bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
NEW CONSTRAINTS ON THE VARIABLE EQUATION OF STATE PARAMETER FROM X-RAY GAS MASS FRACTIONS AND SNe Ia
Authors: CUNHA J. V. , MARASSI L. , SANTOS R. C.
Published: May 2007

Recent measurements are suggesting that we live in a flat Universe and that its present accelerating stage is driven by a dark energy component whose equation of state may evolve in time. Assuming two different parametrizations for the function ω(z), we constrain their free parameters from a joint analysis involving measurements from X-ray luminosity of galaxy clusters and SNe type Ia data.
NONLINEARITY OF ELECTRODYNAMICS AS A SOURCE OF MATTER CREATION IN A FLAT FRW COSMOLOGY
Authors: CÂMARA C. S. , CARVALHO J. C. , DE GARCIA MAIA M. R.
Published: May 2007

The thermodynamics of cosmological matter creation has been extensively investigated in the literature. In the context of general relativity, the particle production in the cosmological models is due to mechanisms such as an imperfect fluid with bulk viscosity or the decaying vacuum. Another interesting proposal is matter creation in cosmologies with variation of fundamental constants. In this work, we study the nonlinearity of the electrodynamics as a source of matter creation in cosmological models with flat Friedmann–Robertson–Walker (FRW) line geometry. We write the energy conservation law arising from Einstein field equations with cosmological term Λ, solve the field equations, and study how particles are created as the magnetic field B changes with cosmic epoch. We obtain solutions for the adiabatic particle creation rate, the total number of particles, and the scale factor as a function of time in three cases: Λ = 0, Λ = constant and Λ ∝ H2 (cosmological term proportional to the Hubble parameter). We find the constraints imposed by the second law of thermodynamics upon the cosmological solutions.
INFLUENCE OF A STOCHASTIC TERM ON THE MESZAROS EFFECT
Authors: SILVA J. M.
Published: May 2007

In this work we rediscuss the Meszaros effect by taking into account possible stochastic effects due to the primeval thermal bath. By applying the Langevin approach, we analyze how the growing mode of the non-relativistic component evolves when a stochastic term is added to the evolution equation of the density contrast. For white noise, we conclude that the effect is very robust since the total growth of the increasing mode until the matter-radiation equilibrium is only 1.2 times the standard result if the coefficient of the Langevin force is of the order of unity. In principle, such a study may also be interesting after zeq when the Universe is dominated by cold dark matter but the baryonic component is still in thermal contact with the radiation fluid.
PRESS–SCHECHTER MASS FUNCTION AND THE NORMALIZATION PROBLEM
Authors: MARASSI L. , LIMA J. A. S.
Published: May 2007

The Press–Schechter (PS) formalism yields the number density of bound objects formed during the evolution of the Universe, which should be compared to the great clusters of galaxies now observed. This basic approach has an intrinsic problem of normalization (the so-called missing factor 2). We argue here that such a problem is related to specific choices of the statistical distribution describing the initial density fluctuations. The fudge factor 2 occurs even in the context of the q-nonextensive statistics which is the simplest one-parametric extension of the Gaussian distribution. In general, other distributions require different corrections, such as the log-normal distribution. However, by assuming that the perturbations can be described by the Burr distribution, we prove that the PS approach in this case is not plagued with the normalization problem.
QUANTITATIVE BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF GAMMA-RAY BURSTS
Authors: GALANTE DOUGLAS , HORVATH JORGE ERNESTO
Published: May 2007

We present a unified, quantitative synthesis of analytical and numerical calculations of the effects caused on an Earth-like planet by a Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB), considering atmospheric and biological implications. The main effects of the illumination by a GRB are classified in four distinct phenomena and analyzed separately, namely: direct γ radiation transmission, UV flash, ozone layer depletion and cosmic rays. The "effectiveness" of each of these effects is compared and lethal distances for significant biological damage are given for each one. We find that the first three effects have potential to cause global environmental changes and biospheric damages, even if the source is located at a great distance (perhaps 100 kpc). In contrast, cosmic rays would only be a serious threat for very close sources.
ATTENUATION OF NON-PHYSICAL OSCILLATIONS IN SUPERNOVA SHOCK WAVES
Authors: DUARTE S. B. , RODRIGUES H. , PORTES D.
Published: May 2007

Artificial viscosity is widely used in numerical calculations of stellar core collapse. The failure or success of the prompt mechanism explosion of type-II supernovae is strongly dependent on the numerical code, and the study of a suitable and efficient method of capturing the shock front is a current problem. We present a novel one-term artificial viscosity which is dependent on the velocity field along the shock front. We show that this form of artificial viscosity is able to capture the profile of a plane shock wave, removing the non-physical oscillations originated by the artificial viscosity of von Neumann and Richtmyer type.
HEAVY QUARKS AND MESON PRODUCTION IN ULTRAPERIPHERAL HEAVY ION COLLISIONS
Authors: GONÇALVES V. P. , MACHADO M. V. T.
Published: May 2007

We report on our recent investigations into photonuclear production of heavy quarks and vector mesons in ultraperipheral heavy ion collisions. In particular, our theoretical predictions are compared with the recent experimental measurements on coherent ρ (STAR) and J/Ψ (PHENIX) photoproduction at RHIC, and estimates for LHC are given.
f0(1710) DECAY IN THE FOCK–TANI FORMALISM
Authors: DA SILVA MARIO L. L. , DA SILVA DANIEL T. , HADJIMICHEF DIMITER , VASCONCELLOS CESAR A. Z.
Published: May 2007

