bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Cuba Company and the Creation of Informal Business Networks: Historiography and Archival Sources
Authors: Santamarina Juan Carlos
Published: June 2005

After 1898 Cuba was directly linked, economically and politically, to the United States: politically through the U.S. military government in Cuba and subsequently the Platt Amendment and economically through close business relations and U.S. direct investment in the Cuban economy. Out of those economic and political relations emerged long-term intimate social, cultural, and ideological ties between Cuban and North American elites. North Americans were influencing Cuban development not only through formal state-to-state relations but more importantly through informal relations between businessmen and politicians, between individuals and companies, and across national borders. This study presents a microlevel business history focusing on the informal
networks forged between North American, Cuban, and other businessmen, politicians, and officials through the development of the Cuba Company. This study also highlights valuable archival resources available in the United States and Cuba for the study of informal business networks.

Después de 1898, Cuba estuvo directamente ligada, económica y políticamente, a los Estados Unidos: políticamente a través del gobierno militar estadounidense en Cuba y de la Enmienda Platt después, y económicamente a través de relaciones de negocio e inversiones americanas en la economía cubana. De esas relaciones económicas y políticas surgieron vínculos sociales, culturales e ideológicos, íntimos y a largo plazo, entre las elites cubanas y norteamericanas. Los estadounidenses estaban influyendo en el desarrollo en Cuba no sólo a través de relaciones formales entre los dos gobiernos pero, más importante aún, a través de relaciones informales entre hombres de negocios y políticos, individuos y compañías, a lo largo de las fronteras nacionales. Este estudio presenta una historia de estos negocios a un nivel micro, enfocando las redes informales
forjadas entre hombres de negocios, políticos y empleados públicos norteamericanos, cubanos y de otros países a través del desarrollo de la Compañía Cubana. Este estudio también enfatiza valiosos recursos de archivos disponibles en los Estados Unidos y en Cuba para el estudio de las redes informales de negocios.
Poetic Prose and Useless Fictions: Political Ideology and Literary Form in Eliseo Alberto's Informe contra mi mismo
Authors: Buckwalter-Arias James
Published: June 2005

In Informe contra mí mismo Eliseo Alberto appropriates and configures as literary genre the political informe that Cuba's socialist government has solicited from thousands of its citizens over the years. In Alberto's informe (originally "commissioned" by the Cuban government, but elaborated and marketed for the international literary community some twenty years later) the state ideological apparatus becomes, literally, the pre-text for a narrative of disillusionment. Alberto's text is more, however, than an instance of revisionist history, since the ambitious experimentation with narrative form and historiographical convention represents a serious inquiry into the nature of these discourses. Indeed, while the binaries of literature and history, poetry and politics, storytelling and argumentation structure the narrative, they are not resolved, ultimately, in favor of one term over the other, but rather performed and deconstructed. Informe contra mí mismo is published in a historical juncture in which Cuba appears to face just two choices, represented by the metanarratives of socialist revolution, on one hand, and of the inexorable globalization of capital, on the other. These choices, however, offer Cuba a national narrative either of protracted resistance to global capitalism under a totalitarian regime or of wholesale capitulation. Informe contra mí mismo begins to lay the discursive groundwork from which alternative

En Informe contra mí mismo Eliseo Alberto imagina de nuevo el "informe" que el régimen cubano le solicitara en los años setenta, convirtiendo el estratagema gubernamental en pleno género literario. Por lo tanto, el informe original representa, literalmente, el pre-texto para la narrativa de desengaño que en los años noventa el autor lanza al mercado internacional. El texto de Alberto es, sin embargo, mucho más que una instancia de historia revisionista, puesto que su innovador manejo de la forma literaria y de las normas historiográficas representa una profunda indagación retórica y epistemológica en estas prácticas discursivas. Por cierto, en vez de resolver a favor de un término u otro las consabidas dicotomías de literatura e historia, poesía y política, estética e ideología, Alberto indaga en las dicotomías mismas, llevando a cabo su deconstrucción. Informe contra mí mismo se edita en una coyuntura histórica en la que al parecer Cuba enfrenta dos posibilidades, representadas por las "metanarrativas" de revolución socialista y de la globalización capitalista-estadounidense. Estas metanarrativas, sin embargo, ofrecen a Cuba dos caminos derrotistas: el de una lucha perpetua contra el capitalismo global — bajo un régimen totalitario— o el de una capitulación absoluta ante el mismo fenómeno. Informe contra mí mismo representa nada menos que una contribución importante al proyecto discursivo del cual podrán surgir narrativas alternativas.
Regional Disparities as Barriers to Transition to a Market Economy: The Russian Experience
Authors: Giannias Dimitrios A , Liargovas Panagiotis G. , Chepurko Yuri
Published: June 2005

This paper designs an index of socio-economic development in Russia following the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991. The purpose of this index is to act as a measure of a regions' economic potential for the purpose of regional comparison and also to help policy makers in designing future regional economic policy. Finally, with the use of this weighted index this paper proposes some suggestions concerning the future design of regional economic policy in Russia.
The Effects of Exchange Rate Fluctuations on Output and Prices: Evidence from Developing Countries
Authors: Kandil Magda , Mirazaie Ida
Published: June 2005

