bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Source components and interannual variability of soil CO2 efflux under experimental warming and clipping in a grassland ecosystem
Authors: ZHOU XUHUI , WAN SHIQIANG , LUO YIQI
Published: March 2007

Partitioning soil CO2 efflux into autotrophic (RA) and heterotrophic (RH) components is crucial for understanding their differential responses to climate change. We conducted a long‐term experiment (2000–2005) to investigate effects of warming 2°C and yearly clipping on soil CO2 efflux and its components (i.e. RA and RH) in a tallgrass prairie ecosystem. Interannual variability of these fluxes was also examined. Deep collars (70 cm) were inserted into soil to measure RH. RA was quantified as the difference between soil CO2 efflux and RH. Warming treatment significantly stimulated soil CO2 efflux and its components (i.e. RA and RH) in most years. In contrast, yearly clipping significantly reduced soil CO2 efflux only in the last 2 years, although it decreased RH in every year of the study. Temperature sensitivity (i.e. apparent Q10 values) of soil CO2 efflux was slightly lower under warming (P>0.05) and reduced considerably by clipping (P<0.05) compared with that in the control. On average over the 4 years, RH accounted for approximately 65% of soil CO2 efflux with a range from 58% to 73% in the four treatments. Over seasons, the contribution of RH to soil CO2 efflux reached a maximum in winter (∼90%) and a minimum in summer (∼35%). Annual soil CO2 efflux did not vary substantially among years as precipitation did. The interannual variability of soil CO2 efflux may be mainly caused by precipitation distribution and summer severe drought. Our results suggest that the effects of warming and yearly clipping on soil CO2 efflux and its components did not result in significant changes in RH or RA contribution, and rainfall timing may be more important in determining interannual variability of soil CO2 efflux than the amount of annual precipitation.
The transcription factor Con7p is a central regulator of infection‐related morphogenesis in the rice blast fungusMagnaporthe grisea
Authors: Odenbach Dominik , Breth Björn , Thines Eckhard , Weber Roland W. S. , Anke Heidrun , Foster Andrew J.
Published: March 2007

A strain harbouring an insertion within the promoter of theCON7gene ofMagnaporthe griseawas isolated. This gene was previously shown to be essential for appressorium formation and growth in planta and is predicted to encode a transcription factor. Microarray‐based gene expression analysis was used to identify several genes whose transcription during germination depends on Con7p. These include the pathogenicity factor‐encoding genePTH11and several other genes which likePTH11are predicted to encode G protein‐coupled receptors. Microarray analysis also revealed several Con7p‐dependent genes which may encode factors determining cell wall structure or function, either through the synthesis/degradation of cell wall components or by association with the cell exterior. One Con7p‐dependent gene predicted to encode a class VII chitin synthase was deleted, leading to dramatic consequences on the pathogenic development of the resultant strain. Within the con7–mutant, a 29% reduction in chitin content of germinated spores was found and the mutant was hypersensitive to the chitin synthase inhibitor nikkomycin Z. A green fluorescent protein‐tagged Con7p was found to have nuclear localization within spores. Taken together, these observations suggest that Con7p encodes a transcription factor required for the transcription of several genes which participate in disease‐related morphogenesis inM. grisea.
NK–KIR ligand identification: a quick Q‐PCR approach for HLA‐C epitope typing
Authors: Schellekens J. , Rozemuller E. H. , Borst H. P. E. , Otten H. G. , Van Den Tweel J. G. , Tilanus M. G. J.
Published: March 2007

Interaction of donor natural killer (NK)‐cell‐associated killer cell immunoglobulin‐like receptors (KIRs) with the patient’s human leukocyte antigen‐C (HLA‐C) ligands can result in an alloreactive NK response after haematopoietic stem cell transplantation. In many retrospective studies, additional HLA‐C‐typing data are required to predict NK‐cell alloreactivity. We developed a Taqman assay using the quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Q‐PCR) technique that facilitates HLA‐C epitope typing, allowing the assignment of HLA‐C group 1 or 2 alleles based on the dimorphism at residues 77 and 80 rather than based on the sequence specific priming (SSP) and sequence‐based typing allele types. Q‐PCR analysis for HLA‐C epitope detection showed three clusters reflecting homozygous group 1 or 2 and heterozygous samples. This new approach introduces a quick HLA‐C epitope screening method to define the presence of the ligand for the KIR–HLA‐C interaction.
Rapid detection of intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (G241R and K469E) polymorphisms by a novel PCR–SSP assay
Authors: Tajik N. , Salari F. , Hajilooi M. , Amoli M. , Salekmoghaddam A.
Published: March 2007

Intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM‐1) is a cell surface glycoprotein member of the immunoglobulin superfamily and is actively involved in immune and inflammatory responses. We introduce a novel polymerase chain reaction–sequence‐specific primers (PCR–SSP) method for rapid and simultaneous genotyping of ICAM‐1 G241R and K469E polymorphisms. In a total of 184 DNA samples that have been previously analyzed for these polymorphisms using polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism technique, re‐genotyping of all samples with this new assay showed accurate and reproducible results. As PCR–SSP‐based genotyping protocols are more convenient and cost‐effective to do, it could therefore offer a valuable tool for assessment of ICAM‐1 polymorphisms to which more confirmatory studies are needed.
HLA‐DRB1*0402 haplotypes without DQB1*0302 in Venezuelan patients with pemphigus vulgaris
Authors: Sáenz‐Cantele A. M. , Fernández‐Mestre M. , Montagnani S. , Calebotta A. , Balbas O. , Layrisse Z.
Published: March 2007

