bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Female sex work in Yangon, Myanmar
Authors: Talikowski Luke , Gillieatt Sue
Published: November 2005

Background: Myanmar (Burma), with an upper estimate of 400 000 people living with HIV/AIDS, faces a dangerous and potentially devastating epidemic. Female sex workers in the country are one of the most affected populations, with high prevalence rates of both HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Methods: A qualitative study was undertaken in Yangon at the end of 2002 to investigate the social and demographic features contributing to the transmission of HIV among female sex workers in urban Myanmar. Twenty-seven key informants from the government, non-government organisations (NGOs), international non-government organisations (INGOs), private sector and the United Nations system agencies and 25 women currently working in the sex trade were interviewed. Results: The sex trade in Yangon is rapidly growing and is characterised by a high degree of complexity. The number of female sex workers is estimated to be between 5000 and 10 000 and there are ~100 brothels operating in various townships around the city. Nearly one-third of the women in the study reported previous imprisonment for offences related to sex work as well as fear of harassment, sexual exploitation, violence and gang rape. Almost half reported using condoms with clients at all times. Contradicting views exist as to the level of awareness about STIs and HIV among Yangon sex workers, with the majority never having been tested for HIV. Only one-quarter of women were regular patients of the limited number of STI clinics operated by INGOs. Conclusions: Female sex workers in Myanmar remain a highly marginalised group almost inaccessible due to a variety of legal, political, cultural and social factors and are particularly vulnerable to HIV and STIs. It is important to encourage partnerships between INGOs by promoting service coordination and information sharing to increase the availability of services for sex workers and to build political support for an unpopular cause.
Prevalence and correlates of HIV testing among college students: an exploratory study
Authors: Crosby Richard A. , Miller Kim H. , Staten Ruth R. , Noland Melody
Published: November 2005

Objectives: Whether college students who are most at-risk of HIV infection are being tested is unknown. This exploratory study identified the prevalence and correlates of ever having an HIV test among college students. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among a probability sample of 903 college students. Measures of sexual risk behaviour were assessed. Results: Of the students surveyed, 22.5% reported they had been tested for HIV. Testing was more likely among those 20 years of age or older (27.8% v. 14.7%; P = 0.0001), females (25.4% v. 17.8%; P = 0.01), and members of racial/ethnic minorities (42.7% v. 20.3%; P = 0.0001). After adjusting for these covariates, those who reported ever having vaginal sex (AOR = 5.5; 95% CI = 3.1–9.6); anal sex (AOR = 2.4; 95% CI = 1.6–3.6), and oral sex (AOR = 6.3; 95% CI = 3.0–13.3) were significantly more likely to report being tested. Students having vaginal sex in the past 12 months were significantly more likely to report testing (AOR = 5.3; 95% CI = 3.1–9.1). Those reporting vaginal sexual debut (AOR = 1.9; 95% CI = 1.2–3.1) or oral sexual debut (AOR = 1.7; 95% CI = 1.1–2.5) ≤age 15 were significantly more likely to be tested. Students reporting four or more sex partners were significantly more likely to be tested than sexually experienced students reporting fewer partners (AOR = 3.2; 95% CI = 2.2–4.6). Finally, those reporting at least one episode of forced vaginal sex (AOR = 3.9; 95% CI = 2.1–7.2) and reporting at least one episode of any forced sex (vaginal, anal, oral) (AOR = 3.0; 95% CI = 1.8–5.0) were significantly more likely to report being tested. Conclusions: Within this population, demographically controlled findings suggest that those most at-risk of HIV infection are indeed being tested for the virus.
Condom use among brothel-based sex workers and clients in Bali, Indonesia
Authors: Ford Kathleen , Wirawan Dewa Nyoman
Published: November 2005

Background: The objective of this paper is to describe the situation among Indonesian sex workers and clients in Bali, Indonesia, through a series of studies conducted during the 1990s. Methods: Five surveys of sex workers and clients were conducted from 1992 through to 1999. Results: The proportion of female sex workers who have heard about AIDS and condom use has increased tremendously in this area. In 1992–93, 51% of women reported ever hearing of AIDS and this had increased to 97% by 1999 (P < 0.01). Reported condom use with clients increased from 19% in 1992–93 to 78% in 1999 (P < 0.01). However, condom use is still far from 100% and perceived susceptibility towards HIV infection among female sex workers and their male clients remains low. Ineffective preventive strategies such as medication use remain common. HIV infection was very low in this population, although the prevalence of other sexually transmitted infections such as gonorrhea and chlamydia was very high. Conclusions: Educational interventions have been conducted with the sex workers, but the main source of education for clients has been through the media. Future programs need to develop more focused efforts to reach clients. These interventions may include worksite interventions, mass media campaigns, youth programs or other models.
Twenty-five years
Authors: Bradford David
Published: November 2005

