bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
INCONGRUOUS IMAGES: “BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER” THE HOLOCAUST1
Authors: HIRSCH MARIANNE , SPITZER LEO
Published: December 2009

When historians, archivists, and museologists turn to Eastern European photos from family albums or collections—for example, photos from the decades preceding the Holocaust and the early years of the Second World War—they seek visual evidence or illustrations of the past. But photographs may refuse to fit expected narratives and interpretations, revealing both more and less than we expect. Focusing on photos of Jews taken on the main avenues of Cernǎuţi, Romania, before the Second World War and during the city's occupation by Fascist Romanians and their Nazi‐German allies, this essay shows how a close reading of these vernacular images, both for what they show and what they are unable to show, can challenge the “before, during, and after” timeline that, in Holocaust historiography, we have come to accept as a given.
SEEING AND SAYING: A RESPONSE TO “INCONGRUOUS IMAGES”1
Authors: BATCHEN GEOFFREY
Published: December 2009

In responding to an essay by Marianne Hirsch and Leo Spitzer about photographs taken in the streets of Chernivitsi (Czernowitz) in the 1940s, and thus in the midst of the Holocaust, this paper seeks to link their concerns to a broader consideration of photography as a modern phenomenon. In the process, the paper provides a brief history of street photography, a genre virtually ignored in standard histories of the photographic medium. The author suggests that Hirsch and Spitzer's paper bravely reminds us that our fascination with photographs is based not on truth, but on a combination of desire (our own desire to transcend death) and faith (in photography's ability to deliver this end, in the face of all the evidence to the contrary). Their account of street photography in Czernowitz thereby amounts to an interpretation of photographs as dynamic modes of apprehension rather than as static objects from the past that veridically represent it. It is precisely this aspect of photographs that makes them such unusually complicated, ambiguous, and incongruous historical objects.
“BLACK SKIN AND BLOOD”: DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY AND SANTU MOFOKENG'S CRITIQUE OF THE VISUALIZATION OF APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA
Authors: CAMPBELL DAVID
Published: December 2009

This paper responds to Patricia Hayes's insightful readings of Santu Mofokeng's photographic work in South Africa. The paper operates from the premise that photography is a technology of visualization that both draws on and establishes a visual economy through which events and issues are materialized in particular ways. This allows the paper to pose questions and develop understandings about Mofokeng's work in terms of the way certain factors coalesced to enable a particular representation of black South Africans in the global image economy. Central to this is the role of assumptions about exposure and visibility in relation to violence, assumptions that Mofokeng's work, as a critique of conventional documentary work, explicitly contests. In exploring the invisibility of everyday life, Mofokeng expands notions of documentary photography and photojournalism. This paper demonstrates this point by connecting Mofokeng's work to a contemporary controversy in European photojournalism to highlight how a more complex understanding of documentary photography is necessary.
“WHEN I WAS A PHOTOGRAPHER”: NADAR AND HISTORY
Authors: BANN STEPHEN
Published: December 2009

This paper takes as its point of departure Roland Barthes's proposition in La Chambre claire that the nineteenth century “invented History and Photography,” that the era of photography is one of revolutions, and that the photograph's “testimony” has diminished our capacity to think in terms of “duration.” Barthes also asserts that the French photographer Nadar is “the greatest photographer in the world,” but takes no account of Nadar's acute receptivity to the history of the nineteenth century. The paper argues that, though he fully recognized (and indeed documented) the unique properties of the new medium, Nadar himself was overridingly preoccupied with assessing photography's role in a period when war and revolution were compromising the onward march of social and economic progress. Throughout his life, he was committed to the progressive ideas that he assimilated while growing up in Paris and Lyon in the 1830s. He wrote of the emergence of a Bohemian culture in the Latin Quarter of Paris, and remained keenly aware of the visual impressions that he had received in his youth from the popular lithographs of the pre‐photographic era. He became a supporter of the artistic avant‐garde, which led him to purchase important work by the landscape painter Daubigny. In his art criticism, he excoriated the later portraits of Ingres, which might have competed with his own reputation as a photographic portraitist. Yet, in his admiration for Delacroix, he emphasized the lengthy initiation necessary for the appreciation of the master's paintings, implying a direct contrast with the “instantaneity” of the photographic process. By common consent, the period of Nadar's great success as a portraitist, which secured his posthumous fame, occupied a short phase in his career as a whole. But his writings show that it was his lively intuition of the wider ramifications of photography that impelled him to move on—experimenting successfully with the first aerial photographs and documenting the catacombs of Paris with the aid of magnesium lighting. Though he could never experience television, he left a narrative in which the feasibility of transmitting images over a distance was presented as being startlingly realistic. In short, Nadar's published work can be viewed as a sustained meditation on the interaction of historical experience and the media, which not only records but anticipates photography's impact within the wider framework of visual culture.
PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE MATERIAL PERFORMANCE OF THE PAST1
Authors: EDWARDS ELIZABETH
Published: December 2009

