bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Hepatocyte turnover during resolution of a transient hepadnaviral infection
Authors: Summers Jesse , Jilbert Allison R. , Yang Wengang , Aldrich Carol E. , Saputelli Jeffry , Litwin Samuel , Toll Eugene , Mason William S.
Published: October 2003

We estimated the amount of hepatocyte turnover in the livers of three woodchucks undergoing clearance of a transient woodchuck hepatitis infection by determining the fate of integrated viral DNA as a genetic marker of the infected cell population. Integrated viral DNA was found to persist in liver tissue from recovered animals at essentially undiminished levels of 1 viral genome per 1,000–3,000 liver cells, suggesting that the hepatocytes in the recovered liver were derived primarily from the infected cell population. We determined the single and multicopy distribution of distinct viral cell junctions isolated from small pieces of liver after clearance of the infection to determine the cumulative amount of hepatocyte proliferation that had occurred during recovery. We estimated that proliferation was equivalent to a minimum of 0.7–1 complete random turnovers of the hepatocyte population of the liver. Our results indicated that during resolution of the transient infections a large fraction of the infected hepatocyte population was killed and replaced by hepatocyte cell division.
Scaling and universality in continuous length combinatorial optimization
Authors: Aldous David , Percus Allon G.
Published: October 2003

We consider combinatorial optimization problems defined over random ensembles and study how solution cost increases when the optimal solution undergoes a small perturbation δ. For the minimum spanning tree, the increase in cost scales as δ
2
. For the minimum matching and traveling salesman problems in dimension
d
≥ 2, the increase scales as δ
3
; this is observed in Monte Carlo simulations in
d
= 2, 3, 4 and in theoretical analysis of a mean-field model. We speculate that the scaling exponent could serve to classify combinatorial optimization problems of this general kind into a small number of distinct categories, similar to universality classes in statistical physics.
Cell wall arabinan is essential for guard cell function
Authors: Jones Louise , Milne Jennifer L. , Ashford David , McQueen-Mason Simon J.
Published: October 2003

Stomatal guard cells play a key role in the ability of plants to survive on dry land, because their movements regulate the exchange of gases and water vapor between the external environment and the interior of the plant. The walls of these cells are exceptionally strong and must undergo large and reversible deformation during stomatal opening and closing. The molecular basis of the unique strength and flexibility of guard cell walls is unknown. We show that degradation of cell wall arabinan prevents either stomatal opening or closing. This locking of guard cell wall movements can be reversed if homogalacturonan is subsequently removed from the wall. We suggest that arabinans maintain flexibility in the cell wall by preventing homogalacturonan polymers from forming tight associations.
A quantitative, highly sensitive cell-based infectivity assay for mouse scrapie prions
Authors: Klöhn P.-C. , Stoltze L. , Flechsig E. , Enari M. , Weissmann C.
Published: October 2003

Prions are usually quantified by bioassays based on intracerebral inoculation of mice that are slow, imprecise, and costly. We have isolated neuroblastoma N2a sublines highly susceptible to mouse prions, as evidenced by accumulation of infectivity and the scrapie form of prion protein (PrP
Sc
), and developed quantitative
in vitro
assays for prion infectivity. In the scrapie cell (SC) assay, susceptible N2a cells are exposed to prion-containing samples for 3 days, grown to confluence, and split 1:10 three times, and the proportion of PrP
Sc
-containing cells is determined with automated counting equipment. In a log/log plot, the dose–response is linear over two logs of prion concentrations. The SC assay is about as sensitive as the mouse bioassay, 10 times faster, >2 orders of magnitude less expensive, and suitable for robotization. SC assays performed in a more time-consuming end point titration format extend the sensitivity and show that infectivity titers measured in tissue culture and in the mouse are similar.
Erythropoietin reduces myocardial infarction and left ventricular functional decline after coronary artery ligation in rats
Authors: Moon Chanil , Krawczyk Melissa , Ahn Dongchoon , Ahmet Ismayil , Paik Doojin , Lakatta Edward G. , Talan Mark I.
Published: October 2003

Erythropoietin (EPO), well known for its role in stimulation of erythropoiesis, has recently been shown to have a dramatic neuroprotective effect in animal models of cerebral ischemia, mechanical trauma of the nervous system, and excitotoxins, mainly by reducing apoptosis. We studied the effect of single systemic administration of recombinant human EPO (rhEPO) on left ventricular (LV) size and function in rats during 8 weeks after the induction of a myocardial infarction (MI) by permanent ligation of the left descending coronary artery. We found that an i.p. injection of 3,000 units/kg of rhEPO immediately after the coronary artery ligation resulted, 24 h later, in a 50% reduction of apoptosis in the myocardial area at risk. Eight weeks after the induction of MI, rats treated with rhEPO had an infarct size 15–25% of the size of that in untreated animals. The reduction in myocardial damage was accompanied by reductions in LV size and functional decline as measured by repeated echocardiography. Thus, a single dose of rhEPO administered around the time of acute, sustained coronary insufficiency merits consideration with respect to its therapeutic potential to limit the extent of resultant MI and contractile dysfunction.
ASH1, a
Drosophila
trithorax group protein, is required for methylation of lysine 4 residues on histone H3
Authors: Byrd Kristin Nastase , Shearn Allen
Published: October 2003