Having returned to Australia from the United Kingdom in late 1979, it has been my privilege to witness first-hand the quite dramatic changes in Sexual Health Medicine which have taken place during the final 25 years of my professional life. In this article I give a snapshot of my early experiences at the Melbourne Communicable Diseases Centre, highlighting some of the deficiencies that needed urgent attention. I wish I could say that this picture was an exaggeration to make the article more interesting but unfortunately that is not the case. I also attempt to examine some of the factors that brought about the much-needed improvements, especially the effect human immunodeficiency virus had on sexual health practice. It is impossible to mention all the individuals most involved in initiating change, but I have mentioned a couple of names, only because of close personal knowledge about their contribution.
Correlated dynamics of consecutive residues reveal transient and cooperative unfolding of secondary structure in proteins
Authors: Lundström Patrik , Mulder Frans A. A. , Akke Mikael
Published: November 2005

Nuclear spin relaxation is a powerful method for studying molecular dynamics at atomic resolution. Recent methods development in biomolecular NMR spectroscopy has enabled detailed investigations of molecular dynamics that are critical for biological function, with prominent examples addressing allostery, enzyme catalysis, and protein folding. Dynamic processes with similar correlation times are often detected in multiple locations of the molecule, raising the question of whether the underlying motions are correlated (corresponding to concerted fluctuations involving many atoms distributed across extended regions of the molecule) or uncorrelated (corresponding to independent fluctuations involving few atoms in localized regions). Here, we have used
13
C
α
(
i
- 1)/
13
C
α
(
i
) differential multiple-quantum spin relaxation to provide direct evidence for correlated dynamics of consecutive amino acid residues in the protein sequence. By monitoring overlapping pairs of residues (
i
- 1 and
i
,
i
and
i
+ 1, etc.), we identified correlated motions that extend through continuous segments of the sequence. We detected significant correlated conformational transitions in the native state of the E140Q mutant of the calmodulin C-terminal domain. Previous work has shown that this domain exchanges between two major conformational states that resemble the functionally relevant open and closed states of the WT protein, with a mean correlation time of ≈20 μs. The present results reveal that an entire α-helix undergoes partial unraveling in a transient and cooperative manner.
Actin-bound structures of Wiskott–Aldrich syndrome protein (WASP)-homology domain 2 and the implications for filament assembly
Authors: Chereau David , Kerff Frederic , Graceffa Philip , Grabarek Zenon , Langsetmo Knut , Dominguez Roberto
Published: November 2005

Wiskott–Aldrich syndrome protein (WASP)-homology domain 2 (WH2) is a small and widespread actin-binding motif. In the WASP family, WH2 plays a role in filament nucleation by Arp2/3 complex. Here we describe the crystal structures of complexes of actin with the WH2 domains of WASP, WASP-family verprolin homologous protein, and WASP-interacting protein. Despite low sequence identity, WH2 shares structural similarity with the N-terminal portion of the actin monomer-sequestering thymosin β domain (Tβ). We show that both domains inhibit nucleotide exchange by targeting the cleft between actin subdomains 1 and 3, a common binding site for many unrelated actin-binding proteins. Importantly, WH2 is significantly shorter than Tβ but binds actin with ≈10-fold higher affinity. WH2 lacks a C-terminal extension that in Tβ4 becomes involved in monomer sequestration by interfering with intersubunit contacts in F-actin. Owing to their shorter length, WH2 domains connected in tandem by short linkers can coexist with intersubunit contacts in F-actin and are proposed to function in filament nucleation by lining up actin subunits along a filament strand. The WH2-central region of WASP-family proteins is proposed to function in an analogous way by forming a special class of tandem repeats whose function is to line up actin and Arp2 during Arp2/3 nucleation. The structures also suggest a mechanism for how profilin-binding Pro-rich sequences positioned N-terminal to WH2 could feed actin monomers directly to WH2, thereby playing a role in filament elongation.
Computational redesign of human butyrylcholinesterase for anticocaine medication
Authors: Pan Yongmei , Gao Daquan , Yang Wenchao , Cho Hoon , Yang Guangfu , Tai Hsin-Hsiung , Zhan Chang-Guo
Published: November 2005

Molecular dynamics was used to simulate the transition state for the first chemical reaction step (TS1) of cocaine hydrolysis catalyzed by human butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) and its mutants. The simulated results demonstrate that the overall hydrogen bonding between the carbonyl oxygen of (–)-cocaine benzoyl ester and the oxyanion hole of BChE in the TS1 structure for (–)-cocaine hydrolysis catalyzed by A199S/S287G/A328W/Y332G BChE should be significantly stronger than that in the TS1 structure for (–)-cocaine hydrolysis catalyzed by the WT BChE and other simulated BChE mutants. Thus, the transition-state simulations predict that A199S/S287G/A328W/Y332G mutant of BChE should have a significantly lower energy barrier for the reaction process and, therefore, a significantly higher catalytic efficiency for (–)-cocaine hydrolysis. The theoretical prediction has been confirmed by wet experimental tests showing an ≈(456 ± 41)-fold improved catalytic efficiency of A199S/S287G/A328W/Y332G BChE against (–)-cocaine. This is a unique study to design an enzyme mutant based on transitionstate simulation. The designed BChE mutant has the highest catalytic efficiency against cocaine of all of the reported BChE mutants, demonstrating that the unique design approach based on transition-state simulation is promising for rational enzyme redesign and drug discovery.
Molecular evidence for arterial repair in atherosclerosis
Authors: Karra Ravi , Vemullapalli Sreekanth , Dong Chunming , Herderick Edward E. , Song Xiaohua , Slosek Kathy , Nevins Joseph R. , West Mike , Goldschmidt-Clermont Pascal J. , Seo David
Published: November 2005

Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory process and progresses through characteristic morphologic stages. We have shown previously that chronically injecting bone-marrow-derived vascular progenitor cells can effect arterial repair. This repair capacity depends on the age of the injected marrow cells, suggesting a progressive decline in progenitor cell function. We hypothesized that the progression of atherosclerosis coincides with the deteriorating repair capacity of the bone marrow. Here, we ascribe patterns of gene expression that accurately and reproducibly identify specific disease states in murine atherosclerosis. We then use these expression patterns to determine the point in the disease process at which the repair of arteries by competent bone marrow cells ceases to be efficient. We show that the loss of the molecular signature for competent repair is concurrent with the initiation of atherosclerotic lesions. This work provides a previously unreported comprehensive molecular data set using broad-based analysis that links the loss of successful repair with the progression of a chronic illness.
Pleistocene to recent dietary shifts in California condors
Authors: Chamberlain C. P. , Waldbauer J. R. , Fox-Dobbs K. , Newsome S. D. , Koch P. L. , Smith D. R. , Church M. E. , Chamberlain S. D. , Sorenson K. J. , Risebrough R.
Published: November 2005

We used carbon and nitrogen isotopes to investigate changes in the diet of California condors from the Pleistocene to the recent. During the Pleistocene, condors from California fed on both terrestrial megafauna and marine mammals. Early accounts reported condors feeding on the carcasses of marine mammals, but by the late 1700s, condor diets had shifted predominantly to terrestrial animals, following the commercial harvesting of marine mammals and the development of cattle ranching on land. At present, dairy calves provided by humans significantly augment condor diet, constituting an artificial support of the current population. Reestablishing a marine mammal component in the condor diet may be an effective strategy for fostering viable condor populations independent of direct human subsidies.
Sustaining intrinsic growth capacity of adult neurons promotes spinal cord regeneration
Authors: Neumann Simona , Skinner Kate , Basbaum Allan I.
Published: November 2005

The peripheral axonal branch of primary sensory neurons readily regenerates after peripheral nerve injury, but the central branch, which courses in the dorsal columns of the spinal cord, does not. However, if a peripheral nerve is transected before a spinal cord injury, sensory neurons that course in the dorsal columns will regenerate, presumably because their intrinsic growth capacity is enhanced by the priming peripheral nerve lesion. As the effective priming lesion is made before the spinal cord injury it would clearly have no clinical utility, and unfortunately, a priming lesion made after a spinal cord injury results in an abortive regenerative response. Here, we show that two priming lesions, one made at the time of a spinal cord injury and a second 1 week after a spinal cord injury, in fact, promote dramatic regeneration, within and beyond the lesion. The first lesion, we hypothesize, enhances intrinsic growth capacity, and the second one sustains it, providing a paradigm for promoting CNS regeneration after injury.
DCDC2
is associated with reading disability and modulates neuronal development in the brain
Authors: Meng Haiying , Smith Shelley D. , Hager Karl , Held Matthew , Liu Jonathan , Olson Richard K. , Pennington Bruce F. , DeFries John C. , Gelernter Joel , O'Reilly-Pol Thomas , Somlo Stefan , Skudlarski Pawel , Shaywitz Sally E. , Shaywitz Bennett A. , Marchione Karen , Wang Yu , Paramasivam Murugan , LoTurco Joseph J. , Page Grier P. , Gruen Jeffrey R.
Published: November 2005

DYX2 on 6p22 is the most replicated reading disability (RD) locus. By saturating a previously identified peak of association with single nucleotide polymorphism markers, we identified a large polymorphic deletion that encodes tandem repeats of putative brain-related transcription factor binding sites in intron 2 of
DCDC2
. Alleles of this compound repeat are in significant disequilibrium with multiple reading traits. RT-PCR data show that
DCDC2
localizes to the regions of the brain where fluent reading occurs, and RNA interference studies show that down-regulation alters neuronal migration. The statistical and functional studies are complementary and are consistent with the latest clinical imaging data for RD. Thus, we propose that
DCDC2
is a candidate gene for RD.
Dietary exposure to chemicals within the process of risk assessment: possible applications to substances that may cause allergic reactions
Authors: Arcella D. , Donne C. Le , Leclercq C.
Published: November 2005

