bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Induction of GSNO reductase but not NOS in the lungs of mice exposed to glucan‐spiked dust
Authors: Cao Yi , Liang Sisi , Zheng Yuduo , Liu Dandan , Zhang Benyan , Xu Dongqun , Yang Xu
Published: November 2009

Bothin vivoandin vitrostudies have suggested that airborne organic dusts may induce inflammatory responses in the lungs, characterized by typical patterns of cytokine up‐regulation and secretion. Recent work showed that exposure to glucan‐spiked dust might influence nasal and pulmonary function, without an accompanying inflammatory response. However, effects of glucan‐spiked dust exposure on NOS and GSNO reductase (enzymes important to NO signaling) remain less clear. This study aims to determine the effects of simultaneous exposure to glucan‐spiked dust on NO signaling pathway in the airway. Danish Office dust was spiked with 1% (1‐3)‐β‐glucan (curdlan). Mice were exposed to 20 μL PBS (controls), 20 μL 25 μg/20 μL OVA and 20 μL 100 μg/20 μL glucan‐spiked dust, respectively, daily for 12 days. NOS and GSNO reductase activity were measured in lung homogenate. Glutathione concentration and SOD activity in lung tissue were also determined to evaluate changes in oxidative stress. IL‐6 concentration was measured in lungs to quantify the inflammatory response. Results showed that 12 day OVA and glucan‐spiked dust exposure did not significantly influence NOS activity, GSH concentration, SOD activity, or IL‐6 concentration. An insignificant increase in GSNOR activity and expression was observed in 12 day OVA‐exposed mice, whereas glucan‐spiked dust exposure significantly increased GSNOR activity and expression. Our results suggested that repeated glucan‐spiked dust exposure to the airway could activate GSNO reductase but not NOS. Since GSNO reductase plays a pivotal role in NO signaling, these results may have clinical importance. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 2011.
Hepatocellular carcinoma: new options for image‐guided ablation
Authors: Lencioni Riccardo , Cioni Dania , Pina Clotilde Della , Crocetti Laura
Published: November 2009

Image‐guided percutaneous ablation is currently accepted as the best therapeutic choice for patients with early‐stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) when transplantation and resection are precluded. Several methods for chemical or thermal tumor destruction have been developed and tested clinically during the past two decades. The seminal technique used for local treatment of HCC has been percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI). Several studies have provided indirect evidence that PEI improves the natural history of nonsurgical patients with early‐stage HCC. Its major limitation is the high rate of local recurrence. Radiofrequency (RF) ablation has been the most widely assessed alternative to PEI. Five randomized controlled trials have shown that RF ablation achieves more effective and reproducible tumor destruction than PEI, leading to a better local control of the disease. As a result, RF ablation has been established as the primary ablative modality. The value of newer thermal and non‐thermal methods for local tumor treatment, such as microwave ablation, irreversible electroporation (IRE), and light activated drug therapy, should be investigated in the setting of randomized controlled trials.
Species versus genotypic diversity of a nitrogen‐fixing plant functional group in a metacommunity
Authors: He Tianhua , Lamont Byron B.
Published: November 2009

Exploring species and genetic diversity interactions provides new opportunities for furthering our understanding of the ecology and evolution of population and community dynamics, and for predicting responses of ecosystems to environmental change. Theory predicts that species diversity within communities and genetic diversity within populations will covary positively, because either species and genetic diversity interact synergistically or they respond in parallel fashion to common habitat conditions. We tested the hypothesis of positive covariation between species and genotypic diversity in a metacommunity of the species‐rich southwest Australian flora. We hypothesised that the connection between genotypic diversity and species diversity is strong within functional groups, but weak or non‐existent if the species considered extend beyond the functional group. We show that allelic richness of Daviesia triflora, an ant‐dispersed pea, covaries positively with the species richness of six co‐occurring nitrogen‐fixing legume species. No pattern can be detected between allelic richness of D. triflora and species richness of ant‐dispersed species when four non‐legumes are added. We also show that genetic diversity of D. triflora is not governed by the same environmental factors that determine the presence of a group of large‐shrub/small‐tree species in the same metacommunity. This study shows that species and genetic diversity covariation are more likely to be confined to within, rather than between, plant functional groups.
A New Chemiluminescence Method for Detecting Lipid Peroxides in Vegetable Oils
Authors: Szterk Arkadiusz , Lewicki Piotr Paweł
Published: November 2009

The peroxide value (PV) of several vegetable oils oxidized at 70 °C was measured spectrophotometrically using a new chemiluminescence (CL) method. The reaction in CL was based on lipid hydroperoxides decomposition with HO− ions in two different medium. The first reaction was carried out in a DMF/KOH/oil mixture, while in the second reaction acridine was used in addition. A linear correlation between PVs determined spectrophotometrically and measured with the CL method was found.
Structured and Specialty Lipids in Continuous Packed Column Reactors: Comparison of Production Using One and Two Enzyme Beds
Authors: Hamam Fayez , Budge Suzanne M.
Published: November 2009

