bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Becoming Poor: The Experiences of Elders1
Authors: McLaughlin Diane K. , Jensen Leif
Published: August 2010

Elderly Americans residing in nonmetropolitan (nonmetro) areas have higher poverty prevalence than their metropolitan (metro) counterparts. Data from both the response and nonresponse files of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (1988 wave) are analyzed to establish the extent to which this disadvantage also occurs in the length of poverty spells and the risk of becoming poor at older ages. Specifically, for individuals aged 55 and older Kaplan‐Meier survival functions and multivariate discrete‐time hazards models are estimated to document residential differences in the poverty risks of metro and nonmetro men and women. Nonpoor nonmetro elders are much more likely to become poor than metro elders. These results hold when controlling for race, education, marital status, age, change in work effort, becoming widowed, and types of income received.
Retirement Migration and the Use of Services in Nonmetropolitan Counties1
Authors: Glasgow Nina
Published: August 2010

A conceptual framework of need, enabling, and predisposing determinants of services utilization is employed in an analysis of the use of public services among recent inmigrants (N = 306) and longer‐term residents (N = 323) age 60 and older in retirement‐destination counties of the Middle‐Atlantic region of the United States. Logistic regression is used to examine whether migration status affects use of an array of public services or whether migration transmits the effects of other selectivity factors such as age, gender, income, and health status as indicators of need, enabling, and predisposing characteristics. Being an inmigrant predisposes use of recreation‐oriented public services regardless of selectivity, but other characteristics of older individuals rather than migration per se predict use of other public services.
A Sociology of the Periphery Versus a Peripheral Sociology: Rural Sociology and the Dimension of Space1
Authors: Lobao Linda
Published: August 2010

Abstract Rural sociology is intrinsically concerned with the spatial dimensions of social life. However, this underlying research tradition, particularly the use of space as a research strategy, has been insufficiently addressed and its contributions to general sociology are little recognized. I outline how concern with space, uneven development, and the social relationships of peripheral settings have provided substantive boundary and conceptual meaning to rural sociology, propelled its evolution, and left it with a legacy of strengths, weaknesses, and challenges. A willingness to tackle the dimension of space and the thorny problems it raises often sets rural sociologists apart from other sociologists. This research tradition contrasted with general sociology's concern with developing generalization, aspatial covering laws, and proto‐typical relationships of modern or Fordist development settings. Conceptual openings have left sociologists questioning their past agenda. Coupled with the “creative marginality” inherent in the questions and contexts addressed by rural sociologists, this makes the subfield central to contemporary sociology.
Silent Partners: Women in Farm Magazine Success Stories, 1934–19911
Authors: Walter Gerry , Wilson Suzanne
Published: August 2010

Abstract Women's contributions to the farm and farm household have historically been undervalued. An analysis of farm magazine “success” stories through six decades indicates that these stories may be a vehicle for reproducing and transmitting a traditional domestic ideology that separates farm production from the rest of the farm household and that rarely portrays women as significant contributors to the economic well‐being of either. Magazine stories depict women as spouses or farm helpers, but not as producers or decision‐makers. Farm magazines thus offer few models of realistic gender relations for either farm women or farm men.
Segmented Labor Markets in Alabama's Pulp and Paper Industry1
Authors: Bailey Conner , Sinclair Peter , Bliss John , Perez Kami
Published: August 2010

Abstract Alabama's forest products industry plays a dominant role in the state's rural economy. Examination of how access to employment opportunities is distributed provides insight into how the benefits of this industry are distributed. Based on a combination of available secondary data and semi‐structured interviews with management and workers in the pulp and paper sector of Alabama's forest products industry, a clear picture of segmented labor markets emerges in which structural and cultural factors determine access to certain jobs. The evolution of these highly segmented labor markets is traced from deep roots in racial discrimination to contemporary efforts in support of affirmative action. Increased use of sub‐contracting in logging, hauling, and mill work represents the most recent change affecting the structure of labor markets associated with the production of pulp and paper.
Small Town in Mass Society Revisited1
Authors: Young Frank W.
Published: August 2010

Abstract The case study of a small New York town that dramatized the thesis that the secular expansion of macro forces—urbanization, industrialization, bureaucratization—has permanently reduced the autonomy of all small communities is an example of a special type of discovery/persuasion strategy in the social sciences: the “opposition case study.” In contrast to the more rigorous “competitive test” or the atheoretical “negative case,” opposition case studies confront the dominant perspective with a qualitative illustration of a new theory in the context of a zero‐sum game. When they are successful, opposition cases meet four criteria: the dominant view is immediately rendered obsolete; the origin of the new idea supports its plausibility; the new perspective is shown to be testable; and the new perspective quickly generates new lines of research. Small Town in Mass Society meets the first criterion, and may have been heuristic, but its probable origin in populist ideology undermines its testability.
Ethnic Succession in a Highland Chiapas Community1
Authors: Whitmeyer Joseph M.
Published: August 2010

