bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Early Prediction of Sepsis-Induced Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation with Interleukin-10, Interleukin-6, and RANTES in Preterm Infants
Authors: Ng Pak C , Li Karen , Leung Ting F , Wong Raymond PO , Li Geng , Chui Kit M , Wong Eric , Cheng Frankie WT , Fok Tai F
Published: April 2006

Background: The progression to disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) in infected very low birth weight (VLBW; <1500 g) infants is difficult to predict with precision at the onset of sepsis. We investigated the immunologic profiles of preterm infants with sepsis, using chemokine and cytokine measurements to predict the development of sepsis-induced DIC at the onset of infection.

Methods: We measured a panel of chemokines and cytokines at 0 and 24 h after clinical presentation in VLBW infants with suspected infection requiring full sepsis screening. The chemokines measured were interleukin (IL)-8, interferon-γ-inducible protein-10 (IP-10), monokine induced by interferon-γ, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, and regulated upon activation normal T-cell expressed and secreted (RANTES), and the cytokines were IL-6, IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor-α.

Results: Of 195 episodes of suspected clinical sepsis investigated, 62 were culture-confirmed septicemia or necrotizing enterocolitis (28 of these infants developed DIC), 22 were culture-negative clinical infections, and 111 involved noninfected episodes. All studied inflammatory mediators except RANTES showed significantly greater up-regulation in culture-positive infected infants than in noninfected infants at 0 and 24 h, whereas RANTES showed significant down-regulation. The model that used plasma IL-10 (>208 ng/L), IL-6 (>168 ng/L), and RANTES (<3110 ng/L) at 0 h had sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of 100%, 97%, 85%, and 100%, respectively, for identifying infected patients who subsequently developed DIC.

Conclusions: IL-10, IL-6, and RANTES measured at clinical presentation sensitively and accurately predicted the development of DIC in severely infected infants. This information could be vital for early and effective treatment of neonatal sepsis.
Detection of a Soluble Form of BACE-1 in Human Cerebrospinal Fluid by a Sensitive Activity Assay
Authors: Verheijen Jan H , Huisman Linda GM , van Lent Natascha , Neumann Ulf , Paganetti Paolo , Hack C Erik , Bouwman Femke , Lindeman Jan , Bollen Edward LEM , Hanemaaijer Roeland
Published: April 2006

Background: Formation of deposits of the insoluble amyloid β-peptide is believed to be causally related with neurodegeneration in Alzheimer disease (AD). The β-peptide originates from a larger amyloid precursor protein (APP) by the action of proteolytic enzymes. The first proteolytic event leading to amyloid formation is the cleavage of APP by the membrane-bound aspartyl protease BACE-1, also known as memapsin-2. Inhibition of BACE-1 is thought to be a therapeutic approach to AD. Measuring BACE-1 activity in biological samples would be useful to elucidate the mechanism of AD and for development of AD drugs.

Methods: We developed a sensitive and specific activity assay for BACE-1. The assay is based on a genetically engineered proenzyme that is specifically activated by BACE-1. The resulting active enzyme is measured with a chromogenic substrate. The use of 2 coupled reactions produces a detection limit as low as 0.4 pmol/L.

Results: The assay detected BACE-1 activity in extracts of human brain tissue as well as, unexpectedly, in human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Gel electrophoresis and Western blotting identified the BACE-1 present in CSF as a truncated soluble form of the originally membrane-bound BACE-1.

Conclusion: Detection of the soluble form of BACE-1 in CSF, a relatively easily accessible biological fluid, may be useful for monitoring the effects of drug candidates in vivo and may have diagnostic or prognostic applications.
Can Adam and Eve Reconcile?: Gender and Sexuality in a New Jewish Religious Movement
Authors: Ariel Yaakov
Published: April 2006

In the late 1960s a new Jewish religious movement challenged the current conventional assumptions on the relationship between Judaism and the sexual revolution, as well as the women's movement. The neo-hasids were members of the counterculture who became observant Jews and sought inspiration in Hasidic forms of Jewish spirituality. While to many the hippie culture seemed far removed from an observant form of Judaism, to the neo-hasids such a hybrid seemed possible and even desirable. Calling their center the House of Love and Prayer, the group negotiated between Jewish tradition and hippie culture in an attempt to create a new Jewish environment. A major challenge for the group was accommodating hippie modes of sexuality with Jewish laws governing personal and matrimonial behavior. The group interpreted Jewish laws dictating gender roles and sexual behavior in light of the new expectations of female members, as well as the new norms in sexual conduct promoted by the counterculture and the emerging women's movement. Likewise, the neo-hasids gave new meanings and forms to Jewish rites, reinterpreting them in light of their new understanding of the relationship between the sexes. The compromise the group cut in the realm of sexuality and gender has become the de facto attitude of turnof-the-twenty-first-century traditionalist Jews and has permitted thousands of young women and men to become "returnees to tradition" and join the ranks of observant Jewish communities.
The predominant form of non-toxic goiter in Greece is now autoimmune thyroiditis
Authors: Doufas AG , Mastorakos G , Chatziioannou S , Tseleni-Balafouta S , Piperingos G , Boukis MA , Mantzos E , Caraiskos CS , Mantzos J , Alevizaki M , Koutras DA
Published: April 2006