In this study, speciality lipids based on fish oil (FO) and capric acid (CA) were produced in packed bed bioreactors using immobilized Lipozyme IM from Rhizomucor miehei in a solvent‐free environment. Our goal was to compare the product quality and yield among reactors consisting of one or two enzyme columns. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize process variables for maximum incorporation (Inc) of CA for each reactor configuration. The studied process variables were substrate molar ratio (1:1–3:1 CA/FO), temperature (35–55 °C) and flow rate (0.5–1.5 mL/min). All experiments were conducted based on a face‐centered cube design. The maximum predicted Inc of CA into FO (31.7 mol%) using one column was obtained when substrate molar ratio, temperature and flow rate of substrates were 2.70:1 (CA/FO), 55 °C and 0.5 mL/min. The corresponding optimal Inc of CA into FO (22.7 mol%) using two columns was predicted at 2.95:1 (CA/FO), 55 °C and 0.86 mL/min. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that Inc of CA into the one‐bed design was significantly influenced by all experimental conditions, with substrate molar ratio having the greatest impact. In the two‐bed design, only temperature and flow rate had an effect; the molar ratio of substrates was not significant. Coefficients of determination were low for both designs, indicating a poor fit of our data to the model. However, the main purpose of this study was to assess the effect of process factors on Inc of CA into FO, rather than generate a model useful for prediction of responses under conditions not examined with this design. Therefore, the significant ANOVA results are much more important, stressing the real relationship between parameters and response, than the low coefficients of determination.
Neurofibromatose Typ 2
Authors: Kluwe L. , Mautner V.-F.
Published: November 2009

Neurofibromatose Typ 2 (NF2) ist eine genetische Erkrankung, die autosomal-dominant vererbt wird und durch multiple Tumoren des Nervensystems gekennzeichnet ist. Bilaterale vestibuläre Schwannome, bekannt als Akustikusneurinome, sind das Hauptmerkmal der Erkrankung und treten bei etwa 90% der Betroffenen auf. Sie beeinträchtigen das Hörvermögen der Patienten und führen nicht selten zur Ertaubung. Ebenso häufig (>90%) treten bei NF2 spinale Tumoren (Schwannome, Meningiome und Ependymome) auf, die in etwa 1/3 der Fälle zu neurologischen Defiziten führen. Daneben finden sich zerebrale Schwannome und Meningiome als typische NF2-assoziierte Tumormanifestationen. Ferner kennzeichnen Polyneuropathie und okuläre Abnormalitäten das Krankheitsbild. Die genetische Ursache der NF2 ist eine heterozygote Inaktivierung des NF2-Tumorsuppressorgens, welches auf Chromosom 22q lokalisiert ist. Die Inzidenz der NF2 beträgt etwa 1:25.000 Geburten, wobei 50–80% der Patienten keine familiäre Belastung aufweisen. Bei Patienten mit Neumutationen (de novo) wurde eine Mosaikbildung mit überraschend hoher Frequenz (25–30%) nachgewiesen. Der vorliegende Beitrag beschreibt Klinik und Genetik der NF2 sowie aktuelle Entwicklungen in der medikamentösen Therapie.
Molecular characterization ofHydraacetylcholinesterase and its catalytic activity
Authors: Takahashi Toshio , Hamaue Naoya
Published: November 2009

A full‐length cDNA encoding an acetylcholinesterase (AChE) fromHydra magnipapillatawas isolated. All of the important aromatic residues that line a catalytic gorge in cholinesterases of other species were conserved, but the sequences of peripheral anionic and choline binding sites were not.HydraAChE, expressed inXenopusoocytes, showed AChE activity. The gene was expressed in both ectodermal and endodermal epithelial cells except for the tentacles and basal disk.AChEgene expression was not detected in the regenerating tips in either the head or the foot, indicating that regeneration is controlled by the non‐neuronal cholinergic system inHydra.
Maintenance and growth requirements for nitrogen, lysine and methionine and their utilisation efficiencies in juvenile black tiger shrimp,Penaeus monodon, using a factorial approach
Authors: Richard Lenaïg , Blanc Pierre-Philippe , Rigolet Vincent , Kaushik Sadasivam J. , Geurden Inge
Published: November 2009

We used a factorial approach to distinguish maintenance from growth requirements for protein, lysine and methionine in the black tiger shrimp,Penaeus monodon. JuvenileP. monodon(initial weight 2·4 g) were fed during 6 weeks one of ten semi-purified diets based on casein and purified amino acids (AA) as N source. The diets contained four levels of crude protein (CP, from 5 to 54 % DM diet) with two levels (% CP) of lysine or methionine (normal or 30 % deficient). Requirements were determined using linear and non-linear regression models. We could thus obtain the first ever data on maintenance (N equilibrium) requirements for CP and AA inP. monodon. CP requirements for maintenance (4·5 g/kg body weight (BW) per d) represented approximately 19 % of the CP requirement for maximal N gain (23·9 g/kg BW per d). The marginal efficiency of utilisation reached a maximum of 38 % for N, 0·77 for lysine and 1·62 for methionine using N gain as response. Lysine requirements were 0·20 g/kg BW per d for N maintenance and 1·40 g/kg BW per d for maximal N gain. Methionine requirements were 0·11 g/kg BW per d for N maintenance and 0·70 g/kg BW per d for maximal N gain. The lysine (5·8 %) and methionine (2·9 %) requirements for maximal N gain, expressed as percentage of protein requirement, agree with literature data using a dose–response technique with smallerP. monodon. The observed interaction between dietary CP and methionine for N gain demonstrates that requirements for indispensable AA (expressed as % CP) cannot be evaluated separately from CP requirements.
Increased meal frequency does not promote greater weight loss in subjects who were prescribed an 8-week equi-energetic energy-restricted diet
Authors: Cameron Jameason D. , Cyr Marie-Josée , Doucet Éric
Published: November 2009