We investigate the two-meson decay modes for f0(1710). In this calculation, we consider this resonance as a glueball. The Fock–Tani formalism is introduced to calculate the decay width.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
Authors: HORVATH J. E.
Published: May 2007

We provide an overview of the several topics covered at the 2nd IWARA Workshop, Natal, RN, Brazil.
Force suppression and the crossbridge cycle in swine carotid artery
Authors: Rembold Christopher M.
Published: May 2007

Cyclic nucleotides can relax arterial smooth muscle without reductions in crossbridge phosphorylation, a process termed force suppression. There are two potential mechanisms for force suppression: 1) phosphorylated crossbridges binding to thin filaments could be inhibited or 2) the attachment of thin filaments to anchoring structures could be disrupted. These mechanisms were evaluated by comparing histamine-stimulated swine arterial smooth muscle with and without forskolin-induced force suppression and with and without latrunculin-A-induced actin filament disruption. At matched force, force suppression was associated with higher crossbridge phosphorylation and shortening velocity at low loads when compared with tissues without force suppression. Shortening velocity at high loads, noise temperature, hysteresivity, and stiffness did not differ with and without force suppression. These data suggest that crossbridge phosphorylation regulates the crossbridge cycle during force suppression. Actin disruption with latrunculin-A was associated with higher crossbridge phosphorylation when compared with tissues without actin disruption. Shortening velocity, noise temperature, hysteresivity, and stiffness did not differ with and without actin disruption. These data suggest that actin disruption interferes with regulation of crossbridge cycling by crossbridge phosphorylation. Stiffness was linearly dependent on stress, suggesting that the force per attached crossbridge was not altered with force suppression or actin disruption. These data suggest a difference in the mechanical characteristics observed during force suppression and actin disruption, implying that force suppression does not mechanistically involve actin disruption. These data are most consistent with a model where force suppression involves the inhibition of phosphorylated crossbridge binding to thin filaments.
Functional genomics of chicken, mouse, and human titin supports splice diversity as an important mechanism for regulating biomechanics of striated muscle
Authors: Granzier Henk , Radke Michael , Royal Joseph , Wu Yiming , Irving Thomas C. , Gotthardt Michael , Labeit Siegfried
Published: May 2007

Titin is a giant filamentous elastic protein that spans from the Z-disk to M-band regions of the sarcomere. The I-band region of titin is extensible and develops passive force in stretched sarcomeres. This force has been implicated as a factor involved in regulating cardiac contraction. To better understand the adaptation in the extensible region of titin, we report the sequence and annotation of the chicken and mouse titin genes and compare them to the human titin gene. Our results reveal a high degree of conservation within the genomic region encoding the A-band segment of titin, consistent with the structural similarity of vertebrate A-bands. In contrast, the genomic region encoding the Z-disk and I-band segments is highly divergent. This is most prominent within the central I-band segment, where chicken titin has fewer but larger PEVK exons (up to 1,992 bp). Furthermore, in mouse titin we found two LINE repeats that are inserted in the Z-disk and I-band regions, the regions that account for most of the splice isoform diversity. Transcript studies show that a group of 55 I-band exons is differentially expressed in chicken titin. Consistent with a large degree of titin isoform plasticity and variation in PEVK content, chicken skeletal titins range in size from ∼3,000 to ∼3,700 kDa and vary greatly in passive mechanical properties. Low-angle X-ray diffraction experiments reveal significant differences in myofilament lattice spacing that correlate with titin isoform expression. We conclude that titin splice diversity regulates structure and biomechanics of the sarcomere.
Biological characterization of rodent and human vasopressin V1breceptors using SSR-149415, a nonpeptide V1breceptor ligand
Authors: Gal Claudine Serradeil-Le , Raufaste Danièle , Derick Sylvain , Blankenstein Jörg , Allen John , Pouzet Brigitte , Pascal Marc , Wagnon Jean , Ventura Maria Angeles
Published: May 2007

[3H]SSR-149415 is the first tritiated nonpeptide vasopressin V1breceptor (V1bR) antagonist ligand. It was used for studying rodent (mouse, rat, hamster) and human V1bR from native or recombinant origin. Moreover, a close comparison between the human and the mouse V1bR was performed using SSR-149415/[3H]SSR-149415 in binding and functional studies in vitro. [3H]SSR-149415 binding was time-dependent, reversible, and saturable. Scatchard plot analysis gave a single class of high-affinity binding sites with apparent equilibrium dissociation constant ( Kd) ∼1 nM and maximum binding density (Bmax) values from 7,000 to 300,000 sites/cell according to the cell line. In competition experiments, [3H]SSR-149415 binding was stereospecific and dose-dependently displaced by reference peptide and nonpeptide arginine vasopressin (AVP)/OT ligands following a V1brank order of affinity: SSR-149415 = AVP > dCha > dPen > dPal > dDavp > SSR-126768A > SR-49059 > SSR-149424 > OT > SR-121463B. Species differences between human, rat, mouse, and hamster V1bR were observed. Autoradiography studies with [3H]SSR-149415 on rat and human pituitary showed intense specific labeling confined to corticotroph cells and absence of labeling in the other tissues examined. SSR-149415 potently and stereospecifically antagonized the AVP-induced inositol phosphate production and intracellular Ca2+increase (EC50from 1.83 to 3.05 nM) in recombinant cell lines expressing either the mouse or the human V1bR. AVP (10−7M) exposure of AtT20 cells expressing mouse or human EGFP-tagged V1bR induced their rapid internalization. Preincubation with 10−6M SSR-149415 counteracted the internalization process. Moreover, recycling of internalized receptors was observed upon 10−6M SSR-149415 treatment. Thus SSR-149415/[3H]SSR-149415 are unique tools for studying animal and human V1bR.
Maximal eccentric exercise induces a rapid accumulation of small heat shock proteins on myofibrils and a delayed HSP70 response in humans
Authors: Paulsen Gøran , Vissing Kristian , Kalhovde John Magne , Ugelstad Ingrid , Bayer Monika Lucia , Kadi Fawzi , Schjerling Peter , Hallén Jostein , Raastad Truls
Published: May 2007

