bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Continuities and Variations in Everyday Conceptual Components of Class
Authors: Hiller Peter
Published: June 2005

A variety of conceptual components of everyday actors' class schemes (the number, size, notation and characteristics of the classes perceived, the determinants of class, the nature of class relationships and the possibility, means and desirability of class mobility) are located in terms of occupation and analysed according to eight `typical' Class Schemes (outlined in a previous issue of this journal). This is undertaken in order to demonstrate the extent of agreement and disagreement over these aspects of everyday definitions of class and to convey the degree to which the ideal-typical formulations reflect the views actually expressed by respondents. This is deemed necessary because of the tendency to confuse the abstractive nature of such types with their empirical or generalizing function. The findings, while broadly consistent with much previous research, reveal a complexity that demands a rethinking of a number of sociological practices and stereotypes. In particular, they provide empirical support for the typology of Class Schemes while showing the ways in which certain conceptual components of class are held in common. On the other hand, they also demonstrate the variations in social meaning applied to such concepts as `money'.
Political Ritual and Social Integration
Authors: Lukes Steven
Published: June 2005

The article is concerned with the role played by rituals in the politics of advanced industrial societies. First, after considering the disputes of the anthropologists, a working definition of ritual is offered. The central, critical part of the paper discusses a range of attempts that have been made to apply a particular theory of ritual—the Durkheimian theory—to the politics of modern societies, specifically the United States and Britain. These `neo-Durkheimian' analyses (of Shils and Young, Blumler et al., Lloyd Warner, Bellah and Verba) are criticized for using too simple a notion of social integration, and for making too narrow a selection and offering too narrow an analysis of political rituals. Their approach is further criticized for closing off a whole range of significant and critical questions about political rituals—questions which bring out their cognitive role and the cognitive dimension of the exercise of power in stratified, conflictual and pluralistic modern industrial societies. Finally, it is suggested that, once those questions are asked, one arrives at a view of many political rituals that pictures them, not as promoting value integration, but as crucial elements in the `mobilization of bias'.
Musical Meaning and its Social Determinants
Authors: Wright Derrick F.
Published: June 2005

Two types of musical meaning are distinguished: purely musical meaning which can be grasped only by experiencing a piece of music as it unfolds through time, and extra-musical meaning which relates music to non-musical concepts such as emotions, ideas, etc. It is argued that neither types of meaning are intrinsic to a musical object but depend upon an individual's interpretation of that object. The way an object is interpreted is largely determined by the individual's musical culture. Following Schutz, musical culture is defined as the individual's collected musical experiences, socially derived and socially sanctioned, and the ways in which it determines the individual's understanding of music are discussed. The concept of musical culture is expanded, in particular to include the idea of value (one type of extra-musical meaning). Musical objects do not have the same value or worth for everyone: differences exist both across different societies and within the same society. This is to say that because groups have different musical cultures they will also have different musical tastes, reflected in their understanding of, and their approval or disapproval of, certain types of music. An example of the type of research that this approach to musical meaning can generate is given.
Social Enquiries in the People's Republic of China
Authors: Siu-Lun Wong
Published: June 2005

After a period of vigorous growth in the 1930S and 1940s, sociology as an academic discipline in China ceased to exist soon after the establishment of the People's Republic. During a brief period of free expression in 1957, some of the former sociologists sought a place for sociology within the framework of socialism. Their attempt failed as they tried to link the revival of sociology with the political vision of creating an effective opposition party of intellectuals.

Though professional and institutional sociology does not exist, other forms of social inquiry are carried out in contemporary China. The first area of research involves some former sociologists and anthropologists in the study of national minorities and emigrant Chinese communities. The second area includes social and historical studies of four institutions—the family, the factory, the village, and the communes-which have been conducted as part of a popular campaign to instil revolutionary consciousness among the masses. The third area consists of the survey research carried out mainly by party cadres to formulate, implement, and evaluate policies.

These forms of social inquiry are mainly shaped by the political pre-occupations in contemporary Chinese society, namely, the `contradictions' of `rightist conservatism and leftist adventurism', `democracy and centralism', and `redness and expertness'. The demise of professional sociology also testifies to the shaky institutional roots that the group of western-trained intellectuals had in modem China.
Political Socialization and Political Dissent
Authors: Maravall Jose M.
Published: June 2005

The article studies the emergence of political dissent under non-democratic regimes and Spanish student radicalism from 1955 to 1970 is considered as a case study. The article uses a theoretical approach whose main elements are, on the one hand, the political restrictions set up against dissent and, on the other hand, the possibilities of over-coming these restrictions through particular conditions of availability of dissenting ideas, allowing for the development of political commitments. The conditions studied here are the family background as a matrix of political socialization and adolescent cultural experiences: they would be combined in typical processes of socialization leading to ideological dissent. The dominant process would include in particular: (i) politically `heterodox' (i.e. `democratic' and anti-Francoist) families of upper and upper-middle status, (ii) elite-secular schools and (iii) `heterodox' cultural influences (in reading and religious beliefs, and often associated with travels abroad), as generally related factors which allowed for a particular exposure to politically `deviant' ideas. This pattern would explain the emergence and early stages of the student movement, but thenceforward the student movement itself would become a main socializing agency and the paths towards political dissent would become more diversified.
First Year Sociology Courses: A Report of a Survey
Authors: Clarke Michael
Published: June 2005