The paper examines the effects of exchange rate fluctuations on real output and prices in a sample of 33 developing countries. The theoretical model decomposes movements in the exchange rate into anticipated and unanticipated components. Unanticipated currency fluctuations determine aggregate demand through exports, imports, and the demand for domestic currency, and determine aggregate supply through the cost of imported intermediate goods. Anticipated exchange rate depreciation, through the supply channel, has limited effects on output growth and price inflation. Unanticipated currency fluctuations appear more significant, with varying effects on output growth and price inflation across developing countries.
Determinants of Congressional Support for NAFTA and Clinton's Economic Package
Authors: Khan Haroon A
Published: June 2005

Using an analysis of Clinton's economic package and NAFTA, this paper investigates how the nature of legislation a president proposes influences members of Congress' (MC') s voting. An analysis of the two important pieces of legislation is important from the point of congressional support for presidents. Research on congressional support predicts that the members of Congress are guided mostly by party identification, presidents' vote percentage, members vote percentage, and members' status whether freshmen or non-freshmen. This research with its emphasis on the economic package and NAFTA seeks to explain a different perspective on congressional support for the president.
The Impact of the Foreign Debt Burden on Exchange Market Pressure In Guyana, 1968-2000: An Application of the Error Correction Methodology
Authors: Modeste Nelson
Published: June 2005

Based on annual data spanning the period 1968 to 2000, this paper empirically tests the proposition that growth in Guyana's foreign debt burden contributed to increases in pressure in the country's foreign exchange market. After controlling for other factors that influence changes in foreign reserves and the foreign exchange rate, this study finds, within the context of the co-integration and error correction methodology, a significant relationship between growth in the foreign debt burden and increases in exchange market pressure in Guyana. Other variables that are found to significantly affect exchange market pressure in Guyana are: the changes in domestic credit, the growth in the relative price of crude oil, the growth in exports, the tightness of U.S. monetary policy, and changes in the level of uncertainty in the local economy.
Student Loan by Commercial Banks: A Way to Reduce State Government Financial Support To Higher Education
Authors: Narayana M. R
Published: June 2005

This paper makes an empirical analysis of the role of student loan by commercial banks in financing the estimated budgetary subsidy to general collegiate education by Government and Private Aided colleges in Karnataka State (India). A major estimation result shows that the maximum total fee collectable, as a percentage of total estimated subsidy, is equal to 4.22 (or 4.74) percent in Government (or Private Aided) Colleges in 2000-01. Consequently, student fee revision, as a single instrument for total reduction of the budgetary subsidy is found to be inappropriate, even if it is entirely financed by student loan. The policy framework for analysis of linkage between student loan and regional fiscal policy in this paper is of special relevance for other states within India as well as for other developing countries, where the regional governments face the problem of reducing budgetary support to higher education through student loan scheme. In addition, the description of Indian model of student loan is useful for comparative studies in international education.
Remittances, Savings, and Relative Rates of Return
Authors: Quinn Michael A
Published: June 2005

This paper presents a model of migrant behavior in which remittances are treated as both a consumption transfer to households and as an alternative savings mechanism for migrants. This approach leads to the implication that migrants' remittance/savings behavior should be affected by the relative rate of return on their savings and on the savings of their remittance receiving households. Statistical support for this hypothesis is found using data from Mexican workers in the United States. The paper finds this evidence using selectivity corrected remittance and savings equations. These results hold when the equations are estimated separately or jointly. These results imply that developing access to better savings and investment mechanisms for households in Mexico may increase remittance inflows from household members that are migrants.
"Meddling with Emancipation": Baptists, Authority, and the Rift over Slavery in the Upper South
Authors: Najar Monica
Published: June 2005

In keeping with their claims to an expansive authority over their congregants, many Virginia Baptist churches and associations insisted on their right to monitor master-slave relations and to debate the morality of slaveholding in the late eighteenth century. Yet in the 1790s, these efforts created enough dissension within and among church congregations that many Baptists began to reject antislavery statements to quell developing conflicts. Consequently, antislavery seemed to disappear in the region. But, in fact, far from capitulating, "emancipating Baptists" became more radical. Most vocal partisans migrated to Kentucky, a move that emboldened emancipating Baptists but ultimately marginalized the antislavery position geographically and politically. In the early nineteenth century, Kentucky became a battleground between those for and against slaveholding, resulting in hard-fought clash that divided churches and pitted old friends against one another. To stem the crisis, the Baptists made the unprecedented decision to relinquish any authority over the question of the institution slavery to the civil state, defining the issue as being outside the province of the churches and as the proper concern of the government. In abandoning their once jealously-guarded autonomy, the Baptists embraced the authority of the state, and, in so doing, they participated in reshaping the sacred and secular realms in the new republic, helping to define not only the appropriate boundaries of the religious realm but also the boundaries of the civil state in the early national era.
"Revolutions Have Become the Bloody Toy of the Multitude": European Revolutions, the South, and the Crisis of 1850
Authors: Roberts Timothy M
Published: June 2005

