bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Meta‐analysis of transmitter effects on avian behaviour and ecology
Authors: Barron Douglas G. , Brawn Jeffrey D. , Weatherhead Patrick J.
Published: February 2010

1. Researchers often attach transmitters and other devices to free‐living birds without a clear understanding of potential deleterious consequences to their study organisms, and thus to their data. Studies investigating this topic have generally been limited to a single species or type of device.

2. To achieve a broader understanding we used a meta‐analysis of 84 studies to ask: (1) Do devices have an overall effect on birds? (2) Which aspects of avian behaviour and ecology are affected? (3) What attributes of birds influence transmitter effects? (4) What attributes of devices influence their effects? (5) Are effects partially a consequence of capture and restraint?

3. We found a significant negative effect of devices on birds, both overall and for 8 of the 12 specific aspects analysed. The most substantial effects were that birds with devices had markedly increased energy expenditure and were much less likely to nest.

4. Effects were independent of attributes of the birds (sex, age, primary method of locomotion and body mass). We also found no evidence that proportionally heavier devices had greater effects, although researchers generally avoided using heavy devices. Breast‐mounted and harness attachments increased device‐induced behaviours such as preening, however, and the risk of device‐induced mortality differed between attachment methods.

5. Other than foraging behaviours, no effects were a consequence of capture or restraint.

6.
Synthesis and applications. We provide the first comprehensive evidence that transmitters and other devices negatively affect birds and may bias resulting data. Researchers should balance the benefits of using these techniques against potential costs to the birds and reliability of the data obtained.
Rational points on cubic hypersurfaces that split off a form. With an appendix by J.-L. Colliot-Thélène
Authors: Browning T. D.
Published: February 2010

Let X be a projective cubic hypersurface of dimension 11 or more, which is defined over ℚ. We show that X(ℚ) is non-empty provided that the cubic form defining X can be written as the sum of two forms that share no common variables.
Protective Effects of Methylxanthines on Hypoxia-Induced Apoptotic Neurodegeneration and Long-Term Cognitive Functions in the Developing Rat Brain
Authors: Kumral Abdullah , Yesilirmak Didem Cemile , Aykan Simge , Genc Sermin , Tugyan Kazim , Cilaker Serap , Akhisaroglu Mustafa , Aksu İlkay , Sutcuoglu Sumer , Yilmaz Osman , Duman Nuray , Ozkan Hasan
Published: February 2010

Aminophylline is widely used in the management of premature apnea. The methylxanthines aminophylline, theophylline and caffeine are nonspecific inhibitors of adenosine receptors. There are no proven effects of methylxanthines on acute brain injury and long-term cognitive functions. This study is aimed at investigating the effects of methylxanthines on brain injury and cognitive functions. Newborn rats were allocated to form four groups, which contained at least 21 pups: two groups were exposed to room air and two groups were exposed to intermittent hypoxia. Intraperitoneal aminophylline was administered to treatment groups during postnatal day 1 through postnatal day 7. All rats were sacrificed on postnatal day 8 via intraperitoneal pentobarbital and the effects of the administered drug on brain injury and adenosine receptor expression were determined. Cognitive functions of rats were evaluated via water maze test. Histopathological evaluation demonstrated that aminophylline significantly diminished the number of ‘apoptotic cells’ in the hippocampal CA1, CA2, CA3 and gyrus dentatus regions in the brain. Aminophylline treatment immediately after hypoxic insult significantly improved long-term neurobehavioral achievements. In conclusion, aminophylline administration immediately after neonatal hypoxic insult provides benefit over a prolonged period in the developing rat brain.
The Anti-Inflammatory Agent N-Acetyl Cysteine Exacerbates Endotoxin-Induced Hypoxemia and Hypotension and Induces Polycythemia in the Ovine Fetus
Authors: Probyn Megan E. , Cock Megan L. , Duncan Jhodie R. , Tolcos Mary , Hale Nadia , Shields Amy , Rees Sandra M. , Harding Richard
Published: February 2010

Background: Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) delivered acutely to the ovine fetus induces cerebral white matter injury and brain inflammation. N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) is potentially neuroprotective as it blocks the production of inflammatory cytokines and increases glutathione levels; however, it is unknown whether NAC affects the physiological status of the fetus already exposed to an inflammatory environment. Objectives: Our objective was to determine whether NAC influences the physiological effects of LPS exposure in the ovine fetus. Methods: Catheterized fetal sheep underwent one of four treatments (saline, n = 6; LPS, n = 6; LPS + NAC, n = 6; NAC, n = 3) on 5 consecutive days from 95 days of gestation (term ∼147 days). Fetal arterial pressure and heart rate were recorded and blood samples collected. Results: LPS administration resulted in fetal hypoxemia and hypotension; simultaneous treatment with NAC exacerbated these effects and induced polycythemia. NAC treatment alone had no effect on the fetus. Conclusion: In the presence of LPS, NAC compromises fetal physiological status, suggesting that it may not be a suitable antenatal treatment for a fetus with evidence of inflammation.
History of Dementia Research in Bohemia and Middle Europe
Authors: Kalvach Pavel , Kalvach Zdeněk
Published: February 2010