This paper reports on a postal survey of first year Sociology degree courses in the United Kingdom. The main feature of the results is their uniformity and traditionalism. Both polytechnics and universities work within considerable resource constraints in the first year, frequently teaching large numbers. Teaching relies heavily upon lectures and a highly planned course, with limited class/tutorial support. Although courses are constantly revised and few teachers appear satisfied, there is considerable consensus upon the contents of courses with a limited number of elements usually combined into one or more of a few recognizable types. The source of this constant revision yet limited range lies in the tension between the empirical aspiration to describe the social world and the complex issues raised by attempts to do so, the difficulty of which is often seen as frustrating to students.
Social Class and Linguistic Choice
Authors: Edwards A. D.
Published: June 2005

The speech of eleven-year old children, in socially contrasted groups, was analysed across a range of communicative tasks. The analysis was directed by three questions. What social class indicators appeared in their speech? How did these relate to social class differences found in comparable research, and to those expected on the basis of Bernstein's theory of socio-linguistic codes?

Given the wide social range within the sample, consistent group differences might have been expected. On most of the `traditional' measures, these did not appear. There were differences on the measures most directly related to the `planning principles' said to underly restricted and elaborated codes. A main conclusion of the research is the extreme difficulty of defining linguistic `realizations' of social difference, and so `translating a sociological language into a linguistic language'.
The Theory of Alienation as Sociological Explanation: Its Advantages and Limitations
Authors: Holmes William
Published: June 2005

The Marxian theory of alienation has received a large amount of sociological attention from a variety of perspectives. Insofar as any general conclusion has emerged it is that the use of the theory in terms of empirical sociology is severely limited by several major defects. This paper considers the force of these criticisms under two general categories of theoretical deficiency and empirical falsification, and suggests that they offer no grounds for discarding the theory. The argument continues more substantively by analysing the use of the theory in understanding working-class action and consciousness and concludes that it offers several important advantages over its rivals.
Revolution and Industrial Society: An Historical Perspective
Authors: Kumar Krishan
Published: June 2005

Whereas revolution has been a characteristic phenomenon of Third World societies in this century, in the industrial societies it has been conspicuous chiefly by its absence. The reasons for this have to do with the changed conditions and different historical context of action which confront any attempt at revolution in presentday industrial societies, making a recurrence of revolution on the classic European pattern of the past two centuries highly unlikely. On the other hand the `May events' of 1968 in France suggest the possibility of a new concept and a new practice of revolution more suited to the evolving needs and pressures of the advanced industrial societies.
Religious War in Northern Ireland
Authors: Easthope Gary
Published: June 2005

Conflict in Northern Ireland in August 1969 is seen as a consequence of the type and patterning of social relationships in that society. Social relations are personal and patterned primarily by the categories of Protestant and Catholic which are ascribed at birth. This patterning results in communities of Catholics and communities of Protestants. These communities form `congregations' in the `churches' of Republicanism and Loyalism respectively. Conflict between communities has two effects. First, it serves to clearly delineate the physical, social, and symbolic boundaries between communities. Second, it creates conditions conducive to the growth of `political sects' based on the `congregations' which may conflict with each other, sometimes violently, even though they belong to the same `church'.
The Relevance of Domestic Property to Sociological Understanding
Authors: Fletcher Colin
Published: June 2005

Taken as a whole, this paper is an exercise in critical sociology. The history of the sociology of housing is briefly assessed. It is then argued that to make sense of the subject matter a conception of domestic property is needed. Domestic property is defined by the ownership and control of the means and relations of life-support. Sketches of hierarchical aspects of the phenomenon are given. Neo-feudalism is said to be the cultural characteristic of domestic property and it indicates initial weaknesses in the concept. Further the concept is judged to be poor in the light of alternative perspectives on its features: income sources; property extensiveness and property rights. Nevertheless the concept is held to be useful because it cuts across the politics of self interest to which housing is currently subject. Finally the concept suggests an alternative approach to such politics, advocating that there be a guaranteed right to life-support.
Attitudes to Class and Class Relationships in Britain
Authors: Moorhouse H. F.
Published: June 2005

This paper reviews a number of recent conceptual statements and empirical studies concerning British workers attitudes to class and class relationships. It then presents some evidence from a survey in Barking, London, in 1972-73, a feature of which is a comparison of the responses of the same people to the same questions at dates some months apart. On the basis of this evidence some points are made concerning the nature and prevalence of consciousness of class amongst the British lower class.
Developments in the Sociology of Culture
Authors: Williams Raymond
Published: June 2005

