bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Overexpression of LSH1, a member of an uncharacterised gene family, causes enhanced light regulation of seedling development
Authors: Zhao Li , Nakazawa Miki , Takase Tomoyuki , Manabe Katsushi , Kobayashi Masatomo , Seki Motoaki , Shinozaki Kazuo , Matsui Minami
Published: February 2004

Light regulates plant growth and development through a network of endogenous factors. By screening Arabidopsis activation‐tagged lines, we isolated a dominant mutant (light‐dependent short hypocotyls 1‐D (lsh1‐D)) that showed hypersensitive responses to continuous red (cR), far‐red (cFR) and blue (cB) light and cloned the corresponding gene, LSH1. LSH1 encodes a nuclear protein of a novel gene family that has homologues in Arabidopsis and rice. The effects of the lsh1‐D mutation were tested in a series of photoreceptor mutant backgrounds. The hypersensitivity to cFR and cB light conferred by lsh1‐D was abolished in a phyA null background (phyA‐201), and the hypersensitivity to cR and cFR light conferred by lsh1‐D was much reduced in the phytochrome‐chromophore synthetic mutant, hy1‐1 (long hypocotyl 1). These results indicate that LSH1 is functionally dependent on phytochrome to mediate light regulation of seedling development.
ArabidopsisµA‐adaptin interacts with the tyrosine motif of the vacuolar sorting receptor VSR‐PS1
Authors: Happel Nicole , Höning Stefan , Neuhaus Jean‐Marc , Paris Nadine , Robinson David G. , Holstein Susanne E. H.
Published: February 2004

In receptor‐mediated transport pathways in mammalian cells, clathrin‐coated vesicle (CCV) µ‐adaptins are the main binding partners for the tyrosine sorting/internalization motif (YXXØ). We have analyzed the function of the µA‐adaptin, one of the five µ‐adaptins from Arabidopsis thaliana, by pull‐down assays and plasmon resonance measurements using its receptor‐binding domain (RBD) fused to a histidine tag. We show that this adaptin is able to bind the consensus tyrosine motif YXXØ from the pea vacuolar sorting receptor (VSR)‐PS1, as well as from the mammalian trans‐Golgi network (TGN)38 protein. Moreover, the tyrosine residue was revealed to be crucial for binding of the complete cytoplasmic tail of VSR‐PS1 to the plant µA‐adaptin. The trans‐Golgi localization of the µA‐adaptin strongly suggests its involvement in Golgi‐ to vacuole‐trafficking events.
dwarf and delayed‐flowering 1, a novel Arabidopsis mutant deficient in gibberellin biosynthesis because of overexpression of a putative AP2 transcription factor
Authors: Magome Hiroshi , Yamaguchi Shinjiro , Hanada Atsushi , Kamiya Yuji , Oda Kenji
Published: February 2004

A novel gibberellin (GA)‐deficient mutant designated dwarf and delayed‐flowering 1 (ddf1) was isolated from a library of activation‐tagged Arabidopsis. This mutant showed dwarfism and late‐flowering, but the phenotype was rescued by exogenous GA3 like known mutants defective in GA biosynthesis. The contents of bioactive GA4 and GA1 were in fact decreased in ddf1 at least partially through the repression of biosynthetic steps catalyzed by GA 20‐oxidase (GA20ox). Genetic and molecular analyses revealed that the ddf1 phenotypes are caused by increased or ectopic expression of a putative AP2 transcription factor. Overexpression of DDF2, encoding another putative AP2 transcription factor closely related to DDF1, also conferred the ddf1‐like phenotype. Among genes encoding (putative) AP2 transcription factors in Arabidopsis, DDFs are phylogenetically close to dehydration‐responsive element binding protein (DREB1)/C‐repeat binding factor (CBF) genes, which are known to be involved in stress responses. The ddf1 mutation upregulates a stress‐related gene RD29A. DDF1 mRNA is strongly induced by high‐salinity stress within 1 h. Moreover, transgenic plants overexpressing DDF1 showed increased tolerance to high‐salinity stress. These results suggest that DDF1 is involved in the regulation of GA biosynthesis and stress tolerance. The possible relation between the contents of endogenous GAs and acquisition of stress protection is discussed.
Arabidopsis mutants in the C–S lyase of glucosinolate biosynthesis establish a critical role for indole‐3‐acetaldoxime in auxin homeostasis
Authors: Mikkelsen Michael Dalgaard , Naur Peter , Halkier Barbara Ann
Published: February 2004

We report characterization of SUPERROOT1 (SUR1) as the C–S lyase in glucosinolate biosynthesis. This is evidenced by selective metabolite profiling of sur1, which is completely devoid of aliphatic and indole glucosinolates. Furthermore, following in vivo feeding with radiolabeled p‐hydroxyphenylacetaldoxime to the sur1 mutant, the corresponding C–S lyase substrate accumulated. C–S lyase activity of recombinant SUR1 heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli was demonstrated using the C–S lyase substrate djenkolic acid. The abolishment of glucosinolates in sur1 indicates that the SUR1 function is not redundant and thus SUR1 constitutes a single gene family. This suggests that the ‘high‐auxin’ phenotype of sur1 is caused by accumulation of endogenous C–S lyase substrates as well as aldoximes, including indole‐3‐acetaldoxime (IAOx) that is channeled into the main auxin indole‐3‐acetic acid (IAA). Thereby, the cause of the ‘high‐auxin’ phenotype of sur1 mutant resembles that of two other ‘high‐auxin’ mutants, superroot2 (sur2) and yucca1. Our findings provide important insight to the critical role IAOx plays in auxin homeostasis as a key branching point between primary and secondary metabolism, and define a framework for further dissection of auxin biosynthesis.
Intermediaries in Entrepôt Trade: Hong Kong Re‐Exports of Chinese Goods
Authors: Feenstra Robert C. , Hanson Gordon H.
Published: February 2004

