bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An in vitro study of Hoechst 33342 redistribution and its effects on cell viability
Authors: Mohorko N , Kregar-Velikonja N , Repovs G , Gorensek M , Bresjanac M
Published: November 2005

Although Hoechst 33342 (H342) is frequently used to label donor cells in cell transplantation research, it has been noted that it might secondarily label the host cells. Furthermore, its potential toxicity leading to cell death has been described.

We studied the time course of H342 redistribution from the primary labeled rat bone marrow stromal cells (rBMSC) into the non-labeled rBMSC population over 7 days in culture; we evaluated the nuclear H342 fluorescence intensity as a possible criterion for distinguishing the primary from the secondary labeled cells, and determined the viability of rBMSC after an overnight incubation in 1 mg/mL of H342.

H342 labeled / 50% of the initially non-labeled cells within the first 6 hours and almost 90% within a week.Nuclear fluorescence intensity was a reliable criterion for distinguishing primary and secondary labeled cells within the first 24 hours, but less so at later time points. The percentage of either apoptotic or necrotic cells did not rise acutely after the overnight incubation in 1 mg/mL of H342.

Although a 12-hour incubation of rBMSC in 1 mg/mL of H342 did not cause acute cell death, H342 rapidly and extensively redistributed into non-labeled cells, which makes H342 a relatively unsuitable marker for cell transplantation research.
The limits of the mirror box concept as an overcast sky simulator
Authors: Matusiak B , Arnesen H
Published: November 2005

A new overcast sky simulator was developed in the fall of 2000 at the Faculty of Architecture at NTNU, Trondheim, Norway. During the design process the limits of the mirror box concept as an overcast sky simulator were investigated. One of the limits is uneven distribution of luminance over the surface of the luminous ceiling. The reason for this is the uneven light distribution on the diffusing canvas from the light sources. The diffusing canvas itself may not be a perfect lambertian diffuser either. Another limit is the uneven luminance distribution on the mirror walls due to the stepwise changes of luminance on the mirror walls. The methods for reducing those limits are discussed and described.
Analyzing lifetime data with long-tailed skewed distribution: the logistic-sinh family
Authors: Cooray Kahadawala
Published: November 2005

A new two-parameter family of distribution is presented. It is derived to model the highly negatively skewed data with extreme observations. The new family of distribution is referred to as the logistic-sinh distribution, as it is derived from the logistic distribution by appropriately replacing an exponential term with a hyperbolic sine term. The resulting family provides not only negatively skewed densities with thick tails but also variety of monotonic density shapes. The space of shape parameter, lambda greater than zero is divided by boundary line of lambda equals one, into two regions over which the hazard function is, respectively, increasing and bathtub shaped. The maximum likelihood parameter estimation techniques are discussed by providing approximate coverage probabilities for uncensored samples. The advantages of using the new family are demonstrated and compared by illustrating well known examples.
High-Dose Therapy and Autologous Blood Stem-Cell Transplantation Compared With Conventional Treatment in Myeloma Patients Aged 55 to 65 Years: Long-Term Results of a Randomized Control Trial From the Group Myelome-Autogreffe
Authors: Fermand Jean-Paul , Katsahian Sandrine , Divine Marine , Leblond Veronique , Dreyfus Francois , Macro Margaret , Arnulf Bertrand , Royer Bruno , Mariette Xavier , Pertuiset Edouard , Belanger Coralie , Janvier Maud , Chevret Sylvie , Brouet Jean Claude , Ravaud Philippe
Published: November 2005

Purpose

To study the impact of high-dose therapy (HDT) with autologous stem-cell support in patients with symptomatic multiple myeloma (MM) between the ages of 55 and 65 years.

Patients and Methods

One hundred ninety patients between 55 and 65 years old who had newly diagnosed stage II or III MM were randomly assigned to receive either conventional chemotherapy (CCT; ie, monthly courses of a regimen of vincristine, melphalan, cyclophosphamide, and prednisone) or HDT and autologous blood stem-cell transplantation (using either melphalan alone 200 mg/m2 intravenous [IV] or melphalan 140 mg/m2 IV plus busulfan 16 mg/kg orally as pretransplantation cytoreduction).

Results

Within a median follow-up of 120 months, median event-free survival (EFS) times were 25 and 19 months in the HDT and CCT groups, respectively. Median overall survival (OS) time was 47.8 months in the HDT group compared with 47.6 months in the CCT group. A trend to better EFS (P = .07) was observed in favor of HDT, whereas OS curves were not statistically different (P = .91). The period of time without symptoms, treatment, and treatment toxicity (TwiSTT) was significantly longer for the HDT patients than for the CCT patients (P = .03).