Covalent modifications of histone tails modulate gene expression via chromatin organization. As examples, methylation of lysine 9 residues of histone H3 (H3) (H3-K9) is believed to repress transcription by compacting chromatin, whereas methylation of lysine 4 residues of H3 (H3-K4) is believed to activate transcription by relaxing chromatin. The
Drosophila
trithorax group protein absent, small, or homeotic discs 1 (ASH1) is involved in maintaining active transcription of many genes. Here we report that in extreme
ash1
mutants, no H3-K4 methylation is detectable. Within the limits of our assays, this lack of detectable H3-K4 methylation implies that ASH1 is required for essentially all H3-K4 methylation that occurs
in vivo
. We report further that the 149-aa SET domain of ASH1 is sufficient for H3-K4 methylation
in vitro
. These findings support a model in which ASH1 is directly involved in maintaining active transcription by conferring a relaxed chromatin structure.
The origin of war: New
14
C dates from ancient Mexico
Authors: Flannery Kent V. , Marcus Joyce
Published: October 2003

New
14
C dates from archaeological sites in Oaxaca, Mexico, support R. C. Kelly's observation that intervillage raiding may begin as soon as a region has segmentary societies. The oldest defensive palisade dates to 3260–3160 B.P. in conventional radiocarbon years, only a few centuries after village life was established. Over the next millennium raiding evolved into war, with residences and temples burned, captives killed, and populations moving to defensible hills.
14
C dates are now available for the first use of hieroglyphic writing to record a captive's name, military victories leading to the consolidation of the Zapotec state, the first skull rack, and the building of a fortress in conquered territory.
Chronic stress and obesity: A new view of “comfort food”
Authors: Dallman Mary F. , Pecoraro Norman , Akana Susan F. , la Fleur Susanne E. , Gomez Francisca , Houshyar Hani , Bell M. E. , Bhatnagar Seema , Laugero Kevin D. , Manalo Sotara
Published: October 2003

The effects of adrenal corticosteroids on subsequent adrenocorticotropin secretion are complex. Acutely (within hours), glucocorticoids (GCs) directly inhibit further activity in the hypothalamo–pituitary–adrenal axis, but the chronic actions (across days) of these steroids on brain are directly excitatory. Chronically high concentrations of GCs act in three ways that are functionally congruent. (i) GCs increase the expression of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) mRNA in the central nucleus of the amygdala, a critical node in the emotional brain. CRF enables recruitment of a chronic stress-response network. (ii) GCs increase the salience of pleasurable or compulsive activities (ingesting sucrose, fat, and drugs, or wheel-running). This motivates ingestion of “comfort food.” (iii) GCs act systemically to increase abdominal fat depots. This allows an increased signal of abdominal energy stores to inhibit catecholamines in the brainstem and CRF expression in hypothalamic neurons regulating adrenocorticotropin. Chronic stress, together with high GC concentrations, usually decreases body weight gain in rats; by contrast, in stressed or depressed humans chronic stress induces either increased comfort food intake and body weight gain or decreased intake and body weight loss. Comfort food ingestion that produces abdominal obesity, decreases CRF mRNA in the hypothalamus of rats. Depressed people who overeat have decreased cerebrospinal CRF, catecholamine concentrations, and hypothalamo–pituitary–adrenal activity. We propose that people eat comfort food in an attempt to reduce the activity in the chronic stress-response network with its attendant anxiety. These mechanisms, determined in rats, may explain some of the epidemic of obesity occurring in our society.
Redirecting tyrosine kinase signaling to an apoptotic caspase pathway through chimeric adaptor proteins
Authors: Howard Perry L. , Chia Marie C. , Del Rizzo Suzanne , Liu Fei-Fei , Pawson Tony
Published: October 2003

Signal transduction pathways are typically controlled by protein–protein interactions, which are mediated by specific modular domains. One hypothetical use of such interaction domains is to generate new signaling pathways and networks during eukaryotic evolution, through the joining of distinct binding modules in novel combinations. In this manner, new polypeptides may be formed that make innovative connections among preexisting proteins. Adaptor proteins are specialized signaling molecules composed exclusively of interaction domains, that frequently link activated cell surface receptors to their intracellular targets. Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) recruit adaptors, such as Grb2 and ShcA, that activate signaling pathways involved in growth and survival, whereas death receptors bind adaptors, such as Fadd, that promote apoptosis. To test the ability of interaction domains to create new signaling pathways, we have fused the phosphotyrosine recognition domains of Grb2 (Scr homology 2 domain) or ShcA (phosphotyrosine-binding domain) to the death effector domain of Fadd. We find that these chimeric adaptors can reroute mitogenic or transforming RTK signals to induce caspase activation and cell death. These hybrid adaptors can be used to selectively kill oncogenic cells in which RTK activity is deregulated.
Inhibition of HIV infectivity by a natural human isolate of
Lactobacillus jensenii
engineered to express functional two-domain CD4
Authors: Chang Theresa L.-Y. , Chang Chia-Hwa , Simpson David A. , Xu Qiang , Martin Patrick K. , Lagenaur Laurel A. , Schoolnik Gary K. , Ho David D. , Hillier Sharon L. , Holodniy Mark , Lewicki John A. , Lee Peter P.
Published: October 2003