Abstract In the past half century, in several indígena (Indian) communities of highland Chiapas, Mexico, a transformation in ethnic relations toward greater equality and less antagonism between the formerly dominant mestizos (ladinos) and the formerly dominated indígenas has taken place. I describe this change and the improvements in ethnic relations it produced, for one highland community, Tenejapa. I show that one important cause of this phenomenon of ethnic succession was the imparting to indígenas of skills for the mestizo world by the national agency, INI (Instituto Nacional Indigenista). This transfer of skills constitutes a type of power, often overlooked because of its long‐term and subtle nature, one that can have significant effects. However, INI's use of this power depended on the fact that the state government neither strongly obstructed INI's action nor carried out this action itself. The material for this study is drawn from field research I conducted in 1990–91 and follow up research in 1994.
Rapid Reregulation, Agricultural Restructuring, and the Reimaging of Agriculture in New Zealand1
Authors: Heron Richard Le , Roche Michael
Published: August 2010

Abstract As a member of the Cairns Group, New Zealand is an excellent case for investigation of the impacts of market‐based restructuring and the emergence of new mechanisms for regulation. The paper examines how agriculture in New Zealand has been impacted by economic reforms that have fundamentally changed the nature and interrelations of regulatory arrangements and economic processes. The paper sketches the origins of New Zealand's agricultural crisis and the main features of the reforms, outlines developments in several global commodity chains (meat, dairy, apples) that since the mid 1980s have shaped regulatory and governance adjustments, and explores dimensions of a reimaging of agriculture in new conditions. The paper concludes that agri‐food restructuring in New Zealand is implicated in the wider integrative project of globalization. Agriculture's reconstruction reopens the scope and terms under which New Zealand labor and households might be able to participate in the agri‐food sector.
Community Movements and Corporate Images: “Landcare” in Australia1
Authors: Lockie Stewart
Published: August 2010

Abstract Australia's National Landcare Program is popularly seen as a successful attempt to address rural land degradation in a cooperative and coordinated manner. Involving everyone from community Landcare groups to the corporate sector and government agencies, “landcare” is seen to have become something bigger than the program that spawned it. In lieu of convincing evidence that Landcare has transformed agricultural practices in a demonstrably sustainable direction, this high level of involvement is itself cited as a measure of success. Such a view, however, pays little attention to competing conceptualization's of what “landcare” actually means, to the power relationships between those involved, or to the multitude of other social projects in which those involved are engaged. The failure to address these issues masks the extent to which Landcare both contributes to the further intensification of farming practices, and is used as a signifier of environmental and social responsibility in the greening of the corporate images of its sponsors. By sponsoring Landcare initiatives companies gain licensed access to use of the Landcare Australia logo and may position themselves as responsible corporate citizens, irrespective of the environmental effects of their own products and manufacturing processes. A form of “green consumerism” is thereby constituted through which consumption is directed not towards the products of farmers attempting to produce more sustainably, but towards the companies that ostensibly support their efforts to do so.
The Dark Side of the Force: A Case Study of Restructuring and Social Capital1
Authors: Schulman Michael D. , Anderson Cynthia
Published: August 2010

Abstract This paper uses a case study of a Southern textile community to show how a distinct form of social capital is embedded in local networks of power and domination. Textile firms and communities in the South have undergone restructuring: technology and labor processes have modernized, firms have merged, consolidated, or closed, and the number of workers has declined. An analysis of Cannon Mills and its associated mill community of Kannapolis identifies the sources of the paternalist form of social capital that dominated work and community social relations. Corporate mergers, downsizing, technological change, shifts in the labor market, municipal incorporation, and labor organizing contributed to the transformation and decline of paternalistic social capital. The case study reminds social scientists that social capital is a context dependent form of power that can be created, accumulated, or destroyed. While many current analyses treat social capital as an unquestioned positive force, the case study reveals the dark side of social capital.
Social Psychological and Structural Influences on Vegetarian Beliefs
Authors: Kalof Linda , Dietz Thomas , Stern Paul C. , Guagnano Gregory A.
Published: August 2010

Abstract  This study examines the link between social structural variables (gender, race, education, age, rural childhood), individual social psychology (altruism, self‐interest, traditionality, and openness to change), and beliefs about the benefits of vegetarianism (for health, the environment, animals, and world hunger) and self‐reported vegetarianism. Data from a random sample of 420 adult U.S. residents showed that 5.2 percent considered themselves vegetarian. The strongest predictor of vegetarianism as a dietary choice was the belief that vegetarianism is beneficial to the environment. None of the social structural variables had a direct influence on vegetarianism as a dietary choice. Of the four values studied, only altruism and traditional values influenced beliefs about the benefits of vegetarianism. Altruistic values increased, and traditional values decreased, beliefs that vegetarianism is beneficial to health, the environment, farm animals, and world hunger. Blacks were more likely than Whites to adhere to the beliefs that vegetarianism helps prevent cruelty to farm animals, is beneficial to personal health, and is beneficial to the environment. The race differences in beliefs persisted even with controls for values.
The Political Dimension in the Agrarian Question: Strategies of Resilience and Political Entrepreneurship of Agrarian Elite Families in a Philippine Province1
Authors: Angeles Leonora C.
Published: August 2010