Conclusion

With a median follow-up time of approximately 10 years, this randomized trial confirmed a benefit of HDT in terms of EFS and TwiSTT but did not provide evidence for superiority of HDT over CCT in OS of patients aged 55 to 65 years with symptomatic newly diagnosed MM.
Role of Salvage Radical Prostatectomy for Recurrent Prostate Cancer After Radiation Therapy
Authors: Stephenson Andrew J. , Eastham James A.
Published: November 2005

Patients with isolated local recurrence of prostate cancer after radiation therapy may potentially be cured of their disease by salvage radical prostatectomy (RP). The stage-specific 5-year cancer-control rates of salvage RP resemble those of standard RP. However, the ability to effectively administer salvage treatment to patients with radiorecurrent disease is compromised by the lack of diagnostic tests with sufficient sensitivity and specificity to detect local recurrence at an early stage while it is amenable to local salvage therapy. By the time biochemical recurrence is declared using the current American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology definition, the majority of patients have advanced local disease, precluding successful local salvage therapy. When salvage RP is performed at prostate-specific antigen levels of 10 ng/mL or less, an estimated 70% of patients are free of disease at 5 years. With better patient selection and technical modifications, the morbidity associated with salvage RP has improved substantially. Rates of urinary incontinence and anastomotic stricture are acceptable, although one third of patients will experience these complications. Salvage cryotherapy is a minimally invasive alternative to salvage RP, but cancer-control rates appear to be inferior and it does not provide a clear advantage over salvage RP in terms of reduced morbidity. Patients with local recurrence after radiation therapy are at increased risk of metastatic progression and cancer-specific mortality. Currently, salvage RP represents the only curative treatment option for these patients. Salvage RP may favorably alter the natural history of biochemical recurrence after radiation therapy, but it must be instituted early in the course of recurrent disease to be effective.
Parameters for Treatment Decisions for Salvage Radiation Therapy
Authors: Hayes Shelly Bowers , Pollack Alan
Published: November 2005

Radical prostatectomy (RP) is the most common primary treatment for prostate cancer. About 40% of those with high-risk pathologic features, such as a positive margin or seminal vesicle involvement, will develop biochemical failure at some point in the future. Radiotherapy (RT), with or without concurrent androgen deprivation, has been used liberally in the management of men with a rising prostate-specific antigen (PSA) after RP, based mostly on relatively small retrospective series. Factors such as the prostatectomy Gleason score, seminal vesicle invasion, absolute pre-RT PSA level, and pre-RT PSA doubling time are emerging as important determinants of outcome after RT. These factors should be used as a guide to the options of local therapy alone (RT), local therapy plus systemic therapy (typically androgen deprivation therapy), and systemic therapy alone.
Robotic-Assisted Laparoscopic Prostatectomy: Do Minimally Invasive Approaches Offer Significant Advantages?
Authors: Smith Joseph A. , Herrell S. Duke
Published: November 2005

Radical prostatectomy has maintained a cardinal role in the treatment of localized prostate cancer. Robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP) has been introduced as a less invasive surgical approach. Available data on RALP versus open approaches were reviewed for surgical and cancer related outcomes. RALP is consistently associated with decreased blood loss and limited postoperative pain and hospital stay. Surgical margins seem similar between most reported series of RALP or open radical prostatectomy. Most intrainstitutional comparisons demonstrate better postoperative continence and potency with RALP, but there is still debate about whether results are superior to radical retropubic prostatectomy in the hands of a highly experienced surgeon. RALP provides outcomes at least comparable, and, in some measures, superior to open surgery. Refinements of instrumentation may provide even better results in the future.
Should Intermittent Androgen Deprivation Be Used in Routine Clinical Practice?
Authors: Bhandari Manish S. , Crook Juanita , Hussain Maha
Published: November 2005

For several decades, androgen deprivation (AD) has been the mainstay for treating metastatic prostate cancer. AD can be attained by a variety of means; however, irrespective of modality and a gratifying initial high response rate, almost all patients advance to a state of androgen independence and ultimately a hormone-refractory state. Improved understanding of the biology and mechanisms of progression to androgen independence coupled with promising preclinical data have led to investigating intermittent AD (IAD) as a way of improving disease control while maintaining quality of life. Preliminary published clinical experience, mostly from uncontrolled trials, suggests the feasibility of this approach. Two ongoing cooperative-group phase III trials are evaluating the survival impact of IAD both in patients with metastatic disease and in those with prostate-specific antigen failure post–radiation therapy. There are several unanswered questions regarding this approach, and until more definitive data regarding its safety and impact on survival are available, IAD should be considered experimental. In this review, we detail the background and preclinical scientific rational for investigating IAD, and we review published clinical experience and describe the ongoing phase III clinical trials. We also discuss special considerations for using IAD outside the context of a clinical trial.
Early Versus Delayed Androgen Deprivation for Prostate Cancer: New Fuel for an Old Debate
Authors: Ryan Charles J. , Small Eric J.
Published: November 2005

