bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Proteasome‐dependent decrease in Akt by growth factors in vascular smooth muscle cells
Authors: Adachi Mayumi , Katsumura Koichi Ricardo , Fujii Kozo , Kobayashi Sei , Aoki Hiroki , Matsuzaki Masunori
Published: October 2003

Akt is activated by growth factors to regulate various aspects of vascular smooth muscle cell function. Platelet‐derived growth factor (PDGF) and insulin‐like growth factor‐1 activated Akt in vascular smooth muscle cells with a rapid reduction of total Akt protein that lasted for several hours. The downregulation of Akt required phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase activity, but not intrinsic Akt activity. The downregulation of Akt was abrogated by MG‐132, a proteasome inhibitor, but not by inhibitors of calpain or cathepsins. Akt was found in ubiquitin immune complex after PDGF treatment. Proteasome‐dependent degradation of Akt may provide a counter‐regulatory mechanism against overactivation of Akt.
Sodium butyrate inhibits angiogenesis of human intestinal microvascular endothelial cells through COX‐2 inhibition
Authors: Ogawa Hitoshi , Rafiee Parvaneh , Fisher Pamela J. , Johnson Nathan A. , Otterson Mary F. , Binion David G.
Published: October 2003

We examined the effect of sodium butyrate on in vitro angiogenesis and cyclooxygenase (COX) expression using primary cultures of human intestinal microvascular endothelial cells (HIMEC). Butyrate inhibited VEGF‐induced cellular proliferation, transmigration and tube formation of HIMEC. Butyrate also inhibited COX‐2 expression as well as prostaglandin (PG)E2 and PGI2 production, and administration of PGI2 analog partially reversed the effect of butyrate on HIMEC angiogenesis. These results indicate that sodium butyrate inhibits HIMEC angiogenesis through down‐regulation of COX‐2 expression and PG production, and suggest that anti‐angiogenic mechanisms may also be involved in the inhibitory effect of sodium butyrate on tumor growth.
Depicting a protein's two faces: GPCR classification by phylogenetic tree‐based HMMs
Authors: Qian Bin , Soyer Orkun S. , Neubig Richard R. , Goldstein Richard A.
Published: October 2003

Related proteins with similar biological functions generally share common features, allowing us to extract the common sequence features. These common features enable us to build statistical models that can be used to classify proteins, to predict new members, and to study the sequence–function relationship of this protein function group. Although evolution underlies the basis of multiple sequence analysis methods, most methods ignore phylogenetic relationships and the evolutionary process in building these statistical models. Previously we have shown that a phylogenetic tree‐based profile hidden Markov model (T‐HMM) is superior in generating a profile for a group of similar proteins. In this study we used the method to generate common features of G protein‐coupled receptors (GPCRs). The profile generated by T‐HMM gives high accuracy in GPCR function classification, both by ligand and by coupled G protein.
Crystal structure of the dimeric unswapped form of bovine seminal ribonuclease
Authors: Berisio R , Sica F , De Lorenzo C , Di Fiore A , Piccoli R , Zagari A , Mazzarella L
Published: October 2003

Bovine seminal ribonuclease is a unique case of protein dimorphism, since it exists in two dimeric forms, with different biological and kinetic behavior, which interconvert into one another through three‐dimensional swapping. Here we report the crystal structure, at 2.2 Å resolution, of the unswapped form of bovine seminal ribonuclease. Besides completing the structural definition of bovine seminal ribonuclease conformational dimorphism, this study provides the structural basis to explain the dependence of the enzyme cooperative effects on its swapping state.
Structure and function of photosystem I: interaction with its soluble electron carriers and external antenna systems
Authors: Fromme Petra , Melkozernov Alexander , Jordan Patrick , Krauss Norbert
Published: October 2003

Photosystem I (PS I) is a large membrane protein complex that catalyzes the first step of solar conversion, the light‐induced transmembrane electron transfer, and generates reductants for CO2 assimilation. It consists of 12 different proteins and 127 cofactors that perform light capturing and electron transfer. The function of PS I includes inter‐protein electron transfer between PS I and smaller soluble electron transfer proteins. The structure of PS I is discussed with respect to the potential docking sites for the soluble electron acceptors, ferredoxin/flavodoxin, at the stromal side and the soluble electron donors, cytochrome c
6/plastocyanin, at the luminal side of the PS I complex. Furthermore, the potential interaction sites with the peripheral antenna proteins are discussed.
TolC – the bacterial exit duct for proteins and drugs
Authors: Koronakis Vassilis
Published: October 2003

The TolC structure has unveiled a common mechanism for the movement of molecules, large and small, from the bacterial cell cytosol, across two membranes and the intervening periplasm, into the environment. Trimeric TolC is a remarkable cell exit duct that differs radically from other membrane proteins, comprising a 100‐Å long α‐barrel that projects across the periplasmic space, anchored by a 40‐Å long β‐barrel spanning the outer membrane. The periplasmic entrance of TolC is closed until recruitment by substrate‐specific translocases in the inner membrane triggers its transition to the open state, achieved by an iris‐like ‘untwisting’ of the tunnel α‐helices. TolC‐dependent machineries present ubiquitous exit routes for virulence proteins and antibacterial drugs, and their conserved structure, specifically the electronegative TolC entrance constriction, may present a target for inhibitors of multidrug‐resistant pathogens.
12(S)‐Hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid induces cAMP production via increasing intracellular calcium concentration
Authors: Hasegawa Go , Kumagai Satoru , Yano Masato , Wang Yong-Gang , Kobayashi Yuichi , Saito Yuji
Published: October 2003