In this study the stress protein response to unaccustomed maximal eccentric exercise in humans was investigated. Eleven healthy males performed 300 maximal eccentric actions with the quadriceps muscle. Biopsies from vastus lateralis were collected at 30 min and 4, 8, 24, 96, and 168 h after exercise. Cellular regulation and localization of heat shock protein (HSP) 27, αB-crystallin, and HSP70 were analyzed by immunohistochemistry, ELISA technique, and Western blotting. Additionally, mRNA levels of HSP27, αB-crystallin, and HSP70 were quantified by Northern blotting. After exercise (30 min), 81 ± 8% of the myofibers showed strong HSP27 staining ( P < 0.01) that gradually decreased during the following week. αB-Crystallin mimicked the changes observed in HSP27. After exercise (30 min), the ELISA analysis showed a 49 ± 13% reduction of the HSP27 level in the cytosolic fraction ( P < 0.01), whereas Western blotting revealed a 15-fold increase of the HSP27 level in the myofibrillar fraction ( P < 0.01). The cytosolic HSP70 level increased to 203 ± 37% of the control level 24 h after exercise ( P < 0.05). After 4 days, myofibrillar-bound HSP70 had increased ∼10-fold ( P < 0.01) and was accompanied by strong staining on cross sections. mRNA levels of HSP27, αB-crystallin, and HSP70 were all elevated the first day after exercise ( P < 0.01); HSP70 mRNA showed the largest increase (20-fold at 8 h). HSP27 and αB-crystallin seemed to respond immediately to maximal eccentric exercise by binding to cytoskeletal/myofibrillar proteins, probably to function as stabilizers of disrupted myofibrillar structures. Later, mRNA and total HSP protein levels, especially HSP70, increased, indicating that HSPs play a role in skeletal muscle recovery and remodeling/adaptation processes to high-force exercise.
Visceral pain decreases tolerance to blood loss in conscious female but not male rabbits
Authors: Shafford Heidi L. , Schadt James C.
Published: May 2007

Pain is a component of traumatic blood loss, yet little is known about how pain alters the response to blood loss in conscious animals. We evaluated the effects of colorectal distension on the cardiorespiratory response to blood loss in six male and six female conscious, chronically instrumented New Zealand White rabbits. The goal of these experiments was to test the hypotheses that 1) colorectal distension would increase tolerance to hemorrhage (i.e., increase the blood loss required to decrease mean arterial pressure ≤ 40 mmHg); and 2) the increase in tolerance would be similar in male and female rabbits. For hemorrhage, venous blood was withdrawn until mean arterial pressure decreased to ≤40 mmHg. Conscious rabbits underwent three treatments in a balanced design: a control hemorrhage, hemorrhage with a colorectal balloon present but not inflated (sham CRD), and hemorrhage in the presence of colorectal distension (CRD). Colorectal distension reproducibly increased mean arterial pressure, decreased respiratory rate, and did not change heart rate. There was no difference in control blood loss between males (21.8 ± 0.3 ml/kg) and females (21.6 ± 0.3 ml/kg). However, although CRD blood loss did not change in males (22.8 ± 0.3 ml/kg), it was significantly less than control in females (19.1 ± 0.3 ml/kg; P = 0.004). Thus, in conscious rabbits, colorectal distension alters cardiovascular control during hemorrhage. Furthermore, colorectal distension did not improve tolerance to blood loss in males or females as hypothesized but instead decreased tolerance to blood loss only in females.
Changes in versican and chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans during structural development of the lung
Authors: Faggian Jessica , Fosang Amanda J. , Zieba Malgorzata , Wallace Megan J. , Hooper Stuart B.
Published: May 2007

We have examined whether changes in versican levels, or in the sulfation pattern of its chondroitin sulfate (CS) side chains, are associated with the reduction in perialveolar tissue volumes that characterize lung maturation in late-gestation fetal sheep. Lung tissue was collected from fetuses [90–142 days gestational age (GA)] and lambs (2 wk after term birth). The level and distribution of versican and CS glycosaminoglycans (GAG) were determined using immunohistochemistry, whereas fluorophore-assisted carbohydrate electrophoresis was used to determine changes in CS sulfation patterns. Versican was the predominant CS-containing proteoglycan in the lung and decreased from 19.9 ± 2.7 arbitrary units at 90 days GA to 6.0 ± 0.5 arbitrary units at 142 days GA, in close association ( P < 0.05) with the reduction in tissue volumes (from 66.0 ± 4.6 to 25.3 ± 1.5% at 142 days); similar reductions occurred for both chondroitin-6-sulfate and chondroitin-4-sulfate CS side chains. Hyaluronic acid levels decreased from 3,168 ± 641 pmol/μg GAG at 90 days GA to 126 ± 9 pmol/μg GAG at 142 days GA, and the predominant sulfated disaccharide changed from Δ-di-6S at 90 days GA to Δ-di-4S at term. These data indicate that structural development of the lung is closely associated with marked changes in versican levels and the microstructure of CS side chains in perisaccular/alveolar lung tissue.
Earth-Referenced Handrail Contact Facilitates Interlimb Cutaneous Reflexes During Locomotion
Authors: Lamont Erin V. , Zehr E. Paul
Published: May 2007