Southerners and northerners initially responded to the European revolutions of 1848 in France, Hungary, Germany, and elsewhere with enthusiasm, but grew skeptical of the revolutions once they moved from toppling monarchy with seemingly more radical quests for social equality. Skepticism consolidated more quickly in the South than the North, but this was not a case of "southern exceptionalism"; essentially the South and North shared the same attitudes. Slavery did not distinguish southern attitudes toward revolutionary Europe, contrary to the arguments of David Brion Davis and others. Instead, both southerners and northerners sought to contrast the American revolutionary experience with the 1848 revolutions, in emphasizing the conservative elements and legacy of the American Revolution, which, they believed, had protected property and Christian values, was relatively nonviolent and successful, and led to national prosperity. European celebrities, in particular Lajos Kossuth, gained Americans' favor on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line, but only when he seemed to emulate American revolutionary heroes. Southerners especially drew upon the alleged American revolutionary heritage to construct an understanding of secession as a peculiarly American, conservative, and constitutional doctrine. Radical southerners met in the Nashville Conventions to consider secession during the Crisis of 1850. Yet along with the Compromise of 1850, including the Fugitive Slave Law, the specter of bloody revolution and reaction in Europe helped to dissuade them, at the time, from pursuing disruption of the Union. Counterrevolution on both sides of the Atlantic at the mid-nineteenth century, in effect, largely maintained the status quo.
Hendrick Aupaumut: Christian-Mahican Prophet
Authors: Wheeler Rachel
Published: June 2005

This article offers a reconsideration of the Stockbridge-Mahican Indian sachem, Hendrick Aupaumut. Most treatments of Aupaumut's career have focused exclusively on his service as a commissioned agent of the newly established United States, whose job was to attempt to avert a war with the Indians of the Ohio and Great Lakes regions who protested the American claims to territory west of the Ohio River. While Aupaumut did indeed serve as an intermediary between the United States and the Western Indians, he should also be considered as a leader of a revitalization movement. Like the Shawnee Prophet, Aupaumut blended elements of traditional religion and Christianity in the effort to equip his people with the tools necessary to survive in a radically altered world. During his three decades as chief sachem of the Stockbridge Indians, Aupaumut articulated a philosophy that was at once fully Mahican and fully Christian. In the Christian idea of a common descent from Adam and Eve, Aupaumut found a means of extending the traditional tribal ties of fictive kinship. And in his people's Mahican past, Aupaumut found a society that embodied the ideals of virtuous republicanism. With this melded philosophy, Aupaumut sought to make a place for Mahicans in the new republic, challenging the increasing racialism embraced both by followers of the Shawnee and citizens and officials of the United States.
Toward a Greek Ecocriticism: Place Awareness and Cultural Identity in Pandelis Prevelakis's ÎÎ¹ Î´ÏÏÎ¼Î¿Î¹ ÏÎ·Ï Î´Î·Î¼Î¹Î¿ÏÏÎ³Î¯Î±Ï
Authors: Ball Eric L
Published: June 2005

The study of literature and environment ("ecocriticism") has done little to relate its interest in questions of place sense and place awareness to literary criticism's perennial concern with cultural identities. Pandelis Prevelakis's fictional trilogy, Οι δρόμοι της δημιουργίας advances a "literary theory" for doing just this. Prevelakis illustrates the inescapable and contradictory interrelatedness of place awareness and national identities in literary culture. He suggests that the unresolvable quality of their interrelatedness should inspire authors to engage in personal struggles resulting in literary output that negotiates ethical positions with their local fellow citizens in ways that take local traditions seriously, without entirely embracing them. Thus, he problematizes conventional notions of ithografia by foregrounding ethos not only as custom but in an ethical and rhetorical sense as well. This perspective can help literary critics explore and analyze the relationship between atomistic notions of place awareness and culturally mediated identities.
Kalokyris and Borges: A Study of their Syncretist Aesthetics
Authors: Kefala Eleni
Published: June 2005

Dimitris Kalokyris has been greatly influenced by the syncretist aesthetics of Jorge Luis Borges, whose work he essentially reads through the spectrum of Ancient Greek parody, Byzantine historiography, Surrealism as well as Roidian and Cavafian irony. Kalokyris employs the Borgesian notions of the verbal universe, the poet as maker ("hacedor"), and writing as a series of appropriations, falsifications, and distortions to construct a multifaceted and highly atypical (for Greek literature) syncretist discourse. In effect, Kalokyris's syncretist writing conveys the multitemporal heterogeneity of contemporary culture in the countries of the so-called "periphery" like Greece and Argentina, which geographically and culturally are situated on the crossroads of multiple and heterogeneous traditions and civilizations.
Spiridon Loues, the Modern Foustanela, and the Symbolic Power of Pallikaria at the 1896 Olympic Games
Authors: Verinis James P
Published: June 2005