This article explores the significance of the material practices of photography and its archiving in interpretive approaches to the relationship between photographs and history. Drawing on work in material culture studies in anthropology and on the concept of “material hermeneutic,” it argues that photographs should not be understood only through forensic and semiotic analysis of content, but as objects that constitute material performances of a complex range of historiographical desires in the negotiation of the relations among past, present, and future. The analysis is grounded in an exploration of the material practices of the photographic survey movement in England between 1885 and 1918. This loosely cohered group of amateur photographers recorded a historical topography of ancient churches, cottages, passing events, and folk customs in order to create a photographic record for the benefit of future generations. As such it was a self‐conscious statement of “popular historicism.” The members' concern for key values of permanence and accuracy, expressed through the detail of photographic and archival processes, reveals the ways in which cultural loss and photographic loss become mutually sustaining metaphors for each other, and in which the photographs themselves are material markers of both evidential value and of an affective historical imagination.
Corporate Diversification and Firm Value: Evidence from Post‐1997 Data*
Authors: HE XI
Published: December 2009

In 1997, SFAS 131 established a new segment‐reporting standard for US public companies. Using measures of diversification based on the diversity in segment‐industry characteristics and controlling for endogeneity of the diversification decision, we document a diversification premium in our post‐1997 period. We find significant positive effects of cash flow diversity, leverage diversity and profitability diversity on excess value, consistent with the efficient internal capital market hypothesis. We also find that the size of the diversification premium in the post‐1997 data is negatively correlated with the degree of diversification and positively correlated with firm size. In contrast, we find that the pre‐1998 data typically generates a diversification discount, but the effect is statistically less significant when endogeneity is controlled for. Thus, the diversification discount documented in earlier studies can be an artifact of the pre‐1998 data or a failure to control for endogeneity.
Switching Between the Banking and Metals and Mining Sectors of Australia*
Authors: Haque Tariq
Published: December 2009

Using the Australian banking and metals and mining industries as the categories in the Barberis and Shleifer model, this study demonstrates switching in the Australian stock market. Switching occurs when investors move into an industry by selling off stocks of an alternate industry, thus causing negative lagged cross‐correlation between those industries. Our results, based on daily returns, suggest that category‐level investor sentiment may drive observed switching patterns in the Australian stock market and not fundamental risk factors. Our results also show that switching does not necessarily only occur between value and growth stocks or large‐cap and small‐cap stocks.
Market Price of Risk: A Comparison among the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Japan*
Authors: WANG KENT
Published: December 2009

This study examines and compares the market price of risk of the S&P 500, FTSE 100, All Ordinaries, and Nikkei 225 markets from 1984 to 2009 in the framework of Intertemporal Capital Asset Pricing Model (ICAPM). We follow the Vector Autoregressive instrumental variable approach in identifying the risk and hedge components of market returns and argue that in the context of market integration, covariance with a world market portfolio is a better measure of market risk than conditional market variance. Evidence is documented in support of using covariance as a risk measure in explaining market risk premiums in the Australian and Japanese markets. CAY, the consumption wealth ratio from the US market is found to be a robust state variable that helps to explain both conditional variance and covariance processes in the four markets. The market prices of risk, after controlling for the hedging demands, are positive and significant with the United States having the highest price of risk. The results are confirmed using a series of robustness tests that include varying the sampling interval.
RhoE stimulates neurite‐like outgrowth in PC12 cells through inhibition of the RhoA/ROCK‐I signalling
Authors: Talens‐Visconti Raquel , Peris Blanca , Guerri Consuelo , Guasch Rosa M.
Published: December 2009

J. Neurochem. (2010) 112, 1074–1087.

Neurite formation involves coordinated changes between the actin cytoskeleton and the microtubule network. Rho GTPases are clearly implicated in several aspects of neuronal development and function. Indeed, RhoA is a negative regulator of neurite outgrowth and its effector Rho‐kinase mediates the Rho‐driven neurite retraction. Considering that RhoE/round protein (Rnd3) acts antagonistically to RhoA and it is also able to bind and inhibit rho kinase‐I (p160ROCK) – ROCK‐I, it is tempting to speculate a role of RhoE in neurite formation. We show for the first time that, in the absence of nerve growth factor (NGF), RhoE induces neurite‐like outgrowth. Our results demonstrate that over‐expression of RhoE decreases the activity of RhoA and reduces the expression of both ROCK‐I and the phosphorylated myosin light chain phosphatase (MLCPp). Conversely, over‐expression of either active RhoA or ROCK‐I abolishes the RhoE‐promoted neurite outgrowth, suggesting that RhoE induces neurite‐like formation through inhibition of the RhoA/ROCK‐I signalling. We also show that Rac and Cdc42 have a role in RhoE‐induced neurite outgrowth. Finally, the present data further indicate that RhoE may be involved in the NGF‐induced neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells, as depletion of RhoE by siRNA reduces the neurite formation induced by NGF. These findings provide new insights into the molecular mechanism implicated in neuronal development and may provide novel therapeutic targets in neurodegenerative disorders.
The social construction of the participatory turn: The emergence of a norm in the European Union
Authors: SAURUGGER SABINE
Published: December 2009