ABSTRACT This paper on the rural political sociology of a Philippine province relates the strategies of political resilience of landed oligarchies to the political dimension of the agrarian question in the Philippines. Bukidnon in Northern Mindanao is used to illustrate how pioneer agrarian families have protected their economic privileges and survived the political challenge posed by migrant politicians. Despite differences in their economic bases and social backgrounds, pioneer families and migrant politicians share strategies of political entrepreneurship and rent‐seeking that have maintained oligarchic rule: (1) establishment and maintenance of kinship networks, through intermarriage, and non‐kinship, ritual ties; (2) diversification into non‐agricultural economic activities; (3) control of political parties and state patronage (primarily electoral) machinery; (4) cooptation or mobilization of political symbols, issues, and movements; (5) use of political power to obstruct progressive legislation, particularly on land reform and taxation; and (6) the strategic management of political violence. Analysis of provincial and national political dynamics, as played out in Bukidnon, shows how the nexus of property, power, and privilege is consolidated, contested, and reconstructed in the ongoing competition among Bukidnon elites. These strategies are integral to the political practices of a landed capitalist class and have serious implications for agrarian transition and industrialization in the Philippines.
Coming Back Across the Fence: Masculinity and the Transition to Sustainable Agriculture*
Authors: Peter Gregory , Bell Michael Mayerfeld , Jarnagin Susan , Bauer Donna
Published: August 2010

AbstractIn this paper we explore the social construction of agricultural masculinity and its role in the transition to sustainable agriculture. We draw our evidence from a participatory qualitative study comparing members of the sustainable agriculture group Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI) with their non‐PFI neighbors. On the non‐PFI farms, men more often represented what we callmonologic masculinity, a conventional masculinity with rigid and polarized gender expectations and strictly negotiated performances that make a clear distinction between men's and women's activities. The male farmers belonging to PFI, on the other hand, more often represented what we calldialogic masculinity, characterized by different measures for work and success than in monologic masculinity, less need for control over nature, and greater social openness. Although both are present to some extent in all male participants, we argue that acceptance of a more dialogic masculinity helps promote the transition to sustainable agriculture.
Maintaining Solidarity: A Look Back at the Mormon Village*
Authors: Goodsell Todd
Published: August 2010

Abstract The present study suggests, in contrast to community dissolution theories, that community is maintained through a dialogue between ideological commitment and cooperative action within a cultural framework. The research follows up on a classic rural community study series, that of Lowry Nelson's Mormon villages. Replicating Nelson's ethnographic methods, the author reevaluates the earlier findings and extends the data by several decades. Nelson's findings on Mormon village dynamics are still relevant, although in modified forms, largely through community members' commitments to a common ideology. The author concludes that affectively based communities persist despite modernization. Mormon solidarity has endured because of its early articulation of expected interaction with the broader social world and because of its commitment to both ideals and practical action.
The Organizational Dynamics of the U.S. Environmental Movement: Legitimation, Resource Mobilization, and Political Opportunity*
Authors: McLaughlin Paul , Khawaja Marwan
Published: August 2010

AbstractWe analyze the relationship between legitimation, resource mobilization, and political opportunity and the founding rate of national environmental organizations between 1895 and 1994. We address recent criticisms that organizational ecologists' reliance on the density dependence model—which treats legitimation as an unmeasured intervening variable—has failed to capture the active sociopolitical character of this process. We advocate a more historical approach to legitimation which relies on print media to construct direct measures of legitimation. Specifically, we use the yearly count of environmental books published as a measure of the legitimacy of environmentalism in the U.S. This count remains statistically significant and positively related to foundings even when other variables are added to the model. A negative second‐order effect of total books suggests that the recent proliferation of state and local environmental organizations is beginning to depress the founding rate of national organizations. Variations in resource mobilization and political opportunity also have affected foundings, though variables measuring the latter were not significant in the full model.
Making Men: The Construction and Representation of Agriculture‐Based Masculinities in Australia and New Zealand*
Authors: Liepins Ruth
Published: August 2010

Abstract Gender analyses of farming have become well established in rural sociological literature. In recent years, however, increasing attention has been given to the discursive processes influencing gender relations and identities. In the current paper I continue this trend by exploring how a range of key agriculture‐related masculinities are constructed and articulated in Australia and New Zealand. First, a conceptual discussion identifies the need to consider discourse and creation of knowledge and truths about masculinity. An outline of the research is provided. Then I report on two broad fields in which masculinity is constructed, namely the farm arena and industry politics. Finally, I make closing comments in relation to the possibility of alternative genderings of agriculture.
Factors Influencing the Integration of Alternative Farm Enterprises Into the Agro‐Food System*
Authors: Barlas Y. , Damianos D. , Dimara E. , Kasimis C. , Skuras D.
Published: August 2010