Endemic non-toxic goiter (NTG) in Greece has been attributed primarily to iodine deficiency. Thirty years ago about 60% of the prepubertal boys and girls examined in endemic goiter regions presented with NTG and among them thyroid autoimmunity was rarely detected. Although iodine supplementation has corrected this deficiency during the past 30 years, new cases of NTG still appear. To evaluate the prevalence and type of NTG and the effect of iodine supplementation on them in Greece at present, we performed two cross-sectional clinical studies and a retrospective pathology one: (i) thyroid gland volume and urinary iodine excretion (UIE) were assessed in a representative sample of 1213 schoolchildren from previously endemic and non-endemic regions; (ii) serum thyroxine, tri-iodothyronine, TSH, thyroid autoantibodies (AAB) (anti-thyroid peroxidase and anti-thyroglobulin antibodies) and UIE (in 60 patients) were measured in 300 consecutive patients with NTG from Athens and Heraklion; and (iii) we compared the prevalence of autoimmunity among fine needle aspiration smears of benign thyroid pathologies performed by the same pathologist between 1985 and 1986 (975 cases) and between 1994 and 1995 (2702 cases). We found that 12. 5% of the schoolchildren examined in regions with a previous history of endemic goiter had NTG, whereas this percentage was only 1.7% in areas without such a history. In Athens (61.6%) and Heraklion (58. 5%) a substantial number of NTG patients were AAB positive and biochemically hypothyroid. UIE in Athens did not differ between patients with autoimmune goiter (ATG) and simple goiter. The prevalence of autoimmune stigmata in pathology smears has increased from 5.94% (years 1985-1986) to 13.91% (years 1994-1995) (P<0.05). We conclude that: (i) the persistence of endemic goiter in regional foci despite iodine deficiency correction suggests a possible role for a naturally occurring goitrogen; (ii) ATG is the predominant form of NTG in Greece nowadays; and (iii) the five-fold decrease in the prevalence of NTG during the past 30 years followed by the increase of ATG may support the relative character of the latter.
Thyroid function, morphology and autoimmunity in young patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus
Authors: Hansen D , Bennedbaek FN , Hansen LK , Hoier-Madsen M , Jacobsen BB , Hegedus L
Published: April 2006

OBJECTIVE: An association between insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) and autoimmune thyroid disease is well recognized. We have studied the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction, autoimmunity and morphological abnormalities by ultrasonography in young diabetics. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Among young IDDM patients less than 18 years old and living in the county of Funen, Denmark, 105 of 116 eligible patients participated. They were compared with 105 healthy children matched for sex and age. Routine thyroid function parameters (thyroxine (T4), tri-iodothyronine (T3), T3 resin uptake and TSH) and thyroid autoantibodies (anti-thyroid peroxidase, TPOab, and thyroglobulin antibodies, Tgab) were measured. Thyroid size and morphology were determined by ultrasonography. RESULTS: Two of the diabetics had previously diagnosed hypothyroidism and three new cases of subclinical hypothyroidism were found. There were no significant differences in thyroid function variables or thyroid volume between diabetics and controls. Thyroid volume correlated significantly with age and weight in both groups. Among diabetics, 17 had thyroid autoantibodies (13 with TPOab, 14 with Tgab and 10 with both) compared with 2 children in the control group (P<0.001). Forty-four with IDDM as opposed to 11 of the controls (P<0.001) had morphological abnormalities at ultrasonography. Most of them had various degrees of hypoechogenicity thought to be a marker of thyroid autoimmunity. Among the 17 diabetics with autoantibodies, 10 had morphological abnormalities at ultrasonography. CONCLUSIONS: A high proportion of young IDDM patients without any clinical signs of thyroid disease have markers of thyroid autoimmunity. Many have thyroid autoantibodies, but even more have abnormalities by thyroid ultrasonography.
Mono- and plurihormonal thyrotropic pituitary adenomas: pathological, hormonal and clinical studies in 12 patients
Authors: Bertholon-Gregoire M , Trouillas J , Guigard MP , Loras B , Tourniaire J
Published: April 2006

In a series of 12 patients (eight women and four men, aged between 20 and 62 years), operated on for a pituitary adenoma shown to be thyrotropic by immunocytochemistry, we performed a retrospective and comparative analysis of clinical and biological data, tumor studies including immunocytochemistry with double labeling, and proliferation marker (proliferative cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and Ki-67) detection, electron microscopy and culture. Our study leads us to confirm that thyrotropic tumors are rare (12 of 1174 pituitary adenomas: 1%). The main points arising were that: (1) high or normal plasma TSH associated with an increase in plasma alpha-subunit and high thyroid hormone levels is the best criterion for diagnosis; (2) the failure of TSH to respond to TRH or Werner's test is not a reliable criterion for diagnosis; (3) thyrotropic adenomas may be 'silent', without clinical signs of hyperthyroidism and with only slight increase in TSH, tri-iodothyronine and thyroxine concentrations; (4) mitoses and nuclear atypies are frequently detected in large tumors, which are invasive in more than 50% of cases - the first analysis of two proliferation markers (PCNA and Ki-67) bears out the relative aggressiveness of thyrotropic adenomas; (5) thyrotropic adenomas are frequently plurihormonal. Immunocytochemical double labeling, complemented by in vitro study, showed that thyrotropic tumor cells sometimes can or sometimes cannot cosecrete TSH, GH or prolactin. The pathological identification of monohormonal and plurihormonal adenomas seems to be supported by clinical and biological differences.
Stimulation of matrix-metalloproteinase-1 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 gene expression in rats by the preovulatory prolactin peak
Authors: Hirsch B , Knoke I , Leonhardt S , Pitzel L , Jarry H , Wuttke W
Published: April 2006