Exposure assessment is one of the key parts of the risk assessment process. This task is crucial when evaluating substances for which only intake of toxicologically-important amounts can lead to adverse health effects. Ideally, dietary exposure to hazardous substances can be assessed by combining data on concentration in all food products with data on their consumption. However, it is considered to be neither cost-effective nor necessary to collect detailed data for every substance, and a stepwise procedure is commonly used to focus resources on the most important issues. Screening methods, designed to look for ‘worst case’ situations, are first used to target chemicals that might be of health concern for the general population or for certain at-risk groups. The quality of the dietary exposure assessments not only depends on the quality of the data collected, but also on the integration tools used for initial screening or for the eventual more precise estimations. A particular challenge is the evaluation of food allergens and components causing other forms of intolerances, since no reliable data seem to be currently available on the type of exposure (amounts and duration) required to induce a food allergy. A different approach from that used for dietary exposure to other hazardous substances has to be adopted. However, the methodologies (such as those used to collect food consumption data) and databases (in particular, information about food labels) developed in such a context could be useful to investigate the exposure conditions leading to the development of food allergies.
Vitamins and respiratory disease: antioxidant micronutrients in pulmonary health and disease
Authors: Kelly Frank J.
Published: November 2005

The lungs are continually exposed to relatively-high O2tensions, and as such, in comparison with other organs, they represent a unique tissue for the damaging effects of oxidant attack. At particular times during a lifetime this every day challenge may increase exponentially. The first oxidative insult occurs at birth, when cells are exposed to a sudden 5-fold increase in O2concentration. Thereafter, the human lung, from infancy through to old age, can be subjected to deleterious oxidative events as a consequence of inhaling environmental pollutants or irritants, succumbing to several pulmonary diseases (including infant and adult respiratory distress syndromes, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis and cancer) and receiving treatment for these diseases. The present paper will review the concept that consumption of a healthy diet and the consequent ability to establish and then maintain adequate micronutrient antioxidant concentrations in the lung throughout life, and following various oxidative insults, could prevent or reduce the incidence of oxidant-mediated respiratory diseases. Furthermore, the rationale, practicalities and complexities of boosting the antioxidant pool of the respiratory-tract lining fluid in diseases in which oxidative stress is actively involved, by direct application to the lungv. dietary modification, in order to achieve a therapeutic effect will be discussed.
Prevalence of food allergy: an overview
Authors: Madsen Charlotte
Published: November 2005

At present the only cure for food allergy is to avoid eating the food responsible for the allergy. Thus, food allergy or food hypersensitivity is a disease that is not only of concern to the individual who is affected but also to those involved directly and indirectly in supplying andpreparing food for the food-allergic individual, and its impact on society should be evaluated on this basis. It is generally assumed that questionnaire-based studies vastly overestimate the prevalence of food hypersensitivity. The reported perceived prevalence of food hypersensitivity varies from 3.24% to 34.9%, which may be explained partly by the difference in reporting lifetime prevalence compared with point prevalence. However, of more importance is the apparent inverse correlation between response rate and prevalence (the higher the response rate, the lower the perceived prevalence). The three most-recent prevalence studies on food hypersensitivity (one on perceived food hypersensitivity and two on confirmed food hypersensitivity) all report estimates for prevalence of approximately 3%, but their criteria for including subjects as being positive are not identical, although they do overlap. Furthermore, because of differences in methodology there is no definitive information to indicate whether the prevalence of food allergy is increasing. However, the high prevalence of pollen-related food allergy in younger adults in the population suggests that the increase in pollen allergy is also being accompanied by an increase in pollen-related food allergy.
Coeliac disease: a diverse clinical syndrome caused by intolerance of wheat, barley and rye
Authors: McGough Norma , Cummings John H.
Published: November 2005

Coeliac disease is a lifelong intolerance to the gluten found in wheat, barley and rye, and some patients are also sensitive to oats. The disease is genetically determined, with 10% of the first-degree relatives affected and 75% of monozygotic twins being concordant. Of the patients with coeliac disease 95% are human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-DQ2 or HLA-DQ8 positive. Characteristically, the jejunal mucosa becomes damaged by a T-cell-mediated autoimmune response that is thought to be initiated by a 33-mer peptide fragment in A2 gliadin, and patients with this disorder have raised levels of anti-endomysium and tissue transglutaminase antibodies in their blood. Coeliac disease is the major diagnosable food intolerance and, with the advent of a simple blood test for case finding, prevalence rates are thought to be approximately 1:100. Classically, the condition presented with malabsorption and failure to thrive in infancy, but this picture has now been overtaken by the much more common presentation in adults, usually with non-specific symptoms such as tiredness and anaemia, disturbance in bowel habit or following low-impact bone fractures. Small intestinal biopsy is necessary for diagnosis and shows a characteristically flat appearance with crypt hypoplasia and infiltration of the epithelium with lymphocytes. Diet is the key to management and a gluten-free diet effectively cures the condition. However, this commitment is lifelong and many aisles in the supermarket are effectively closed to individuals with coeliac disease. Compliance can be monitored by measuring antibodies in blood, which revert to negative after 6–9 months. Patients with minor symptoms, who are found incidentally to have coeliac disease, often ask whether it is necessary to adhere to the diet. Current advice is that dietary adherence is necessary to avoid the long-term complications, which are, principally, osteoporosis and small bowel lymphoma. However, risk of these complications diminishes very considerably in patients who are on a gluten-free diet.
GM organisms and the EU regulatory environment: allergenicity as a risk component
Authors: Davies Howard V.
Published: November 2005