We have found that a 12‐lipoxygenase metabolite of arachidonic acid, 12(S)‐hydroxy‐5Z,8Z,10E,14Z‐eicosatetraenoic acid (12‐HETE), induces cAMP production in human normal fibroblast TIG‐1 cells. This phenomenon was not observed in other cells tested including human embryonic kidney HEK293 cells. We have speculated that this specific response might be influenced by the kinds of isoform of adenylyl cyclase (AC) present in cells. We found that TIG‐1 cells specifically expressed type VIII AC. As type VIII AC is known to be activated by an increase of calcium concentration, we determined the change of intracellular Ca2+ concentration after the addition of 12‐HETE. It was elevated not only in TIG‐1 cells, but also HEK293 cells, which did not respond to 12‐HETE to produce cAMP. The addition of a calcium ionophore elevated the concentration of intracellular cAMP in TIG‐1 cells, but it was without effect in HEK293 cells. To show that the expression of this particular isoform of AC is responsible for the positive response to 12‐HETE, we transfected this AC isoform into HEK293 cells. The type VIII AC‐transfected cells, in contrast to the mock‐transfected ones, became very responsive to 12‐HETE to produce cAMP. Taken all together the data would strongly suggest that 12‐HETE specifically activates type VIII AC via increasing intracellular Ca2+ concentration.
Oxidative DNA damage by hyperglycemia‐related aldehydes and its marked enhancement by hydrogen peroxide
Authors: Murata Mariko , Mizutani Mika , Oikawa Shinji , Hiraku Yusuke , Kawanishi Shosuke
Published: October 2003

Increased risks of cancers and oxidative DNA damage have been observed in diabetic patients. Many endogenous aldehydes such as 3‐deoxyglucosone and glyceraldehyde (GA) increase under hyperglycemic conditions. We showed that these aldehydes induced Cu(II)‐mediated DNA damage, including 8‐oxo‐7,8‐dihydro‐2′‐deoxyguanosine (8‐oxodG) formation. GA had the strongest ability to damage DNA, and addition of low concentrations of H2O2 markedly enhanced the DNA damage. GA significantly increased 8‐oxodG formation in human cultured cells (HL‐60), and H2O2 enhanced it. We conclude that oxidative DNA damage by hyperglycemia‐related aldehydes, especially GA, and marked enhancement of DNA damage by H2O2 may participate in diabetes‐associated carcinogenesis.
Selective β1‐blockade attenuates post‐infarct remodelling without improvement in myocardial energy metabolism and function in rats with heart failure
Authors: Omerovic E. , Bollano E. , Soussi B. , Waagstein F.
Published: October 2003

Objective:

To investigate in vivo effects of long‐term selective β1‐blockade on cardiac energy metabolism, remodelling, function and plasma cytokines in a rat model of post‐infarct congestive heart failure (CHF).

Methods:

Myocardial infarction (MI) was induced in male rats by ligation of the left coronary artery. Three different groups of rats were studied, MI rats treated with metoprolol (n=17), MI rats treated with saline (n=14) and sham‐operated rats (n=12). The treatment with metoprolol 1 mg/kg/h was initiated in the third week post‐infarct for a period of 6 weeks. All rats were investigated non‐invasively with volume‐selective 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy and echocardiography for evaluation of left ventricular (LV) energy metabolism, morphology and function. Plasma concentration of IL‐1β and IL‐6 and density of β‐adrenergic receptors were analyzed.

Results:

Metoprolol attenuated the increase in LV dimensions and volumes. Treatment with metoprolol had no effect on PCr/ATP and LV function. Plasma level of IL‐1β was higher and IL‐6 was lower in the metoprolol group. Density of β‐adrenergic receptors was similar in all three groups.

Conclusion:

Selective β1‐blockade in rats with chronic CHF attenuates post‐infarct structural remodelling, without concomitant improvement in myocardial energy metabolism and function. Improvements in myocardial energy metabolism and function do not precede and are not a prerequisite for an anti‐remodelling effect of β1‐blockade in the setting of chronic CHF.
VOLUNTARY EUTHANASIA AND THE LOGICAL SLIPPERY SLOPE ARGUMENT
Authors: Lillehammer Hallvard
Published: October 2003

In his recent book “Euthanasia, Ethics, and Public Policy”, John Keown puts forward two slippery slope arguments against the legalisation of voluntary euthanasia. One of these arguments claims that a defender of voluntary euthanasia is logically committed to the permissibility of non-voluntary euthanasia. This paper seeks to show that Keown’s argument either rests on a logical confusion or on a misunderstanding of the value of autonomy.
A CONTINUED NUISANCE
Authors: Parker Benjamin
Published: October 2003

It is well established that in the tort of private nuisance an occupier of land is liable not only for those nuisances which he has created, but also for those which he has continued. An occupier continues a nuisance which exists on his land if, with actual or constructive knowledge of its existence, he fails to take reasonable steps to eliminate it. Two recent decisions, in the rather different contexts of root encroachment by a London plane tree and flooding from a sewer, have provided guidance on the legal consequences of continuing a nuisance.
FRAUD AND LETTERS OF CREDIT: IS THERE A NULLITY EXCEPTION?
Authors: Hooley Richard
Published: October 2003