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the gating of interlimb cutaneous reflexes is altered by holding an earth-referenced handrail during locomotion. In the first experiment, subjects performed locomotor tasks of varying difficulty (level walking, incline walking, and stair climbing) while lightly holding an earth-referenced rail. In the second experiment, the extent of rail contact and nature of the rail stability (e.g., fixed vs. mobile rail) were varied while subjects performed incline walking. Cutaneous reflexes were evoked by delivering trains of electrical stimulation to the sural nerve at the ankle. EMG data were collected continuously from muscles in the upper and lower limbs and trunk. Results showed that modulation of reflexes across the body changed when the rail was held. Most interestingly, a facilitatory reflex in the shoulder extensor posterior deltoid emerged during swing phase only when subjects held a rail. This facilitatory reflex was largest during the more challenging tasks of incline walking and stair climbing, A similar reflex facilitation was observed in the elbow extensor triceps brachii. The observed facilitation of reflexes in triceps brachii and posterior deltoid was specifically expressed only when subjects held an earth-referenced rail. This suggests that interlimb reflexes in arm extensors may be enhanced to make use of a supportive handrail for stability during gait. Therefore, holding a rail may cause global changes in reflex thresholds across the body that may have widespread functional relevance for assisting in the maintenance of postural stability during locomotion.
General-Purpose Filter Design for Neural Prosthetic Devices
Authors: Srinivasan Lakshminarayan , Eden Uri T. , Mitter Sanjoy K. , Brown Emery N.
Published: May 2007

Brain-driven interfaces depend on estimation procedures to convert neural signals to inputs for prosthetic devices that can assist individuals with severe motor deficits. Previous estimation procedures were developed on an application-specific basis. Here we report a coherent estimation framework that unifies these procedures and motivates new applications of prosthetic devices driven by action potentials, local field potentials (LFPs), electrocorticography (ECoG), electroencephalography (EEG), electromyography (EMG), or optical methods. The brain-driven interface is described as a probabilistic relationship between neural activity and components of a prosthetic device that may take on discrete or continuous values. A new estimation procedure is developed for action potentials, and a corresponding procedure is described for field potentials and optical measurements. We test our framework against dominant approaches in an arm reaching task using simulated traces of ensemble spiking activity from primary motor cortex (MI) and a wheelchair navigation task using simulated traces of EEG-band power. Adaptive filtering is incorporated to demonstrate performance under neuron death and discovery. Finally, we characterize performance under model misspecification using physiologically realistic history dependence in MI spiking. These simulated results predict that the unified framework outperforms previous approaches under various conditions, in the control of position and velocity, based on trajectory and endpoint mean squared errors.
Facilitation of Somatic Calcium Channels Can Evoke Prolonged Tail Currents in Rat Hypoglossal Motoneurons
Authors: Moritz Anna T. , Newkirk Gregory , Powers Randall K. , Binder Marc D.
Published: May 2007

Voltage-dependent persistent inward currents (PICs) make an important contribution to the input-output properties of alpha motoneurons. PICs are thought to be mediated by membrane channels located primarily on the dendrites as evidenced by prolonged tail currents following the termination of a voltage step and by a clockwise hysteresis in the whole cell inward currents recorded in response to depolarizing then repolarizing voltage ramp commands. We report here, however, that voltage-clamp currents with these same features can be generated in isolated somatic membrane patches from rat hypoglossal motoneurons. Long-lasting (200–800 ms) tail currents after 1-s voltage-clamp pulses were observed in nucleated patches from 16 of 23 cells. Further, these somatic PICs display “facilitation” in response to conditioning depolarization as previously observed in whole cell recordings from intact neurons. Pharmacological tests suggest that the PICs were primarily mediated by Cav1 channels. Our results show that many of the features of persistent calcium currents recorded from intact motoneurons do not necessarily reflect a remote dendritic origin but can also be ascribed to the intrinsic properties of their Cav1 channels.
“Vivre Noblement”: Material Culture and Elite Identity in Late Medieval Flanders
Authors: De Clercq Wim , Dumolyn Jan , Haemers Jelle
Published: May 2007

The example of two fifteenth-century, high-ranking officers of the Burgundian court shows how a radical transformation of the physical environment and an imitative interaction with material culture could create a powerful elite identity for those not born to nobility. A combination of evidence from archaeological, written, architectural, and art-historical sources reveals the ways in which Peter Bladelin and William Hugonet were able to parlay their newly gained social positions to achieve their ultimate goal of vivre noblement by adopting the trappings of Duke Philip the Good and other members of the Burgundian court.
Combining Reconstruction and Discrimination with Class-Specific Sparse Coding
Authors: Hasler Stephan , Wersing Heiko , Körner Edgar
Published: May 2007