Most who are familiar with the subject of modern Greek identity or the history of the modern Olympic Games are familiar with the character of Spiros Loues. The significance of his win in the marathon at the first modern Olympiad in1896 is thoroughly discussed in popular discourse as well as in academic publications. How and why he was elevated to such an exalted level, what cultural notions—such as pastoralism, παλλιχαρια (pallikariá), and φιλοτιμο (philótimo)—he was associated with, and how this powerful association has affected Greek people over the course of the past century, however, are questions that remain largely unanswered. A brief ethnographic analysis of the event—Loues's victory, his choice of clothing, as well as his behavior in the immediate aftermath of that victory—is worth undertaking in the context of the broader and important topic of Ελληυιχοτητα (Ellinikótita, Greekness). Loues's act was not only a significant one; it was also a thoroughly modern Greek act.
British Accounts of Residency in Greece, 1945-2004
Authors: Wills David
Published: June 2005

A number of British writers have produced accounts of their experiences as residents of Greece. These writings are used here to explore the portrayal of the Greek character and way of life by those who, in many cases, claimed to be "experts." The ways in which residents represented the practicalities of living in Greece, and the changes they described as occurring to the country and its people in the decades since the Second World War, are also analyzed. It is argued that the initial—and to some extent continued—representation of the Greeks as pastoral and non-developed was similar to the "exoticization" of southern Europe promoted by anthropologists working "in the field." This was part of a perceived power-differential between those from the "developed West" and the Balkans. Negative aspects of the Greek character—laziness, corruption, sexual predation—could be blamed on Turkish influence. In this way, even those who claimed to be insiders in Greece had recourse to an "Orientalist" discourse when encountering developments or attitudes that they found undesirable.
Multilocus Analysis of Introgression Between Two Sympatric Sister Species of Drosophila:Drosophila yakubaandD. santomea
Authors: Llopart Ana , Lachaise Daniel , Coyne Jerry A
Published: June 2005

Drosophila yakuba is widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa, while D. santomea is endemic to the volcanic island of São Tomé in the Atlantic Ocean, 280 km west of Gabon. On São Tomé, D. yakuba is found mainly in open lowland forests, and D. santomea is restricted to the wet misty forests at higher elevations. At intermediate elevations, the species form a hybrid zone where hybrids occur at a frequency of ∼1%. To determine the extent of gene flow between these species we studied polymorphism and divergence patterns in 29 regions distributed throughout the genome, including mtDNA and three genes on the Y chromosome. This multilocus approach, together with the comparison to the two allopatric species D. mauritiana and D. sechellia, allowed us to distinguish between forces that should affect all genes and forces that should act on some genes (e.g., introgression). Our results show that D. yakuba mtDNA has replaced that of D. santomea and that there is also significant introgression for two nuclear genes, yellow and salr. The majority of genes, however, has remained distinct. These two species therefore do not form a “hybrid swarm” in which much of the genome shows substantial introgression while disruptive selection maintains distinctness for only a few traits (e.g., pigmentation and male genitalia).
Combining the Meiosis Gibbs Sampler With the Random Walk Approach for Linkage and Association Studies With a General Complex Pedigree and Multimarker Loci
Authors: Lee S H , Van der Werf J H J , Tier B
Published: June 2005

A linkage analysis for finding inheritance states and haplotype configurations is an essential process for linkage and association mapping. The linkage analysis is routinely based upon observed pedigree information and marker genotypes for individuals in the pedigree. It is not feasible for exact methods to use all such information for a large complex pedigree especially when there are many missing genotypic data. Proposed Markov chain Monte Carlo approaches such as a single-site Gibbs sampler or the meiosis Gibbs sampler are able to handle a complex pedigree with sparse genotypic data; however, they often have reducibility problems, causing biased estimates. We present a combined method, applying the random walk approach to the reducible sites in the meiosis sampler. Therefore, one can efficiently obtain reliable estimates such as identity-by-descent coefficients between individuals based on inheritance states or haplotype configurations, and a wider range of data can be used for mapping of quantitative trait loci within a reasonable time.
A Drosophila Model of Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Type 2
Authors: Read Renee D , Goodfellow Paul J , Mardis Elaine R , Novak Nancy , Armstrong Jon R , Cagan Ross L
Published: June 2005

Dominant mutations in the Ret receptor tyrosine kinase lead to the familial cancer syndrome multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 (MEN2). Mammalian tissue culture studies suggest that RetMEN2 mutations significantly alter Ret-signaling properties, but the precise mechanisms by which RetMEN2 promotes tumorigenesis remain poorly understood. To determine the signal transduction pathways required for RetMEN2 activity, we analyzed analogous mutations in the Drosophila Ret ortholog dRet. Overexpressed dRetMEN2 isoforms targeted to the developing retina led to aberrant cell proliferation, inappropriate cell fate specification, and excessive Ras pathway activation. Genetic analysis indicated that dRetMEN2 acts through the Ras-ERK, Src, and Jun kinase pathways. A genetic screen for mutations that dominantly suppress or enhance dRetMEN2 phenotypes identified new genes that are required for the phenotypic outcomes of dRetMEN2 activity. Finally, we identified human orthologs for many of these genes and examined their status in human tumors. Two of these loci showed loss of heterozygosity (LOH) within both sporadic and MEN2-associated pheochromocytomas, suggesting that they may contribute to Ret-dependent oncogenesis.
Kin Selection Is Implicated in Partial Sib-Mating Populations With Constant Viability Differences Before Mating
Authors: Lessard Sabin
Published: June 2005