At the beginning of the 1990s a new discourse emerged at the European Union level, insisting on the necessity of ‘civil society’ participation in decision‐making processes. Based on a ‘strategic‐constructivist’ research design, this article addresses the question of the emergence of this participatory turn in the official discourse and its transformation into a norm. It argues that the continued activism of an elite forum, consisting of political and administrative actors as well as academics, created the momentum that brought the concerned actors to accept the participatory norm and to play the roles required by it. However, due to internal competition amongst norm entrepreneurs, and a changed political situation, this norm is still contested, making it difficult to assess how its implementation will function.
Serum Stem Cell Factor Level in Renal Transplant Recipients With Posttransplant Erythrocytosis
Authors: Kiykim Ahmet A. , Genctoy Gultekin , Horoz Mehmet , Tiftik Naci E. , Gok Ebru , Altun Bulent , Arici Mustafa , Haznedaroglu Ibrahim
Published: December 2009

The etiology of posttransplant erythrocytosis (PTE) remains unclear, and the most frequently suggested causative factors are still a matter of controversy. We aimed to investigate serum‐soluble stem cell factor (sSCF) along with serum erythropoietin (EPO) levels in renal transplant recipients (RTRs) with PTE. Thirteen RTRs with PTE, 42 RTRs without PTE, and 42 healthy controls were included. Serum sSCF and EPO levels were determined using an enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay kit. Expected and observed/expected EPO levels were calculated. Serum sSCF levels and observed/expected EPO were significantly higher in RTRs with PTE than both RTRs without PTE and controls. In RTRs with PTE, sSCF level was significantly correlated with hematocrit and observed/expected EPO, respectively. Significant correlation was also observed between hematocrit level and observed/expected EPO in RTRs with PTE. Increased sSCF level and inadequate suppression of EPO production seem to have a role in the pathogenesis of PTE.
Action, Organization, and Documentary Film: Beyond a Communications Model of Human Rights Videos
Authors: HINEGARDNER LIVIA
Published: December 2009

Literature investigating human rights videos has concentrated on their usefulness in creating political pressure through shaming perpetrators of abuses. Analyzing confrontations between police and a social movement in San Salvador Atenco, Mexico, in 2006, I show that the separation between communication and action implicit in this communications model obscures how human rights films form a field of political organization and direct action. In this case, films open a de facto legal space not available through formal institutional channels, and provide a platform through which political actors can transform themselves from bystanders to active participants. I conclude by proposing that the production and distribution of political film in Mexico represent an attempt at social and political change that is more profound than modifications to laws and policies.
The Influence of ZnF2 Doping on the Electrical Properties and Microstructure in Bi2O3–ZnO‐Based Varistors
Authors: Cheng Lihong , Zheng Liaoying , Li Guorong , Yuan Kaiyang , Gu Yan , Zhang Fuping
Published: December 2009

ZnO varistors with different amounts of ZnF2 from 0.00 to 0.80 mol% were prepared using a solid‐state reaction technique, to explore the potential application of ZnO. The F‐doping effects on the microstructure and electrical properties of ZnO‐based varistors were investigated. The average grain size of ZnO increased from 4.93 to 6.48 μm as the ZnF2 content increased. Experimental results showed that as the ZnF2 content increased, the breakdown voltage decreased from 617 to 367 V/mm, and the nonlinear coefficient did not change much. However, a slight increase was observed in the leakage current. Besides, when the ZnF2 content increased, the donor concentration increased from 0.669 × 1018 to 8.720 × 1018 cm−3. The study indicated that ZnF2 played a similar role as sintering aids to promote grain growth and the substitutional F atoms in the bulk served as a donor to increase the donor concentration.
Statistical Analysis of Strength Development as a Function of Various Parameters on Activated Metakaolin/Slag Cements
Authors: Burciaga‐Díaz Oswaldo , Escalante‐García Jose Ivan , Arellano‐Aguilar Raúl , Gorokhovsky Alexander
Published: December 2009

This investigation statistically examines the strength development on alkaline activation of metakaolin (Mk)/blast furnace slag (BFS) pastes. The main parameters studied are: BFS/Mk weight ratio (100/0, 80/20, 50/50, 20/80, and 0/100), modulus of the alkaline solutions of sodium silicate (M=SiO2/NaO2 at 0, 1, 1.5, 2), %Na2O (5%, 10%, and 15%), and curing time. Cubes were cured at 20°C for up to 360 days; the compressive strength and other characteristics were investigated. A fully factorial experimental design was used to determine the influence of each variable. The curing time and the interaction of the factors BFS/Mk ratio‐%Na2O were the most important, followed by the modulus and then the %Na2O; others such as the interaction BFS/Mk ratio modulus were less important. The results indicated that the addition of Mk to BFS reduced the strength, more notably at contents above 50%. For strength development, the most effective modulus was Ms=1 and higher %Na2O were required with higher Mk loads.
Dielectric, Ferroelectric, Pyroelectric, and Piezoelectric Properties of La‐Modified Lead‐Free Sodium–Potassium Bismuth Titanate Thick Films
Authors: Zhang Haibo , Jiang Shenglin , Kajiyoshi Koji , Xiao Jianzhong
Published: December 2009