The European Food Safety Authority, following a request from the European Commission, has published a guidance document for the risk assessment of GM plants and derived food and feed to assist in the implementation of provisions of Regulation (EC) 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and Council on GM food and feed. This regulation has applied since 18 April 2004. In principle, hazard identification and characterisation of GM crops is conducted in four steps: characterisation of the parent crop and any hazards associated with it; characterisation of the transformation process and of the inserted recombinant DNA, including an assessment of the possible production of new fusion proteins or allergens; assessment of the introduced proteins (toxicity, allergenicity) and metabolites; identification of any other targetted and unexpected alterations in the GM crop, including changes in the plant metabolism resulting in compositional changes and assessment of their toxicological, allergenic or nutritional impact. In relation to allergenicity specifically, it is clear that this property of a given protein is not intrinsic and fully predictable but is a biological activity requiring an interaction with individuals with a predisposed genetic background. Allergenicity, therefore, depends on the genetic diversity and variability in atopic human subjects. Given this lack of complete predictability it is necessary to obtain, from several steps in the risk-assessment process, a cumulative body of evidence that minimises any uncertainty about the protein(s) in question.
Allergenic potential of novel foods
Authors: Meredith Clive
Published: November 2005

Concerns have been expressed that the introduction of novel foods into the diet might lead to the development of new food allergies in consumers. Novel foods can be conveniently divided into GM and non-GM categories. Decision-tree approaches (e.g. International Life Sciences Institute-International Food Biotechnology Council and WHO/FAO) to assess the allergenic potential of GM foods were developed following the discovery, during product development, of the allergenic potential of GM soyabean expressing a gene encoding a storage protein from Brazil nut (Bertolletia excelsa). Within these decision trees considerations include: the source of the transgene; amino acid homology with known allergens; cross-reactivity with IgE from food-allergic individuals; resistance to proteolysis; prediction using animal models of food allergy. Such decision trees are under constant review as new knowledge and improved models emerge, but they provide a useful framework for the assessment of the allergenic potential of GM foods. For novel non-GM foods the assessment of allergenic potential is more subjective; some foods or food ingredients will need no assessment other than a robust protein assay to demonstrate the absence of protein. Where protein is present in the novel non-GM food, hazard and risk assessments need to be made in terms of the quantity of protein that might be consumed, the identity of individual protein components and their relationships to known food allergens. Where necessary, this assessment would extend to serum screening for potential cross-reactivities, skin-prick tests in previously-sensitised individuals and double-blind placebo-controlled food challenges.
Fatty acids and CHD
Authors: Woodside Jayne V. , Kromhout Daan
Published: November 2005

During the last century much evidence has accumulated to suggest that from a public health perspective the type of fat is more important than the amount of fat. Saturated andtrans-fatty acids increase and bothn-6 andn-3 PUFA decrease the risk of CHD. Most of the knowledge about the effects of dietary fatty acids on CHD risk is based on observational studies and controlled dietary experiments with intermediate end points (e.g. blood lipoprotein fractions). Information from high-quality randomised controlled trials on fatty acids and CHD is lacking. The Netherlands Institute for Public Health has calculated the potential health gain that can be achieved if the fatty acid composition of the current Dutch diet is replaced by the recommended fatty acid composition. The recommendations of The Netherlands Health Council are: saturated fatty acids <10% energy intake;trans-fatty acids <1% energy intake; fish consumption (an indicator ofn-3 PUFA) once or twice weekly. Implementation of this recommendation could reduce the incidence of CHD in The Netherlands by about 25 000/year and the number of CHD-related deaths by about 6000/year and increase life expectancy from age 40 years onwards by 0.5 year. These projections indicate the public health potential of interventions that modify the fatty acid composition of the diet.
Probiotics and allergy
Authors: Furrie Elizabeth
Published: November 2005