Abstract Financial stress and general crisis in European agriculture recently have generated a widespread interest in alternative paths of farm business development and structural adjustment. One of the options suggested by policy makers and adopted by farmers was the development of alternative farm enterprises (AFEs), in which farmers recombine resources on the farm and produce a new mix of products and services in order to supplement their incomes. In the present paper we examine the factors influencing the development of AFEs. According to empirical evidence from Etolia‐Akarnania, a prefecture in western Greece that merits “less favored area” status, AFE adoption is influenced by the amount of family labor, the ratio of hired to family labor, the presence of tobacco as a main enterprise, the proximity of the farm to grade A roads, and the farmers' age. Education, management experience demonstrated by the farm manager, physical size of the farm, enterprise specialization, the use of grants, and farm location are the main factors responsible for the farmers' integration into the agro‐food system.
Mobile Home Park on the Prairie: A New Rural Community Form*
Authors: MacTavish Katherine , Salamon Sonya
Published: August 2010

Abstract Mobile home parks are an increasingly common form of residence for the rural poor. A rural central Illinois mobile home park and its residents seemingly possess features—a distinct territory, a homogeneous population, and a collectively held rural ideology—that foster formation of a sense of community. Other factors, however, some unique to this relatively new rural residential form, present physical and social barriers that challenge park residents' construction of a sense of community. We use ethnographic data to describe daily life in a rural mobile home park and to determine who among its working‐poor residents are most able to construct a sense of community, and thus to gain access to the potentially beneficial community social resources that are crucial to making a difference in the quality of their lives.
Flexible Production on the Working Waterfront: The Social Origins of the Northwest Atlantic Sea Urchin Industry*
Authors: Lauer Sean R.
Published: August 2010

Abstract In 1986 the northwest Atlantic sea urchin was little more than a nuisance to local fishermen. Six years later, sea urchins were the second most valuable fishery in Maine, next the lobsters. This paper examines the initiation and early development of the northwest Atlantic sea urchin industry. The industry is unique because of its quick growth and its reliance on international markets. On the basis of ethnographic research, I examine the ability of firms already working in in‐shore fisheries to adapt to the introduction of international markets for a new product. Institutional arrangements of the working waterfront facilitate these adaptations through technological and social flexibility. In addition, flexible adaptation to the sea urchin market was not inhibited by existing formal or informal institutions. This analysis of the sea urchin industry and the working waterfront contributes to current discussions about small‐firm networks and the economic sociology of industries.
Hunting and Rural Socialization: Contingent Effects of the Rural Setting on Hunting Participation
Authors: Stedman Richard C. , Heberlein Thomas A.
Published: August 2010

Abstract This paper examines the relationship between rural socialization and hunting participation. Assessments of the cultural significance of hunting as a “way of life” in rural areas echo traditional assertions of the importance of rurality, but do not consider the interplay between rural residence and other variables that affect hunting participation. Although previous research has demonstrated that rural residents are more likely to participate in hunting, as are males and those who are influenced by family, the interaction of these variables is poorly understood. A national survey used a socialization framework to explore the more specific conditions under which rural upbringings were associated with increased hunting participation. Rural upbringings fostered an increase in hunting primarily when the socialization relationship between agent and target was unlikely to do so and when participation was consistent with gender norms: rural males whose fathers did not hunt were more likely to hunt than urban males whose fathers did not. In no other cases did rural upbringings result in an increased propensity for hunting. Therefore we suggest that broad statements about the cultural significance of hunting to rural life be made more cautiously, with the effects of other variables taken into account.
Social Isolation and Lethal Violence Across the Metro/Nonmetro Divide: The Effects of Socioeconomic Disadvantage and Poverty Concentration on Homicide*
Authors: Lee Matthew R. , Maume Michael O. , Ousey Graham C.
Published: August 2010

Abstract This study extends the macro‐level criminological research tradition by examining the links between socioeconomic disadvantage, poverty concentration, and homicide in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan U.S. counties. Most research in this tradition has tested structural theories using urban areas as the unit of analysis. This “urban bias” has resulted in a limited understanding of the social forces driving violence in nonmetropolitan areas. To partially address this problem, we link the literature on the spatial and social organization of nonmetropolitan communities with the social isolation perspective from the urban poverty literature. We hypothesize that the spatial concentration of poverty drives up rates of homicide in both metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas regardless of levels of socioeconomic disadvantage. Negative binomial regression for 1,746 nonmetropolitan and 778 metropolitan counties suggest that both socioeconomic disadvantage and poverty concentration elevate homicide in metropolitan areas. However, in nonmetropolitan counties only socioeconomic disadvantage has a significant impact. We conclude by discussing the implications of these differential findings for the social isolation perspective.
A Theory of Access*
Authors: Ribot Jesse C. , Peluso Nancy Lee
Published: August 2010

Abstract The term “access” is frequently used by property and natural resource analysts without adequate definition. In this paper we develop a concept of access and examine a broad set of factors that differentiate access from property. We define access as “the ability to derive benefits from things,” broadening from property's classical definition as “the right to benefit from things.” Access, following this definition, is more akin to “a bundle of powers” than to property's notion of a “bundle of rights.” This formulation includes a wider range of social relationships that constrain or enable benefits from resource use than property relations alone. Using this framing, we suggest a method of access analysis for identifying the constellations of means, relations, and processes that enable various actors to derive benefits from resources. Our intent is to enable scholars, planners, and policy makers to empirically “map” dynamic processes and relationships of access.
When Bad Things Happen in Good Places: Pastoralism in Big‐City Newspaper Coverage of Small‐Town Violence*
Authors: Frank Russell
Published: August 2010