La2O3‐doped sodium–potassium bismuth titanate (Na0.82K0.18)0.5Bi0.5TiO3(NKBT) lead‐free thick films have been prepared on Pt‐electroded alumina substrates using a combination of screen printing and subsequent infiltration of the corresponding composite sol. Their densification, microstructure, dielectric, ferroelectric, pyroelectric, and piezoelectric properties were investigated with variation of the La2O3content. The resulting 40 μm‐thick NKBT films doped with 1.0 mol% La2O3show minimum leakage current density of 1.56 × 10−9A/cm2at an applied field of 100 kV/cm, remanent polarization of 21.6 μC/cm2, and coercive field of 58 kV/cm. The high pyroelectric coefficient of 2.0 × 10−4C·(m2·°C)−1, the calculated detectivity figure of merit as high as 0.81 × 10−5Pa−0.5, and the value of remanentd33effof 108 pm/V at room temperature (20°C) were observed in 1.0 mol% La2O3‐doped NKBT thick films, which can be comparable with that of the commonly used lead‐based materials. The enhancement of the pyroelectric and piezoelectric performances is attributed to the reduction of lattice tetragonality, uniform microstructure, and improved densification in La‐modified NKBT thick films.
Structure, Ferroelectric, and Piezoelectric Properties of (Bi0.5Na0.5)1−x−y−z(Bi0.5K0.5)xBaySrzTiO3 Lead‐Free Ceramics
Authors: Lin Dunmin , Kwok Kin Wing
Published: December 2009

New lead‐free (Bi0.5Na0.5)1−x−y−z(Bi0.5K0.5)xBaySrzTiO3 ceramics have been prepared by an ordinary sintering technique and their structure, ferroelectric, and piezoelectric properties have been studied. X‐ray diffraction patterns reveal that a morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) of rhombohedral and tetragonal phases is formed at 0.10≤x≤0.20, 0<y<0.04, and 0.01<z<0.03. After the partial substitutions of (Bi0.5K0.5)2+, Ba2+, and Sr2+ for the A site (Bi0.5Na0.5)2+ ions of Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3, the coercive field Ec decreases greatly and the remnent polarization Pr increases significantly. Because of the MPB, lower Ec and higher Pr, the piezoelectricity of the ceramics is greatly improved. For the ceramics with x=0.15, y=0.02, and z=0.015, the piezoelectric properties become optimum, giving d33=203 pC/N, kp=31.4%, and kt=46.7%. The depolarization temperature Td reaches a minimum value at the MPB. Our results also suggest that the ceramics may contain both the polar and nonpolar regions near Td, which causes the polarization hysteresis loop to become deformed and the ceramics to become depolarized.
Documenting Accountability: Environmental Impact Assessment in a Peruvian Mining Project
Authors: Li Fabiana
Published: December 2009

Over the past two decades, practices of accountability have acquired a new presence in neoliberal governance and resource extraction in Peru. In the context of mining activity, accountability generally refers to public mechanisms of evaluation and record‐keeping through which citizens can make corporations and governments answerable to them. However, I argue that these practices often prioritize mining interests by enabling corporations to define and ultimately enforce standards of performance. This article focuses on a key process in the making of social and environmental accountability in mining projects: Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). I show that the form of the documents produced for the EIA (i.e., their required components, as established in legal frameworks) and the process of making them public (participatory meetings and public forums) can take precedence over their content. I examine two aspects of the EIA that make this possible. First, the risks that are identified in the EIA are those that a company deems to be technically manageable based on the solutions and interventions that it has to offer. Second, the participatory process of the EIA creates collaborative relationships among state agents, corporations, NGOs, and communities that strengthen the EIA's claims of accountability while circumscribing the spaces for opposition to a proposed project.
Medical Findings and Legal Outcomes in Sexually Abused Children*
Authors: Hansen Lene Aagaard , Mikkelsen Søren Johan , Sabroe Svend , Charles Annie Vesterby
Published: December 2009

Abstract:  A previous study published in 2000 on a small group of children concluded that the medical examination in cases of sexual child abuse seldom provided legal proof of sexual abuse [J Forensic Sci 45(2000):115–7]. The present consecutive study included children referred to the police for a forensic medical examination. A colposcope was used to evaluate the anogenital findings which were classified as normal, nonspecific, and abnormal. Four hundred and eighty‐two children were included. Abnormal anogenital findings were found in 38% of the girls and 20% of the boys, but there was no relation between abnormal anogenital findings and the two legal outcomes: “appearing in court” and “being convicted.” However, the age of the child turned out to be a more important factor in relation to legal outcome than the physical findings. The results of this study suggest that the child’s statement and not the physical findings were important for legal outcome.
A Method for Estimating Sex Using Metric Analysis of the Scapula*
Authors: Dabbs Gretchen R. , Moore‐Jansen Peer H.
Published: December 2009