Since structural luteolysis involves deterioration of tissue, the gene expression of matrix-metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) and the respective tissue inhibitor of this metalloprotease (TIMP-1) were measured at various times on the day of pro-oestrus and in animals in which the preovulatory prolactin surge was blocked for the duration of 3 cycles by bromocriptine. An additional group of prolactin-blocked rats received a prolactin replacement injection on the afternoon of pro-oestrus. In spontaneously pro-oestrous rats, MMP-1 and TIMP-1 gene expression increased significantly (P<0.01) prior to the occurrence of the preovulatory LH surge but simultaneously with the onset of the preovulatory prolactin surge. When prolactin release was blocked by bromocriptine for 3 cycles, no such changes were observed during the afternoon of pro-oestrus. However, an intraperitoneal injection of bovine prolactin at the time when the preovulatory prolactin surge occurs normally, increased MMP-1 and TIMP-1 gene expression (P<0.01). These results indicate that MMP-1 and TIMP-1 gene expression are stimulated by the preovulatory prolactin surge. Previous work has shown that the preovulatory LH surge activates the enzymatic cascade which leads to increased collagenase activity.
pG2 gene expression and its regulation in human adrenocortical and medullary tumors
Authors: Liu J , Voutilainen R , Heikkila P , Kahri AI
Published: April 2006

The cDNA clone pG2 was originally isolated from a human pheochromocytoma. The respective gene was found to be strongly expressed in normal adrenal zona glomerulosa and medulla, as well as in Conn's adenomas and pheochromocytomas. To shed more light on the expression and regulation of the pG2 gene, we investigated its expression in a wide variety of different adrenal neoplasms and cultured adrenal cells. Northern blot analysis was used to determine the steady state level of pG2 mRNA. Besides normal adrenals, Conn's adenomas and pheochromocytomas, we found abundant expression of pG2 mRNA in Cushing's, virilizing and nonfunctional adrenocortical adenomas and carcinomas, as well as in hyperplastic adrenals. The relative levels of pG2 mRNA in various adrenocortical tumors were not significantly different from those in normal adrenals and pheochromocytomas. In primary cultures of normal adrenal cells, treatment with adrenocorticotropin induced a 3- to 15-fold increase in the expression of pG2 mRNA (P<0.01), and this effect was reproduced by incubation with (Bu)2cAMP. In cultured pheochromocytoma cells, treatment with (Bu)2cAMP and a protein kinase inhibitor, staurosporine, increased pG2 mRNA accumulation (2- to 4-fold over the control level, P<0.01, and 3- to 8-fold, P<0.01, respectively). These results indicate that pG2 is widely expressed in normal and pathological adrenal tissues from both cortical and medullary origin, which eliminates its usefulness as a specific marker for zona glomerulosa or medullary adrenal tumors. Accumulation of pG2 mRNA is regulated by multiple differentiating factors through different pathways in primary cultures of normal adrenal and pheochromocytoma cells.
c-Myc protein is stabilized by fibroblast growth factor 2 and destabilized by ACTH to control cell cycle in mouse Y1 adrenocortical cells
Authors: Lepique Ana Paula , Moraes Miriam S , Rocha Kátia M , Eichler Claudia B , Hajj Glaucia N M , Schwindt Telma T , Armelin Hugo A
Published: April 2006

ACTH is the hormone known to control adrenal cortex function and maintenance in the intact animal but, in culture, it inhibits proliferation of adrenocortical cells from different mammalian species, a puzzle that has remained unsolved for nearly 30 years. In this paper we compare ACTH and fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) antagonistic effects on the cell cycle in the Y1 cell line, a functional lineage of mouse adreno-cortical tumor cells. This cell line displays chronic high levels of c-Ki-Ras-GTP, high active constitutive levels of phosphatidylinositol 3-OH kinase/Protein Kinase B (PI3K/AKT) and low constitutive basal expression of c-Myc, which accounts for a minor deregulation of the cell cycle. In G0/G1-arrested Y1 cells, over-expression of the dominant negative mutant HaRasN17 drastically reduces c-Ki-Ras-GTP levels, eliminating basal c-Myc expression and basal S phase entry. PI3K/Akt seems to be the downstream pathway from c-Ki-ras for deregulation of c-Myc basal expression, since wortmannin abolishes c-Myc expression in serum-starved, G0/G1-arrested Y1 cells. FGF2 is a strong mitogen for Y1 cells, promoting – in a manner dependent on the MEK/ERK pathway – c-myc transcription induction, c-Myc protein stabilization and S phase entry in G0/G1-arrested Y1 cells. On the other hand, ACTH causes c-Myc protein destabilization, partially blocking S phase entry induced by FGF2, by a process dependent on the cAMP/protein kinase A (PKA) pathway. The whole pathway activated by ACTH to destabilize c-Myc protein in Y1 cells might comprise the following steps: ACTH receptor →cAMP/PKA → Akt deactivation →GSK3 activity liberation → c-Myc Thr58 phosphorylation.

