bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Determination of triglyceride in the human myocardium by magnetic resonance spectroscopy: reproducibility and sensitivity of the method
Authors: Reingold Jason S. , McGavock Jonathan M. , Kaka Shaheen , Tillery Tommy , Victor Ronald G. , Szczepaniak Lidia S.
Published: June 2005

The primary aim of this investigation was to determine the reliability and sensitivity of 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) as a method for quantifying myocardial triglyceride (TG) content in humans over time and in response to metabolic perturbations. Three separate experiments were designed to quantify myocardial TG content 1) over a 90-day period, 2) after a high-fat meal, and 3) after a 48-h fast. Proton spectra were collected from a 10 × 20 × 30-mm3 voxel placed within the intraventricular septum, with measurements acquired at end-systole and end-expiration, using cardiac triggering and respiratory gating. Minimal variation was observed between myocardial TG content determined 90 days apart ( r = 0.98, CV = 5%), whereas TG values were unaffected by a high-fat meal despite a significant twofold increase ( P < 0.05) in serum TG. In contrast, myocardial TG content increased threefold ( P < 0.05) after a 48-h fast despite a 25% reduction in serum TG. Body mass index was significantly related to myocardial TG ( r = 0.58, P < 0.05) and the change in myocardial TG after a 48-h fast ( r2 = 0.60). 1H-MRS is a reliable method for the determination of myocardial TG in humans and is relatively unaffected by the consumption of one high-fat meal but sensitive to changes following a prolonged fast.
Renin-Dependent Hypertension Caused by Nonfocal Stenotic Aberrant Renal Arteries
Authors: Kem David C. , Lyons Daniel F. , Wenzl James , Halverstadt Donald , Yu Xichun
Published: June 2005

We have identified 2 relatively young patients with significant hypertension, an elongated single aberrant renal artery supplying blood to a renal segment, and evidence for localization of the elevated plasma renin activity to the side and vein draining the affected kidney. Furosemide-induced diuresis and acute oral captopril stimulated the renal vein/contralateral renin ratios to 4.3:1 and 6.5:1 in patients 1 and 2, respectively. These renal vein ratios are significantly higher than normal (>3:1 under similar conditions). Partial resection of the portion of the kidney affected by the aberrant tortuous artery led to a marked reduction in blood pressure in patient 1. Patient 2, not an operative candidate, responded satisfactorily to use of a converting enzyme inhibitor, which helped to confirm the dependency of the blood pressure on the abnormal flow relationship existing within that aberrant artery and the kidney. We believe these 2 patients are representative of a small but distinct subgroup within the larger number of patients with elongated single or multiple renal aberrant arteries. Each aberrant artery had no focal stenosis, although a decrease in flow relative to the tissue perfusion demands was apparent from the marked activation of the renin-angiotensin system in the venous system draining that artery. The increased length of such vessels may contribute to their decreased flow, although their average diameter may reside just above such a critical value for a normal length vessel. This new syndrome, involving more than one component of the flow/resistance relationship, has been overlooked when renin-dependent forms of hypertension are considered.
Pioglitazone Improves Aortic Wall Elasticity in a Rat Model of Elastocalcinotic Arteriosclerosis
Authors: Gaillard Virginie , Casellas Daniel , Seguin-Devaux Carole , Schohn Hervé , Dauça Michel , Atkinson Jeffrey , Lartaud Isabelle
Published: June 2005

Specific treatment of age-related aortic wall arteriosclerosis and stiffening is lacking. Because ligands for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ have beneficial effects on the arterial wall in atherosclerosis, via an antiinflammatory mechanism, we investigated whether long-term pioglitazone (Pio) treatment protects against another form of vascular wall disease, arteriosclerosis. We evaluated, in a rat model of elastocalcinotic arteriosclerosis (hypervitaminosis D and nicotine [VDN]), whether Pio (3 mg · kg
−1
per day for 1.5 month PO) attenuated arteriosclerosis and its consequences: aortic wall rigidity, increased aortic pulse pressure, and left ventricular hypertrophy. In VDN rats, medial calcification was associated with monocyte/macrophage infiltration and induction of tumor necrosis factor α and interleukin 1β. Pio increased nuclear peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ immunostaining in the aortic wall, decreased tumor necrosis factor α (
P
<0.05 versus VDN Pio
−
), tended to decrease interleukin 1β mRNA expression (
P
=0.08 versus VDN Pio
−
), blunted aortic wall calcification (271±69,
P
<0.05 versus VDN Pio
−
562±87 μmol · g
−1
dry weight) and prevented fragmentation of elastic fibers (segments per 10 000 μm
2
: 8.4±0.3;
P
<0.05 versus VDN Pio
−
10.5±0.6). Pio reduced aortic wall stiffness (elastic modulus/wall stress: 4.8±0.6;
P
<0.05 versus VDN Pio
−
10.0±1.6), aortic pulse pressure (30±2 mm Hg;
P
<0.05 versus VDN Pio
−
39±4) and left ventricular hypertrophy (1.58±0.05 g · kg
−1
;
P
<0.05 versus VDN Pio
−
1.76±0.06). In conclusion, long-term Pio treatment attenuates aortic wall elastocalcinosis and, thus, lowers aortic wall stiffness, aortic pulse pressure, and left ventricular hypertrophy.
Elevated Aortic Pulse Wave Velocity, a Marker of Arterial Stiffness, Predicts Cardiovascular Events in Well-Functioning Older Adults
Authors: Sutton-Tyrrell Kim , Najjar Samer S. , Boudreau Robert M. , Venkitachalam Lakshmi , Kupelian Varant , Simonsick Eleanor M. , Havlik Richard , Lakatta Edward G. , Spurgeon Harold , Kritchevsky Stephen , Pahor Marco , Bauer Douglas , Newman Anne
Published: June 2005