Abstract:  The most accurate and precise methods for the assessment of age and stature often require knowledge of sex. Thus, being able to correctly identify sex from skeletal remains is critical in the forensic context. The presence of the os coxae or skull can never be guaranteed, making the development of reliable methods of sex estimation using other skeletal elements necessary. Using a 724 individual calibration sample from the Hamann‐Todd collection, this study identifies sexual dimorphism in the human scapula, and presents a new five‐variable discriminant function for sex estimation. The overall accuracy of this method proved to be 95.7% on the cross‐validated calibration sample, 92.5% on an 80 individual test sample from the Hamann‐Todd collection, and 84.4% on a 32 individual test sample from the skeletal collection of the Wichita State University Biological Anthropology Laboratory. Additionally, a slightly less accurate two‐variable model was developed and has cross‐validated accuracy of 91.3%.
The Response of Skin to Applied Stress: Investigation of Bitemark Distortion in a Cadaver Model*
Authors: Bush Mary A. , Thorsrud Kyle , Miller Raymond G. , Dorion Robert B. J. , Bush Peter J.
Published: December 2009

Abstract:  Knowledge of distortional properties of skin is important in bitemark analysis. Thus, the response of skin to stress from bites was investigated. Four sets of models were created from the dentition of one individual. Anterior teeth were systematically removed to vary contact surface area. A biting apparatus was constructed with an integrated load cell. Forty‐six bites were created perpendicular to Langer lines on six cadavers. Rate of force application and bite pressure were controlled. Metric/angular measurement and hollow volume overlays were employed. Distortion produced by each dentition was calculated and assessed. Results showed that as teeth impressed loose tissue, mesial/distal distance increased, angles of rotation flattened, and inter‐canine distance lengthened. An opposite effect was seen in tight tissue. When the surface area of the dentition was reduced, a mixture of these effects was observed. Conclusions indicated that stiffness of the tissue was the most important variable in bitemark distortion.
The Differentiation of the Volatile Organic Signatures of Individuals Through SPME‐GC/MS of Characteristic Human Scent Compounds
Authors: Curran Allison M. , Prada Paola A. , Furton Kenneth G.
Published: December 2009

Abstract:  Human scent evidence is utilized as an investigative tool through canine scent discriminations based on the premise that human scent is an individualizing characteristic. This study describes the development of what is effectively a human scent barcode consisting of the relative ratios of an individual’s “primary odor” compounds utilized to determine a reproducible and individualizing profile which can be stored in a searchable database for a proof of concept of human scent as a biometric measure. Triplicate hand odor samples were evaluated from 10 subjects utilizing solid phase micro‐extraction gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (SPME‐GC/MS) and compared via Spearman Rank Correlations. Narrowing the compounds considered for each subject to only those common in all three samples, or a subject’s “primary odor constituents,” produced a greater degree of both individualization and discrimination; at both correlation thresholds of 0.9 and 0.8, the individuals were correctly discriminated and identified in 99.54% of the cases.
Palatine Sutures as Age Indicator: A Controlled Study in the Elderly
Authors: Beauthier Jean‐Pol , Lefevre Philippe , Meunier Maurice , Orban Rosine , Polet Caroline , Werquin Jean‐Pierre , Quatrehomme Gérald
Published: December 2009

Abstract: Vault sutures have proven their low reliability for estimating age at death in individual forensic science cases. We broke down the palatine sutures of 134 skulls (with known sex and age at time of death) into 15 subparts and 5 stages of fusion to obtain a mean coefficient of obliteration (Cp) which was then linked to five age classes. We completed this study with multiple regression equations of total palatine suture scores. We compared our results with those obtained using the Mann method on the one hand and classically segmented and scored ectocranial suture age determination methods on the other. Palatine sutures generally do not estimate age at death any better than cranial vault sutures. Despite the partly subjective aspect of suture study, palatine suture observation contributes additional information to age‐range estimation, especially in old and very old subjects where other methods lose their effectiveness.
Usefulness of Systematic Histological Examination in Routine Forensic Autopsy*
Authors: De La Grandmaison Geoffroy Lorin , Charlier Philippe , Durigon Michel
Published: December 2009

Abstract:  The forensic community does not agree on the need to perform histological examination at forensic autopsy. The aim of our study was to determine the usefulness of systematic standard histology in forensic autopsies. A prospective study was carried out on 428 autopsy cases for which standard histological examination was systematic. Mechanism of death not shown by gross anatomic findings was discovered by histology in about 40% of the cases. Cause of death was established by only histology in 8.4% of the cases. Microscopic findings affected the manner of death in 13% of the cases. Histology provided complementary information about prior medical condition of the deceased in about 49% of the cases. Traumatic lesions were better documented by histology in about 22% of the cases. According to the results of our study, systematic standard histology for the main organs should be used in routine forensic autopsies.
Loss of MTG16a (CBFA2T3), a novel rDNA repressor, leads to increased ribogenesis and disruption of breast acinar morphogenesis
Authors: Rossetti Stefano , Hoogeveen André T. , Esposito Joseph , Sacchi Nicoletta
Published: December 2009