This paper reviews general aspects of the theory and practice of the sociology of culture. It considers the contributions of mainline sociology, in the analysis of effects, institutions and formations, and relates the emphasis on effects, the selectively smaller emphasis on institutions and the relative neglect of formations to theoretical and methodological assumptions in orthodox sociology. It then considers contributions to the sociology of culture from other disciplines, in the study of traditions and of forms, and in attempts (Lukacs, Goldman, the Frankfurt School) to relate forms to formations. In this connection it reviews selections between orthodox cultural sociology and the theories and practices of formalism and structuralism. Finally, the paper proposes an approach based on recognition of `the materiality of signs' and the consequent recognition of cultural technologies—'sign-systems'—as forms of historical and social relationship and practice.
The Many Faces of Power and Liberty: Revealed Preference, Autonomy, and Teleological Explanation
Authors: Abell Peter
Published: June 2005

Concepts of bargaining power, influence, and manipulation are introduced and related to three different ways of operationalization—namely from decision-making, non-decision-making, and studying information flows. The concept of autonomy is introduced and briefly studied in the context of causal and teleological accounts of `power play'.
Radical Ideologies and the Sociology of Knowledge: A Model for Comparative Analysis
Authors: Bouchier David
Published: June 2005

Social movements inspired by radical or transformative ideologies have pro-liferated in western industrial societies, but have usually been effectively contained without violent repression. This paper takes up the debate about the mechanisms of containment with reference to a neglected aspect—the process of ideology production itself. It is suggested that the symbolic structure of radical ideologies may be understood as the outcome of three conceptual processes: (1) de-legitimation; (2) dis-alienation; (3) `commutation' or communication/interaction. The ideological product may also be evaluated, in sociological terms, as a theoretical and empirical response to determinate social problems. Two recent examples are used to illustrate the main lines of such an analysis: the International Marxist Group in Britain, and Students for a Democratic Society in the USA. They indicate that the internal, conceptual requirements of a radical ideology, and especially the need to publicly present and validate ideological knowledge, may distort the social analysis in ways which render it less effective as a force for political mobilization, and therefore magnify the effects of more familiar structural constraints on radical movements.
A Critical Evaluation of Fox's Radicalisation of Industrial Relations Theory
Authors: Wood Stephen , Elliott Ruth
Published: June 2005

This paper is a critical evaluation of Alan Fox's recent work and attempt to move away from the liberal-pluralist approach to industrial relations. Fox's early work is usually seen as forming part of the Oxford School and consequently his latest writings, for example Beyond Contract, which criticize its pluralist foundations are seen as a recantation and rejection of his earlier position. The authors argue that overall Fox's recent ideas do not represent a fundamentally radical break from liberal-pluralism. Whilst his critique of pluralism which questions the mutual dependence aspect of pluralism points in the direction of a radical analysis, his attempt to develop an alternative approach to industrial relations is based on preserving rather than rejecting the concept of mutual survival. Fox's use of the notion of trust to explore an evolutionary route to social change thus has many affinities with pluralism and is best seen as an attempt to modify pluralism in the light of changing socio-economic conditions. Whilst this is not in itself a ground for criticism, there are several problematic aspects of his recent work: there is the problem of coherency, the fact that in developing his fresh analysis he neglects some of the most important points made in his critique of pluralism, and his failure to offer a convincing high-trust route to radical change that can stand as an alternative to some kind of Marxism. None of this is to deny the possible relevance of Fox's so-called radical approach to current discussions of industrial relations.
Class Mobility in Modern Britain: Three Theses Examined
Authors: Goldthorpe John H. , Llewellyn Catriona
Published: June 2005

In recent analyses of the class structure of Britain and other modern western societies, arguments have been advanced relating mobility patterns to class formation and modes of class action. Three specific theses-those of `closure' at the higher levels of the class structure, of a `buffer-zone' around the division between manual and non-manual occupations, and of `counter-balance' in rates of inter- and intragenerational mobility-are critically examined on the basis of a survey inquiry into occupational mobility carried out in England and Wales in 1972. The sources of the various discrepancies which emerge between the three theses and the results of the enquiry are discussed, and major importance is attached in this respect to the evolution of the occupational division of labour in Britain over recent decades.
A Reappraisal of Social Mobility in Britain
Authors: Payne G. , Ford G. , Robertson C.
Published: June 2005

