bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Substitution among the Exports of Taiwan, China, and Other Countries to the United States
Authors: Chen Pochih
Published: June 2008

The substitution among the exports of countries is a major phenomenon and foundation of the fast-changing global economy. However, the econometric method using aggregate data can usually estimate the extent of substitution only several years after the substitution has happened. This paper designed a detailed market share (DMS) analysis method that uses detailed trade data to document the actual replacement among the exports of different countries. The DMS indicators can measure the replacement that happened in every product or product group for every year. Therefore, DMS indicators can also be used as variables in further econometric research. This paper employed indicators to analyze the exports of Taiwan and China to the United States during 1990 and 2006. We found that the proportion of Taiwan's exports to the United States that was replaced by China during this period was about 71 percent to 85 percent. Taiwan, Japan, and other developed countries were the major sources of China's export growth. China also replaced a great part of developing countries' exports. China has also started to replace the high-end products of advanced countries. We found that 63 percent, 60 percent, and 33 percent of the highly human capital—intensive exports from Taiwan, Korea, and Japan, respectively, have been replaced by China. Most of these replacements happened in high-end products after 2000. Therefore, more products from advanced countries will be replaced by China in the near future.
Inhibition of Return in the Covert Deployment of Attention: Evidence from Human Electrophysiology
Authors: McDonald John J. , Hickey Clayton , Green Jessica J. , Whitman Jennifer C.
Published: June 2008

People are slow to react to objects that appear at recently attended locations. This delay—known as inhibition of return (IOR)—is believed to aid search of the visual environment by discouraging inspection of recently inspected objects. However, after two decades of research, there is no evidence that IOR reflects an inhibition in the covert deployment of attention. Here, observers participated in a modified visual-search task that enabled us to measure IOR and an ERP component called the posterior contralateral N2 (N2pc) that reflects the covert deployment of attention. The N2pc was smaller when a target appeared at a recently attended location than when it appeared at a recently unattended location. This reduction was due to modulation of neural processing in the visual cortex and the right parietal lobe. Importantly, there was no evidence for a delay in the N2pc. We conclude that in our task, the inhibitory processes underlying IOR reduce the probability of shifting attention to recently attended locations but do not delay the covert deployment of attention itself.
The Left Intraparietal Sulcus Modulates the Selection of Low Salient Stimuli
Authors: Mevorach Carmel , Shalev Lilach , Allen Harriet A. , Humphreys Glyn W.
Published: June 2008

Neuropsychological and functional imaging studies have suggested a general right hemisphere advantage for processing global visual information and a left hemisphere advantage for processing local information. In contrast, a recent transcranial magnetic stimulation study [Mevorach, C., Humphreys, G. W., & Shalev, L. Opposite biases in salience-based selection for the left and right posterior parietal cortex. Nature Neuroscience, 9, 740–742, 2006b] demonstrated that functional lateralization of selection in the parietal cortices on the basis of the relative salience of stimuli might provide an alternative explanation for previous results. In the present study, we applied a whole-brain analysis of the functional magnetic resonance signal when participants responded to either the local or the global levels of hierarchical figures. The task (respond to local or global) was crossed with the saliency of the target level (local salient, global salient) to provide, for the first time, a direct contrast between brain activation related to the stimulus level and that related to relative saliency. We found evidence for lateralization of salience-based selection but not for selection based on the level of processing. Activation along the left intraparietal sulcus (IPS) was found when a low saliency stimulus had to be selected irrespective of its level. A control task showed that this was not simply an effect of task difficulty. The data suggest a specific role for regions along the left IPS in salience-based selection, supporting the argument that previous reports of lateralized responses to local and global stimuli were contaminated by effects of saliency.
Effects of Psychostimulants on Alertness and Spatial Bias in Healthy Participants
Authors: Dodds Chris , Müller Ulrich , Manly Tom
Published: June 2008

Converging evidence from neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies suggests that the ability to maintain an alert, ready-to-respond state is mediated by a network of right-hemisphere frontal and parietal cortical areas. This right lateralization may help to explain why visuospatial hemineglect, a cluster of deficits in detecting and responding to contralesional stimuli, is more common and persistent after right-hemisphere lesions. Indeed, it has been hypothesized that this asymmetry reflects a direct, functional link between alertness and spatial attention. In the present study, we investigated whether a pharmacologically induced increase in alertness would influence lateral bias in healthy people. Eighteen healthy participants were each given placebo or the psychostimulant drugs methylphenidate 40 mg or modafinil 400 mg on separate days and completed an hour-long version of the spatially sensitive landmark task. For those participants who demonstrated the expected alerting effect of modafinil, there was a significant Condition by Time interaction, consistent with the effects of the drug resisting time-on-task rightward drifts in spatial bias in the placebo condition. In contrast, no effect of methylphenidate on spatial bias was observed. These results suggest that spatial bias may be modulated by a psychostimulant-induced increase in alertness, supporting the hypothesis of a direct, functional link between right-hemisphere systems controlling alertness and visuospatial attention.
School Performance: The Pediatrician's Role
Authors: Bravender Terrill
Published: June 2008