The two basic forms of autoimmune intraepidermal blistering diseases, pemphigus vulgaris (PV) and pemphigus foliaceus (PF), affect different layers of the skin, have different symptoms and target different antigens. We have defined human leukocyte antigen (HLA)‐DRB1‐DQB1 alleles and haplotypes in a case–control study of 66 non‐Jewish patients attending a public reference Hospital over the past 10 years. The control group consisted of 101 matched individuals tested also by medium to high‐resolution polymerase chain reaction‐sequence‐specific oligonucleotide with primers and probes from the 12th and 13th International Histocompatibility Workshop. Patients and controls were descendants of three‐generation individuals born in the country. Among the patients, 49 had PV, 50% showed predominantly mucosal involvement, 50% showed predominantly the cutaneous clinical phenotype and 17 had PF. Statistically significant HLA‐DR frequency differences between patients with PV and controls were found only for DRB1*0402 and DRB1*1401 [odds ratio (OR) = 27.22, confidence interval (CI) 94.7–7.82, P= 1.1 × 10−14 and OR = 46.56, CI 801.4–2.70 P= 7.5 × 10−6, respectively]. Both alleles were also increased in the patients with PF compared with the controls (OR = 7.0, P= 0.038 and OR = 21.64, P= 0.009, respectively), but the significance of the difference did not resist Bonferroni correction. Haplotype analysis showed that DRB1*0402 was always present with DQB1*0302 and DRB1*1401 with DQB1*0503, but no independent effect of the DQB1*0302 in the former haplotype was evident. Our results support the hypothesis that the DRB1*0402 without DQB1*0302 is the most relevant HLA‐DRB1 allele responsible for the pathogenesis of pemphigus in Venezuelan patients with PV and discard the DQB1*0302 influence observed in other populations.
The cyanotrophic bacterium Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes CECT5344 responds to cyanide by defence mechanisms against iron deprivation, oxidative damage and nitrogen stress
Authors: Luque‐Almagro Victor M. , Huertas María J. , Roldán M. Dolores , Moreno‐Vivián Comrado , Martínez‐Luque Manuel , Blasco Rafael , Castillo Francisco
Published: March 2007

Two‐dimensional (2‐D) electrophoresis approach has been used to test protein expression changes in response to cyanide in the alkaliphilic bacterium Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes CECT5344. This is a cyanide‐assimilating strain which also grows in media containing cyanide‐enriched effluent from the jewellery industry. The bacterium efficiently uses this residue as the sole nitrogen source for aerobic growth under alkaline pH with negligible nitrogen losses as HCN. Cell‐free extracts isolated from P. pseudoalcaligenes grown with a jewellery residue, free cyanide or ammonium chloride as nitrogen source were subjected to 2‐D electrophoresis and the spot patterns were examined to determine differential protein expression. Electrophoretic plates exhibiting an average of 1000 spots showed significant differences in the expression of about 44 proteins depending on the nitrogen source. Some of these protein spots were analysed by Matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization‐time of flight‐mass spectrometry (MALDI‐TOF‐MS). Characterization of five of these proteins reveals that cyanide shock induces proteins related to iron acquisition, regulation of nitrogen assimilation pathways and oxidative stress repairing and protection.
Compensatory role of the cis‐trans‐isomerase and cardiolipin synthase in the membrane fluidity of Pseudomonas putida DOT‐T1E
Authors: Bernal Patricia , Segura Ana , Ramos Juan‐Luis
Published: March 2007

In Gram‐negative bacteria, cell membrane fluidity is influenced by phospholipid head group composition and linked fatty acids. Exposure of Pseudomonas putida to stressing agents results in short‐ and long‐term modifications in membrane lipids. The main adaptive change observed in response to organic solvents in the short term is the cis‐ to trans‐isomerization of unsaturated fatty acids in a reaction mediated by cis/trans‐isomerase (CTI); whereas in the long term an increase in cardiolipin content takes place. Despite the interest of these genes in the context of stress responses, the transcriptional regulation of the cti and cls genes has not been studied before. The cti and cls (cardiolipin synthase) genes in the solvent‐tolerant P. putida DOT‐T1E strain form monocistronic units and are expressed from sigma‐70 promoters. Expression from the cls promoter is sixfold higher in the stationary phase than in the log phase, and expression of the cls gene is not influenced by solvents. The cti gene is expressed at fairly constant levels in the log and stationary phase, but its level of expression is moderately upregulated in response to toluene. We used fluorescence polarization assays to show that mutants deficient in the cti gene exhibit less rigid membranes than the wild‐type strain, whereas mutants with a knockout in the cls gene exhibit increased membrane rigidity. A double cti/cls mutant has similar membrane rigidity as the wild‐type strain, which points towards a compensatory effect of the mutations with regard to membrane fluidity. However, the cls and cls/cti mutants were more sensitive to solvents than the wild‐type and the cti mutant because of the impaired functioning of efflux drug transporters.
The Role of Perceived Organizational Performance in Organizational Identification, Adjustment and Job Performance*
Authors: Carmeli Abraham , Gilat Gershon , Waldman David A.
Published: March 2007