Social Mobility in Britain has been a key work for theories of mobility and social stratification, but its basic data on the occupation of fathers and sons is open to question. Arguing from evidence (mainly from the Census) about occupational transition and differential fertility, this paper suggests that the 1949 study appears to have an implausible number of middle-class fathers. When this critique is related to the peculiarities of the data already separately reported by others such as Ridge, Hope, and Noble, a strong case can be made for the rejection of the Glass findings. It follows that the conventional sociological wisdom that Britain has a low rate of mobility must be reconsidered, and also that those theories of stratification which have drawn too uncritically on Social Mobility in Britain must now be re-examined.
The Constitutional State of the Nineteenth Century: An Elementary Conceptual Portrait
Authors: Poggi Gianfranco
Published: June 2005

Many sociologists are currently interested in the contemporary impact of state activities upon the social process at large; but in coming to terms with this topic are hampered by decades of neglect of the state as a topic in standard sociological literature. In forming an elementary institutional picture of the modern state, they can gain from some acquaintance with literature in the fields of public law and the history of political institutions. Utilizing some of this literature, the author draws a conceptual protrait of the nineteenth-century state (to be used as a baseline for work on contemporary state/society relations) focused on the following topics: the plurality of states and the meaning of sovereignty; the unitary nature of the state; some of its specifically `modern' institutional traits; its relation to law; some modalities and issues of the political process in the nineteenth-century state.
Cycles of Control: Worker Participation in Sociological and Historical Perspective
Authors: Ramsay Harvie
Published: June 2005

This paper argues that worker participation has not evolved out of the humanization of capitalism, as is usually suggested, but has appeared cyclically. These cycles are traced over more than a century and are shown to correspond to periods when management authority is felt to be facing challenge. Participation is thus best understood as a means of attempting to secure labour's compliance. However, the framework of common interests upon which participation is premised is untenable, and in practice the efficiency of such schemes in Britain has been for the most part severely attenuated by the realities of structural conflict.
History and Sociology: An Analysis Of Weber's The City
Authors: Spencer Martin E.
Published: June 2005

There is a tension between History and Sociology in which the historian tends to focus on the concrete historical reality while the sociologist focuses on increasingly abstract models. This tension is resolved in historical sociology where implicit sociological paradigms are derived from and applied to concrete historical reality.

In his study The City Weber practices a true historical sociology in contradistinction to the formal theoretical sociology developed in his Economy and Society. In The City Weber develops implicit sociological paradigms of the group, power, and the relation between economics and politics that are nowhere to be found in his formal theoretical sociology, and that indeed, in some instances, contradict the latter.

In The City Weber also utilizes an historical paradigm that resolves the tension between History and Sociology by way of a dialectic in which the sociological paradigm becomes a pure heuristic which is negated at the moment when the historical sociologist returns to the contemplation of the concrete historical reality.
`K is Mentally Ill' the Anatomy of a Factual Account
Authors: Smith Dorothy E.
Published: June 2005

The paper analyses an interview describing how K came to be defined by her friends as mentally ill. The method of analysis assumes that the structure of the conceptual scheme `mental illness' which the reader uses in recognizing `mental illness' is isomorphic with that organizing the text and hence is discoverable `in' it. The full text of the interview is presented as the data. The analysis explicates the interpretation of the text as a method of reading. The text is found to provide instructions for its interpretation and for the authorization of its facticity. K's mental illness is to be located in the collection of instances of K's behaviour which the interview records. How is behaviour to be described as `mentally ill type' behaviour? It is suggested that the interview as a whole organizes a `cutting-out' procedure whereby K's behaviour is presented as making sense neither to her friends nor to the reader of the text. The procedure involves showing for each instance of her behaviour as well as for the collection as a whole that K's behaviour is not properly provided for by relevant social rules or definitions of the situation. To be recognizable as `mentally ill type' behaviour examples of K's actions must be constituted as anomalies rather than as deviations from a norm or rule.
Social Class Differences in Posing Questions for Answers
Authors: Robinson W. P. , Rackstraw Susan J.
Published: June 2005

Two tasks were designed to probe the knowledge that middle class and working class ten year olds have of the logical and semantic connections between questions and their answers. In the first the children were required to write down questions that could have evoked the `answers' with which they were provided. Compared with their middle class peers, working class boys supplied more questions that could be classified as inappropriate in specifiable ways; differences for girls were much attenuated. In the second task the children had to generate questions that would function to elicit prescribed types of information. Again working class boys were less proficient than middle class boys, with the girls showing fewer differences. The results were interpreted within Bernstein's theoretical framework.
Industrial Paternalist Capitalism and Local Labour Markets
Authors: Norris G. M.
Published: June 2005

This paper is an attempt to identify those structural conditions which are conducive to the rise and maintenance of industrial paternalist capitalism within Britain. Following Newby's discussion of the nature of deference industrial paternalism is defined as the specific form taken in Britain by economic and political structures in which the unequal distribution of resources is legitimated by tradition. A key factor in the maintenance of such systems of traditional authority is the nature of the owners of local productive capacity. Two features are emphasized; the extent to which local assets constitute the bulk of all capital owned by the local bourgeoisie and the existence of historical links between such owners of local capital and the area. Empirical measures of the nature of local labour markets are used to identify those areas of the country which contain the structural features most likely to support industrial paternalism. It is suggested that such areas can be characterized as relatively isolated local labour markets which are dominated by single companies.
Race, Class and Respectability: West Indian Activism in Comparative Perspective
Authors: Pearson David G.
Published: June 2005

