bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Intracellular Immunoglobulins in Human Milk Macrophages
Authors: Clemente J. , Leyva-Cobián F. , Hernández M. , García-Alonso A.
Published: August 2009

Immunoglobulins (Ig) were localized by immunofluorescence and immunoperoxidase techniques inside human milk macrophages (HMMΦ). Immunoelectron microscopy was employed to study the distribution and localization of Ig within HMMΦ. IgA and IgM were detected inside phagocytic vacuoles of different sizes in the vicinity of the cellular membrane and in the periphery of larger vacuoles with a dense and homogeneous content. The intramacrophagic IgA represents 5–10% of the total milk IgA. The in vitro release of IgA into the medium was quantitated using an enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay. The amount of IgA released was in most samples around 1,720–5,200 ng/106 HMMΦ. The concentrations of IgM and IgG released by HMMΦ were approximately 50–600 and 20–40 ng/106 HMMΦ, respectively. The concentrations of Ig determined in the lysated pellets of HMMΦ ranged between 2 and 100μg/106 HMMΦ for IgA and around 500 ng/106 HMMΦ for IgM. Increased IgA release occurred when HMMΦ were cultured in medium with a pH lower than 3. IgA concentrations were not very different between pH 5 and pH 7 and alkalinization of the medium did not produce any significant effect on IgA release. Release of IgA and IgM was not significantly increased when HMMΦ were cultured in the presence of phorbol myristate acetate, formylated peptides, latex particles, lymphocyte-derived chemotactic factor or cholate. The kinetic study of IgA release by HMMΦ, both with or without adding these stimuli to in vitro culture, indicates that IgA release depends on time and that these substances do not have any effect on it.
Suppression of the Cellular Adjuvanticity of Lipophilic Amines by a Polyanion
Authors: Hilgers Luuk A.T. , Snippe Harm , van Vliet Karin E. , Jansze Margriet , Willers Jan M.N.
Published: August 2009

Modulation of delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction (DTH) in mice by synthetic adjuvants and the mode of their action were investigated. Intracutaneous injection of azobenzenearsonate coupled to phos-phatidylethanolamine (A-PE) without adjuvant did not induce DTH. Administration of A-PE with the quaternary amines dimethyldioctadecylammonium bromide (DDA) or N, N-dioctadecyl-N′, N′-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)propane diamine (CP-20,961) induced a strong response. Other surfactants, dextran sulfate (DXS) and dextran were not effective. In combination with 200 nmol DDA the optimal dose of antigen was 5 nmol A-PE, while at higher antigen doses DTH was diminished. Responses on combinations of two adjuvants and A-PE revealed that DXS counteracted the stimulatory effects of both DDA and CP-20,961. In vitro, DDA formed insoluble complexes with 14C-A-PE and at optimal antigen concentration more than 90% of the antigen was bound to the adjuvant. The percentage of 14C-A-PE bound to 200 nmol DDA decreased with increasing doses of 14C-A-PE. Addition of DXS to the mixture of 14C-A-PE and DDA reduced the percentage of 14C-A-PE bound to DDA. Dose-response curves demonstrated a close relationship between the inhibitory effects of DXS on the DTH and the A-PE/DDA complex formation. Nonsulfated dextran affected neither the DTH nor the formation of complexes in vitro. In conclusion, cellular adjuvanticity of DDA for the lipophilic antigen A-PE is probably the result of formation of insoluble complexes with the antigen. Free A-PE suppresses the cellular response to A-PE/DDA complexes. The adjuvant DXS inhibits DTH by reducing the amount of immunogenic A-PE/DDA complexes and thus increasing the amount of free, immunosuppressive A-PE.
Analysis of Bronchoalveolar Lavage Cells and Fluids in Patients with Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis: Possible Role of Chemotactic Factors in the Pathogenesis of Disease
Authors: Yoshizawa Yasuyuki , Ohdama Shinichi , Tanoue Masahiko , Tanaka Motoichi , Ohtsuka Morio , Uetake Kenji , Hasegawa Shizuo
Published: August 2009

