bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mutual amplification of apoptosis by statin‐induced mitochondrial stress and doxorubicin toxicity in human rhabdomyosarcoma cells
Authors: Werner Martin , Sacher Julia , Hohenegger Martin
Published: November 2004

Besides their cholesterol‐lowering effect, 3‐hydroxy‐3‐methyl‐glutaryl‐CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) show antiproliferative behaviour, which has been suggested as a promising anticancer strategy. However, the signalling cascades leading to statin‐induced death of cancer cells are poorly characterized.

Here we show that statins activate the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis in rhabdomyosarcoma RD cells via translocation of Bax from the cytosol to mitochondria. The prototypical representative of statins, simvastatin, induced consecutive activation of caspase 9 and 3 in a concentration‐dependent manner.

The permeability transition pore inhibitor bongkrekic acid was capable of completely preventing simvastatin‐induced caspase 9 and 3 activity, corroborating the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis as the sole mechanism of statin action. Alternative pathways via death receptors, that is, caspase 8 or calpain activation, were not triggered by simvastatin.

Simvastatin‐treated RD cells could be completely rescued from apoptosis by the co‐application of mevalonic acid, indicating that deprivation of cholesterol precursors is essential for statin‐induced apoptosis.

However, pretreatment with subthreshold concentrations of simvastatin was sufficient to augment doxorubicin toxicity via the mitochondrial apoptotic machinery. Moreover, the presence of doxorubicin increased the potency of simvastatin to trigger caspase activation.

Taken together, these data highlight the therapeutic anticancer potential of statins and their additivity and mutual sensitization, in combination with doxorubicin in human rhabdomyosarcoma cells.

British Journal of Pharmacology (2004) 143, 715–724. doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0705928
μ‐Opioid receptor desensitization: Is morphine different?
Authors: Connor Mark , Osborne Peregrine B , Christie MacDonald J
Published: November 2004

Opioid tolerance and dependence are important phenomena. The contribution of acute μ‐opioid receptor regulatory mechanisms to the development of analgesic tolerance or physical dependence are unknown, and even the mechanisms underlying relatively rapid receptor desensitization in single cells are unresolved. To a large degree, the uncertainty surrounding the mechanisms and consequences of short‐term regulation of μ‐opioid receptors in single cells arises from the limitations in the experimental design in many of the studies that have investigated these events. Receptor overexpression and use of assays in which regulatory mechanisms are likely to blunt control determinations have led to measurements of opioid receptor activity that are likely to be insensitive to receptor uncoupling. Together with uncertainties concerning molecular details of μ‐opioid receptor interactions with potential regulatory molecules such as G protein‐coupled receptor kinases and arrestins, we are left with an incomplete picture crudely copied from the well‐worked‐out regulatory schema for β2‐adrenoceptors. As a consequence, suggestions that clinically relevant μ‐opioid receptor agonists may have different propensities to produce tolerance and dependence that arise from their differential recruitment of regulatory mechanisms are premature, and have not yet been appropriately assessed, nor explained in the context of a thoroughly established regulatory scheme. In this commentary, we outline the experimental limitations that have given rise to conflicting ideas about how μ‐opioid receptors are regulated, and identify the issues we feel still need to be addressed before we can understand why morphine promotes receptor trafficking differently to other opioids.

British Journal of Pharmacology (2004) 143, 685–696. doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0705938
Time-resolved relaxation dynamics of Hgn− (11⩽n⩽16,n=18) clusters following intraband excitation at 1.5 eV
Authors: Verlet Jan R. R. , Bragg Arthur E. , Kammrath Aster , Cheshnovsky Ori , Neumark Daniel M.
Published: November 2004

Electron-nuclear relaxation dynamics are studied in Hgn− (11⩽n⩽16,n=18) using time-resolved photoelectron imaging. The excess electron in the anion uniquely occupies the p band and is excited intraband by 1.53 eV pump photons; the subsequent dynamics are monitored by photodetachment at 3.06 eV and measurement of the photoelectron images as a function of pump-probe delay. The initially excited state decays on a time scale of ∼10 ps, and subsequent relaxation dynamics reveal a smooth evolution of the photoelectron spectra towards lower electron kinetic energy over 50–100 ps. Qualitatively, the relaxation process is captured by a simple kinetic model assuming a series of radiationless transitions within a dense manifold of electronic states. All the clusters studied show similar dynamics with the exception of Hg11− in which the initially prepared state does not decay as quickly as the others.
Density-functional theory-based molecular simulation study of liquid methanol
Authors: Handgraaf Jan-Willem , Meijer Evert Jan , Gaigeot Marie-Pierre
Published: November 2004

We present a density-functional theory based molecular dynamics study of the structural, dynamical, and electronic properties of liquid methanol under ambient conditions. The calculated radial distribution functions involving the oxygen and hydroxyl hydrogen show a pronounced hydrogen bonding and compare well with recent neutron diffraction data. We observe that, in line with infrared spectroscopic data, the hydroxyl-stretching mode is significantly redshifted in the liquid, whereas the hydroxyl bending mode shows a blueshift. A substantial enhancement of the molecular dipole moment is accompanied by significant fluctuations due to thermal motion. We compute a value of 32 for the relative permittivity, almost identical to the experimental value of 33. Our results provide valuable data for improvement of empirical potentials.
The Nuclear Kinase Lsk1p Positively Regulates the Septation Initiation Network and Promotes the Successful Completion of Cytokinesis in Response to Perturbation of the Actomyosin Ring inSchizosaccharomyces pombe
Authors: Karagiannis Jim , Bimbó Andrea , Rajagopalan Srividya , Liu Jianhua , Balasubramanian Mohan K.
Published: November 2004