Sparse coding is an important approach for the unsupervised learning of sensory features. In this contribution, we present two new methods that extend the traditional sparse coding approach with supervised components. Our goal is to increase the suitability of the learned features for classification tasks while keeping most of their general representation capability. We analyze the effect of the new methods using visualization on artificial data and discuss the results on two object test sets with regard to the properties of the found feature representation.
SVDD-Based Pattern Denoising
Authors: Park Jooyoung , Kang Daesung , Kim Jongho , Kwok James T. , Tsang Ivor W.
Published: May 2007

The support vector data description (SVDD) is one of the best-known one-class support vector learning methods, in which one tries the strategy of using balls defined on the feature space in order to distinguish a set of normal data from all other possible abnormal objects. The major concern of this letter is to extend the main idea of SVDD to pattern denoising. Combining the geodesic projection to the spherical decision boundary resulting from the SVDD, together with solving the preimage problem, we propose a new method for pattern denoising. We first solve SVDD for the training data and then for each noisy test pattern, obtain its denoised feature by moving its feature vector along the geodesic on the manifold to the nearest decision boundary of the SVDD ball. Finally we find the location of the denoised pattern by obtaining the pre-image of the denoised feature. The applicability of the proposed method is illustrated by a number of toy and real-world data sets.
50th Anniversary of Operational Numerical Weather Prediction
Authors: Harper Kristine , Uccellini Louis W. , Kalnay Eugenia , Carey Kenneth , Morone Lauren
Published: May 2007

The National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA), Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC), National Weather Association, and American Meteorological Society (AMS) cosponsored a “Symposium on the 50th Anniversary of Operational Numerical Weather Prediction,” on 14–17 June 2004 at the University of Maryland, College Park in College Park, Maryland. Operational numerical weather prediction (NWP) in the United States started with the Joint Numerical Weather Prediction Unit (JNWPU) on 1 July 1954, staffed by members of the U.S. Weather Bureau, the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy. The origins of NCEP, AFWA, and FNMOC can all be traced to the JNWPU. The symposium celebrated the pioneering developments in NWP and the remarkable improvements in forecast skill and support of the nation's economy, well being, and national defense achieved over the last 50 years. This essay was inspired by the presentations from that symposium.
The Internationalization of the Public-Affairs Function in U.S. Multinational Enterprises
Authors: Boddewyn Jean J.
Published: May 2007

Researching the organization and management of international public affairs (IPA) in the then-new multinational enterprises (MNEs) started in the 1960s. At first, IPA studies kept fairly good pace with what was known about the MNEs' nonmarket environments, their structurings, and their processes. After 1980, a disconnect developed in our knowledge of these three interrelated topics. In particular, much of more recent IPA research (a) fails to reflect the true scope, real actors, and organizational location of the IPA function; (b) remains focused on old issues (e.g., the hierarchical relationship between headquarters and subsidiaries); (c) is mired in complex statistical analyses of remote data; (d) uses relevant theories in rather marginal ways; and (e) overlooks the impact on IPA of such important developments as mergers, acquisitions, and divestments. Yet, investigators can stretch their research methodologies and refocus their studies on the organization and management of the two faces of public affairs—offensive and defensive—in the context of new nonmarket threats and opportunities.
Toward a Global Theory of Cross-Border and Multilevel Corporate Political Activity
Authors: Windsor Duane
Published: May 2007

A proposed global theory of corporate political activity (CPA) analyzes the complex resource allocation choices involved in integrating politically relevant cross-border and multilevel strategies for multinational enterprises (MNEs). Cross-border CPA is “horizontal” allocation of scarce corporate resources by MNEs to politically relevant strategies across multiple countries. Globalization reshapes CPA among multiple levels functioning below, at, and above national governments. Subnational communities and international policy regimes, supranational quasigovernmental institutions, and supranational nongovernmental organizations all affect businesses. Multilevel CPA is “vertical” allocation of scarce corporate resources to politically relevant strategies among subnational, national, regional, and global levels. Furthermore, in each country and at each level, business-relevant policies are determined in multiple policy arenas, shaped by widely differing nonmarket institutions, corruption conditions, and stakeholder demands for corporate social responsibility. Multiple policy “arena” allocation adds to the analytical complexity of the CPA strategizing problem. Implications for scholarship and practice are presented.
Mapping the blogosphere
Authors: Reese Stephen D. , Rutigliano Lou , Hyun Kideuk , Jeong Jaekwan
Published: May 2007

Globalization and the internet have created a space for news and political discourse that overrides geography and increases opportunities for non-mainstream, citizen-based news sources. Drawing a distinction between emerging citizen and professional media, this study examines one rapidly expanding and increasingly influential citizen news source — weblogs. We analyzed the linking patterns, the online network led to by six of the most popular news and political weblogs to study their relationship to other weblogs and the traditional professional news media in the USA and internationally. Findings suggest a more complementary relationship between weblogs and traditional journalism and less echo-chamber political insularity than typically assumed. The blogosphere relies heavily on professional news reports and half of its linked-to sites can be considered non-partisan.
Media oracles
Authors: Neiger Motti
Published: May 2007

As noted by Jaworski et al. (2003a, 2003b, 2004), a significant amount of news items refer to future events. This article examines the `discourse of the future' in order to identify its extent and different types. The research examined headlines in Israeli newspapers over a period of 18 years (1985—2003) and found that approximately 70 percent of the main headlines deal not only with past events but with future ones as well. Thus, contrary to the conventional perception of journalism, this type of journalism does not report what has already happened, but speculates on future events, whether directly or by quoting military or political figures.