The clinical aspects and histopathology of dementia are best understood when based on knowledge of the historical milestones associated with its development. We studied archive materials and visited some of the psychiatric asylums that were active in Prague during the 19th century. Results: The gradual recognition of dementia and its histological correlates on the territory of the actual Czech Republic from the 1830s are described, together with its links to Austrian, German, and other foreign psychiatry and neurology. A stepwise differentiation between inborn mental incapacity and the acquired forms occurred between 1830 and 1890. This was followed by contributions from Emil Redlich, Arnold Pick, Karel Kuffner, Oskar Fischer and others between 1890 and 1930, elucidating features of senile plaques, and shedding light on behavioral-morphological correlations and on the role of inflammatory tissue changes. These discoveries allowed the distinction between neurodegenerative causes of dementia and other etiological categories. Conclusion: One hundred years ago, Prague was one of the cradles from which our modern understanding of neurodegenerative dementia emerged.
Dissecting Toxicity of Tau and β-Amyloid
Authors: Götz Jürgen , Lim Yun-An , Ke Yazi D. , Eckert Anne , Ittner Lars M.
Published: February 2010

Background: How β-amyloid (Aβ) and tau exert toxicity in Alzheimer’s disease is only partly understood. Major questions include (1) which aggregation state of Aβ confers toxicity, (2) do amyloidogenic proteins have similar mechanisms of toxicity, and (3) does soluble tau interfere with cellular functions? Methods: To determine Aβ toxicity in P301L mutant tau transgenic mice, mitochondrial function was assessed after insult with monomeric, oligomeric and fibrillar Aβ. Amylin and Aβ toxicity were compared in cortical and hippocampal long-term cultures. To determine tau toxicity, K369I mutant tau mice were established as a model of frontotemporal dementia, analyzed biochemically and compared with human diseased brain. Results: Oligomeric and fibrillar Aβ42 were both toxic, although to different degrees. Human amylin shared toxicity with Aβ42, an effect not observed for nonamyloidogenic rat amylin. Clinical features of K369I tau mice were caused by aberrant interaction of phosphorylated tau with JIP1, a component of the kinesin transport machinery. Conclusion: Our data support the notion of a synergistic action of tau and Aβ pathology on mitochondria. A specific conformation of Aβ42 and human amylin determines toxicity. Finally, trapping of JIP1 by phosphorylated tau in the neuronal soma emerges as a fundamental pathomechanism in neurodegeneration.
Neuroinflammation – An Early Event in Both the History and Pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s Disease
Authors: Eikelenboom Piet , van Exel Erik , Hoozemans Jeroen J.M. , Veerhuis Rob , Rozemuller Annemieke J.M. , van Gool Willem A.
Published: February 2010

Background: About hundred years ago, Oskar Fischer proposed that the senile plaques are the consequence of the deposition of a foreign substance that could induce an inflammatory response leading to an abnormal neuritic response of the surrounding neurons. Objectives: To show that the interest in inflammation in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is not only an early event in the history of AD but that inflammation is also an early event in the pathogenesis of AD. Methods: Evaluation of the neuropathological, epidemiological and genetic evidence for a role of inflammation early in the pathogenesis of AD. Results: Neuropathological studies show presence of activated microglia and inflammation-related mediators in the cerebral neocortex of autopsied patients with a low Braak stage for AD pathology. Prospective population-based cohort studies indicate that higher serum levels of acute phase proteins predict dementia. On a genetic level, it was found that the production capacity of proinflammatory cytokines after stimulation with lipopolysaccharide (a process that is under strong genetic control) is higher in offspring with a parental history of late-onset AD. Conclusion: Neuropathological studies show that a neuroinflammatory response in the cerebral neocortex parallels the early stages of AD pathology and precedes the late stage, tau-related pathology. Epidemiological and genetic studies indicate that systemic markers of the innate immunity are risk factors for late-onset AD.
Analysis of APL1β28, a Surrogate Marker for Alzheimer Aβ42, Indicates Altered Precision of γ-Cleavage in the Brains of Alzheimer Disease Patients
Authors: Okochi Masayasu , Tagami Shinji , Takeda Masatoshi
Published: February 2010

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly. Currently, therapeutic intervention after the disease onset is difficult because progressive neuronal death precedes clinical symptoms. Available medicines for AD, such as AchE inhibitors, transiently slow the progression of the dementia symptoms, but they do not inhibit the pathological process. At present, next generation anti-AD drugs are in development in many pharmaceutical companies. Importantly, most of them are to inhibit the progress of the pathological process and, thus, at the same time, the establishment of a highly probable prediction of future AD onset is inseparable. AD is now diagnosed using clinical criteria coupled with brain imaging systems such as SPECT and PET. To diagnose AD cases before the appearance of clinical symptoms, it will be necessary to (a) establish new, more sensitive clinical criteria, (b) develop methods for detecting the pathological accumulation of proteins (e.g. Aβ) in the brain, or (c) develop biomarkers for predicting the accumulation of Aβ/tau in the brain. Our recent discovery of APL1β28, a possible biomarker of AD, may help in the development of early detection methods for AD.
Expression of Familial Alzheimer’s Disease-Linked Human Presenilin 1 Variants Impair Enrichment-Induced Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis
Authors: Veeraraghavalu Karthikeyan , Choi Se Hoon , Sisodia Sangram S.
Published: February 2010