The nature of West Indian political mobilization in Britain is discussed. A number of processes-cultural ambivalence, individualism and island parochialism are examined as contributory factors to the paucity and ephemerality of localized West Indian political associations in the metropolitan society. Particular emphasis is placed on the importance of, for example, changes in religious and family organization and how these relate to localized stratification systems within West Indian settlements in Britain. The utility of historical and comparative frameworks is stressed throughout the paper..
Sociology and the Irony Model
Authors: Wright Edmond
Published: June 2005

The central point is that Schutz's idealization of reciprocity, the matching of subjective intentions in the public world of interactive behaviour, necessarily involves agents in an ironic process. This is largely because, since they are taking so much for granted, they cannot be aware of what is latent in the intentional perspectives of their social partners. In bringing out the pattern of the irony of intersubjective dialectic, the argument makes plain the importance of pretence as a vital concept in philosophy, sociology and hermeneutics. The article closes with a criticism of naive optimism among purveyors of dialectic, recommending a proper concern with the irreconcilables of tragedy.
Difference in clinical features between Japanese and German patients with refractory anemia in myelodysplastic syndromes
Authors: Matsuda Akira , Germing Ulrich , Jinnai Itsuro , Misumi Motohiro , Kuendgen Andrea , Knipp Sabine , Aivado Manuel , Iwanaga Masako , Miyazaki Yasushi , Tsushima Hideki , Sakai Mari , Bessho Masami , Tomonaga Masao
Published: June 2005

Several reports indicate that there might be differences in clinical features between Asian and Western myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) cases. We analyzed refractory anemia (RA) in French-American-British (FAB) classification cases diagnosed in Japan and Germany to perform a more exact comparison between Asian and Western MDS types. In the first step, we analyzed agreement of morphologic diagnosis between Japanese and German hematologists. Blood and bone marrow slides of 129 patients diagnosed with FAB-RA, FAB-RA with ringed sideroblasts (RARS), or aplastic anemia were selected randomly and evaluated separately by each group. The agreements of diagnoses according to FAB and World Health Organization (WHO) classifications were 98.4% and 83.8%, respectively. Second, we compared clinical features between 131 Japanese and 597 German patients with FAB-RA. Japanese patients were significantly younger than German patients. Japanese patients had more severe cytopenias. However, prognosis of Japanese patients was significantly more favorable than that of German patients. Japanese patients had a significantly lower cumulative risk of acute leukemia evolution than did German patients. Frequency of WHO-RA in Japanese patients with FAB-RA was significantly higher than that in German patients. In conclusion, our results indicate that the clinical features of Japanese patients with FAB-RA differ from those of German patients.
In vivo aspirin supplementation inhibits nitric oxide consumption by human platelets
Authors: Williams P. Claire , Coffey Marcus J. , Coles Barbara , Sanchez Stephanie , Morrow Jason D. , Cockcroft John R. , Lewis Malcolm J. , O'Donnell Valerie B.
Published: June 2005

Antiplatelet therapies improve endothelial function in atherosclerosis, suggesting that platelets regulate vascular nitric oxide (NO) bioactivity in vivo. Herein, washed platelets consumed NO on activation in an aspirin-sensitive manner, and aspirin enhanced platelet NO responses in vitro. To examine whether in vivo aspirin can inhibit platelet NO consumption, a double-blind placebo-controlled study was conducted. After a 2-week nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)–free period, healthy men were randomly assigned and administered aspirin (75 mg/d orally) or identical placebo for 14 days, then crossed over to the opposite arm. Following in vivo aspirin, NO consumption by platelets was inhibited 91%. Rate of onset and recovery following aspirin withdrawal was consistent with cyclooxygenase 1 (COX-1) inhibition. In a small substudy, NO consumption by platelets from postmenopausal women was faster in hypercholesterolemics and less sensitive to aspirin (ie, 39% versus 76% inhibition for hypercholesterolemics or normocholesterolemics, respectively). However, 150 mg aspirin/day increased inhibition of NO consumption by platelets of hypercholesterolemics to 80%. Comparisons of platelet COX-1 or -2 expression and urinary 11-dehydro-thromboxane B2 excretion suggested that aspirin was less able to block platelet activation in vivo in hypercholesterolemia. In conclusion, aspirin inhibits NO consumption by platelets from healthy subjects, but its beneficial effects on NO bioactivity may be compromised in some hypercholesterolemic patients.
ZAP-70 is a novel conditional heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) client: inhibition of Hsp90 leads to ZAP-70 degradation, apoptosis, and impaired signaling in chronic lymphocytic leukemia
Authors: Castro Januario E. , Prada Carlos E. , Loria Olivier , Kamal Adeela , Chen Liguang , Burrows Francis J. , Kipps Thomas J.
Published: June 2005