The purpose of this review is to discuss the recent increase in data supporting the use of androgen ablation early in the clinical course for patients with nonmetastatic prostate cancer. We systematically reviewed recent publications that report on the use of androgen deprivation (AD) in nonmetastatic prostate cancer patients from the 2003 and 2004 procedings of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the 2003 and 2004 procedings of the American Urological Association as well as published literature from 2003 to 2005. Five recently published mature randomized trials of AD plus local therapy were evaluated plus two large data sets on the use of AD for patients with serologic relapse after local therapy. Four mature randomized studies demonstrate an overall survival benefit to the use of AD in conjunction with definitive local therapy (three with radiation and one with surgery). One retrospective analysis suggests that AD administered early after serologic progression improves overall survival, and one retrospective analysis shows a reduction in metastasis-free survival but has not yet shown an overall survival benefit. For patients with nonmetastatic prostate cancer with high-risk features, as well as those for serologic relapse, the use of AD before the development of metastatic disease is supported by long-term outcomes from a series of clinical trials. Consideration of AD is therefore warranted early in the clinical course of high-risk patients.
Human Sperm Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin Isoform: Characterization and Measurement by Time-Resolved Fluorescence Immunoassay
Authors: Selva David M. , Bassas Lluis , Munell Francina , Mata Ana , Tekpetey Francis , Lewis John G. , Hammond Geoffrey L.
Published: November 2005

Context: SHBG gene expression in human testis results in an SHBG isoform that accumulates in the sperm head.

Objective: The objective of this study was to further characterize the SHBG isoform in human sperm and to assess its biological relevance.

Design, Setting, and Patients: A time-resolved immunofluorometric assay was established to measure SHBG isoform concentrations in sperm samples from patients and sperm donors attending in vitro fertilization clinics.

Results and Conclusions: Molecular characterization of SHBG transcripts in human testis and sperm and biochemical analyses of the sperm SHBG isoform indicate that its smaller size compared with plasma SHBG is due to a lack of amino-terminal residues. The SHBG isoform is lost from sperm by one freeze and thaw cycle and during capacitation, which suggests it is located in or between the outer acrosomal and sperm plasma membranes. Sperm SHBG levels were proportional to the number of sperm analyzed and within assay variability in samples taken on different occasions from seven of nine individuals. Intra- and interassay variability (coefficient of variation) was 5.8 and 8.5%, respectively. Sperm SHBG levels ranged from 6–49 pm/106 sperm in 13 donor samples and did not correlate with serum SHBG levels. Sperm SHBG levels were lowest in fertile men and highest in patients with untreated varicocele, but these differences were not significant. Patients studied for couple infertility and those with surgically treated varicocele showed intermediate values. Sperm SHBG isoform levels correlate significantly with age and sperm motility and may influence sperm function in relation to male fertility.
A new surface roughness prediction model for ceramic grinding
Authors: Agarwal S , Rao P Venkateswara
Published: November 2005

Product quality assurance is a very important concern in industries these days. Surface quality is an important constituent of overall product quality in ceramic grinding. Surface roughness is one of the major quality attributes of a ground product and hence it is used to determine and evaluate the quality of the product. Although the surface roughness evaluation has been standardized, establishment of a model for reliable prediction of surface roughness is still a key issue. This paper presents a new analytical model for the prediction of arithmetic mean surface roughness based on the stochastic nature of grinding process, governed mainly by the random geometry of grain and random distribution of cutting edges on the wheel surface having random grain protrusion heights. A simple relationship between the surface roughness and the chip thickness was obtained, which was validated by the experimental results of silicon carbide grinding.
Liquid-phase Epoxidation of Alkenes Using Molecular Oxygen Catalyzed by Vanadium Cation-exchanged Montmorillonite
Authors: Mitsudome Takato , Nosaka Naoya , Mori Kohsuke , Mizugaki Tomoo , Ebitani Kohki , Kaneda Kiyotomi
Published: November 2005

Vanadium cation-exchanged montmorillonite can efficiently catalyze the selective epoxidation of various alkenes and the oxygenation of adamantane using molecular oxygen as a sole oxidant.
From the Editors…
Authors: Clemen Robert T. , Kleinmuntz Don N.
Published: November 2005

In this issue, Brandao, Dyer, and Hahn propose an approach for project valuation that implements real-options methods using standard decision analysis tools. Smith provides a critique of the Brandao, Dyer, and Hahn approach and suggests alternative analytical approaches. In a response, Brandao, Dyer and Hahn concede several of Smith’s points, but argue that their approach may still prove useful for many problems, and that it provides a more accessible modeling framework than the alternatives. Another contribution addresses a method for using partial preference information to support the implementation of the even swaps method for making multiattribute value trade-offs.
A Heuristic for Winner Determination in Rule-Based Combinatorial Auctions
Authors: Jones Joni L. , Koehler Gary J.
Published: November 2005