We demonstrate that c-Myc regulation is a central key in the cell cycle control by these factors, since enforced expression of c-Myc through the MycER chimera abrogates the ACTH inhibitory effect over FGF2-induced S phase entry.
The effects of FSH and of testosterone on the completion of meiosis and the very early steps of spermiogenesis of the rat: an in vitro study
Authors: Vigier M , Weiss M , Perrard M H , Godet M , Durand P
Published: April 2006

The role of FSH and of testosterone in spermatogenesis has been a matter of controversy. In the present study, we addressed the involvement of these hormones in the regulation of the completion of meiosis of male rats under in vitro conditions. In the first series of experiments, middle/late pachytene spermatocytes were cocultured with Sertoli cells for 2 weeks in the absence or presence of FSH and/or testosterone. Treatment with both FSH and testosterone reduced slightly the percentage of apoptotic germinal cells in the cultures. Moreover, the number of round spermatids formed in vitro was enhanced by FSH or testosterone when compared with control cultures. Neither hormone influenced the half-life of round spermatids under the present culture conditions. The amounts of TP1 mRNAs in FSH- or FSH plus testosterone-treated cultures were higher than those of controls. In another series of experiments, round spermatids were incubated for 24 h in media conditioned by Sertoli cells cultured in the absence or presence of FSH and/or testosterone. TP1 mRNA contents of round spermatids incubated in media from Sertoli cells cultured in the presence of FSH and/or testosterone were two- to threefold higher than those of spermatids incubated in media from Sertoli cells cultured without hormones. These results indicate that FSH and testosterone have positive and somewhat overlapping effects on the meiotic divisions and the post-meiotic expression of a germ cell-specific gene, effects which cannot be related solely to their ability to reduce germinal cell apoptosis. Use of this culture system should help to test the effect of any hormone or factor on those steps in order to understand better their regulation.
Genome-wide expression profiling; a panel of mouse tissues discloses novel biological functions of liver X receptors in adrenals
Authors: Steffensen Knut R , Neo Soek Ying , Stulnig Thomas M , Vega Vinsensius B , Rahman Safia S , Schuster Gertrud U , Gustafsson Jan-Åke , Liu Edison T
Published: April 2006

The liver X receptors α and β (LXRα and LXRβ ) are members of the nuclear receptor superfamily of proteins which are highly expressed in metabolically active tissues. They regulate gene expression of critical genes involved in cholesterol catabolism and transport, lipid and triglyceride biosynthesis and carbohydrate metabolism in response to distinct oxysterols and intermediates in the cholesterol metabolic pathway. The biological roles of the LXRs in tissues other than liver, intestine and adipose tissue are poorly elucidated. In this study we used global gene-expression profiling analysis to detect differences in expression patterns in several tissues from mice fed an LXR agonist or vehicle. Our results show that LXR plays an important role in the kidney, lung, adrenals, brain, testis and heart where several putative LXR target genes were found. The effects of the LXRs were further analysed in adrenals where treatment with an LXR agonist induced expression of adrenocorticotrophic hormone receptor, suppressed expression of uncoupling protein (UCP)-1 and UCP-3 as well as several glycolytic enzymes and led to increased serum corticosterone levels. These results indicate novel biological roles of the LXR including regulation of energy metabolism, glycolysis and steroidogenesis in the adrenals via alteration of expression profiles of putative target genes.
Molecular basis of bone morphogenetic protein-4 inhibitory action on progesterone secretion by ovine granulosa cells
Authors: Pierre A , Pisselet C , Dupont J , Mandon-Pépin B , Monniaux D , Monget P , Fabre S
Published: April 2006

We have recently reported that bone morphogenetic protein-4 (BMP-4) can inhibit progesterone production by ovine granulosa cells (GCs). Here, we have investigated the underlying mechanisms of this effect in basal as well as in FSH-induced conditions. We have confirmed that treatment with BMP-4 decreased basal GC progesterone secretion and totally abolished FSH-stimulating action. This inhibitory action was associated with a decrease in the expression of cAMP-regulated genes, steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR) and P450 side-chain cleavage (P450 scc) at mRNA and protein levels. However, BMP-4 did not alter basal cAMP production by GCs. In contrast, BMP-4 decreased by half the FSH-induced cAMP production and strongly inhibited cAMP-induced progesterone production. Thus, the inhibitory effect of BMP-4 was exerted both upstream and downstream of cAMP signalling. We next examined the downstream effect, focusing on cAMP-dependent transcription factors, steroidogenic factor-1 (SF-1) and CREB, through the BMP factor signalling intermediary, Smad1. As expected, BMP-4 induced phosphorylation and transcriptional activity of Smad1 in ovine GCs. BMP-4-activated Smad1 did not affect CREB activity but inhibited the transcriptional activity of SF-1 on the canonical SF-1 responsive element. Interestingly, this transcriptional inhibitory mechanism occurred on transfected StAR and P450 scc promoter. Based on these results, we propose that SF-1 is a key target in the inhibitory mechanism exerted by BMP-4 on progesterone synthesis by ovine GCs in culture. Because SF-1 plays an essential role in the differentiation of GCs, our findings could have new implications in understanding the role of BMP family members in the control of ovarian folliculogenesis.
PTTG’s C-terminal PXXP motifs modulate critical cellular processes in vitro
Authors: Boelaert K , Yu R , Tannahill L A , Stratford A L , Khanim F L , Eggo M C , Moore J S , Young L S , Gittoes N J L , Franklyn J A , Melmed S , McCabe C J
Published: April 2006