There have been reports of an inverse relationship between meal frequency (MF) and adiposity. It has been postulated that this may be explained by favourable effects of increased MF on appetite control and possibly on gut peptides as well. The main goal of the present study was to investigate whether using a high MF could lead to a greater weight loss than that obtained with a low MF under conditions of similar energy restriction. Subjects were randomised into two treatment arms (high MF = 3 meals+3 snacks/d or low MF = 3 meals/d) and subjected to the same dietary energy restriction of − 2931 kJ/d for 8 weeks. Sixteen obese adults (n8 women and 8 men; age 34·6 (sd9·5); BMI 37·1 (sd4·5) kg/m2) completed the study. Overall, there was a 4·7 % decrease in body weight (P < 0·01); similarly, significant decreases were noted in fat mass ( − 3·1 (sd2·9) kg;P < 0·01), lean body mass ( − 2·0 (sd3·1) kg;P < 0·05) and BMI ( − 1·7 (sd0·8) kg/m2;P < 0·01). However, there were NS differences between the low- and high-MF groups for adiposity indices, appetite measurements or gut peptides (peptide YY and ghrelin) either before or after the intervention. We conclude that increasing MF does not promote greater body weight loss under the conditions described in the present study.
Is undernutrition a risk factor for sensorineural hearing loss in early infancy?
Authors: Olusanya Bolajoko O.
Published: November 2009

The present cross-sectional study set out to determine the nutritional status of infants aged 0–3 months with the WHO Multicentre Growth Reference (WHO-MGR) and examine the relationship between undernutrition and congenital or early-onset sensorineural hearing loss (CESHL) rarely reported for developing countries. The nutritional status of all infants attending community-based clinics for routine Bacille de Calmette-Guérin (BCG) immunisation from July 2005 to December 2006 was determined by weight-for-age, weight-for-length and BMI-for-age based on the WHO-MGR. Hearing loss status was determined by tympanometry, auditory brainstem response (ABR) and visual response audiometry after a two-stage screening with transient evoked otoacoustic emissions and automated ABR. The relationship between nutritional status and CESHL were explored after adjusting for potentially confounding maternal and infant characteristics using multivariable logistic regression analyses. Of the 3386 infants who completed the hearing evaluation protocol, seventy-one were confirmed with hearing loss (>30 dB hearing level). More than one-third (37·9 %) of all infants and over half (54·9 %) of those with CESHL were undernourished by at least one measure of growth. Stunting (35·3 %) was the most prevalent nutritional deficit in infants with CESHL. In the final logistic model, infants with any undernourished physical state were significantly likely to have CESHL (OR 1·67; 95 % CI 1·03, 2·77) and of a severe-to-profound degree (OR 3·92; 95 % CI 1·38, 11·17) compared with infants without any undernourishment. Prospective studies to establish the full spectrum of the relationship between undernutrition and CESHL, particularly in resource-poor countries, are therefore warranted.
Closed-loop control of an open cavity flow using reduced-order models
Authors: BARBAGALLO ALEXANDRE , SIPP DENIS , SCHMID PETER J.
Published: November 2009

The control of separated fluid flow by reduced-order models is studied using the two-dimensional incompressible flow over an open square cavity at Reynolds numbers where instabilities are present. Actuation and measurement locations are taken on the upstream and downstream edge of the cavity. A bi-orthogonal projection is introduced to arrive at reduced-order models for the compensated problem. Global modes, proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) modes and balanced modes are used as expansion bases for the model reduction. The open-loop behaviour of the full and the reduced systems is analysed by comparing the respective transfer functions. This analysis shows that global modes are inadequate to sufficiently represent the input–output behaviour whereas POD and balanced modes are capable of properly approximating the exact transfer function. Balanced modes are far more efficient in this process, but POD modes show superior robustness. The performance of the closed-loop system corroborates this finding: while reduced-order models based on POD are able to render the compensated system stable, balanced modes accomplish the same with far fewer degrees of freedom.
Cavity dynamics in water entry at low Froude numbers
Authors: YAN HONGMEI , LIU YUMING , KOMINIARCZUK JAKUB , YUE DICK K. P.
Published: November 2009

The dynamics of the air cavity created by vertical water entry of a three-dimensional body is investigated theoretically, computationally and experimentally. The study is focused in the range of relatively low Froude numbers, Fr ≡ V(gD)−1/2 ≤ O(10) (where V is the dropping velocity of the body, D its characteristic dimension and g the gravitational acceleration), when the inertia and gravity effects are comparable. To understand the physical processes involved in the evolution of cavity, we conduct laboratory experiments of water entry of freely dropping spheres. A matched asymptotic theory for the description of the cavity dynamics is developed based on the slender-body theory in the context of potential flow. Direct comparisons with experimental data show that the asymptotic theory properly captures the key physical effects involved in the development of the cavity, and in particular gives a reasonable prediction of the maximum size of the cavity and the time of cavity closure. Due to the inherent assumption in the asymptotic theory, it is incapable of accurately predicting the flow details near the free surface and the body, where nonlinear free surface and body boundary effects are important. To complement the asymptotic theory, a fully nonlinear numerical study using an axisymmetric boundary integral equation is performed. The numerically obtained dependencies of the cavity height and closure time on Froude number and body geometry are in excellent agreement with available experiments.
Turbulent plumes with heterogeneous chemical reaction on the surface of small buoyant droplets
Authors: CARDOSO SILVANA S. S. , MCHUGH SEAN T.
Published: November 2009