Presenilin 1 (PS1) plays a critical role in neurogenesis both during development and in the adult. We recently reported that ubiquitous expression of familial, early-onset Alzheimer’s disease-linked PS1 mutants impairs enrichment-induced proliferation and neurogenesis of hippocampal neural progenitor cells (NPCs) in a non-cell autonomous manner. The impairments in proliferation and neurogenesis are, at least in part, due to alterations in the levels of specific chemokines and growth factors secreted from microglia expressing familial Alzheimer’s disease-linked PS1 variants. To test our hypothesis that the fate of hippocampal NPCs in PS1 mutant mice is largely determined by cellular factors produced within the niche itself, we are examining the fate of NPCs from hippocampi of wild-type human PS1 or PS1 mutant mice that are marked with green fluorescent protein and BrdU following transplantation into heterologous hosts. In parallel, we have generated transgenic mice that harbor a transgene encoding the PS1ΔE9 variant flanked with loxP sites that can be conditionally deleted in a temporal and/or spatial manner using specific cre driver lines. These studies will allow us to assess the contributions of varying cell types within the hippocampal stem cell niche that express mutant PS1 to NPC proliferation and differentiation.
p53 Is Regulated by and Regulates Members of the γ-Secretase Complex
Authors: Checler Frédéric , Dunys Julie , Pardossi-Piquard Raphaelle , Alves da Costa Cristine
Published: February 2010

Amyloid β-peptides is the generic term for a set of hydrophobic peptides that accumulate in Alzheimer’s disease (AD)-affected brains. These amyloid-β peptide fragments are mainly generated by an enzymatic machinery referred to as γ-secretase complex that is built up by the association of four distinct proteins, namely presenilin 1 (PS1) or PS2, nicastrin, Aph-1 and Pen-2. AD is also characterized by exacerbated cell death that appears linked to the tumor suppressor p53. Interestingly, all members of the γ-secretase complex control p53-dependent cell death. On the other hand, p53 appears to be able to regulate directly or indirectly the expression and transcription of PS1, PS2 and Pen-2. This review will focus on the functional cross-talk between the members of the γ-secretase complex and p53 and will discuss the putative implication of this oncogene in AD pathology.
Physical and Psychological Burden of Chronic Kidney Disease among Older Adults
Authors: McClellan William M. , Abramson Jerome , Newsome Britt , Temple Ella , Wadley Virginia G. , Audhya Paul , McClure Leslie A. , Howard Virginia J. , Warnock David G. , Kimmel Paul
Published: February 2010

Introduction: The purpose of the study is to determine if functional status and quality of life (QoL) vary with glomerular filtration rate (GFR) among older adults. Methods: We studied adults aged 45 years and older participating in the REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) cohort study. Data included demographic and health information, serum creatinine and hemoglobin, the 4-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D-4), the 4-item Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-4), reported health status and inactivity and the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-12 (SF-12) QoL scores. Results: CKD (GFR <60 ml/min/1.73 m2) was present in 11.6% of the subjects. As GFR declined, the SF-12 physical component score, adjusted for other participant attributes, declined from 38.9 to 35.9 (p = 0.0001). After adjustment for other risk factors, poorer personal health scores (p < 0.0001) and decreased physical activity (p < 0.0001) were reported as GFR declined. In contrast, after adjusting for other participant characteristics, depression scores and stress scores and the mental component score of the SF-12 were not associated with kidney function. Conclusion: Older individuals with CKD in the US population experience an increased prevalence of impaired QoL that cannot be fully explained by other individual characteristics.
Trait Emotional Intelligence of Greek Special Education Teachers in Relation to Burnout and Job Satisfaction
Authors: Platsidou Maria
Published: February 2010

This study investigates perceived emotional intelligence (EI) in relation to burnout syndrome and job satisfaction in primary special education teachers from Greece. EI was measured by the EIS developed by Schutte et al. (1998). Factor analysis revealed that four factors can be identified in the EIS. Results showed that Greek teachers reported fairly high scores in the specific factors and the overall EI. Perceived EI was significantly related to burnout syndrome and job satisfaction, indicating that teachers of high-perceived EI are likely to experience less burnout and greater job satisfaction. Regression analysis revealed that emotional exhaustion can be predicted by satisfaction with the job itself and with the principal subscales; depersonalization is predicted by satisfaction with the job and with prospective promotions; personal accomplishment is predicted by satisfaction with the job itself as well as by an EI factor, optimism/ mood regulation and a demographic variable, age. Results are compared to findings from international studies related to teachers and/or other professionals, and the associations of trait EI with burnout and job satisfaction are discussed.
Social, Family and Psychological Predictors of Obsessive—Compulsive Behaviour Among Children and Adolescents
Authors: Kirkcaldy B.D. , Furnham A.F. , Siefen R.G.
Published: February 2010