Background—

Aging results in vascular stiffening and an increase in the velocity of the pressure wave as it travels down the aorta. Increased aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV) has been associated with mortality in clinical but not general populations. The objective of this investigation was to determine whether aPWV is associated with total and cardiovascular (CV) mortality and CV events in a community-dwelling sample of older adults.

Methods and Results—

aPWV was measured at baseline in 2488 participants from the Health, Aging and Body Composition (Health ABC) study. Vital status, cause of death and coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, and congestive heart failure were determined from medical records. Over 4.6 years, 265 deaths occurred, 111 as a result of cardiovascular causes. There were 341 CHD events, 94 stroke events, and 181 cases of congestive heart failure. Results are presented by quartiles because of a threshold effect between the first and second aPWV quartiles. Higher aPWV was associated with both total mortality (relative risk, 1.5, 1.6, and 1.7 for aPWV quartiles 2, 3, and 4 versus 1;
P
=0.019) and cardiovascular mortality (relative risk, 2.1, 3.0, and 2.3 for quartiles 2, 3, and 4 versus 1;
P
=0.004). aPWV quartile was also significantly associated with CHD (
P
=0.007) and stroke (
P
=0.001). These associations remained after adjustment for age, gender, race, systolic blood pressure, known CV disease, and other variables related to events.

Conclusions—

Among generally healthy, community-dwelling older adults, aPWV, a marker of arterial stiffness, is associated with higher CV mortality, CHD, and stroke.
Pharmacogenetic Association of the Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Insertion/Deletion Polymorphism on Blood Pressure and Cardiovascular Risk in Relation to Antihypertensive Treatment
Authors: Arnett Donna K. , Davis Barry R. , Ford Charles E. , Boerwinkle Eric , Leiendecker-Foster Cathie , Miller Michael B. , Black Henry , Eckfeldt John H.
Published: June 2005

Background—

Previous studies have reported that blood pressure response to antihypertensive medications is influenced by genetic variation in the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, but no clinical trails have tested whether the ACE insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism modifies the association between the type of medication and multiple cardiovascular and renal phenotypes.

Methods and Results—

We used a double-blind, active-controlled randomized trial of antihypertensive treatment that included hypertensives ≥55 years of age with ≥1 risk factor for cardiovascular disease. ACE I/D genotypes were determined in 37 939 participants randomized to chlorthalidone, amlodipine, lisinopril, or doxazosin treatments and followed up for 4 to 8 years. Primary outcomes included fatal coronary heart disease (CHD) and/or nonfatal myocardial infarction. Secondary outcomes included stroke, all-cause mortality, combined CHD, and combined cardiovascular disease. Fatal and nonfatal CHD occurred in 3096 individuals during follow-up. The hazard rates for fatal and nonfatal CHD and the secondary outcomes were similar across antihypertensive treatments. ACE I/D genotype group was not associated with fatal and nonfatal CHD (relative risk of DD versus ID and II, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.91 to 1.07) or any secondary outcome. The 6-year hazard rate for fatal and nonfatal CHD in the DD genotype group was not statistically different from the ID and II genotype group by type of treatment. No secondary outcome measure was statistically different across antihypertensive treatment and ACE I/D genotype strata.

Conclusions—

ACE I/D genotype group was not a predictor of CHD, nor did it modify the response to antihypertensive treatment. We conclude that the ACE I/D polymorphism is not a useful marker to predict antihypertensive treatment response.
Defective Regulation of Interdomain Interactions Within the Ryanodine Receptor Plays a Key Role in the Pathogenesis of Heart Failure
Authors: Oda Tetsuro , Yano Masafumi , Yamamoto Takeshi , Tokuhisa Takahiro , Okuda Shinichi , Doi Masahiro , Ohkusa Tomoko , Ikeda Yasuhiro , Kobayashi Shigeki , Ikemoto Noriaki , Matsuzaki Masunori
Published: June 2005

Background—

According to our hypothesis, 2 domains within the ryanodine receptor (RyR) of sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) (N-terminal [0 to 600] and central [2000 to 2500] domains), where many mutations have been found in patients with polymorphic ventricular tachycardia, interact with each other as a regulatory switch for channel gating. Here, we investigated whether the defective FKBP12.6-mediated stabilization of RyR in heart failure is produced by an abnormal interdomain interaction.