The change in the frequency of a rare mutant allele under constant sex-differentiated viability selection in an infinite, partial full-sib mating population is studied. The diplo-diploid and haplo-diploid polygynous models are considered with a Poisson distribution for the number of offspring produced by every mated female. Reproduction is followed by weak selection among the offspring and then mating to form the next generation. It is shown that the rate of change with respect to the frequency of the mutant allele and the intensity of selection can be expressed in terms of costs or benefits of substituting the mutant type for the wild type, which correspond to average excesses in viability in females and males, multiplied by coefficients of relatedness to the individuals affected by such a substitution and reproductive values associated to the sexes of these individuals. This reveals hidden interactions between mated individuals and between males for mating, the former having positive effects on the reproductive success of related individuals and the latter having negative effects. Such interactions are the result of reproductive constraints when a fixed proportion of females must mate with a male sib and all females are fertilized as long as one mate is available. However, they affect the change in allele frequency because there is inbreeding or relatedness between mates and more generally relatedness between interacting individuals. Surprisingly, the effects of these interactions cancel out in a diploid population when the number of offspring is large enough so that the possibility for a female to have no male sib to mate with can be neglected and the viability differences are the same in both sexes.
Approximating Identity-by-Descent Matrices Using Multiple Haplotype Configurations on Pedigrees
Authors: Gao Guimin , Hoeschele Ina
Published: June 2005

Identity-by-descent (IBD) matrix calculation is an important step in quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis using variance component models. To calculate IBD matrices efficiently for large pedigrees with large numbers of loci, an approximation method based on the reconstruction of haplotype configurations for the pedigrees is proposed. The method uses a subset of haplotype configurations with high likelihoods identified by a haplotyping method. The new method is compared with a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method (Loki) in terms of QTL mapping performance on simulated pedigrees. Both methods yield almost identical results for the estimation of QTL positions and variance parameters, while the new method is much more computationally efficient than the MCMC approach for large pedigrees and large numbers of loci. The proposed method is also compared with an exact method (Merlin) in small simulated pedigrees, where both methods produce nearly identical estimates of position-specific kinship coefficients. The new method can be used for fine mapping with joint linkage disequilibrium and linkage analysis, which improves the power and accuracy of QTL mapping.
Gene Arrays atPneumocystis cariniiTelomeres
Authors: Keely Scott P , Renauld Hubert , Wakefield Ann E , Cushion Melanie T , Smulian A George , Fosker Nigel , Fraser Audrey , Harris David , Murphy Lee , Price Claire , Quail Michael A , Seeger Kathy , Sharp Sarah , Tindal Carolyn J , Warren Tim , Zuiderwijk Eduard , Barrell Barclay G , Stringer James R , Hall Neil
Published: June 2005

In the fungus Pneumocystis carinii, at least three gene families (PRT1, MSR, and MSG) have the potential to generate high-frequency antigenic variation, which is likely to be a strategy by which this parasitic fungus is able to prolong its survival in the rat lung. Members of these gene families are clustered at chromosome termini, a location that fosters recombination, which has been implicated in selective expression of MSG genes. To gain insight into the architecture, evolution, and regulation of these gene clusters, six telomeric segments of the genome were sequenced. Each of the segments began with one or more unique genes, after which were members of different gene families, arranged in a head-to-tail array. The three-gene repeat PRT1-MSR-MSG was common, suggesting that duplications of these repeats have contributed to expansion of all three families. However, members of a gene family in an array were no more similar to one another than to members in other arrays, indicating rapid divergence after duplication. The intergenic spacers were more conserved than the genes and contained sequence motifs also present in subtelomeres, which in other species have been implicated in gene expression and recombination. Long mononucleotide tracts were present in some MSR genes. These unstable sequences can be expected to suffer frequent frameshift mutations, providing P. carinii with another mechanism to generate antigen variation.
Modeling Linkage Disequilibrium in Natural Populations: The Example of the Soay Sheep Population of St. Kilda, Scotland
Authors: McRae Allan F , Pemberton Josephine M , Visscher Peter M
Published: June 2005

The use of linkage disequilibrium to localize the genes underlying quantitative traits has received considerable attention in the livestock genetics community over the past few years. This has resulted in the investigation of linkage disequilibrium structures of several domestic livestock populations to assess their potential use in fine-mapping efforts. However, the linkage disequilibrium structure of free-living populations has been less well investigated. As the direct evaluation of linkage disequilibrium can be both time consuming and expensive the use of simulations that include as many aspects of population history as possible is advocated as an alternative. A simulation of the linkage disequilibrium structure of the Soay sheep population of St. Kilda, Scotland, is provided as an example. The simulated population showed significant decline of linkage disequilibrium with genetic distance and low levels of background linkage disequilibrium, indicating that the Soay sheep population is a viable resource for linkage disequilibrium fine mapping of quantitative trait loci.
The Drosophila Meiotic Mutant mei-352 Is an Allele of klp3A and Reveals a Role for a Kinesin-like Protein in Crossover Distribution
Authors: Page Scott L , Hawley R Scott
Published: June 2005