Human pituitary tumor-transforming gene (PTTG), known also as securin, is a multifunctional protein implicated in the control of mitosis and the pathogenesis of thyroid, colon, oesophageal and other tumour types. Critical to PTTG function is a C-terminal double PXXP motif, forming a putative SH3-interacting domain and housing the gene’s sole reported phosphorylation site. The exact role of phosphorylation and PXXP structure in the modulation of PTTG action in vitro remains poorly understood. We therefore examined the mitotic, transformation, proliferation and transactivation function of the C-terminal PXXP motifs of human PTTG. Live-cell imaging studies using an EGFP-PTTG construct indicated that PTTG’s regulation of mitosis is retained regardless of phosphorylation status. Colony-formation assays demonstrated that phosphorylation of PTTG may act as a potent inhibitor of cell transformation. In proliferation assays, NIH-3T3 cells stable transfected and overexpressing mutations preventing PTTG phosphorylation (Phos-) showed significantly increased [3H]thymidine incorporation compared with WT, whereas mutants mimicking constitutive phosphorylation of PTTG (Phos+) exhibited reduced cell proliferation. We demonstrated that PTTG transactivation of FGF-2 in primary thyroid and PTTG-null cell lines was not affected by PTTG phosphorylation but was prevented by a mutant disrupting the PXXP motifs (SH3-). Taken together, our data suggest that PXXP structure and phosphorylation are likely to exert independent and critical influences upon PTTG’s diverse actions in vitro.
Sapropel-like Pliocene sediments of Sicily deposited under oxygenated bottom water
Authors: Daux Valérie , Foucault Alain , Melieres Frédéric , Turpin Mélanie
Published: April 2006

The Pliocene Punta Piccola series, deposited on the Sicily sill at 100–400 m depths, consists of alternating whitish hemipelagic marl and carbonate-poor, organic-carbon-richer, brownish dark marl. The rhythmic bedding is interpreted to result from the precession driven alternation of more or less humid periods. In the present study, we compare the mineralogical and geochemical composition (isotope ratios of oxygen and carbon; Ca, Mn, Mg, Sr, and Fe concentrations) of the carbonate fractions of the whitish marl to those of the dark layers to evaluate the environmental changes that likely produced these alternations.

High Mn concentrations in the dark layers, and the occurrence of pseudo-kutnahorite (Mn-Ca mixed carbonate), bioturbation, ostracodes, and benthic foraminifera favour the hypothesis of the dark-layer deposition taking place under oxygen-bearing bottom waters. The original value of the concentration of the organic carbon in the dark layers of Punta Piccola, estimated from the δ13C measured in the carbonate fraction, was higher than the post-diagenetic one. It may have reached 7% in the dark layer 107, which was therefore a true sapropel at the time of deposition. This result indicates that anoxic conditions are not a prerequisite for sapropelic sediment formation. However, the pristine concentration of the organic carbon in the dark layers at Punta Piccola is lower than those of coeval sapropels cored in the nearby deep settings, which were deposited under an anoxic water column. This difference may result from the effect of water column anoxia on the organic carbon content.

Diagenetic reactions took place in the dark layers through the oxidation of large amounts of organic matter. The dissolution of primary calcium carbonates (biogenic in origin) and the reduction of Fe and Mn oxyhydroxides led the interstitial solutions to be supersaturated towards Mn-rich calcite and/or pseudo-kutnahorite. The secondary carbonates are Mg-enriched and Sr and Fe-depleted. The negative shifts of the δ18O signal in the carbonates of the dark layers of Punta Piccola are consistent with an increased river discharge in the Mediterranean at the time of deposition.
The Effects of Visual Illustrations on Learners' Achievement and Interest in PDA- (Personal Digital Assistant) Based Learning
Authors: Park Sanghoon , Kim Minjeong , Lee Youngmin , Son Chanhee , Lee Miyoung
Published: April 2006

PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) have been used widely in educational settings. In this study, the visual illustration of a scientific text (cognitive-interest illustration, emotional-interest illustration, or no illustration) was manipulated to investigate its impact on student interest in instructional materials, achievement, and time spent on reading materials in PDA-based learning. Forty-five graduate students were randomly assigned to one of the three treatment groups: the cognitive-interest illustration group, emotional-interest illustration group, and the text only group. Each group was given instructional material corresponding to the treatments. Results revealed that the levels of post-interest across the groups were not significantly different among the three groups. However, the students in the cognitive-interest illustration group showed significantly higher achievement than those in the emotional illustration group and the text only group. Implications of the findings as a catalyst for further research in the development of instructional materials for PDA-based learning were discussed.
Sons, Lovers, and the Laius Complex in Russian Modernist Poetry
Authors: Forrester Sibelan
Published: April 2006

In this introduction to the articles written by Jenifer Presto and Stuart Goldberg that focus on the psychosocial tensions between Russian modernist poets of slightly different generations, Sibelan Forrester explores the distinct options of filiation and affiliation as ways to imagine or describe poetic choices, modeling textual relationships on the familial or genetic, with the interest in personal psychology characteristic of the period. These modes of thinking are reflected in creative writing, diary entries or poetry, as well as in scholarship. The anticarnal bent of Russian symbolists, particularly of Aleksandr Blok, springs from the religious philosophy of the time. Imagining poetic creation as maternity turns out to be less threatening—at least, for a male poet—than treating it as paternity, which raises other concerns too close to home. Both Presto and Goldberg suggest that Blok rightly considered the Acmeists, especially Osip Mandel'shtam, a threat to his own poetic intentions.
Bedside with the Symbolist Hero: Blok in Mandel'shtam's “Pust' v dushnoi komnate”
Authors: Goldberg Stuart
Published: April 2006