Allergy is caused by an immune reaction that is out of all proportion to the antigenic stimuli. Classical allergy is a type I hypersensitivity reaction mediated by the interaction of mast cells (and eosinophils) coated with allergen-specific IgE and a cross-linking allergen. The physiological outcome is inflammation commonly displayed by urticaria, rhinitis, vomiting and diarrhoea, depending on the route of allergen entry. In extreme reactions anaphylactic shock can result that may lead to death. Chronic allergic responses most commonly present themselves as asthma and eczema. All these symptoms are the consequence of an imbalanced immune system making an unsuitable response to an environmental or food antigen. On bacterial colonisation of the colon after birth the appropriate microbiological stimuli is essential to redress the balance of the skewed T-helper 2 immune response present in the newborn. This normal interaction between baby and microbes is thought to be compromised in the Western world, with a reduction in bifidobacteria and an increase in clostridial species, particularly in bottle-fed infants. The use of probiotic therapy to prevent allergic disease has been demonstrated in two studies using a probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG in neonates. A long-term reduction in allergy has been shown in the test group, with lactobacillus reducing the incidence of atopic eczema. Management of allergy through probiotics has also been demonstrated in infants, using lactobacilli to control atopic eczema and cow's milk allergy. Unfortunately, these positive results have not been repeated in studies with older children and young adults.
Planning and Housing Supply in Two-speed Britain: Modelling Local Market Outcomes
Authors: Bramley Glen , Leishman Chris
Published: November 2005

Economic research on UK housing markets has only recently got to grips with measuring and modelling the impact of planning and other public interventions, although their importance has long been recognised in theory. The interurban panel dataset utilised in this study does represent a step forward, by permitting more robust econometric estimation and by incorporating a wider, more balanced range of determinant factors. A coherent set of relationships governing the key market outcomes-house prices, new building, migration and vacancies-can be established. The modelling framework is used to explore differences in behavioural responses between markets in 'high' and 'low' demand states. Simulations are used to track the impact on market outcomes of different policy strategies applied in different types of locality. Supply measures needed to achieve national targets for house price growth reduction are assessed. Measures acting on both demand-side and supply-side variables in areas of high and low demand are compared. These suggest that output is more sensitive than price to policies and that quite strong, concerted policies would be needed to impact significantly on the major market imbalances currently seen.
The Decline of the Immigrant Home-ownership Advantage: Life-cycle, Declining Fortunes and Changing Housing Careers in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, 1981-2001
Authors: Haan Michael
Published: November 2005

In the past, working-age immigrant families in Canada's large urban centres had higher home-ownership rates than the Canadian-born. Over the past 20 years, however, this advantage has reversed, due jointly to a drop in immigrant rates and a rise in the popularity of home-ownership among the Canadian-born. This paper assesses the efficacy of a fairly standard microeconomic consumer choice model, which includes indicators for age, income, education, family type and immigrant characteristics, plus several interactions with time, to explain these changes. It is found that the standard model almost completely explains the immigrant homeownership advantage in 1981, as well as the rise in home-ownership rates over time among the Canadian-born. Even after accounting for the well-known decline in immigrant economic fortunes, however, it is shown that only about half of the 1981-2001 immigrant change in homeownership rates is explained by the standard model.
Auctions and Land Values: An Experimental Analysis
Authors: Gwin Carl R. , Ong Seow-Eng , Spieler Andrew C.
Published: November 2005

Although urban land development is a well-researched area, there has been inadequate research on the allocation mechanism for land. This paper offers a new perspective on the effects of the auction mechanism on land values. By appealing to an experimental setting to examine the bidding behaviour of developers in repeated first-price sealed bid (FPSB) auctions where resolution of price uncertainty (development revenue) is deferred, it is shown that overbidding is pervasive. Participants consistently shave expected profit margins in order to secure land for development. The actual profit margins reported in all experiments are significantly lower than the suggested benchmark made known before the experiments. Consequently, participants tend to experience smaller ex post profits relative to ex ante expectations. However, we find that repeated bidding does mitigate overbidding to some extent, as evidenced by lower differences in the winning bid to the second-highest bid. Convergence in the range of bids occurs over time, but only significantly so when public information in terms of an expectation of the future property price, is provided. This study offers interesting policy implications for urban land development.
Unemployment and Urban Labour Markets
Authors: Morrison Philip S.
Published: November 2005