The current study concerns immunological mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) by an analysis of the cells and chemotactic factors (CF) obtained by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). Nine patients at an acute stage (HP acute, 8 summer type and 1 pigeon breeder’s lung) and 4 patients at a quiescent stage (HP quiescent, 3 summer type and 1 pigeon breeder’s lung) were included. The results indicate that: (1) CF for polymorphonuclear cells (PMN) in HP acute were significantly more potent than in HP quiescent; (2) CF for mononuclear cells were not significantly different in the groups; (3) the percentage of lymphocytes in HP acute was significantly greater even though HP quiescent revealed greater percentages of lymphocytes as compared to normal controls; (4) determination of T cell subsets employing OKT antibodies revealed the ratio of OKT8+ cells to OKT4+ cells in HP acute was significantly higher than in HP quiescent, and (5) chemotaxis for PMN was marginally correlated with the percentage of OKT8+ cells at the acute stage of disease.
Immunoglobulin E in Feces of Children with Intestinal Ascaris lumbricoides Infestation
Authors: Kolmannskog Svein
Published: August 2009

Five of 6 fecal extracts from small children with intestinal Ascaris lumbricoides infection were IgE-positive before antiparasitic treatment with mebendazole was given. After treatment one patient still showed high fecal IgE level, but the samples from the remaining children showed either undetectable IgE values, or values just above the limit of detection. The serum IgE concentrations, however, decreased more slowly than the fecal IgE levels did. In the child with persistent high fecal IgE level after therapy, ova from Hymenolepisnana could still be found in feces, although the A. lumbricoides infection had been successfully treated. Gel filtration studies showed that fecal IgE from a patient with the parasitic infection was degraded to fragments corresponding to a molecular weight of approximately 40,000 daltons, similar to that of fecal IgE from a patient with gastrointestinal allergy. The number of IgE-positive fecal extracts in those patients before antiparasitic treatment was given differed significantly from the number of positive fecal IgE extracts from healthy nonallergic children (p <0.01), but not from children with different kinds of allergy (p >0.20). The fecal IgA concentrations were not different before and after antiparasitic therapy. The finding of IgE in feces from individuals with intestinal ascaris infection and nearly complete disappearance of IgE in feces after successful therapy is further evidence of local production of IgE in the gut mucosa.
Airway Hyper-Reactivity and Blood, Lung and Airway Eosinophilia in Rats Treated with Sephadex Particles
Authors: Laycock S.M. , Smith H. , Spicer B.A.
Published: August 2009

The intravenous injection of Sephadex particles (G200) into rats produced a specific increase in numbers of blood eosinophils peaking 7 days later. A second injection, given on day 14 when the numbers of blood eosinophils had fallen to control levels, produced a dose-dependent increase in numbers, greater than the first, and peaking 5 days later. At this time there was a dose-dependent increase in numbers of eosinophils, but not of other leucocytes, in broncho-alveolar lavage fluids and lung tissue, together with an increase in sensitivity of the rats to the respiratory effect produced by the intravenous injection of 5-hydroxytryptamine.
An Immunochemical Investigation of the Allergens from Ascaris suum Perienteric Fluid
Authors: McWilliam A.S. , Stewart G.A. , Turner K.J.
Published: August 2009

An extract of Ascaris suum perienteric fluid was fractionated on Sephadex G-200 and the resulting high molecular weight (approx. 600,000 daltons) and low molecular weight (approx. 16,000 daltons) fractions examined for allergenicity using human sera. Radioallergosorbent (RAST) and RAST-inhibition assays showed that the high molecular weight fraction was 15- to 40-fold more potent than the low molecular weight fraction. Crossed radio-immunoelectrophoretic analysis showed that the high molecular weight fraction contained 10 allergens in contrast to the 6 comprising the low molecular weight fraction. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic studies in combination with RAST indicated that two high molecular weight glycoprotein-staining components may be major allergens. A. suum cross-reacted allergenically with Toxocara canis and various life cycle stages of Nippostrongylus brasilliensis but not with Strongyloides ratti or Schistosoma mattheei. The cross-reacting allergens were predominantly of high molecular weight and the molecular weight distribution pattern obtained for A. suum, T. canis and N. brasilliensis paralleled that obtained for the distribution of the carrier of the hapten phosphorylcholine (Pc). However, it was shown that the hapten per se was not allergenic. In contrast, analysis of the allergens from N. brasilliensis using sera from rats infected with the same parasite showed that the homologous allergens were predominantly of low molecular weight (approx. 20,000 daltons) and did not contain Pc.
The Relationship between Total Serum IgE and Castor Bean-Specific IgE Antibodies in Castor Bean-Sensitive Patients from Marseilles
Authors: Thorpe S.C. , Kemeny D.M. , Panzani R. , Lessof M.H.
Published: August 2009