In this paper, we examine Hong Kong's role in intermediating trade between China and the rest of the world. Hong Kong traders distribute a large fraction of China's exports. Net of customs, insurance, and freight charges, re‐exports of Chinese goods are much more expensive when they leave Hong Kong than when they enter. Hong Kong markups on re‐exports of Chinese goods are higher for differentiated products, products with higher variance in export prices, and products sent to China for further processing. These results are consistent with the view that traders resolve informational problems in exchange. Additional results suggest that traders price discriminate across destination markets and use transfer pricing to shift income from high‐tax countries to Hong Kong.
International Franchising Practices in Mexico: Do Franchisors Customize Their Contracts?
Authors: Lafontaine Francine , Oxley Joanne E.
Published: February 2004

The contracting practices of franchisors outside their domestic market have received little attention in the empirical literature on franchising to date, largely because of lack of data. We exploit a novel data set that allows us to describe the contracts offered by a number of US and Canadian franchisors operating in Mexico and also compare them to contracts employed at home. Our analyses reveal a series of stylized facts that we hope will prove useful in guiding future empirical and theoretical research on contracting and especially on cross‐border contracting practices. These are as follows: (1) The overwhelming majority of franchisors seeking franchisees in Mexico offer exactly the same contract to potential Mexican franchisees as that employed in the home market; (2) Among those franchisors that already have established outlets in Mexico, nearly half use the exact same fees in Mexico and at home; (3) The majority of those franchisors that make changes only alter the fixed fee component of the contract; (4) There is no evidence that franchisors use franchising more or less in Mexico compared to home as an alternative to royalty rate customization—in fact, the extent of franchising (versus company‐owned units) of these firms in Mexico is not different systematically from that observed in their domestic market or worldwide; and (5) There is no evidence of increased customization over time—if anything, the evidence suggests increased similarities in contracting practices over time.
Directed Credit? The Loan Market in High‐Growth Japan
Authors: Miwa Yoshiro , Ramseyer J. Mark
Published: February 2004

Observers routinely claim that the Japanese government of the high‐growth 1960s and 1970s rationed and ultimately directed credit. It barred domestic competitors to banks, insulated the domestic capital market from international competitive pressure, and capped loan interest rates. In the resulting credit shortage, it promoted industrial policy by rationing credit.

As much as the government purported to ration and to direct credit, it apparently accomplished nothing of the sort. It did not block domestic rivals to banks successfully, did not insulate the market from international forces, and did not set maximum interest rates that bound. Using evidence on loans to all 1,000‐odd firms listed on Section 1 of the Tokyo Stock Exchange from 1968 to 1982, we find that observed interest rates reflected borrower risk and mortgageable assets and that banks did not use low‐interest deposits to circumvent any interest caps. Instead, the loan market seems to have cleared at the nominal rates.

We follow our empirical inquiry with a case study of the industry to which the government tried hardest to direct credit: ocean shipping. We find no evidence of credit rationing. Despite the government programs to allocate capital, nonconformist firms funded their projects readily outside authorized avenues. Indeed, they funded them so readily that the nonconformists grew with spectacular speed and earned their investors enormous returns.
Restoration of living environment based on vegetation ecology: Theory and practice
Authors: MIYAWAKI Akira
Published: February 2004

The foundation of ecological restoration is how to preserve biocoenoses (i.e. functional ecosystems) and how to restore and reconstruct them where they were destroyed. One of the most important challenges is the restoration of complex, multilayer forests representing the potential natural vegetation. Native forests have functions in disaster mitigation and environmental protection, as well as providing the basis of existence for local people and maintaining gene pools for the future. Through vegetation surveys in Japan and South‐east Asia, we have established basic principles in vegetation‐ecological restoration of forests. We have been restoring expected disaster‐mitigation and environmental protection forests, as experimental reforestation projects, since the 1970s at more than 750 sites throughout the 3000 km long Japanese Archipelago, and since the 1980s in parts of South‐east Asia, China and South America. The restoration movement has spread from a local activity to a global movement. We aim for the sustainable development of human society through ecological restoration of living environments.
Below‐ground biomass in healthy and impaired salt marshes
Authors: TURNER R. Eugene , SWENSON Erick M. , MILAN Charles S. , LEE James M. , OSWALD Thomas A.
Published: February 2004