When children begin having difficulties in school, the first stop for parents is often the pediatrician's office. Although school performance problems may seem outside the realm of routine primary health care, there are many important roles that the primary care provider may play. These include identifying medical issues that may impact performance, helping the family form an intervention team, and acting as the child's advocate when interacting with the school. In addition, it is important for pediatricians to be familiar with cognitive, emotional, and developmental problems that affect school performance and to assist parents in becoming active participants in their children's education.
A Case of Catastrophic Antiphospholipid Syndrome in an Adolescent Girl With Parvovirus B19 Infection
Authors: Canpolat Nur , Topal Nilufer , Civilibal Mahmut , Caliskan Salim , Sever Lale , Kasapcopur Ozgur , Baserer Tahire , Arisoy Nil
Published: June 2008

Antiphospholipid syndrome is an autoimmune disease characterized by recurrent thrombosis and the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies. Clinical presentations are dependent on the affected vessels and organs. The most common presentation of antiphospholipid syndrome is arterial or venous thrombosis. An unusual presentation of the disease is characterized by microvascular thrombosis with multiorgan involvement, which is termed catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome. The diagnosis of catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome can be difficult because of the heterogeneity of the different clinical forms. Clinical manifestations of catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome are complex with multiple organ involvement, resulting in renal insufficiency, heart failure, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and liver involvement. Early diagnosis and aggressive therapies are essential in this condition because of the extremely high mortality rate. Herein, the case of a 14-year-old girl with catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome that was previously misdiagnosed as a vasculitis related to parvovirus B19 infection is presented.
The Relationship Between Degree Type, Certification Status, and Years of Employment and the Amount of Time Spent on Rehabilitation Counseling Tasks in State—Federal Vocational Rehabilitation
Authors: Lustig Dan C. , Strauser David R.
Published: June 2008

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between perceived percentage of time spent on particular rehabilitation counseling responsibilities, on one hand, and possession of an educational degree, certification as a rehabilitation counselor (CRC), and years worked for the state—federal vocational rehabilitation (VR) agency, on the other. Our national study of 483 vocational rehabilitation counselors in state—federal VR agencies provides evidence that there is little difference in the perceived percentage of time spent on specific work activities with respect to degree type, CRC, or years worked for the state—federal agency. Implications for rehabilitation counselors working for a state—federal agency are discussed.
Erased History
Authors: Burnier DeLysa
Published: June 2008

This article argues that the “other” reform movement associated with the settlement women that Camilla Stivers identified in Bureau Men/Settlement Women did not disappear with the Progressive era. In fact, the settlement women's emphasis on care, connection, and concrete experience came to inform the national policies, values, and practices of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, most notably in the figure of Frances Perkins. Perkins and other New Deal women administrators long have been erased from American public administration's histories. This article not only hopes to make Perkins and other New Deal women visible, but more importantly it offers a fresh reading of the 1930s based on the care perspective implicit in the settlement ethos. Such a reading would provide a more complex and gender-inclusive view of the period than the familiar textbook narrative with its focus on government growth, executive reorganization, and the “principles approach” to management.
Adult female wildtype, but not oestrogen receptor β knockout, mice have decreased depression-like behaviour during pro-oestrus and following administration of oestradiol or diarylpropionitrile
Authors: Walf AA , Koonce CJ , Frye CA
Published: June 2008

Abstract

Studies in people and animal models suggest that depression is influenced by natural fluctuations in the levels of 17β-oestradiol (E2), as well as administration of E2-based therapies, such as selective oestrogen receptor modulators (SERMs). Elucidating the effects and mechanisms of E2 is important to improve future E2-based therapeutics. An important question is whether effects of E2 or SERMs for mood regulation act at the α or β isoform of the oestrogen receptor (ER) because some of the unwanted trophic effects of E2-based therapies may involve actions at ERα, rather than ERβ. In the present study, whether there are sex differences in depression-like behaviour of adult mice (experiment 1), and the effects of natural fluctuations in E2 (experiment 2), or administration of E2 or a SERM that has higher affinity for ERβ than for ERα (diarylpropionitrile; DPN) to ovariectomised (experiment 3) wildtype and ERβ knockout (βERKO) mice were investigated. Results of this study supported our hypotheses that: there would be sex differences favouring males for depression-like behaviour and endogenous increases in, or exogenous administration of, E2 or administration of an ERβ SERM would decrease depression-like behaviour in wildtype, but not βERKO, mice. In experiment 1, adult male mice spent less time immobile in the forced swim test (i.e., showed less depression-like behaviour) compared with female mice. In experiment 2, pro-oestrous (higher circulating E2 levels), compared with dioestrous (lower circulating E2 levels), mice had reduced immobility in the forced swim test; this effect was not observed in βERKO mice. In experiment 3, administration of E2 or DPN to ovariectomised wildtype, but not βERKO, mice decreased immobility compared with vehicle administration, these data suggest that ERβ may be required for some of the anti–depressant-like effects of E2.
The effect of clomipramine on wake/sleep and orexinergic expression in rats
Authors: Feng P , Hu Y , Li D , Vurbic D , Fan H , Wang S , Strohl KP
Published: June 2008