A model is developed for a turbulent plume with heterogeneous chemical reaction rising in an unbounded environment. The chemical reaction, which may generate or deplete buoyancy in the plume, occurs at the interface between two phases, a continuous phase and a dispersed one. We study the case in which a buoyant reactant is released at the source and forms the dispersed phase, consisting of very small bubbles, droplets or particles. Once in contact with the ambient fluid, a first-order irreversible reaction takes place at the surface of the, for example, droplets. The behaviour of this plume in a uniform and stratified environment is examined. We show that the dynamics of a pure plume with such heterogeneous reaction is completely determined by the ratio of the environmental buoyancy frequency N and a frequency parameter associated with the chemical reaction, G. The group G is a measure of the ability of the reaction to generate buoyancy in the plume. In a uniform environment, the sign of parameter G fully determines the plume motion. When the reaction generates buoyancy (positive G) the motion is unbounded, whilst when reaction depletes buoyancy (negative G) the plume reaches a level of neutral buoyancy. A relation for this neutral buoyancy level as a function of the initial buoyancy flux of the plume and G is calculated. Our theoretical predictions compared well with experimental results using a plume of calcium carbonate particles descending in an acidic aqueous solution. In a stratified environment, the motion of the plume is always bounded, irrespective of the magnitude of G, and we determine the level of maximum buoyancy flux, as well as those of zero buoyancy and zero momentum as a function of N/G. Finally, our model is applied to study the dynamics of a localized release of carbon dioxide in the ocean.
Adenoidectomy techniques: UK survey
Authors: Dhanasekar G , Liapi A , Turner N
Published: November 2009

Objectives:

To determine (1) the preferred adenoidectomy technique among UK ENT consultants, and (2) the need for revision adenoidectomy following the standard technique of blind curettage with digital palpation.

Method:

Postal questionnaire.

Participants:

We included 539 consultant members of the ENT–UK.

Main outcome measures:

Commonly used adenoidectomy techniques, and whether revision adenoidectomy was considered a problem.

Results:

The response rate was 66.6 per cent (359 respondents). Twenty-seven respondents did not perform adenoidectomy, while 332 did. A total of 312/332 respondents (94 per cent) believed that adenoidectomy had a role in the treatment of chronic serous otitis media. The majority of respondents (232/332; 69.9 per cent) reported examining the postnasal space digitally at adenoidectomy. The preferred routine adenoidectomy technique was blind curettage for 263 respondents (79.2 per cent), suction diathermy ablation for 27 (8.1 per cent) and curettage under direct vision (using a mirror) for 13 (3.9 per cent). In response to the question ‘Do you recognise the need for revision adenoidectomy as a problem?’, 205 (61.7 per cent) respondents replied ‘never’, 39 (11.7 per cent) ‘rarely’, 54 (16.3 per cent) ‘< 2 per cent’ and 36 (10.8 per cent) ‘>2 per cent’.

Conclusions:

The most commonly used adenoidectomy technique in the UK is digital palpation followed by blind curettage, according to this postal questionnaire survey. Few respondents reported performing adenoidectomy under direct vision: only 10 per cent used a mirror during the procedure and only 8 per cent used an endoscope.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy as salvage treatment for sudden sensorineural hearing loss: review of rationale and preliminary report
Authors: Muzzi E , Zennaro B , Visentin R , Soldano F , Sacilotto C
Published: November 2009

Background:

The management of sudden sensorineural hearing loss has not yet been standardised. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy influences recovery from sudden sensorineural hearing loss, but the underlying mechanism is unknown and the appropriate indications and protocols undetermined.

Materials and methods:

Nineteen patients affected by sudden sensorineural hearing loss were treated after unsuccessful medical therapy, either in an acute or chronic setting. Pure oxygen inhalation at 2.5 atmospheres absolute pressure was administered for 90 minutes, for 30 sessions. Frequency-specific and average pure tone hearing thresholds were determined before and after hyperbaric oxygen therapy. The number of hyperbaric oxygen therapy sessions, the patient's age and any therapeutic delay were considered as quantitative variables possibly influencing outcome. Stepwise multivariate analysis was performed.