In the formation of postsymbolist poetic movements in Russia and in the development of Osip Mandel'shtam's poetics in particular, 1912 was a pivotal year. In this article, a close analysis and establishing of the subtexts and biographical context of Mandel'shtam's highly cryptic poem, “Pust’ v dushnoi komnate, gde kloch'ia seroi vaty” (1912), illuminates a key moment in the process of Mandel'shtam's overcoming of symbolism. Through a deflation of the tragic pose of Aleksandr Blok's lyric hero, Mandel'shtam frees his own poetics from the shadow of Blok's powerful and charismatic lyric voice. This diminishing of Blok is accomplished through the collision of past and present, narrative and subtext, literary myth and biographical anecdote. Mandel'shtam's struggle with Blok is both unique and illustrative of the more universal dilemma that confronted his generation as it strove to wrest itself from the suffocating “bosom“ of symbolism.
History, Politics, and the Constitution: Ethnic Conflict and Constitutional Adjudication in Postcommunist Bulgaria
Authors: Ganev Venelin I.
Published: April 2006

Infamously, the 1991 Bulgarian Constitution contains a provision banning political parties “formed on an ethnic basis.” In the early 1990s, the neo-communist Bulgarian Socialist Party invoked this provision when it asked the country's Constitutional Court to declare unconstitutional the political party of the beleaguered Turkish minority. In this article, Venelin I. Ganev analyzes the conflicting arguments presented in the course of the constitutional trial that ensued and shows how the justices’ anxieties about the possible effects of politicized ethnicity were interwoven into broader debates about the scope of the constitutional normative shift that marked the end of the communist era, about the relevance of historical memory to constitutional reasoning, and about the nature of democratic politics in a multiethnic society. Ganev also argues that the constitutional interpretation articulated by the Court has become an essential component of Bulgaria's emerging political order. More broadly, he illuminates the complexity of some of the major issues that frame the study of ethnopolitics in postcommunist eastern Europe: the varied dimensions of the “politics of remembrance“; the ambiguities of transitional justice; the dilemmas inherent in the construction of a rights-centered legality; and the challenges involved in establishing a forward-looking, pluralist system of governance.
Are They Jews or Asians? A Cautionary Tale about Mountain Jewish Ethnography
Authors: Goluboff Sascha L.
Published: April 2006

In this article, Sascha L. Goluboff investigates the development of ethnographic knowledge about Mountain Jews in Azerbaijan to provide new ways of understanding who Mountain Jews are and to provoke scholars to reflect critically on empire, ethnicity, and religion in the Caucasus. Following Nicholas B. Dirks's recent call for anthropologists to pay attention to the “textual field that is the pretext to fieldwork,” Goluboff analyzes how the work of the first ethnographers of Mountain Jews—Yehuda Chernyi (1835-1880) and Il'ia Anisimov (1862-1928)—created an image of Mountain Jews as both “savage Asians” and “primordial Jews” and how subsequent scholarship has reinforced this dichotomy as modern “fact.” Goluboff believes that by paying more attention to the intersections among ethnic groups and refraining from making moral judgments, it is possible to open up new ground for creatively researching the relations between Islam and Judaism in the Caucasus.
An Average Azeri Village (1930): Remembering Rebellion in the Caucasus Mountains
Authors: Grant Bruce
Published: April 2006

In this article, Bruce Grant advocates an anthropological perspective for understanding resistance to early Soviet rule, given that not all anti-Soviet rebellions operated by the same cultural logic. Combining oral histories and archival evidence to reconstruct highly charged events in rural northwest Azerbaijan, where as many as 10,000 men and women joined to overthrow Soviet power in favor of an Islamic republic in 1930, Grant examines moral archetypes of banditry, religious frames of Caucasus life, magical mobility, and images of early nationalist struggle against communism. Exploring what it means to have been “average” in the Soviet Union of the 1930s, Grant invites readers to consider classic narrative framings of periods of great tumult.
A Woman of Words: Pagan Ol'ga in the Mirror of Germanic Europe
Authors: Butler Francis
Published: April 2006

The pagan (and future saint) Ol'ga's revenge on the Derevlians as described in thePovest' vremennykh lethas intrigued generations of readers of early East Slavic literature. Using evidence from roughly contemporary Germanic sources, Francis Butler argues that Ol'ga uses intelligence and verbal dexterity to achieve good ends (the protection of her son and the defense of her people) without violating the strictures placed on women by her society. The early East Slavs seem to have disliked the idea of women as warriors but not to have seen women as intellectually inferior to men. Moreover, they regarded women's use of intelligence praiseworthy if it benefited their people, as Ol'ga's did. Ol'ga's gender prevented the chroniclers from portraying her as a warrior-ruler, thereby forcing them to create one of the most striking depictions in thePovest'.
Choreographing the “Tsar's Happy Occasion”: Tradition, Change, and Dynastic Legitimacy in the Weddings of Tsar Mikhail Romanov
Authors: Martin Russell E.
Published: April 2006