abstract  Favourable organizational status and prestige has a substantial role in shaping constituents' attitudes and actions. The status and prestige of an organization is often a reflection of its achievements or performance. In the present study, we investigate the role of organizational performance or achievement (as assessed by organizational members) in evoking employees' identification, adjustment, and job performance. The results of this study indicate that two forms of organizational performance (labelled as perceived social responsibility and development and perceived market and financial performance) are associated with organizational identification. However, when compared to perceived market and financial performance, perceived social responsibility and development had a larger effect on organizational identification, which in turn resulted in enhanced employees' work outcomes – adjustment and job performance.
Understanding Top Management and Organizational Change Through Demographic and Processual Analysis*
Authors: Clark Ed , Soulsby Anna
Published: March 2007

abstract  Top management theory has been strongly influenced by demographic studies of top management teams (TMTs), but not by research into organizational adaptation to conditions of extreme institutional turbulence. This article analyses the transformation of a post‐socialist enterprise through a combination of demographic and processual methods to develop an enriched account of the micro‐processes through which top management constructed organizational change. Adding layers of narrative data and processual explanation directly addresses the well rehearsed problems in demographic TMT studies. From the findings, we propose a set of theoretical arguments that conceptualizes top management in terms of management regimes, to which TMTs are politically tied and through which they seek to realize their values and strategies in organizational outcomes.
Rule of law, anti‐corruption, anti‐terrorism and militant Islam: Coping with threats to democratic pluralism and national unity in Indonesia
Authors: Hainsworth Geoffrey
Published: March 2007

Abstract:  President Yudhoyono, Indonesia's first directly elected president, was swept into office on a wave of popular support, but was faced with a formidable array of challenges, each demanding a prompt and effective response. Among the most immediately pressing, calling for crisis management, were: first, the need to assert political control and to build an effective political coalition; second, the need to secure grass‐roots democracy by ensuring that regional elections were effectively carried out; third, the need to cope with the Aceh tsunami crisis and achieve a peaceful reconciliation with the Free Aceh Movement; and fourth, the need to resolve a series of socioeconomic policy ‘growth versus equity’ dilemmas, to attract foreign investors to stimulate export‐led growth, while securing basic needs and anti‐poverty social programmes. After briefly noting how Yudhoyono and his administration responded to these immediate problems during its first 20 months in office (to June 2006), the paper then discusses at greater length three more fundamental and intractable sets of problems, namely, the urgent need to implement judicial and administrative reform, and to launch a wide‐ranging anti‐corruption campaign; the need to confront the resurgence of militant Islamic terrorism, both inter‐communal and al‐Qaeda‐inspired, and to mount a robust anti‐terrorist campaign; and finally the intense and convoluted problem of inter‐sectarian animosities, and the clash of religious versus secular values, the reconciliation of which will be absolutely critical to securing social stability, democratic pluralism, national unity and Indonesia's futurity.
Structure of Firm Location Choices: An Examination of Japanese Greenfield Investment in China*
Authors: Cheng Shaoming
Published: March 2007

This paper presents an empirical investigation of the location decision structure of Japanese investors in China. In this study, a nested logit model and rich Japanese firm‐level greenfield manufacturing foreign direct investment data are calibrated together. This examination is not only driven by the unsatisfactory model specification of the conditional logit model in previous location choice analyses, specifically the violation of the independence from irrelevant alternatives assumption; but is also driven by the urgent need to better understand foreign investors’ in general and Japanese investors’ in particular location decision structure in China. Two potential hierarchical and sequential location decision‐making structures of Japanese investors are then tested, which are respectively in line with the spatial divide of China's FDI preferential policies and with China's six traditional census areas.
I Like to Do It, I'm Able, and I Know I Am: Longitudinal Couplings Between Domain‐Specific Achievement, Self‐Concept, and Interest
Authors: Denissen Jaap J. A. , Zarrett Nicole R. , Eccles Jacquelynne S.
Published: March 2007

The longitudinal development of the intraindividual coupling between academic achievement, interest, and self‐concept of ability (SCA) was analyzed in a sample of approximately 1,000 children between grades 1 and 12 (ages 6–17). Across all calculated indexes, the average level of coupling was positive. Individuals generally felt competent and interested in domains where they achieve well, and were interested in domains where they perceive their personal strengths. The degree of coupling was the highest between interest and SCA and the lowest between interest and achievement. For all indexes, evidence for an increase in coupling across time was found. Female gender was related to a lower level of coupling. There was evidence for a positive effect of conscientiousness on the amount of coupling.
Unpopping: Solving the Image‐Space Blend Problem for Smooth Discrete LOD Transitions
Authors: Giegl Markus , Wimmer Michael
Published: March 2007