Twelve salt marshes in south Louisiana (USA) were classified as either ‘impaired’ or ‘healthy’ before a summer sample collection of above‐ and below‐ground biomass and determination of sediment accretion rates. The above‐ground biomass of plant tissues was the same at both impaired and healthy salt marshes and was not a good predictor of marsh health. However, below‐ground root biomass in the upper 30 cm was much lower in the impaired marshes compared to the healthy marshes. Compromises to root production apparently occur before there is an obvious consequence to the above‐ground biomass, which may quickly collapse before remedial action can be taken. The subsequent change in vertical position of the marsh surface may be equivalent to many years of accretion, and be irreversible within decades without considerable effort. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that it is the plant's below‐ground accumulation of organic matter, not inorganic matter that governs the maintenance of salt marsh ecosystem in the vertical plane. Reversing the precursor conditions leading to marsh stress before the collapse of the above‐ground biomass occurs is therefore a prudent management objective and could be easier than restoration.
Modeling urban landscape dynamics: A review
Authors: BERLING‐WOLFF Sheryl , WU Jianguo
Published: February 2004

Reviewed here is the historical development of urban growth models, showing how different disciplines and diverse theories have come together over time to produce the models used today. This review is divided into two sections, the first section reviews the early models that are rooted in transportation and land‐use planning and form the foundation on which nearly all modeling efforts are based. These models are already well documented in the literature and an overview here is sufficient. In the second section, an exploration is made into the theories and approaches that have been integrated into urban modeling efforts. The concepts are outlined and one or more contemporary examples are highlighted. These theories and approaches represent the major areas of development that exist in published work.
Soil quality regime in relation to land cover and slope position across a highly modified slope landscape
Authors: FU Bo‐Jie , LIU Shi‐Liang , CHEN Li‐Ding , LÜ Yi‐He , QIU Jun
Published: February 2004

Vegetation and land‐use mosaics of shrub land, grassland, farmland and reforested land are characteristic for residential areas of the Wolong nature reserve in Sichuan province, southwest China. The patterns represent a stage in long‐term human disturbance and natural secondary succession since deforestation. The aim of this paper was to elucidate the soil‐land cover types, soil‐slope position relationships on a typical disturbed slope in the humid mountainous region. Soils were taken from four typical land cover types (shrub land, grassland, farmland and reforested land) under four slope positions (upper slope, middle slope, lower slope, foot slope) to study the distribution of soil nutrients and moisture on the transect scales of the slope. To elucidate the influence of land‐use and slope position on soil quality, two integrated quantitative indexes were developed to compare soil quality under different land‐use types (QI) and under different slope positions (PI). The results showed shrub land had the highest QI value, while the QI of reforested land and farmland had lower values. Foot slopes and upper slopes had higher soil quality levels compared to middle slopes and lower slopes. The results indicated that on the slope scale shrub land had high soil quality levels. The results also suggested that in the area of China where the climate favors secondary succession, ‘leave nature as it is’ is a better choice than the policy ‘change farmland to forest land’.
Construction of a recombinant adenovirus carrying endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene and its expression and control in esophageal smooth muscle cells
Authors: Ning Shou Bin , Zhang Zhong Bing , Xie Wei Fen , Xin Shuan Li
Published: February 2004

OBJECTIVE:  Nitric oxide (NO) is a major inhibitory neurotransmitter, and its deficiency plays an important role in the pathogenesis of motility disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. The present study was designed to generate a recombinant adenovirus containing the tetracycline (Tet)‐regulated endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) gene and to detect the controllable expression of the gene in esophageal smooth muscle cells (ESMC).

METHODS:  The construction of the recombinant adenovirus was completed in three steps: (1) a Tet‐responsible expression cassette was made by cloning the full‐length cDNA encoding eNOS into a pTRE‐Shuttle Vector, which can be regulated by tetracycline or its analogs, such as doxycycline (Dox); (2) the expression cassette was transferred to Adeno‐X viral DNA to form a recombinant adenoviral plasmid (pAd‐eNOS) by means of an in vitro ligation reaction; and (3) the Ad‐eNOS was packaged into infectious adenoviral particles (Adeno‐X–TRE‐eNOS) by transfecting human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells. Cultured ESMC were coinfected by Adeno‐X–TRE‐eNOS and regulation virus (Adeno‐X Tet‐off virus), and the Dox‐regulated eNOS expression was detected by RT‐PCR and western blot.

RESULTS:  The recombinant adenovirus (Adeno‐X–TRE‐eNOS) was generated successfully by an in vitro ligation reaction. The expression of the eNOS gene in the coinfected ESMC was confirmed by RT‐PCR and western blot. Furthermore, the transcription could be precisely regulated in a dose‐dependent manner in a series of concentrations of Dox, and it was completely turned off when the concentration reached 0.01 µg/mL.

CONCLUSIONS:  A Tet‐ (or Dox‐) regulated recombinant adenovirus carrying eNOS was successfully generated and controllable expression of eNOS in ESMC was achieved, which provides some material for conducting further gene therapy studies with eNOS.
Changes in endothelin‐1 gene expression in the gastric mucosa of rats under cold‐restraint‐stress
Authors: Duan Yi Min , Li Zhao Shen , Zhan Xian Bao , Xu Guo Ming , Tu Zhen Xing , Fang Gong Yan
Published: February 2004

OBJECTIVE:  To investigate in rats the role of endothelin (ET)‐1 gene expression in the development and progression of acute gastric mucosal lesions (AGML) induced by stress, and the effect of BQ‐123 (a special ETA receptor antagonist) on the AGML.