Abstract

We have previously found that neonatal treatment with clomipramine (CLI) induced a decrease in brain orexins during the juvenile period and that these changes were reversed at adulthood. This study investigated the effect of CLI on the orexinergic component and sleep/wake states. Two groups of adult male rats were conducted for 48-h polysomnographic recording. One group of rats was treated with CLI (20 mg/kg every 12 h), and a second group was treated with equivolume of saline (SAL) simultaneously after the first 24 h of polysomnographic recording. Rats were killed 2 h after the third dose of treatment. Brain tissues were collected for radioimmunoassay quantification of orexins and real-time PCR analysis of prepro-orexin and orexin receptor mRNA. The CLI group had significantly shorter rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and longer REM latency compared with both the baseline day and the SAL group and had significantly less active wake and more quiet wake. Compared with the control rats, the CLI rats had significantly higher mRNA expression of prepro-orexin in the hypothalamus and the frontal cortex, but not in the hippocampus. The CLI rats also had significantly less orexin B in the hypothalamus than the control rats. These results suggest that suppression of active wake and orexin B by CLI may be a factor responsible for CLI-induced depression and that the increase of prepro-orexin mRNA may be a sign of increased brain orexins found in this model.
Behavioural signs of depression and apoptosis in the limbic system following myocardial infarction: effects of sertraline
Authors: Wann BP , Bah TM , Kaloustian S , Boucher M , Dufort AM , Le Marec N , Godbout R , Rousseau G
Published: June 2008

Abstract

Depression is diagnosed in 15–30% of patients following myocardial infarction (MI) and this may also be observed in the rat. We measured the effects of the antidepressant sertraline on behavioural and biochemical events following MI in a rat model. Following surgery, MI rats and sham controls were treated with sertraline (10 mg/kg, i.p.) or saline. Subgroups of rats were tested for behavioural depression 14 days after surgery. Apoptosis was estimated in other rats by measuring caspase-3 activity and TUNEL positive cells (3 days after surgery) in limbic structures (amygdale, hippocampus, hypothalamus, frontal and prefrontal cortices). Bax/Bcl-2 ratio was measured 14 days after surgery. Behavioural signs of depression (decreased sucrose intake and forced swimming time) were found in saline-treated MI rats but not in sertraline-treated rats. Compared with controls, caspase-3 activity and TUNEL positive cells were significantly increased in most limbic structures of MI rats. High prefrontal Bax/Bcl-2 ratio in MI rats correlated with low forced swimming time. Apoptosis was not found in sertraline-treated MI rats. These results establish the bases of a rat model of depression following MI and show for the first time that a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor prevents both behavioural and biochemical markers in this model.
Duloxetine-induced hypomania: case report and brief review of the literature on SNRIs-induced mood switching
Authors: Peritogiannis V , Antoniou K , Mouka V , Mavreas V , Hyphantis TN
Published: June 2008

Abstract

Manic switching during antidepressant treatment has been reported with every class of antidepressant drugs. Serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) have been increasingly used for the treatment of unipolar and bipolar depression and are well tolerated and sufficiently effective because of their dual mechanism of action. A case of duloxetine-induced hypomania in a non-bipolar patient is presented, and a brief review of all cases of SNRIs’ induced mania and hypomania has been carried out. The available data suggest that SNRIs, especially venlafaxine, can induce mood switching in patients with bipolar depression and in certain patients with unipolar depression, but the potential of duloxetine and milnacipran to induce manic or hypomanic symptoms cannot be disregarded. Switching appears to be dose-related and treatment initiation with lower doses and upward titration when needed may be preferable in selected cases and may help minimizing the risk of mood switching.
Does oral alprazolam affect ventilation? A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial
Authors: Carraro GE , Russi EW , Buechi S , Bloch KE
Published: June 2008

Abstract

The respiratory effects of benzodiazepines have been controversial. This investigation aimed to study the effects of oral alprazolam on ventilation. In a randomised, double-blind cross-over protocol, 20 healthy men ingested 1 mg of alprazolam or placebo in random order, 1 week apart. Ventilation was unobtrusively monitored by inductance plethysmography along with end-tidal PCO2 and pulse oximetry 60–160 min after drug intake. Subjects were encouraged to keep their eyes open. Mean ± SD minute ventilation 120 min after alprazolam and placebo was similar (6.21 ± 0.71 vs 6.41 ± 1.12 L/min, P = NS). End-tidal PCO2 and oxygen saturation did also not differ between treatments. However, coefficients of variation of minute ventilation after alprazolam exceeded those after placebo (43 ± 23% vs 31 ± 13%, P < 0.05). More encouragements to keep the eyes open were required after alprazolam than after placebo (5.2 ± 5.7 vs 1.3 ± 2.3 calls, P < 0.05). In a multiple regression analysis, higher coefficients of variation of minute ventilation after alprazolam were related to a greater number of calls. Oral alprazolam in a mildly sedative dose has no clinically relevant effect on ventilation in healthy, awake men. The increased variability of ventilation on alprazolam seems related to vigilance fluctuations rather than to a direct drug effect on ventilation.
A proteomic investigation of similarities between conventional and herbal antidepressant treatments
Authors: Pennington K , Föcking M , McManus CA , Pariante CM , Dunn MJ , Cotter DR
Published: June 2008