This paper presents a new, simple and practical algorithm to avoid artifacts when switching between discrete levels of detail (LOD) by smoothly blending LOD representations in image space. We analyse the alternatives of conventional alpha‐blending and so‐called late‐switching (the switching of LODs ‘far enough’ from the eye‐point), widely thought to solve the LOD switching discontinuity problem, and conclude that they either do not work in practice, or defeat the concept of LODs. In contrast we show that our algorithm produces visually pleasing blends for static and animated discrete LODs, for discrete LODs with different types of LOD representations (e.g. billboards and meshes) and even to some extent totally different objects with similar spatial extent, with a very small runtime overhead.
A Survey of General‐Purpose Computation on Graphics Hardware
Authors: Owens John D. , Luebke David , Govindaraju Naga , Harris Mark , Krüger Jens , Lefohn Aaron E. , Purcell Timothy J.
Published: March 2007

The rapid increase in the performance of graphics hardware, coupled with recent improvements in its programmability, have made graphics hardware a compelling platform for computationally demanding tasks in a wide variety of application domains. In this report, we describe, summarize, and analyze the latest research in mapping general‐purpose computation to graphics hardware.

We begin with the technical motivations that underlie general‐purpose computation on graphics processors (GPGPU) and describe the hardware and software developments that have led to the recent interest in this field. We then aim the main body of this report at two separate audiences. First, we describe the techniques used in mapping general‐purpose computation to graphics hardware. We believe these techniques will be generally useful for researchers who plan to develop the next generation of GPGPU algorithms and techniques. Second, we survey and categorize the latest developments in general‐purpose application development on graphics hardware.
Just How Low are China's Labour Costs?
Authors: Ceglowski Janet , Golub Stephen
Published: March 2007

This paper provides a new perspective on Chinese international competitiveness in manufacturing using relative unit labour costs. We find that Chinese unit labour costs are about 25–40 per cent of US labour costs. They are also low relative to costs in the EU, Japan, Mexico, Korea and most other newly industrialising countries. However, China's relative unit labour costs indicate a substantially smaller cost advantage than that implied by a comparison of wages alone. China's cost advantage derives from large currency devaluations that preceded the establishment of a de facto peg around 1995, and rapid productivity growth in the period since 1995.
Semiparametric Bayesian Classification with longitudinal Markers
Authors: De la Cruz-Mesía Rolando , Quintana Fernando A. , Müller Peter
Published: March 2007

We analyse data from a study involving 173 pregnant women. The data are observed values of the β human chorionic gonadotropin hormone measured during the first 80 days of gestational age, including from one up to six longitudinal responses for each woman. The main objective in this study is to predict normal versus abnormal pregnancy outcomes from data that are available at the early stages of pregnancy. We achieve the desired classification with a semiparametric hierarchical model. Specifically, we consider a Dirichlet process mixture prior for the distribution of the random effects in each group. The unknown random-effects distributions are allowed to vary across groups but are made dependent by using a design vector to select different features of a single underlying random probability measure. The resulting model is an extension of the dependent Dirichlet process model, with an additional probability model for group classification. The model is shown to perform better than an alternative model which is based on independent Dirichlet processes for the groups. Relevant posterior distributions are summarized by using Markov chain Monte Carlo methods.
Harm, Affect, and the Moral/Conventional Distinction
Authors: KELLY DANIEL , STICH STEPHEN , HALEY KEVIN J. , ENG SERENA J. , FESSLER DANIEL M. T.
Published: March 2007

Abstract:  The moral/conventional task has been widely used to study the emergence of moral understanding in children and to explore the deficits in moral understanding in clinical populations. Previous studies have indicated that moral transgressions, particularly those in which a victim is harmed, evoke a signature pattern of responses in the moral/conventional task: they are judged to be serious, generalizable and not authority dependent. Moreover, this signature pattern is held to be pan‐cultural and to emerge early in development. However, almost all the evidence for these claims comes from studies using harmful transgressions of the sort that primary school children might commit in the schoolyard. In a study conducted on the Internet, we used a much wider range of harm transgressions, and found that they do not evoke the signature pattern of responses found in studies using only schoolyard transgressions. Paralleling other recent work, our study provides preliminary grounds for skepticism regarding many conclusions drawn from earlier research using the moral/conventional task.
A Notional Worlds Approach to Confusion
Authors: LAWLOR KRISTA
Published: March 2007

Abstract:  People often become confused, mistaking one thing for another, or taking two things to be the same. How should we assign semantic values to confused statements? Recently, philosophers have taken a pessimistic view of confusion, arguing that understanding confused belief demands significant departure from our normal interpretive practice. I argue for optimism. Our semantic treatment of confusion can be a lot like our semantic treatment of empty names. Surprisingly, perhaps, the resulting semantics lets us keep in place more of our everyday interpretive practices in the face of confused belief.
Novel mutation of the Notch3 gene in a Japanese patient with CADASIL
Authors: Oki K. , Nagata E. , Ishiko A. , Shimizu A. , Tanaka K. , Takahashi K. , Tabira T. , Katayama T. , Suzuki N.
Published: March 2007