Combinatorial auctions address the sale of materials where there exist complementarities between items. A major stumbling block to the widespread use of combinatorial auctions is the complexity of the winner-determination problem, which is known to be NP-complete. We consider a rich version of combinatorial auctions, rule-based combinatorial auctions, where bids consist of rules that describe acceptable bundles rather than provide complete enumerations of acceptable bundles. This makes the winner-determination problem potentially harder because the problem must find bundles meeting bid criterion as well as finding an optimal selection of winning bids. This paper describes in detail a heuristic that achieves a satisfying solution to the winner-determination problem for large problems where exact solutions may not be attainable. Our contribution is threefold. First, we give a general approach to providing good approximations to the winner-determination problem for rule-based auctions. Although the approach requires adaptation for specific instances, it is conceptually tractable and implementable. Second, the approach is illustrated and tested on an auction format for selling prime-time television advertising time formed from data and interviews with industry sources. Third, while some researchers have used commercial solvers that appeared to obviate the need for specialized solution approaches to the winner-determination problem, we give evidence that, at least for the problem studied here, specialized approaches are necessary.
Warm-Start Routines for Solving Augmented Weighted Tchebycheff Network Programs in Multiple-Objective Network Programming
Authors: Sun Minghe
Published: November 2005

Three warm-start routines are developed to find initial basic feasible solutions for augmented weighted Tchebycheff network programs, subproblems derived from multiple-objective network-programming problems. In an interactive solution procedure, a series of augmented weighted Tchebycheff network programs need to be solved sequentially to find representative nondominated solutions. To speed up the solution process using the network structure of the problem, these warm-start routines start the solution process of one augmented weighted Tchebycheff network program from the optimal solution of the previous one. All three warm-start routines use the same strategy but different ways of reducing the number of basic flow variables, or equivalently increasing the number of basic nonflow variables to construct a basic solution. These warm-start routines can be used by any interactive procedures to facilitate the solution process of multiple-objective network-programming problems. A detailed example is presented. A computational experiment is conducted to compare the performance of these warm-start routines. A cold-start routine and NETSIDE, specialized software for solving network problems with side constraints, are also used as references in the experiment. These warm-start routines can save substantial computation time.
On measuring the minimum detection time: A simple reaction time study in the time estimation paradigm
Authors: Hsu Yung‐Fong
Published: November 2005

Kornblum's time estimation paradigm, together with the so‐called ‘race model’, provides an appealing alternative for measuring the ‘cut‐off’ which separates ‘true’ reaction times from anticipatory reaction times. However, the model is not precise enough to reveal the relation between the signal intensity and the ‘cut‐off’. Accordingly, Kornblum's model is extended with an emphasis on the measure of the ‘cut‐off’. Another aspect of the extension is to use a parametric method to analyse the data. In particular, it is assumed that the time estimation‐induced latency is gamma distributed and the signal‐induced latency is Weibull distributed, with the latter shifted by the ‘cut‐off’. The rationale behind the parametric assumption is discussed. For illustrative purposes, two pieces of experimental work are presented. Since the core of the race model is the assumption of an independent race between the time estimation process and the detection process, the first experiment tests whether, for the same signal intensity, the signal‐induced latency distribution is invariant across different time intervals; the second experiment tests whether, for the same time interval, the time estimation‐induced latency distribution is invariant across different signal intensity conditions. The data from the second experiment are also used to test various parametric assumptions in the model, which include the signal effect on the ‘cut‐off’. The new model fits the data well.
Computerized adaptive testing: A mixture item selection approach for constrained situations
Authors: Leung Chi‐Keung , Chang Hua‐Hua , Hau Kit‐Tai
Published: November 2005

In computerized adaptive testing (CAT), traditionally the most discriminating items are selected to provide the maximum information so as to attain the highest efficiency in trait (θ) estimation. The maximum information (MI) approach typically results in unbalanced item exposure and hence high item‐overlap rates across examinees. Recently, Yi and Chang (2003) proposed the multiple stratification (MS) method to remedy the shortcomings of MI. In MS, items are first sorted according to content, then difficulty and finally discrimination parameters. As discriminating items are used strategically, MS offers a better utilization of the entire item pool. However, for testing with imposed non‐statistical constraints, this new stratification approach may not maintain its high efficiency. Through a series of simulation studies, this research explored the possible benefits of a mixture item selection approach (MS‐MI), integrating the MS and MI approaches, in testing with non‐statistical constraints. In all simulation conditions, MS consistently outperformed the other two competing approaches in item pool utilization, while the MS–MI and the MI approaches yielded higher measurement efficiency and offered better conformity to the constraints. Furthermore, the MS–MI approach was shown to perform better than MI on all evaluation criteria when control of item exposure was imposed.
Bicriterion seriation methods for skew‐symmetric matrices
Authors: Brusco Michael J. , Stahl Stephanie
Published: November 2005

The decomposition of an asymmetric proximity matrix into its symmetric and skew‐symmetric components is a well‐known principle in combinatorial data analysis. The seriation of the skew‐symmetric component can emphasize information corresponding to the sign or absolute magnitude of the matrix elements, and the choice of objective criterion can have a profound impact on the ordering. In this research note, we propose a bicriterion approach for seriation of a skew‐symmetric matrix incorporating both sign and magnitude information. Two numerical demonstrations reveal that the bicriterion procedure is an effective alternative to direct seriation of the skew‐symmetric matrix, facilitating favourable trade‐offs among sign and magnitude information.
Consumer Prices and the Federal Trade Commission's “Do-Not-Call” Program
Authors: Beard T. Randolph , Abernethy Avery M.
Published: November 2005