The relationship between serum IgE and castor bean (Ricinus communis)-specific IgE was studied in a group of dockworkers and other residents of Marseilles who were diagnosed as having castor bean allergy. The diagnosis was made because they had asthma or other allergic symptoms together with a positive skin test to castor bean. Total serum IgE was found to be higher in castor bean-allergic patients (mean = 174 IU/ml) than in a control group of local blood donors (mean = 66 IU/ml). IgE levels were not as high as those found in the sera of a previously identified group of castor bean-allergic dockworkers from Port Sudan (mean = 902 IU/ml). Castor bean-specific IgE was demonstrated in the serum of 91% of the allergic group and there was some correlation with total IgE (r = 0.53, p <0.01). The proportion of IgE antibody specific for castor bean was determined in 20 castor bean-sensitive patients using the radioallergosorbent test and was found to vary between 9 and 64% (mean = 38% or 265 ng/ml). No castor bean-specific IgE antibody was detected in the control group.
Increased Natural Killer Cell Activity in Sarcoidosis
Authors: Hall T.J. , Hudspith B.N. , Johnson N.McI. , Brostoff J.
Published: August 2009

We have studied NK cell activity in 32 patients with sarcoidosis and in 29 control subjects. Cytotoxicity was increased in both active and inactive sarcoids, the lytic activity of sarcoid peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) being approximately 50% higher than that of control subjects. The number of lymphocytes bearing Fc receptors for IgG (FcR-IgG) was correlated with NK cell activity, both parameters being increased in the sarcoid group. Sarcoid NK cell activity was reduced to control levels after depletion of plastic adherent cells, whilst inhibition of cytotoxicity by PGE2 was increased using non-adherent sarcoid PBMC. Plastic depletion had no effect on NK cell activity or its inhibition by PGE2 using PBMC from control subjects. The results demonstrate the presence of a weakly adherent, PGE2 insensitive NK cell in sarcoid PBMC preparations.
Immunotherapy in a Case of AIDS with Kaposi’s Sarcoma – An Unsuccessful Attempt with Recombinant Alpha-2 Interferon Followed by Isoprinosine
Authors: Roupe G. , Håkansson C. , Löwhagen G.B.
Published: August 2009

An unsuccessful treatment with recombinant alpha-2 interferon and isoprinosine in a patient with AIDS and Kaposi’s sarcoma is reported.
Immunopathology of Experimental Schistosoma mansoni: Immunohistochemical Localization of Parasite Antigens in the Host Tissue
Authors: Abdul-Aal Gamal M. , Attallah Abdelfattah M.
Published: August 2009

Schistosoma mansoni antigens play a crucial role in the induction of immunopathological processes and in modulating the host immune system. A polyclonal rabbit antiserum to an antigenic fraction of adult schistosoma worms was used to localize worm and egg antigens in tissue sections of infected mice. Most granuloma formations identified in paraffin sections of portal tracts and intestinal mucosa were vigorous with florid cellular composition, consisting of macrophages and epithelioid cells, surrounding a central nidus of S.mansoni egg. Schistosome pigments were demonstrated at the periphery of the granuloma, within sinusoidal Kupffer’s cells and within macrophages of intestinal mucosa. Large amounts of schistosome antigen were found sequestered in the mesenteric lymph nodes and in the spleen. A strong reaction for locally synthesized IgG was found. These findings suggest that the schistosome antigen-antibody complex found in the host lymphoreticular system plays a major role in the immunopathological process.
Primary Biliary Cirrhosis: Antigenic Specificity of IgM-Type Mitochondrial Antibodies Analyzed by Immunoblotting and ELISA
Authors: Mendel-Hartvig I. , Frostell Å. , Tötterman T.H.
Published: August 2009

The antigenic reactivities of circulating IgM- and IgG-type antimitochondrial antibodies (AMA) from 18 patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) were compared by the use of immunoblotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In immunoblotting, the binding patterns of IgM and IgG were very similar when F1-ATPase and mitochondria were used as antigens. The major PBC-specific IgM-reactive antigen was identical with the dominating IgG-reactive antigen, sharing the same molecular weight of 70 kD and the same requirement for reduced thiol groups for expression of antigenicity. Other PBC-related mitochondrial proteins with variable antigenicity had the molecular weights of 60 and 43 kD. Depending on the IgM and IgG reactions in F1-ELISA, PBC patients can be grouped into three categories: patients with IgG and IgM (12/18), IgG alone (5/18) and IgM alone (1/18). By serum fractionation, the IgM reactivity was shown to be a true PBC-related antibody antigen reaction, and not due to interference of rheumatoid factors.
Cell-Mediated Immunity and Biological Response Modifiers in Insulin-Dependent Diabetes mellitus Complicated by End-Stage Renal Disease
Authors: Attallah A.M. , Abdelghaffar H. , Fawzy A. , Alghraoui F. , Alijani M.R. , Mahmoud L.A. , Ghoneim M.A. , Helfrich G.B.
Published: August 2009