AbstractAn examination of big‐city newspaper coverage of violent crimes in small towns during a recent five‐year period reveals a remarkable degree of uniformity in the language reporters use to characterize life in these places. The cliches signal an underlying set of stereotypes of small‐town life: They are safe, close‐knit communities where bad things are “not supposed to happen.” Yet the point of the stories is that bad things do happen. Drawing upon culturological and sociological approaches to the study of news production, this paper argues that the small towns described in the news are symbolic landscapes that reflect a pastoral orientation among journalists and in the culture at large.
Metropolitan Proximity and U.S. Agricultural Productivity, 1978–1997*
Authors: Thomas John K. , Howell Frank M.
Published: August 2010

Abstract Metropolitan encroachment into surrounding countrysides has had noticeable consequences on American agriculture. This research examines gross farm sales in five categories of crops and five categories of livestock and poultry by county proximity to metropolitan areas. A seven‐category classification of counties was derived from the 1983 and 1993 Economic Research Service/Beale rural‐urban codes and used in the analysis. Our findings showed a significant metropolitan influence on agricultural sales of crop and livestock commodities, particularly those commodities that can be intensively produced on few numbers of acres. Some of this influence is attributed to the rapid growth of the urban areas during the past quarter century. Our results challenge widely‐held traditional perceptions about the spatial organization of agricultural production in the United States.
An Empirical Examination of Characteristics of Mexican Migrants to Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Areas of the United States*
Authors: Farmer Frank L. , Moon Zola K.
Published: August 2010

Abstract  This research examines differences between those Mexican migrants choosing metropolitan destinations and those choosing destinations outside metropolitan areas of the United States. Using general estimating equations, the study presents data indicating that since the 1960s migrants choosing rural destinations are less fluent in English, slightly older, much less educated, far more likely to be unskilled, more likely to be married, and more likely to be undocumented. The picture is more complex when consideration is restricted to those migrants arriving in rural areas since the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement. These migrants are far more likely to be single, have more education but have less English fluency, have less work experience, and have less family experience with migration to the United States. They are more likely to come from small towns and rural areas of Mexico.
Rethinking the Scope of Environmental Injustice: Perceptions of Health Hazards in a Rural Native American Community Exposed to Carbon Black
Authors: Shriver Thomas E. , Webb Gary R.
Published: August 2010

Abstract We use in‐depth interviews, participant observation, and document analysis to examine perceptions of environmental health and justice among Native Americans in a rural Oklahoma community. Residents live near the Continental Carbon Company, which manufactures a rubber compound know as “carbon black.” Ponca tribal members believe their respiratory problems and other health concerns are directly related to the black dust emanating from the facility, but they have been unable to validate their health claims through institutional channels. We examine how Native American respondents interpret the environmental pollution as a threat not only to their health and well‐being but also to their sense of community. We address the perceived pattern of institutional denial and highlight the obstacles facing an impoverished Native American community attempting to validate their environmental health claims.
Sundown Town to “Little Mexico”: Old‐timers and Newcomers in an American Small Town*
Authors: McConnell Eileen Diaz , Miraftab Faranak
Published: August 2010

Abstract  For more than a century, communities across the United States legally employed strategies to create and maintain racial divides. One particularly widespread and effective practice was that of “sundown towns,” which signaled to African Americans and others that they were not welcome within the city limits after dark. Though nearly 1,000 small towns, larger communities, and suburbs across the country may have engaged in these practices, until recently there has been little scholarship on the topic. Drawing from qualitative and quantitative sources, this article presents a case study of a midwestern rural community with a sundown history. Since 1990 large numbers of Mexican migrants have arrived there to work at the local meat‐processing plant, earning the town the nickname “Little Mexico.” The study identifies a substantial decline in Hispanic‐white residential segregation in the community between 1990 and 2000. We consider possible explanations for the increased spatial integration of Latino and white residents, including local housing characteristics and the weak enforcement of preexisting housing policies. We also describe the racialized history of this former sundown town and whether, paradoxically, its history of excluding nonwhites may have played a role in the spatial configurations of Latinos and non‐Hispanic whites in 2000. Scholars investigating the contemporary processes of Latino population growth in “new” destinations, both in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas, may want to explore the importance of sociohistorical considerations, particularly localities' racialized historical contexts before the arrival of Mexican and other Latino immigrants.
Prognostic significance of O6‐methylguanine DNA methyltransferase and p57 methylation in patients with diffuse large B‐cell lymphomas
Authors: LEE SUN MI , LEE EUI JIN , KO YOUNG‐HYEH , LEE SUG HYUNG , MAENG LEESO , KIM KYOUNG‐MEE
Published: August 2010