The incidence of ‘pure’ obsessive—compulsive disorders in the clinical population was found to be around 1.2 percent for a clinical sample record — stretching over a 2.5-year period — of around 2500 adolescents in a German child and adolescent psychiatry clinic. Over a 3-month period (time-frame) a sample of 350 new entries to the clinic were given a comprehensive series of questionnaires [Child Behaviour Checklist (YSR), Achenbach, 1991; Symptom Checklist (SCL-90-R)] and clinical assessment measures of socio-psychological, medical and educational attitudes (Englert and Poustka, 1995). Two groups of low and high trait compulsive individuals were generated (using the Symptom Check List, SCL-90-R) and socio-demographic and individual differences examined between these groups. Females were more likely than males to display high compulsive scores. Self-injurious behaviour was higher among the high compulsive group. There was no difference found in cognitive functioning, nor in family functioning, between the low and high trait compulsive groups. Multiple regression analyses using trait compulsivity as a dimensional trait (outcome variable) revealed the significant determinants were anxiety, depression, aggressiveness, phobic anxiety and psychoticism. Furthermore, the SCL Scales most predictive of compulsivity were depression, anxiety, aggression, phobic anxiety and psychoticism. Almost one-half of our patients displayed marked or full recovery after treatment and another 42 percent showed partial improvement (relief of symptoms in terms of reduction of frequency and intensity). The implications for future research are discussed.
The Landless Levite and the Call of Israel
Authors: Lee James Kyung-Jin
Published: February 2010

The central role of the Levite in Judges 19 in the brutal violence inflicted on the unnamed woman invites a consideration of the prohibition against land ownership amongst this Israelite tribe as inscribed in the Torah. Reading this injunction of Levitical landlessness alongside the story of Judges 19, as well as reflecting on this scene of horror in relation to a contemporary example of the violent death of an Asian American woman artist, this article explores the interplay between law and narrative as caveats against an idolatrous identity based on land ownership.
Occidentalism and the Categories of Hegemonic Rule
Authors: Friedman Jonathan
Published: February 2010

This article applies Jack Goody’s critique of Western classifications of historical and ethnographical phenomena to the current discourses of orientalism themselves in an endeavor to understand the sociological basis of what might be called the shift from orientalism to occidentalism. The argument compares the current emergence of anti-civilizational and self-critical discourses to historical examples of similar phenomena and argues that the current shift itself, so well represented in works that may seem similar to Goody’s but which are very more narrowly ideological and lacking in a more general critical stance, are reflexes of the declining hegemony of powerful imperial centers within global systems.
Epistemic Disobedience, Independent Thought and Decolonial Freedom
Authors: Mignolo Walter D.
Published: February 2010

Once upon a time scholars assumed that the knowing subject in the disciplines is transparent, disincorporated from the known and untouched by the geo-political configuration of the world in which people are racially ranked and regions are racially configured. From a detached and neutral point of observation (that Colombian philosopher Santiago Castro-Gómez describes as the hubris of the zero point ), the knowing subject maps the world and its problems, classifies people and projects into what is good for them. Today that assumption is no longer tenable, although there are still many believers. At stake is indeed the question of racism and epistemology. And once upon a time scholars assumed that if you ‘come’ from Latin America you have to ‘talk about’ Latin America; that in such a case you have to be a token of your culture. Such expectation will not arise if the author ‘comes’ from Germany, France, England or the US. As we know: the first world has knowledge, the third world has culture; Native Americans have wisdom, Anglo Americans have science. The need for political and epistemic de-linking here comes to the fore, as well as decolonializing and decolonial knowledges, necessary steps for imagining and building democratic, just, and nonimperial/colonial societies.
The Urban ‘Battlespace’
Authors: Graham Stephen
Published: February 2010

Sustaining the military targeting of the everyday sites and spaces of urban life in the contemporary period is a new constellation of military doctrine and theory. In this the spectre of state-vs-state military conflict is seen to be in radical retreat. Instead, the new doctrine is centred around the idea that a wide spectrum of global insurgencies and ambient threats now operates across the social, technical, political, cultural and financial networks which straddle transnational scales while simultaneously penetrating the everyday spaces, sites and circulations of global cities. Such lurking threats are deemed by the latest theorist of ‘asymmetric’ or ‘irregular’ warfare to camouflage themselves within the ‘clutter’ of cities at home and abroad for concealment against traditional forms of military targeting. Addressing the Mumbai attacks through the lens of this emerging constellation of military and security doctrine, this article highlights three important implications of viewing the everyday sites, spaces and circulations of cities as the key strategic ‘battlespaces’ of our era. These involve, first, the way contemporary doctrine views urban terrorist attacks as part of a broad terrain of trans- national organized ‘information operations’. Second, such paradigms prefigure a radical blurring between local and global scales, the ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ of nation-states, and between policing, military power and state intelligence. And, finally, emerging urban security propagates hyper-militarized perspectives in which every aspect of urban life is transposed as an act of limitless and boundless warfare.
African Reverberations of the Mumbai Attacks
Authors: Pieterse Edgar
Published: February 2010

