bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Hepatic protein expression of lean mice and obese diabetic mice treated with peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor activators
Authors: Edvardsson Ulrika , Brockenhuus von Löwenhielm Helena , Panfilov Oleg , Nyström Ann‐Christin , Nilsson Fredrik , Dahllöf Björn
Published: April 2003

The peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptors (PPARs) are ligand‐activated transcription factors that modulate lipid and glucose homeostasis. In the clinic, PPARα and PPARγ agonists are used to treat hypertriglyceridemia and insulin resistance of diabetes, respectively. To gain further insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying the therapeutic actions of these drugs, we have by two‐dimensional electrophoresis and mass spectrometry performed a comparative analysis of the hepatic protein expression profiles of lean and obese (ob/ob) mice, and obese mice treated with WY14,643 (PPARα agonist) or rosiglitazone (PPARγ agonist). We found that livers from obese mice displayed higher levels of enzymes involved in fatty acid oxidation and lipogenesis compared to lean mice and these differences were further amplified by treatment with both PPAR activators. WY14,643 normalized the expression levels of several enzymes involved in glycolysis, gluconeogenesis and amino acid metabolism in the obese mice to the levels of lean mice, whereas rosiglitazone partially normalized levels of enzymes involved in amino acid metabolism. In summary, a classical proteomics approach was successfully used to characterize differences at the hepatic proteome level between lean and obese diabetic mice, to map metabolic pathways affected by treatment, and to discriminate between effects caused by treatment with agonists of the closely related PPARα and PPARγ receptors.
Stress protein flux during recovery from simulated ischemia: Induced heat shock protein 70 confers cytoprotection by suppressing JNK activation and inhibiting apoptotic cell death
Authors: Kumar Yadunanda , Tatu Utpal
Published: April 2003

Multiple stress proteins are recruited in response to stress in living cells. There are limited reports in the literature analyzing multiple stress protein shifts and their functional consequences on stress response. Using two‐dimensional electrophoresis we have analyzed shifts in stress protein profiles in response to energy deprivation as a model of ischemic injury to kidneys. A group of chaperones and stress‐induced mitogen activated protein (MAP) kinases were analyzed. In addition to examining stress protein induction and phosphorylation we have also examined the mechanism of cytoprotection by heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70). Our results show that, of the different stress proteins examined, only binding protein (BiP) and Hsp70 were significantly induced upon energy deprivation. Other stress proteins, including Hsp27, calnexin, Hsp90 and ERp57 showed alterations in their phosphorylation profiles. Three different MAP kinases, namely p38, extracellular signal regulated kisase and c‐jun N‐terminal kinase (JNK) were activated in response to energy deprivation. While JNK activation was linked to apoptosis, activated‐p38 was involved in phosphorylation of Hsp27. Study of inhibitors of Hsp70 induction or pre‐induction of Hsp70 indicated that induced Hsp70 was involved in the suppression of JNK activation thereby inhibiting apoptotic cell death. Our results provide important insights into the flux in stress protein profiles in response to simulated ischemia and highlight the antiapoptotic, cytoprotective mechanism of Hsp70 action.
Use of a sensitive EnVision™+‐based detection system for Western blotting: avoidance of streptavidin binding to endogenous biotin and biotin‐containing proteins in kidney and other tissues
Authors: Banks Rosamonde E. , Craven Rachel A. , Harnden Patricia A. , Selby Peter J.
Published: April 2003

Western blotting remains a central technique in confirming identities of proteins, their quantitation and analysis of various isoforms. The biotin‐avidin/streptavidin system is often used as an amplification step to increase sensitivity but in some tissues such as kidney, “nonspecific” interactions may be a problem due to high levels of endogenous biotin‐containing proteins. The EnVision™ system, developed for immunohistochemical applications, relies on binding of a polymeric conjugate consisting of up to 100 peroxidase molecules and 20 secondary antibody molecules linked directly to an activated dextran backbone, to the primary antibody. This study demonstrates that it is also a viable and sensitive alternative detection system in Western blotting applications.
Ultrastructural changes in the shape of neurons and related structures in frog sympathetic ganglia after axotomy
Authors: Taxi Jacques , Eugène Daniel
Published: April 2003

Summary— Changes in the shape of neuronal perikarya and other ganglionic structures were observed by electron microscopy in the frog sympathetic ganglia at different times after axotomy. Degenerating and hypertrophic profiles appeared to reflect a remodelling process affecting preganglionic fibres. The shape of neuronal perikarya was modified by the formation of infoldings occupied by preganglionic fibres and/or by that of short winding dendrites often bearing a synapse. The origin of these changes is discussed. In frog sympathetic ganglia, the period of recovery after axotomy was marked by specific reactions which affected neuronal shape and preganglionic fibres, and are not known to occur in the ganglia of mammals.
Some applications of cryosubstitution in ultrastructural studies of the cell nucleus
Authors: von Schack Marie‐Louise , Fakan Stanislav , Villiger Werner
Published: April 2003