Cytokinesis in fission yeast requires the function of an actomyosin-based contractile ring whose constriction is dependent on a signaling module termed the septation initiation network (SIN). In response to minor perturbation of the ring, the duration of SIN signaling is extended concurrently with a delay in nuclear cycle progression. These mechanisms require the conserved phosphatase Clp1p/Flp1p and facilitate the successful completion of cytokinesis, thereby increasing cellular viability. To isolate novel components of this cytokinesis monitoring system, we screened a genome-wide bank of protein kinase deletion mutants and identified Lsk1p, a nuclear-localized protein kinase. Similar to clp1Δ mutants, and in contrast to wild type, lsk1Δ cells are unable to maintain the integrity of the actomyosin ring upon treatment with low doses (0.3 μM) of latrunculin A. However, unlike clp1Δ mutants, lsk1Δ cells are competent to delay nuclear cycle progression after cytokinetic failure. In addition, lsk1Δ mutants suppress the lethal, multiseptate phenotype conferred by hyperactivation of the SIN, demonstrating that Lsk1p is a positive regulator of this module. In this report, we demonstrate that Lsk1p acts in parallel to Clp1p to promote actomyosin ring stability upon checkpoint activation. Our studies also establish that actomyosin ring maintenance and nuclear cycle delay in response to cytokinetic perturbation can be genetically resolved into independent pathways.
The myth of the hoplite'shoplon
Authors: Lazenby J. F. , Whitehead David
Published: November 2004

‘Hoplites are troops who take their name from their shields’. ‘The individual infantryman took his name,hoplites, from thehoplonor shield’. Such is the orthodox view. This paper will endeavour to show that its basis is inadequate. Rather, we shall argue, hoplites took their name from their arms and armour as a whole, theirhoplain that all-encompassing sense; so that the original and essential meaning of the word hoplite was nothing more than ‘(heavily-)armed (infantry-)man’.
PS.-Seneca,Octavia889 and Vergil, Aeneid 12.539FF.
Authors: Ferri Rolando
Published: November 2004

At 876ff. Octavia's partisans lament the ruinous intervention of the Roman mob in support of the heroine's legitimate claims against Poppaea. A series of paradigmatic figures illustrates the sentence ‘o funestus multis populi dirusque fauor’: the two Gracchi, first, then Livius Drusus, thetribunus plebisof 91 B.C., stabbed to death in his house in the year of his tribunate. The gallery of historical characters suits the Roman atmosphere of the play, the fallen heroes of Republican times are presented as noble and disinterested figures, struck by disaster and evil fortune. This is the description of Livius' fate (887–90; text and colometry given as in Zwierlein's OCT):
ἕθνος and γνος in Herodotus
Authors: Jones C. P.
Published: November 2004

Herodotus has often been considered the Father of Ethnography no less than the Father of History. It comes as a paradox, then, that he has been taxed with confusion in his use of two terms that recur over and over in his discussion of peoples, ἕθνος and γνος. Here is the formulation of Raymond Weil:

Hérodote definit mal l‘ethnos’. C'est pour lui tantôot une subdivision du ‘génos’, tantôt au contraire un ensemble de ‘géné’. Ainsi 1' ‘ethnos’ des Médes, comme celui des Scythes, groupe plusieurs γνεα. Mais cet ‘ethnos’ scythe porte aussi le nom de ‘génos’, et comprend des ἕθνεα. Les Athéniens sont un ‘ethnos’ hellénique qui fait partie du ‘génos’ ionien, les Lacédémoniens un ‘ethnos’ pélasgique à rattacher au ‘génos’ dorien.
Punishment and the physiology of theTimaeus
Authors: Stalley R. F.
Published: November 2004

It hardly needs to be said that the parallel between mental and physical health plays an important part in Plato's moral philosophy. One of the central claims of theRepublicis that justice is to the soul what health is to the body (443b–444e).1 Similar points are made in other dialogues.2 This analogy between health and sickness on the one hand and virtue and vice on the other is closely connected to the so–called Socratic paradoxes. Throughout his life Plato seems to have clung in some sense to the ideas that justice is our greatest good, that the unjust man is correspondingly miserable and that no one is therefore willingly unjust. It follows from these ideas that the unjust man, like the sick man, is in a wretched state which is not of his own choosing.
Image and ritual: reflections on the religious appreciation of classical art
Authors: Elsner John
Published: November 2004