METHODS:  A rat model of gastric ulcer induced by cold‐restraint‐stress (CRS) was used. ET‐1 concentrations in the plasma and gastric mucosa were determined by radioimmunoassay (RIA), gastric mucosa blood flow (GMBF) was measured with a laser Doppler flow meter, the ulcer index (UI) was used to estimate the degree of gastric mucosa damage and the expression levels of ET‐1 mRNA in the gastric mucosa were measured using dot blot and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR). Different doses of BQ‐123 were administered via the left femoral vein prior to the stress in order to observe the effects of BQ‐123 on the ET‐1 concentrations in the plasma and gastric mucosa, the GMBF and the UI.

RESULTS:  Compared with the normal controls, the ET‐1 concentrations in the plasma and gastric mucosa of the stressed rats were increased significantly (P < 0.05), the GMBF was decreased markedly (P < 0.01), and the UI increased dramatically (P < 0.01). There was a significant positive correlation between the gastric mucosal ET‐1 concentration and the UI (r = 0.98, P < 0.01), and a significant negative correlation between the gastric mucosal ET‐1 concentration and GMBF (r = −0.89, P < 0.01) and also between the UI and GMBF (r = −0.98, P < 0.01). The expression level of ET‐1 mRNA in the gastric mucosa of the stressed rats increased significantly compared with that of the normal controls (P < 0.01), and there was a positive correlation between the expression of ET‐1 mRNA and the ET‐1 concentration in the gastric mucosa (r = 0.93, P < 0.01). Compared with the untreated animals, the GMBF was increased (P < 0.01) and the UI decreased significantly (P < 0.01) in the BQ‐123‐treated rats, and the dose of BQ‐123 correlated with the degree of change in the GMBF and UI; however, the ET‐1 concentrations of either the plasma or the gastric mucosa did not change markedly in the BQ‐123‐treated animals (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSION:  The present study showed that the level of expression of ET‐1 mRNA and the synthesis of ET‐1 in the gastric mucosa both increased significantly, which suggests that the increased concentration of endogenous ET‐1 may be involved in the development and progression of stress ulcer (acute gastric mucosa lesion). The mechanism of action may be associated with a reduction of GMBF induced by ETAR‐mediated vasoconstriction. BQ‐123 can dose‐dependently attenuate significantly the degree of damage to the gastric mucosa induced by stress, and may have therapeutic benefits for stress ulcer.
Changes in somatostatin receptor expression of the pancreas and effectiveness of octreotide in rats with acute necrotizng pancreatitis
Authors: Wu Jian Xin , Yuan Yao Zong , Xu Jia Yu , Xia Zong Qin , Qin Lan Feng , Zheng Zheng Lin , Li Ding Guo , Lu Han Ming
Published: February 2004

OBJECTIVE:  To investigate changes in the expression of the somatostatin receptor (SSTR) of the pancreas and of pancreatic blood flow, and its relationship to the metabolism of eicosanoids in order to elucidate the effectiveness of octreotide, an analog of somatostatin, in acute necrotizing pancreatitis (ANP).

METHODS:  A model of ANP was induced in rats with injection of sodium taurocholate via the pancreaticobiliary duct. The SSTR was detected using a radioligand binding assay (RBA) with 125I‐somatostatin‐14, and the SSTR2 mRNA of the pancreas was analyzed using in situ hybridization. Pancreatic blood flow and the metabolites of eicosanoids were also determined.

RESULTS:  The SSTR of the pancreas was 109.70 ± 58.32 fmol/mg protein in normal rats. A significant decrease in the SSTR, together with the signals of SSTR2 mRNA, was shown at 3, 6 and 12 h after onset of ANP. Pancreatic blood flow was reduced and thromboxin‐2 was increased significantly in the course of ANP. In the ANP group treated with octreotide, both the decrease in pancreatic blood flow and the abnormal metabolism of eicosanoids were corrected, and the pathological damage was relieved.

CONCLUSION:  SSTR expression of the pancreas is significantly reduced in ANP. Correction of the abnormal metabolism of eicosanoids and improvement in pancreatic microcirculation may be the major mechanism of somatostatin analogs in the treatment of ANP and inhibition of pancreatic enzymes via their receptors plays a minor role.
Audit of consultant physicians’ reply letters for referrals to clinics in a tertiary teaching hospital
Authors: Scott I. A. , Mitchell C. A. , Logan E.
Published: February 2004

Abstract

Background: Doctors referring patients to consultant physicians seek reply letters which both educate and assist in ongoing patient management. Highly desirable attributes in specialist letters include clearly stated and justified: (i) diagnostic formulations, (ii) management regimens, (iii) use of clinical investigations, (iv) prog‐nostic statements, (v) contingency plans and (vi) follow‐up arrangements.

Aim:  To explicitly evaluate the quality of reply letters for new patients referred to clinics at a tertiary teaching hospital.

Methods:  Letters were sampled from outpatient clinics of 10 different medical specialties at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, Australia. Reply letters for new patient referrals between 1 August 2000 and 31 October 2000 were retrieved, from which data were abstracted to calculate the proportion of letters satisfying prespecified quality attributes.