To evaluate whether promoter methylation is related to responsiveness for chemotherapy or clinical outcome, we performed an association analysis between methylation and clinical outcomes. Patients with nodal diffuse large B‐cell lymphomas (DLBCL) at a single institute (n=44) were studied for methylation of tumor‐related genes, MGMT, p15INK4B, p16INK4A, p16INK4A, Mad2, TMS1/ASC, CASP8, and GSTP1. The clinical behavior of DLBCL after chemotherapy was followed up and analyzed. Hypermethylation of promoters of MGMT, p15INK4B, p16INK4A, p16INK4A, Mad2, and TMS1/ASC genes was observed in 52.3%, 31.8%, 54.5%, 47.7%, 50%, and 2.3% of the cases, respectively. Methylation of CASP8 and GSTP1 genes was not observed. Promoter methylation was not related to chemo‐responsiveness, disease‐free survival, and progress of disease after chemotherapy. However, in overall survival analyses, MGMT methylation (p<0.05) and responsiveness to chemotherapy (p<0.01) were significant prognostic factors in patients with DLBCL. In the low‐risk group, patients with p57 methylation showed longer overall survival than patients without p57 methylation (p=0.02) and all patients with p57 methylation were alive during follow‐up. Our results demonstrate that aberrant promoter methylation of MGMT and p57 is an additional biological marker for predicting increased overall survival in patients with DLBCL.
Acute viral hepatitis B with bridging necrosis: a follow‐up study
Authors: Schmid M. , Pirovino M. , Altorfer J. , Bansky G. , Bühler H. , Gudat F. , Bianchi L.
Published: August 2010

ABSTRACT— Forty patients with bridging necrosis (BN) on biopsies taken during the course of acute viral hepatitis B were included in a prospective study to assess the prognostic significance of this lesion. Of the 22 patients with complete clinical, biochemical and histological follow‐up (histological follow‐up 5–33 months), only two failed to eliminate HBs‐ and HBe‐antigen in serum, a finding paralleled by transition to chronic active hepatitis and by the persistence of focal HBc‐ and HBs‐antigen expression in liver tissue. Nineteen of 22 patients showed complete histological healing; one developed inactive cirrhosis. It is concluded that, in the setting of acute viral hepatitis B, the histological lesion of BN is of no particular prognostic significance, and that transition to chronic liver disease is much less frequent than has been assumed from previous studies of etiologically heterogeneous patient populations. Markers of poor prognosis are the failure of serological elimination of HBs‐ and HBe‐antigen and the persistence of spotty expression of HBc‐ and HBs‐antigen on immunofluorescence histology.
Non‐inflammatory herpes simplex hepatitis in an adult with chronic neutropenia
Authors: Bernuau Jacques , Rueff Bernard , Clauvel Jean‐Pierre , Degott Claude , Perol Yvonne , Benhamou Jean‐Pierre
Published: August 2010

ABSTRACT— We report the case of a young woman with chronic neutropenia, in whom hepatitis, extensive herpetic eruption and herpes simplex viremia developed after genital herpetic ulceration. Although severe liver necrosis was present, the patient's death did not result from hepatic failure. No inflammatory cell infiltration was found circumscribing the multiple necrotic foci in the liver. This absence of inflammatory cell infiltration reflects the host's inability to normally restrain herpes simplex virus dissemination and, in this patient, might be the consequence of chronic neutropenia.
Anatomical basis of hepatic venographic alterations in idiopathic portal hypertension
Authors: Okuda Kunio , Nakashima Toshiro , Okudaira Masahiko , Kage Masayoshi , Aida Yoshibumi , Omata Masao , Musha Hirotaka , Futagawa Shunji , Sugiura Mitsuo , Kameda Haruo
Published: August 2010

ABSTRACT— Hepatic venograms made in 40 authentic cases of idiopathic portal hypertension (Banti's syndrome) were compared with 13 normal venograms and venograms obtained in 88 cases of cirrhosis, and analyzed in the light of the pathological changes seen in 16 postmortem liver specimens. There were frequent anastomoses between hepatic vein radicles, approximation of middle‐size branches to the liver surface, reduction in the angles between the main hepatic vein and its tributaries, and difficulty in opacifying portal vein branches in wedged retrograde portography. These angiographic alterations were corroborated by gross pathological findings which comprised displacement of middle‐size hepatic vein branches closer to the liver surface and their approximation among themselves, and seem to be accounted for by the disappearance of liver parenchyma secondary to the peripheral portal circulatory failure.
A clinical and pathological study of diffuse type hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Okuda Kunio , Noguchi Takehide , Kubo Yasuhiko , Shimokawa Yutaka , Kojiro Masamichi , Nakashima Toshiro
Published: August 2010