Despite the absence of fraud on the part of the beneficiary of a letter of credit, is the issuing or confirming bank entitled to refuse to pay the beneficiary on the ground that a tendered document is a “nullity” in the sense that it was forged by a third party or has been executed without the authority of the person by whom it purports to be issued?
The Diplomatic Face of China's Grand Strategy: A Rising Power's Emerging Choice
Authors: Goldstein Avery
Published: October 2003

A clearer consensus on China's basic foreign policy line began to emerge among party leaders in 1996. This consensus, tantamount to the country's grand strategy, has provided a relatively coherent framework for China's subsequent international behavior and the expected contribution of diplomacy to the country's security. Concerned about the adverse international reaction to its expanding, yet still limited, power, Beijing has forged a diplomatic strategy with two broad purposes: (1) to maintain the international conditions that will make it feasible for China to focus on the domestic development necessary if it is to increase its relative (and not just absolute) capabilities; and (2) to reduce the likelihood that the U.S. or others with its backing will exploit their current material advantage to abort China's ascent. These considerations have resulted in efforts to reassure potential adversaries who had grown increasingly worried about China's rise and also efforts to encourage the world's major powers to view China as an indispensable, or at least attractive, international partner. The author examines the principal reasons for adopting this diplomatic strategy, describes its key elements, and considers its durability and implications for international security in the coming decades.
The Chinese Triangle of Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong: Comparative Institutional Analyses. Edited by Alvin Y. So, Nan Lin and Dudley Poston. [Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2001. 301 pp. £51.95. ISBN 0-313-30869-1.]
Authors: Lee Pak K.
Published: October 2003

This book is the result of a conference hosted by the North American Chinese Sociologists Association in Toronto, Canada, in August 1997. It begins with an introductory chapter by Alvin Y. So, and is followed by 15 papers. The papers are divided into four parts, which deal with the roles economic institutions, gender, social networks and the overseas Chinese play in the integration of the three Chinese states.
China's Dilemma: The Taiwan Issue. By Sheng Lijun. [Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2001. 239 pp. ISBN 981-230-076-7.]
Authors: Goldstein Steven M.
Published: October 2003

Sheng Lijun argues that “China's Dilemma” is that while Beijing “wants to concentrate its energy and resources on modernization” and “deal with the Taiwan issue at a later stage” (p. 3), the “assertiveness of Taiwan” since 1995 has complicated such a strategy. On the one hand, the mainland must respond to the island's provocative behaviour lest the island move towards independence, while on the other it must temper its response so that the goal of economic development (with international support) is not jeopardized.
Worshiping the Ancestors: Chinese Commemorative Portraits. By Jan Stuart and Evelyn S. Rawski. [Washington, DC and Stanford, CA: Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in association with Stanford University Press, 2001. 216pp. $75.00. ISBN 08047 4262 6.]
Authors: Bell Catherine
Published: October 2003

This lovely book accompanies a show of ancestor portraits from the mid-15th to the 20th century held at the Smithsonian's Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in 2001. The Sackler's recently acquired collection, supplemented for the show with contributions from the Freer Gallery and private collections, consists of 85 paintings depicting mostly noble and upper-class men and women, probably sold by families caught in the disruptions of the late Qing.
Colonial Habits. Convents and the Spiritual Economy of Cuzco, Peru, by Kathryn Burns (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1999); Inka Bodies and the Body of Christ. Corpus Christi in Colonial Cuzco, Peru, by Carolyn Dean (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1999).
Reading Inca History, by Catherine Julien (Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2000); The World of Túpac Amaru. Conflict, Community, and Identity in Colonial Peru, by Ward Stavig (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1999).
Authors: Covey R. Alan
Published: October 2003

This essay addresses recent scholarship on Colonial Cuzco, focusing on the complexity of imperial relationships at the colonial interface. Encounters between Europeans and Andeans in highland Peru involved considerable complexity at any given moment, and changed significantly over time. Exploring this complexity through historiography, ethnohistory, art, and anthropology, the four books reviewed here describe Colonial Cuzco as a contested interculture, in which a multiplicity of self-interested individuals and groups exploited inequalities between colonial government and those governed. As Dean (1999) observes, this divide developed out of the innate ambivalence of colonialism, in which colonizers sought to subordinate through enculturation, yet maintain discrete cultural categories. Native resistance to foreign enculturation and periodic rebellions and revitalization movements acted to maintain these categories. Still, the quotidian operation of the colonial system allowed (and even required) the mediation of the colonial interculture, a creative blurring of such categories as government/governed, urban/rural, sacred/secular, and even past/present. Fundamental to appreciating how Spaniards, Andeans, and others wove a variegated social fabric in Colonial Cuzco is the Quechua notion of tinku (or tinkuy), described by Dean, Stavig, and others.
Rethinking the Modular Nation Form: Toward a Sociohistorical Conception of Nationalism
Authors: Goswami Manu
Published: October 2003