Results:

Salvage hyperbaric oxygen therapy appeared to improve patients' pure tone hearing thresholds, particularly at low frequencies. Positive results were more likely with increased patient age and reduced delay in receiving hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Conclusion:

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has a strong scientific rationale, and improves pure tone hearing thresholds in cases of sudden sensorineural hearing loss unresponsive to medical therapy. Further research may be able to identify those patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss for whom hyperbaric oxygen therapy would be most cost-effective.
Toward a model of grammaticality judgments
Authors: BADER MARKUS , HÄUSSLER JANA
Published: November 2009

This paper presents three experiments that investigate the relationship between gradient and binary judgments of grammaticality. In the first two experiments, two different groups of participants judged sentences by the method of magnitude estimation and by the method of speeded grammaticality judgments in a single session. The two experiments involved identical sentence materials but they differed in the order in which the two procedures were applied. The results show a high correlation between the magnitude estimation data and the speeded grammaticality judgments data, both within a session and across the two sessions. The third experiment was a questionnaire study in which participants judged the same sentences as either grammatical or ungrammatical without time pressure. This experiment yielded results quite similar to those of the other two experiments. Thus gradient and binary judgments both provide valuable and reliable sources for linguistic theory when assessed in an experimentally controlled way. We present a model based on Signal Detection Theory which specifies how gradient grammaticality scores are mapped to binary grammaticality judgments. Finally, we compare our experimental results to existing corpus data in order to inquire into the relationship between grammaticality and frequency of usage.
The typology of motion expressions revisited
Authors: BEAVERS JOHN , LEVIN BETH , WEI THAM SHIAO
Published: November 2009

This paper provides a new perspective on the options available to languages for encoding directed motion events. Talmy (2000) introduces an influential two-way typology, proposing that languages adopt either verb- or satellite-framed encoding of motion events. This typology is augmented by Slobin (2004b) and Zlatev & Yangklang (2004) with a third class of equipollently-framed languages. We propose that the observed options can instead be attributed to: (i) the motion-independent morphological, lexical, and syntactic resources languages make available for encoding manner and path of motion, (ii) the role of the verb as the single clause-obligatory lexical category that can encode either manner or path, and (iii) extra-grammatical factors that yield preferences for certain options. Our approach accommodates the growing recognition that most languages straddle more than one of the previously proposed typological categories: a language may show both verb- and satellite-framed patterns, or if it allows equipollent-framing, even all three patterns. We further show that even purported verb-framed languages may not only allow but actually prefer satellite-framed patterns when appropriate contextual support is available, a situation unexpected if a two- or three-way typology is assumed. Finally, we explain the appeal of previously proposed two- and three-way typologies: they capture the encoding options predicted to be preferred once certain external factors are recognized, including complexity of expression and biases in lexical inventories.
Persian complex predicates and the limits of inheritance-based analyses
Authors: MÜLLER STEFAN
Published: November 2009

Persian complex predicates pose an interesting challenge for theoretical linguistics since they have both word-like and phrase-like properties. For example, they can feed derivational processes, but they are also separable by the future auxiliary or the negation prefix.

Various proposals have been made in the literature to capture the nature of Persian complex predicates, among them analyses that treat them as purely phrasal or purely lexical combinations. Mixed analyses that analyze them as words by default and as phrases in the non-default case have also been suggested.

In this paper, I show that theories that rely exclusively on the classification of patterns in inheritance hierarchies cannot account for the facts in an insightful way unless they are augmented by transformations or some similar device. I then show that a lexical account together with appropriate grammar rules and an argument composition analysis of the future auxiliary has none of the shortcomings that classification-based analyses have and that it can account for both the phrasal and the word-like properties of Persian complex predicates.
‘CHOU GAGS CRITICS IN BANDOENG’ or How the Media Framed Premier Zhou Enlai at the Bandung Conference, 1955
Authors: WOOD SALLY PERCIVAL
Published: November 2009

At the Asian-African Conference at Bandung, Indonesia, in April 1955, the world's press concentrated its gaze on Premier Zhou Enlai of the People's Republic of China. Premier Zhou's every gesture, interaction and statement was scrutinized for evidence that his motivations at Bandung were antagonistic to Western interests. This preoccupation with the motivations of the Chinese was, however, no new phenomenon. By 1955, literary tropes of the ‘Yellow Peril’ had been firmly established in the Western imagination and, after 1949, almost seamlessly made their transition into fears of infiltrating communist Chinese ‘Reds’.

The first half of this paper explores the historical roots of the West's perceptions of the Chinese, through the literary works of Daniel Defoe to the pulp fiction of Sax Rohmer's Dr Fu Manchu series, which ran from 1917 to 1959. It then examines how this negative template was mobilised by the print media at the height of the Cold War to characterize Premier Zhou Enlai, not only as untrustworthy, but also as antagonistically anti-Western. This reading of representations of Premier Zhou at Bandung, as well as the literary tropes propagated in support of eighteenth and nineteenth-century imperial expansion, exposes a history of Western (mis)interpretations of China, and sheds light upon the media network's role in constructing a Chinese enemy in the mid-1950s.
Selectivity of fatty acids on lipid metabolism and gene expression
Authors: Raclot Thierry , Oudart Hugues
Published: November 2009