The predominant mode of HIV transmission worldwide is via heterosexual contact, with the cervico-vaginal mucosa being the main portal of entry in women. The cervico-vaginal mucosa is naturally colonized with commensal bacteria, primarily lactobacilli. To address the urgent need for female-controlled approaches to block the heterosexual transmission of HIV, we have engineered natural human vaginal isolates of
Lactobacillus jensenii
to secrete two-domain CD4 (2D CD4) proteins. The secreted 2D CD4 recognized a conformation-dependent anti-CD4 antibody and bound HIV type 1 (HIV-1) gp120, suggesting that the expressed proteins adopted a native conformation. Single-cycle infection assays using HIV-1
HxB2
carrying a luciferase reporter gene demonstrated that
Lactobacillus
-derived 2D CD4 inhibited HIV-1 entry into target cells in a dose-dependent manner. Importantly, coincubation of the engineered bacteria with recombinant HIV-1
HxB2
reporter virus led to a significant decrease in virus infectivity of HeLa cells expressing CD4–CXCR4–CCR5. Engineered lactobacilli also caused a modest, but statistically significant, decrease in infectivity of a primary isolate, HIV-1
JR-FL
. This represents an important first step toward the development of engineered commensal bacteria within the vaginal microflora to inhibit heterosexual transmission of HIV.
A force-based protein biochip
Authors: Blank K. , Mai T. , Gilbert I. , Schiffmann S. , Rankl J. , Zivin R. , Tackney C. , Nicolaus T. , Spinnler K. , Oesterhelt F. , Benoit M. , Clausen-Schaumann H. , Gaub H. E.
Published: October 2003

A parallel assay for the quantification of single-molecule binding forces was developed based on differential unbinding force measurements where ligand–receptor interactions are compared with the unzipping forces of DNA hybrids. Using the DNA zippers as molecular force sensors, the efficient discrimination between specific and nonspecific interactions was demonstrated for small molecules binding to specific receptors, as well as for protein–protein interactions on protein arrays. Finally, an antibody sandwich assay with different capture antibodies on one chip surface and with the detection antibodies linked to a congruent surface via the DNA zippers was used to capture and quantify a recombinant hepatitis C antigen from solution. In this case, the DNA zippers enable not only discrimination between specific and nonspecific binding, but also allow for the local application of detection antibodies, thereby eliminating false-positive results caused by cross-reactive antibodies and nonspecific binding.
Computational design of a Zn2+receptor that controls bacterial gene expression
Authors: Dwyer M. A. , Looger L. L. , Hellinga H. W.
Published: October 2003

The control of cellular physiology and gene expression in response to extracellular signals is a basic property of living systems. We have constructed a synthetic bacterial signal transduction pathway in which gene expression is controlled by extracellular Zn2+. In this system a computationally designed Zn2+-binding periplasmic receptor senses the extracellular solute and triggers a two-component signal transduction pathway via a chimeric transmembrane protein, resulting in transcriptional up-regulation of a β-galactosidase reporter gene. The Zn2+-binding site in the designed receptor is based on a four-coordinate, tetrahedral primary coordination sphere consisting of histidines and glutamates. In addition, mutations were introduced in a secondary coordination sphere to satisfy the residual hydrogen-bonding potential of the histidines coordinated to the metal. The importance of the secondary shell interactions is demonstrated by their effect on metal affinity and selectivity, as well as protein stability. Three designed protein sequences, comprising two distinct metal-binding positions, were all shown to bind Zn2+and to function in the cell-based assay, indicating the generality of the design methodology. These experiments demonstrate that biological systems can be manipulated with computationally designed proteins that have drastically altered ligand-binding specificities, thereby extending the repertoire of genetic control by extracellular signals.
Quinol-based cyclic antioxidant mechanism in estrogen neuroprotection
Authors: Prokai Laszlo , Prokai-Tatrai Katalin , Perjesi Pal , Zharikova Alevtina D. , Perez Evelyn J. , Liu Ran , Simpkins James W.
Published: October 2003