It is a cliché that most Greek art (indeed most ancient art) was religious in function. Yet our histories of Classical art, having acknowledged this truism, systematically ignore the religious nuances and associations of images while focusing on diverse arthistorical issues from style and form, or patronage and production, to mimesis and aesthetics. In general, the emphasis on naturalism in classical art and its reception has tended to present it as divorced from what is perceived as the overwhelmingly religious nature of post-Constantinian Christian art. The insulation of Greek and Roman art from theological and ritual concerns has been colluded in by most historians of medieval images. Take for instance Ernst Kitzinger's monographic article entitled ‘The Cult of Images in the Age before Iconoclasm’. Despite its title and despite Kitzinger's willingness to situate Christian emperor worship in an antique context, this classic paper contains nothing on the Classical ancestry of magical images, palladia and miracle-working icons in Christian art. There has been the odd valiant exception (especially in recent years), but in general it is fair to say that the religiousness of antiquity's religious art is skirted by the art historians and left to the experts on religion.
Plutarch, De Stoicorum Repugnantiis 1048DE
Authors: Boys-Stones G.
Published: November 2004

In chapters 30–1 of the de Stoicorum repugnantiis, Plutarch sets out to show that the Stoics involve themselves in self-contradiction if they claim that their philosophy allows them an intelligible notion of providence. In the first place, he says, this is so because the traditional boons which men expect to receive from the gods (health, wealth etc.) do not benefit them at all if they do not have wisdom. Indeed, the fool uses all things badly, so that to give him anything at all without giving him virtue should be positively harmful to him. Yet the gods never give virtue to anyone so, on this score, they benefit no one either.
Plutarch on the probable principle of cold: epistemology and the De Primo Frigido
Authors: Boys-Stones George
Published: November 2004

The de primo frigido has long been recognized as an important text for our understanding of Plutarch′s epistemological position. It is the aim of this paper to show, however, that the sophistication of the work, and with it of Plutarch′s epistemology, is not generally given the credit due to it.
‘Athens aids Eretria’: a state's jurisdiction over its citizens' actions
Authors: Toogood N.
Published: November 2004

In the course of studying ancient Greek diplomatic relations I have come to think that one item of evidence deserves a little more said about it than it has, up to now, received. Tod 11.154, entitled Athens aids Eretria: 357–6 B.C.', is a document whose significance in Greek diplomatic history has not, I suggest, been fully appreciated. It is a unique epigraphic record of a genre of diplomatic instrument that was available to states which wished to emphasize their non-belligerence. R. Bauslaugh has recently gathered the literary evidence for the use by neutral states of this type of instrument, prohibiting a state's citizens from serving as mercenaries for a foreign power, but he did not consider this decree, in which a state uses the same instrument to demonstrate its goodwill towards its allies.
Eumenides 267–75: μέγας Ἅιδης εὓθυνος
Authors: Bakewell Geoffrey W.
Published: November 2004

Having withered you while you live I will lead you down so that you may give recompense for the miseries of your slaughtered mother. And if anyone else of mortals has done wrong, committing impiety against god or any stranger or his own parents, you will see him getting his just deserts. For Hades is a great euthunos of mortals below the ground, he oversees all things with his tablet-writing mind.
Sophocles, Electra 137–9
Authors: Willink C. W.
Published: November 2004

The familiar crux in line 139, as obelized by Dawe, disappears in the new Oxford Text, whose editors accept the Triclinian reading . Their short critical note touches only on the metrical issue, citing discussions by Stinton and Diggle, in both of which acceptance of here is cautiously linked with recognition of the same responsion at Philoctetes 209/218 and Euripides, Medea 159/183. The note concludes with a reference (credited to Miss Parker) to p. 75 of an article by K. Itsumi.
Interpolating an isthmus: Juvenal 6.294–7
Authors: Hendry Michael
Published: November 2004

R. J. Tarrant has remarked that ‘Latin poets from Ovid onward...felt an almost irresistible urge to mention the Isthmus of Corinth wherever possible’,2 and A. E. Housman admitted to a similar, though less urgent, inclination to introduce the city of Corinth into the passage quoted: ‘inter 295 et 296 excidisse uidetur uersus cuius clausula fuerit Corinthus’. Corinth would, of course, be very much at home in this list of depraved and wealthy (or formerly wealthy) Greek cities, and would suitably head the list.
Verse transpositions in Tibullus
Authors: Günther H.-C.
Published: November 2004

After having been for some while the butt of conservative critics, verse transpositions in Propertius have, mainly thanks to the work of G. P. Goold, again become respectable among scholars. In his edition of Catullus, Tibullus, and Propertius J. J. Scaliger (first edition: Paris 1577,2Antwerp 1582, several times reprinted), the great archeget of the method, had subjected the other great elegist of Propertius’ generation to the same treatment,2 and in fact one of Scaliger's transpositions is supported by external evidence: 1.5.71–6 belong after 6.32; this is confirmed by Ovid's imitation in Trist. 2.447ff. Trist. 2. 459–60 (scit, cui latretur, cum solus obambulet, ipsel cui totiens clausas excreet ante fores) echo Tib. 1.6.31f. (ille ego sum, nee me iam dicere uera pudebit.l instabat tola cui tua node canis) and 5.73 (et simulat transire domum, mox deinde recurritl solus et ante ipsas exscreat usque fores). That Ovid should have brought together in one distich verses from two different Tibullian poems may not seem wholly impossible, but much less likely than that the lines in Tibullus were also consecutive, in particular because the distich immediately preceding 459f. clearly refers to the situation of Tib. 1.6.
Antiphanes fr. 46 K-A and the problem of Spartan moustaches
Authors: Millis B. W.
Published: November 2004