We report a novel missense mutation of the Notch3 gene in a Japanese family with CADASIL. The Cys49Gly mutation in this family is located in exon 2 of the Notch3 gene. Most of the documented Notch3 gene mutations occur in exons 3 or 4. On the other hand, there are few reports around the world of mutations in exon 2 of the Notch3 gene, and this is the first report of a mutation in exon 2 of the gene in a Japanese family. In general, CADASIL mutations involve a cysteine residue. Such mutations may influence the tertiary structure of the Notch3 protein, resulting in protein dysfunction. Thus, the CADASIL in the present case may be a consequence of the mutation in exon 2 causing a structural change in the Notch3 protein.
Metabolic syndrome is more associated with intracranial atherosclerosis than extracranial atherosclerosis
Authors: Park J.‐H. , Kwon H.‐M. , Roh J.‐K.
Published: March 2007

To elucidate the relationship between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and cerebrovascular stenosis, we performed comparative studies of MetS and its components between ischemic stroke patients with intra‐ and extracranial atherostenosis. We evaluated 378 acute ischemic stroke patients who underwent brain magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and MR angiography. Stenosis was diagnosed in cases showing a degree of luminal narrowing of ≥ 50%. The stroke subtypes were categorized as large artery atherosclerosis (LAA), small artery occlusion (SAO), cardioembolism (CE), and stroke of undetermined etiology (SUE). MetS was defined using the criteria of the Adult Treatment Panel III. The mean carotid intimal medial thickness values showed increased tendency as the number of MetS components increased (P < 0.001). Regardless of stroke subtype, the MetS (+) group showed an increasing tendency toward stenosis (LAA, SAO, all P < 0.001; CE, P = 0.001; SUE, P = 0.077). MetS was independently associated with intracranial atherosclerosis (odds ratio, 3.58; 95% CI, 2.28–5.63), which was prominent with more severe MetS components after adjustment for other risk factors (P < 0.001). Amongst the component conditions, elevated blood pressure, increased blood glucose/hyperglycemia, and abdominal obesity were dominantly associated with stenosis (all P < 0.001). Modifications of the individual MetS components need to be considered for stroke prevention because of intracranial atherogenic progression.
A common leucine‐rich repeat kinase 2 gene mutation in familial and sporadic Parkinson's disease in Russia
Authors: Illarioshkin S. N. , Shadrina M. I. , Slominsky P. A. , Bespalova E. V. , Zagorovskaya T. B. , Bagyeva G. Kh. , Markova E. D. , Limborska S. A. , Ivanova‐Smolenskaya I. A.
Published: March 2007

A PARK8 form of Parkinson's disease (PD) is caused by a novel gene, leucine‐rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2), and a single mutation G2019S was found in a proportion of LRRK2‐associated cases of diverse ethnic origins. We performed the LRRK2 G2019S mutation analysis in 304 Russian patients with PD, including 291 sporadic and 13 autosomal dominant cases. The frequency of the LRRK2 G2019S was 0.7% amongst the sporadic patients (2/291) and 7.7% amongst familial PD (1/13). The mutation was also found in three unaffected relatives and absent in 700 control chromosomes. One patient carrying the LRRK2 G2019S was found earlier to have an additional mutation, a heterozygous duplication of exon 5 of the parkin gene. All patients carrying the LRRK2 G2019S exhibited typical levodopa‐responsive parkinsonism, and severe levodopa‐induced dyskinesia was observed in the patient carrying the LRRK2 and parkin mutations. There was notable variability in ages of the disease onset in G2019S carriers not explained by APOE genotypes. Two subsets of G2019S‐positive patients had different PARK8 haplotypes suggesting that the LRRK2 G2019S in Russian patients had arisen independently on different chromosomes. Identification of common LRRK2 mutations in some PD patients without an overt family history has notable implications for genetic counseling.
Cerebral embolism with interventional closure of symptomatic patent foramen ovale: An MRI‐based study using diffusion‐weighted imaging
Authors: Dorenbeck U. , Simon B. , Skowasch D. , Stüßer C. , Gockel A. , Schild H. H. , Urbach H. , Bauriedel G.
Published: March 2007

Paradoxical embolism via patent foramen ovale (PFO) is an important cause of stroke, especially in younger patients. Transcatheter PFO closure is considered to bear a low risk and to be technically feasable with a high primary success rate. There are no data for the rate of procedure‐associated silent embolic events. The present study sought to analyze the total number of cerebral ischemic complications with interventional PFO closure. Thirty‐five symptomatic PFO patients (15 male, 26–71 years) with cerebral infarctions proven by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were examined by diffusion‐weighted imaging (DWI) before and after PFO closure. In the MRI examinations following the intervention, new microembolic lesions were found in three of 35 (8.6%) patients. The lesions were located in the right and left thalamus and the left frontoparietal white matter respectively. Two of three infarcts were clinically inapparent, whereas the third patient suffered from a transient right‐sided hemihypaesthesia for 12 h. If the prevention of recurrent cerebrovascular events associated with the presence of PFO is necessary, a low frequency of closure associated silent cerebral embolisms was documented after interventional PFO closure. The rate of microembolic events with neurological deficit was 1/35 (∼ 2.8%).
Cognitive and behavioural predictors of progression rates in Alzheimer's disease
Authors: Buccione I. , Perri R. , Carlesimo G. A. , Fadda L. , Serra L. , Scalmana S. , Caltagirone C.
Published: March 2007