The qualitative analysis suggests four types of discourse of the future: Predictable Future, Informed Assessment, Speculative Assessment, and Conjectured Future. During the last two decades, we can witness a gradual rise of speculation levels.

`The discourse of the future' carries cultural significance and political import. From the cultural standpoint, journalists encourage us to raise questions regarding the future of the community: What will happen next? Where do we go from here, in the short, medium and long term? What are our hopes? What do we fear most? Nevertheless, in the highest levels of speculation, such discourse bears political import because it provides fertile ground for releasing trial balloons, magnifying threats, creating solidarity, and justifying acts of government.
Regeneration of neural crest derivatives in the Xenopustadpole tail
Authors: Lin Gufa , Chen Ying , Slack Jonathan MW
Published: May 2007

Background

After amputation of theXenopustadpole tail, a functionally competent new tail is regenerated. It contains spinal cord, notochord and muscle, each of which has previously been shown to derive from the corresponding tissue in the stump. The regeneration of the neural crest derivatives has not previously been examined and is described in this paper.

Results

Labelling of the spinal cord by electroporation, or by orthotopic grafting of transgenic tissue expressing GFP, shows that no cells emigrate from the spinal cord in the course of regeneration.

There is very limited regeneration of the spinal ganglia, but new neurons as well as fibre tracts do appear in the regenerated spinal cord and the regenerated tail also contains abundant peripheral innervation.

The regenerated tail contains a normal density of melanophores. Cell labelling experiments show that melanophores do not arise from the spinal cord during regeneration, nor from the mesenchymal tissues of the skin, but they do arise by activation and proliferation of pre-existing melanophore precursors. If tails are prepared lacking melanophores, then the regenerates also lack them.

Conclusion

On regeneration there is no induction of a new neural crest similar to that seen in embryonic development. However there is some regeneration of neural crest derivatives. Abundant melanophores are regenerated from unpigmented precursors, and, although spinal ganglia are not regenerated, sufficient sensory systems are produced to enable essential functions to continue.
Multiple dose-dependent roles for Sox2 in the patterning and differentiation of anterior foregut endoderm
Authors: Que Jianwen , Okubo Tadashi , Goldenring James R. , Nam Ki-Taek , Kurotani Reiko , Morrisey Edward E. , Taranova Olena , Pevny Larysa H. , Hogan Brigid L. M.
Published: May 2007

Sox2 is expressed in developing foregut endoderm, with highest levels in the future esophagus and anterior stomach. By contrast, Nkx2.1 (Titf1) is expressed ventrally, in the future trachea. In humans, heterozygosity for SOX2 is associated with anopthalmia-esophageal-genital syndrome (OMIM 600992), a condition including esophageal atresia (EA) and tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF), in which the trachea and esophagus fail to separate. Mouse embryos heterozygous for the null allele, Sox2EGFP, appear normal. However, further reductions in Sox2, using Sox2LPand Sox2COND hypomorphic alleles, result in multiple abnormalities. Approximately 60% of Sox2EGFP/COND embryos have EA with distal TEF in which Sox2 is undetectable by immunohistochemistry or western blot. The mutant esophagus morphologically resembles the trachea,with ectopic expression of Nkx2.1, a columnar, ciliated epithelium, and very few p63+ basal cells. By contrast, the abnormal foregut of Nkx2.1-null embryos expresses elevated Sox2 and p63, suggesting reciprocal regulation of Sox2 and Nkx2.1 during early dorsal/ventral foregut patterning. Organ culture experiments further suggest that FGF signaling from the ventral mesenchyme regulates Sox2 expression in the endoderm. In the 40%Sox2EGFP/COND embryos in which Sox2 levels are ∼18% of wild type there is no TEF. However, the esophagus is still abnormal, with luminal mucus-producing cells, fewer p63+ cells, and ectopic expression of genes normally expressed in glandular stomach and intestine. In all hypomorphic embryos the forestomach has an abnormal phenotype, with reduced keratinization, ectopic mucus cells and columnar epithelium. These findings suggest that Sox2 plays a second role in establishing the boundary between the keratinized, squamous esophagus/forestomach and glandular hindstomach.
Reduction of BMP4 activity by gremlin 1 enables ureteric bud outgrowth and GDNF/WNT11 feedback signalling during kidney branching morphogenesis
Authors: Michos Odyssé , Gonçalves Alexandre , Lopez-Rios Javier , Tiecke Eva , Naillat Florence , Beier Konstantin , Galli Antonella , Vainio Seppo , Zeller Rolf
Published: May 2007