Substantial evidence now exists that intrinsic free-radical scavenging contributes to the receptor-independent neuroprotective effects of estrogens. This activity is inherently associated with the presence of a phenolic A-ring in the steroid. We report a previously unrecognized antioxidant cycle that maintains the “chemical shield” raised by estrogens against the most harmful reactive oxygen species, the hydroxyl radical (•OH) produced by the Fenton reaction. In this cycle, the capture of •OH was shown to produce a nonphenolic quinol with no affinity to the estrogen receptors. This quinol is then rapidly converted back to the parent estrogen via an enzyme-catalyzed reduction by using NAD(P)H as a coenzyme (reductant) and, unlike redox cycling of catechol estrogens, without the production of reactive oxygen species. Due to this process, protection of neuronal cells against oxidative stress is also possible by quinols that essentially act as prodrugs for the active hormone. We have shown that the quinol obtained from a 17β-estradiol derivative was, indeed, able to attenuate glutamate-induced oxidative stress in cultured hippocampus-derived HT-22 cells. Estrone quinol was also equipotent with its parent estrogen in reducing lesion volume in ovariectomized rats after transient middle carotid artery occlusion followed by a 24-h reperfusion. These findings may establish the foundation for a rational design of neuroprotective antioxidants focusing on steroidal quinols as unique molecular leads.
The discovery of the α-helix and β-sheet, the principal structural features of proteins
Authors: Eisenberg David
Published: October 2003

PNAS papers by Linus Pauling, Robert Corey, and Herman Branson in the spring of 1951 proposed the α-helix and the β-sheet, now known to form the backbones of tens of thousands of proteins. They deduced these fundamental building blocks from properties of small molecules, known both from crystal structures and from Pauling's resonance theory of chemical bonding that predicted planar peptide groups. Earlier attempts by others to build models for protein helices had failed both by including nonplanar peptides and by insisting on helices with an integral number of units per turn. In major respects, the Pauling–Corey–Branson models were astoundingly correct, including bond lengths that were not surpassed in accuracy for >40 years. However, they did not consider the hand of the helix or the possibility of bent sheets. They also proposed structures and functions that have not been found, including the γ-helix.
Using protein design for homology detection and active site searches
Authors: Pei Jimin , Dokholyan Nikolay V. , Shakhnovich Eugene I. , Grishin Nick V.
Published: October 2003

We describe a method of designing artificial sequences that resemble naturally occurring sequences in terms of their compatibility with a template structure and its functional constraints. The design procedure is a Monte Carlo simulation of amino acid substitution process. The selective fixation of substitutions is dictated by a simple scoring function derived from the template structure and a multiple alignment of its homologs. Designed sequences represent an enlargement of sequence space around native sequences. We show that the use of designed sequences improves the performance of profile-based homology detection. The difference in position-specific conservation between designed sequences and native sequences is helpful for prediction of functionally important residues. Our sequence selection criteria in evolutionary simulations introduce amino acid substitution rate variation among sites in a natural way, providing a better model to test phylogenetic methods.
Swapping single-stranded DNA sequence specificities of relaxases from conjugative plasmids F and R100
Authors: Harley Matthew J. , Schildbach Joel F.
Published: October 2003

Conjugative plasmid transfer is an important mechanism for diversifying prokaryotic genomes and disseminating antibiotic resistance. Relaxases are conjugative plasmid-encoded proteins essential for plasmid transfer. Relaxases bind and cleave one plasmid strand site- and sequence-specifically before transfer of the cleaved strand. TraI36, a domain of F plasmid TraI that contains relaxase activity, binds a plasmid sequence in single-stranded form with subnanomolar
K
D
and high sequence specificity. Despite 91% amino acid sequence identity, TraI36 domains from plasmids F and R100 discriminate between binding sites. The binding sites differ by 2 of 11 bases, but both proteins bind their cognate site with three orders of magnitude higher affinity than the other site. To identify specificity determinants, we generated variants having R100 amino acids in the F TraI36 background. Although most retain F specificity, the Q193R/R201Q variant binds the R100 site with 10-fold greater affinity than the F site. The reverse switch (R193Q/Q201R) in R100 TraI36 confers a wild-type F specificity on the variant. Nonadditivity of individual amino acid and base contributions to recognition suggests that the specificity difference derives from multiple interactions. The F TraI36 crystal structure shows positions 193 and 201 form opposite sides of a pocket within the binding cleft, suggesting binding involves knob-into-hole interactions. Specificity is presumably modulated by altering the composition of the pocket. Our results demonstrate that F-like relaxases can switch between highly sequence-specific recognition of different sequences with minimal amino acid substitution.
Variable hematopoietic graft rejection and graft-versus-host disease in MHC-matched strains of mice
Authors: Cao Thai M. , Lo Betty , Ranheim Erik A. , Grumet F. Carl , Shizuru Judith A.
Published: October 2003