Methods and Results—

SR vesicles were isolated from dog left ventricular muscles, and then the RyR moiety of the SR was fluorescently labeled with methylcoumarin acetate (MCA) using DPc10, a synthetic peptide corresponding to Gly
2460
-Pro
2495
of RyR (one of the mutable domains in polymorphic ventricular tachycardia), as a site-directing carrier; the carrier was removed from the RyR after MCA labeling. Addition of DPc10 induced an unzipped state of the interacting N-terminal and central domains, as evidenced by an increase in the accessibility of the RyR-bound MCA fluorescence to a large fluorescence quencher. Domain unzipping resulted in Ca
2+
leak through the RyR and facilitated cAMP-dependent hyperphosphorylation of RyR and FKBP12.6 dissociation from RyR. When DPc10 was introduced into the isolated myocytes, the magnitude of intracellular Ca
2+
transient decreased, and its decay time was prolonged. In the SR isolated from pacing-induced dog failing hearts, the domain unzipping has already occurred, together with FKBP12.6 dissociation and Ca
2+
leak.

Conclusions—

The specific domain interaction within the RyR regulates the channel gating property, and the defectiveness in the mode of the interdomain interaction seems to be the initial critical step of the pathogenesis of heart failure.
Gene Profiling in Atherosclerosis Reveals a Key Role for Small Inducible Cytokines
Authors: Lutgens Esther , Faber Birgit , Schapira Kitty , Evelo Chris T.A. , van Haaften Rachel , Heeneman Sylvia , Cleutjens Kitty B.J.M. , Bijnens Ann Pascale , Beckers Linda , Porter J. Gordon , Mackay Charles R. , Rennert Paul , Bailly Veronique , Jarpe Matthew , Dolinski Brian , Koteliansky Victor , de Fougerolles Tony , Daemen Mat J.A.P.
Published: June 2005

Background—

Pathological aspects of atherosclerosis are well described, but gene profiles during atherosclerotic plaque progression are largely unidentified.

Methods and Results—

Microarray analysis was performed on mRNA of aortic arches of ApoE
−/−
mice fed normal chow (NC group) or Western-type diet (WD group) for 3, 4.5, and 6 months. Of 10 176 reporters, 387 were differentially (>2×) expressed in at least 1 group compared with a common reference (ApoE
−/−
, 3- month NC group). The number of differentially expressed genes increased during plaque progression. Time-related expression clustering and functional grouping of differentially expressed genes suggested important functions for genes involved in inflammation (especially the small inducible cytokines monocyte chemoattractant protein [MCP]-1, MCP-5, macrophage inflammatory protein [MIP]-1α, MIP-1β, MIP-2, and fractalkine) and matrix degradation (cathepsin-S, matrix metalloproteinase-2/12). Validation experiments focused on the gene cluster of small inducible cytokines. Real-time polymerase chain reaction revealed a plaque progression–dependent increase in mRNA levels of MCP-1, MCP-5, MIP-1α, and MIP-1β. ELISA for MCP-1 and MCP-5 showed similar results. Immunohistochemistry for MCP-1, MCP-5, and MIP-1α located their expression to plaque macrophages. An inhibiting antibody for MCP-1 and MCP-5 (11K2) was designed and administered to ApoE
−/−
mice for 12 weeks starting at the age of 5 or 17 weeks. 11K2 treatment reduced plaque area and macrophage and CD45
+
cell content and increased collagen content, thereby inducing a stable plaque phenotype.

Conclusions—

Gene profiling of atherosclerotic plaque progression in ApoE
−/−
mice revealed upregulation of the gene cluster of small inducible cytokines. Further expression and in vivo validation studies showed that this gene cluster mediates plaque progression and stability.
Late Loss in Lumen Diameter and Binary Restenosis for Drug-Eluting Stent Comparison
Authors: Mauri Laura , Orav E. John , Kuntz Richard E.
Published: June 2005

Background—

Published rates of coronary restenosis have fallen below 10% in drug-eluting stent trials. Early evaluations of new stents have used continuous end points that are presumed surrogates for restenosis, but the generalizability and power of such end points have not been examined systematically.

Methods and Results—

We examined the relationship between incremental changes in observed late loss in lumen diameter and the probability of restenosis using reported late loss from 22 published trials of various types of stents (bare-metal, drug-eluting, and small-vessel stents). Next, the power of late loss differences was compared with that of corresponding binary restenosis rates. The relationship between mean late loss and its SD was linear and did not vary with stent type (drug-eluting or bare-metal) or vessel diameter. At all levels of late loss examined (0 to 1 mm), incremental changes were associated with increasing restenosis risk (with an increasing magnitude of effect at higher levels of late loss). The power to detect a treatment effect was greater for late loss than for binary angiographic restenosis (≥32% relative increase in power, ≥24% absolute increase for late loss between 0.2 and 0.6 mm).