Abstract

Increasing clinical evidence for the effectiveness of herbal antidepressants has led to investigations at the molecular level. Using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, this study investigated similarities in protein expression between clomipramine, St John’s wort and a Chinese herbal formula, xiao-yao-san, often used in mood disorder treatment. HT22 cells, derived from a mouse hippocampal cell line, were treated for 24 h, and protein expression was compared with that of the untreated cells ( n = 4/group). Forty-three protein spots were found to be significantly differentially expressed ( P < 0.05) in more than one of the treatment groups. Twenty-nine of these were identified using mass spectrometry. The most affected proteins were those involved in the cytoskeleton and energy metabolism, and an up-regulation of vimentin by all three treatments was confirmed by Western blotting. This study provides preliminary evidence for multiple common molecular targets between conventional and alternative antidepressants, which appear to collectively affect neuronal plasticity.
Effects of bupropion augmentation on pro-inflammatory cytokines in escitalopram-resistant patients with major depressive disorder
Authors: Eller T , Vasar V , Shlik J , Maron E
Published: June 2008

Abstract

Studies so far have provided contradictory results on immune system markers during use of antidepressants. There are no data on changes in immune parameters after treatment augmentation. The present study aimed to clarify whether the addition of bupropion in escitalopram-resistant patients with major depression causes changes in the immune system and whether treatment response could be predicted by baseline levels of cytokines. We recruited 28 depressive patients (11 men and 17 women) who did not respond to 12-week treatment with escitalopram (20 mg/d) for an augmentation trial with bupropion (150–300 mg/day). The levels of soluble interleukin-2 receptor, interleukin-8 (IL-8) and tumor-necrosis factor-α were measured before and 6 weeks after addition of bupropion. For a control group, we recruited 45 healthy volunteers (19 men and 26 women). The results indicated that the baseline levels of studied cytokines did not predict treatment response to bupropion augmentation. Concentration of IL-8 increased during the treatment similarly in both responder and non-responder groups. Although bupropion augmentation had increased the response rate in escitalopram-resistant patients, this clinical improvement was not accompanied by specific changes in studied cytokine levels.
Cardiovascular variability during treatment with haloperidol, olanzapine or risperidone in recent-onset schizophrenia
Authors: Hempel RJ , Tulen JHM , van Beveren NJM , Röder CH , Hengeveld MW
Published: June 2008

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effects of treatment with haloperidol, olanzapine and risperidone on cardiovascular variability in patients with recent-onset schizophrenia by means of spectral analysis. Unmedicated patients ( n = 18) had a higher mean heart rate and a tendency for a lower high-frequency power of heart rate variability than healthy control subjects ( n = 57), indicating a decreased cardiac vagal control in unmedicated patients with schizophrenia. Patients treated with haloperidol ( n = 10) showed significantly lower low-frequency power of heart rate and systolic blood pressure variability compared with olanzapine-treated patients, suggesting that haloperidol attenuated sympathetic functioning. On the contrary, olanzapine-treated patients ( n = 10) showed the highest power in the low-frequency range of heart rate and systolic blood pressure variability, suggesting an increased sympathetic cardiac functioning. No significant effects of risperidone ( n = 13) were found. None of the antipsychotic agents differed in their parasympathetic cardiovascular effects. We conclude that young, unmedicated patients with schizophrenia differed from controls in their parasympathetic functioning, but the antipsychotic agents haloperidol, risperidone and olanzapine induced only minor cardiovascular side effects.
The protective role of chelators and antioxidants on mancozeb-induced toxicity in rat hippocampal astrocytes
Authors: Tsang MM , Trombetta LD
Published: June 2008

Mancozeb, manganese ethylene-bis-dithiocarbamate with zinc salts, is one of the most commonly used fungicides in the United States. Epidemiological and experimental data showed that mancozeb causes detrimental effects on various organ systems including the reproductive, endocrine, immune, and central nervous system. Increasing evidence has shown a strong association between pesticides and neurodegenerative diseases. In this study, we examined the neurotoxic potential of mancozeb in rat hippocampal astrocytes. The cytotoxicity of mancozeb was found to be dose dependent and recovery studies showed that cells exposed to mancozeb for 1 h did not recover from mancozeb-induced insult. Atomic absorption data showed a significant accumulation of manganese in astrocytes after 1 h of treatment. This study further investigated whether various chelators and antioxidants could prevent mancozeb-induced cytotoxicity. Our data reported that butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) was the most effective agent in protecting against mancozeb insult. BHT also increased total cellular antioxidants of astrocytes after 1-h mancozeb exposure. In summary, this study reported for the first time that the manganese portion of mancozeb might be, at least in part, responsible for the toxicity. Mancozeb-induced cytotoxicity in astroyctes can be protected by BHT and that this antioxidant increased the total cellular antioxidant capacity.
The toxic effects of sodium fluoride on the reproductive system of male rats
Authors: Gupta RS , Khan TI , Agrawal D , Kachhawa JBS
Published: June 2008