Results:  Of 297 new patient referrals, reply letters were retrieved for 204 (69%). Of these, 147 (72%) referrals were accompanied by a referral letter, mostly (113/147; 77%) from general practitioners. For 120 referrals involving diagnostic issues, 69 (56%) letters stated a diagnostic formulation. Of 114 letters recommending further clinical investigations, 61 (53%) described a rationale for such testing. In 125 cases where therapy was a key issue, 83 (66%) letters recommended changes to current treatment for which reasons were specified in 46 (55%) cases, and contingency plans provided in 13 (16%). Prognosis was mentioned in only 18 (9%) cases. Follow‐up arrangements were detailed in 123 (60%) letters. Assessments of patient understanding and likely adherence to therapy were stated in less than 15% of ­letters.

Conclusions: Opportunities exist for improving quality of consultant physicians’ reply letters in terms of greater use of problem lists, contingency plans, prognostic statements and patient‐centred assessments, as well as more frequent enunciation of consultants’ reasoning behind requests for further tests and changes to current management. Use of structured letter templates may facilitate more consistent inclusion of key information to referring doctors. (Intern Med J 2004; 34: 31−37)
Renal impairment and anaemia in a population‐based study of older people
Authors: Cumming R. G. , Mitchell P. , Craig J. C. , Knight J. F.
Published: February 2004

Abstract

Background: Established renal failure is a known cause of anaemia. However, the association between more modest levels of renal impairment and anaemia is unclear.

Aims: The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between mild renal impairment and anaemia in the general population.

Methods: A population‐based, cross‐sectional study was conducted in the general community in an urban area of the Blue Mountains, just west of Sydney, Australia. The study included 3222 people aged ≥49 years (mean age 65 years). Serum creatinine and haemoglobin were measured using standard laboratory techniques. Creatinine clearance was estimated from serum creatinine, body weight, sex and age.

Results:  Two hundred and seventy subjects (8.4%) had serum creatinine levels ≥125 µmol/L and estimated ­creatinine clearances were <0.84 mL/s (50 mL/min) in 894 subjects (27.7%) and <0.50 mL/s (30 mL/min) in 120 subjects (3.7%). There was a strong association between reduced renal function and anaemia. Compared to those with serum creatinine <125 µmol/L, the age‐adjusted relative risk (RR) of anaemia in women (haemoglobin <12.0 g/dL) with serum creatinine ≥125 µmol/L was 5.5 (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.9−10.7) and the RR of anaemia in men (haemoglobin < 13.0 g/dL) was 3.1 (95% CI 1.6−6.0). Estimated ­creatinine clearance <50 mL/min was associated with a three‐fold increased risk of anaemia in women and a five‐fold increased risk in men.

Conclusions: The results of the present study suggest that even modestly impaired renal function is associated with anaemia in older men and women. The possibility of renal impairment should be considered in the diagnosis and management of anaemia in people aged>50 years. (Intern Med J 2004; 34: 20−23)
Low prevalence of autoimmune diabetes markers in a mixed ethnic population of Singaporean diabetics
Authors: Todd A. L. , Ng W. Y. , Lui K. F. , Thai A. C.
Published: February 2004

Abstract

Background:  Circulating antibodies to glutamic acid decarboxylase (GADab) and tyrosine phosphatase‐like molecule IA‐2 (IA‐2ab) are major indicators for auto­immune destruction of pancreatic islet cells. They identify a majority of Caucasians with type 1 diabetes and approximately 50% of Asians, providing evidence of an idiopathic aetiology in the latter. The present study investigated these autoantibodies in a mixed ethnic group.

Methods:  Hospital clinic patients with clinically defined type 1 (n = 93) and type 2 (n = 300) diabetes and representing Singapore's major ethnic groups − Chinese, Indians and Malays − were studied. GADab and IA‐2ab frequencies, and association of autoimmunity status with clinical and biochemical profiles were analysed.

Results:  Radio‐immunoprecipitation assays detected either or both antibodies (seropositivity) in 41.9% of subjects with type 1 diabetes. GADab was detected in 36.6% and IA‐2ab in 23.7% of type 1 diabetics. Prevalence of IA‐2ab showed a reduction in frequency with disease duration (P = 0.026). In clinical type 2 diabetics, seropositivity was 10.0% with higher frequency in Malays (17.5%) than Chinese (9.7%) and Indians (4.5%). Multivariate analysis revealed that low fasting C‐peptide was associated with seropositivity (odds ratio (OR) = 0.15; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.04−0.58). A significant relationship (OR = 13.5; 95% CI = 5.0−36.7) between insulin requirement and duration (>5 years) was also revealed. In patients with type 2 diabetes there was a trend of gradual progression to insulin dependency. However, there was considerable variation in body mass index between ethnic subgroups of type 2 diabetics, particularly for Chinese (mean (SD) = 26.0 (4.7)) and Malays (mean (SD) = 29.2 (5.9); P < 0.001).