Conclusions—

Late loss is monotonically related to restenosis risk in published stent trials. It is a generalizable and powerful angiographic end point in early or small trials of new drug-eluting stents.
Distribution of mtDNA haplotypes (cyt b) of Emys orbicularis in France and implications for postglacial recolonization
Authors: Fritz Uwe , Cadi Antoine , Cheylan Marc , Coïc Christophe , Détaint Mathieu , Olivier Anthony , Rosecchi Elisabeth , Guicking Daniela , Lenk Peter , Joger Ulrich , Wink Michael
Published: June 2005

The European pond turtle, Emys orbicularis, is a wide ranging species,
distributed from Northwest Africa over a large part of Europe and Asia Minor
to the Caspian and Aral Seas. For 106 pond turtles from France mtDNA
sequence variation has been assessed, using a 1031 bp portion of the
mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Three of nine haploclades currently known
from the entire species' range were found in France. One clade (II) is
represented with four very similar haplotypes, differing by one mutation,
and the two other clades (V, VI) are represented with one haplotype each. A
syntopic occurrence of clades II and V is reported for the first time for
the Camargue. Besides, clade II occurs in the French regions Aquitaine,
Centre-Val de Loire, and Rhône-Alpes. Outside of France, it is found mainly
in the catchment areas of the Danube and Oder rivers and in the Balkans.
Haploclade V, which is also known from the Apennine peninsula, Sardinia, and
the northern Mediterranean coast of Spain, is restricted in France to
Corsica and the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. A single individual
bearing a haplotype of an Iberian and North African clade (VI) was found in
Aquitaine near Pau. This could indicate gene flow between the Iberian
peninsula and West France, if the specimen is native. The distribution of
the distinct haploclades in France probably reflects Holocene range
expansions, especially of haploclade II turtles. In the postglacial,
haploclade II terrapins arrived from the east and spread over the Rhône
corridor to the Mediterranean coast. In the southern Rhône area they met and
hybridized with haploclade V turtles. Further research is needed to clarify
whether this hybridization is a locally restricted phenomenon.
Physics and Dynamics of Density-Compensated Temperature and Salinity Anomalies. Part I: Theory
Authors: Tailleux Rémi , Lazar Alban , Reason C. J. C.
Published: June 2005

Subducted temperature anomalies have been invoked as a possible way for midlatitudes to alter the climate variability of equatorial regions through the so-called thermocline bridge, both in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. To have a significant impact on the equatorial heat balance, however, temperature anomalies must reach the equatorial regions sufficiently undamped. In the oceans, the amplitude of propagating temperature (and salinity) anomalies can be altered both by diabatic (nonconservative) and adiabatic (conservative) effects. The importance of adiabatic alterations depends on whether the anomalies are controlled by wave dynamics or by passive advection associated with density compensation. Waves being relatively well understood, this paper seeks to understand the amplitude variations of density-compensated temperature and salinity anomalies caused by adiabatic effects, for which no general methodology is available. The main assumption is that these can be computed independent of amplitude variations caused by diabatic effects. Because density compensation requires the equality T′/S′ = βS/α to hold along mean trajectories, the ratio T′/S′ may potentially undergo large amplitude variations if the ratio βS/α does, where α and βS are the thermal expansion and haline contraction coefficients, respectively. In the oceans, the ratio βS/α may decrease by an order-1 factor between the extratropical and tropical latitudes, but such large variations are in general associated with diapycnal rather than isopycnal motion and hence are likely to be superimposed in practice with diabatically induced variations. To understand the individual variations of T′ and S′ along the mean streamlines, two distinct theories are constructed that respectively use density/salinity and density/spiciness as prognostic variables. If the coupling between the prognostic variables is neglected, as is usually done, both theories predict at leading order that temperature (salinity) anomalies should be systematically and significantly attenuated (conserved or amplified), on average, when propagating from extratropical to tropical latitudes. Along particular trajectories following isopycnals, however, both attenuation and amplification appear to be locally possible. Assuming that the density/spiciness formulation is the most accurate, which is supported by a theoretical assessment of higher-order effects, the present results provide an amplification mechanism for subducted salinity anomalies propagating equatorward, by which the latter could potentially affect decadal equatorial climate variability through their slow modulation of the equatorial mixed layer, perhaps more easily than their attenuated temperature counterparts. This could be by affecting, for instance, barrier layers by which salinity is known to strongly affect local heat fluxes and heat content.
Intensification of the Atlantic Deep Circulation by the Canadian Archipelago Throughflow
Authors: Komuro Yoshiki , Hasumi Hiroyasu
Published: June 2005