The Romanov dynasty came to the throne in 1613 after fifteen years of pretenders, peasant revolts, and foreign interventions, but the establishment of Romanov legitimacy would require time. In this article, Russell E. Martin explores how the wedding ritual of Tsar Mikhail Romanov was carefully constructed on the basis of previous royal weddings so as to appear fully consistent with previous Muscovite tradition. But Martin also shows that many elements of the wedding ritual were choreographed anew to create the image of the Romanovs as the legitimate heirs of the old Riurikid dynasty that had died out in 1598. Viewed in light of other efforts to legitimate their rule, the evidence from the weddings of the first Romanov tsar suggests how tenuous the new dynasty's hold on power was in its first decades on the throne and the ways that symbol and ritual were exploited to help establish the new regime.
Inventing Galicia: Messianic Josephinism and the Recasting of Partitioned Poland
Authors: Wolff Larry
Published: April 2006

In this article Larry Wolff considers the creation of Galicia in 1772 as an act of invention, the concoction of a brand-new geopolitical entity for the ideological legitimation of the Habsburg acquisitions in the first partition of Poland. Afterwards, especially under the auspices of Joseph II, Galicia was constructed both administratively and culturally, and the arbitrarily conceived province received form and meaning. The article considers published accounts of Galicia from the 1780s, mapping the province according to the perceived distinction between "Eastern Europe" and "Western Europe," defining its imperial relation to Vienna in terms of a civilizing mission, and articulating a perspective of Josephine messianism as the redemptive legitimation of Habsburg rule. This secular messianism was sometimes inspired by the notable religious presence of the Jewish population in the province. The article analyzes the affirmation of Galician political prerogatives in 1790 and the complex relation between Galician and Polish culture in the 1790s, focusing in particular on Wojciech Boguslawski and the L'viv production of his "national opera" Krakowiacy i Górale in 1796.
Popular Religion
Authors: Teiser Stephen F.
Published: April 2006

The population of traditional china, from government officials to artisans and farmers, shared a wide range of religious practice and belief, including ancestor veneration, annual festivals, funeral rituals, exorcism of harmful forces, and procedures for the auspicious siting of graves and residences. The definition of popular religion is a contested issue in the current state of the field.
Dying before the Mahābhārata War: Martial and Transsexual Bodybuilding for Aravāṉ
Authors: Hiltebeitel Alf
Published: April 2006

Two tamilmahābhāratafolk cults that I have studied recreate the Indian epic's “sacrifice of battle” in their festivals, and rethematize, in the symbolic registers of south Indian village goddesses and regional kingdoms, its meditations on death and regeneration (Hiltebeitel {1976} 1990:245–360; 1988a:394–435). One is the cult of Draupadī (the epic's chief heroine); the other that of Kuttantavar, son of Arjuna (the epic's chief hero) and the serpent-woman UlupT. I will focus here primarily on the latter. Kuttantavar is a Tamil deity whose myths and rituals orchestrate multiple, multiform deaths. The enormity of death that is incorporated in either cult's performance of theMahābhāratawar is, in the Kūttāṇṭavar cult, condensed into the reiterated deaths and revivals of this one hero, and expressed metaphorically through mythic and ritual forms of body-building—involving icons, effigies, and persons—that construct, transform, dismantle, and reconstruct bodies and heads. Although the metaphor could also apply to Draupadī cult rituals, it is especially appropriate for Kūttāṇṭavar, who is built up like Kirilov in Dostoievsky'sThe Possessed.What is surprising in his cult, and or moment for this paper, is that this primarily martial metaphor has been appropriated by Alis, Tamil transsexuals or “eunuchs.”
Introduction
Authors: Overmyer Daniel L.
Published: April 2006

The study of chinese religions is a lively and growing field. Its major bibliographer in the West, Laurence G. Thompson, comments that in revising his bibliography of Western-language publications through 1980 to include those published in the following ten years, the index of various types of contributors increased by over 1,100 names, and the number of research categories grew from eighty-four to one hundred and three (Thompson 1985, 1993). Anna Seidel of the École Françhise d'Extrême-Orient, Section de Kyoto, published in 1990 a discussion and bibliography of Taoist studies in the West from 1950 to 1990 that for this topic alone is 124 pages long (Seidel 1989–90). New documents, from Shang oracle bones to twentieth-century spirit-writing texts, are being discovered, the Taoist canon has been systematically surveyed for the first time, and fresh interpretations
Scientific Empire and Imperial Science: Colonialism and Irrigation Technology in the Indus Basin
Authors: Gilmartin David
Published: April 2006

In the eyes of many colonial administrators in the nineteenth century, the advance of science and the advance of colonial rule went hand in hand: Science helped to secure colonial rule, to justify European domination over other peoples, and to transform production for an expanding world economy (Adas 1989). The history of irrigation in India, where the British built large new irrigation works to increase colonial revenues and expand commercial production, provides a dramatic illustration of this.
Language and Politics: The Reversal of Postwar Script Reform Policy in Japan
Authors: Gottlieb Nanette
Published: April 2006

The period since the end of the Allied Occupation of Japan has seen a number of attempts to reverse several Occupation policies. Some, such as the revoking of administrative decentralization of education and the police force, have been successful, while others, such as constitutional revision, have not. In general, the period since the 1950s has seen a pattern of conservative social change backed by the Liberal Democratic Party. An area that illustrates this trend is that of language policy, specifically the policy toward script. The partial revision of the immediate postwar script reforms that occurred over a twenty-year period from the mid-1960s to the end of the 1980s, most notably the revision of the 1946 list of recommended characters, is an example of a policy that, while not imposed by the Occupation authorities, had been arrived at during the Occupation and was later reversed to some extent in a conservative direction through direct LDP intervention.
Chinese Philosophy: A Philosophical Essay on the “State-of-the-Art”
Authors: Tongqi Lin , Rosemont Henry , Ames Roger T.
Published: April 2006