In the wake of Mumbai terror attacks one is forced to reflect on the nature and representation of urban violence across the global South. It is clear that only certain kinds of violence and upheaval warrant attention in the public domain as reflected in the world’s globalized media. This observation immediately forces one to consider the deafening silence about the pervasive execution and symbolic order of terror in much of Africa. Indeed, 88 percent of conflict deaths between 1990 and 2007 in Africa received hardly any media coverage let alone analysis. Given that one is talking about 5.4 million deaths in Congo (DRC) alone, it is very difficult to fully comprehend the differential treatment of conflict, violence and death. Drawing on the rich perspective in postcolonial urban studies that cities can be read as targets, I seek to extend that work by bringing routinized violence, focused on social infrastructures and relations, into the analytical frame. Hopefully, the Mumbai attacks can at least open up fresh and more urgent avenues of theoretical work on the painful and extreme constitution of urban modernities in the global South.
The Sociological Imagination and its Imperial Shadows
Authors: Kemple Thomas M. , Mawani Renisa
Published: February 2010

This article commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of The Sociological Imagination by recalling, renewing and updating C. Wright Mills’ pledge to expand a politically aware, self-reflective and publicly accessible intellectual culture between aestheticism and scientism. We begin by sketching how Mills’ ‘bifocal’ vision of the translation between the close-up perspective on personal milieus and the longer view of social structures contrasts with recent calls for a public sociology which would sustain its professional legitimacy while reviving its critical conscience. To illustrate this point, we argue that his project can be reframed in a way that ‘provincializes’ the universalizing claims and scientific aspirations of much of North American sociology by exposing its imperial unconscious in pre- and post-war movements toward the professionalization and scientization of knowledge. Here our focus turns to the prospects for a ‘sociology of empire’ to trace imperial forms which are symptomatically manifested both in the discipline’s assumptions about historical progress and in Mills’ critique of these assumptions. Finally, with an example from the history of British colonialism in Egypt, we show how, despite its blindspots, Mills’ vision of the sociological imagination implicitly projects an alternative ‘sociological map’ with distinct vantage points that can account for the changing cultural tasks of our time, especially concerning how collectives of human and non-human agents are unequally mediated within networks of power. We conclude by revisiting Mills’ distinctive approach to ‘the craft of sociology’, considered more as a prayer than a profession, and undertaken more as a personal and political calling than as career.
Protecting the Urban
Authors: Coaffee Jon
Published: February 2010

Urban areas are prime targets for international terrorists given the array of valuable physical and social infrastructure they contain. Whereas traditionally governmental, financial, critical infrastructure or military targets have been attacked, increasingly terrorism is targeted at everyday crowded urban spaces which are by their very nature difficult to defend. Subsequently this has led to a wave of pre-emptive and anticipatory counter-terrorism policy in the West in an attempt to secure the defence of the future city. In such policy-making urban terror attacks are viewed as inevitable and unavoidable, but the nature of such attacks is seen as fluid. Notably, recent commando-style attacks against non-western cities — in Mumbai and Lahore in late 2008 and early 2009 respectively — and against soft, unprotected targets has led to a reassessment of western urban security strategies and an assumption that such terrorist modus operandi will migrate to western cities. Such an uncritical reading, as exemplified by the western bias in media reporting in the aftermath of these events, highlights the need for scholars and policy-makers to engage with alternative readings of these events and illuminate the contextual factors underlying terrorism and its tactics, and target selection in particular locations. In developing a more rounded and reflexive understanding of terrorism as a method, planners and policy-makers might be in a better position to progress more nuanced security strategies that aim to tackle the underlying causes of terrorism rather than simply reacting through militarizing an increasing array of urban spaces.
‘India’s 9/11’
Authors: Roy Tania
Published: February 2010

This article explores the hermeneutical force and flexibility of the 9/11 idiom, by identifying some ways in which it served as an interpretative framework for the attacks of 26 November 2008 in Mumbai. The idiom’s transposition to Mumbai represented, in part, a contest over American rhetorical capital. Re-territorialized as ‘India’s 9/11’, the idiom has re-signified a range of local interests, aspirations, and contests over urban space and identity in Mumbai. In this context, I examine two symmetrical developments within the civic spaces of the city in the immediate aftermath. The first involves the emergence of an upwardly mobile middle class and elite as it took the form of collective survivor-spectator, appearing as a coherent, highly visible and effective public agent. The second involves an apparent suspension of competing narratives of urban terror, which in the past have been enacted through demotic violence in the form of the communal riot. The article suggests that these developments in Mumbai must be read through the city’s incorporation into an emergent narrative of ‘global’ or so-called ‘9/11-type’ terror. In the case of 26/11, the terrorist attacks were possibly understood as the exercise of ideological indifference to identity, as levelling the value and distinction of moral communities to the abject experience of sheer bodily life.
Gender and Disadvantage in the Australian Parliamentary Inquiry into the Education of Boys
Authors: Hodgetts Katherine , Lecouteur Amanda
Published: February 2010