Antagonists act to restrict and negatively modulate the activity of secreted signals during progression of embryogenesis. In mouse embryos lacking the extra-cellular BMP antagonist gremlin 1 (Grem1), metanephric development is disrupted at the stage of initiating ureteric bud outgrowth. Treatment of mutant kidney rudiments in culture with recombinant gremlin 1 protein induces additional epithelial buds and restores outgrowth and branching. All epithelial buds express Wnt11, and Gdnf is significantly upregulated in the surrounding mesenchyme, indicating that epithelial-mesenchymal (e-m) feedback signalling is restored. In the wild type, Bmp4 is expressed by the mesenchyme enveloping the Wolffian duct and ureteric bud and Grem1 is upregulated in the mesenchyme around the nascent ureteric bud prior to initiation of its outgrowth. In agreement, BMP activity is reduced locally as revealed by lower levels of nuclear pSMAD protein in the mesenchyme. By contrast, in Grem1-deficient kidney rudiments, pSMAD proteins are detected in many cell nuclei in the metanephric mesenchyme, indicative of excessive BMP signal transduction. Indeed, genetic lowering of BMP4 levels in Grem1-deficient mouse embryos completely restores ureteric bud outgrowth and branching morphogenesis. The reduction of BMP4 levels in Grem1 mutant embryos enables normal progression of renal development and restores adult kidney morphology and functions. This study establishes that initiation of metanephric kidney development requires the reduction of BMP4 activity by the antagonist gremlin 1 in the mesenchyme, which in turn enables ureteric bud outgrowth and establishment of autoregulatory GDNF/WNT11 feedback signalling.
Agreement in Breast Cancer Classification between Microarray and Quantitative Reverse Transcription PCR from Fresh-Frozen and Formalin-Fixed, Paraffin-Embedded Tissues
Authors: Mullins Michael , Perreard Laurent , Quackenbush John F , Gauthier Nicholas , Bayer Steven , Ellis Matthew , Parker Joel , Perou Charles M , Szabo Aniko , Bernard Philip S
Published: May 2007

Background: Microarray studies have identified different molecular subtypes of breast cancer with prognostic significance. To transition these classifications into the clinical laboratory, we have developed a real-time quantitative reverse transcription (qRT)-PCR assay to diagnose the biological subtypes of breast cancer from fresh-frozen (FF) and formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues.

Methods: We used microarray data from 124 breast samples as a training set for classifying tumors into 4 previously defined molecular subtypes: Luminal, HER2+/ER−, basal-like, and normal-like. We used the training set data in 2 different centroid-based algorithms to predict sample class on 35 breast tumors (test set) procured as FF and FFPE tissues (70 samples). We classified samples on the basis of large and minimized gene sets. We used the minimized gene set in a real-time qRT-PCR assay to predict sample subtype from the FF and FFPE tissues. We evaluated primer set performance between procurement methods by use of several measures of agreement.

Results: The centroid-based algorithms were in complete agreement in classification from FFPE tissues by use of qRT-PCR and the minimized “intrinsic” gene set (40 classifiers). There was 94% (33 of 35) concordance between the diagnostic algorithms when comparing subtype classification from FF tissue by use of microarray (large and minimized gene set) and qRT-PCR data. We found that the ratio of the diagonal SD to the dynamic range was the best method for assessing agreement on a gene-by-gene basis.

Conclusions: Centroid-based algorithms are robust classifiers for breast cancer subtype assignment across platforms and procurement conditions.
Approximation theorem for stochastic differential equations with interaction
Authors: Pilipenko A. Yu.
Published: May 2007

The approximation theorem for an infinite system of interacting stochastic differential equations is proved. This result is applied then for describing the support of the distribution of the solution of this system.
Random fixed points of multivalued ∗-nonexpansive maps
Authors: Hussain N. , Khan A. R.
Published: May 2007

A multivalued
On measures generated by equations with random coefficients
Authors: Sokhadze G. A. , Fomina T. A. , Shatashvili A. D.
Published: May 2007

New facts on absolutely continuity of Gaussian measure under nonlinear transformations containing "random" parameter are established.
Die Frist ist um. Prädikativer Gebrauch von Präpositionen / The deadline is up. The predicative use of prepositions
Authors: Hentschel Elke
Published: May 2007

The paper analyses the structure of sentences like German
Zwischen Silbengelenk- und Quantitätsmarkierung – der Doppelkonsonantenbuchstabe im Deutschen / Between ambisyllabic and quantity marking – the double consonant letter in German
Authors: Augst Gerhard
Published: May 2007

The layman transcribes his dialect-texts in accordance with the conventions of the spelling. The article argues that he follows these inherent rules, partly unconsciously. Therefore his dialect-writing can prove the rules of two identical letters after a stressed vowel. In the german linguistics there is a discussion, if the rules are better founded by syllabic or quantitative regularities. The empiric result is that the layman's writing is better to be explained by the quantitative hypothesis. It is argued that there is a change of rules during the last centuries: in the 16th and 17th century the rules were syllabicly based; by the influence of the morphemic principle there came a turn to a quantitative basis in the 18th century (evidently by the graphemic integration of loanwords). It may be possible that the rules turn back to the syllabic basis in the 21th century because of the increasing stock of english loanwords like english “job -jobbing” to german “Job -jobben”.
Interdisziplinäres Forschungskolloquium Protestbewegungen / Interdisciplinary research colloquium on protest movements
Authors: Klimke Martin , Scharloth Joachim
Published: May 2007

Die Protestbewegung der 1960er und 1970er Jahre werden nicht mehr allein in Erinnerungsliteratur und Feuilletons aufgearbeitet, sondern sind im vergangenen Jahrzehnt auch zum Gegenstand der historischen Wissenschaften geworden. Dies zeigt sich an der gewachsenen Zahl von Neuerscheinungen und Tagungen zum Thema. Dabei ist bemerkenswert, dass die Geschichtsschreibung von ehemaligen Aktivisten und Betroffenen immer mehr auf Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler übergeht, die keine Zeitzeugen waren. Von diesem Generationenwechsel ist ein neuer Blick auf diese sozialen Bewegungen zu erwarten. So arbeiten gegenwärtig zahlreiche Nachwuchswissenschaftlerinnen und –wissenschaftler aus Linguistik, Geschichtswissenschaft, Politologie, Soziologie und Literaturwissenschaft an Forschungsprojekten, die bislang vernachlässigte Aspekte der 1960er Jahre in den Blick nehmen. Das „Interdisziplinäre Forschungskolloquium Protestbewegungen“ bietet Nachwuchswissenschaftlerinnen und –wissenschaftlern ein Forum, in dem sie neue Zugänge zur Historisierung und wissenschaftlichen Behandlung der Studentenbewegung diskutieren können.
Kaff ‚elendes Nest‘: eine Kritik der Wolfschen Etymologie / Kaff ‘wretched little place’: Criticism of Wolf's etymology
Authors: Besten Hans den
Published: May 2007