Human MTG16a (CBFA2T3), a chromatin repressor with nucleolar localization, was described to act as a suppressor of breast tumourigenesis. Here we show that MTG16a is a novel ribosomal gene repressor, which can counteract MYC‐driven activation of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) transcription. We also show that either knocking down MTG16a by RNA interference, or sequestering MTG16a outside the nucleolus of human breast epithelial cells, hampers acinar morphogenesis concomitant with up‐regulation of rRNA synthesis and increased ribogenesis. This is the first demonstration that loss of MTG16a function in the nucleolus of breast epithelial cells can induce morphological and molecular changes typical of breast cancer initiation.
Mania associated with antidepressant treatment: comprehensive meta‐analytic review
Authors: Tondo L. , Vázquez G. , Baldessarini R. J.
Published: December 2009

Tondo L, Vázquez G, Baldessarini RJ. Mania associated with antidepressant treatment: comprehensive meta‐analytic review.

Objective:  To review available data pertaining to risk of mania–hypomania among bipolar (BPD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) patients with vs. without exposure to antidepressant drugs (ADs) and consider effects of mood stabilizers.

Method:  Computerized searching yielded 73 reports (109 trials, 114 521 adult patients); 35 were suitable for random effects meta‐analysis, and multivariate‐regression modeling included all available trials to test for effects of trial design, AD type, and mood‐stabilizer use.

Results:  The overall risk of mania with/without ADs averaged 12.5%/7.5%. The AD‐associated mania was more frequent in BPD than MDD patients, but increased more in MDD cases. Tricyclic antidepressants were riskier than serotonin‐reuptake inhibitors (SRIs); data for other types of ADs were inconclusive. Mood stabilizers had minor effects probably confounded by their preferential use in mania‐prone patients.

Conclusion:  Use of ADs in adults with BPD or MDD was highly prevalent and moderately increased the risk of mania overall, with little protection by mood stabilizers.
The relationship between Sense of Coherence and toothbrushing behaviours in Iranian adolescents in Mashhad
Authors: Dorri Mojtaba , Sheiham Aubrey , Hardy Rebecca , Watt Richard
Published: December 2009

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the association between Sense of Coherence (SOC) and toothbrushing behaviours in Iranian adolescents in Mashhad.

Materials and Methods: A representative stratified random sample of 1054 grade 6 Iranian students, living in Mashhad, answered a 37‐item questionnaire with questions on socio‐demographic characteristics, frequency of toothbrushing behaviours and Antonovsky's 13‐item SOC scale. Binary logistic regression was used to test the association between SOC and toothbrushing behaviours.

Results: Higher SOC scores were significantly associated with more frequent toothbrushing behaviours (p=0.01). This positive association remained significant after adjusting for sex and father's education level (p=0.01). When testing this association for the boys and girls separately, the association was significant only for girls (p=0.02). However, the interaction between sex and SOC was not significant (p=0.56). The association between toothbrushing and sex remained significant after adjusting for SOC (p<0.001). Boys had a significantly stronger SOC than girls (p=0.04).

Conclusions: SOC was associated with toothbrushing frequency in Iranian adolescents in Mashhad. SOC did not fully explain the sex difference in toothbrushing behaviours.
Verruciform xanthoma in the setting of cutaneous trauma and chronic inflammation: report of a patient and a brief review of the literature
Authors: Cumberland Lara , Dana Ali , Resh Brooke , Fitzpatrick James , Goldenberg Gary
Published: December 2009

We report a rare case of multiple, co‐exisitng verruciform xanthomas (VXs) of the anogenital region in the setting of cutaneous trauma. VX is a rare benign mucocutaneous neoplasm that typically presents as a solitary lesion with a predilection for the oral cavity, although extra‐oral lesions have been reported involving the vulva, scrotum, penis, anal region and extremities. The etiology and pathogenesis of VX have yet to be determined; however, recent literature has reported that multifocal cutaneous VX are frequently associated with pre‐existing inflammatory processes. A significant number of VXs of the skin have been found to co‐exist with cutaneous disorders including graft vs. host disease, discoid lupus erythematosus, pemphigus vulgaris, and recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa. Therefore, we speculate severe cutaneous trauma and chronic inflammation may induce epithelial keratinocytes to respond aberrantly leading to epidermal hyperplasia and foamy cell formation characterizing the VX lesion.

Cumberland L, Dana A, Resh B, Fitzpatrick J, Goldenberg G. Verruciform xanthoma in the setting of cutaneous trauma and chronic inflammation: report of a patient and a brief review of the literature.
Grid‐induced biases in connectivity metric implementations that use regular grids
Authors: Dunn Adam G.
Published: December 2009

Graph‐theoretic connectivity analyses provide opportunities to solve problems related to the management, design and maintenance of fragmented landscapes. However, several modern connectivity metrics are implemented using algorithms that are affected by a grid‐induced bias. When paths through a regular grid are calculated, distance errors are introduced into the metric outputs, with patterns based on the shape and orientation of the underlying grid structure. The bias is significant in the proposed implementations of the conditional minimum transit cost method introduced by Pinto and Keitt, and the effective resistance method introduced by McRae, Dickson, Keitt and Shah. One solution for ameliorating the bias that affects regular grids is to use an irregular lattice to represent the landscape. The purpose of this paper is to serve as a timely reminder of the grid‐induced bias and to provide a demonstration of the irregular grid as a simple solution to the problem.
Understory vegetation response to mechanical mastication and other fuels treatments in a ponderosa pine forest
Authors: Kane Jeffrey M. , Varner J. Morgan , Knapp Eric E. , Powers Robert F.
Published: December 2009

Questions:What influence does mechanical mastication and other fuel treatments have on: (1) canopy and forest floor response variables that influence understory plant development; (2) initial understory vegetation cover, diversity, and composition; and (3) shrub and non‐native species density in a second‐growth ponderosa pine forest.