MHC typing for human hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) from unrelated donors is currently performed by using a combination of serologic and molecular techniques. It has been determined that allelic differences in human MHC molecules, revealed by nucleotide sequencing but not by serologic typing, substantially influence graft rejection and graft-versus-host disease, two serious complications of clinical HCT. We studied transplantation of purified hematopoietic stem cells in a series of mouse strains that were matched at the MHC but had different background genes, and we observed striking differences in engraftment resistance and graft-versus-host disease severity, both factors depending on the donor–recipient strain combination. The individual mouse lines studied here were established nearly a century ago, and their MHC types were determined exclusively by serologic techniques. We considered the possibility that serologically silent MHC polymorphisms could account for our observations and, therefore, we performed DNA sequencing of the class I and II MHC alleles of our mouse strains. At each locus, exact homology was found between serologically MHC-matched strains. Our results likely extend to all serologically MHC-matched mouse strains used in modern research and highlight the profound and variable influence that non-MHC genetic determinants can have in dictating outcome after HCT.
The evolution of early Foraminifera
Authors: Pawlowski Jan , Holzmann Maria , Berney Cédric , Fahrni José , Gooday Andrew J. , Cedhagen Tomas , Habura Andrea , Bowser Samuel S.
Published: October 2003

Fossil Foraminifera appear in the Early Cambrian, at about the same time as the first skeletonized metazoans. However, due to the inadequate preservation of early unilocular (single-chambered) foraminiferal tests and difficulties in their identification, the evolution of early foraminifers is poorly understood. By using molecular data from a wide range of extant naked and testate unilocular species, we demonstrate that a large radiation of nonfossilized unilocular Foraminifera preceded the diversification of multilocular lineages during the Carboniferous. Within this radiation, similar test morphologies and wall types developed several times independently. Our findings indicate that the early Foraminifera were an important component of Neoproterozoic protistan community, whose ecological complexity was probably much higher than has been generally accepted.
Public health nutrition workforce composition, core functions, competencies and capacity: perspectives of advanced-level practitioners in Australia
Authors: Hughes Roger
Published: October 2003

Objectives:

To investigate the attitudes, experiences and beliefs of advanced-level public health nutritionists with respect to public health nutrition workforce composition, core functions, competency requirements and existing workforce capacity.

Design:

Qualitative study using structured interviews.

Setting:

Australia.

Subjects:

Forty-one advanced-level public health nutritionists employed in academic and senior technocratic positions in state health systems.

Results:

Advanced-level public health nutritionists recognise the diversity of the public health nutrition workforce but clearly identify the need for a specialist public health nutrition workforce tier to provide workforce leadership. Nominated core functions for public health nutrition reflect broader public health core functions but, in the context of nutrition, specific problem resolution. Opinions about competency needs were similar to many of the cross-cutting competencies identified in the public health field but with specific application to nutrition problems. Competency in the scientific underpinning of nutrition was considered particularly important and delineated this public health nutrition workforce from the broader public health workforce. Public health nutrition was identified as a specialisation within public health and dietetics. Workforce capacity assessments by this group indicate a need for workforce development.

Conclusions:

Qualitative data from a large proportion of the Australian public health nutrition leadership group have identified core functions, competencies and workforce development priorities that can be a basis for further systematic research and workforce strategy development.
Why do some overweight children remain overweight, whereas others do not?
Authors: Wang Youfa , Ge Keyou , Popkin Barry M
Published: October 2003

Objective:

To study the dynamics of childhood overweight and the influence of dietary intake on tracking of overweight.

Design and setting:

A follow-up study conducted in China.

Subjects:

Ninety-five overweight children, 6–13 years old, identified from 1455 children at baseline, were followed over a 2-year period.

Methods:

Data on anthropometry and 3-day dietary intake were collected at baseline and during follow-up. Overweight was defined using the International Obesity Task Force reference of body mass index (BMI)-for-age. Differences between groups were tested using analysis of variance and Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel tests.

Results:

Of the 95 overweight children, 36.8% remained overweight 2 years later (‘tracking group’). Urban boys were the three times more likely than rural boys to remain overweight (63.2% vs. 21.9%). At baseline, the tracking group had higher BMI, body weight and fat intake (% of energy), and lower carbohydrate intake (% of energy), than the non-tracking group (who shifted from overweight to not overweight); they were more likely to have a high-fat or high-meat diet, but less likely to have a diet high in carbohydrate or vegetables and fruit. During the follow-up, the tracking group increased fat intake and reduced carbohydrate intake while the non-tracking group did not; and they also grew slower in height but faster in weight. Tracking of overweight seemed to be related to tracking of high-meat (relative risk (RR) 2.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.0–5.6,P< 0.05) and high-fat (RR 1.5, 95% CI 0.9–2.5,P< 0.1) diets.

Conclusion:

Considerable changes in children's overweight status during childhood and adolescence were observed in China, a transitional society. Dietary patterns, particularly dietary composition, seemed to influence the tracking patterns of overweight.
Dietary fat intake – food sources and dietary correlates in the Malmö Diet and Cancer cohort
Authors: Mattisson Irene , Wirfält Elisabet , Andrén Carin , Gullberg Bo , Berglund Göran
Published: October 2003

Objectives:

To identify food sources of fat, to compare food and nutrient intakes at different levels of relative fat intake, and to examine the contribution of different food groups to the variation in relative fat intake. Relative fat intake was expressed as energy contributed by fat in percentage of non-alcohol energy.