Our current historical conjuncture is marked by a global proliferation of nationalisms that have fundamentally, and often violently, transformed the inherited geopolitical configuration of the post-war era. The apparent resurgence of nationalism has been matched by a growing convergence across disciplinary divides on the problematic of nationalism. A few salient prior works notwithstanding, it is mainly in the last two decades that nationalism has emerged as a central preoccupation of contemporary historical and social-scientific analyses. Remarkably, the stubborn persistence of nationalism in the current context of neo-liberal global restructuring and the dizzying expansion of nationalism research have not enhanced analytical consensus on core theoretical and methodological issues. Indeed, the rush for an analytical “fix” on nationalism has tended to fortify rather than resolve inherited methodological divides, especially that between objectivist and subjectivist approaches to nationalism.
A Bayesian approach to the identification of panmictic populations and the assignment of individuals
Authors: DAWSON KEVIN J. , BELKHIR KHALID
Published: October 2003

We present likelihood-based methods for assigning the individuals in a sample to source populations, on the basis of their genotypes at co-dominant marker loci. The source populations are assumed to be at Hardy–Weinberg and linkage equilibrium, but the allelic composition of these source populations and even the number of source populations represented in the sample are treated as uncertain. The parameter of interest is the partition of the set of sampled individuals, induced by the assignment of individuals to source populations. We present a maximum likelihood method, and then a more powerful Bayesian approach for estimating this sample partition. In general, it will not be feasible to evaluate the evidence supporting each possible partition of the sample. Furthermore, when the number of individuals in the sample is large, it may not even be feasible to evaluate the evidence supporting, individually, each of the most plausible partitions because there may be many individuals which are difficult to assign. To overcome these problems, we use low-dimensional marginals (the ‘co-assignment probabilities’) of the posterior distribution of the sample partition as measures of ‘similarity’, and then apply a hierarchical clustering algorithm to identify clusters of individuals whose assignment together is well supported by the posterior distribution. A binary tree provides a visual representation of how well the posterior distribution supports each cluster in the hierarchy. These methods are applicable to other problems where the parameter of interest is a partition of a set. Because the co-assignment probabilities are independent of the arbitrary labelling of source populations, we avoid the label-switching problem of previous Bayesian methods.
Stable maintenance of duplicated chromosomes carrying the mutant pwB gene in Paramecium tetraurelia
Authors: MATSUDA ATSUSHI , TAKAHASHI MIHOKO
Published: October 2003

An allele of the behavioural mutant pawn-B96 has been reported as a typical recessive gene but was found to show a peculiar inheritance. When the F2 progeny from crosses between the wild-type and pwB96 were obtained by autogamy, the 1[ratio ]1 phenotypic segregation ratio was observed as expected. However, two-thirds of the wild-type progeny in the F2 were thought to be heterozygotes because they became mixed progeny of wild-type and pawn clones in successive autogamies. Four marker genes showed the expected segregation ratio and stable phenotypes in these crossings. This result and the results of crossings using segregants from the above crosses indicated that parental pwB96 is a tetrasomy of the chromosome carrying the pwB gene. To determine the cause of chromosomal duplication in the mutant, the stability of the chromosome carrying the pwB locus was examined by genetic analyses. The disomy of both pwB and wild-type and the tetrasomy of pwB showed genotypes that were relatively stable during several autogamous generations. However, in clones initially pure for the tetrasomy of wild-type, disomic cells appeared within a few autogamous generations. The difference between the stabilities of the tetrasomy of pwB96 and that of the wild-type might be due partly to differences between the growth rate of tetrasomy and disomy in pwB96 and the wild-type, but mostly the result of an unknown contribution of the chromosome carrying the pwB96 allele to the tetrasomic composition.
The power of the transmission disequilibrium test (TDT) with both case–parent and control–parent trios
Authors: DENG HONG-WEN , CHEN WEI-MIN
Published: October 2003

The transmission disequilibrium test (TDT) customarily uses affected children and their parents (often case–parent trios, TDTD). Control–parent trios are necessary to guard against spurious significant results due to segregation distortion but are not generally utilized in the identification of disease susceptibility loci (DSL). Controls are often easy to recruit and the TDT can easily be extended to include control–parent trios into the analyses with unrelated case–parent trios. We present an extension of the TDT (TDTDC) that incorporates unrelated cases and controls and their parents into a single analysis. We develop a simple and accurate analytical method for computing the statistical power of various TDT (e.g. the TDTD, TDTDC, TDTDC and TDTC that employ control–parent trios only) under any genetic model. We investigated the power of these TDT, and particularly compared the relative power of the TDTD and TDTDC. We found that the TDTDC is almost always more powerful than the TDTC and TDTD. The relative power of the TDTDC and TDTD depends largely upon a number of parameters identified in the study. This study provides a basis for efficient use of control–parent trios in DSL identification.
Segregation of autosomes during spermatogenesis in the peach-potato aphid (Myzus persicae) (Sulzer) (Hemiptera: Aphididae)
Authors: HALES DINAH F. , SLOANE MATHEW A. , WILSON ALEX C. C. , SUNNUCKS PAUL
Published: October 2003

