their access to social, leisure and occupational activities, the support, advice and training around mental health for a person's family or carers and “out of hours” and crisis responses. The interview data was used for coding using the NVivo 7 software package and then analyzed using thematic analysis.

Findings

Analysis of participants' views on these key essential service components produced wider themes of importance. The ten major emergent themes for services were: their configuration/structure, their clarity of purpose/care pathways, their joint working, their training, their flexibility, their resources, their evidence‐base, being holistic/multidisciplinary, being needs‐led/personalised and providing accessible information.

Originality/value

These views of experts can help inform further research for the development and the evaluation of services.