Low-salinity water export through the Canadian Archipelago is one of the main components of the freshwater budget in the Arctic Ocean. Nevertheless, the Canadian Archipelago is closed in most global ocean models. How it is that deep-water formation at high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere depends on the opening and closing of the Canadian Archipelago is investigated. An ice–ocean coupled model, whose horizontal resolution is 1°, is used without restoring surface salinity to observed data. When the Canadian Archipelago is open, the Atlantic deep circulation strengthens by 21%. This enhancement is caused by intensification of deep-water formation in the northern North Atlantic Ocean. Surface salinity in these regions is affected by the East Greenland Current, which flows from the Fram Strait and increases its salinity when the Canadian Archipelago is opened. The low-salinity flow through the Canadian Archipelago affects surface salinity only in the western part of the Labrador Sea. A cyclonic circulation in the Labrador Sea plays an important role in limiting the direct impact of the Canadian Archipelago throughflow. Consequently, the deep-water formation there is intensified and the Atlantic deep circulation is strengthened. Thus, it is suggested that the Canadian Archipelago throughflow does not weaken the Atlantic deep circulation by the freshening of the Labrador Sea but strengthens it by the salinity increase in the Fram Strait.
The Response of an Idealized Ocean Basin to Variable Buoyancy Forcing
Authors: Lucas M. A. , Hirschi J. J. , Stark J. D. , Marotzke J.
Published: June 2005

The response of an idealized ocean basin to variable buoyancy forcing is examined. A general circulation model that employs a Gent–McWilliams mixing parameterization is forced by a zonally constant restoring surface temperature profile, which varies with latitude and time over a period P. In each experiment, 17 different values of P are studied, ranging from 6 months to 32 000 yr. The model's meridional overturning circulation (MOC) exhibits a very strong response on all time scales greater than 15 yr, up to and including the longest forcing time scales examined. The peak-to-peak values of the MOC oscillations reach up to 125% of the steady-state maximum MOC and exhibit resonance-like behavior, with a maximum at centennial to millennial forcing periods (depending on the vertical diffusivity). This resonance-like behavior stems from the existence of two adjustment time scales, one of which is set by the vertical diffusion and the other of which is set by the basin width. Furthermore, the linearity of the response as well as its lag with the forcing varies with the forcing period. The considerable deviation from the quasi-equilibrium response at all time scales above 15 yr is surprising and suggests a potentially important role of the ocean circulation for climate, even at Milankovich time scales.
Near-Inertial Wave Propagation in the Western Arctic
Authors: Pinkel Robert
Published: June 2005

From October 1997 through October 1998, the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic (SHEBA) ice camp drifted across the western Arctic Ocean, from the central Canada Basin over the Northwind Ridge and across the Chukchi Cap. During much of this period, the velocity and shear fields in the upper ocean were monitored by Doppler sonar. Near-inertial internal waves are found to be the dominant contributors to the superinertial motion field. Typical rms velocities are 1–2 cm s−1. In this work, the velocity and shear variances associated with upward- and downward-propagating wave groups are quantified. Patterns are detected in these variances that correlate with underlying seafloor depth. These are explored with the objective of assessing the role that these extremely low-energy near-inertial waves play in the larger-scale evolution of the Canada Basin. The specific focus is the energy flux delivered to the slopes and shelves of the basin, available for driving mixing at the ocean boundaries. The energy and shear variances associated with downward-propagating waves are relatively uniform over the entire SHEBA drift, independent of the season and depth of the underlying topography. Variances associated with upward-propagating waves follow a (depth)−1/2 dependence. Over the deep slopes, vertical wavenumber spectra of upward-propagating waves are blue-shifted relative to their downward counterparts, perhaps a result of reflection from a sloping seafloor. To aid in interpretation of the observations, a simple, linear model is used to compare the effects of viscous (volume) versus underice (surface) dissipation for near-inertial waves. The latter is found to be the dominant mechanism. A parallel examination of the topography of the western Arctic shows that much of the continental slope is close to critical for near-inertial wave reflection. The picture that emerges is consistent with “one bounce” rather than trans-Arctic propagation. The dominant surface-generated waves are substantially absorbed in the underice boundary layer following a single roundtrip to the seafloor. However, surface-generated waves can interact strongly with nearby (<300 km) slopes, potentially contributing to dissipation rates of order 10−6–10−7 W m−3 in a zone several hundred meters above the bottom. The waves that survive the reflection process (and are not back-reflected) display a measurable blue shift over the slopes and contribute to the observed dependence of energy on seafloor depth that is seen in these upper-ocean observations.
The Influence of Topography on the Stability of Jets
Authors: Poulin F. J. , Flierl G. R.
Published: June 2005

In this article, the effect shelflike topography has on the stability of a jet that flows along the smooth shelf is addressed. The linear stability problem is solved to determine for which nondimensional parameters a shelf can either destabilize or stabilize a jet. These calculations reveal an intricate dependence of growth rate on topography. In particular, the authors determine that retrograde topography (with the shallow water on the left) always stabilizes the jet (in relation to the flat-bottom equivalent), whereas prograde topography (with the shallow water on the right) can either stabilize or destabilize the jet depending on the particular values of the Rossby number and topographic parameters. For Rossby numbers of order 1 and larger, prograde topography is strictly stabilizing. For small Rossby numbers, small-amplitude topography destabilizes whereas large topography stabilizes. The nonlinear evolution of these instabilities is explored to confirm the predictions from the linear theory and, also, to illustrate how stabilization is directly related to fluid transport across the shelf.
Relative Resources: Inequality in Ethnic Wars, Revolutions, and Genocides
Authors: Besançon Marie L.
Published: June 2005