The Federal Trade Commission's “do-not-call” program successfully cut the number of telemarketing calls for households that registered. Time savings and fewer interruptions are real benefits. However, telemarketing was one of the most successful marketing tools that firms used to offer lower-priced consumer telecommunications services directly, and do-not-call regulations largely eliminated this advertising method. The authors estimate that the average U.S. household will have between $19 to $39 in increased long-distance costs annually as a result of forgone lower prices because of do-not-call regulations. The Federal Trade Commission's do-not-call policy is not a free lunch. The hidden cost of higher telephone service prices that will continue into the future is a less obvious but real cost of this policy.
Analysis of 237Np in spent fuel solutions
Authors: Morgenstern A. , Apostolidis C. , Ottmar H. , Mayer K.
Published: November 2005

An experimental procedure has been developed for the analysis of neptunium in input solutions of spent nuclear fuel reprocessing. The method consists of selective chromatographic extraction of neptunium and plutonium using TEVA resin followed by determination of the ratio of [Np]/[Pu] on the column by high-resolution gamma spectrometry. Knowing the concentration of plutonium from routinely performed K-edge densitometry and X-ray fluorescence measurements, the concentration of Np can be evaluated. The method has been tested on simulated solutions and validated on spent fuel of known [Np]/[Pu] ratio.
The solubilisation of Ru and U from condensation particles released b overheated nuclear fuel and maturated in air and in argon
Authors: Froment P. , Cara J. , Ronneau C.
Published: November 2005

The emission of uranium and ruthenium oxides from overheated nuclear fuel is a complex phenomenon which depends on fuel matrix, temperature, oxygen potential of the atmosphere in contact and on emission sequence. Furthermore, secondary annealing (“maturation”) reactions of aerosol particles in the gas phase, immediately after emission, strongly influence the properties of particles before their dispersion in the reactor containment building and/or in the environment. Maturation influences surface and bulk gradient composition, particle size, and, as a consequence, weathering rates in the environment. This paper describes how emission and maturation conditions may affect the solubility rates of condensation particles released by overheated U and Ru oxides mixtures, in small-scale laboratory simulations. It will be demonstrated that the presence of Ru decreases the solubilisation rate of U.
Radiochemical separation of no-carrier-added radioniobium from zirconiu targets for application of90Nb-labelled compounds
Authors: Busse S. , Brockmann J. , Rösch Frank
Published: November 2005

The radioisotope90Nb is a positron emitter with a relatively high positron branching of 51% and a rather low β+-energy ofEmean= 662 keVEmax= 1.5 MeV) with potential for application in positron emission tomography (PET). Its half-life of 14.6 h makes it especially promising for the quantitative investigation of biological processes with slow distribution kinetics. An advantageous production route of90Nb is thenatZr(p,n)90Nb process. To separate nca (no-carrier-added) radioniobium from macroscopic amounts of irradiated zirconium targets, an effective two step separation procedure was developed. A liquid-liquid extraction using N-benzoyl-N-phenylhydroxylamine (BPHA) in CHCl3was applied first to separate the bulk of the zirconium matrix with a Zr separation coefficient of about 104, followed by anion-exchange chromatography for high grade purification of nca radioniobium. A sufficiently high decontamination factor of > 2 × 107and an overall radiochemical yield of nca90Nb of about 70% was achieved within about 3 hours.
Quantitative Trait Loci With Age-Specific Effects on Fecundity in Drosophila melanogaster
Authors: Leips Jeff , Gilligan Paul , Mackay Trudy F C
Published: November 2005

Life-history theory and evolutionary theories of aging assume the existence of alleles with age-specific effects on fitness. While various studies have documented age-related changes in the genetic contribution to variation in fitness components, we know very little about the underlying genetic architecture of such changes. We used a set of recombinant inbred lines to map and characterize the effects of quantitative trait loci (QTL) affecting fecundity of Drosophila melanogaster females at 1 and 4 weeks of age. We identified one QTL on the second chromosome and one or two QTL affecting fecundity on the third chromosome, but these QTL affected fecundity only at 1 week of age. There was more genetic variation for fecundity at 4 weeks of age than at 1 week of age and there was no genetic correlation between early and late-age fecundity. These results suggest that different loci contribute to the variation in fecundity as the organism ages. Our data provide support for the mutation accumulation theory of aging as applied to reproductive senescence. Comparing the results from this study with our previous work on life-span QTL, we also find evidence that antagonistic pleiotropy may contribute to the genetic basis of senescence in these lines as well.
Presynaptic UNC-31 (CAPS) Is Required to Activate the Gαs Pathway of the Caenorhabditis elegans Synaptic Signaling Network
Authors: Charlie Nicole K , Schade Michael A , Thomure Angela M , Miller Kenneth G
Published: November 2005