Design:

Cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from the Malmö Diet and Cancer Study. An interview-based diet history method, a structured questionnaire and anthropometric measurements were used to obtain data. Analysis of variance compared food and nutrient intakes across quintiles of relative fat intake. Stepwise regression examined the contribution of food groups to the variation in relative fat intake.

Setting:

Baseline examinations were conducted between 1991 and 1996 in the city of Malmö, southern Sweden.

Subjects:

A sub-sample of 7055 women and 3240 men of the Malmö Diet and Cancer cohort.

Results:

The major fat sources were dairy products, margarines, meat & meat products, and cakes & buns. Most plant foods, especially fruit, vegetables and breakfast cereals, were negatively associated with fat intake. Low fat consumers had significantly higher intakes of dietary fibre, vitamin C, β-carotene, folic acid, iron, zinc and calcium. Intakes of all types of fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins were positively associated with fat consumption.

Conclusions:

The results suggest that many food groups and nutrients may confound the associations between relative fat intake and disease. Plant foods, especially, are important to consider in studies of fat intake and disease risk.
Social networks, travel and talk1
Authors: Urry John
Published: October 2003

This paper considers the role that physical, corporeal travel plays in social life. There is a large and increasing scale of such travel. This increase has occurred simultaneously with the proliferation of communication devices that in some ways substitute for physical travel. I hypothesize that the bases of such travel are new ways in which social life is ‘networked’. Such increasingly extensive networks, hugely extended through the informational revolution, depend for their functioning upon intermittent occasioned meetings. These moments of physical co‐presence and face‐to‐face conversation, are crucial to patterns of social life that occur ‘at‐a‐distance’, whether for business, leisure, family life, politics, pleasure or friendship. So life is networked but it also involves specific co‐present encounters within specific times and places. ‘Meetingness’, and thus different forms and modes of travel, are central to much social life, a life involving strange combinations of increasing distance and intermittent co‐presence. The paper seeks to examine the place of travel within the emergent pattern of a ‘networked sociality’. It seeks to contribute to the emerging ‘mobility turn’ within the social sciences.
Social interaction distance and stratification
Authors: Bottero Wendy , Prandy Kenneth
Published: October 2003

There have been calls from several sources recently for a renewal of class analysis that would encompass social and cultural, as well as economic elements. This paper explores a tradition in stratification that is founded on this idea: relational or social distance approaches to mapping hierarchy and inequality which theorize stratification as a social space. The idea of ‘social space’ is not treated as a metaphor of hierarchy nor is the nature of the structure determined a priori. Rather, the space is identified by mapping social interactions. Exploring the nature of social space involves mapping the network of social interaction — patterns of friendship, partnership and cultural similarity — which gives rise to relations of social closeness and distance. Differential association has long been seen as the basis of hierarchy, but the usual approach is first to define a structure composed of a set of groups and then to investigate social interaction between them. Social distance approaches reverse this, using patterns of interaction to determine the nature of the structure. Differential association can be seen as a way of defining proximity within a social space, from the distances between social groups, or between social groups and social objects (such as lifestyle items). The paper demonstrates how the very different starting point of social distance approaches also leads to strikingly different theoretical conclusions about the nature of stratification and inequality.
The reflexive self and culture: a critique
Authors: Adams Matthew
Published: October 2003

This article attempts to engage with a tendency in the theorization of social change and self‐identity, evident in the work of a number of contemporary social theorists, to place an extended process of reflexivity at the heart of modern identity. As symptomatic of ‘neo‐modern’ accounts of selfhood, critical readings of Giddens, Beck, Castells and some aspects of social theory more generally, and their account of modern reflexivity's relationship to culture, are assessed. In light of these criticisms, ways in which culture might still play an important part in the shaping of identity are considered. The relationship between language, culture and reflexivity, drawing from philosophy, sociology and G. H. Mead's own brand of social psychology, are all utilized in establishing a critique of the role Giddens and others designate for culture in the constitution of the contemporary self. By potentially repositioning self‐identity in its connection to culture, the overall bearing of reflexivity upon the processes of self‐identity is thus questioned. It is argued that a culturally‐situated, yet fluid and multifarious account of self‐identity is a necessary analytical and normative alternative.
Gender and work orientations in conditions of job insecurity
Authors: Charles Nickie , James Emma
Published: October 2003

This paper explores women's and men's work orientations in conditions of job insecurity, arguing that it is time to move beyond essentalist conceptions of work orientations and central life interests in order to understand the significance of paid work in people's lives. Data from a qualitative study are presented which show that the significance of paid work and the priority given to home and work are affected by experiences of job insecurity, changing domestic circumstances and stage in the life cycle and that this is the case for both women and men. Conversely, the significance of paid work can affect how job insecurity is experienced and its impact on individuals and their families. The assumption that men's work orientations are homogeneous and that work is their central life interest is not supported by the findings presented here and it is argued that the significance of work in men's and women's lives is more variable than has hitherto been recognized. To capture this variability it is time to move away from the acrimony of the debate over women's work orientations and notions of a central life interest which underpin it.
Segregation, ethnic labour market and the occupational expectations of Palestinian students in Israel
Authors: Khattab Nabil
Published: October 2003