Political scientists and economists have exhaustively examined the nexus between economic inequality and political conflict (EI-PC nexus) in aggregated civil wars. This article revisits the nexus and its related theories, empirically and parsimoniously testing the effects of inequality on disaggregated intrastate conflicts. The results buttress the notion that traditionally deprived identity groups are more likely to engage in conflict under more economically equal conditions, while class or revolutionary wars fall under the conditions of greater economic inequality and war. Of the three types of conflicts tested - ethnic conflicts, revolutions, and genocides - economic inequality seems to have the most ambiguous bearing on genocides. Support follows for recent findings that political and social equalities are of greater importance in mitigating ethnic violence and that greed factors might exacerbate violence in all civil conflicts, including genocides. The theoretical argument proposes that the context within which intrastate violence takes place affects the requisite level of relative resources needed for the escalation of violence between groups. The results have policy implications for ethnically divided states that are in the process of equalizing their income differential, but neglect the substantial inclusion of all groups within the political process and the distribution of public goods. The social contracts between the governors and the governed then require careful crafting for a peaceful coexistence of diverse identity groups.
People vs. Malthus: Population Pressure, Environmental Degradation, and Armed Conflict Revisited
Authors: Urdal Henrik
Published: June 2005

Demographic and environmental factors have claimed a dominant position in the post-Cold War security discourse. According to the neo-Malthusian conflict scenario, population pressure on natural renewable resources makes societies more prone to low-intensity civil war. On the contrary, resource-optimists concede that agricultural land scarcity caused by high population density may be a driving factor behind economic development, thus causing peace in a long-term perspective. These notions are tested in a quantitative cross-national time-series study covering the 1950-2000 period. The results do not provide strong support for either perspective. Countries experiencing high rates of population growth, high rates of urbanization, or large refugee populations do not face greater risks of internal armed conflict. There is some indication that scarcity of potential cropland may have a pacifying effect. However, where land scarcity combines with high rates of population growth, the risk of armed conflict increases somewhat. This trend is particularly marked for the 1970s, the decade that saw the great rise in neo-Malthusian concerns. Claims that the world has entered a ‘new age of insecurity’ after the end of the Cold War, where demographic and environmental factors threaten security and state stability, appear to be unfounded. Overall, the robustness of the empirical support for both paradigms is low. A strong emphasis on security as a macro rationale for reducing global population growth thus seems unwarranted.
The Destructiveness of Pre-Industrial Warfare: Political and Technological Determinants
Authors: Landers John
Published: June 2005

This article is concerned with the demographic impact of warfare in pre-industrial Europe and the consequences of the adoption of firearms from the early 16th century. The scale of warfare and its costs both increased, but the demographic impact depended on rulers’ strategies for meeting or evading these costs, rather than the scale of warfare itself. War-induced mortality was almost entirely due to epidemic disease precipitated by economic and social disruption. The impact was primarily regional, but diseases such as bubonic plague could trigger supraregional crises, as they did in 17th-century Germany. Gunpowder weapons initially reduced military costs, but this trend was reversed as warships and fortifications became more expensive and armies acquired more sophisticated sub-unit organization. Rulers cut their outgoings by using ‘military brokers’ to raise mercenary units who lived off the resources of the war zones, resulting in extreme damage to civilian life and property. As a reaction, highly organized, well-disciplined standing armies with their own supply organizations emerged after 1670. These were much less destructive to civilians but were very expensive to maintain, partly because the new level of organization allowed larger forces to be coordinated effectively. European rulers became increasingly indebted, and in France, the ancien régime collapsed as a result. Its revolutionary successor sustained campaigns of predatory expansion with a military system based on mass conscription. The result was an increase in the scale and destructiveness of warfare, before France succumbed to a hostile coalition financed by the wealth of England’s industrializing economy.
The Immediate and Lingering Effects of Armed Conflict on Adult Mortality: A Time-Series Cross-National Analysis
Authors: Li Quan , Wen Ming
Published: June 2005

This research investigates the effect of armed conflict on adult mortality across countries and over time. Theoretical mechanisms are specified for how military violence influences adult mortality, both immediately and over time after conflict. The effects of aggregate conflict, interstate and intrastate conflicts, and conflict severity are explored. The Heckman selection model is applied to account for the conflict-induced missing data problem. A pooled analysis across 84 countries for the period from 1961 to 1998 provides broad empirical support for the proposed theoretical expectations across both genders. This study confirms the importance of both the immediate and the lingering effect of military conflict on the mortality of the working-age population. The immediate effect of civil conflict is much stronger than that of the interstate conflict, while the reverse applies to the lingering effect. Both the immediate and the lingering effects of severe conflict are much stronger than those of minor conflict. While men tend to suffer higher mortality immediately from intrastate conflict and severe conflict, women in the long run experience as much mortality owing to the lingering effects of these conflicts. The mortality data show a strong data selection bias caused by military conflict. The research findings highlight the imperative for negotiating peace. Preventing a contest from escalating into a severe conflict can produce noticeable gains in saved human lives.
Migratory Coping in Wartime Mozambique: An Anthropology of Violence and Displacement in ‘Fragmented Wars’
Authors: Lubkemann Stephen C.
Published: June 2005