The zeta-associated protein of 70 kDa (ZAP-70) is expressed in patients with aggressive chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). We found that ZAP-70+ CLL cells expressed activated heat-shock protein 90 (Hsp90) with high binding affinity for Hsp90 inhibitors, such as 17-allyl-amino-demethoxy-geldanamycin (17-AAG), whereas normal lymphocytes or ZAP-70- CLL cells expressed nonactivated Hsp90. Activated Hsp90 bound and stabilized ZAP-70, which behaved like an Hsp90 client protein only in CLL cells. Treatment with Hsp90 inhibitors such as 17-AAG and 17-dimethylaminoethylamino-17-demethoxygeldanamycin (17-DMAG) induced ZAP-70 degradation and apoptosis in CLL cells but not in T cells, and also impaired B-cell receptor signaling in leukemia cells. Transduction of ZAP-70- CLL cells with an adenovirus encoding ZAP-70 activated Hsp90 and specifically rendered the leukemia cells sensitive to 17-AAG. These data indicate that Hsp90 is necessary for ZAP-70 expression and activity; that ZAP-70 is unique among Hsp90 clients, in that its chaperone-dependency is conditional on the cell type in which it is expressed; and also that ZAP-70 is required for cell survival and signaling in CLL. Additionally, ZAP-70 expression in CLL cells confers markedly heightened sensitivity to 17-AAG or 17-DMAG, suggesting that these or other Hsp90 inhibitors could be valuable therapeutically in patients with aggressive CLL. (Blood. 2005;106:2506-2512)
Reduced frequency of FOXP3+ CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells in patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease
Authors: Zorn Emmanuel , Kim Haesook T. , Lee Stephanie J. , Floyd Blair H. , Litsa Despina , Arumugarajah Sankari , Bellucci Roberto , Alyea Edwin P. , Antin Joseph H. , Soiffer Robert J. , Ritz Jerome
Published: June 2005

Chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) is a major complication of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation but the immune mechanisms leading to the diverse clinical manifestations of cGVHD remain unknown. In this study, we examined regulatory T cells (Tregs) in 57 transplant recipients (30 with cGVHD and 27 without active cGVHD) and 26 healthy donors. Phenotypic studies demonstrated decreased frequency of CD4+CD25+ T cells in patients with cGVHD compared with patients without cGVHD (P < .001) and healthy individuals (P < .001). Gene expression of Treg transcription factor FOXP3 was reduced in cGVHD patients compared with patients without cGVHD (P = .009) or healthy donors (P = .01). T-cell receptor excision circle (TREC) assays for the evaluation of thymus activity revealed fewer TRECs in both transplant groups compared with healthy donors (P < .001 and P = .02, respectively) although no difference was observed between patients with or without cGVHD (P = .13). When tested in functional assays, Tregs from both patient cohorts and healthy individuals mediated equivalent levels of suppression. Collectively, these studies indicate that patients with active cGVHD have reduced frequencies of Tregs but the function of these cells remains normal. These findings support the development of new strategies to increase the number of Tregs following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation to prevent or correct cGVHD. (Blood. 2005; 106:2903-2911)
Aggregometry detects platelet hyperreactivity in healthy individuals
Authors: Yee Donald L. , Sun Carol W. , Bergeron Angela L. , Dong Jing-fei , Bray Paul F.
Published: June 2005

Aggregometry is widely used to assess platelet function, but its use in identifying platelet hyperreactivity is poorly defined. We studied platelet aggregation in 359 healthy individuals using the agonists adenosine diphosphate (ADP), epinephrine, collagen, collagen-related peptide, and ristocetin. We also assessed the reproducibility of these assays in 27 subjects by studying them repeatedly on at least 4 separate occasions. Healthy subjects exhibited considerable interindividual variability in aggregation response to agonists, especially at concentrations lower than those typically used in clinical laboratories. For each agonist tested at these submaximal concentrations, a small proportion of individuals demonstrated an unusually robust aggregation response. Subjects who exhibited such in vitro hyperreactivity to one agonist tended to demonstrate a similar response to others, suggesting that hyperreactivity is a global characteristic of platelets. Epinephrine and collagen-related peptide were especially reliable and efficient in detecting hyperreactivity. For epinephrine, excellent reproducibility persisted for up to 3 years, and hyperreactivity was associated with female sex and higher fibrinogen levels (P < .02). We recommend these assays as appropriate candidates for future studies requiring accurate assessment of increased platelet reactivity. These include clinical studies to improve risk assessment for arterial thrombosis, as well as genetic studies to establish determinants of the hyperreactive platelet phenotype.
Transcription inhibition by flavopiridol: mechanism of chronic lymphocytic leukemia cell death
Authors: Chen Rong , Keating Michael J. , Gandhi Varsha , Plunkett William
Published: June 2005