Lines 4–5 of Antiphanes fr. 46 KA, an Athenian view of the stereotypical Spartan life, present several difficult, interrelated problems. The text as printed by Kassel- Austin is grammatically intelligible, although problematic, since καταϕρονέω is used absolutely elsewhere in old or middle comedy only at Amph.
Three Propertian puns
Authors: Hendry Michael
Published: November 2004

Many readers of Mynors' commentary must have been mildly puzzled by the last sentence of his note on 491: ‘Some sensitive modern ears catch an echo of the Homericemathoeis, “sandy” and haima, “blood”’. In commenting on the same line, Thomas is less negative, but mentions only the blood, not the sand: ’Haemi…campos: given the force ofpinguescere… V. surely intends a gloss—“plains of blood” (cf. Gr. haima)‘.2 He provides no further guidance as to who might be the owner of Mynors’ ‘sensitive modern ears’. For the record, the answer is George Doig, and his case is far stronger than Mynors' dismissive comment might be taken to imply.3 The first point in favour is (as Doig says) the inaccuracy of Vergil's geographic reference.
Plutarch, De stoicorum repugnantiis 1048DE: an emendation
Authors: Boys-Stones George
Published: November 2004

In CQ 46 (1996), 591–5, I proposed an emendation to Plutarch, de Stoic, rep. 1048DE which included the adoption of the variant ἰσχύουσιν (found in X1 and F1) for the ἰσχύν otherwise attested in the MSS.
How many books did Diodorus Siculus originally intend to write?
Authors: Rubincam Catherine
Published: November 2004

Diodorus Siculus was notoriously inconsistent in his statements about the terminal date of his survey of history, theBibliotheca Historica. In the ‘table of contents’ (1.4.7) which he included in the general preface to the whole work, written apparently when he was preparing his manuscript for publication (probably about 30b.c.), he specifically names the year 60/59 (‘the first year of the 180th Olympiad, when Herodes was archon at Athens’) as the last year of his narrative. Elsewhere, however, he not only gives a figure for the period of history encompassed by his work which would bring it down to 46/5, but he also on several occasions expresses the intention of including within his narrative some account of Julius Caesar's activities in Gaul, which implies a terminal date later than c. 52 B.C. How can this discrepancy be explained? The most economical hypothesis would be that Diodorus set out at first to compose a work that should go down to 46/5, but at some later stage in the composition changed his mind, and set back his terminus to 60/59. His originally intended terminus was most likely the triple triumph of Julius Caesar, whom Diodorus clearly admired beyond all other contemporary leaders. The decision in favour of an earlier terminus will have been due either to simple fatigue or to disillusionment with the course followed by Caesar's heir after 44b.c.and anxiety about the dangers of dealing with events of a too recent and controversial past.
Thucydides’ Nicias and Homer's Agamemnon
Authors: Zadorojnyi A. V.
Published: November 2004

The scholiast is clearly busy glossing a rare word. Here, as elsewhere in the scholia, Homer is cited for just that purpose. There is also an effective tendency to build judgements on a writer's style around the label ‘Oμηρικ⋯ς. Curiously, in our case the scholiast seems to have hit upon the right reading of the passage. The detail about decaying timbers in the context of Nicias' letter could not help striking educated Greek readers, who, like Thucydides himself, had Homer at their fingertips, as an echo of Agamemnon's words in Il. 2.135.1 argue that Thucydides intends the reminiscence to be perceived, and moreover, uses it to trigger off our understanding that the figure of Nicias should be read against that of the Homeric Agamemnon.
The Crimen Maiestatis under Caligula: the evidence of Dio Cassius
Authors: Keaveney Arthur , Madden John A.
Published: November 2004

In Dio we first encounter Caligula in connection with the crimen maiestatis in the course of 59.1–5. This forms an introduction to Caligula and, at the same time, looks forward to some of the changes which occurred in his character and behaviour as the reign progressed.
Studies in the later manuscript tradition of Aristophanes' Peace
Authors: Olson S. Douglas
Published: November 2004

Aristophanes' Peace is preserved in ten manuscripts, the oldest and most complete of which are the tenth-century Ravennas 429 (R) and the eleventh-century Venetus Marcianus 474 (V). A third manuscript, Venetus Marcianus 475 (G), is almost certainly a direct copy of V and can therefore be eliminated. The seven remaining manuscripts of the play, along with the Aldine edition of 1498, share numerous variant readings, as well as lacunae at 948–1011 and 1076b, and can accordingly be described as a family. As I will argue in detail below, the stemmatic relationship among the members of this family can be most economically represented as shown in Figure 1.
Greek Feminines in -Ias: An Ovidian Predilection
Authors: Kenney E. J.
Published: November 2004

The ordinary Latin words for ‘lonian’ are lonicus and lonius. Ovid does not use the former at all, and except for one problematical instance applies the latter only to the Ionian Sea (cf. OLD s. v.). Copyists, editors, and lexicographers, however, credit him, and him only, with Ioniacus, supposedly attested in two passages of almost identical wording:
The serpent and the sparrows: Homer and the parodos of Aeschylus’ Agamemnon
Authors: Heath John
Published: November 2004