Conclusions:  Presence of both antibodies in our mixed ethnic group of type 1 diabetes patients was much lower than in Caucasians. Significant numbers of patients were seronegative for antibodies. Influences due to ethnicity and adiposity would require further investigations. (Intern Med J 2004; 34: 24−30)
Ross River virus disease in Australia: epidemiology, socioecology and public health response
Authors: Tong S.
Published: February 2004

Abstract

Societal and ecosystem change have a potentially profound impact of on human health and well‐being. Alteration in the pattern of infectious diseases could be one of the most significant results of this process. Arboviral infections are a global public health issue with significant morbidity and mortality burden in the human population. Ross River virus (RRV) infection is the most common arboviral disease in Australia and some Pacific island nations. The present paper aims to illustrate the epidemiological and socioecological implications of RRV infection in Australia and to make recommen­dations for public health response to this disease. (Intern Med J 2004; 34: 58−60)
Diagnostic screening of mitochondrial DNA mutations in Australian adults 1990–2001
Authors: Marotta R. , Chin J. , Quigley A. , Katsabanis S. , Kapsa R. , Byrne E. , Collins S.
Published: February 2004

Abstract

Background: Many diverse pathogenic mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations have been described since 1988. The Melbourne Neuromuscular Research Institute (MNRI) has undertaken diagnostic detection of selected mtDNA mutations since 1990. MtDNA mutations screened have included point mutations associated with Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON; G3460A, G11778A and T14484C), mitochondrial encephalopathy lactic acidosis and stroke‐like episodes (MELAS; A3243G), myoclonus epilepsy and ragged red fibres (MERRF; A8344G) and Leigh's syndrome/neuropathy ataxia retinitis pigmentosa (LS/NARP; T8993C/G). Samples have also been screened for deletions/ rearrangements associated with Kearns–Sayre syndrome (KSS) and chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia (CPEO).

Aims: To present an audit of the MNRI mtDNA diagnostic service between 1990 and 2001, encompassing 1725 referred patients.

Methods: The detection techniques carried out included polymerase chain reaction amplification of mtDNA combined with restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis for mtDNA point mutation detection, supplemented with selected sequence analysis and Southern blots for the detection of deletions/ rearrangements. Tissues tested included blood, hair and skeletal muscle.

Results: Of the 1184 patients screened for MELAS A3243G, 6.17% were positive for the mutation, whereas for MERRF A8344G, 2.21% carried the mutation and for LS/NARP T8993C/G, 0.32% carried the mutation. The outcomes for the LHON mutations were G11778A, 6.60%, T14484C, 5.76% and G3460A, 0.29%. Of the patients referred for KSS and CPEO, 17.72% had deletions/rearrangements.

Conclusions: Overall, the detection rate of mtDNA point mutations was low. The protean clinical features of mitochondrial disorders and the frequency of partial phenotypes lead to requests for tests in many patients with a relatively low likelihood of mtDNA mutations. An improved algorithm could involve mutation screening appropriate to the phenotype using sequencing of selected mtDNA regions in patients with a high likelihood of mtDNA disease. Features increasing the likelihood of mtDNA mutations include the following: (i) a typical phenotype, (ii) a maternal inheritance pattern and (iii) histochemical evidence of mitochondrial abnormality in the muscle biopsy. Efficient laboratory diagnosis of mtDNA disease involves good communication between the physician and laboratory scientists, coupled with screening of the appropriate tissue. (Intern Med J 2004; 34: 10–19)
Geographic and Industrial Diversification of Developing Country Firms*
Authors: Nachum Lilach
Published: February 2004

ABSTRACT  This paper examines the impact of the industrial and geographical diversification activities of developing country firms on their performance, and draws attention to the unique attributes of these firms and of the circumstances under which their diversification activities take place. The empirical analysis is based on data from 345 developing country firms. The findings suggest significant and positive association between industrial and geographic diversification and performance, and considerable variation of these relationships across developing regions and diversification strategies.
A Capabilities Perspective on the Evolution of Firm Boundaries: A Comparative Case Example from the Portuguese Moulds Industry*
Authors: Mota Joao , Castro Luis M. de
Published: February 2004

ABSTRACT The issue of vertical firm boundaries continues to attract interest both for economics and management research. The transaction cost economics approach, emphasizing transaction‐specific assets and opportunism in order to explain discrete ‘make‐or‐buy’ decisions, dominates the literature. Nevertheless, alternative perspectives, developed under the guise of the capabilities, competence or knowledge‐based theories of the firm, have gained attention recently. They focus on the evolutionary dynamics of boundaries in the context of the division of labour among firms in an industry and on what is to be divided and co‐ordinated – i.e. productive knowledge. The conceptual links between this line of research, which some refer to as neo‐Marshallian, and the Industrial Networks approach are explored in this paper. The paper emphasizes both a vision of firms as sets of direct and indirect capabilities, developed and combined in different ways over time, and the connectedness between inter‐firm relationships. The discussion is illustrated with the cases of two firms, which are contrasted in terms of the dynamic evolution of their boundaries. The analysis made supports the argument that firms’ vertical boundaries reflect their relationships with specific counterparts and the way they address through time the division and integration of knowledge through the configuration of direct and indirect, counterpart specific, capabilities.
Intellectual Capital Profiles: An Examination of Investments and Returns*
Authors: Youndt Mark A. , Subramaniam Mohan , Snell Scott A.
Published: February 2004