Summary— Cryofixation followed by cryosubstitution, without the use of any chemical fixatives, was carried out on cultured mouse P815 cells. The principal aim of our work, which was to show that these techniques provide excellent morphological preservation of cellular and in particular nuclear components, was demonstrated. All nuclear structural components, nucleolar or nucleoplasmic, were clearly revealed using this technology. The cells were cryofixed by impact freezing onto a copper miror cooled with liquid nitrogen or helium, cryosubstituted in acetone and embedded in either Lowicryl K11M or 1R White acrylic resin. Ultrathin sections were contrasted using either the usual uranyl acetate‐lead citrate double staining, a differential staining for nuclear nucleoprotein structures, or the silver staining revealling nucleolar organizer regions. In view of the absence of conventional fixatives, the specimens prepared in this way would offer to be material of choice for ultrastructural identification of intra‐nuclear antigens, especially those sensitive to conventional fixatives such as, for example, aldehydes. Advantages and differences of these techniques with regard to more conventional electron microscopic procedures are discussed.
Cryofixation, cryosubstitution, cryo‐embedding for visualizing of nuclear ultrastructure and for immunodetection HeLa cells
Authors: Hernandez‐Verdun Danièle , Quintana Carmen , Masson Claude , Gautier Thierry , Arnoult Jacqueline
Published: April 2003

Summary— We investigated the nuclear ultrastructure of HeLa cells using cryotechniques. The cells were cultured as monolayers, quick‐frozen and cryosubstituted in acetone without chemical fixatives. Half the samples were then treated with 1% osmium tetroxide in acetone and embedded in Epon, protocol A. The other half was cryo‐embedded in Lowicryl K11M at −60°C, protocol B. The efficiency of cryofixation was observed with both types of procedure. There was no fixation gradient detectable within the monolayer. The nuclei were well preserved, showing no reticulation of the chromatin. The different nuclear structures which have been observed after chemical fixation were also visible in these preparations. We noted improved visualization of the lamina and nucleolar chromatin, a very sharp limit between the fibrillar center and the dense fibrillar component, and variability in the appearance of the nuclear pores. Immunolabeling with an auto‐immune serum was possible on sections processed by protocol A and protocol B, but not on sections obtained by chemical fixation and cryo‐embedding procedures. Therefore, in the present work we showed that cryofixation, cryosubstitution and cryo‐embedding of cell monolayers can ensure a good preservation of the nuclear structures. Furthermore, detection of nucleolar antigenic determinants is facilitated and rapid nuclear events can easily be monitored.
Structure of the basement membrane of corneal epithelium: quick‐freeze, deep‐etch comparative study of networks deposited in culture and during development
Authors: Barge Annie , Ruggiero Florence , Garrone Robert
Published: April 2003

Summary— The basement membranes elaborated by corneal epithelium in the chick embryo and in culture conditions have been studied by quick‐freezing and deep‐etching methods. Electron microscope observations of en face unidirectional platinum shadow castings revealed a polygonal network comparable to the type IV collagen network described in human amniotic basement membrane and EHS mouse tumor matrix [22]. The material deposited in culture contained type IV collagen, as demonstrated by immunofluorescence labeling using anti‐type IV collagen antibodies and formed delicate networks. Fine filaments and granules composing this network were interpreted respectively as linear and globular NCI domains of the type IV collagen molecule. These loose networks were considered as first steps in basement membrane assembly. Staggered superimposition of comparable networks could lead to the dense network organization as observed for basement membranes in situ. These observations showed that the basement membrane of the chick embryo corneal epithelium is also organized in a complex polygonal framework that is preserved even when secreted in cultrue conditions.
Three‐dimensional imaging of the mucus secretory process in the cryofixed frog respiratory epithelium
Authors: Puchelle Édith , Beorchia Adrien , Ménager Monique , Zahm Jean‐Marie , Ploton Dominique
Published: April 2003

Summary— Using the frog palate as a representative model of human mucociliary epthelium, we analyzed, after quick freezing fixation, the three‐dimensional (3‐D) respiratory mucus secretory release with high voltage (200–300 kV) transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The 3‐D vision of the mucus release from the secretory cells was obtained as stereo‐pairs and “bas‐relief” images after analysis of stereo‐pairs using an image analyzer. After standard glutaraldehyde fixation, the secretory cells showed a typical goblet shape with secretory granules heterogeneous in size and electron‐density which often fuse together. On the other hand, quick‐frozen secretory cells exhibited a columnar shape and their membrane‐bound secretory granules contained a homogeneously dark matrix. The expanded gel mucus layer was preserved and its depth never exceeded 2 μm. When the epithelium was immersed in culture medium in presence of cholinergic agonist, a marked discharge of mucus was observed and the granules swelled at the apex of the secretory cell before being discharged in the lumen. In native cryofixed epithelium, the secretory granules exhibited a marked deformability during the process of their extrusion from the secretory cell. Clusters of secretory granules surrounded by cytoplasmic material were observed in the extracellular lumen, suggesting an apocrine‐type secretion. These observations indicate that rapid cryofixation and 3‐D stereoscopic imaging enable a unique opportunity to analyze, without artifact, the mucous secretory process. We speculate that, apart from the classical merocrine‐type secretion mechanism, the respiratory mucus may be released, at least partly by an apocrine‐type secretion.
(3‐Cryo) methods (cryofixation, cryosubstitution and cryoembedding) for processing of tissues for ultrastructural and immunocytochemical studies. Application to oviduct cells of laying quail
Authors: Quintana Carmen , Lopez‐Iglesias Carmen , Lainé‐Delaunay Marie‐Christine
Published: April 2003