Location:Challenge Experimental Forest, northern Sierra Nevada, California, USA.

Methods:We compared the effects of mastication only, mastication with supplemental treatments (tilling and prescribed fire), hand removal, and a control on initial understory vegetation response using a randomized complete block experimental design. Each block (n=4) contained all five treatments and understory vegetation was surveyed within 0.04‐ha plots for each treatment.

Results:While mastication alone and hand removal dramatically reduced the midstory vegetation, these treatments had little effect on understory richness compared with control. Prescribed fire after mastication increased native species richness by 150% (+6.0 species m2) compared with control. However, this also increased non‐native species richness (+0.8 species m2) and shrub seedling density (+24.7 stems m2). Mastication followed by tilling resulted in increased non‐native forb density (+0.7 stems m2).

Conclusions:Mechanical mastication and hand removal treatments aided in reducing midstory fuels but did not increase understory plant diversity. The subsequent treatment of prescribed burning not only further reduced fire hazard, but also exposed mineral soil, which likely promoted native plant diversity. Some potential drawbacks to this treatment include an increase of non‐native species and stimulation of shrub seed germination, which could alter ecosystem functions and compromise fire hazard reduction in the long‐term.
Possible involvement of phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase in the maintenance of metaphase II attest in porcine oocytes matured in vitro
Authors: ITO Junya , SHIMADA Masayuki , KASHIWAZAKI Naomi
Published: December 2009

It has been reported that phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase (PI3K)‐protein kinase B (PKB) pathway plays a crucial role in the meiotic resumption and progression to the metaphase II (MII) stage of oocytes. However, the role of this pathway in meiotic arrest at the MII stage (cytostatic activity) is not well understood. In this study the effect of a PI3K inhibitor, LY294002, on the MAPK and p34cdc2 kinase activities of matured porcine oocytes was examined. After maturation culture, both the MAPK and p34cdc2 kinase activities in the oocytes were gradually decreased in a time‐dependent manner. Although 25 µmol/L LY294002 did not affect either the MAPK or p34cdc2 kinase activities, 50 µmol/L LY294002 suppressed the PKB phosphorylation and slightly decreased MAPK activity, but not the p34cdc2 kinase activity. Therefore the effect of 10 µmol/L Ca2+ ionophore which was reported as inducing a transient decrease of p34cdc2 kinase but not MAPK activities, was also examined in LY294002‐treated oocytes. By additional treatment with LY294002 after Ca2+ ionophore, both the MAPK and p34cdc2 kinase activities were decreased in a time‐dependent manner, concomitantly with improvement of pronuclear formation. Therefore, we concluded that PI3K is involved in the maintenance of MAPK activity in matured porcine oocytes.
Multidrug efflux pumps: drug binding – gates or cavity?
Authors: Crowley Emily , Callaghan Richard
Published: December 2009

The role of the ATP‐binding cassette ABCB1 in mediating the resistance to chemotherapy in many forms of cancer has been well established. The protein is also endogenously expressed in numerous barrier and excretory tissues, thereby regulating or impacting on drug pharmacokinetic profiles. Given these prominent roles in health and disease, a great deal of biochemical, structural and pharmacological research has been directed towards modulating its activity. Despite the effort, only a small handful of compounds have reached the later stages of clinical trials. What is responsible for this poor return on the heavy research investment? Perhaps the most significant factor is the lack of information on the location, physical features and chemical properties of the drug‐binding site(s) in ABCB1. This minireview outlines the various strategies and outcomes of research efforts to pin‐point the sites of interaction. The data may be assimilated into two working hypotheses to describe drug binding to ABCB1; (a) the central cavity and the (b) domain interface models.
DIVISION OF LABOR: CALIFORNIA'S RENEWED BUDGET CRISIS SPLITS THE UNION MOVEMENT
Authors: Mitchell Daniel J.B.
Published: December 2009

In an earlier article, I discussed and examined the odd morphing of California's state budget crisis of the early 2000s into a fight between Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger with public‐sector unions over a series of ballot initiatives. By making an enemy of the labor movement, the governor provoked a massive campaign against his initiatives. Below I describe a different strategy taken by the governor in the context of the California budget crisis of 2008–2009.
CONNECTING ACTIVISTS: UNIONS AND SOCIAL NETWORKING: A REPORT FROM THE U.K.
Authors: Wood John
Published: December 2009