Current frameworks for analyzing conflict in developing nations usually focus on the agendas of national-level parties to conflicts. This article draws heavily on the author’s own ethnographic work in central Mozambique to demonstrate how political alignment during the Mozambican civil conflict (1977-92) was regarded by local actors as a tool for engaging in family- and community-level political struggles. Comparing findings from his own work in the district of Machaze to that of other ethnographic researchers who focused on wartime experiences elsewhere in Mozambique, he shows how the means of violence of national-level parties during the civil conflict were appropriated by local actors in service to local forms of social struggle. He proposes the concept of ‘fragmented war’ to describe such contexts in which national ‘civil wars’ take on a large degree of local character and in which there is considerable variation in that local character as a result of sociocultural and ethnic diversity within a country. The article then documents how wartime migration - as one of the most visible and consequential strategies for reacting to violence - was organized primarily as a response to such micro-level political struggles rather than merely to the state of hostilities between national-level political actors. Different local ‘logics of violence’ thus produced different patterns of wartime displacement throughout Mozambique. Some of the key historical conditions that made wartime violence in Mozambique susceptible to ‘fragmentation’ are reviewed, in order to reflect more broadly on what general conditions might produce ‘fragmentations of violence’ in other war contexts. The article concludes with a discussion of how anthropological approaches can contribute to the demographic analysis of forced migration in culturally diversified war zones.
Multidimensional Measurement of Religiousness/Spirituality for Use in Health Research in Cross-Cultural Perspective
Authors: Traphagan John W.
Published: June 2005

This article explores difficulties that arise when culture is factored into the attempt to develop methods for both describing and measuring religiousness or spirituality as variables in health research. The author uses a report titled Multidimensional Measurement of Religiousness/Spirituality for Use in Health Research published by the John E. Fetzer Institute to raise questions about the extent to which basic ideas associated with the study of Judeo-Christian religions are meaningful in contexts such as Japan, India, or China. Using a combination of ethnographic data from his own fieldwork in Japan and ethnographic literature focused on other cultures, the author argues that as an analytic category “religion” is problematic because basic elements of that category, such as faith or the notion of the transcendent, have been developed in terms of a predominately Christian or Western theological framework that is not necessarily appropriate for research in non-Western cultural contexts.
“Your Body Is God’s Temple”
Authors: King Sharon V. , Burgess Elisabeth O. , Akinyela Makungu , Counts-Spriggs Margaret , Parker Nesonya
Published: June 2005

This qualitative study of 17 coresident, three-generation African American families provides a generational- and family-level comparison of religion and health beliefs. Four themes emerged from the generational analysis: divine healing, divine healing through doctors, divine healing through health or religious behavior modification, and acceptance of health outcomes. Three categories of religion and health beliefs— coping, behavior-focused, and multidimensional—emerged from the family-level analysis. A grounded theory analysis of the emergent themes suggests that the families affirm God’s sovereignty over their health by spiritualizing, rather than medicalizing, their health beliefs. The families also function as a health maintenance system, transmitting faith-based health beliefs and modeling health behaviors across generations. The findings have implications for the further study of the family context of religion and health among African Americans and the need for a faith-based, family-oriented approach to health disparities interventions.
The nature of music
Authors: Peretz Isabelle
Published: June 2005

Music, as language, is a universal human trait. Throughout human history and across all cultures, individuals have produced and enjoyed music. Despite its ubiquity, music is rarely studied as a basic and distinct cognitive faculty. However, recent evidence suggests that music might well be distinct from other cognitive functions, in being subserved by specialized neural networks, under the guidance of innate mechanisms.
We are musical
Authors: Welch Graham F.
Published: June 2005

The challenge for music education is to nurture and develop each individual’s basic musicality. Assuming normal neurological functioning and development, we are all musical. Our musical development begins pre-birth, with musical behaviours in one form or another being evident across the lifespan. Nevertheless, early enculturation can both foster and hinder musical development and the realization of our musical potential. This means that we come to school having had a diverse range of musical experiences and, as a result, collectively demonstrate a continuum of skilled musical behaviours and attitudes to music. Consequently, the focus for music education should be to provide differentiated musical experiences that match the needs of each individual. This is exemplified in the nature of singing development and its significance in the emergence of our individual musical identity.
A credo of music pedagogy
Authors: Olsson Bengt
Published: June 2005

More people are currently experiencing and performing music than at any previous time. New technology has made it possible to both create and distribute music all over the world. However, although it is of huge importance, the role of music education is often neglected. What then is the essence of music education? Traditionally people speak of ‘intention to teach’ and ‘intention to learn’ as two basic premises for education, but music education is much more. Music education may reflect the cultural life of a geographical community, re-created community, or imagined community. What are the unique aspects of music education? First, music education leads to a spirit of community; second, people’s abilities to distinguish between different kinds of music are developed; and, third, there is a focus on how to perform all kinds of music. Thus, music education plays a significant role in human development.
To what question(s) is music education advocacy the answer?
Authors: Bowman Wayne
Published: June 2005