Summary— Cryomethods occupy a privileged position among the procedures used for the preparation of biological samples for the various studies that may be performed in electron microscopy (ultrastructural, immunocytochemical and microanalysis in situ). In general, cryomethods are specific to one, or a maximum of 2 types of application. The (3‐Cryo) methods (cryofixation, cryosubstitution without fixatives and cryoembedding in the new Lowicryl resins (K11M or HM23) are a set of methods for correlating new structural information with analytical and biochemical data. However, these 3‐Cryomethods are delicate, complicated and expensive. To demonstrate that they can be performed, at least in part, with home‐made systems at a reasonable cost, we have carried out a structural and immunocytochemical study on the oviduct of the laying quail. We studied the localization of 2 proteins, one cytoplasmic (ovalbumin) and the other nucleolar (B‐36). The results provided by the 3‐Cryomethods are compared with those obtained with other immunocytochemical methods, including tissue processed by conventional chemical fixation and high or low temperature embedding, or by 2‐Cryomethods (cryofixation and cryosubstitution).
Non-compact lamination convex hulls
Authors: Kolář Jan
Published: April 2003

For K a compact set of

m\times n

matrices, let

L(K)

denote the lamination convex hull of 

K

.

We give an example of a compact set

K

of symmetric two by two matrices such that

L(K)

is not compact, and similar examples for separate convexity in

\mathbb{R}^{3}

and bi-convexity in

\mathbb{R}^{2} \times \mathbb{R}

. Furthermore we show that function

\tilde L

, where

\tilde L(K) = \overline{L(K)}

, is not upper semi-continuous with respect to Hausdorff metric on the space of all compact sets

K

of diagonal

3\times 3

matrices.

Si K est un ensemble compact des matrices du type

m\times n

,

L(K)

) signifie le plus petit ensemble lamineusement convexe contenant

K

. (Un ensemble

K

est lamineusement convexe si

[a,b]\subset K

pour tous

a,b\in K

tels que

a−b

est une matrice de rang 1.)

Nous démontrons qu’il y a

K

, un ensemble compact des matrices symétriques d’ordre 2 tel que

L(K)

ne soit pas compact. Nous présentons aussi des exemples similaires pour convexité séparée dans

\mathbb{R}^{3}

et bi-convexité dans

\mathbb{R}^{2} \times \mathbb{R}

. En plus, nous démontrons que l’application

\tilde{L}:K\mapsto \overline{L(K)}

n’est pas semi-continue superieurement sur l’espace des ensembles compacts de matrices diagonales d’ordre 3 muni de la métrique de Hausdorff.
With a Bang, not a Whimper: Pricking Germany's “Stock Market Bubble” in 1927 and the Slide into Depression
Authors: Voth Hans-Joachim
Published: April 2003

In May 1927, the German central bank intervened indirectly to reduce lending to equity investors. The crash that followed ended the only stock market boom during Germany's relative stabilization 1924–1928. The evidence strongly suggests that the German central bank under Hjalmar Schacht was wrong to be concerned about stock prices—there was no bubble. Also, the Reichsbank was mistaken in its belief that a fall in the market would reduce the importance of short-term foreign borrowing and improve conditions in the money market. The misguided intervention had important real effects. Investment suffered, helping to tip Germany into depression.
A Wolfram in Sheep's Clothing: Economic Warfare in Spain, 1940–1944
Authors: Caruana Leonard , Rockoff Hugh
Published: April 2003

During World War II the United States attempted to prevent Germany from acquiring wolfram (tungsten ore) in Spain by buying it in the open market. Preemptive buying forced the Germans to pay more for and to consume less tungsten, a material crucial for the production of machine tools and armor-piercing shells. The income provided an important incentive for Spain to remain neutral. The naval blockade and the relatively low elasticity of the supply of wolfram contributed to the success of the wolfram-buying campaign.
Urban Achievement in Early Modern Europe: Golden Ages in Antwerp, Amsterdam and London. Edited by Patrick Karl O'Brien, Derek J. Keene, Herman Van der Wee, and Majolein't Hart. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. Pp. xiv, 361. $64.95.
Authors: McCants Anne E. C.
Published: April 2003