Using data from a large national representative survey of Palestinian high school students in Israel, this study examines the effect of the local labour market and the internal ethnic/religious segregation between Muslims, Christians and Druze, on students' occupational expectations. The data, which were collected in spring 1997, consisted of two types, these being data regarding students, and data regarding schools. The findings show that despite the disadvantages of the Palestinian minority as a whole within Israeli society, students tend to develop high occupational expectations. While the general level of their expectations can be explained by their educational and residential segregation from the Jewish majority, the multi‐level analyses suggests that the internal segregation facilitates differential access to socio‐economic resources, which generate different levels of occupational expectations between students from various ethnic/religious groups. More specifically, the findings demonstrate that the social and economic differences between Muslims, Christians and Druze are playing a central role in determining students' expectations, acting as a mechanism to preserve social inequality. The gender dimension of the occupational expectations and the influence of the segregation between Palestinian and Jewish students, are also discussed.
Desperately seeking fusion: on ‘joined‐up thinking’, ‘holistic practice’ and the new economy of welfare professional power
Authors: Allen Chris
Published: October 2003

This paper argues that social welfare research on joined‐up thinking is underpinned bytwo theses. The ‘systemic move’ thesis suggests that joined‐up thinking is needed to fill gaps in welfare service provision arising from a lack of inter‐organizational coordination. The ‘epistemological move’ thesis advises that joined‐up thinking is needed to overcome deficiencies in the institutional division and distribution of welfare knowledge. Both theses macro‐systematize blame for previous social welfare failures, and both are teleological because they present joined‐up thinking as a progressive solution that results in a more effective (and thus less fallible) welfare system. In this paper, I argue that joined‐up thinking can also create a new economy of welfare professional power. First, I show how some versions of ‘joined‐up’ thinking manifest themselves in holistic practices that can ‘see everything’, ‘know everything’ and ‘do anything’, and thus a ‘holistic power’ to discipline and control every aspect of welfare recipients lives. Since holistic power is seen as infallible, its failure to produce ‘active bodies’ necessitates the creation of secondary ‘joined‐up powers’ that individualize blame and exclude those to blame from welfare resources. These ‘secondarypowers’ match the social disciplines enforced by one welfare agency (e.g.the responsibility to work enforced by the employment service) with legal rights under another agency (e.g.the right to housing from social landlords), so that breach of the former leads to exclusion from the latter. I conclude that this power strategy is primitive and punitive because it simply excludes welfare recipients. Exclusion is also uneconomic because it pushes welfare recipients into the shade of welfare institutional power.
A Safavid Poet in the Heart of Darkness: The Indian Poems of Ashraf Mazandarani
Authors: Dale Stephen Frederic
Published: October 2003

Har kih az Īrān beh Hind āyad taṣavvur mīkunad

Īn kih chūn kaukab bih shab dar Hind zar pāshīdeh ast.

Whoever comes from Iran to India imagines,

That in India gold is scattered like stars in the evening sky.

Ashraf Mazandarani

In his Provocative Work The Continent of Circe, The Anglicized Bengali Writer Nirad Chaudhuri recasts the legend of Circe and Odysseus as a metaphor for India's relation to her “European” conquerors. In his version Aryan tribes who migrated into and/or invaded the Indian subcontinent in the second century B.C. were the first such conquerors to be ensnared by the allure of India's wealth. Once there they utterly forgot their Eurasian homelands, abandoned their vigorous steppe culture and degenerated into the colonized Hindus of whom Chaudhuri spoke with caustic contempt during the Indian nationalist movement in the twentieth century:

They stood at the gate of the goddess with flowing tresses, and heard her, Circe, Sweetly singing before her loom, as she walked to and fro weaving an imperishable web, gorgeous and dazzling, such as only goddesses can make.
Muslim Studies of Hinduism? A Reconsideration of Arabic and Persian Translations from Indian Languages
Authors: Ernst Carl W.
Published: October 2003

What have been the Historical Relationships Between the Islamic and Hindu religious traditions? Variations on this question inevitably come to mind in any attempt to assess the significance of the past dozen centuries of South Asian civilization, during which time significant Muslim populations have played important roles, interacting with Indian religions and cultures from a variety of perspectives. Although frequently this kind of question is posed in terms of assumptions about the immutable essences of Islam and Hinduism, I would like to argue that this kind of approach is fundamentally misleading, for several reasons. First, this approach is ahistorical in regarding religions as unchanging, and it fails to account for the varied and complex encounters, relationships, and interpretations that took place between many individual Muslims and Hindus. Second, it assumes that there is a single clear concept of what a Hindu is, although this notion is increasingly coming into question; considerable evidence has accumulated to indicate that external concepts of religion, first from post-Mongol Islamicate culture, and eventually from European Christianity in the colonial period, were brought to bear on a multitude of Indian religious traditions to create a single concept of Hinduism.
The Life & Times of Babu: The Age of Liberation & Revolution
Authors: Shivji Issa G.
Published: October 2003