Flavopiridol is active against chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells in vitro and in the treatment of advanced stage disease, but the mechanisms of these actions remain unclear. Originally developed as a general cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, flavopiridol is a potent transcriptional suppressor through the inhibition of positive transcription elongation factor b (P-TEFb; CDK9/cyclin T). P-TEFb phosphorylates the C-terminal domain (CTD) of RNA polymerase II to promote transcriptional elongation. Because most CLL cells are not actively cycling, and their viability is dependent upon the continuous expression of antiapoptotic proteins, we hypothesized that flavopiridol induces apoptosis in CLL cells through the transcriptional down-regulation of such proteins. This study demonstrated that flavopiridol inhibited the phosphorylation of the CTD of RNA polymerase II in primary CLL cells and reduced RNA synthesis. This was associated with a decline of the transcripts and the levels of short-lived antiapoptotic proteins such as myeloid cell leukemia 1 (Mcl-1), and resulted in the induction of apoptosis. The B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) protein level remained stable, although its mRNA was consistently reduced, suggesting that the outcome of transcriptional inhibition by flavopiridol is governed by the intrinsic stability of the individual transcripts and proteins. The dependence of CLL-cell survival on short-lived oncoproteins may provide the biochemical basis for the therapeutic index in response to flavopiridol. (Blood. 2005;106:2513-2519)
MtDNA diversity among four Portuguese autochthonous dog breeds: a fine-scale characterisation
Authors: van Asch Barbara , Pereira Luísa , Pereira Filipe , Santa-Rita Pedro , Lima Manuela , Amorim António
Published: June 2005

Background

The picture of dog mtDNA diversity, as obtained from geographically wide samplings but from a small number of individuals per region or breed, has revealed weak geographic correlation and high degree of haplotype sharing between very distant breeds. We aimed at a more detailed picture through extensive sampling (n = 143) of four Portuguese autochthonous breeds – Castro Laboreiro Dog, Serra da Estrela Mountain Dog, Portuguese Sheepdog and Azores Cattle Dog-and comparatively reanalysing published worldwide data.

Results

Fifteen haplotypes belonging to four major haplogroups were found in these breeds, of which five are newly reported. The Castro Laboreiro Dog presented a 95% frequency of a new A haplotype, while all other breeds contained a diverse pool of existing lineages. The Serra da Estrela Mountain Dog, the most heterogeneous of the four Portuguese breeds, shared haplotypes with the other mainland breeds, while Azores Cattle Dog shared no haplotypes with the other Portuguese breeds.

A review of mtDNA haplotypes in dogs across the world revealed that: (a) breeds tend to display haplotypes belonging to different haplogroups; (b) haplogroup A is present in all breeds, and even uncommon haplogroups are highly dispersed among breeds and continental areas; (c) haplotype sharing between breeds of the same region is lower than between breeds of different regions and (d) genetic distances between breeds do not correlate with geography.

Conclusion

MtDNA haplotype sharing occurred between Serra da Estrela Mountain dogs (with putative origin in the centre of Portugal) and two breeds in the north and south of the country-with the Castro Laboreiro Dog (which behaves, at the mtDNA level, as a sub-sample of the Serra da Estrela Mountain Dog) and the southern Portuguese Sheepdog. In contrast, the Azores Cattle Dog did not share any haplotypes with the other Portuguese breeds, but with dogs sampled in Northern Europe. This suggested that the Azores Cattle Dog descended maternally from Northern European dogs rather than Portuguese mainland dogs. A review of published mtDNA haplotypes identified thirteen non-Portuguese breeds with sufficient data for comparison. Comparisons between these thirteen breeds, and the four Portuguese breeds, demonstrated widespread haplotype sharing, with the greatest diversity among Asian dogs, in accordance with the central role of Asia in canine domestication.
The morbidity and mortality following a diagnosis of peripheral arterial disease: Long-term follow-up of a large database
Authors: Caro Jaime , Migliaccio-Walle Kristen , Ishak Khajak J , Proskorovsky Irina
Published: June 2005

Background

Awareness of the significance of peripheral arterial disease is increasing, but quantitative estimates of the ensuing burden and the impact of other risk factors remains limited. The objective of this study was to fill this need.

Methods

Morbidity and mortality were examined in 16,440 index patients diagnosed with peripheral arterial disease in Saskatchewan, Canada between 1985 and 1995. Medical history and patient characteristics were available retrospectively to January 1980 and follow-up was complete to March 1998. Crude and adjusted event rates were calculated and Kaplan-Meier survival curves estimated. Cox proportional hazards analyses were conducted to examine the effect of risk factors on these rates. Patients suffering a myocardial infarction or ischemic stroke in Saskatchewan provided two reference populations.