Most aphids are cyclic parthenogens, so are ideal models in studies of the mechanisms and consequences of sex and recombination. However, owing to a shortage of physical and genetic markers, there have been few studies of the most fundamental genetic processes in these organisms. For example, it is not known whether autosomal segregation during male spermatogenesis is in Mendelian proportions: we address that question here. The aphid Myzus persicae has a typical karyotype of 2n = 12 in females (XX), while males are XO (2n = 11). During male meiosis, only the spermatocytes with an X chromosome are viable. We hypothesized that assortment of autosomes might be non-random because chromosomal imprinting leading to elimination of the paternal autosomes is seen in the closely related coccoids. In other aphid models, we have observed segregation distortions at single microsatellite loci (Wilson, 2000). Such distortions may have nothing to do with ‘selfish’ behaviour, but may be caused by mutation accumulation causing fitness differentials. Thus single-locus distortions might be predicted to be more likely to be detected via the male lines of clones that have lost the ability to reproduce sexually (male-producing obligate parthenogenesis (androcyclic)). Using microsatellites we show that genetic imprinting or selfish autosome behaviour does not occur in male M. persicae. Generally, loci segregated in Mendelian proportions in both sexes of cyclically parthenogenetic (holocyclic) clones. However, in androcyclic clones, segregation distortions consistently involved the same two autosomes. This is consistent with linkage of markers to deleterious mutations associated with a loss of sexual reproduction.
Use of randomization testing to detect multiple epistatic QTLs
Authors: CARLBORG ÖRJAN , ANDERSSON LEIF
Published: October 2003

Here, we describe a randomization testing strategy for mapping interacting quantitative trait loci (QTLs). In a forward selection strategy, non-interacting QTLs and simultaneously mapped interacting QTL pairs are added to a total genetic model. Simultaneous mapping of epistatic QTLs increases the power of the mapping strategy by allowing detection of interacting QTL pairs where none of the QTL can be detected by their marginal additive and dominance effects. Randomization testing is used to derive empirical significance thresholds for every model selection step in the procedure. A simulation study was used to evaluate the statistical properties of the proposed randomization tests and for which types of epistasis simultaneous mapping of epistatic QTLs adds power. Least squares regression was used for QTL parameter estimation but any other QTL mapping method can be used. A genetic algorithm was used to search for interacting QTL pairs, which makes the proposed strategy feasible for single processor computers. We believe that this method will facilitate the evaluation of the importance at epistatic interaction among QTLs controlling multifactorial traits and disorders.
Deleterious mutations in a hybrid zone: can mutational load decrease the barrier to gene flow?
Authors: BIERNE NICOLAS , LENORMAND THOMAS , BONHOMME FRANÇOIS , DAVID PATRICE
Published: October 2003

The aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of deleterious mutations in a hybrid zone maintained by selection against hybrids. In such zones, linkage disequilibria among hybrid depression loci, resulting from a balance between migration and selection, are crucial in maintaining the barrier because they allow each locus, in addition to its own selection coefficient, to cumulate indirect selective effects from other loci. Deleterious alleles produce heterosis and increase by this means the effective migration rate in structured populations. In a hybrid zone, they therefore contribute to decrease linkage disequilibria as well as the barrier to gene flow imposed by hybrid depression. However, deleterious mutations have no effect: (i) when selection against hybrids is weak, because linkage disequilibria are small even without heterosis in this case, or (ii) when selection against hybrids is so strong that it overwhelms heterosis. On the other hand, with moderate selection against hybrids, the decrease in the strength of the barrier due to heterosis may reach detectable levels, although it requires relatively small population sizes and/or migration rates. The effect is expected to be small and only within small genomes where loci are tightly linked can it become strong. Nevertheless, neglecting mutational load may to some extent obscure the estimations of selective parameters based either on artificial F1 crosses or on cline characteristics.
Sm–Nd and Rb–Sr dating of amphibolite from the Nellore–Khammam schist belt, SE India: constraints on the collision
of the Eastern Ghats terrane and Dharwar–Bastar craton
Authors: OKUDAIRA T. , HAMAMOTO T. , PRASAD B. HARI , KUMAR RAJNEESH
Published: October 2003

The Nellore–Khammam schist belt, SE India, is sandwiched
in between the Proterozoic Eastern Ghats terrane and the
Archaean Dharwar–Bastar craton. We report Sm–Nd and
Rb–Sr mineral isochron ages of amphibolite from the schist
belt. The Sm–Nd and Rb–Sr ages are 824±43 Ma and
481±16 Ma, respectively. The Sm–Nd age indicates the timing
of peak metamorphism, whereas the Rb–Sr age indicates
the Pan-African thermal overprint. The peak metamorphism
was related to collision of the Eastern Ghats terrane
with the Dharwar-Bastar craton, which occurred during
early Neoproterozoic time.
Rb–Sr dating of diagenetic illite in Neoproterozoic shales, Varanger Peninsula, northern Norway
Authors: GOROKHOV I. M. , SIEDLECKA A. , ROBERTS D. , MELNIKOV N. N. , TURCHENKO T. L.
Published: October 2003