C. elegans mutants lacking the dense-core vesicle priming protein UNC-31 (CAPS) share highly similar phenotypes with mutants lacking a neuronal Gαs pathway, including strong paralysis despite exhibiting near normal levels of steady-state acetylcholine release as indicated by drug sensitivity assays. Our genetic analysis shows that UNC-31 and neuronal Gαs are different parts of the same pathway and that the UNC-31/Gαs pathway is functionally distinct from the presynaptic Gαq pathway with which it interacts. UNC-31 acts upstream of Gαs because mutations that activate the Gαs pathway confer similar levels of strongly hyperactive, coordinated locomotion in both unc-31 null and (+) backgrounds. Using cell-specific promoters, we show that both UNC-31 and the Gαs pathway function in cholinergic motor neurons to regulate locomotion rate. Using immunostaining we show that UNC-31 is often concentrated at or near active zones of cholinergic motor neuron synapses. Our data suggest that presynaptic UNC-31 activity, likely acting via dense-core vesicle exocytosis, is required to locally activate the neuronal Gαs pathway near synaptic active zones.
Modified Calibration Procedures for a Yankee Environmental System UVB‐1 Biometer Based on Spectral Measurements with a Brewer Spectrophotometer
Authors: Vilaplana José M. , Cachorro Victoria E. , Sorribas Mar , Luccini Eduardo , de Frutos Angel M. , Berjón Alberto , de la Morena Benito
Published: November 2005

The calibration of the erythemal irradiance measured by a Yankee Environmental System (YES) UVB‐1 biometer is presented using two methods of calibration with a wide range of experimental solar zenith angles (SZAs) and ozone values. The calibration is performed through simultaneous spectral measurements by a calibrated double‐monochromator Brewer MK‐III spectrophotometer at “El Arenosillo” station, located in southwestern Spain. Because the range of spectral measurements of the Brewer spectrophotometer is 290–363 nm, a previously validated radiative transfer model was used to account for the erythemal contribution between 363 and 400 nm. Both methods are recommended by the World Meteorological Organization and we present and discuss here a wide range of results and features given by modified procedures applied to these two general methods. As is well established, the calibration factor for this type of radiometric system is dependent on atmospheric conditions, the most important of which are the ozone content and the SZA. Although the first method is insensitive to these two factors, we analyze this behavior in terms of the range used for the SZA and the use of two different mathematical approaches for its determination. The second method shows the dependence on SZA and ozone content and, thus, a polynomial as a function of SZA or a matrix including SZA and ozone content were determined as general calibration factors for the UV radiometric system. We must note that the angular responses of the YES radiometer and Brewer spectroradiometer have not been considered, because of the dificulty in correcting them. The results show in detail the advantages and drawbacks (and the corresponding associated error) given by the different approaches used for the determination of these calibration coefficients.
Disorientations: Canon without Context in Auden's “Sonnets from China”
Authors: Christie Stuart
Published: November 2005

W. H. Auden's transmutation of homosexual-colonial paradox into discrepant rhetorics of travel is hardly new. Yet the career mobility Auden initiated after his trip to China, culminating in his embrace of an ascetic Christianity after 1943, signals his principled adherence to a negative poetics of transitivity–by which I mean Auden's increasing commitment to writing experience beyond its material context, as well as to the motility of signs unmoored to national-symbolic traditions. This development appears initially in the poet's “Sonnets from China” (1938) as a rejection of colonialism in favor of English literary humanism (inspired by E. M. Forster), subsequently as the rejection of humanism itself in the face of an inscrutable Chinese other unresponsive to English cultural soundings, and finally (after Auden's decision to depart for the United States in 1939) as the transcendence of context altogether.
Precarious Resistance: Weaving Opposition in the Poetry of Cecilia Vicuña
Authors: Lynd Juliet
Published: November 2005

Woven through the threads of the poetry, performance, and visual art of Cecilia Vicuña are the image and metaphor of weaving itself, a visual and cultural reminder of an other—indigenous and feminine—form of forging cultural memory. Ever committed to using the aesthetic both to remember the violent exclusions of history and to explore the perpetuation and transformation of the marginalizing structures of power in the present, Vicuña's multigenre work spans over thirty years of Chile's turbulent history of struggle with dictatorship and toward democracy. This essay analyzes the interlacing of textile and text inquipoem, a collection of the poetry and visual art of this author-artist that re-presents a constantly evolving theorization of the complex relation between aesthetics and politics, writing and difference, and memory and power in the postcolonial, postdictatorship context of the Americas in the age of neoliberal globalization.
Queering History
Authors: Goldberg Jonathan , Menon Madhavi
Published: November 2005

The Essay that Follows was Prompted by a Session at the 2004 MLA Annual Convention, “Ten Years SinceQueering The Renaissance,”organized by Madhavi Menon and chaired by Jonathan Goldberg. The other panelists were Jeffrey Masten and Richard Rambuss, two of the contributors to the 1994 volume, and Laurie Shannon. The papers ranged widely from theoretical questions about the activity of queering to the practices of glossing texts, from relations between queering and gendering to the ways in which queering might also throw into question the human-animal divide. The essay below picks up on some of the broadest theoretical questions raised by the panel, emphasizing the need to continue the work begun a decade ago and suggesting some methodological problems and challenges to be faced.
Literary Studies: The Southern United States, 2005
Authors: Ladd Barbara
Published: November 2005