Two quite distinct views on how metropolitan labour markets work have co-existed for over three decades. Both claim empirical support and, after a brief period of confrontation, they continue to co-exist today giving quite conflicting signals to policy-makers. According to the first model, the urban labour market consists of a number of spatially defined sub-markets so that local unemployment exists primarily because of deficiencies in highly localised demand for labour. By this argument, unemployment rates remain high in the absence of a renewed supply of appropriate jobs within short commuting distances of the jobless. The solution according to this model is to attract private- and public-sector production into such areas. In contrast, a second model views the city as a single market in which transactions between labour and capital take place regardless of the location of residence and employment sites. According to this perspective, the spatial incidence of unemployment simply reflects the residential clustering effects of a housing market reacting to an unequal income distribution. Demand for labour may still be deficient, but only at the aggregate, metropolitan-wide level. According to this model, creating jobs for labour in particular parts of the conurbation in order to reduce unemployment in certain neighbourhoods will only have a temporary, short-term effect at best. The apparent conflicts between the policy implications drawn from these segmented and seamless models of the urban labour market arise out of a failure to recognise explicitly the marked differences that exist in the ability of different levels of human capital to adjust. Both models have relevance, but to different categories of labour. As soon as the implicit assumption of homogeneous labour is relaxed, the simultaneous presence of spatially seamless and segmented markets becomes a source of insight rather than conflict and their role in policy discussion becomes more transparent. The research challenge lies in achieving a better understanding of the scope and practice of adjustment of individuals with different skills together with the way the urban markets as a whole adjust.
The Local Politics of 'Going Global': Making and Unmaking Minneapolis-St Paul as a World City
Authors: Paul Darel E.
Published: November 2005

Minneapolis-St Paul is a good candidate for 'world city' status. The metropolitan area ranks 15th in the US in population; ranks 8th in total exports; hosts the headquarters of some of the largest transnational corporations in the world including 3M, General Mills, Target and Cargill; is home to the largest Somali and Hmong populations in the US; and has hosted major global spectacles such as the International Special Olympics and the Super Bowl. At the same time, Minneapolis-St Paul is far from embracing a world city identity. Although seen largely as beneficiaries of globalisation, residents of the Twin Cities routinely elect politicians to both the local and national levels who oppose free trade. Local efforts to make the metropolitan area into a world city, backed mainly by boosters in city and state government as well as large locally based corporations, have met with inconsistent political leadership, a lack of broad business support, and a strong democratic local politics which has limited the power of corporate interests both to direct the region's economic development and to define the content of its international ties. In other similarly sized cities (such as Atlanta or Cleveland) corporate and political leaders have for the most part done as they pleased in building the city's international character, but in Minneapolis-St Paul these actors have been largely defeated by populist politics. The case of the Minneapolis-St Paul world city project demonstrates the ability of a vibrant opposition both to moderate an elite drive to 'go global' and to define urban 'success' and 'prestige' in markedly non-global terms.
The Slow Pace of Desegregation in South African Cities, 1996-2001
Authors: Christopher A.J.
Published: November 2005

The second post-apartheid census was held in South Africa in 2001, coinciding with the tenth anniversary of the repeal of the segregation laws. It is now possible to gain some idea of the extent to which desegregation has taken place in the towns and cities of the country. The extremely high White segregation levels, attained under the previous dispensation, have changed comparatively little. At the same time, African patterns have been strongly influenced by rapidly growing numbers concentrated in peripheral informal settlements. Only the Coloured population appears to be experiencing some significant degree of reintegration. Furthermore, the rate of integration has declined after an initial rush in the early 1990s. The post-apartheid city continues to look remarkably like its predecessor, the apartheid city.
Cancer Cell Invasion of Brain Tissue: Guided by a Prepattern?
Authors: Wurzel Michael , Schaller Carlo , Simon Matthias , Deutsch Andreas
Published: November 2005

The malignant brain tumour Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) displays a highly invasive behaviour. Spreading of the malignant cells appears to be guided by the white matter fibre tracts within the brain. In order to understand the global growth process we introduce a lattice‐gas cellular automaton model which describes the local interaction between individual malignant cells and their neighbourhood. We consider interactions between cells (brain cells and tumour cells) and between malignant cells and the fibre tracts in the brain, which are considered as a prepattern. The prepattern implies persistent individual cell motion along the fibre structure. Simulations with the model show that only the inclusion of the prepattern results in invading tumour and growing tumour islets in front of the expanding tumour bulk (i.e. the growth pattern observed in clinical practice). Our results imply that the infiltrative growth of GBMs is, in part, determined by the physical structure of the surrounding brain rather than by intrinsic properties of the tumour cells.
Spatial Correlation of Gene Expression Measures in Tissue Microarray Core Analysis
Authors: Emily Mathieu , Morel Didier , Marcelpoil Raphael , François Olivier
Published: November 2005

Tissue microarrays (TMAs) make possible the screening of hundreds of different tumour samples for the expression of a specific protein. Automatic features extraction procedures lead to a series of covariates corresponding to the averaged stained scores. In this article, we model the random geometry of TMA cores using voronoi tesselations. This formalism enables the computation of indices of spatial correlation of stained scores using both classical and novel approaches. The potential of these spatial statistics to correctly discriminate between diseased and non‐diseased cases is evaluated through the analysis of a TMA containing samples of breast carcinoma data. The results indicate a significant improvement in the breast cancer prognosis.
Is the Skin an Excitable Medium? Pattern Formation in Erythema Gyratum Repens
Authors: Gilmore Stephen , Landman Kerry A.
Published: November 2005