This edited volume is the result of a series of interdisciplinary conferences and seminars sponsored by the Renaissance Trust between 1990 and 1995 to examine “Achievement in Intellectual and Material Culture in Early Modern Europe” (p. 3). Historians of science, culture, the economy, and architecture and urban design were brought together to reflect on the intersections between past achievements in their respective fields within urban centers, as well as on the transfer of those achievements from one urban place to the next over time. These scholars were also called upon to consider the connections between the findings of more traditional “case-study” urban history and the grand narratives of modern development and geopolitical conflict. All of the contributors to this volume agreed to address the same meta question: “Why do recognized and celebrated achievements, across several fields of endeavor, tend to cluster within cities over relatively short periods of time?” (p. 5). In a schema entirely consistent with the Braudelian paradigm of early modern development (Fernand Braudel, The Perspective of the World. New York, 1981–84.), three cities in particular were chosen as representative of these episodic peaks of early modern achievement: Antwerp, Amsterdam, and London in roughly the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries respectively. The chapters of the book are thus organized in groups of three, with one chapter devoted to each area of endeavor in each of the three cities, beginning with their material bases in economic growth and ending with high culture as exemplified by the arts, books, and scientific research and discovery.
Farm Production in England 1700–1914. By Michael E. Turner, John V. Beckett, and Bethanie Afton. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. Pp. xii, 295. £45.00.
Authors: Brunt Liam
Published: April 2003

Michael Turner, John Beckett, and Bethanie Afton have assembled a data set based on a large number of English farm records (in the form of account books, wage/labor books, and memoranda books). Some of the fruits of this effort appeared previously in Turner, Beckett, and Afton's Agricultural Rent in England, 1690–1914 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997). This new book employs a subset of 979 of these farm records to cast new light on some important aspects of English farm production in the period 1700 to 1914. In addition to the introduction and conclusion, the book comprises five substantive chapters. Chapter 2 discusses the records as a source; chapter 3 considers some aspects of farming practice (notably cropping patterns and fertilizer use); chapter 4 presents new estimates of wheat yields; chapter 5 presents new estimates of barley and oat yields; and chapter 6 presents new evidence on livestock weights. The most important findings of the book are that the overall growth in wheat, barley, and oat yields was much lower than is commonly thought, and that the main period of yield growth occurred between the 1820s and 1850s. The authors argue on this basis that the Agricultural Revolution can be fixed firmly in the period 1800 to 1850. The great strength of the book is that the data on which it is based are almost entirely new. For that reason, it is a very welcome contribution to our stock of knowledge, and both the authors and their funding body (the Leverhulme Foundation) are to be congratulated.
The Bouchayers of Grenoble and French Industrial Enterprise, 1850–1970. By Robert J. Smith. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001. Pp. xix, 247. $42.50.
Authors: Miller Michael
Published: April 2003

Ever since David Landes's seminal work on the French family firm and the interplay of culture and economics, French business history has wrestled with the question of French particularism and the role of family enterprise in determining business outcomes. For well over a quarter of a century, historians have challenged or qualified Landes's arguments, first by pointing to successful family enterprises in France or elsewhere, second by reassessing French economic performance in modern times, and third by identifying other factors to explain slower growth in macro or micro terms. Robert J. Smith's thought-provoking study of Bouchayer et Viallet, a medium-sized French firm that rose and fell on family leadership and culture, squarely confronts, once again, the issue of family influence on business success and failure. Combining access to family papers with an astute appraisal of personality and context, Smith has produced a first-rate inquiry into the dynamics of family business firms. Mindful of the fact that family firms still account for a predominant part of GNP, but that few family firms continue as such for more than several generations, Smith asks how family control and values contributed to the success of Bouchayer et Viallet yet also braked growth at a middling level and ultimately undermined the continuity of the company. Intended as a case study in the trajectory of family enterprise, Smith weaves together business, family, and cultural history in exemplary ways that will benefit practitioners of all three fields and that demonstrate the value of the first approach for studying and writing the second and the third.
Von der Autarkie zum Wirtschaftswunder: Wirtschaftspolitik und industrieller Wandel in Italien 1935–1963. By Rolf Petri. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag, 2001. Pp. 534.
Authors: A'Hearn Brian
Published: April 2003

Italy's transformation in little more than a century from a backward, agricultural periphery to one of the world's leading countries is one of economic history's success stories. Especially successful were the "economic miracle" years of 1950–1963, during which Italy maintained rates of growth second only to those of Japan and Germany and largely completed the structural transition to a modern, industrial economy. Rolf Petri argues that this success was built on a foundation laid in the 1930s and '40s by the fascist policy of autarchia. Autarchy policy identified and gave a decisive push to precisely those industries that proved most dynamic in the economic miracle. Employing a wide range of tools, from macroeconomic policy, through administrative control of foreign trade and the allocation of credit, to direct participation in the form of state-owned enterprises, the fascist regime created and nurtured firms, supported research and development activities, and encouraged investment in new physical plant and licensing of foreign technology. While the author eschews any statements about whether autarchia was necessary, good, or efficient and does not hide its shortcomings and failures, the flavor of this account is nonetheless positive. This contrasts with most other assessments, which have deemed autarchy policy contradictory and ad hoc, the cause of enormous waste and gross misallocation of resources.
The Thai Village Economy in the Past. By Chattip Nartsupha. English Translation by Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 1999. Pp. viii, 131.
Authors: Elson R. E.
Published: April 2003