The semisterile meiotic mutant mei-352 alters the distribution of meiotic exchanges without greatly affecting their total frequency. We show that the mei-352 mutation is an allele of the klp3A gene, which encodes a kinesin-like protein of the Kinesin-4 family. The semisterility observed in mei-352 females results from a known defect of klp3A oocytes in mediating pronuclear fusion. Interestingly, other klp3A alleles also exhibit defects in meiotic recombination similar to those of mei-352. Finally, we show that the Klp3A protein localizes within the oocyte nucleus during meiotic prophase, the time at which exchange distribution is established, and extensively colocalizes with DNA. The parallel of the klp3A phenotype with a meiotic defect observed for kar3 mutants in yeast suggests a role for kinesins in early meiosis and might reflect a previously suggested role for this class of kinesins in chromosome condensation.
Positive Assortative Mating With Family Size as a Function of Predicted Parental Breeding Values
Authors: Lstibůrek M , Mullin T J , Mackay T F C , Huber D , Li B
Published: June 2005

While other investigations have described benefits of positive assortative mating (PAM) for forest tree breeding, the allocation of resources among mates in these studies was either equal or varied, using schemes corresponding only to parental rank (i.e., more resources invested in higher-ranking parents). In this simulation study, family sizes were proportional to predicted midparent BLUP values. The distribution of midparent BLUP values was standardized by a constant, which was varied to study the range of distributions of family size. Redistributing progenies from lower- to higher-ranking families to a point where an equal number of progenies were still selected out of each family to the next generation caused minimal change in group coancestry and inbreeding in the breeding population (BP), while the additive genetic response and variance in the BP were both greatly enhanced. This generated additional genetic gains for forest plantations by selecting more superior genotypes from the BP (compared to PAM with equal family sizes) for production of improved regeneration materials. These conclusions were verified for a range of heritability under a polygenic model and under a mixed-inheritance model with a QTL contributing to the trait variation.
A Novel Markov Chain Monte Carlo Approach for Constructing Accurate Meiotic Maps
Authors: George Andrew W
Published: June 2005

Mapping markers from linkage data continues to be a task performed in many genetic epidemiological studies. Data collected in a study may be used to refine published map estimates and a study may use markers that do not appear in any published map. Furthermore, inaccuracies in meiotic maps can seriously bias linkage findings. To make best use of the available marker information, multilocus linkage analyses are performed. However, two computational issues greatly limit the number of markers currently mapped jointly; the number of candidate marker orders increases exponentially with marker number and computing exact multilocus likelihoods on general pedigrees is computationally demanding. In this article, a new Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) approach that solves both these computational problems is presented. The MCMC approach allows many markers to be mapped jointly, using data observed on general pedigrees with unobserved individuals. The performance of the new mapping procedure is demonstrated through the analysis of simulated and real data. The MCMC procedure performs extremely well, even when there are millions of candidate orders, and gives results superior to those of CRI-MAP.
Haplotype Diversity in 11 Candidate Genes Across Four Populations
Authors: Beaty T H , Fallin M D , Hetmanski J B , McIntosh I , Chong S S , Ingersoll R , Sheng X , Chakraborty R , Scott A F
Published: June 2005

Analysis of haplotypes based on multiple single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) is becoming common for both candidate gene and fine-mapping studies. Before embarking on studies of haplotypes from genetically distinct populations, however, it is important to consider variation both in linkage disequilibrium (LD) and in haplotype frequencies within and across populations, as both vary. Such diversity will influence the choice of “tagging” SNPs for candidate gene or whole-genome association studies because some markers will not be polymorphic in all samples and some haplotypes will be poorly represented or completely absent. Here we analyze 11 genes, originally chosen as candidate genes for oral clefts, where multiple markers were genotyped on individuals from four populations. Estimated haplotype frequencies, measures of pairwise LD, and genetic diversity were computed for 135 European-Americans, 57 Chinese-Singaporeans, 45 Malay-Singaporeans, and 46 Indian-Singaporeans. Patterns of pairwise LD were compared across these four populations and haplotype frequencies were used to assess genetic variation. Although these populations are fairly similar in allele frequencies and overall patterns of LD, both haplotype frequencies and genetic diversity varied significantly across populations. Such haplotype diversity has implications for designing studies of association involving samples from genetically distinct populations.
Molecular Genetic Analysis of the Nested Drosophila melanogaster Lamin C Gene
Authors: Schulze Sandra R , Curio-Penny Beatrice , Li Yuhong , Imani Reza A , Rydberg Lena , Geyer Pamela K , Wallrath Lori L
Published: June 2005