ABSTRACT— Six autopsy cases of the rare, diffuse type of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), as classified gross anatomically according to the strict definition, have been studied. The prominent clinical feature was the rapid deterioration of the patient's general condition, terminating in hepatic failure. The liver size enlarged quickly, at a perceptible speed, often accompanied by abdominal pain. Diagnosis of this particular type of HCC was difficult, and celiac angiography and scintiscan of the liver were only suggestive when considered together with other laboratory data. Hepatitis B surface antigen was positive in all three patients in whom it was tested. The entire liver was studded with minute, uniformly sized tumor nodules, evenly distributed throughout. Some of them were grossly indistinguishable from cirrhotic nodules. All livers had an underlying cirrhosis which was characterized by relatively small regenerative nodules with thin stromas. Large portal branches at the hilum contained tumor thrombi in all patients, except for one case in which left lobectomy was followed by intraportal dissemination. Histologically, all tumor nodules represented intrahepatic metastases via the portal vein system. Tumor cells were poorly differentiated. These findings suggest that the diffuse type of HCC most frequently, if not always, represents intrahepatic, widespread portal metastases which have occurred within a short period of time.
Bacteraemia in patients with fulminant hepatic failure
Authors: Wyke R. J. , Canalese J. C. , Gimson A. E. S. , Williams Roger
Published: August 2010

ABSTRACT— Among 103 patients with fulminant hepatic failure due to viral hepatitis, paracetamol overdose, or halothane anaesthesia, treated over a 2‐year period, 23 had bacteraemia. Gram‐positive organisms, mainly streptococci and Staphylococcus aureus, were isolated from 61% of patients. Escherichia coli, the main type of gram‐negative organism isolated, was found in 26% of patients and was associated with a fatal outcome more often than gram‐positive bacteria. The type of organism isolated was not related to the aetiology of the hepatic necrosis, the presence of renal failure, or the clinical outcome. In the 23 patients with bacteraemia the same organism was isolated from other sites of infection, including sputum in four, urine in two, and the central venous catheter and arteriovenous shunt in one. Bacteraemia usually occurred 3 days after admission or on average 2 days after clinical deterioration to grade IV encephalopathy had begun. In 11 patients, the infection had an adverse effect on their clinical course, in three patients being implicated as a cause of the encephalopathy. Although in four patients the development of infection after all signs of encephalopathy had cleared may have been a major factor in their death, two of these patients had evidence of severe sepsis, pneumococcal peritonitis, and renal abscesses from which Candida albicans was cultured. An awareness of infection as a complication both of the acute stage of the illness and during recovery is essential if early detection and treatment are to be effective.
Spontaneous “primary biliary cirrhosis” in rabbits
Authors: Tison V. , Callea F. , Morisi C. , Mancini A. M. , Desmet V. J.
Published: August 2010

ABSTRACT—A syndrome resembling human Primary Biliary Cirrhosis (PBC) and occurring spontaneously in a strain of domesticated rabbits from the Faenza region in Italy, is reported. The syndrome is characterized by histological liver changes consisting of chronic non‐suppurative destructive cholangitis and copper accumulation, biochemical and immunological abnormalities mainly represented by an elevation of serum alkaline phosphatase and a positive antimitochondrial antibody test. The abnormalities were not observed in newborn rabbits from the same area nor in control rabbits from the island of Sardinia. A toxic effect related to some environmental factor may be responsible for the disease. Alternatively, a continuous process of partial inbreeding among consanguineous animals may have resulted in a selection of a strain genetically predisposed to the development of PBC. Whatever the etiology, the domesticated Faenza rabbit proves to be an interesting animal model for a chronic non‐suppurative destructive cholangitis, very similar to the human disease known as PBC.
Liver pathology of idiopathic portal hypertension. Comparison with non‐cirrhotic portal fibrosis of India The Japan idiopathic portal hypertension study*,+
Authors: Okuda Kunio , Nakashima Toshiro , Okudaira Masahiko , Kage Masayoshi , Aida Yoshifumi , Omata Masao , Sugiura Mitsuo , Kameda Haruo , Inokuchi Kiyoshi , Bhusnurmath S. R. , Aikat B. A.
Published: August 2010

ABSTRACT— Morphological changes of the liver were studied in 24 autopsy cases of noncirrhotic portal hypertension of unknown etiology (idiopathic portal hypertension, IPH), and in 123 surgical biopsies from such patients. For comparison, 15 whole‐cut liver slices from autopsy cases of noncirrhotic portal fibrosis (NCPF) from India were also studied. Liver pathology was very similar in IPH and NCPF, characterized by phlebosclerotic changes and perivascular fibrosis of the portal vein system, and parenchymal atrophy perhaps secondary to portal circulatory insufficiency. The distribution of lesions was uneven, and despite marked fibrosis and occasional surface nodularity, there was no diffuse pseudonodule formation in the parenchyma. Surgical specimens showed similar changes except for more frequent portal cellular infiltrates, but the changes seen in one biopsy specimen were limited and not always diagnostic. It seems that IPH of Japan and NCPF of India are the same disease, and perhaps hepatoportal sclerosis elsewhere is also the same disease.
Portographic findings and coagulopathy in cirrhosis
Authors: Hahn‐Pedersen Jan , Sørensen Thorkild IA , Jacobsen Bo , Andersen Bjørn , Burcharth Flemming
Published: August 2010