There is no easy answer to the question: What is the status of Chinese philosophy? On the Chinese side, philosophy is much more than a professional commentary on and the extension of a canonical tradition constituted by philosophical systems and theories. Chinese philosophers have traditionally been scholar-officials whose theoretical reflections have been tempered by practical responsibilities—fully, the daily workings of government and society. “Philosophy” in the contemporary Chinese context, then, despite the avowedly Marxist orientation of the state, continues to range over the relationship between cultural values and the social and political life of the people. Philosophers have been and still are the intellectual leaders of society. Hence, a “state-of-the-art” reflection on Chinese philosophy from an internal Chinese perspective would be primarily practical: a survey of the intellectual discourse as it has driven and shaped recent social, political, and cultural developments.
Marriage in Taiwan, 1881–1905 An Example of Regional Diversity
Authors: Ying-Chang Chuang , Wolf Arthur P.
Published: April 2006

Sinologists have long agreed that many aspects of Chinese culture vary widely from region to region and even from valley to valley and town to town. The question for contemporary scholars is why and with what consequences. The problem we face is that while evidence from widely scattered communities is adequate to demonstrate the fact of regional diversity, it is not adequate to test hypotheses concerning its causes and consequences. What we need are detailed maps of the distribution and frequency of such practices as male adoption, uxorilocal marriage, cash bride-price, double burial, and foot binding. The only chance we have of discovering why Chinese culture varies is to see how that variation relates to the location of such likely causes as relations with non-Han peoples, the strength of state control, and the balance of forces in local modes of production.
Celibacy, Sexuality, and the Transformation of Gender into Nationalism in North India
Authors: Alter Joseph S.
Published: April 2006

It is well known that mahatma gandhifelt that sexuality and desire were intimately connected to social life and politics, and that self-control translated directly into power of various kinds, both public and private. Gandhi's enigmatic genius and his popular appeal among India's masses may be attributed, at least in part, to the degree he was able to embody a powerful ideal of sexual self-control that linked his sociopolitical projects to pervasive Hindu notions of renunciation (S. Rudolph 1967). Affecting the persona of a world-renouncer, Gandhi was able to mix political, religious, and moral power, thus translating personal self-control into radical social criticism and nationalist goals. Gandhi's mass appeal was partly effected on a visceral level at which many Hindu men were able to fully appreciate the logic of celibacy as a means to psychological security, self-improvement, and national reform. Although my concern in this paper is not directly with Gandhi's notion of self-control, it is against the larger backdrop of his political legacy that I situate this discussion of sexuality, gender, and nationalism in contemporary India.
Representing Nationality in China: Refiguring Majority/Minority Identities
Authors: Gladney Dru C.
Published: April 2006

The following statement was made by a private taxi driver as I was on my way into the city from the Beijing Capital Airport shortly before the 1991 Chinese New Year's Spring Festival. It raises many of the issues addressed in this article:

I try to stay clear of politics. On New Year's Eve, I'm not going to light fireworks like everyone else, and that's how I'll show that I don't support the government. If I don't set off fireworks, all my neighbors will know that I don't give a damn about this country. I'm just going to sit at home and watch the special New Year's program on TV. They'll have a lot of acrobats, singers, comedians, and minority dances.
Exploring the Asian Economic Miracle: Politics, Economics, Society, Culture, and History — A Review Article
Authors: Ozawa Terutomo
Published: April 2006

Structural upgrading and industrial dynamismin Pacific Asia—initially Japan, then the Asian NIEs (Newly Industrializing Economies: South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore) following closely behind, and most recently, ASEAN 4 (Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines)—have been unprecedentedly phenomenal. This regional supergrowth in industrial activities has become the center of attention, but the evolving changes in the political systems and societal structures of the Pacific Asian nations have been, no doubt, equally important, although rather subtle and not so dramatic in appearance.
The “Self-Animal” and Divine Digestion: Goat Sacrifice to the Goddess Kālī in Bengal
Authors: Samanta Suchitra
Published: April 2006

Kālī, the Hindu goddess ‘Time,’ is a ubiquitous presence in contemporary rural and urban Bengali life and occupies a historic place as Calcutta's patron deity. Her prototypes go back to pre-Vedic India (Kinsley 1977:90; MacKenzie-Brown 1985:111). Kālī was incorporated into the orthodox Hindu textual tradition in the myths of the Devī-Māhātmya, or Candī, as this sixth-century A.D. text is known in Bengal. She subsequently became the chief divinity as Female Principle (Śakti, ‘Force’, ‘Creatrix’) in the esoteric Sākta Tantra cult, which was especially prevalent in eastern India around the sixteenth century. By the seventeenth century, Kālī's worship moved to the public sphere. The Kālī saints Rāmaprasāda (eighteenth century) and Rāmakrsna (late nineteenth century) were especially responsible for popularizing the devotional (bhakti) conception of Kālī as Mother, the prevalent perception of this deity among Bengalis today (Gatwood 1985:174; Kapera n.d.:71; Kinsley 1977:93, 117; Kinsley 1986:116, 125; MacKenzie-Brown 1985:118–19).