This charmingly old-fashioned little book was first published in Thai in 1984, and now appears in an elegant English translation. The two major intellectual influences that gave it birth are rather older, dating from the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. The first developed from the intersection of the academic pre-eminence of varieties of Marxist thinking about the “Third World” and the struggles of anticolonial peasant-based revolutionaries and produced a high age of romanticism about the Southeast Asian village and the unfortunate victims who inhabited them. The origins of the second are more uncertain, but probably represent, paradoxically, a Thai appropriation of those Western social-science constructions of Thai cultural uniqueness which were especially popular in the 1950s and 1960s.
Institutions and Investment: The Political Basis of Industrialization in Mexico Before 1911. By Edward Beatty. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001.
Authors: Ficker Sandra Kuntz
Published: April 2003

After a long decay, in the last decades of the nineteenth century the Mexican economy experienced a process of accelerated growth mainly associated with the export sector. As the latter developed and diversified, new opportunities for investment opened in agriculture, livestock rising, and mining. Starting in the 1890s, this process was also accompanied by an early phenomenon of import-substitution industrialization, which would continue to unfold until the Mexican Revolution broke out in 1910. Although industrial growth was “limited in scope and fraught with inefficiencies” (p. 187), it appears as an uncommon experience in an era dominated by export-led growth in Latin America and as one that has attracted less attention than it deserves in the historiography on Mexico. This is the subject of Edward Beatty's work.
Birthquake: The Baby Boom and Its Aftershocks. By Diane J. Macunovich. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2002. Pp xiii, 314. $37.50.
Authors: Mills Judith Woerner
Published: April 2003

Before I had even finished reading the first chapter of Diane Macunovich's new book, three things were crystal clear:

People matter: a society's demographics need to be considered explicitly when trying to understand or to forecast its economic behavior.

Einstein's conclusions about relativity apply to economies: changes in the relative size and age composition of a population can lead to major changes in its social and economic behavior.

Economic demographers rule! From now on, users of long-term forecasting models will need to include information on changes in age structure and cohort size if they wish to forecast events more than a few years ahead.
Well weird, right dodgy, very
strange, really cool: Layering and recycling in English
intensifiers
Authors: ITO RIKA , TAGLIAMONTE SALI
Published: April 2003

This article examines variable usage of
intensifiers in a corpus from a socially and generationally
stratified community. Using multivariate analyses, the authors
assess the direction of effect, significance, and relative
importance of conditioning factors in apparent time. Of 4,019
adjectival heads, 24% were intensified, and there is an increase
in intensification across generations. Earlier forms (e.g.
right and well) do not fade away but coexist
with newer items. The most frequent intensifiers, however, are
shifting rapidly. Very is most common, but only among
the older speakers. In contrast, really increases
dramatically among the youngest generation; however, the effects
of education and sex must be disentangled. The results confirm
that variation in intensifier use is a strong indicator of shifting
norms and practices in a speech community. Studying such actively
changing features can make an important contribution to
understanding linguistic change as well as to discovering current
trends in contemporary English.
Mental imagery: In search of my theory
Authors: de Haan Edward , Aleman André
Published: April 2003

We argue that the field has moved forward from the old debate about “analogical” versus “symbolic” processing. First, it is questionable that there is a strong a priori argument for assuming a common processing mode. Second, we explore the possibility that imagery is not a unitary mental function. Finally, we discuss the empirical basis of the involvement of primary areas.
Can altruism be understood in terms of socially-discounted extrinsic reinforcement?
Authors: Grace Randolph C. , McLean Anthony , Bragason Orn
Published: April 2003

Altruism can be understood in terms of traditional principles of reinforcement if an outcome that is beneficial to another person reinforces the behavior of the actor who produces it. This account depends on a generalization of reinforcement across persons and might be more amenable to experimental investigation than the one proposed by Rachlin.
You are about to see pictorial representations!
Authors: Gosselin Frédéric , Schyns Philippe G.
Published: April 2003

Pylyshyn argues against representations with pictorial properties that would be superimposed on a scene. We present evidence against this view, and a new method to depict pictorial properties. We propose a continuum between the top-down generation of internal signals (imagery) and the bottom-up signals from the outside world. Along the continuum, superstitious perceptions provide a method to tackle representational issues.
Functional versus real space: Is pictorialism hopeless?
Authors: Gottschling Verena
Published: April 2003

Pylyshyn raises hot topics like the number and kinds of pictorialist theories there are and their explanatory power. Pylyshyn states that pictorialists have only two possibilities – they can posit either “only functional” images or “really spatial” images – and that neither of these possibilities is convincing or sufficient in explanatory power for empirical and theoretical reasons. Is pictorialism, in principle, untenable?
Toward a better understanding of prosocial behavior: The role of evolution and directed attention
Authors: Kaplan Stephen , De Young Raymond
Published: April 2003

Rachlin's thought-provoking analysis could be strengthened by greater openness to evolutionary interpretation and the use of the directed attention concept as a component of self-control. His contribution to the understanding of prosocial behavior would also benefit from abandoning the traditional (and excessively restrictive) definition of altruism.
How do we define “sameness” of the processing of mental images and general reasoning processes?
Authors: Intons-Peterson Margaret Jean
Published: April 2003

This commentary raises questions about the central concepts in the null hypothesis presented by the author of the target article and urges expansion of the treatment of mental imagery to forms of sensory imagery beyond the visual.
Levi's account of preference reversals
Authors: Angner Erik
Published: April 2003