Triacylglycerols represent the main form of storage for a wide spectrum of fatty acids. Their utilization first involves mobilization from adipose tissue through lipolysis. The release of individual fatty acids from adipose tissue is selective in vitro and in vivo in animal studies and also in human subjects. Generally, fatty acids are more readily mobilized from fat cells when they are short-chain and unsaturated. This selectivity could affect the storage of individual fatty acids in adipose tissue, and their subsequent supply to tissues. The nature of the dietary fats could affect lipid homeostasis and body fat deposition. Dietary fish oil influences adipose tissue development in a site-specific manner as a function of diet and feeding period. A diet high in n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) results in a preferential partitioning of ingested energy towards oxidation at the expense of storage. Fatty acids are important mediators of gene expression in the liver. Indeed, genes encoding both glycolytic and lipogenic enzymes and key metabolic enzymes involved in fatty acid oxidation are regulated by dietary PUFA. White adipose tissue could also be a target for PUFA control of gene expression. The treatment of pre-adipose cells by fatty acids induces the expression of numerous genes that encode proteins involved in fatty acid metabolism. The mechanisms of PUFA-mediated repression of gene expression in adipocytes seem to be different, at least partly, from those described in liver. Tissue-specific and site-specific factors are possibly involved in the specific effect of PUFA on gene expression, although other mechanisms cannot be excluded.
Robotic urological surgery
Authors: Dasgupta Prokar , Henderson Alastair
Published: November 2009

Robotic technology has been used in urological surgery since the late 1980's with the invention of robotic endoscopic prostate surgery. The major technological landmark has been the widespread introduction of the da Vinci master-slave manipulator which is now used in up to 60% of radical prostatectomy operations in the USA. These machines offer a number of tools to facilitate laparoscopic surgery though they require both a human console operator and a surgical team to connect the device to laparoscopic ports in the patient's abdomen. We outline the improved outcomes and future development of prostatectomy, cystectomy and pyeloplasty associated with robotic technology.
The Accommodation and Regulation of Islam and Muslim Practices in English Law
Authors: Khaliq Urfan
Published: November 2009

Although it is indisputable that Muslims have been in Britain for centuries now, it is the events of the recent past that has increasingly focussed attention on the presence of what is now one of Britain's largest minorities. Like numerous other religious minorities in the United Kingdom, Muslims have established themselves and largely conduct their religious and cultural practices within the confines of English law. The aim of this article is to investigate how English law deals with Islam and the regulation, recognition and accommodation, if any, of certain Muslim practices, such as religious divorces and marriages and the establishment of places of worship. The article does not aim to be comprehensive in its coverage of all the issues raised by the Muslim population in the United Kingdom, especially the criminalisation of certain political activities which some Muslims consider to be religious obligations, but simply attempts to analyse how in some respects British Muslims regulate their activities and how a parallel but non-recognised legal system is now in operation and the extent to which English law makes provision for British Muslims and their practices, beliefs and needs.
Editorial Introduction Romanisation in Comparative Perspective
Authors: AYTÜRK İLKER
Published: November 2009

Romanisation has not been studied from a comparative perspective so far, although there are a number of case studies that focus on particular speech communities. In order to fill this gap in the literature, the articles in this special issue were first presented at a workshop, entitled “Romanisation in Comparative Perspective: Explaining Success and Failure”, held at Bilkent University, Ankara, 5–6 September 2007. The workshop addressed this theme with the specific aim of explaining why romanisation has been implemented successfully in certain cases and why it has failed in others. Hailing from diverse disciplines, workshop participants brought together a variety of methodological approaches, which represented a challenge and an opportunity at the same time. Each participant reassessed the story of a success or failure within the socio-political and historical context of a particular country or region.
Alphabet Reform in the Six Independent ex-Soviet Muslim Republics
Authors: LANDAU JACOB M.
Published: November 2009

Like other elements of culture, alphabets have both practical and ethnopolitical integrating or differentiating significance. Hence, any alphabet change has serious political implications. This article will briefly consider the process of romanisation undertaken in the six newly independent Muslim states that were part of the Soviet Union (Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan); and then evaluate its success or failure and attempt to explain the causes for these phenomena.
Postscript from the JRAS Editor
Authors: Ansari Sarah
Published: November 2009

This special issue of the Journal has been given over to papers presented in September 2007 at Bilkent University, Ankara, during a workshop entitled ‘Romanisation in Comparative Perspective: explaining success and failure’. These contributions explore in a number of different historical and geographical contexts – Turkey, the ex-Soviet Central Asian states, South Asia and Japan – the factors that have influenced attempts at implementing script change and what explains the relative success or failure of these ventures. As İlker Aytürk points out in his editorial introduction, little work has yet been done on the comparative aspects of these processes of (attempted) romanisation. But, as he argues, the significance of the topic calls out for a framework to enable precisely this kind of analysis to take place, and so he provides one at the end of his own article, something, it is hoped, that will stimulate further discussion in other forums.
Effect of parental overweight and serum leptin levels on the manifestation of overweight in 7-year-old Korean children
Authors: Kim In K , Lee Hye-Ja , Kang Jae H , Song Jihyun
Published: November 2009

Objective

To explore the relationship between children and their parents in terms of various anthropometric parameters and obesity-related hormone levels and to identify early indicators for child obesity.

Design

Cross-sectional observational study.

Setting

Urban areas of Korea in 2005.

Subjects

A total 124 families with 7-year-old children participated. Anthropometric and blood biochemistry data and information concerning the children’s lifestyles, dietary habits and parental and grandparental weight status were obtained.