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of fluoride toxicity on the reproductive system of male rats. Sexually mature male Wistar rats were exposed to 2, 4, and 6 ppm sodium fluoride in their drinking water for 6 months ad libitum. Sperm motility and density in cauda epididymis were assessed. Biochemical and histological analysis were performed in reproductive organs. Fluoride treatment brought about a significant decrease in the weight of testis, epididymis, and ventral prostate. The sperm motility and density were significantly reduced. There was a marked reduction in the number of primary spermatocyte, secondary spermatocyte, and spermatids. The Sertoli cell counts and their cross sectional surface areas were significantly decreased. The Leydig cell nuclear area and the number of mature Leydig cells were also significantly decreased. The protein content of the testis and epididymis were significantly reduced. Fructose in the seminal vesicles and cholesterol in testes were increased significantly. In conclusion, sodium fluoride administrated in drinking water of 2, 4, and 6 ppm concentration for 6 months to male rats adversely affected their fertility and reproductive system.
Argentine Patagonia: prevalence and clinical features of multiple sclerosis
Authors: Melcon MO , Gold L , Carrá A , Cáceres F , Correale J , Cristiano E , Fernández Liguori N , Garcea O , Luetic G , Kremenchutzky M ,   for the Patagonia Multiple Sclerosis Research Project
Published: June 2008

There are few studies reporting multiple sclerosis prevalence rates in the Buenos Aires region, Argentina (latitude 34°S) (between 12–18.5/100 000 inhabitants), and no studies have been performed in the larger region between parallels 36° and 55°S. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence rates and clinical features of multiple sclerosis in residents of the Argentine Patagonia. Four cities from the region were selected for this study, giving a sample population of 417 666 inhabitants (~24% of the total Patagonia population). 1st March 2002 was determined as prevalence day. Patients were ascertained using multiple case-finding methods. The point prevalence rate was 17.2/100 000 (17.2 age-adjusted to the world population). Prevalence rates were higher for women than for men, 22.1 versus 12.2/100 000 inhabitants (21.4 versus 12.7 sex-adjusted to the world population). The study population was mainly of European descent and mestizoes. Clinical features were similar to those reported in other countries. This study shows that Argentine Patagonia is a medium-risk area with no south–north gradient between parallels 55° and 36°S. The Patagonia population shows recent internal migration that makes it difficult to determine whether the exposure to potential risk factors has been long enough to modify the disease incidence.
The motherhood choice: Themes arising in the decision-making process for women with multiple sclerosis
Authors: Prunty M , Sharpe L , Butow P , Fulcher G
Published: June 2008

Objective

This study aimed to determine the main themes and concerns for women with Multiple Sclerosis when considering motherhood.

Method

Twenty women with multiple sclerosis from various stages in the decision-making process participated in focus-groups where information was gathered regarding their experiences of making this decision.

Results

The themes emerging most frequently during the decision-making process were: a) concerns about the mother's own health and well-being; b) well-being of the child; c) coping with parenting; d) societal attitudes; e) experiencing parenting and f) timing and pressure of the decision.

Conclusion

The results indicate that information regarding the effect of MS on pregnancy and child-rearing and the effect of pregnancy on MS and its progression need to be made more accessible to women. Information would be a valuable resource for women going through this decision-making process.
Rubrics
Authors: De La Paz Susan
Published: June 2008

Rubrics are an integral part of many writing programs, and they represent elements of good writing in essays, stories, poems, as well as other genres and forms of text. Although it is possible to use rubrics to teach students about the processes underlying effective writing, a more common practice is to use rubrics as a means of assessment, after students have completed their work. Thus, the premise of this article is to show teachers how to transform rubrics into powerful teaching devices, using foundations from strategy instruction as a means for this endeavor. Two examples are used in the article to explain this process: (a) a close examination of the comparison genre; and (b) a planning strategy for writing expository essays, called PLAN and WRITE, that was previously validated with middle school students with and without learning disabilities.
In vivo trafficking and survival of cytokine-induced killer cells resulting in minimal GVHD with retention of antitumor activity
Authors: Nishimura Ryosei , Baker Jeanette , Beilhack Andreas , Zeiser Robert , Olson Janelle A. , Sega Emanuela I. , Karimi Mobin , Negrin Robert S.
Published: June 2008

Cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells are ex vivo–expanded T lymphocytes expressing both natural killer (NK)– and T-cell markers. CIK cells are cytotoxic against autologous and allogeneic tumors. We previously showed that adoptive transfer of allogeneic CIK cells in a murine model caused minimal graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). However, the precise mechanism of reduced GVHD is not fully understood. Therefore, we evaluated the trafficking and survival of luciferase-expressing CIK cells in an allogeneic bone marrow transplant model. The initial trafficking patterns of CIK cells were similar to conventional T cells that induced GVHD; however, CIK cells infiltrated GVHD target tissues much less and transiently. CIK cells accumulated and persisted in tumor sites, resulting in tumor eradication. We evaluated different properties of CIK cells compared with conventional T cells, demonstrating a slower division rate of CIK cells, higher susceptibility to apoptosis, persistent increased expression of interferon gamma (IFN-γ), and reduced acquisition of homing molecules required for entry of cells into inflamed GVHD target organs that lack expression of NKG2D ligands recognized by CIK cells. Due to these properties, allogeneic CIK cells had reduced expansion and caused less tissue damage. We conclude that CIK cells have the potential to separate graft-versus-tumor effects from GVHD.
Defective homing is associated with altered Cdc42 activity in cells from patients with Fanconi anemia group A
Authors: Zhang Xiaoling , Shang Xun , Guo Fukun , Murphy Kim , Kirby Michelle , Kelly Patrick , Reeves Lilith , Smith Franklin O. , Williams David A. , Zheng Yi , Pang Qishen
Published: June 2008

Previous studies showed that Fanconi anemia (FA) murine stem cells have defective reconstitution after bone marrow (BM) transplantation. The mechanism underlying this defect is not known. Here, we report defective homing of FA patient BM progenitors transplanted into mouse models. Using cells from patients carrying mutations in FA complementation group A (FA-A), we show that when transplanted into nonobese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficiency (NOD/SCID) recipient mice, FA-A BM cells exhibited impaired homing activity. FA-A cells also showed defects in both cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesion. Complementation of FA-A deficiency by reexpression of FANCA readily restored adhesion of FA-A cells. A significant decrease in the activity of the Rho GTPase Cdc42 was found associated with these defective functions in patient-derived cells, and expression of a constitutively active Cdc42 mutant was able to rescue the adhesion defect of FA-A cells. These results provide the first evidence that FA proteins influence human BM progenitor homing and adhesion via the small GTPase Cdc42-regulated signaling pathway.
Association between BMI-1 expression, acute graft-versus-host disease, and outcome following allogeneic stem cell transplantation from HLA-identical siblings in chronic myeloid leukemia
Authors: Mohty Mohamad , Szydlo Richard M. , Yong Agnes S. M. , Apperley Jane F. , Goldman John M. , Melo Junia V.
Published: June 2008

Expression of CD7, ELA-2, PR-3, and the polycomb group gene BMI-1 reflects the intrinsic heterogeneity and predicts prognosis of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) who were not treated with allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT). This study investigated whether expression of these genes determined outcome following allo-SCT in a cohort of 84 patients with chronic-phase (CP) CML. We found that patients expressing BMI-1 at a “high” level before allo-SCT had an improved overall survival (P = .005) related to a reduced transplantation-related mortality. In multivariate analysis, when adjusted for the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT)–Gratwohl score and other prog-nostic factors, there was an independent association between BMI-1 expression and grades 2 to 4 acute graft-versus-host disease (relative risk [RR] = 2.85; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.3-6.4; P = .011), suggesting that BMI-1 measured prior to allo-SCT can serve as a biomarker for predicting outcome in patients with CP-CML receiving allo-SCT, and may thus contribute to better therapeutic decisions.
FLT3 ligand and not TSLP is the key regulator of IL-7–independent B-1 and B-2 B lymphopoiesis
Authors: Jensen Christina T. , Kharazi Shabnam , Böiers Charlotta , Cheng Min , Lübking Anna , Sitnicka Ewa , Jacobsen Sten Eirik W.
Published: June 2008

Phenotypically and functionally distinct progenitors and developmental pathways have been proposed to exist for fetally derived B-1 and conventional B-2 cells. Although IL-7 appears to be the primary cytokine regulator of fetal and adult B lymphopoiesis in mice, considerable fetal B lymphopoiesis and postnatal B cells are sustained in the absence of IL-7; in humans, B-cell generation is suggested to be largely IL-7–independent, as severe combined immune-deficient patients with IL-7 deficiency appear to have normal B-cell numbers. However, the role of other cytokines in IL-7–independent B lymphopoiesis remains to be established. Although thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) has been proposed to be the main factor driving IL-7–independent B lymphopoiesis and to distinguish fetal from adult B-cell progenitor development in mice, recent studies failed to support a primary role of TSLP in IL-7–independent fetal B-cell development. However, the role of TSLP in IL-7–independent adult B lymphopoiesis and in particular in regulation of B-1 cells remains to be established. Here we demonstrate that, rather than TSLP, IL-7 and FLT3 ligand are combined responsible for all B-cell generation in mice, including recently identified B-1–specified cell progenitors. Thus, the same IL-7– and FLT3 ligand–mediated signal-ing regulates alternative pathways of fetal and adult B-1 and B-2 lymphopoiesis.
Predicting transcriptional regulatory interactions with artificial neural networks applied to E. coli multidrug resistance efflux pumps
Authors: Veiga Diogo FT , Vicente Fábio FR , Nicolás Marisa F , Vasconcelos Ana Tereza R
Published: June 2008

Background

Little is known about bacterial transcriptional regulatory networks (TRNs). In Escherichia coli, which is the organism with the largest wet-lab validated TRN, its set of interactions involves only ~50% of the repertoire of transcription factors currently known, and ~25% of its genes. Of those, only a small proportion describes the regulation of processes that are clinically relevant, such as drug resistance mechanisms.