This paper argues that Isaac Levi's account of preference reversals is only a limited success. Levi succeeds in showing that an agent acting in accord with his theory may exhibit reversals. Nevertheless, the specific account that Levi presents in order to accommodate the behavior of experimental subjects appears to be disconfirmed by available evidence.
Overview and analysis of methodologies for building ontologies
Authors: FERNÁNDEZ-LÓPEZ MARIANO , GÓMEZ-PÉREZ ASUNCIÓN
Published: April 2003

The use of methodologies in software and knowledge engineering is very extensive due to their important advantages. In the case of the development of ontologies, until now, several methodological proposals have been presented for building ontologies. Some of these methodologies are designed for building ontologies from scratch or reusing other ontologies without modifying them, concretely, the following cases can be mentioned: the Cyc methodology, the approach proposed by Uschold and King, Grüninger and
Fox's methodology, the KACTUS methodology, METHONTOLOGY and the SENSUS methodology. There is even a proposal for re-engineering ontologies, and several
proposals for collaborative construction of ontologies.

In this article, we describe the methodologies and check their degree of maturity, contrasting them with respect to the IEEE standard for software development. Before
this, we justify to what extent this standard can be used. A conclusion to this study is that there is no completely mature methodological proposal for building ontologies, since there
are some important activities and techniques that are missing in all these methodologies. However, all the methodologies do not have the same degree of maturity. In fact, METHONTOLOGY is a very mature methodology. The other conclusion of this article is that, although work to unify proposals can be interesting, maybe several approaches should coexist.
ON STOCHASTIC ORDERS FOR THE LIFETIME OF A
k-OUT-OF-n SYSTEM
Authors: Korwar Ramesh
Published: April 2003

Let τk|n denote
the lifetime of a k-out-of-n system, where
the n components have independent lifetimes
Ti with completely arbitrary
distribution Fi, i = 1,..., n.
It is shown that τk+1|n
≤hr τk|n,
τk|n ≤hr
τk−1|n−1, and
τk|n−1 ≤hr
τk|n if
Ti ≤hrTn, i = 1,..., n − 1;
τk+1|n ≤rh
τk|n,
τk−1|n ≤rh
τk|n, and
τk|n ≤rh
τk−1|n−1 if
Tn ≤rhTi, i = 1,..., n − 1.
These results are available in the literature for the special case of
Fi's being absolutely continuous. Also,
even in this case, the proofs are often tedious and use the
concept of “totally positive of order infinity in differences
of k.” In contrast, the proofs given here are
simple and elegant and do not use the above concept.
INCORPORATING OPERATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS AND START-UP COSTS
IN OPTION-BASED VALUATION OF POWER GENERATION CAPACITY
Authors: Deng Shi-Jie , Oren Shmuel S.
Published: April 2003

We describe a stochastic dynamic programming approach for
“real option”-based valuation of electricity generation
capacity incorporating operational constraints and start-up
costs. Stochastic prices of electricity and fuel are represented
by recombining multinomial trees. Generators are modeled as
a strip of cross-commodity call options with a delay and a cost
imposed on each option exercise. We illustrate implications
of operational characteristics on the valuation of generation
assets under different modeling assumptions about the energy
commodity prices. We find that the impacts of operational
constraints on real asset valuation are dependent on both the
model specification and the nature of operating characteristics.
Reflective practice, artificial intelligence, and engineering
design: Common trends and interrelationships
Authors: DIAS W.P.S.
Published: April 2003

Some historical and current trends in reflective practice (RP),
artificial intelligence (AI), and engineering design (ED) are
presented and compared. Human artistry, context, and connectionist
approaches to knowledge are the common threads highlighted.
ED is considered to be a type of RP and AI a part of RP. This
is supported by an analysis of the transformation processes
involved in each. AI and systems are presented as approaches
for the formalization of RP at the technical and conceptual
levels, respectively. Interconnectedness in a hierarchical fashion
and purposeful process loops are defined as the key ingredients
of a systems approach. AI techniques that could support a range
of ED categories (case-based reasoning, decomposition, and
transformation) are identified, as are the wider RP approaches
that subsume those categories. The ED, AI, and RP categories
are identified as spanning from routine to creative, connectionist
to cognitivist, and intuitive to deliberate, respectively.
Mechanism independence for texture-modulation detection is
consistent with a filter-rectify-filter mechanism
Authors: KINGDOM FREDERICK A.A. , PRINS NICOLAAS , HAYES ANTHONY
Published: April 2003