The Homeric influence on two prominent avian images in the parodos of the Agamemnon—the vulture simile (49–50) and the omen of the eagles and the pregnant hare (109–10)—has long been noted. In 1979 West suggested that the animal imagery also derived in part from Archilochus’ fable of the fox and the eagle (frr. 172–81 West), and his discussion was quickly welcomed and supplemented by Janko's reading of the eagle and snake imagery used by Orestes at Cho. 246–7. Capping this triennium mirabile of critical interest in Aeschylus’ birds of prey, Davies argued that the convincing resemblances between the fable and the Aeschylean passages in West's thesis—the anthropomorphism implied in παίδων (Ag. 50) and δεγπνον (Ag. 137) and the concern of Zeus for aggrieved animals (Ag. 55–6)—derive more generally from the nature of fable rather than from any one particular tale. Thus we have, according to Davies, an example of Aeschylus ‘exploring the resources and familiar modes of expression of a popular and well-known genre’ and transforming it into ‘the purest and sublimest type of poetry’.
Aeschylus vs. Euripides: a textual problem at Frogs 818–19
Authors: Borthwick E. K.
Published: November 2004

The literary contest of the two tragedians in Frogs is introduced by four stanzas redolent of Homeric combat, with their predominantly dactylic metre and a number of high-flown epic words. I am surprised that several editors prefer the reading ὑψὑλøωυ at 818, as íππóλοøος surely has a resonance of íπποκορυστ⋯ς of Iliad 2.1, etc. The readings and sense, however, of both halves of 819 have long been controversial. As Dover suggested in his 1993 edition (accepted more recently by Sommerstein) the MSS ‘linch-pins of splinters’ is less satisfactory than his proposed transposition to ‘splintering of linch-pins' (σὐáυδάλαμοí τε παραξουíωυ), which suggests a recollection of the dangers of chariot accidents or collisions, as in the funeral games of Il. 23. But the following expression ‘shavings of deeds’ is even more puzzling, and highly improbable, and Heiberg's emendation to σμιλο⋯, agreeing with φωτÓς (Euripides), is preferred by Stanford among others, though doubted by Dover.
Ausonius, ep. 4 and Horace, ep. 1.14.9
Authors: De Pretis Anna
Published: November 2004

Bentley's emendation in Horace, Ep. 1.14.9 (avet for amal has been accepted by many scholars as correct and harmonizes with the tone of Horace's letter, in which he expresses his impatience to go back to the countryside and at the same time his inability to fulfil his desire (Ep. 1.14.6–9: Me quamvis Lamiaepietas et cura moratur, / fratrem maerentis, rapto de fratre dolentis / insolabiliter, tamen istuc mens animusque / fert et avet spatiis obstantia rumpere claustra).
Sallust'sCatilineand Cato the Censor
Authors: Levene D. S.
Published: November 2004

That Sallust owed a considerable debt to the writings of Cato the Censor was observed in antiquity, and the observation has often been discussed and expanded on by modern scholars. The ancient references to Sallust's employment of Cato are mainly in the context of his adoption of an archaic style, and specifically Catonian vocabulary. But the choice of Cato as a model had an obvious significance that went beyond the purely stylistic. Sallust's works articulate extreme pessimism at the moral state of late-Republican Rome, and do so partly by contrasting the modern age with a prelapsarian time of near-untrammelled virtue, brought to an end only by the fall of Carthage and the consequent dominance of Roman power, which in turn led to moral corruption. Similarly, Cato famously stood in his own day for moral rectitude—and specifically appealed to past virtue as the standard to which he wished to hold his contemporaries. Sallust, by writing in a Catonian style, aligns himself with that tradition.
The introduction to Diogenes of Oinoanda's Physics
Authors: Smith Martin Ferguson
Published: November 2004

One of the best-known bits—perhaps the best-known bit—of the inscription of Diogenes of Oinoanda is frs. 2–3, in which the author explains what motivated him to display Epicurean doctrines in epigraphical form.
Royal authority and city law under Alexander and his Hellenistic successors
Authors: O'Neil James L.
Published: November 2004

When the Macedonians had conquered Greece, city-states continued to exist along-side the more powerful kingdoms, and were often forced to accommodate their policies to the wishes of the powerful kings who were, in theory, their allies. If kings and cities were to co-operate effectively, there would need to be some way of adapting the authority of royal wishes to the theoretical rights of the cities to self-determination.