Advocacy can be a useful tool. But like all tools it has its limitations and potential dangers, its proper and improper uses. Understanding the difference is critical. Advocacy and philosophy are very different processes, serving very divergent ends. Philosophy is suited poorly to advocacy’s political purposes, and advocacy arguments are seldom of much philosophical worth. Advocacy is conservative, a plea for support of the status quo. Philosophy has no such encumbrances, no preordained agenda. Viewed philosophically, musical engagements are not unconditionally good: they may harm as well as heal, subvert as well as advance the goals of education. The need for advocacy often stems from educational failings. Because there is no inherent linkage between musical involvements and educational outcomes, and because the validity of advocacy arguments always rests upon particular instructional practices, advocacy arguments should be undertaken judiciously, and locally by the professionals charged with delivering the goods.
Music brings people together in postwar Kosovo
Authors: Luzha Besa
Published: June 2005

In my country of Kosovo, where we endured 10 years of terrible conflict, even in the most difficult of times songs were created speaking of freedom. As children sang these songs, it brought them hope for a better life in the future. When the conflict came to an end and peace was established in 1999, a special concert (the first classical concert in 10 years) brought 600 people together with glorious music to heal our souls and give us the hope and strength to move forward.
The Language of Journalism in Treatments of Hormone Replacement News
Authors: MacDonald Susan Peck
Published: June 2005

Researchers studying science communication have criticized the sensationalism that often appears in journalistic accounts of science news. This article looks at the linguistic sources of that sensationalism by analyzing the journalistic coverage of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study of hormone replacement research, which was abruptly canceled in July 2002 and became the subject of many news articles. The article uses a coding system to analyze seven magazine and newspaper articles that appeared shortly after the WHI study was halted. The coding shows a high incidence of concrete nouns in the journalistic accounts and looks at the ways the syntax of their attributions are ordered to emphasize vivid nouns, the ways their verbs contribute to narrative, and some of the narrative devices employed in the journalistic reporting.
An Essay on Pedagogy by Mikhail M. Bakhtin
Authors: Bazerman Charles
Published: June 2005

This is an extended summary of a pedagogic essay by Mikhail M. Bakhtin on writing style, titled “Dialogic Origin and Dialogic Pedagogy of Grammar: Stylistics as Part of Russian Language Instruction in Secondary School.” In this essay, written in spring 1945 while Bakhtin was a secondary school teacher of Russian language arts, he argues that every grammatical form is a representation of reality and needs to be taught in relation to stylistic choices; otherwise, grammar instruction is pedantic and leads students to write in a deadening bookish style. Bakhtin describes and analyzes a lesson on the stylistic force of parataxic sentences. He asks students to identify the voice and psychological expression conveyed in examples from Pushkin and Gogol, so they may recover the liveliness in their expression that they had in their younger grades, but at a higher level of cultural development. He finds that after instruction, students use more parataxic sentences, increasing the liveliness of their writing.
Responses to Bakhtin’s “Dialogic Origins and Dialogic Pedagogy of Grammar: Stylistics as Part of Russian Language Instruction in Secondary Schools”
Authors: Bazerman Charles , Farmer Frank , Halasek Kay , Williams Joseph M.
Published: June 2005

The three authors writing on Bakhtin’s essay, “Dialogic Origin and Dialogic Pedagogy of Grammar”—Farmer, Halasek, and Williams—respond to one another, and Bazerman provides a summative comment in the paragraphs that follow. The responses explore further some of Bakhtin’s thoughts concerning rhetoric and its relation to stylistics and his use of the concept of hero as a grammatical category. The discussion of Bakhtin leads to more general questions of the relation between spontaneous utterance and situationality and the implications for the possibility of a systematic grammar of style. Nonetheless, the commentators agree on Bakhtin’s explicit pedagogy and the interanimation of everyday speech with literary examples. The editor’s final comment notes a tension that informs all these responses, that is, between explicit teaching, on one hand, and avoiding formulaic writing, on the other. Bakhtin’s changing view of the relation of dialectics and dialogue is discussed as well.
Gesture and Collaborative Planning
Authors: Wolfe Joanna
Published: June 2005

When writers plan a document together, they rely on gestures as well as speech and writing in constructing a common representation of their group document. This case study of a student technical writing group explores how group members used gestures to create a conversational interaction space that they then treated like a physical text that they manipulated, wrote on, and pointed at. These gestures suggested a group pretext that helped group members translate abstract goals into concrete plans. However, the close proximity of gesture to the physical act of writing may mislead students into thinking that the tricky work of translating abstract ideas into final written form had already been completed. Gestures and adaptor movements (such as fidgeting with a pen) also seemed to conspire to help individuals control the conversational space and call attention to themselves as writers. Implications for future research on gesture and collaborative writing, gender, and writing technologies are discussed.