Rb–Sr dating of clay subfractions from three sedimentary formations of Late Riphean to
Vendian age from Varanger Peninsula, northern Norway, has helped to refine the geochronology of
the Late Neoproterozoic–Cambrian time interval in this region. Eighteen subfractions in six narrow
size-ranges from 1–2 μm to <0.1 μm were separated from shales of the Stangenes, Nyborg and
Stappogiedde formations. The coarser subfractions include some 2M1 illite as well as the 1M polymorph.
The finer subfractions contain only the 1Md illite. After leaching with ammonium acetate,
Rb–Sr ‘leachochrons’ for the untreated subfraction, leachate and residue were derived for all subfractions.
As the clay particle size decreases from 1–2 to 0.1–0.2 μm: (1) the proportion of chlorite, where
present, is reduced; (2) the Crystallinity Index Standard (CIS) increases; (3) the 87Rb/86SR ratio in the
residues increases; and (4) the apparent Rb–Sr age decreases. In addition, the data points of the
residues are aligned linearly in both the 87Rb/86Sr–87Sr/86Sr and the 1/Sr–87Sr/86Sr diagrams. A similar
pattern in the 87Rb/86Sr–87Sr/86Sr coordinates is observed for the data points of leachates. This suggests
that mixtures of at least two, non-cogenetic, illite generations are present in all the shales, and that
these illites crystallized in environments with dissimilar 87Sr/86Sr ratios. The minimum Rb–Sr ages of
early burial diagenesis are c. 650 Ma for the Stangenes, and 560–530 Ma for the Nyborg and
Stappogiedde formations. These results indicate that: (1) the age of the Riphean–Vendian boundary is
<630 Ma; (2) the age of the Varangerian glaciation on the Varanger Peninsula is bracketed between
630 and 560 Ma; (3) a c. 560 Ma burial diagenesis age for the intra-tillite Nyborg Formation and post-tillite
Stappogiedde Formation may result from subsidence and sedimentation associated with the Late
Vendian Timanian (Baikalian) deformation in adjacent areas; and (4) the ages of the finer, authigenic
illite subfractions range from 440 to 390 Ma and thus appear to reflect phases of Scandian deformation
and uplift.
KIRSTEN E. SCHULZE, Israel's Covert Diplomacy in Lebanon, St. Antony's Series (Houndmilles, Basingstoke, and London: Macmillan Press, 1998). Pp. 227. No price available.
Authors: Barak Oren
Published: October 2003

This book addresses a topic that has aroused much interest since June 1982: the relations between Israel and the Maronite community in Lebanon and the historical and ideological origins of these relations. Brought to the fore by Israel's invasion of Lebanon, this relationship so far has been the subject of three major—and one should add, conflicting—contributions, by Benny Morris,1 Avi Shlaim,2 and Eyal Zisser.3 Morris's and Shlaim's works are quoted extensively in Kirsten Schulze's book; Zisser's is not even mentioned (though the author is quoted as a source). This, I believe, has much bearing on the validity of Schulze's arguments, because these studies represent two differing views with regard to the matter at stake: how should one interpret archival material and memoirs, place them in their rightful context, and form a firmly grounded opinion as to past events.
NISSIM REJWAN, Israel in Search of Identity: Reading the Formative Years (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1999). Pp. 188.
Authors: Katz Sheila H.
Published: October 2003

Once one lets go of the expectation of a more scholarly treatment of the complex issues of identity in Israel and the Middle East, one can appreciate the less rigorous but nevertheless nuanced conversations that Nissim Rejwan brings to this volume. Despite a dearth of footnotes, non-existent bibliography, somewhat haphazard organization, and overly ambitious aims, there still emerges an astute critique of the Ashkenazi-dominated Israeli establishment. Without ever using the word, Rejwan details a particular brand of racism that creates an illusion of a homogenous “other” out of a diverse mix of Jewish Israelis of Middle Eastern, North African, and African origin, as well as non-Jewish Palestinian and Middle Eastern Arabs.
GRAHAM E. FULLERAND REND
RAHIM FRANCKE, The Arab Shiעa: The Forgotten
Muslims (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999.) Pp. 290. $49.95.
Authors: Aghaie Kamran
Published: October 2003

As a historian interested in Shiעi communities in Arab countries, I could not help but
be disappointed by the lack of social and cultural history in this study. However, this is not a
negative reflection on the book. What may at first seem like a weakness to readers such as myself,
who are more interested in social and cultural history, is actually a necessary part of the
authors' formulation of their argument. The book is intended to be a very practical
representation of the Arab Shiעi with political analysis that has immediate policy
implications for the Shiעi themselves, the Arab regimes that rule over them, and the
United States. As a monograph dealing with policy issues related to the Arab Shiעi, this
book is very successful and is of special interest to scholars, activists, and policy-makers dealing
with issues related to the Arab Shiעi.
JAMES BAMBERG, British Petroleum and Global Oil,
1950–1975: The Challenge of Nationalism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2000). Pp. 665. $130.00.
Authors: Amuzegar Jahangir
Published: October 2003

This book is essentially the third volume on the history of British Petroleum (BP) from 1901
to 1975, which the author has tried to present on its own, to be read with or without reference to
the previous two volumes. It deals with three phases of BP's developments during
1950–75, starting with the 1950–54 period of Iranian oil-nationalization crisis, the
1955–70 phase of growth and internationalization, and finally the 1974–75 takeover
by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The author has been BP's
“official historian” for years, and the company's “History
Committee” has approved the present study.
CAROLE HILLENBRAND, The Crusades: Islamic Perspectives (Chicago and London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1999). Pp. 704. $125.00 cloth.
Authors: Berkey Jonathan P.
Published: October 2003

This book is a comprehensive survey of the history of the Crusades—comprehensive,
that is, from the standpoint of the sources left by the Crusaders' enemies. The author sets
out to reconstruct for a Western audience what the available Muslim sources (for the most part, in
Arabic) tell us about the Crusading phenomenon: how the Muslims viewed and responded to the
challenge presented to them by the European Christian holy warriors who suddenly appeared on
the Near Eastern scene at the end of the 11th century. In this respect it is not unlike Amin
Maalouf's The Crusades Through Arab Eyes, although compared to the earlier
volume the present book is simultaneously less narrative and more exhaustive, even encyclopedic.
NADIA ABU-ZAHRA, The Pure and the Powerful:
Studies in Contemporary Muslim Society (Reading, Berkshire, U.K.: Ithaca Press, 1997).
Pp. 340. $45.00 cloth, $21.00 paper.
Authors: Biondo III Vincent F.
Published: October 2003