“The Greatest Mistake Made in Judging Southern Literature, Even by its Friends, is That We are Apt to Speak of it By Itself as if it were a thing apart and a country apart.” John Bell Henneman made this assessment a century ago, in 1903 (347). Fifty-one years later, Jay B. Hubbell observed, “The literature of the South … cannot be understood and appraised if one neglects its many and complicated relations with the literature of the rest of the nation” ('x“). Not long after Louis D. Rubin, Jr., and Robert D. Jacobs publishedThe Southern Renascence: The Literature of the Modern South(1953), a collection of essays by distinguished United States scholars in and beyond the South, the study of southern literature, conceived in the spirit of Henneman and Hubbell, became an academic specialty, with its centers at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (where Rubin taught); at Vanderbilt University (the home of Thomas Daniel Young, the New Critics, and, a generation earlier, the Agrarians); and at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge (where Lewis P. Simpson edited theSouthern Review).There were outriders: Cleanth Brooks and Robert Penn Warren infiltrated Yale. They made such an impression that, today, when people from the Northeast are asked to define southern United States literature, they are likely to channel Brooks in his emphasis on the importance of family, kinship, community, history, and memory in the imagined South. None of this is meant to imply that the literature of the southern United States was not studied before the mid-fifties; it was. Its departures from the broader national tradition were noted, but it did not constitute an academic specialty as it does today. The publication ofThe Southern Renascenceand subsequent work by Rubin, Hubbell, Brooks and Warren, C. Hugh Holman, and many others not only institutionalized southern literature as a specialization in the United States academy but also defined the field in terms of the South's relations with the rest of the nation.
Shifting Patterns of Practice: Nurse Practitioners in a Managed Care Environment
Authors: Johnson Rosemary
Published: November 2005

The purpose of this qualitative study was to uncover patterns across nurse practitioner (NP) experiences that contribute to understanding their perceptions of managed care, how it affects daily practice, and how NPs respond to a changing managed care workplace. In-depth interviews were conducted with 14 NPs representing primary care, specialty, and independent practices. Over an 18-month period, data collection and analysis occurred simultaneously using standard methods of purposive sampling, constant comparison, memoing, and member checks. This study illuminates the tension NPs experience between a business and a professional ethic and the strategies they use to reconcile this difference with core nursing values. Type of setting, workplace dynamics, and length of time in practice contributed to variation in NP perspectives.
The Role of Mentoring in Developing African American Nurse Leaders
Authors: Hill Jacqueline J. , Favero Marietta Del , Ropers-Huilman Becky
Published: November 2005

The primary purpose of this study was to explore the role of mentoring in the development of African American nurses who have achieved leadership positions in baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs. This study also explored similar and dissimilar mentoring experiences in same-race versus cross-race mentoring relationships. The theoretical framework for this study was Levinson’s adult developmental theory. A sequential mixed design was utilized. Forty-seven African American nurse leaders participated in Phase 1, and 10 of the 47 were interviewed in Phase 2. The findings showed that mentoring plays a role in the personal and professional development of African American nurse leaders in baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs. Moreover, the relevance of race varies in both same-race and cross-race mentoring relationships.
Identification of a Genomic Island of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans
Authors: Chen Weizhen , Wang Ying , Chen Casey
Published: November 2005

Background: Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is a process by which bacteria acquire genes from organisms of distant taxa. HGT is now recognized as a major driving force in the evolution of bacterial pathogens. Through this process, bacteria may accumulate blocks of DNA such as genomic islands (GEIs) that encode fitness or virulence factors. The periodontal pathogen A. actinomycetemcomitans has been known to exhibit variable virulence potential. It is postulated that GEIs may play a role in modifying the virulence potential of A. actinomycetemcomitans. This study was initiated to identify and determine the distribution of GEIs in A. actinomycetemcomitans.

Methods: Forty‐seven A. actinomycetemcomitans strains of serotypes a through f were examined. Strain‐specific variant DNA in the genomes of A. actinomycetemcomitans was identified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) genomic mapping and sequenced to identify GEIs. The distribution of the GEIs among test strains of A. actinomycetemcomitans was determined by PCR analysis and Southern hybridization assays.

Results: An ∼22 kb GEI of A. actinomycetemcomitans, designated AAI‐1, was identified in five serotype b strains. The AAI‐1 exhibits low %G+C and encodes proteins of phage, restriction modification systems, mobile elements, and other hypothetical proteins of unknown functions. The insertion of AAI‐1 was found to cause truncation of A. actinomycetemcomitans genes at the insertion site.