This article offers a discursive analysis of accounts of boys’ underachievement produced during the Australian Parliamentary Inquiry into Boys’ Education (2002). Analysis focuses on two interpretative repertoires through which boys’ positioning as ‘educationally disadvantaged’ was accomplished. Both repertoires depicted current curricula and assessment as ‘favouring’ female students. One repertoire established boys’ ‘disadvantaged’ status within accounts that made no mention of historical barriers to girls’ attainment. By contrast, a repertoire of ‘curricular feminization’ established male disadvantage in terms of explicit reference to the historical context of gendered achievement patterns. Within this second repertoire, reference to past impediments to girls’ academic success repeatedly served to refute the contemporary relevance of concern about female students’ educational performance. We argue that both of these repertoires were produced within — and served to reproduce — a framework of ‘presumptive gender equality’. This framework served to reduce questions of equity from an analysis of academic access, participation and post-school implications to a simplistic comparison of performance outcomes. We explore how such rhetorical positioning was repeatedly achieved in one institutional public policy context, demonstrating in particular how a discourse of ‘gender equity’ served to legitimate an intensified national focus on the educational interests of boys.
Vegan Sexuality: Challenging Heteronormative Masculinity through Meat-free Sex
Authors: Potts Annie , Parry Jovian
Published: February 2010

The terms ‘vegansexuality’ and ‘vegansexuals’ entered popular discourse following substantial media interest in a New Zealand-based academic study on ethical consumption that noted that some vegans engaged in sexual relationships and intimate partnerships only with other vegans. At this time it was suggested that a spectrum existed in relation to cruelty-free consumption and sexual relationships: at one end of this spectrum, a form of sexual preference influenced by veganism entailed an increased likelihood of sexual attraction towards those who shared similar beliefs regarding the exploitation of non-human animals; at the other end of the spectrum such a propensity might manifest as a strong sexual aversion to the bodies of those who consume meat and other animal products. The extensive media hype about (and public response to) vegansexuality was predominantly negative and derogatory towards ‘vegansexuals’ and vegans/vegetarians. A particular aggression was evident in online comments by those positioned as heterosexual meat-eating men. In this article we examine the hostile responses to vegansexuality and veganism posted by such men on internet news and journalism sites, personal blogs and chatrooms. We argue that the rhetoric associated with this backlash constructs vegansexuals — and vegans more generally — as (sexual) losers, cowards, deviants, failures and bigots. Furthermore, we suggest that the vigorous reactions of self-identified omnivorous men demonstrate how the notion of alternative sexual practices predicated on the refusal of meat culture radically challenges the powerful links between meat-eating, masculinity and virility in western societies.
Ethnography among ‘experts’: notes on collaboration and sabotage in the field
Authors: Gil Gastón Julián
Published: February 2010

Based on an analysis of how an ethnographic research project was received by ‘experts’ in the field, a series of reflections will be put forward on ethnographic fieldwork and some aspects of anthropological knowledge. Developed on the assumption that the vicissitudes of ethnographic practice are central to the process of knowing the ‘Other’, this reflexive exercise focuses on how informants may turn into either the ethnographer’s saboteurs or his/her contributors — and even co-authors. As spaces in the academic arena are shared — and somehow disputed — extremely conflictive relationships spring raising fears in the ethnographer, who may suffer direct sabotages in his experience on the field.
Focus groups as social enactments: integrating interaction and content in the analysis of focus group data
Authors: Halkier Bente
Published: February 2010

This article argues that there is a need for more methodological discussions and examples upon how to include the social interaction element in analysing focus group data. It is suggested that from a practice theoretical perspective, focus group data (like other types of qualitative data) are understood as social enactments. The article gives examples of four different but related methodological tools of analysis that can help integrating interaction and content in analysing focus group enactments, namely tools from Goffman-inspired interaction analysis, conversation analysis, discourse psychology and positioning theory. The examples are unfolded on focus group data-material from a qualitative empirical research project on how Danish women cook and relate to normative issues in cooking, and the choice of specific examples of tools of analysis are linked to the specific knowledge interests of this research project.
Does the source of death information affect cancer screening efficacy results? A study of the use of mortality review versus death certificates in four randomized trials
Authors: Doria-Rose V Paul , Marcus Pamela M , Miller Anthony B , Bergstralh Eric J , Mandel Jack S , Tockman Melvyn S , Prorok Philip C
Published: February 2010

Background Often in randomized controlled trials of cancer screening, cause of death is determined by a mortality review committee. However, little is known regarding how findings from mortality review compare to those from death certificates alone.

Purpose To examine the results of four different U. S. trials of cancer screening when death certificate data only were used, as compared to results using all available mortality review information.

Methods Trials included were the Health Insurance Plan of New York breast screening trial (HIP), the Minnesota trial of fecal occult blood testing, and the Johns Hopkins and Mayo Lung Projects, which each examined chest x-ray and sputum cytology. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and Cohen’s kappa for death certificates were calculated for all arms of all trials. Separate intention-to-screen analyses were conducted for each trial using cause of death information from either death certificates alone or full mortality review data.

Results Generally there was excellent agreement between the death certificates and the mortality review committee as to the underlying cause of death (kappa >0.85 in all cases); death certificate agreement was similar between arms in all trials. Modest changes in the screening effectiveness estimates were observed when mortality review information was utilized, ranging from a 9% decrease to a 2% increase in the calculated mortality rate ratios. However, in one instance (HIP) a statistically significant benefit of screening was observed when mortality review committee data were used (rate ratio (RR) 0.77, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.62— 0.95) but not when death certificate data were used (RR 0.82, 95% CI 0.65—1.03).

Limitations Although considered to be the gold standard, even carefully conducted mortality review may result in errors in cause of death assignment.