Results

Half of the index patients were male; the majority was over age 65; 73% had at least one additional risk factor at index diagnosis; 10% suffered a subsequent stroke, another 10% a myocardial infarction, and 49% died within the mean follow-up of 5.9 years. Annual mortality (8.2%) was higher among patients with PAD than after a myocardial infarction (6.3%) but slightly lower than that in patients suffering a stroke (11.3%). Index patients with comorbid disease (e.g., diabetes) were at highest risk of death and other events.

Conclusion

A diagnosis of peripheral arterial disease is critical evidence of more widespread atherothrombotic disease, with substantial risks of subsequent cardiovascular events and death. Given that the majority has additional comorbidities, these risks are further increased.
Peripheral arterial disease: A high risk – but neglected – disease population
Authors: Tomson Joseph , Lip Gregory YH
Published: June 2005

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a common, progressive manifestation of atherothrombotic vascular disease, which should be managed no different to cardiac disease. Indeed, there is growing evidence that PAD patients are a high risk group, although still relatively under-detected and under treated. This is despite the fact that PAD patients are an increased mortality rate comparable to those with pre-existing or established cardiovascular disease [myocardial infarction, stroke]. With a holistic approach to atherothrombotic vascular disease, our management of PAD can only get better.
Determinants of racial/ethnic differences in blood pressure management among hypertensive patients
Authors: Hicks LeRoi S , Shaykevich Shimon , Bates David W , Ayanian John Z
Published: June 2005

Background

Prior literature has shown that racial/ethnic minorities with hypertension may receive less aggressive treatment for their high blood pressure. However, to date there are few data available regarding the confounders of racial/ethnic disparities in the intensity of hypertension treatment.

Methods

We reviewed the medical records of 1,205 patients who had a minimum of two hypertension-related outpatient visits to 12 general internal medicine clinics during 7/1/01-6/30/02. Using logistic regression, we determined the odds of having therapy intensified by patient race/ethnicity after adjustment for clinical characteristics.

Results

Blacks (81.9%) and Whites (80.3%) were more likely than Latinos (71.5%) to have therapy intensified (P = 0.03). After adjustment for racial differences in the number of outpatient visits and presence of diabetes, there were no racial differences in rates of intensification.

Conclusion

We found that racial/ethnic differences in therapy intensification were largely accounted for by differences in frequency of clinic visits and in the prevalence of diabetes. Given the higher rates of diabetes and hypertension related mortality among Hispanics in the U.S., future interventions to reduce disparities in cardiovascular outcomes should increase physician awareness of the need to intensify drug therapy more agressively in patients without waiting for multiple clinic visits, and should remind providers to treat hypertension more aggressively among diabetic patients.
The combination of intravitreal triamcinolone and phacoemulsification surgery in patients with diabeticfoveal oedema and cataract
Authors: Habib Maged S , Cannon Paul S , Steel David HW
Published: June 2005

Background

The management of diabetic patients with refractory macular oedema or patients with no adequate pre-operative view to administer laser treatment provide a challenge to the ophthalmologist. We wished to assess the use, safety and effect of intravitreal triamcinolone injection at the time of cataract surgery in patients with diabetic foveal oedema and sight limiting lens opacities.

Method

This was a longitudinal non-randomised prospective pilot study in 18 eyes (12 patients). All patients had visually significant lens opacities and either persistent diabetic foveal oedema unresponsive to laser treatment-group A, or foveal oedema with no adequate pre-operative view for laser treatment- group B. The cataract surgery was carried out under full aseptic technique using a self-sealing temporal incision and a foldable acrylic lens. Intravitreal triamcinolone was given infratemporally pars plana at the completion of the cataract surgery. The patients were reviewed at day 5, 2 weeks, 2 months and then every 3 months as required. The Wilcoxin matched-pairs test was used to assess the significance of the improvement in visual acuity at 2 months.

Results

Twelve patients with a total of 18 eyes were included in the study. There were 10 patients (15 eyes) in group A and 3 patients (3 eyes) in group B. Preoperatively 16 of the 18 eyes had a visual acuity of 6/24 or worse. Postoperatively 83% of patients had completely dry foveae at 2 weeks. Best-corrected visual acuities at two months review ranged from 6/6 to CF with 9 eyes (50%) achieving 6/12 or better (7 eyes (47%) in group A and 2 eyes (67%) in group B). Three eyes had no recorded improvement in visual acuity, but no eyes had deterioration in acuity. The improvement in visual acuity was significant at p = 0.001. There were no significant sight threatening complications.

Conclusion

Intravitreal triamcinolone has been shown to lead to an improvement in macular oedema and visual improvement in diabetic patients not undergoing cataract surgery but has not, to our knowledge, been previously used in a study like this one.

We suggest that intravitreal injection at the time of cataract surgery could be carried out safely with encouraging visual outcomes in patients with diabetic foveal oedema and cataract.