The contrast between the powers of a king, theoretically all-powerful within his kingdom, and the autonomy of a city did not need to be total. Aristotle, who was acquainted with the Macedonian kingdom, made a clear distinction between kingship and tyranny, between rule by the law and autocracy. He listed Macedonia alongside Sparta and Epirus as kingdoms which were ruled in the interests of all.
Linking language and situation: a course for advanced learners
Authors: Holborow Marnie
Published: November 2004

Focus on the situation of language is often regarded as outside the domain of language teaching and more appropriate to sociolinguistics than applied linguistics. Yet finding the appropriate piece of language to ‘fit’ a situation continues to constitute a difficult task, even for the advanced learner. The article argues that understanding the context of language—the social, the interpersonal, the setting in its broadest sense—is a vital component in a learner's capacity to communicate effectively. This article describes a course for advanced learners, the aim of which was to focus on the links between language and situation, and, at the same time, equip the students with concepts that would guide them in the production of appropriate written texts. The process involved students talking about language as well as practising it. It also contributed to making them aware of language variation—something which most students sense intuitively, but are seldom taught.
The house of TESEP and the communicative approach: the special needs of state English language education
Authors: Holliday Adrian
Published: November 2004

Many teachers in state English language education around the world are unsure about the appropriateness of the communicative approach to the conditions prevalent in their classrooms. One reason for this may be that they are trying to use a particularly narrow interpretation of this approach produced, for very different classroom contexts, by branches of the ELT community in Britain, North America, or Australasia. There is, in other words, a problem of technology transfer between these branches of the profession and the rest of the world. However, there does exist a broader version of the communicative approach which has within it the potential to adapt to all types of classroom context, provided it is informed by local knowledge. Teachers in state education already have this local knowledge about their students and the realities of their classrooms. Their experience must be capitalized upon and incorporated into a more environment-sensitive communicative approach.
Developing language skills and learner autonomy in international postgraduates
Authors: McClure J
Published: November 2004

Studies have shown that postgraduate research presents particular challenges, ranging from self-management, independent research, and extended writing, to working with a supervisor (Ballard 1984, 1996; Zuber-Skerritt 1994). If we add to these challenges those faced by many international students - the complexity of a new culture, and the difficulties of a second language - we begin to see the hurdles these students must overcome. This paper reports on a course designed to provide the pedagogical environment for international postgraduates to develop language skills, and learner autonomy. A reflective model for facilitating engagement with the research process is proposed as a useful strategy to develop these skills. To further stimulate this process, a series of reflections that novice researchers should consider in relation to their reading and writing is also put forward.
Teaching Terry McMillan's short fiction
Authors: Völz S
Published: November 2004

Although Terry McMillan's novels have been huge successes, reaching a broad readership, her fiction has practically gone unnoticed in the EFL classroom. McMillan's short stories are not only accessible to non-narrative speakers of English but can be used as a springboard to further literary competence and cross-cultural comparison. This paper analyses McMillan's conception of aesthetics, and offers practical suggestions for the teaching of 'Ma'Dear' and 'Quilting on the Rebound' to EFL students at the post-secondary level.
Sympathy For the Devil: Chares and Athenian Politics
Authors: Salmond Paul D.
Published: November 2004

Around the year 362 B.C., Iphikrates and Timotheos, two Athenian generals who had been bitter rivals for a decade, ended their feud in the best fashion of aristocratic dynasts: a marriage was arranged between Timotheos' daughter and Iphikrates' son ([Dem.] 49.66). Assumedly, the principal motive behind this strategic rapprochement was the mutual belief that it would be in the interests of both generals to concentrate their attentions elsewhere: that is, on the various enemies each had acquired over the years spent in office. This could best be achieved without each having to concern himself with the activities of the other vis-ὰ-vis the constant political infighting that characterized Athenian politics, and the stratēgia in particular.
Waiting for Neoptolemus: The Unity of Euripides'Andromache
Authors: Mossman J. M.
Published: November 2004

Very few critics have ever admired the structure of Euripides'Andromache. The enigmatic comment of Aristophanes' hypothesis, τò δε δρﾶµα τωv δεvτερωv has almost invariably been taken as meaning that the play is second rate, not that it came second in the trilogy or in the competition, and this is largely blamed on the structure. Most critics admire the first portion of the play dominated by Andromache, some are willing to tolerate the middle section concerned with Hermione, and many find the last portion, the sorrows of Peleus, effective, but almost no-one likes the combination of the three. It takes a rugged individualist like A. W. Verrall to say: ‘[The story is] in dexterous combination and moral interest one of the best among the extant remains of Attic tragedy.’
Roman Republic, Year One
Authors: Wiseman T. P.
Published: November 2004

The Romans knew that they had once been ruled by kings, and they believed, perhaps rightly, that the fall of the monarchy had taken place at what we would call the end of the sixth century B.C. The texts that tell us this – Livy, Dionysius, Plutarch, etc. – all depend on a historical tradition that can be traced back as far as the second half of the third century B.C., when the Roman literary genres of historical drama, historical epic, and prose historiography began. Before that, we do not know how the Romans conceived or recorded the memory of their own past.
The Economic Role of the Greek City
Authors: Salmon John
Published: November 2004

The economic role of the state is controversial, even after the collapse of communism and the election of New Labour. The demand that governments get off the backs of wealth-creators has barely diminished since the 1980s; but some still urge control of private and corporate greed in the public interest. There is no sign of such controversy in Greek antiquity; but I shall suggest that the practice of the cities depended on political considerations which reveal comparable principles. All governments, whatever their complexion, now accept some responsibility for general economic well–being, even if their actions may amount to little more than a claim that prosperity will ‘trickle down’ from top to bottom. Numerous functions which would now be identified as economic were performed by Greek cities; after brief preliminaries to set the economic scene, I shall explore them, and try to determine why they were undertaken.
Plautus' Amphitryo as Tragi-Comedy
Authors: Bond R. P.
Published: November 2004