This paper discusses two hypotheses concerning the etymology of German
Auf der Spur der westgermanischen phonematischen Substitute /χt/ und /ft/ im Deutschen / Tracing the West Germanic phonemic substitutes /χt/ und /ft/ in German
Authors: Paraschkewow Boris
Published: May 2007

Indo-European *
Plurizentrismus des Deutschen – programmatisch und kodifiziert, Zu: Variantenwörterbuch des Deutschen, Ulrich Ammon u.a., Berlin/New-York 2004
Authors: Farø Ken
Published: May 2007

0. Einleitung

Nur selten erscheinen Wörterbücher, die sowohl Werkzeuge als auch Manifeste sein wollen. Im Regelfall sind sie nur Werkzeuge und manchmal nicht einmal das. Für die germanistische Linguistik ist 2004 ein Wörterbuch erschienen, das zu den wichtigsten des Jahrzehnts, ja vielleicht des Jahrhunderts gehört, und das in der Tat sowohl Werkzeug als auch Programm ist: das
Konstruktionen in der Interaktion, Workshop 7./8. Oktober 2004 in Münster / Construction in interaction, workshop in Münster, 7-8 October 2004
Authors: Bücker Jörg , Dertenkötter Sandra
Published: May 2007

Vom 6. bis zum 8. Oktober 2004 fand an der Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität Münster ein Workshop zum Thema „Konstruktionen in der Interaktion“ statt, der von Susanne Günthner und Wolfgang Imo vom Germanistischen Institut veranstaltet wurde. Sie konnten dazu ca. dreißig LinguistInnen aus ganz Deutschland begrüßen. Das Programm umfasste elf Beiträge, die sich mit Form, Funktion und Bedeutung verschiedener grammatischer „Konstruktionen“ auseinander setzten. Die Vorträge knüpften an Erkenntnisse aus den Bereichen „Syntax “, „Construction Grammar “, „interaktionale Linguistik“ sowie „Gesprächs-“ und „Konversationsanalyse“ an.
Grenzen des Strafrechts – Grundlagen und Herausforderungen des neuen strafrechtlichen Forschungsprogramms am Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches und internationales Strafrecht –
Authors: Sieber Ulrich
Published: May 2007

I. Einführung

Der Direktorenwechsel am Freiburger Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches und internationales Strafrecht Ende 2003 war Anlass für die Konzeption eines langfristig angelegten Forschungsprogramms der strafrechtlichen Abteilung des Instituts. Dieses – bereits auf der Amtswechselfeier im März 2004 in Form einer Antrittsvorlesung vorgestellte – Programm soll die zukünftigen Arbeiten auf die zentralen Zukunftsprobleme des Strafrechts konzentrieren, Synergieeffekte zwischen den einzelnen Forschungsprojekten erzielen und neue Lösungsansätze im Rahmen einer umfassenden Theoriebildung entwickeln.
Das rumänische Gesetz zur Bekämpfung des Rechtsextremismus: Aufarbeitung der Vergangenheit durch Rezeption des deutschen Staatsschutzstrafrechts?
Authors: Roth Alexander
Published: May 2007

I. Hintergrund und Struktur der Regelung

Verschiedene Erscheinungsformen von Rechtsextremismus in Rumänien haben in den Jahren seit 1989 sowohl im Lande als auch bei ausländischen Beobachtern nicht nur Besorgnis ausgelöst, sondern immer wieder auch Kritik an den sich ablösenden Regierungen, die sich bei der Bekämpfung derartiger Tendenzen nicht auffällig hervortaten, provoziert.
Speeds of Sound, Excess Isentropic Compressibility and Apparent Molar Compressibility Properties for Binary Mixtures of Dipropylene Glycol tert.-Butyl Ether with Methanol, 1-Propanol, 1-Pentanol and 1-Heptanol at 298.15K
Authors: Pal Amalendu , Kumar Harsh , Kumar Anil
Published: May 2007

Speeds of sound have been measured in dipropylene glycol tert.-butyl ether with methanol, 1-propanol, 1-pentanol, and 1-heptanol at 298.15K over the entire composition range using a NUSONIC velocimeter based on sing-around technique. The isentropic compressibility κ

S
for all mixtures were estimated by combining the densities derived from excess molar volumes and the speeds of sound. The molar volume were multiplied by the isentropic compressibilities to obtain estimates of K

S,m. The corresponding quantities K

S,m
E have also been calculated. The K

S,m
E values are negative over the entire range of composition for all mixtures with the exception of 1-pentanol which changes sign from negative to positive. The magnitude of K

S,m
E increases with the number of carbon atoms in the n-alcohol. The deviations u
D of the speeds of sound from the values calculated for ideal mixtures have been obtained for all measured mole fractions. The behavior of K

S,m
E and u
D with composition and the number of carbon atoms in the alcohol molecule is discussed.