Lamins are intermediate filaments that line the inner surface of the nuclear envelope, providing structural support and making contacts with chromatin. There are two types of lamins, A- and B-types, which differ in structure and expression. Drosophila possesses both lamin types, encoded by the LamC (A-type) and lamin Dm0 (B-type) genes. LamC is nested within an intron of the essential gene ttv. We demonstrate that null mutations in LamC are lethal, and expression of a wild-type LamC transgene rescues lethality of LamC but not ttv mutants. Mutations in the human A-type lamin gene lead to diseases called laminopathies. To determine if Drosophila might serve as a useful model to study lamin biology and disease mechanisms, we generated transgenic flies expressing mutant LamC proteins modeled after human disease-causing lamins. These transgenic animals display a nuclear lamin aggregation phenotype remarkably similar to that observed when human mutant A-type lamins are expressed in mammalian cells. LamC aggregates also cause disorganization of lamin Dm0, indicating interdependence of both lamin types for proper lamina assembly. Taken together, these data provide the first detailed genetic analysis of the LamC gene and support using Drosophila as a model to study the role of lamins in disease.
qUVR-10, a Major Quantitative Trait Locus for Ultraviolet-B Resistance in Rice, Encodes Cyclobutane Pyrimidine Dimer Photolyase
Authors: Ueda Tadamasa , Sato Tadashi , Hidema Jun , Hirouchi Tokuhisa , Yamamoto Kazuo , Kumagai Tadashi , Yano Masahiro
Published: June 2005

Rice qUVR-10, a quantitative trait locus (QTL) for ultraviolet-B (UVB) resistance on chromosome 10, was cloned by map-based strategy. It was detected in backcross inbred lines (BILs) derived from a cross between the japonica variety Nipponbare (UV resistant) and the indica variety Kasalath (UV sensitive). Plants homozygous for the Nipponbare allele at the qUVR-10 locus were more resistant to UVB compared with the Kasalath allele. High-resolution mapping using 1850 F2 plants enabled us to delimit qUVR-10 to a <27-kb genomic region. We identified a gene encoding the cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer (CPD) photolyase in this region. Activity of CPD photorepair in Nipponbare was higher than that of Kasalath and nearly isogenic with qUVR-10 [NIL(qUVR-10)], suggesting that the CPD photolyase of Kasalath was defective. We introduced a genomic fragment containing the CPD photolyase gene of Nipponbare to NIL(qUVR-10). Transgenic plants showed the same level of resistance as Nipponbare did, indicating that the qUVR-10 encoded the CPD photolyase. Comparison of the qUVR-10 sequence in the Nipponbare and Kasalath alleles revealed one probable candidate for the functional nucleotide polymorphism. It was indicated that single-base substitution in the CPD photolyase gene caused the alteration of activity of CPD photorepair and UVB resistance. Furthermore, we were able to develop a UV-hyperresistant plant by overexpression of the photolyase gene.
Interaction Between Genetic Background and the Mating-Type Locus in Cryptococcus neoformans Virulence Potential
Authors: Nielsen Kirsten , Marra Robert E , Hagen Ferry , Boekhout Teun , Mitchell Thomas G , Cox Gary M , Heitman Joseph
Published: June 2005

The study of quantitative traits provides a window on the interactions between multiple unlinked genetic loci. The interaction between hosts and pathogenic microbes, such as fungi, involves aspects of quantitative genetics for both partners in this dynamic equilibrium. One important pathogenic fungus is Cryptococcus neoformans, a basidiomycete yeast that can infect the human brain and whose mating system has two mating type alleles, a and α. The α mating-type allele has previously been linked to increased virulence potential. Here congenic C. neoformans strains were generated in the two well-characterized genetic backgrounds B3501α and NIH433a to examine the potential influence of genes outside of the mating-type locus on the virulence potential of mating type. The congenic nature of these new strain pairs was established by karyotyping, amplified fragment length polymorphism genotyping, and whole-genome molecular allele mapping (congenicity mapping). Virulence studies revealed that virulence was equivalent between the B3501 a and α congenic strains but the α strain was more virulent than its a counterpart in the NIH433 genetic background. These results demonstrate that genomic regions outside the mating type locus contribute to differences in virulence between a and α cells. The congenic strains described here provide a foundation upon which to elucidate at genetic and molecular levels how mating-type and other unlinked loci interact to enable microbial pathogenesis.
Intermediate Mutation Frequencies Favor Evolution of Multidrug Resistance in Escherichia coli
Authors: Denamur Erick , Tenaillon Olivier , Deschamps Catherine , Skurnik David , Ronco Esthel , Gaillard Jean Louis , Picard Bertrand , Branger Catherine , Matic Ivan
Published: June 2005

In studying the interplay between mutation frequencies and antibiotic resistance among Escherichia coli natural isolates, we observed that modest modifications of mutation frequency may significantly influence the evolution of antibiotic resistance. The strains having intermediate mutation frequencies have significantly more antibiotic resistances than strains having low and high mutation frequencies.
Application of a method for the mathematical experimental statistical modeling approach to analyze physical–chemical properties of interpenetrating polymer network of polyurethane and unsaturated polyester
Authors: Król Piotr , Wojturska Joanna , Statyukha Gennadiy A. , Skladannyy Denis M.
Published: June 2005