J. L. Styan in his book The Dark Comedy quotes a comment of Federico Garcia Lorca, ‘If in certain scenes the audience doesn't know what to do, whether to laugh or cry, that will be a success for me'. A friend and colleague suggested in a conversation after witnessing my production of the Amphitryo in Perth in 1991 that he found that play similarly fascinating, because at times it made certain parts of the audience feel so uncomfortable, even as it was making them laugh. Riotously funny the Amphitryo undoubtedly is from time to time, but there is often a savage bite to the humour and a feeling evoked by the action which is not dissimilar to the effect of tragedy, especially when the unwitting humans have their lives and fortunes distorted by the amoral antics of the immortals. In short, the play shows signs of being of mixed genre, a fact which is acknowledged by the famous statement of Mercury in the prologue:
Animal Passions
Authors: Clark Gillian
Published: November 2004

Judges, and tabloid newspapers, have a habit of saying that violent criminals ‘behaved like animals’. After all those years of David Attenborough they ought to know better: very few other species behave as badly as humans. But they are invoking the ancient belief that animals have neither reason nor justice. Consequently, ‘animal passion’ is fierce and overpowering. Animals are beasts. They are savage and unsocial. They cannot control their passions by reason and are unrestrained by respect for others, by a sense of fairness or by social order.
Academic General Practice in Manchester under the Early National Health Service: A Failed Experiment in Social Medicine
Authors: PERRY MARK
Published: November 2004

During the Second World War, medical academics hoped to reform medical practice and education in Great Britain, increasing doctors' sensitivity to the social and environmental causes of ill health and orientating them towards prevention At the start of the National Health Service (NHS), central planning aimed to raise the status of isolated urban general practitioners (GPs) by grouping them in an experimental health centre This offered a locus for social medicine, encouraging cooperation and research with local authority staff (nurses, midwives, and social workers) The Manchester case study confirms that health centre working could not be disseminated while conditions for teamwork were absent elsewhere The failure of academic planning can be attributed to a top-down approach upon demoralized urban practice While the participants did not form an autonomous group, economic incentives drove the growth of group practice elsewhere and made health centres superfluous to government The College of General Practitioners developed in parallel, offering an alternative path towards an academic discipline The case study also suggests a relationship between the emergence of groups and a psychological orientation in practice A patient-centred model became important within teaching and gave identity to the discipline, but it probably had little impact on everyday practice.
Central localization of plasticity involved in appetitive conditioning inLymnaea
Authors: Straub Volko A. , Styles Benjamin J. , Ireland Julie S. , O'Shea Michael , Benjamin Paul R.
Published: November 2004

Learning to associate a conditioned (CS) and unconditioned stimulus (US) results in changes in the processing of CS information. Here, we address directly the question whether chemical appetitive conditioning ofLymnaeafeeding behavior involves changes in the peripheral and/or central processing of the CS by using extracellular recording techniques to monitor neuronal activity at two stages of the sensory processing pathway. Our data show that appetitive conditioning does not affect significantly the overall CS response of afferent nerves connecting chemosensory structures in the lips and tentacles to the central nervous system (CNS). In contrast, neuronal output from the cerebral ganglia, which represent the first central processing stage for chemosensory information, is enhanced significantly in response to the CS after appetitive conditioning. This demonstrates that chemical appetitive conditioning inLymnaeaaffects the central, but not the peripheral processing of chemosensory information. It also identifies the cerebral ganglia ofLymnaeaas an important site for neuronal plasticity and forms the basis for detailed cellular studies of neuronal plasticity.
Antigenic Determinants of Alpha-Like Proteins of
Streptococcus agalactiae
Authors: Maeland Johan A. , Bevanger Lars , Lyng Randi Valsoe
Published: November 2004

The majority of group B streptococcus (GBS) isolates express one or more of a family of surface-anchored proteins that vary by strain and that form ladder-like patterns on Western blotting due to large repeat units. These proteins, which are important as GBS serotype markers and as inducers of protective antibodies, include the alpha C (Cα) and R4 proteins and the recently described alpha-like protein 2 (Alp2), encoded by
alp2
, and Alp3, encoded by
alp3
. In this study, we examined antigenic determinants possessed by Alp2 and Alp3 by testing of antibodies raised in rabbits, mainly by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) and an ELISA absorption test. The results showed that Alp2 and Alp3 shared an antigenic determinant, which may be a unique immunological marker of the Alp variants of GBS proteins. Alp2, in addition, possessed an antigenic determinant which showed specificity for Alp2 and a third determinant which showed serological cross-reactivity with Cα. Alp3, in addition to the determinant common to Alp2 and Alp3, harbored an antigenic site which also was present in the R4 protein, whereas no Alp3-specific antigenic site was detected. These ELISA-based results were confirmed by Western blotting and a fluorescent-antibody test. The results are consistent with highly complex antigenic structures of the alpha-like proteins in a fashion which is in agreement with the recently described structural mosaicism of the
alp2
and
alp3
genes. The results are expected to influence GBS serotyping, immunoprotection studies, and GBS vaccine developments.
Characterization of Antibodies to Capsular Polysaccharide Antigens ofHaemophilus influenzaeType b andStreptococcus pneumoniaein Human Immune Globulin Intravenous Preparations
Authors: Mikolajczyk Malgorzata G. , Concepcion Nelydia F. , Wang Theresa , Frazier Douglas , Golding Basil , Frasch Carl E. , Scott Dorothy E.
Published: November 2004