ABSTRACT Using data collected from executives in 208 organizations, this study takes a configurational approach to examine how human, social, and organizational capital coexist to form distinct intellectual capital profiles across organizations. We then examine how investments in human resource management (HRM), information technology (IT), and research and development (R&D) differ across these intellectual capital profiles and investigate differences in financial returns and Tobin's q between the profiles. Results indicate that a relatively small group of superior performing organizations exhibit high levels of human, social, and organizational capital. Most firms, however, tend to focus primarily on only one form of intellectual capital, and a small group of underperforming organizations have very low levels of all three types of intellectual capital. At a general level, HRM and IT investments appear to influence intellectual capital development more than R&D investments. More specifically, HRM investments tend to be higher in firms with profiles high in human and social capital, while IT investments are stronger in firms with profiles high in social capital. Further, HRM, IT, and R&D investments are all very high in the group of superior performing organizations that have high levels of human, social, and organizational capital.
Titian in London: Retrospect on a Great Exhibition
Authors: Steer John
Published: February 2004

Book reviewed in this article:

David Jaffé (ed), Titian
Richard Cork: Advocate of New Art
Authors: Walker John A.
Published: February 2004

Books reviewed in this article:

Richard Cork, Everything Seemed Possible: Art in the 1970s

Richard Cork, New Spirit, New Sculpture, New Money: Art in the 1980s

Richard Cork, Breaking Down The Barriers: Art in the 1990s

Richard Cork, Annus Mirabilis? Art in the Year 2000
Leonardo at Large
Authors: Dodd Sara M.
Published: February 2004

Books reviewed in this article:

Carmen C. Bambach (ed.), Leonardo Da Vinci, Master Draftsman

Frank Zollner and Johannes Nathan, Leonardo Da Vinci 1452–1519: The Complete Paintings and Drawings
Galleries Revisited
Authors: Somerville Rosa
Published: February 2004

Book reviewed in this article:

Javier Portús Pérez and M. Leticia Ruiz Gómez, The Prado, Masterpieces
Metaphor and the Reshaping of Our Cognitive Fabric
Authors: Birner Betty J.
Published: February 2004

Mary Gerhart and Allan Russell view our world of meanings as a fabric of concepts and relations. Metaphor bends this fabric, superimposing one concept on another. While Gerhart and Russell are right to view metaphor as a cognitive rather than a purely linguistic phenomenon, their model misses the danger inherent in a cognitive restructuring that leaves some features of a concept highlighted and others backgrounded. When the bending of the conceptual fabric becomes permanent, the essential metaphorical insight is lost, leaving a skewed understanding of reality. We have a tendency to retain the metaphorically altered cognitive topography while forgetting its nonliteral genesis. Thus, the metaphoric process is one from which proceeds not only insight but also, necessarily, misconception.
Paul Tillich and Pitirim A. Sorokin on Love
Authors: Clifford Mary Montgomery
Published: February 2004

An analysis of Paul Tillich's three‐volume Systematic Theology and Pitirim A. Sorokin's The Ways and Power of Love: Types, Factors, and Techniques of Moral Transformation reveals how a metaphysical dialogue on God and love contributes to scientific and theological scholarship on altruism. This article focuses on similarities and differences in Tillich and Sorokin. Similarities include a belief in the importance of the ontological/love connection and the conclusion that a special state, ecstasy, is integral to the experience of genuine love. Differences serve to complement rather than negate. For example, Tillich's recognition that ecstatic connections with the divine within finitude are fragmentary balances Sorokin's view that these ecstatic peaks are reached only by the few. The similarities give resonance and point to the overall creation, while the differences often serve as counterpoint to balance the ideas of the scientist and the theologian.
Shamanism as the Original Neurotheology
Authors: Winkelman Michael
Published: February 2004

Neurotheological approaches provide an important bridge between scientific and religious perspectives. These approaches have, however, generally neglected the implications of a primordial form of spiritual healing—shamanism. Cross‐cultural studies establish the universality of shamanic practices in hunter‐gatherer societies around the world and across time. These universal principles of shamanism reflect underlying neurological processes and provide a basis for an evolutionary theology. The shamanic paradigm involves basic brain processes, neurognostic structures, and innate brain modules. This approach reveals that universals of shamanism such as animism, totemism, soul flight, animal spirits, and death‐and‐rebirth experiences reflect fundamental brain operations and structures of consciousness. The shamanic paradigm can contribute to a reconciliation of scientific and religious perspectives by providing a universalistic biopsychosocial framework that explicates the biological underpinnings of spiritual experiences and practices and provides a basis for neurotheology and evolutionary theology approaches.
Accessing the Eternal: Dreaming “The Dreaming” and Ceremonial Performance
Authors: Hume Lynne
Published: February 2004

Australian Aboriginal cosmology is centered on The Dreaming, which has an eternal nature. It has been referred to as “everywhen” to articulate its timelessness. Starting with the assumption that “waking” reality is only one type of experienced reality, we investigate the concept of timelessness as it pertains to the Aboriginal worldview. We begin by questioning whether in fact “Dreaming” is an appropriate translation of a complex Aboriginal concept, then discuss whether there is any relationship between dreaming and The Dreaming. We then discuss Aboriginal ceremonial performance, during which actors are said to become Dreaming Ancestors, using as a frame of reference the “flow” experience explicated by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi together with Alfred Schutz's “mutual tuning‐in relationship.”
Tail arteries from chronically spinalized rats have potentiated responses to nerve stimulation in vitro
Authors: Yeoh Melanie , McLachlan Elspeth M. , Brock James A.
Published: February 2004