Results

We designed feed-forward (FF) and bi-fan (BF) motif predictors for E. coli using multi-layer perceptron artificial neural networks (ANNs). The motif predictors were trained using a large dataset of gene expression data; the collection of motifs was extracted from the E. coli TRN. Each network motif was mapped to a vector of correlations which were computed using the gene expression profile of the elements in the motif. Thus, by combining network structural information with transcriptome data, FF and BF predictors were able to classify with a high precision of 83% and 96%, respectively, and with a high recall of 86% and 97%, respectively. These results were found when motifs were represented using different types of correlations together, i.e., Pearson, Spearman, Kendall, and partial correlation. We then applied the best predictors to hypothesize new regulations for 16 operons involved with multidrug resistance (MDR) efflux pumps, which are considered as a major bacterial mechanism to fight antimicrobial agents. As a result, the motif predictors assigned new transcription factors for these MDR proteins, turning them into high-quality candidates to be experimentally tested.

Conclusion

The motif predictors presented herein can be used to identify novel regulatory interactions by using microarray data. The presentation of an example motif to predictors will make them categorize whether or not the example motif is a BF, or whether or not it is an FF. This approach is useful to find new "pieces" of the TRN, when inspecting the regulation of a small set of operons. Furthermore, it shows that correlations of expression data can be used to discriminate between elements that are arranged in structural motifs and those in random sets of transcripts.
Human pregnane X receptor is expressed in breast carcinomas, potential heterodimers formation between hPXR and RXR-alpha
Authors: Conde Isabel , Lobo María VT , Zamora Javier , Pérez Julio , González Francisco J , Alba Emilio , Fraile Benito , Paniagua Ricardo , Arenas María I
Published: June 2008

Background

The human pregnane X receptor (hPXR) is an orphan nuclear receptor that induces transcription of response elements present in steroid-inducible cytochrome P-450 gene promoters. This activation requires the participation of retinoid X receptors (RXRs), needed partners of hPXR to form heterodimers. We have investigated the expression of hPXR and RXRs in normal, premalignant, and malignant breast tissues, in order to determine whether their expression profile in localized infiltrative breast cancer is associated with an increased risk of recurrent disease.

Methods

Breast samples from 99 patients including benign breast diseases,in situand infiltrative carcinomas were processed for immunohistochemistry and Western-blot analysis.

Results

Cancer cells from patients that developed recurrent disease showed a high cytoplasmic location of both hPXR isoforms. Only the infiltrative carcinomas that relapsed before 48 months showed nuclear location of hPXR isoform 2. This location was associated with the nuclear immunoexpression of RXR-alpha.

Conclusion

Breast cancer cells can express both variants 1 and 2 of hPXR. Infiltrative carcinomas that recurred showed a nuclear location of both hPXR and RXR-alpha; therefore, the overexpression and the subcellular location changes of hPXR could be considered as a potential new prognostic indicator.
The History of Sexual Violence in Conflict Zones: Conference Report
Authors: Heineman Elizabeth
Published: June 2008

Since the Rwandan genocide and the wars of Yugoslav disintegration in the early 1990s, sexual violence in conflict zones has received considerable media attention. Thanks to international feminist organizing, international organizations have recognized it as a human-rights violation and a crime of war. Yet we know relatively little about sexual violence in earlier wars. In April 2006, the University of Iowa Center for Human Rights sponsored a conference titled “The History of Sexual Violence in Conflict Zones.” In her “conference report plus,” the coorganizer Elizabeth Heineman examines the functions of sexual violence in conflict zones, the uses of discourses about it, legal frameworks before and since the evolution of human rights discourses, the impact of civilian contexts on survivors' experiences of wartime sexual violence, and historians' means of capturing the voices of both victims and perpetrators. Finally, she notes some of the political and institutional challenges to pursuing historical research on sexual violence in conflict zones.
Race, Empire, and Humanism in the Work of Lillian Smith
Authors: Garcia Jay
Published: June 2008

The white southern writer Lillian Smith (1897-1966) explored potent codes of class, race, and gender in the American South and the forms of violence and repression they nurtured. Smith's dissident views on American racial custom and her contestation of the segregation and oppression of African Americans contributed to growing calls for civic and legal transformations of the racist social order during the 1940s, when she gained national recognition for her fiction, essays, and editorials. This article explores Smith's experiences in China in the 1920s. Witnessing forms of colonial domination in China influenced Smith's decision to depict racialism and racism in the United States as social and psychological harms. Her time in the Far East also brought Smith into contact with the writings of Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore, and Gandhi's ideas in particular would affect the way she envisioned social change. Writing at a time when the concept of human rights was increasingly invoked on the international stage, Smith created a vernacular form of human rights thinking through her prose. Smith's humanism bears the traces of her immersion in the work of writers, especially Tagore and Gandhi, who sought to meet the challenges of colonial modernity, much as she would respond to the reach of racial oppression on the American scene.
The Life and Memory of Hasegawa Teru: Contextualizing Human Rights, Trans/Nationalism, and the Antiwar Movement in Modern Japan
Authors: Esselstrom Erik
Published: June 2008