The most common infections in primary immune deficiency disease (PIDD) patients involve encapsulated bacteria, mainlyHaemophilus influenzaetype b (Hib) andStreptococcus pneumoniae(pneumococcus). Thus, it is important to know the titers of Hib- and pneumococcus-specific antibodies that are present in immune globulin (Ig) intravenous (IGIV) preparations used to treat PIDD. In this study, seven IGIV preparations were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and opsonophagocytic activity for antibody titers to the capsular polysaccharides of Hib and five pneumococcal serotypes. Differences in Hib- and pneumococcus-specific antibody titer were observed among various IGIV preparations, with some products having higher- or lower-than-average titers. Opsonic activity also varied among preparations. As expected, IgG2 was the most active subclass of both binding and opsonic activity except against pneumococcal serotype 6B where IgG3 was the most active. This study determines antibody titers against capsular polysaccharides of Hib and pneumococcus in seven IGIV products that have been shown to be effective in reducing infections in PIDD patients. As donor antibody levels and manufacturing methods continue to change, it may prove useful from a regulatory point of view to reassess IGIV products periodically, to ensure that products maintain antibody levels that are important for the health of IGIV recipients.
Age-Dependent Accuracy of
Helicobacter pylori
Antibody Assays for Adults, with Special Emphasis on Atrophic Gastritis
Authors: Salomaa-Räsänen A. , Kosunen T. U. , Mattila J. , Sarna S. , Rautelin H.
Published: November 2004

The accuracy of
Helicobacter pylori
antibody assays for 561 consecutive adult outpatients who had undergone gastroscopy was studied. The sensitivity of an immunoglobulin G test was 99 to 100% for all age groups, but the specificity declined by age group, from 99% for those aged 15 to 49 years to 75% for those aged ≥65 years. The exclusion of false-positive results for patients with atrophic gastritis improved the specificity to 93 to 97% for the older age groups.
Lack of Association between Toll-Like Receptor 2 Polymorphisms and Susceptibility to Severe Disease Caused byStaphylococcus aureus
Authors: Moore Catrin E. , Segal Shelley , Berendt Anthony R. , Hill Adrian V. S. , Day Nicholas P. J.
Published: November 2004

To investigate a putative link between genetically determined variations in Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and the occurrence of severeStaphylococcus aureusinfection, the functional Arg753Gln single-nucleotide polymorphism and the GT repeat microsatellite in the TLR2 gene were examined in a large case-control study. No associations with disease or mortality attributable to these features were found.
FEMTOSECOND LASER PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY ON ATOMS AND SMALL MOLECULES: Prototype Studies in Quantum Control
Authors: Wollenhaupt M. , Engel V. , Baumert T.
Published: November 2004

▪ Abstract  We review prototype studies in the area of quantum control with femtosecond lasers. We restrict this discussion to atoms and diatomics under gas-phase collision-free conditions to allow for a comparison between theory and experiment. Both the perturbative regime and the nonperturbative regime of the light-matter interaction are addressed. To that end, atomic/molecular beam techniques are combined together with femtosecond laser techniques and energy-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy and ion detection. Highly detailed information on the laser-induced quantum dynamics is extracted with the help of kinetic energy-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy.
Regulation of intracellular Ca2+ release in corpus cavernosum smooth muscle: synergism between nitric oxide and cGMP
Authors: Williams Beatrice A. , Liu Caiqiong , DeYoung Ling , Brock Gerald B. , Sims Stephen M.
Published: November 2004

Tonic contraction of corpus cavernosum smooth muscle cells (SMCs) maintains the flaccid state of the penis, and relaxation is initiated by nitric oxide (NO), leading to erection. Our aim was to investigate the effect of NO on the smooth muscle cellular response to adrenergic stimulation in corpus cavernosum. Fura-2 fluorescence was used to record intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) from freshly isolated SMCs from rat and human. Phenylephrine (PE) transiently elevated [Ca2+]i in the presence and absence of extracellular Ca2+, indicating release from intracellular stores. Whereas the NO donor S-nitroso- N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP) with sildenafil citrate (SIL) caused no change in basal [Ca2+]i, the PE-induced rise of [Ca2+]i was reversibly inhibited by 27 ± 7% ( n = 21, P < 0.005) in rat and by 55 ± 15% ( n = 9, P < 0.01) in human SMCs. SNAP and SIL also reduced the contractile response to PE. To investigate the mechanism, we applied mediators alone or in combination. The soluble guanylyl cyclase inhibitor ODQ reduced the effect of SNAP and SIL. SIL, cGMP analogs, and NO donors without SIL did not reduce the PE-induced rise of [Ca2+]i. However, the combination of 8-bromo-cGMP with SNAP reduced the Ca2+ peak by 42 ± 9% ( n = 22, P < 0.01). Our results demonstrate that NO and cGMP act synergistically to reduce Ca2+ release from intracellular stores. Reduction of intracellular Ca2+ release may contribute to relaxation of the corpus cavernosum, leading to erection.