The following was the Keynote Address at the International Conference to celebrate the Life of Comrade Abdulrahman Mohamed Babu, 21-22 September 2001, University of Dar es Salaam. Babu died on 5 August 1996 and later that year, ROAPE published a special issue devoted to our dear friend and comrade (ROAPE 69).
Karamoja: Is Peace Possible?
Authors: Na¨rman Anders
Published: October 2003

After more than two decades of turmoil and retarded development it seems as if Uganda is once more heading towards a brighter future. Nevertheless, some people and regions are, so far, still excluded from these positive trends. Poverty and armed conflicts are very much a part of every day life for many Ugandans. In western Uganda, for example, the ADF (Allied Democratic Forces) carry out atrocities against the civilian population adjoining the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). For many years, the most seriously affected region of Uganda has been the north. At present, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) is attacking civilians seemingly at random with new force, at a time when the national army, through Operation Iron Fist, has eliminated most of the guerrilla bases in southern Sudan and claims to have gained the upper hand on Ugandan soil as well. Civilians were recently asked to leave their homes and move closer to occupied army barracks, or risk being massacred by the increasingly desperate rebels.
Conflict in Central Africa: Clandestine Networks & Regional/Global Configurations
Authors: Taylor Ian
Published: October 2003

Central Africa is currently characterised by conflict and disorder with concomitant social, political, and ecological dislocation. The war(s) in the Democratic Republic of Congo and its borderlands are a catastrophe in the heart of Africa. At the formal level, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is ridden by tension and rivalries that profoundly call into question the 'official' region-building project. Yet, at the same time, another type of regional networking has been assiduously crafted. This networking, very often clandestine and illegal, has helped forge a regionalisation that may not be recognisable at first glance, but is surely as 'real' -- if not more so -- in the DRC than any formal regionalism. The type of regionalism emerging links up well-placed individuals and groups within Africa to outside interests, creating a milieu where a wide variety of shadow networks involving states, mafias, private armies, 'businessmen' and assorted state elites from both within and outside Africa has developed. The role that international capital has played in this is discussed, throwing into relief the involvement of international interests in helping perpetuate the continent's disorder, even whilst influential voices -- ignoring such roles -- throw up their hands at the 'hopeless continent'.
A Back Door to Globalisation? Structural Adjustment, Globalisation & Transborder Trade in West Africa
Authors: Meagher Kate
Published: October 2003

Neo-liberal economic reforms were widely expected to rein in Africa's unofficial transborder trade through liberalisation and closer integration into the global economy. Instead of disappearing in the face of structural adjustment and globalisation, however, West African transborder trading systems have been restructured and globalised. This article analyses how the West African experience of economic restructuring has led to an expansion and deepening of unofficial trade, as well as the globalisation of its activities. A clear understanding of this process has been blurred by the ideological manipulation of perspectives on informal economic activity by proponents of the neo-liberal reforms. By means of a deconstruction of populist analyses and more recent narratives of criminalisation, this article traces the contemporary evolution of transborder trade. The conclusion reached is that, while transborder trading structures represent important institutional resources for economic development, they are structurally incapable of integrating West Africa into the global economy in the absence of an appropriate regulatory framework.
The Civilised Horrors of Over-work: Marxsm, Imperialism & Development of Africa
Authors: Jones Branwen
                      Gruffydd
Published: October 2003

In the 21 st century a vast number of people in Africa are direct producers, working very hard on the land to gain a meagre living -- they are the 'rural poor'. The condition of poverty in Africa is widely portrayed in both academic and popular discourse as a result of local factors, whether political, social, cultural or natural. This article argues for an historical materialist approach which exposes the condition of widespread routine poverty and malnutrition in Africa to be a modern world-historical product, the outcome of five centuries of global capitalist expansion under relations of imperialism.
Drug consumption facilities: an update since 2000
Authors: KIMBER J. , DOLAN K. , VAN BEEK I. , HEDRICH D. , ZURHOLD H.
Published: October 2003

The topic of drug consumption facilities or rooms (DCRs) was reviewed by Dolan, Kimber and others in Harm Reduction Digest 10, published in the September 2000 issue of DAR. As one of the first English language papers on the topic this paper has been cited extensively. Now, 3 years on, these authors and have brought together an international team of experts to revisit the topic. In this update they: (i) highlight where DCRs are operating or under consideration, (ii) review briefly new literature and (iii) discuss future directions. This Digest is a ‘must read’ for policy makers, advocates and practitioners in the drug field.