Modern statistical analysis methods were employed to investigate and evaluate the effect of chemical composition on mechanical properties of interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) formulations that had been synthesized of polyurethane and unsaturated polyester resin (cross‐linked with styrene). Experiments run according to the mathematical plan made a basis for empirical models derived from the Sheffe polynomials. The models were utilized to optimize the chemical composition of IPN from the viewpoint of achievable mechanical parameters, to assess changes of those properties over the whole theoretically possible scope of quantitative compositions, and to investigate the effects of individual components and their possible interactions. The findings supported a thesis on complex interactions between polymeric components of IPN; they can be the reason for tangled polyurethane, unsaturated polyester, and linear polystyrene polymer networks, and ultimately they can be responsible for the formation of immiscible phases within the plastics produced. Data were also obtained which make it possible to evaluate potential mechanical properties of synthesized IPN compounds as coating materials and engineering plastics. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 97: 1855–1867, 2005
Novel high dielectric constant nanocomposites of polyaniline dispersed with γ‐Fe2O3 nanoparticles
Authors: Mallikarjuna N. N. , Manohar S. K. , Kulkarni P. V. , Venkataraman A. , Aminabhavi T. M.
Published: June 2005

Novel nanocomposites of polyaniline dispersed with γ‐Fe2O3 nanoparticles were prepared by the in situ polymerization of aniline in the presence of ammonium peroxysulfate as an oxidizing agent. Dielectric constants of the derived composites varied with the composition of γ‐Fe2O3 present in the matrix. A maximum dielectric constant of ∼5500 was achieved when 10 mass % γ‐Fe2O3 nanoparticles were present. Nanocomposites were characterized by X‐ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared, scanning electron microscopy, and thermal analytical techniques. Conductivity increased marginally by increasing the amount of γ‐Fe2O3 in the matrix. Dielectric constants increased 100–150 times compared to plain polyaniline matrix and were 20–40 times higher than that of γ‐Fe2O3 nanoparticles. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 97: 1868–1874, 2005
Effects of the properties of blowing agents on the processing and performance of extruded starch acetate
Authors: Zhou Jiahua , Hanna Milford A.
Published: June 2005

The extrusion of polysaccharide‐based polymers, such as starch acetate, is quite different from that of ordinary synthetic polymers. To understand how the physiochemical properties of blowing agents affect plasticization and expansion processes, starch acetate was extruded with water, ethanol, and ethyl acetate. The studied properties and factors were the evaporation rate, surface tension, boiling point, solubility index, latent heat of vaporization of blowing agents, extrusion temperature, and nucleating‐ and blowing‐agent concentrations. The properties of the blowing agents and operating conditions affected the solubility of the matrix polymer, the nucleation process, and cell growth, which affected the foam density and specific volume. A high temperature increased the cell density and specific volume when water and ethanol were used because a high temperature increased the solubility of starch acetate in water and ethanol and promoted nucleation. Ethyl acetate already had high solvency to starch acetate and a high evaporation rate. A high temperature reduced the melting strength, thereby reducing the cell density and specific volume. Water evaporation was greater, despite a high latent heat of evaporation (hr) and boiling point, than the average volumes of ethanol and ethyl acetate that evaporated. The blowing‐agent efficiency was a function of the solvency, blowing‐agent evaporation rate, and operating conditions. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 97: 1880–1890, 2005
CO2 foaming of poly(ethylene glycol)/polystyrene blends: Relationship of the blend morphology, CO2 mass transfer, and cellular structure
Authors: Taki Kentaro , Nitta Kouei , Kihara Shin‐Ichi , Ohshima Masahiro
Published: June 2005

When polymer blends are foamed by physical foaming agents, such as CO2 or N2, not only the morphology and viscosity of the blend polymers but also the solubility and diffusivity of the physical foaming agents in the polymers determine the cellular structure: closed cell or open cell and monomodal or bimodal. The foam of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)/polystyrene (PS) blends shows a unique bimodal (large and small) cellular structure, in which the large‐size cells embrace a PEG particle. Depending on the foaming condition, the average size of the large cells ranges from 40 to 500 μm, whereas that of small cells becomes less than 20 μm, which is smaller than that of neat PS foams. The formation mechanism of the cellular structure has been investigated from the viewpoint of the morphology and viscosity of the blend polymer and the mass‐transfer rate of the physical foaming agent in each polymer phase. The solubility and diffusivity of CO2, which determine the mass‐transfer rate of CO2 from the matrix to the bubbles, were measured by a gravimetric measurement, that is, a magnetic suspension balance. The solubility and diffusivity of CO2 in PS differed from those in PEG: the diffusion coefficient of CO2 in PEG at 110°C was 3.36 × 10−9 m2/s, and that in PS was 2.38 × 10−10 m2/s. Henry's constant in PEG was 5600 cm3 (STP)/(kg MPa) at 110°C, and that in PS was 3100 cm3 (STP)/(kg MPa). These differences in the transport properties, morphology of the blend, and CO2‐induced viscosity depression are the control factors for creating the unique cellular structure in PEG/PS blends. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 97: 1899–1906, 2005