The ability of the visual system to detect stimuli that vary along
dimensions other than luminance or color—
“second-order” stimuli—has been of considerable
interest in recent years. An important unresolved issue is whether
different types of second-order stimuli are detected by a single, all
purpose, mechanism, or by mechanisms that are specific to stimulus
type. Using a conventional psychophysical paradigm, we show that for a
class of second-order stimuli—textures sinusoidally modulated in
orientation (OM), spatial frequency (FM), and contrast (CM)—the
human visual system employs mechanisms that are selective to stimulus
type. Whereas the addition of a subthreshold mask to a test pattern of
the same stimulus type was found to facilitate the detection of the
test, no facilitation was observed when mask and test were of different
types, suggesting mechanism independence for the different types of
stimulus. This finding raises the important question of whether
mechanism independence is compatible with the well-known
filter-rectify-filter (FRF) model of second-order stimulus detection,
since FRF mechanisms, in principle, do not discriminate between
stimulus types. We show that for all mask/test combinations except
those with CM masks, the FRF mechanism giving the largest response to
the test modulation is largely unaffected by subthreshold levels of a
different stimulus-type mask. For this reason, we cannot rule out the
possibility that FRF mechanisms mediate the detection of our stimuli.
For combinations involving CM masks, however, we propose that a process
of contrast normalization renders the test stimulus insensitive to the
mask stimulus.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EARLY COLONIAL MAYA NEW YEAR'S
CEREMONIES AND SOME ALMANACS IN THE MADRID CODEX
Authors: Bill Cassandra R. , Hernández Christine L. , Bricker Victoria R.
Published: April 2003

The Maya haab, the 365-day solar year, ended
with a 5-day period called “Uayeb.” According
to Bishop Diego de Landa, preparations for the commencement
of a New Year began during the Uayeb period of the preceding
year. This paper concerns the events and ceremonies encompassing
the beginning of a Cauac year and discusses the parallels
between Landa's descriptions of these events and certain
figures and activities portrayed in several almanacs of
the Madrid Codex. Based on the calendrical structure
of these almanacs, we argue that they pertain specifically
to Uayeb-related ceremonies for a single year within the
52-year cycle, beginning on a day 13 Cauac.
TEXTILE PRODUCTION IN POSTCLASSIC CHOLULA, MEXICO
Authors: McCafferty Sharisse D. , McCafferty Geoffrey G.
Published: April 2003

Colonial chroniclers marveled at the quality and
variety of textiles produced at the Postclassic center
of Cholula. As a principal market center, textiles were
produced for tribute and exchange, and other woven goods
were manufactured for local consumption. This paper examines
ethnohistorical and archaeological evidence to interpret
the technology, materials, scale, and social relations
of textile production. Original spindle-whorl data from
the UA-1 domestic compound is contrasted with other whorls
from Postclassic Cholula and from other sites in central
Mexico. Results of this analysis indicate the complexity
of pre-Columbian textile production and the significance
of spinning and weaving in economic and social reconstructions
of the past.
CLIMATIC CHANGE AND LACUSTRINE RESOURCES AT THE PERIOD OF
INITIAL AZTEC DEVELOPMENT
Authors: Berres Thomas E.
Published: April 2003

Explanations for the emergence of the Aztec state
need to consider changes in the climate and the potential
effects resulting from these changes on the productivity
of the lake network in the Valley of Mexico. Change in
the human ecosystem is a complex process of interactions
between multiple cultural variables and the environment.
In this study, I examine the nature of three primary resources,
fish, salt, and waterfowl, available for Early Aztec–period
exploitation within the valley lake system. The intensification
of lacustrine resource exploitation appears to be correlated
with changing climatic conditions that occurred about a.d.
1150. Although the focus of this study is be on the cause-and-effect
relationship between culture and environment, it is acknowledged
that the environment is just one factor that must be considered
to fully understand initial Aztec development.
THE MAPA DE OTUMBA
Authors: Genotte Jean-François
Published: April 2003

The Mapa de Otumba, a sixteenth-century document
(1550–1575) currently archived in the Biblioteca Nacional
de Antropología e Historia of the Museo Nacional de
Antropología in Mexico, represents a small portion of
the pre-Conquest altepetl of Otompan and its Early
Colonial-period administrative successors, the parroquia
and corregimiento of Otumba. The exact circumstances
under which the map was executed, its original purpose, and
any associated textual documents are unknown. The paper on which
the map is executed (amate) and the style in which
it was drawn clearly show pre-Conquest paper and the hand of
a tlacuilo (scribe) influenced by post-Conquest style,
script, and changes in sociopolitical and religious organization.
Analysis of the elements of the document reveal its temporal
and spatial setting; it also throws light on the changes in
indigenous sociopolitical and religious organization during
the first half-century of the Early Colonial period.
AZTEC IMPERIALISM AT OZTUMA, GUERRERO
Authors: Silverstein Jay
Published: April 2003

Conflicting Colonial accounts of the Aztec conquest of Oztuma
are resolved by correlating new archaeological data, a collection
of Early Colonial documents from the town of Ixtepec, and other
better-known sources. The correlation of archaeological and
ethnohistoric data suggests that, contrary to some interpretations
of the histories of the Aztec Empire, the Aztec fortress of
Oztuma was separate from and contemporaneous with a Chontal
fortified site known by the same toponym, and that the Chontal
of Oztuma were not exterminated by the Aztecs during the rebellion
of 1487. Instead, Chontal Oztuma maintained internal political
cohesion while integrated into the Aztec hegemony. The Aztec
and Chontal sites together formed the defensive line of the
imperial frontier facing the Tarascans. This study represents
a shift in focus in Aztec studies from the Aztec imperial core
to its constituent hinterlands, emphasizing the complexity of
political and strategic interactions.
TRIBUTOS, LIMOSNAS, Y MANTAS EN YUCATÁN, SIGLO XVI
Authors: Quezada Sergio
Published: April 2003