Results

The mean values for all anthropometric parameters were greater in overweight children than in children of normal weight. Very close relationships existed between the anthropometric parameters of children and their parents. Children with two overweight parents showed the highest odds for being overweight (OR 7·62). The strong relationship between overweight children and grandparental and parental overweight, especially on the maternal side, suggests gender differences in the intergenerational transmission of body weight. We also noted a greater risk of being overweight in children with a parent with high serum leptin level.

Conclusions

Grandparental and parental weight status and parental serum leptin levels enable us to identify childhood obesity at an early age and may help to counter the current epidemic of adult obesity.
Trends in Americans’ food-related time use: 1975–2006
Authors: Zick Cathleen D , Stevens Robert B
Published: November 2009

Objective

To describe how the time spent in food-related activities by Americans has changed over the past 30 years.

Design

Data from four national time diary surveys, spanning 1975–2006, are used to construct estimates of trends in American adults’ time spent in food-related activities. Multivariate Tobits assess how food-related activities have changed over time controlling for sociodemographic and economic covariates.

Results

Both bivariate and multivariate estimates reveal that between 1975 and 2006, American women’s time spent in food preparation declined substantially, whereas the time spent in these activities by American men changed very little. On the contrary, grocery shopping time increased modestly for both men and women. The primary eating time (i.e. time when eating/drinking was the respondent’s main focus) declined for both men and women over this historical period, and the composition of this time changed with less primary eating time being done alone. Concurrently, secondary eating time (i.e. time when something else had the respondent’s primary attention, but eating/drinking simultaneously occurred) rose precipitously for both women and men between 1975 and 1998.

Conclusions

The total time spent in eating (i.e. primary plus secondary eating time) has increased over the past 30 years, and the composition of this time has shifted from situations in which energy intake can be easily monitored to those in which energy intake may be more difficult to gauge. Less time is also being spent in food preparation and clean-up activities. Future research should explore possible links between these trends and Americans’ growing obesity risk.
The Cyborg Astrobiologist: testing a novelty detection algorithm on two mobile exploration systems at Rivas Vaciamadrid in Spain and at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah
Authors: McGuire P.C. , Gross C. , Wendt L. , Bonnici A. , Souza-Egipsy V. , Ormö J. , Díaz-Martínez E. , Foing B.H. , Bose R. , Walter S. , Oesker M. , Ontrup J. , Haschke R. , Ritter H.
Published: November 2009

In previous work, a platform was developed for testing computer-vision algorithms for robotic planetary exploration. This platform consisted of a digital video camera connected to a wearable computer for real-time processing of images at geological and astrobiological field sites. The real-time processing included image segmentation and the generation of interest points based upon uncommonness in the segmentation maps. Also in previous work, this platform for testing computer-vision algorithms has been ported to a more ergonomic alternative platform, consisting of a phone camera connected via the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network to a remote-server computer. The wearable-computer platform has been tested at geological and astrobiological field sites in Spain (Rivas Vaciamadrid and Riba de Santiuste), and the phone camera has been tested at a geological field site in Malta. In this work, we (i) apply a Hopfield neural-network algorithm for novelty detection based upon colour, (ii) integrate a field-capable digital microscope on the wearable computer platform, (iii) test this novelty detection with the digital microscope at Rivas Vaciamadrid, (iv) develop a Bluetooth communication mode for the phone-camera platform, in order to allow access to a mobile processing computer at the field sites, and (v) test the novelty detection on the Bluetooth-enabled phone camera connected to a netbook computer at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah. This systems engineering and field testing have together allowed us to develop a real-time computer-vision system that is capable, for example, of identifying lichens as novel within a series of images acquired in semi-arid desert environments. We acquired sequences of images of geologic outcrops in Utah and Spain consisting of various rock types and colours to test this algorithm. The algorithm robustly recognized previously observed units by their colour, while requiring only a single image or a few images to learn colours as familiar, demonstrating its fast learning capability.
The economic cost of a poor start to life
Authors: Alderman Harold
Published: November 2009

A primary challenge for nutrition policy in low-income settings is to position nutrition as an investment rather than simply as a form of social spending that governments grant poor people to the degree that governments prioritize equity. Various economic models have produced estimates of the economic costs of malnutrition as a combination of the impact of malnutrition on mortality, on health care costs for the survivors, including those that manifest in adult years, and on the lost productivity attributable to malnutrition. However, these estimates often center on the costs of early mortality and are sensitive to assumptions on how to place a dollar cost on mortality. This study argues that even when focusing only on the productivity impact of malnutrition – clearly a lower bound of the full costs – the economic consequences of malnutrition are substantial. Stating this somewhat differently, the economic returns to preventing malnutrition are on a par with those investments generally considered at the heart of economic development strategies. Moreover, the body of evidence that has been accumulated to indicate these productivity gains is both substantial and robust.
Gesellschaftlicher Stellenwert und juristische Aspekte der Reproduktionsmedizin in Deutschland
Authors: Beyer Daniel A. , Amari Feriel , Diedrich Klaus , Griesinger Georg
Published: November 2009