Cognitive and functional decline in Alzheimer's disease (AD) may show different, yet correlated, rates of progression. Over a 2‐year period we investigated the predictive role of neuropsychological and behavioural variables on the cognitive and functional decline of 43 patients with AD. Slow and fast decliners were defined on the basis of cognitive and functional indexes of disease progression. We found that cognitive decline was predicted by diffuse cognitive impairment and functional progression by visuospatial deficits. Psychotic symptoms predicted faster disease progression in both cognitive and functional dimensions.
Insight and danger in Alzheimer's disease
Authors: Starkstein S. E. , Jorge R. , Mizrahi R. , Adrian J. , Robinson R. G.
Published: March 2007

To determine the frequency, and demographic and clinical correlates of dangerous behaviours in Alzheimer's disease (AD). We assessed a consecutive series of 278 patients with AD and 45 age‐comparable healthy controls with a comprehensive psychiatric and neuropsychological evaluation. Caregivers rated the frequency of patients’ exposure to dangerous situations or commission of dangerous behaviours. The frequency of dangerous behaviours was 16% in the AD group and 2% in the healthy control group. The presence of anosognosia was associated with a threefold increase in the risk of dangerous behaviours, but there was no significant association between dangerous behaviours and patients’ age, years of education, diagnosis of major or minor depression and presence of suicide ideation. Sixteen per cent of a consecutive series of patients with AD had dangerous behaviours during the month preceding the clinical evaluation. Anosognosia was the main clinical correlate of dangerous behaviours in this population.
Habermas's Theological Turn?
Authors: HARRINGTON AUSTIN
Published: March 2007

Since the turn of the millennium Jürgen Habermas's contributions to social and political theory have been increasingly turning toward matters of religious and theological relevance. This article weighs up the import and coherence of Habermas's recent reflections on religious belief and its relationship to reason and modernity in Western philosophical culture. At the forefront of the analysis stands Habermas's conception of appropriate “limits” and “boundaries” between the domains of knowledge and faith and the possibility and desirability of a process of “discursive translation” of contents of religious language into forms of secularized, universalizing moral argument. The article defends the thesis that Habermas's project of a rapprochement between contents of religious language and norms of scientific thinking founders on its attempt to reconcile too many different, conceptually centrifugal tendencies. However, these difficulties and inconsistencies in Habermas's recent thinking remain instructive and ought to continue to engage the interest of scholars concerned today with the question of how far the philosophy of the social sciences can and cannot accommodate commitments to theism in the practice of research.
Happiness and Virtue in Positive Psychology
Authors: MARTIN MIKE W.
Published: March 2007

Positive psychologists aspire to study the moral virtues, as well as positive emotions, while retaining scientific objectivity. Within this framework, Martin Seligman, a founder of positive psychology, offers an empirically‐based argument for an ancient and venerable theme: happiness can be increased by exercising the virtues. Seligman's project is promising, but it needs to pay greater attention to several methodological matters: (1) greater care in defining happiness, so as to avoid smuggling in value assumptions of the sort suggested by the title of his book, Authentic Happiness; (2) more attention to the gap between happiness as overall satisfaction and specific gratifications (enjoyments); (3) the danger of sliding to subjectivism by equating self‐assessments of virtue with objectively‐justified values of the sort Aristotle had in mind; (4) awareness of how “positive” emotions and attitudes presuppose value assumptions.
Adaptation and Appropriation on the Colonial Frontier: Indigenous Leadership in the Colombian Chocó, 1670–1808
Authors: WILLIAMS CAROLINE A.
Published: March 2007

This article explores the consequences for the native population of the Colombian Chocó of the emergence, over the course of the eighteenth century, of an elite of caciques and indios mandones or principales whose functions of powers far exceeded those of the warrior chiefs that had traditionally acted as leaders of their people. Appointed for the purpose of facilitating the collection of tribute and the supply of labour to European settlers, caciques and mandones were almost universally rejected by native communities during the early phases of Spanish colonisation (c. 1630–1690), and they disappear from the historical record after Independence. Eighteenth‐century sources, however, not only record the existence of a clearly defined elite of mandones or principales in villages across the region, but show these individuals engaging actively with the colonial authorities, on behalf of their communities, at local and audiencia levels. This article argues that, at a time of a much strengthened European presence in the region, caciques and mandones came to understand their roles in ways that were entirely different from those intended by the Spanish, and in so doing acquired the legitimacy that had eluded their seventeenth‐century predecessors. Far from serving merely as intermediaries between settlers and indigenous populations, indios mandones acted as negotiators on behalf of the indigenous population, whose task was to defend and/or advance the interests of the communities they had been appointed to control.
Cuba’s Ministry of Interior: The FAR’s Fifth Army
Authors: MORA FRANK O.
Published: March 2007