This essay reflects on the experience of a remarkable Japanese woman, Hasegawa Teru, whose life story can help us both historicize and contextualize the emergence of a human-rights discourse in modern Japan and connect it to the struggle of the social and political Left in Japanese society against state-sponsored militarism from the wartime era until the present day. One of the most compelling and courageous figures in the history of the modern Japanese antiwar movement, whose memory has been invoked quite frequently in recent years by Japanese activists opposed to remilitarization, Hasegawa Teru was also a devoted Esperantist who wrote passionately in various Chinese periodicals against what she saw as the vicious and ultimately self-destructive policies of her home government and its military leadership during the late 1930s and early 1940s. This essay introduces and briefly elaborates on a small selection of Hasegawa's wartime writings to reveal the complex ways in which she articulated her feminist, pacifist, and antifascist beliefs. Because her pacifist mission was so significantly shaped by both her commitment to the struggle for gender equality and her rejection of a political identity defined by the nation-state, this brief overview of Hasegawa's life and thought can make a meaningful contribution to debates concerning women, human rights, and transnationalism.
Human Rights and Social-Justice Organizing in the United States
Authors: Smith Andrea
Published: June 2008

Recently, social-justice organizations, particularly those with a racial-justice focus, have begun to work within a human rights frame. They regard human rights as a framework that challenges U.S. hegemony and that also provides an opportunity for U.S.-based social justice organizations to make transnational linkages with social-justice movements globally. This essay describes a course taught at the University of Michigan, “Human Rights and Social-Justice Organizing in the United States,” which focused on case studies of social-justice organizations in the United States that are utilizing a human rights framework to assess how the latter impacts organizing around disparate social-justice issues. Key themes covered in the class included the benefits and pitfalls of using human rights frameworks for social-justice organizing, the problematics of gender in human rights work, and the impact of human rights organizing in promoting transnational activism.
“I'll Do Whatever You Want, but It Hurts”: Worker Safety and Community Health in Modern Meatpacking
Authors: Broadway Michael J. , Stull Donald D.
Published: June 2008

When Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle a hundred years ago, his damning exposé of living and working conditions in Chicago's packinghouse district aimed for the heart of the American people. He acknowledged, though, that he hit them instead in their stomachs, and within six months of the book's publication, meat inspection was introduced to assure consumers that their meat was safe to eat. Today, meatpacking remains a hazardous industry, with some of the highest injury rates among manufacturers, and it still depends on an immigrant labor force, just as it did in Sinclair's day. But packinghouses have fled Midwestern urban cores for small towns on the High Plains, bringing with them a host of challenges. This article documents the human costs paid by those who produce our meat as well as the costs on the communities where these plants are located.
Magnetization of Bi0.9-xGdxLa0.1FeO3 System
Authors: Xu Xue-qin , Qian Tian , Zhou Tao-fei , Li Guang , Li Xiao-guang
Published: June 2008

Magnetization of Bi0.9xGdxLa0.1FeO3 (x=0.3, 0.5, 0.6 and 0.7) is reported. An abnormal negative magnetization appears in the temperature-dependent magnetization curves, and the temperature-dependent coercive field shows a maximum in the vicinity of the compensation temperature where the total magnetization is zero. These results suggest that in the ferrimagnetic-like Bi0.9xGdxLa0.1FeO3 system the Gd and Fe magnetic sublattices are coupled antiferromagnetically.
Microphase Separation in A2B Copolymer Melts
Authors: Yan Xiao-yan , Liang Hao-jun
Published: June 2008

The microphase diagrams of special A2B copolymer melts were presented by using the self-consistent field theory for star copolymer systems. Unlike the phase diagram of diblock copolymer, only three classical structures, namely spherical phase, cylindrical phase and lamellar phase were discovered in the diagram of the A2B system. The change in chain architectures allowed sufficient shifts of phase boundaries and widened the range of fB for which lamellar phase occurred, to some degree. Simply, an asymmetric architecture for copolymer allowed control of the morphology independent of the volume fraction.
Shock Tube Study of JP-10 Ignition Delay Time
Authors: Wang Su , Gou Hua-jie , Fan Bing-cheng , He Yu-zhong , Zhang Sheng-tao , Cui Ji-ping
Published: June 2008

JP-10 (exo-tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene, C10H16) ignition delay times were measured in a preheated shock tube. The vapor pressures of the JP-10 were measured directly by using a high-precision vacuum gauge, to remedy the difficulty in determining the gaseous concentrations of heavy hydrocarbon fuel arising from the adsorption on the wall in shock tube experiments. The whole variation of pressure and emission of the OH or CH radicals were observed in the ignition process by a pressure transducer and a photomultiplier with a monochromator. The emission of the OH or CH radicals was used to identify the time to ignition. Experiments were performed over the pressure range of 151-556 kPa, temperature range of 1000-2100 K, fuel concentrations of 0.1%-0.55% mole fraction, and stoichiometric ratios of 0.25, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0. The experimental results show that for the lower and higher temperature ranges, there are different dependency relationships of the ignition time on the temperature and the concentrations of JP-10 and oxygen.