Conclusions: Some A. actinomycetemcomitans strains may harbor GEIs, which were acquired via HGT by the bacteria. The GEIs may increase the gene repertoire of A. actinomycetemcomitans. However, the insertion of the GEIs in A. actinomycetemcomitans may also cause truncation and inactivation of resident genes at the insertion sites. The virulence significance of such gain and loss of genes in A. actinomycetemcomitans remains to be determined.
Effects of Maternal Campylobacter rectus Infection on Murine Placenta, Fetal and Neonatal Survival, and Brain Development
Authors: Offenbacher S. , Riché E.L. , Barros S.P. , Bobetsis Y.A. , Lin D. , Beck J.D.
Published: November 2005

Background: Maternal periodontal infection has been associated with increased risk of prematurity and low birthweight. Infection and inflammatory pathways that mediate prematurity have also been implicated in neonatal developmental impairments. The objective of this study was to determine whether maternal Campylobacter rectus infection that induces fetal growth restriction in a mouse model also compromises neonatal pup survival, growth, and neurodevelopment.

Methods: Timed pregnant mice were challenged with C. rectus on gestation day 7.5. One group of animals was sacrificed on embryonic day 16.5 for placental histology and measurement of fetal brain mRNA expression of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α and interferon (IFN)‐γ. Another group of animals was allowed to deliver to follow pup survival, growth, and brain structure at day 9.

Results: C. rectus challenge resulted in abnormal placental architecture with inflammation and a 2.8‐fold increase in fetal brain expression of IFN‐γ (P = 0.04). Pup birthweight was unaffected by C. rectus exposure, but lethality was 3.9‐fold higher after 1 week. Ultrastructurally, the 9‐day neonatal brain tissue displayed cellular and myelin alterations consistent with white matter damage.

Conclusions: Maternal C. rectus infection induces placental inflammation and decidual hyperplasia as well as concomitant increase in fetal brain IFN‐γ. Maternal infection increased pup mortality, and preliminary findings demonstrate ultrastructural changes in the hippocampal region of the neonatal brain, in a manner analogous to the effects of maternal infection on white matter damage seen in humans. Thus, the threat of maternal oral infectious exposure during pregnancy may not be limited to the duration of gestation, but may also potentially affect perinatal neurological growth and development.
Involvement of Periodontopathic Anaerobes in Aspiration Pneumonia
Authors: Okuda Katsuji , Kimizuka Ryuta , Abe Shu , Kato Tetsuo , Ishihara Kazuyuki
Published: November 2005

Increasing evidence has linked the anaerobic bacteria forming periodontopathic biofilms with aspiration pneumonia in elderly persons. In experiments designed to eliminate the potent respiratory pathogens forming biofilms in the oral cavity, we have shown that the mechanical and chemical oral cleansing using povidone‐iodine effectively reduced the detection rates and numbers of methicillin‐sensitive Staphylococcus species, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Haemophilus influenzae in patients scheduled to undergo oral surgery requiring endotracheal intubation. We confirmed the pathogenicity of periodontopathic anaerobic bacteria for aspiration pneumonia in an experimental mouse model. Based upon the finding of the coexistence of Porphyromonas gingivalis with Treponema denticola in chronic periodontitis lesions, we innoculated a mixed culture of P. gingivalis and T. denticola into the mouse trachea; the resulting infection induced inflammatory cytokine production and caused pneumonia. In another series of investigations, professional oral health care (POHC), mainly cleansing administered by dental hygienists once a week for 24 months to elderly persons requiring daily care, resulted in the reduction of the number of total anaerobes, Candida albicans, and Staphylococcus species and in the number of cases of fatal aspiration pneumonia. We also found that the POHC treatment of elderly persons for 6 months in the winter season reduced the salivary levels of protease, trypsin‐like activity, and neuraminidase and also decreased the frequency of influenza cases.
Spatial Variability of Soil Phosphorus in Relation to the Topographic Index and Critical Source Areas
Authors: Page Trevor , Haygarth Philip M. , Beven Keith J. , Joynes Adrian , Butler Trisha , Keeler Chris , Freer Jim , Owens Philip N. , Wood Gavin A.
Published: November 2005

A measure of soil P status in agricultural soils is generally required for assisting with prediction of potential P loss from agricultural catchments and assessing risk for water quality. The objectives of this paper are twofold: (i) investigating the soil P status, distribution, and variability, both spatially and with soil depth, of two different first‐order catchments; and (ii) determining variation in soil P concentration in relation to catchment topography (quantified as the “topographic index”) and critical source areas (CSAs). The soil P measurements showed large spatial variability, not only between fields and land uses, but also within individual fields and in part was thought to be strongly influenced by areas where cattle tended to congregate and areas where manure was most commonly spread. Topographic index alone was not related to the distribution of soil P, and does not seem to provide an adequate indicator for CSAs in the study catchments. However, CSAs may be used in conjunction with soil P data for help in determining a more “effective” catchment soil P status. The difficulties in defining CSAs a priori, particularly for modeling and prediction purposes, however, suggest that other more “integrated” measures of catchment soil P status, such as baseflow P concentrations or streambed sediment P concentrations, might be more useful. Since observed soil P distribution is variable and is also difficult to relate to nationally available soil P data, any assessment of soil P status for determining risk of P loss is uncertain and problematic, given other catchment physicochemical characteristics and the sampling strategy employed.