Since the beginning of the Cuban Revolution, Raúl Castro and his Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) has sought to maintain at least operational control over state security, i.e., the Ministry of Interior (Minint). Between 1960 and 1989 FAR and Minint competed for resources and for the attention of the Revolution’s supreme leader, Fidel Castro. In 1989 Raúl Castro was finally able to achieve his objective of absorbing Minint’s operational missions, namely domestic security, when, after a series of crises associated with the end of the Cold War, corruption scandals in Minint, and indiscretions by the Minint leadership, Fidel acquiesced and allowed Raúl and FAR to purge Minint and take control of state security.
Excluded from Health? Informal Workers’ Access to Health Care in Chile
Authors: GIDEON JASMINE
Published: March 2007

The Pan American Health Organisation recently highlighted the increased exclusion of low income households in Latin America from health care. The rise in informal employment and sub‐contracting of workers means that many employees lack formal contracts and are excluded from health insurance programmes. Feminist research suggests low income women are often most at risk of exclusion. Simultaneously, deeply entrenched inequalities within health systems across the region have not been addressed by health sector reforms. Drawing on the case of Chile, this paper examines the extent to which informal workers have indeed been excluded and how far these processes are gendered.
Transculturation: Contrapuntal Notes to Critical Orthodoxy1
Authors: MILLINGTON MARK
Published: March 2007

Transculturation is a frequent point of reference in Latin American cultural studies, but overuse is tending to create a new critical orthodoxy, and inattention to precise definition may be compromising effectiveness. This article assesses current deployments of the term and, through a close reading of the theoretical section of Ortiz’s Contrapunteo cubano, seeks to establish an understanding of what is involved in the cultural and human experience of transculturation. It concludes by examining recent critiques of the term and suggests a sceptical view of the potential for and limits on transculturation in the global context of Latin American cultures.
Molecular regulation of cognitive functions and developmental plasticity: impact of GABAAreceptors
Authors: Möhler Hanns
Published: March 2007

By controlling spike timing and sculpting neuronal rhythms, inhibitory interneurons play a key role in regulating neuronal circuits and behavior. The pronounced diversity of GABAergic (γ‐aminobutyric acid) interneurons is paralleled by an extensive diversity of GABAAreceptor subtypes. The region‐ and domain‐specific location of these receptor subtypes offers the opportunity to gain functional insights into the role of defined neuronal circuits. These developments are reviewed with regard to the regulation of sleep, anxiety, memory, sensorimotor processing and post‐natal developmental plasticity.
Stress‐induced changes in epinephrine expression in the adrenal medulla in vivo
Authors: Tai T. C. , Claycomb Robert , Siddall Brenda J. , Bell Rose Ann , Kvetnansky Richard , Wong Dona L.
Published: March 2007

Immobilization (IMMO) stress was used to examine how stress alters the stress hormone epinephrine (EPI) in the adrenal medulla in vivo. In rats subjected to IMMO for 30 or 120 min, adrenal corticosterone increased to the same extent. In contrast, EPI changed very little, suggesting that EPI synthesis replenishes adrenal pools and sustains circulating levels for the heightened alertness and physiological responses of the ‘flight or fight’ response. In part, stress activates EPI via the phenylethanolamine N‐methyltransferase (PNMT) gene as single or repeated IMMO elevated PNMT mRNA. The rise in PNMT mRNA was preceded by induction of the PNMT gene activator, Egr‐1, with increases in Egr‐1 mRNA, protein, and protein–DNA binding complex apparent. IMMO also evoked changes in Sp1 mRNA, protein, and Sp1–DNA complex formation, although for chronic IMMO changes were not entirely coincident. In contrast, glucocorticoid receptor and AP‐2 mRNA, protein, and protein–DNA complex were unaltered. Finally, IMMO stress elevated PNMT protein. However, with seven daily IMMOs for 120 min and delayed killing, protein stimulation did not attain the highly elevated levels expected based on mRNA changes. The latter may perhaps suggest initiation of adrenergic desensitization to prolonged and repeated IMMO stress and/or dissociation of transcriptional and post‐transcriptional regulatory mechanisms.
Mutant SOD1‐induced neuronal toxicity is mediated by increased mitochondrial superoxide levels
Authors: Zimmerman Matthew C. , Oberley Larry W. , Flanagan Shawn W.
Published: March 2007