The Pure and the Powerful, the second book by the Oxford-based anthropologist
Nadia Abu-Zahra, is a case study of the rituals performed at the Cairo shrine of al-Sayyida
Zaynab, patron saint of women, during the anniversaries of her birth and death. Considered by
many to be the granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad, al-Sayyida Zaynab is the epitome of
purity and has the power to heal the sick. Abu-Zahra sees religious practices at the shrine as a
demonstration of Islam and Egyptian society's “integrated wholeness.” In
short, the beliefs and practices of common people, intellectual elites, men, and women are more
analogous than previously thought.
The Dynamics of International Law: The Interaction of Normative and Operating Systems
Authors: Diehl Paul F. , Ku Charlotte , Zamora Daniel
Published: October 2003

This article describes the basic components of the operating and normative systems as a conceptual framework for analyzing and understanding international law. There are many theoretical questions that follow from the framework that embodies a normative and operating system. We briefly outline one of those in this article, namely how the operating system changes. In doing so, we seek to address the puzzle of why operating system changes do not always respond to alterations in the normative sphere. A general theoretical argument focuses on four conditions. We argue that the operating system only responds to normative changes when response is “necessary” (stemming from incompatibility, ineffectiveness, or insufficiency) for giving the norm effect, and when the change is roughly coterminous with a dramatic change in the political environment (that is, “political shock”). We also argue, however, that opposition from leading states and domestic political factors might serve to block or limit such operating system change. These arguments are illustrated by reference to three areas of the operating system as they concern the norm against genocide.
Contamination of pasteurized milk by Bacillus cereus in the filling machine
Authors: ENEROTH ÅSA , SVENSSON BIRGITTA , MOLIN GÖRAN , CHRISTIANSSON ANDERS
Published: October 2003

The contamination of pasteurized milk by Bacillus cereus during the filling process was studied in two dairy plants. Samples of pasteurized milk were taken at four different sites along the production line. The samples were stored at 7 °C for 7 d, or at 10 °C for 5 d, before plate counting and random selection of B. cereus isolates. Isolates of B. cereus were typed by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based method randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). Samples taken at three different sites between the pasteurizer and the filling machine were all holding similar low concentrations of B. cereus, while an increase of the B. cereus count was seen in the consumer packages. More B. cereus of different RAPD types was growing in the consumer packages than in samples taken just before the filling machine. Several RAPD types found in the consumer packages were not detected in the samples taken just before the filling machine.
Effect of genetic potential and level of feeding on milk protein composition
Authors: COULON JEAN-BAPTISTE , DUPONT DIDIER , POCHET SYLVIE , PRADEL PHILIPPE , DUPLOYER HELENE
Published: October 2003

Two groups of 15 multiparous cows in mid-lactation were used in a Latin square design experiment with 4-week experimental periods. The genetic milk protein concentration level was high in the first group and low in the second. Each group of cows was given in a random order three feeding levels that covered 85, 100 and 115% of energy requirements and 90, 110 and 125% of nitrogen requirements, respectively. In both groups, increasing level of feeding induced a significant increase in milk yield (+2·4 kg/d between lowest and highest levels) and in protein concentration (+1·7 g/kg). The proportion of paracasein in total proteins was not altered by either genetics or nutrition. The proportion of casein in total proteins was slightly increased by 0·5 percentage points (P<0·05) with the intermediate level of feeding. Plasmin and plasminogen activities were not significantly modified by the genetic milk concentration level. Plasmin activity significantly increased with nutrient supplementation, but only in animals of low genetic potential (+21% between low and high levels, P<0·01). Casein composition was not significantly altered by the genetics or level of nutrition. Over the whole range of individual measurements taken (n = 90), the relationships between casein or paracasein and total protein concentrations were linear and very narrow (R2 = 0·92 and 0·95, respectively). The proportion of casein or paracasein in total proteins significantly decreased as plasmin activity increased.
Effect of long-term intake of milk products on blood pressure in hypertensive rats
Authors: SIPOLA MARIKA , FINCKENBERG PIET , KORPELA RIITTA , VAPAATALO HEIKKI , NURMINEN MARJA-LEENA
Published: October 2003

The effect of long-term intake of two fermented milk products on the development of hypertension was compared in young spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). The products contained tripeptides isoleucine-proline-proline (IPP) and valine-proline-proline (VPP), which have been shown to possess angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity. Six-week-old SHR were divided into four groups to receive orally ad libitum water, skim milk or two fermented milk products (fermented milk A or fermented milk B; the latter is commercially available in Japan with trade name Calpis®) for 14 weeks. The calculated intake of IPP was 0·4 mg/d and 0·2 mg/d in the groups receiving fermented milk A and B, respectively, whereas the corresponding amounts for VPP were 0·6 mg/d and 0·3 mg/d. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) was monitored weekly by tail-cuff method. The development of hypertension was significantly attenuated in both groups receiving fermented milk products, whereas skim milk did not affect blood pressure. The effect was detectable after 6 weeks of treatment. At the end of the experiment, the lowest blood pressure level was found in the group receiving fermented milk A: the SBP was 21 mm Hg lower than in the group receiving water and 10 mm Hg lower than in the group receiving fermented milk B. This difference could be explained by larger intake of ACE inhibitory tripeptides in the group receiving fermented milk A as compared with fermented milk B.
Antimutagenic activities of various lactic acid bacteria against food mutagens: heterocyclic amines
Authors: TAVAN EMMANUELLE , CAYUELA CHANTAL , ANTOINE JEAN-MICHEL , CASSAND PIERRETTE
Published: October 2003