Conclusions For each trial, results were similar regardless of the source of cause of death information. Clinical Trials 2010; 7: 69—77. http://ctj.sagepub.com
Partial Pair Correlation Functions of Highly Concentrated Aqueous Urea Solutions Determined by Neutron Diffraction with 14N/15N and H/D Isotopic Substitution Methods
Authors: Kameda Yasuo , Maki Asami , Amo Yuko , Usuki Takeshi
Published: February 2010

Neutron diffraction measurements were carried out on 14N/15N and H/D isotopically substituted aqueous 25 mol % urea (xurea = 0.25) solutions in order to obtain direct experimental information on the short-range structure on the urea–urea, urea–water, and water–water interactions in highly concentrated aqueous urea solutions near saturation. Scattering cross sections observed for isotopically distinct solutions were successfully combined to derive intermolecular partial structure factors, aNNinter(Q), aNHinter(Q), aNO(NC)inter(Q), aHHinter(Q), aXHinter(Q), and aXXinter(Q) (X: O, N, and C), and corresponding intermolecular partial pair correlation functions. The nearest neighbor intermolecular N···O and N···H distances have been obtained as 3.14(1) and 3.42(1) Å, respectively, indicating that the amino group of the urea molecule forms hydrogen bonds with neighboring water molecules in such a highly concentrated solution. The nearest neighbor intermolecular N···N interaction was found at intermolecular distance of 4.71(5) Å with a coordination number of 3.1(5), which evidences that the hydrogen-bonded urea oligomers exist in the present solution. The nearest neighbor intermolecular O···H distance has been found to be 1.90(1) Å, which indicates that hydrogen bonds among the solvent water molecules are still preserved in the present solutions. On the other hand, corresponding O···H coordination number 0.83(1) is much smaller than that reported for room temperature liquid water. The nearest neighbor intermolecular H···H and O···O distances were determined to be 2.37(5) and 2.86(2) Å, respectively. The corresponding H···H and O···O coordination numbers were obtained as 2.0(5) and 1.4(1), respectively. These values are also much smaller than those observed for the pure water. The present results suggest that the hydrogen-bonded network among water molecules is considerably modified due to the nearest neighbor urea–water and urea–urea interactions, which can be strongly related with protein denaturation ability of the concentrated aqueous urea solutions.
Reactions of Molybdenum Tetrahydrido Complex with Halohydrosilanes
Authors: Kuramochi Satoru , Kido Yo-hei , Shioda Syunsuke , Minato Makoto , Kakeya Masaki , Osakada Kohtaro
Published: February 2010

The thermal reactions of [MoH4(dppe)2] (1, dppe = Ph2PCH2CH2PPh2) with RSiH2X afford [MoH2X(dppe){[Ph2PCH2CH2P(Ph)C6H4-o]RXSi-P,P,Si}] (R = Ph, X = Cl (5a); R = cyclo-C6H11, X = Cl (5b); and R = Ph, X = Br (6)) by activation of the Si–H bond of the silanes and the ortho C–H bond of the phenyl group in the dppe ligand. Reduction of the Si–Cl and Mo–Cl bonds in 5a with LiAlH4 leads to the formation of the original complex 1 as a result of unusual Si–C bond cleavage. Meanwhile, dehalogenative reduction of 5a using zinc metal gives the known compound [MoH3{[Ph2PCH2CH2P(Ph)C6H4-o]2(Ph)Si-P,P,P,P,Si}] (2). The experimental results reported herein provide certain evidence for the involvement of the silylene species in the unusual formation of the present polydentate phosphinoalkyl–silyl ligands.
Incorporation of Non-Natural Amino Acids with Two Labeling Groups into the N-Terminus of Proteins
Authors: Egusa Tadayoshi , Shiraga Kaori , Chiba Takuya , Tokuda Yasunori , Iijima Issei , Hohsaka Takahiro
Published: February 2010

Incorporation of non-natural amino acids into proteins is a useful method for protein researches, including position-specific labeling with fluorophores and biotin. Here, we incorporated single non-natural amino acids with both fluorophore and biotin into the N-terminus of proteins in a cell-free translation system. α-Biotinyl-p-(BODIPYFL-amino)phenylalanine derivatives, with or without an aminohexyl linker between the biotin moiety, were synthesized and attached to an Escherichia coli initiator tRNA that had a CUA anticodon. The aminoacylated initiator tRNA was added to an E. coli cell-free translation system together with an mRNA encoding maltose binding protein that had a UAG initiator codon. Fluorescence analysis of SDS-PAGE, Western blot analysis, and mass spectrometry demonstrated that the biotinylated BODIPYFL-aminophenylalanine derivatives were successfully incorporated into the N-terminus of the protein, although the aminohexyl linker slightly decreased the incorporation efficiency. Fluorescence spectroscopy measurements indicated that complexation with streptavidin significantly quenched the fluorescence of BODIPYFL, and the aminohexyl linker facilitated the fluorescence quenching. The biotinylated BODIPYFL-aminophenylalanine was also used for double labeling several proteins. This method is a general and useful tool for the N-terminal-specific modification of proteins with two moieties.
Three Structural Isomers of Dinaphthothieno[3,2-b]thiophenes: Elucidation of Physicochemical Properties, Crystal Structures, and Field-Effect Transistor Characteristics
Authors: Yamamoto Tatsuya , Shinamura Shoji , Miyazaki Eigo , Takimiya Kazuo
Published: February 2010