Patients with severe spinal cord lesions that damage descending autonomic pathways generally have low resting arterial pressure but bladder or colon distension or unheeded injuries may elicit a life‐threatening hypertensive episode. Such episodes (known as autonomic dysreflexia) are thought to result from the loss of descending baroreflex inhibition and/or plasticity within the spinal cord. However, it is not clear whether changes in the periphery contribute to the exaggerated reflex vasoconstriction. The effects of spinal transection at T7–8 on nerve‐ and agonist‐evoked contractions of the rat tail artery were investigated in vitro. Isometric contractions of arterial segments were recorded and responses of arteries from spinalized animals (‘spinalized arteries’) and age‐matched and sham‐operated controls were compared. Two and eight weeks after transection, nerve stimulation at 0.1–10 Hz produced contractions of greater force and duration in spinalized arteries. At both stages, the α‐adrenoceptor antagonists prazosin (10 nm) and idazoxan (0.1 μm) produced less blockade of nerve‐evoked contraction in spinalized arteries. Two weeks after transection, spinalized arteries were supersensitive to the α1‐adrenoceptor agonist phenylephrine, and the α2‐adrenoceptor agonist, clonidine, but 8 weeks after transection, spinalized arteries were supersensitive only to clonidine. Contractions of spinalized arteries elicited by 60 mm K+ were larger and decayed more slowly at both stages. These findings demonstrate that spinal transection markedly increases nerve‐evoked contractions and this can, in part, be accounted for by increased reactivity of the vascular smooth muscle to vasoconstrictor agents. This hyper‐reactivity may contribute to the genesis of autonomic dysreflexia in patients.
Leukocytes, cytokines, growth factors and hormones in human skeletal muscle and blood after uphill or downhill running
Authors: Malm Christer , Sjödin Bertil , Sjöberg Berit , Lenkei Rodica , Renström Per , Lundberg Ingrid E. , Ekblom Björn
Published: February 2004

Muscular adaptation to physical exercise has previously been described as a repair process following tissue damage. Recently, evidence has been published to question this hypothesis. The purpose of this study was to investigate inflammatory processes in human skeletal muscle and epimysium after acute physical exercise with large eccentric components. Three groups of subjects (n= 19) performed 45 min treadmill running at either 4 deg (n= 5) or 8 deg (n= 9) downhill or 4 deg uphill (n= 5) and one group served as control (n= 9). One biopsy was taken from each subject 48 h post exercise. Blood samples were taken up to 7 days post exercise. Compared to the control group, none of the markers of inflammation in muscle and epimysium samples was different in any exercised group. Only subjects in the Downhill groups experienced delayed onset of muscle soreness (DOMS) and increased serum creatine kinase activity (CK). The detected levels of immunohistochemical markers for T cells (CD3), granulocytes (CD11b), leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and hypoxia‐inducible factor 1β (HIF‐1β) were greater in epimysium from exercised subjects with DOMS ratings >3 (0–10 scale) compared to exercised subjects without DOMS but not higher than controls. Eccentric physical exercise (downhill running) did not result in skeletal muscle inflammation 48 h post exercise, despite DOMS and increased CK. It is suggested that exercise can induce DOMS by activating inflammatory factors present in the epimysium before exercise. Repeated physical training may alter the content of inflammatory factors in the epimysium and thus reduce DOMS.
Developmental changes in myoendothelial gap junction mediated vasodilator activity in the rat saphenous artery
Authors: Sandow Shaun L. , Goto Kenichi , Rummery Nicole M. , Hill Caryl E.
Published: February 2004

A role for myoendothelial gap junctions (MEGJs) has been proposed in the action of the vasodilator endothelium‐derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF). EDHF activity varies in disease and during ageing, but little is known of the role of EDHF during development when, in many organ systems, gap junctions are up‐regulated. The aims of the present study were therefore to determine whether an up‐regulation of heterocellular gap junctional coupling occurs during arterial development and whether this change is reflected functionally through an increased action of EDHF. Results demonstrated that in the saphenous artery of juvenile WKY rats, MEGJs were abundant and application of acetylcholine (ACh) evoked EDHF‐mediated hyperpolarization and relaxation in the presence of Nω‐nitro‐l‐arginine methyl ester (L‐NAME) and indomethacin to inhibit nitric oxide and prostaglandins, respectively. Responses were blocked by a combination of charybdotoxin plus apamin, or 1‐[(2‐chlorophenyl)diphenylmethyl]‐1H‐pyrazole (TRAM‐34) plus apamin, or by blockade of gap junctions with the connexin (Cx)‐mimetic peptides, 43Gap26, 40Gap27 and 37,43Gap27. On the other hand, we found no evidence for the involvement of the putative chemical mediators of EDHF, eicosanoids, L‐NAME‐insensitive nitric oxide, hydrogen peroxide or potassium ions, since 14,15‐epoxyeicosa‐5(Z)‐enoic acid (14,15‐EEZE), hydroxocobalamin, catalase or barium and ouabain were without effect. In contrast, in the adult saphenous artery, MEGJs were rare, EDHF‐mediated relaxation was absent and hyperpolarizations were small and unstable. The present study demonstrates that MEGJs and EDHF are up‐regulated during arterial development. Furthermore, the data show for the first time that this developmentally regulated EDHF is dependent on direct electrotonic coupling via MEGJs.