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the most common motor neuron disease in adults, is characterized by the selective degeneration and death of motor neurons leading to progressive paralysis and eventually death. Approximately 20% of familial ALS cases are associated with mutations in SOD1, the gene encoding Cu/Zn‐superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD). Previously, we reported that overexpression of the mitochondrial antioxidant manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD or SOD2) attenuates cytotoxicity induced by expression of the G37R‐SOD1 mutant in a human neuroblastoma cell culture model of ALS. In the present study, we extended these earlier findings using several different SOD1 mutants (G93C, G85R, and I113T). Additionally, we tested the hypothesis that mutant SOD1 increases mitochondrial‐produced superoxide (O2•−) levels and that SOD2 overexpression protects neurons from mutant SOD1‐induced toxicity by reducing O2•− levels in mitochondria. In the present study, we demonstrate that SOD2 overexpression markedly attenuates the neuronal toxicity induced by adenovirus‐mediated expression of all four SOD1 mutants (G37R, G93C, G85R, or I113T) tested. Utilizing the mitochondrial‐targeted O2•−‐sensitive fluorogenic probe MitoSOX RedTM, we observed a significant increase in mitochondrial O2•− levels in neural cells expressing mutant SOD1. These elevated O2•− levels in mitochondria were significantly diminished by the overexpression of SOD2. These data suggest that mitochondrial‐produced O2•− radicals play a critical role in mutant SOD1‐mediated neuronal toxicity and implicate mitochondrial‐produced free radicals as potential therapeutic targets in ALS.
Antagonistic effects of TrkB and p75NTR on NMDA receptor currents in post‐synaptic densities transplanted into Xenopus oocytes
Authors: Sandoval Mauricio , Sandoval Rodrigo , Thomas Ulrich , Spilker Christina , Smalla Karl‐Heinz , Falcon Romina , Marengo Juan José , Calderón Rodrigo , Saavedra Verónica , Heumann Rolf , Bronfman Francisca , Garner Craig C. , Gundelfinger Eckart D. , Wyneken Ursula
Published: March 2007

Brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its receptor TrkB are essential regulators of synaptic function in the adult CNS. A TrkB‐mediated effect at excitatory synapses is enhancement of NMDA receptor (NMDA‐R)‐mediated currents. Recently, opposing effects of TrkB and the pan‐neurotrophin receptor p75NTR on long‐term synaptic depression and long‐term potentiation have been reported in the hippocampus. To further study the regulation of NMDA‐Rs by neurotrophin receptors in their native protein environment, we micro‐transplanted rat forebrain post‐synaptic densities (PSDs) into Xenopus oocytes. One‐minute incubations of oocytes with BDNF led to dual effects on NMDA‐R currents: either TrkB‐dependent potentiation or TrkB‐independent inhibition were observed. Pro‐nerve growth factor, a ligand for p75NTR but not for TrkB, produced a reversible, dose‐dependent, TrkB‐independent and p75NTR‐dependent inhibition of NMDA‐Rs. Fractionation experiments showed that p75NTR is highly enriched in the PSD protein fraction. Immunoprecipitation and pull‐down experiments further revealed that p75NTR is a core component of the PSD, where it interacts with the PDZ3 domain of the scaffolding protein SAP90/PSD‐95. Our data provide striking evidence for a rapid inhibitory effect of p75NTR on NMDA‐R currents that antagonizes TrkB‐mediated NMDA‐R potentiation. These opposing mechanisms might be present in a large proportion of forebrain synapses and may contribute importantly to synaptic plasticity.
Telomere restoration and extension of proliferative lifespan in dyskeratosis congenita fibroblasts
Authors: Westin Erik R. , Chavez Elizabeth , Lee Kimberly M. , Gourronc Francoise A. , Riley Soraya , Lansdorp Peter M. , Goldman Frederick D. , Klingelhutz Aloysius J.
Published: March 2007

Dyskeratosis congenita (DC), an inherited bone marrow failure syndrome, is caused by defects in telomerase. Somatic cells from DC patients have shortened telomeres and clinical symptoms are most pronounced in organs with a high cell turnover, including those involved in hematopoiesis and skin function. We previously identified an autosomal dominant (AD) form of DC that is caused by mutations in the telomerase RNA component (TER). In this study, we evaluated whether retroviral expression of TER and/or telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT), the catalytic component of telomerase, could extend telomere length and rescue AD DC cells from a phenotype characteristic of early senescence. Exogenous TER expression, without TERT, could not activate telomerase in AD DC skin fibroblasts. Transduction of TERT alone, however, provided AD DC cells with sufficient telomerase activity to extend average telomere length and proliferative capacity. Interestingly, we found that expression of TER and TERT together resulted in extension of lifespan and higher levels of telomerase and longer telomeres than expression of TERT alone in both AD DC and normal cells. Our results provide evidence that AD DC cells can be rescued from defects in telomere maintenance and proliferation, and that coexpression of TERT and TER together provides a more efficient means to elongate telomeres than expression of TERT alone. Similar strategies may be useful for ameliorating the detrimental effects of telomere shortening in AD DC and other diseases associated with telomerase or telomere defects.
The Impact of Program Design on Enrollment in State Children's Health Insurance Programs
Authors: Nicholson‐Crotty Sean
Published: March 2007

The success of State Children's Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP) in expanding insurance coverage among low‐income children varies considerably across states. Scholars have looked to different program characteristics to explain this variation, but have arrived at disparate conclusions regarding the impact of one of the most significant design choices—the decision to create a new program or to pursue increased child health insurance rates through an expansion of the existing Medicaid program. This study suggests that understanding the impact of programmatic choices requires a more careful consideration of the mechanisms through which these different program designs might influence enrollment than has been offered in previous research. Employing a multilevel governance framework, it suggests that there is a hitherto unexplored indirect impact, where design choices influence administrative behavior, which in turn influences enrollment success in SCHIP programs. It is important to understand the effect of administrative design choices because this is one of the key areas in which states exercise discretion in the implementation of many federal programs.