In order to gain an insight into the relationship between the molecular structure and the semiconductor characteristics of highly π-extended heteroarene-based organic semiconductors, three structural isomers of dinaphthothieno[3,2-b]thiophenes with C2h symmetry were investigated. Of these, two isomers, dinaphtho[2,1-b:2′,1′-f ]thieno[3,2-b]thiophene (2) and dinaphtho[1,2-b:1′,2′-f ]thieno[3,2-b]thiophene (3), were newly synthesized, characterized, and utilized as active semiconducting layers in organic field-effect transistors (FETs). Detailed investigation of the physicochemical properties of 2 and 3, together with another isomer, dinaphtho[2,3-b:2′,3′-f ]thieno[3,2-b]thiophene (1), indicated that the electronic structures of the three isomers are fairly different from each other despite having the same molecular formula and the same aromatic constituents. Comparison of the molecular arrangements in the crystals elucidated by X-ray structural analysis implied that the molecular shape and the thus-induced favorable intermolecular interactions play important roles in determining the entire molecular arrangement. The characteristics of 2- and 3-based FETs with maximum field-effect mobilities (μFET s) of 10−3–10−2 cm2 V−1 s−1 were inferior to those of 1-based FETs with μFET s up to 3.0 cm2 V−1 s−1. The inferior characteristics of 2- and 3-based devices were due to film morphology as elucidated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and supported by theoretical calculations of electronic structure in the solid state. Together, the results indicate that the molecular structure and shape, even for similar heteroarenes with the same molecular formula and symmetry, are important parameters to determine the solid-state properties of organic semiconductors.
A Comparative Study on Chiral and Racemic 12-Hydroxyoctadecanoic Acids in the Solutions and Aggregation States: Does the Racemic Form Really Form a Gel?
Authors: Sakurai Takara , Masuda Yuichi , Sato Hisako , Yamagishi Akihiko , Kawaji Hitoshi , Atake Tooru , Hori Kayako
Published: February 2010

Chiral and racemic forms of the title compound (12HOAs) were reinvestigated. Gels formed separately from d- and l-12HOAs became a solution containing crystallites on maintaining contact, confirming that Dl-12HOA forms no gel, contrary to several reports published over more than ten years, which stated that Dl-12HOA formed a gel (for example, P. Terech et al., Langmuir1994, 10, 3406). The powder X-ray diffraction pattern of d-12HOA was different from that of Dl-12HOA and the simulated patterns of two crystal structures of Dl-12HOA. 13C NMR spectroscopy for solutions of C6D6 showed significant difference in the concentration dependence of the low-field shifts at the carboxyl C due to hydrogen-bond formation. Analysis based on multiple equilibria among monomer, dimer, and tetramer was successfully applied to the behavior of d-12HOA, but not to that of Dl-12HOA. For Dl-12HOA, a modified model including hexamer was applied. It is concluded that association of dimers to tetramers and higher aggregates is more favorable in the Dl-12HOA solution than in the d-12HOA solution and that d- and l-12HOA molecules recognize each other even in a dilute solution (lower than 2 mmol L−1) of Dl-12HOA. Different NMR spectra were also observed in the solid state.
Chiral Phosphoric Acids as Versatile Catalysts for Enantioselective Carbon–Carbon Bond Forming Reactions
Authors: Terada Masahiro
Published: February 2010

An inventive approach to the development of chiral Brønsted acid catalysis, to enable catalysts which possess strong acid functionalities, has been accomplished. Among the various organic Brønsted acids surveyed, phosphoric acids have become the focus of our attention as potential chiral Brønsted acid catalysts because of their unique structural and chemical features. The desirable features of phosphoric acids as chiral Brønsted acid catalysts are summarized as follows. 1) Phosphoric acids are expected to have relatively strong yet appropriate acidity. 2) The phosphoryl oxygen would function as a Brønsted basic site and hence it is anticipated that it would convey acid/base dual function even to monofunctional phosphoric acid catalysts. 3) An acidic functionality is available even with the introduction of a ring system which effectively restricts the conformational flexibility of the chiral backbone. 4) Substituents can be introduced to the ring system to provide an efficient chiral environment for enantioselective transformations. It is anticipated that an efficient substrate recognition site would be constructed around the activation site due to the acid/base dual function and the steric and electronic influence of the substituents introduced at the ring system. In this context, we developed 1,1′-bi-2-naphthol (BINOL)-derived monophosphoric acids as chiral Brønsted acid catalysts. The chiral phosphoric acids thus developed functioned as efficient enantioselective catalysts for a variety of carbon–carbon bond forming reactions via activation of a series of functionalities, affording enantioenriched products in excellent selectivities. In this article, we review our recent achievements in developing enantioselective reactions using the chiral phosphoric acid catalysts. The contents are arranged according to the type of functionality, including imines, hemiaminal ethers, aldehydes, and electron-rich double bonds, followed by specific reaction types.