ABSTRACT— Percutaneous transhepatic portography was performed in 57 patients with cirrhosis and portal hypertension. The portographic findings, the free portal pressure and the coagulation tests were analyzed. Moderate or severe abnormality of the coagulation system was significantly associated with extrahepatic shunting, large gastric varices and collaterals from the splenic vein and splenic hilum. Reduced levels of prothrombin, factor X and thrombocyte counts were the factors mainly accounting for this association. As severe variceal bleeding is associated with these changes in the portal circulation, identification of patients at high risk may be based on portography combined with examination of the coagulation system.
Immunocytochemical identification of caeruloplasmin in hepatocytes of patients with Wilson's disease
Authors: Graul R. S. , Epstein O. , Sherlock S. , Scheuer P. J.
Published: August 2010

ABSTRACT— Decreased serum caeruloplasmin levels in patients with Wilson's disease have been attributed to decreased caeruloplasmin synthesis in the hepatocyte. An immunoperoxidase procedure was used to identify caeruloplasmin in liver biopsies. The pattern of staining in biopsies from patients with Wilson's disease did not differ from the pattern seen in normal adult or neonatal liver. This indicates that immunoreactive caeruloplasmin is synthesized by the liver cell in Wilson's disease. Low serum levels of caeruloplasmin may reflect an abnormality of copper incorporation into the apoprotein or an abnormality of holocaeruloplasmin export.
An improved method for HBcAg demonstration in paraffin‐embedded liver tissue
Authors: Trevisan Alessandro , Gudat Fred , Busachi Carlantonio , Stöcklin Elisabeth , Bianchi Leonardo
Published: August 2010

ABSTRACT— Factors influencing the preservation of HBcAg in formalin‐fixed, paraffin‐embedded liver tissue have been analysed. Fixation time, choice of the embedding medium, deparaffinization and selection of anti‐HBc proved to be critical variables. For optimal results, fixation in 4% buffered formalin for no longer than 24–48 h, the use of wax with a low melting point, a heating step prior to deparaffinization, and a search for anti‐HBc specifically reactive for paraffinated HBcAg are recommended.
Caroli's disease in congenital hepatic fibrosis and infantile polycystic disease
Authors: Nakanuma Yasuni , Terada Tadashi , Ohta Goroku , Kurachi Madoka , Matsubara Fujitsugu
Published: August 2010

ABSTRACT— Two of three patients with infantile polycystic disease and all three patients with congenital hepatic fibrosis revealed multiple gross cystic dilatation of the intrahepatic biliary tree, referred to as Caroli's disease. All three patients with congenital hepatic fibrosis showed recurrent cholangitis related to coexisting Caroli's disease, and two of them died of sepsis following cholangitis. There were several common morphologic findings in the intrahepatic biliary tree of macroscopic and microscopic levels in infantile polycystic disease and congenital hepatic fibrosis with Caroli's disease: 1. irregular, non‐obstructive dilatation of the duct lumen; 2. bulbar protrusion of the duct wall into the lumen; and 3. bridge formation of the duct wall across the lumen. These ductal changes might be caused by a combination of uneven and disproportionate overgrowth of biliary epithelia and their supporting connective tissue. This pathogenetic mechanism might be operative along the entire intrahepatic biliary system in this disease group, and involvement of the smaller levels in early life might result in infantile polycystic disease and congenital hepatic fibrosis and simultaneous or possibly later involvement of the larger levels in Caroli's disease.
Intrahepatic synthesis of immunoglobulin in liver disease
Authors: Kronborg I. J. , Knopf P. M. , Bhathal P. S. , Mackay I. R.
Published: August 2010

ABSTRACT— Patterns of intrahepatic immunoglobulin production were investigated by an in vitro biosynthetic labelling technique which measured the rate of Ig production in liver biopsy fragments. This technique depends on the incorporation of 3H‐leucine into proteins synthesized by cells in the biopsy fragment and subsequently released into the culture medium, and precipitation of Ig with monospecific antisera. Intrahepatic Ig production was expressed as counts of radioactivity precipitated/g of liver tissue/24 h. Mean values were high in various inflammatory diseases of the liver, including alcoholic hepatitis (AH) (17 cases), IgG, 87.8, IgA, 105.6 and IgM, 14.7, chronic active hepatitis (CAH) (19 cases), IgG, 86.0, IgA, 56:1 and IgM, 12.6, and acute viral hepatitis (3 cases), IgG, 116.0, IgA, 61.0 and IgM, 32.0, but low in histologically normal livers (6 cases), IgG, 4.5, IgA, 4.8 and IgM, 4.7, alcoholic fatty liver (11 cases), IgG, 9.4, IgA, 11.4 and IgM, 7.1, and miscellaneous non‐inflammatory conditions (10 cases), IgG, 8.7, IgA, 11.1 and IgM, 5.0. Photomicrographs were used to measure the density of plasma cells, expressed as cells/mm2 of liver biopsy tissue: mean counts were for AH 5.1, CAH 16.2 and normal liver 0.0. Intrahepatic Ig production in vitro did not correlate with the density of plasma cells in biopsy samples from cases of AH or CAH, nor with serum Ig levels.