Online social networking has become a huge global phenomenon in only a few years, with hundreds of millions now regularly using social networks to coordinate their personal lives, or to network and collaborate professionally in ways never before possible. These new technologies are still starting to be exploited by trades unions and their activists in the U.K., but they are already showing signs that they could offer significant gains to the movement.
Monitoring Rater Performance Over Time: A Framework for Detecting Differential Accuracy and Differential Scale Category Use
Authors: Myford Carol M. , Wolfe Edward W.
Published: December 2009

In this study, we describe a framework for monitoring rater performance over time. We present several statistical indices to identify raters whose standards drift and explain how to use those indices operationally. To illustrate the use of the framework, we analyzed rating data from the 2002 Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition examination, employing a multifaceted Rasch approach to determine whether raters exhibited evidence of two types of differential rater functioning over time (i.e., changes in levels of accuracy or scale category use). Some raters showed statistically significant changes in their levels of accuracy as the scoring progressed, while other raters displayed evidence of differential scale category use over time.
MULTIPLEX PCR FOR DIRECT IDENTIFICATION OF THERMOPHILIC CAMPYLOBACTER, C. JEJUNI, C. COLI, C. LARI AND C. UPSALIENSIS AND SIMULTANEOUS DETECTION OF CDTB GENE
Authors: WISESSOMBAT SUEPTRAKOOL , INTHAGARD JITWADEE , KITTINIYOM KANOKWAN , SRIMANOTE POTJANEE , WONGLUMSOM WIJIT , VORAVUTHIKUNCHAI SUPAYANG PIYAWAN
Published: December 2009

A multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay has been developed for the identification of the four thermophilic Campylobacter commonly associated with human gastroenteritis including C. jejuni, C. coli, C. lari and C. upsaliensis. The best combination of primers and the annealing temperature of multiplex PCR were examined. Detection limit was 2 × 105 cfu and 100 ng of DNA or whole‐cell suspension. The multiplex PCR was applied for the direct detection and differentiation of Campylobacter species in 33 human and 45 chicken caeca isolates. Of the 78 specimens evaluated by the multiplex PCR, 55 (70.5%) were identified as C. jejuni, 18 (23.0%) as C. coli and 5 (6.41%) as a mixed infection with both species. Comparison of hippurate test and multiplex PCR demonstrated five (6.41%) isolates with false‐positive hippurate enzymic activity and three (3.85%) with false‐negative activity. cdtB gene was detected in 100% and 38.9% of C. jejuni and C. coli, respectively. This multiplex PCR was found to be rapid, easy to perform and had a high sensitivity and specificity, even with mixed cultures. The system is useful for the detection of the presence of cdtB gene that is responsible for toxin activity in Campylobacter.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Our multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) allows in a single tube PCR, the identification of the four clinically important Campylobacter species, with a simultaneous detection of the cdtB gene. The PCR works well in our hands with both purified genomic DNA and whole‐cell suspension. This should greatly speed up identification by replacing the current biochemical phenotypic schemes. In addition, the system can detect the presence of cdtB gene that encodes the cytolethal‐distending toxin activity.
DEVELOPMENT OF A SPOT‐TITER CULTURE ASSAY FOR QUANTIFYING BACTERIA AND VIRAL INDICATORS
Authors: BECK N.K. , CALLAHAN K. , NAPPIER S.P. , KIM H. , SOBSEY M.D. , MESCHKE J.S.
Published: December 2009

The spread‐plate and double agar layer (DAL) methods are common for the enumeration of bacteria and viral indicators (bacteriophages). However, they may become cumbersome in large matrix experiments or when the titer of the organism varies by several orders of magnitude. A bacterial spot‐titer assay has been available for decades but has not been adapted to bacteriophages and has rarely been applied to the analysis of environmental samples. In this study, a spot‐titer culture‐based method was investigated for bacteria and bacteriophages. The method involves spot‐plating replicate 10‐µl volumes of several sample dilutions on a single plate, incubating, and counting colonies or plaques. Parallel assays of laboratory cultures and environmentally isolated organisms show that the spot‐titer method is equally straightforward and statistically comparable to the spread‐plate and DAL methods (R2 = 0.989 for laboratory strains and R2 = 0.972 for environmental samples), while more cost‐ and labor‐efficient.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

The spread‐plate and double agar layer (DAL) methods currently used for enumeration of bacteria and viral indicators, may become labor‐ and resource‐intensive (culture media, plates, technician time and incubator space) in large matrix experiments, which are often needed in the laboratory to evaluate environmental conditions. The spot‐titer method has several advantages over the spread‐plate and DAL methods: (1) it requires less time to dispense spots than to spread the microbe; (2) it uses fewer materials (15–20% of the laboratory supplies as the traditional methods); (3) it requires less effort; and (4) since the sample is distributed in distinct spots, colony/plaque counting is faster and less labor intensive. The spot‐titer method was found to economize resources without sacrificing accuracy or precision, and is a practical method for routine use in large matrix experiments (e.g., survival or disinfection studies) and enumeration of high‐titer environmental samples.