Antimutagenic properties of various dietary components have been investigated
in many studies, in order to find compounds protective against the various steps of
carcinogenesis. Indeed, cancer is now the principal cause of death in industrialised
countries and treatment is still difficult. Thus, research in prevention is of extreme
importance. While, the etiology of most cancers has an environmental component,
colon or breast cancers are highly linked to dietary habits (up to 50% of colorectal
cancers are due to diet; Riboli et al. 1996). In this context, Boutron et al. (1996)
showed inverse correlation between consumption of dairy products and colorectal
cancer in France.
Purification, characterization, antibacterial activity and N-terminal sequencing of buffalo-milk lysozyme
Authors: PRIYADARSHINI SUBHADRA , KANSAL VINOD K.
Published: October 2003

Lysozyme from buffalo milk was purified to homogeneity and its N-terminal amino acid sequence, biochemical properties and antibacterial spectrum were determined. The purification procedure, comprising ion-exchange chromatography using CM-cellulose and size-exclusion chromatography using Sephadex G-50, conferred 8622-fold purification and 39·3% recovery of lysozyme. The purified enzyme migrated as a single band on sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and native PAGE. Immunological purity of lysozyme preparation was confirmed by immuno-electrophoresis. Molecular weight of buffalo-milk lysozyme as determined by SDS-PAGE was 16 kDa and its amino acid composition was determined by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The sequence of 23 amino acid residues at the N-terminal end showed 56·5% homology with bovine milk lysozyme and 30·4% with equine milk lysozyme. The specific activity of buffalo milk lysozyme was ten-times that of bovine milk lysozyme. Buffalo-milk lysozyme was active over a wide range of pH and its activity was strongly influenced by molarity of the medium. Antibacterial activity of buffalo-milk lysozyme was determined against 11 species of bacteria; out of seven Gram-positive bacteria tested, four were inhibited, while Gram-negative bacteria were resistant.
Characterization of equine cDNA sequences for αS1-, β- and κ-casein
Authors: Lenasi Tina , Rogelj Irena , Dovc Peter
Published: October 2003

Here we report the entire cDNA sequences for equine αS1-, β- and κ-casein. Based on interspecies comparison, nine exons were found in equine β-casein and five in κ-casein. In equine αS1-casein cDNA the exon 5 was missing, which resulted in the total of 18 exons instead of 19 theoretically possible exons in αS1-casein cDNA. Comparison of DNA sequences representing exon 5 in other species with corresponding equine genomic region confirmed the presence of cryptic exon in horse genomic DNA. Equine αS1-casein mRNA was present in three forms in the lactating mammary gland and we showed that the two shorter forms were produced by skipping either the exon 8 or exon 15. In horse, as in some other mammals, β- and κ-casein are considerably more conserved (sequence identity 53% to 59% and 57% to 67%, respectively) than αS1-casein which appears as the most variable casein among species (sequence identity 40% to 54%). Interestingly, horse caseins resemble human much more than bovine caseins which may also explain the high dietetic value of mares' milk.
Imagining El Ser Argentino: Cultural Nationalism and Romantic Concepts of Nationhood In Early Twentieth-Century Argentina
Authors: DELANEY JEAN H.
Published: October 2003

This article reexamines early twentieth-century Argentine cultural nationalism, arguing that the movement's true significance rests in its promotion of a vision of Argentine nationhood that closely resembled the ideal of the folk nation upheld by German romanticism. Drawing from recent theoretical literature on ethnic nationalism, the article examines the political implications of this movement and explores the way in which the vigorous promotion of the ethnocultural vision of argentinidad by cultural nationalists served to detach definitions of Argentine identity from constitutional foundations and from the ideas of citizenship and popular sovereignty. It also challenges the accepted view that Argentine cultural nationalism represented a radical break with late nineteenth-century positivism. Positivist ideas about social organicism, collective character and historical determinism all helped paved the way for the Romantic vision of nationhood celebrated by the cultural nationalists.
Labouring against Neoliberalism: Unions and Patterns of Reform in Latin America
Authors: MADRID RAÚL L.
Published: October 2003

In recent years Latin American countries have enacted sweeping privatisation measures and major trade, financial and tax reforms, but they have moved much more slowly to reform their pension systems and labour laws. This pattern of reform partly reflects differences in the intensity of organised labour's opposition to the reforms. Organised labour has undertaken greater efforts to block labour law reforms and, to a lesser extent, pension reforms, because these measures impose severe losses on more unions than other types of reforms. These greater efforts, moreover, have had significant effects on policy outcomes. The article shows how organised labour reacted quite differently to various types of market-oriented reforms in Argentina and Mexico in the 1990s, and describes how the reaction of the unions helped shape the fate of the reform proposals.