Erythema gyratum repens (EGR) is a rare, inflammatory dermatosis of unknown aetiology. The morphology of the eruption is striking and displays rapidly evolving circinate and gyrate bands of erythematous and scaly skin. Although the aetiology of the pattern is unknown, it has previously been noted that the eruption shares morphologic features with the patterns of spatio‐temporal chemical concentration profiles observed in the Belusov‐Zhabotinski (BZ) reaction. Yet this morphologic correspondence has not been investigated further. Here we apply a simple non‐linear reaction–diffusion model, previously used to describe the BZ reaction, as a template for pattern formation in EGR, and show how the mechanism may provide a biochemical basis for many of the dynamic and morphologic features of the rash. These results are supported by the results of a cellular automaton simulation approximating the dynamics of oscillatory chemical systems—the Hodgepodge machine—where the spatio‐temporal patterns developed show astonishing similarities to the morphology of EGR.
Nonclassical Action of Retinoic Acid on the Activation of the cAMP Response Element-binding Protein in Normal Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells
Authors: Aggarwal Sita , Kim Seung-Wook , Cheon Kyounga , Tabassam Fazal H. , Yoon Joo-Heon , Koo Ja Seok
Published: November 2005

Vitamin A (retinol) is essential for normal regulation of cell growth and differentiation. We have shown that the retinol metabolite retinoic acid (RA) induces mucous cell differentiation of normal human tracheobronchial epithelial (NHTBE) cells. However, early biological effects of RA in the differentiation of bronchial epithelia are largely unknown. Here, we showed that RA rapidly activated cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB). However, RA did not use the conventional retinoic acid receptor (RAR)/retinoid X receptor (RXR) to activate CREB. RA activated CREB in NHTBE and H1734 cells in which RARs/RXR were silenced with small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting RAR/RXR expression or deactivated by antagonist. Inhibition of protein kinase C (PKC) or extracellular regulated kinase (ERK1/2) blocked the RA-mediated activation of CREB. In addition, depletion of p90 ribosomal S6 kinase (RSK) via siRSK1/2 completely abolished the activation, suggesting that PKC, ERK, and RSK are required for the activation. Altogether, this study provides the first evidence that RA rapidly activates CREB transcription factor via PKC, ERK, and RSK in a retinoid receptor-independent manner in normal bronchial epithelial cells. This noncanonical RA signaling pathway may play an important role in mediating early biological effects in the mucociliary differentiation of bronchial epithelia.
Bovine tuberculosis (Mycobacterium bovis) in British farmland wildlife: the importance to agriculture
Authors: Mathews Fiona , Macdonald David W , Taylor G. Michael , Gelling Merryl , Norman Rachel A , Honess Paul E , Foster Rebecca , Gower Charlotte M , Varley Susan , Harris Audrey , Palmer Simonette , Hewinson Glyn , Webster Joanne P
Published: November 2005

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an important disease of cattle and an emerging infectious disease of humans. Cow- and badger-based control strategies have failed to eradicate bTB from the British cattle herd, and the incidence is rising by about 18% per year. The annual cost to taxpayers in Britain is currently £74 million. Research has focused on the badger as a potential bTB reservoir, with little attention being paid to other mammals common on farmland. We have conducted a systematic survey of wild mammals (n=4393 individuals) present on dairy farms to explore the role of species other than badgers in the epidemiology of bTB. Cultures were prepared from 10 397 samples (primarily faeces, urine and tracheal aspirates). One of the 1307 bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus) live-sampled, and three of the 43 badgers (Meles meles), yielded positive isolates ofMycobacterium bovis. This is the first time the bacterium has been isolated from the bank vole. The strain type was the same as that found in cattle and badgers on the same farm. However, our work indicates that the mean prevalence of infectious individuals among common farmland wildlife is extremely low (the upper 95% confidence interval is ≤2.0 for all of the abundant species). Mathematical models illustrate that it is highly unlikely the disease could be maintained at such low levels. Our results suggest that these animals are relatively unimportant as reservoirs of bTB, having insufficient within-species (or within-group) transmission to sustain the infection, though occasional spill-overs from cattle or badgers may occur.
Not everything that counts can be counted: ants use multiple metrics for a single nest trait
Authors: Franks Nigel R , Dornhaus Anna , Metherell Bonnie G , Nelson Toby R , Lanfear Sophie A.J , Symes William S
Published: November 2005

There are claims in the literature that certain insects can count. We question the generality of these claims and suggest that summation rather than counting (
sensu stricto
) is a more likely explanation. We show that
Temnothorax albipennis
ant colonies can discriminate between potential nest sites with different numbers of entrances. However, our experiments suggest that the ants use ambient light levels within the nest cavity to assess the abundance of nest entrances rather than counting
per se
. Intriguingly, Weber's Law cannot explain the ants' inaccuracy. The ants also use a second metric, independent of light, to assess and discriminate against wide entrances. Thus, these ants use at least two metrics to evaluate one nest trait: the configuration of the portals to their potential homes.