Die Fortpflanzungsmedizin gewinnt, aufgrund zunehmender Nachfrage und grundlegender demographischer Veränderungen, in der westlichen Welt immer mehr an Bedeutung. Seit Einführung des Embryonenschutzgesetzes in Deutschland hat es bedeutende medizinische Weiterentwicklungen in der assistierten Reproduktion gegeben, die der Sicherheit von Mutter und Kind dienen, deren Anwendung aber mit der aktuellen Gesetzeslage in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland größtenteils nicht vereinbar ist. Die Vorbeugung gesundheitlicher Risiken von Mutter und Kind kann insbesondere durch Vermeidung von Mehrlingsschwangerschaft Rechnung getragen werden. Die aktuelle Regelung der Fortpflanzungsmedizin ist auf mehrere Gesetze verteilt, welches die klinische Praxis unübersichtlich und schwierig gestaltet. Eine mögliche Lösung stellt die Zusammenführung der einzelnen Gesetze, bei Berücksichtigung des derzeitigen Wissensstands, in ein Fortpflanzungsmedizingesetz dar.
Neue Strategien zur Fertilitätserhaltung bei jungen Frauen mit malignen Erkrankungen
Authors: Moffat Rebecca , De Geyter Christian , von Wolff Michael
Published: November 2009

Die Fortschritte in der Therapie onkologischer Erkrankungen haben dazu geführt, dass viele junge Patientinnen heute mit guten Überlebenschancen ihrer Erkrankung rechnen können. Für Betroffene und deren Angehörige ist die Erhaltung der Fertilität überaus wichtig. Bewährte reproduktionsmedizinische Technologien wie die Kryokonservierung befruchteter Eizellen nach in vitro Fertilisation ermöglichen dies bereits für gewisse Patientinnen. Diese Arbeit widmet sich den neuen Methoden, die an der Schwelle des breiten, klinischen Einsatzes zur Erhaltung der Fertilität von Frauen und Mädchen mit Tumorerkrankungen stehen, nämlich der Kryokonservierung und Autotransplantation von Ovarialgewebe sowie der Gewinnung von unreifen Eizellen oder Follikeln und deren in vitro Maturation (IVM) zur reifen Eizelle.Die bisherigen Resultate sind überzeugend. Allerdings müssen einige Hindernisse noch überwunden werden, bevor sich die hier vorgestellten, zum Teil noch experimentellen Methoden etablieren können.
Embryonale Stammzellen – ein wissenschaftliches Nebenprodukt der assistierten Reproduktionsmedizin?
Authors: Sterthaus Oliver , Zhang Hong , De Geyter Christian
Published: November 2009

Embryonale Stammzellen (ES) haben durch ihr größeres Differenzierungspotenzial einige Vorteile gegenüber adulten Stammzellen, die zumeist nur in bestimmte Gewebetypen differenziert werden können. Die Medizin erhofft sich vielfältige Behandlungsmöglichkeiten mit ES-Zellen bei Patienten, besonders bei der Regeneration von erkrankten Gewebstypen. Die Durchführbarkeit dieser Idee wurde bereits im Tierversuch demonstriert, jedoch im humanen System müssen noch viele Hürden bis zur klinischen Applikationen überwunden werden, wie die Züchtung der Zellen, deren Sicherheit sowie deren Immuntoleranz nach erfolgter Transplantation. In der Schweiz dürfen seit 2005 humane embryonale Stammzellen (hESC) aus überzähligen Embryonen nach assistierter Reproduktion gewonnen werden. Im 2008 wurde am Universitätsspital Basel das hESC-Projekt lanciert und im gleichen Jahr konnte bereits die erste hESC-Linie mit einem normalen Karyotyp in der Schweiz etabliert werden. Seit neustem eröffnen diverse Techniken die Möglichkeit, immuntolerante Stammzellen patientenspezifisch zu etablieren, wobei abzusehen ist, dass das therapeutische Klonen von der induzierten Pluripotenz abgelöst wird. Nichtdestotrotz bleibt die hESC-Technologie noch das Standardverfahren, mit dem neue Verfahren und Zelllinien verglichen werden müssen.
A search in strainmeter data for slow slip associated with triggered and ambient tremor near Parkfield, California
Authors: Smith Emily F. , Gomberg Joan
Published: November 2009

We test the hypothesis that, as in subduction zones, slow slip facilitates triggered and ambient tremor in the transform boundary setting of California. Our study builds on the study of Peng et al. (2009) of triggered and ambient tremor near Parkfield, California during time intervals surrounding 31, potentially triggering,M≥ 7.5 teleseismic earthquakes; waves from 10 of these triggered tremor and 29 occurred in periods of ambient tremor activity. We look for transient slow slip during 3‐month windows that include 11 of these triggering and nontriggering teleseisms, using continuous strain data recorded on two borehole Gladwin tensor strainmeters (GTSM) located within the distribution of tremor epicenters. We model the GTSM data assuming only tidal and “drift” signals are present and find no detectable slow slip, either ongoing when the teleseismic waves passed or triggered by them. We infer a conservative detection threshold of about 5 nanostrain for abrupt changes and about twice this for slowly evolving signals. This could be lowered slightly by adding analyses of other data types, modeled slow slip signals, and GTSM data calibration. Detection of slow slip also depends on the slipping fault's location and size, which we describe in terms of equivalent earthquake moment magnitude,M. In the best case of the GTSM above a very shallow slipping fault, detectable slip events must exceedM∼2, and if the slow slip is beneath the seismogenic zone (below ∼15 km depth), evenM∼5 events are likely to remain hidden.