Cuando a fines de la primera mitad del siglo XVI los
españoles concluyeron la conquista del noroeste de la
península de Yucatán, encontraron que las mujeres
mayas poseían una larga tradición en la
confección de los tejidos de algodón. Los
encomenderos y los franciscanos aprovecharon su disposición
y organización del trabajo textil para obligarlas a tejer
mantas de algodón con el fin de exportarlas al mercado
novohispano. La crisis demográfica del último
tercio del siglo de la invasión imposibilitó a
los pueblos producir con su población femenina las cuotas
tributarias y las limosnas textiles. Este fenómeno dio
como resultado que los pueblos vivieran un periodo de desequilibrio
que propició un proceso de simplificación social,
de intensificación de la jornada de trabajo femenino
y que la cuota de explotación colonial se incrementara.
CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE END OF THE CLASSIC PERIOD IN
YUCATAN: Resolving a paradox
Authors: Dahlin Bruce H.
Published: April 2003

Recent paleoecological research indicates that the collapse
of Classic Maya civilization in the southern and central Maya
Lowlands coincided with the onset of prolonged and severe drought
conditions around A.D. 850. The northern Maya Lowlands
is an area that receives much less rainfall today and probably
did so throughout most of the recent past; nevertheless, many
northern lowland sites not only persisted throughout the period
of the drought but actually prospered under the hegemony of
Chichen Itza. This paper attempts to resolve this obvious paradox
by examining the adaptive responses made by the northern Maya.
The northern lowlands had a slight edge in adapting to the climate
change that apparently devastated the south because it had easy
access to a diversity of resources that no doubt contributed
to Chichen Itza's subsistence security and the enrichment
of its realm. However, massive transformations in the political
and religious domains were every bit as necessary to Chichen
Itza's adaptive strategy. The seeming paradox of Chichen
Itza's successful adaptation to environmental adversity
represents a cautionary tale about the dangers of
oversimplification that are inherent in environmental deterministic
thinking. Paradoxes of this kind arise when the primacy of cultural
factors in adaptive processes is ignored.
RETHINKING CLASSIC LOWLAND MAYA POTTERY CENSERS
Authors: Rice Prudence M.
Published: April 2003

Classic lowland Maya censers can be described in
terms of two general categories, image (or effigy) and
non-image. The function and meaning of these incensarios
is approached through consideration of their embellishment,
symbolism, and contexts of use and recovery. It is suggested
that in Peten and some adjacent areas, Classic image censers
were part of the paraphernalia of divine kingship, associated
with termination rituals and a royal funerary cult. Non-image
and particularly spiked censers were more associated with
birth/renewal, earth, rain, and calendrical rituals involving
fire drilling. Their use became widespread in the lowlands
during the Terminal Classic period, with the “collapse”
of divine kingship and elite power.
THE STREET OF THE DEAD … IT REALLY WAS
Authors: Headrick Annabeth
Published: April 2003

The name “Street of the Dead” used
to designate Teotihuacan's main avenue originates
from a Nahuatl notation on a sixteenth-century map. Though
this “story” is often deemed apocryphal, I
argue in this paper that oral tradition preserved conceptual
information that may not be archaeologically recoverable.
Support for this position comes from comparative cultural
analysis of Mesoamerican mortuary bundles as they are expressed
in ritual and iconography. Crucial to this argument are
the well-known stone masks of Teotihuacan. A case is made
that the masks originally served as the faces of oracular
mortuary bundles. The likely existence of mortuary bundles
at Teotihuacan generates organizational models for the
city in which lineage emerges as a fundamental element
and suggests new insight into status differentiation and
the iconography of power at Teotihuacan.
EARLY CLASSIC ARCHITECTURE BENEATH THE COPAN ACROPOLIS
Authors: Sharer Robert J. , Traxler Loa P. , Sedat David W. , Bell Ellen E. , Canuto Marcello A. , Powell Christopher
Published: April 2003

Excavations beneath the Copan Acropolis provide
the most complete record known for the origins and development
of an Early Classic Maya royal complex (ca. a.d.
420–650). Beginning at the time of the historically
identified dynastic founder, the earliest levels include
the first royal compound, centered on a small talud-tablero
platform, a vaulted tomb that may be that of the founder,
and an adjacent tomb that may be that of the founder's
wife and dynastic matriarch. The timing and development
of architecture provide evidence of the founding and growth
of Copan as the capital of a Classic-period polity during
the reigns of the first seven kings (a.d. 426–544).
By the reigns of Rulers 8–11 (a.d. 544–628),
the Early Classic Acropolis covered about the same area
as its final version in the Late Classic. Documentation
of specific Acropolis buildings provides evidence of the
external connections that reinforced the authority of Copan's
Early Classic kings. Building sequences reflect the perpetuation
of political power by using important locations as symbolic
links to the sacred past. The Early Classic Acropolis also
provides new evidence for the beginnings of palace architecture
that have important implications for the origins of Maya
state-level organizations. Overall, the findings from the
Early Classic Copan Acropolis promise to significantly
advance our understanding of the origins and development
of Maya state systems.