Previous studies have shown several immunoregulatory abnormalities in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). In this report we compared peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from patients with IDDM complicated by end-stage renal disease (ESRD) to those from normal subjects and from patients with ESRD of different etiologies for their: (1) natural killer (NK) and antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxic (ADCC) activities; (2) modulation of NK and ADCC activities by biological response modifiers (BRM) including purified human lymphoblastoid interferon, human recombinant alpha-2 interferon, human gamma interferon and human recombinant interleukin 2; (3) proliferative response of T and B lymphocytes to concanavalin A (Con A), phytohemagglutinin and pokeweed mitogen, and (4) ability to produce T-cell growth factor (interleukin 2; IL-2). PBMC of diabetic patients demonstrated significantly lower NK activity than normal and ESRD subjects. Upon treatment with BRM, NK activity was augmented and achieved normal levels. ADCC activity was not different from that of normal controls and exhibited similar increases when stimulated by BRM. The proliferative responses to Con A, phytohemagglutinin and pokeweed mitogen as well as IL-2 production in response to Con A stimulation were significantly lower in the IDDM group. Our results indicated that NK cells from patients with IDDM can respond to IL-2 with enhanced cytotoxicity, and, because activation of resting T cells by mitogenic stimuli depends on the production of IL-2 as well as the appearance of a receptor for IL-2, our finding of low levels of in vitro IL-2 production by PBMC from patients with IDDM may explain the depressed NK activity and the observed poor response to T-cell mitogens.
Human Lung Mast Cells: Distribution and Abundance of Histochemically Distinct Subpopulations
Authors: Shanahan Fergus , MacNiven Ian , Dyck Nancy , Denburg Judah A. , Bienenstock John , Befus Dean
Published: August 2009

Methods originally employed to demonstrate the heterogeneity of mast cells in the rat and more recently in the human intestine were used to study mast cell heterogeneity in the human bronchial mucosa and lung parenchyma. Thus, a quantitative survey of pulmonary mast cells using different fixation and staining procedures indicated that two distinct mast cell subpopulations (formalin-sensitive and formalin-resistant) are present and have distinct patterns of distribution and abundance. The findings are of potential clinical importance because histochemical heterogeneity may be a marker of functional mast cell differences in humans including differences in responsiveness to antiallergic drugs, as occurs in rats. The findings also indicate that conventional methods of fixation are likely to lead to a gross underestimation of total mast cell numbers.
In vitro Effect of Alpha-Interferon on Mononuclear Cells of Normal and Autoimmune Patients
Authors: Attallah A.M. , Steinberg A.D. , Clark H.W. , Brown T.McP. , Metwali A. , Fleisher T.A.
Published: August 2009

The effect of lymphoblastoid interferon (IFN-α) on cell-mediated and humoral immunity was studied in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The base-line natural killer (NK) and antibody dependent cytotoxic cell (ADCC) activity was higher than normal in individuals with RA. The NK and ADCC activities were tested after IFN-α pretreatment and the augmentation of NK and ADCC activity was less in these patients than in normals. Lymphoblastoid IFN inhibited antigen induced T-cell proliferation in SLE to a lesser extent than in normal individuals. Finally, the addition of lymphoblastoid IFN was also less effective at suppressing in vitro polyclonal antibody formation by mononuclear cells from patients with SLE than from normals, with enhancement observed in some patients at the lower IFN-α concentrations tested.
Immune Response to Bee Venom
Authors: Kemeny D.M. , Lessof M.H.
Published: August 2009

We have measured in allergic and non-allergic beekeepers IgE and IgG antibodies to the bee venom allergens, phospholipase A2 (PLA2) and hyaluronidase (HYAL), by the radioallergosorbent test (RAST) and a 125I-radiolabelled antigen-binding assay. The absolute amount of IgG antibody in a reference serum was determined by saturation analysis using 125I-radiolabelled PLA2 and HYAL. Using monoclonal anti-IgE coated microtitre plates, the absolute amount of IgE antibody to the same antigen was also determined by saturation analysis. Regardless of the IgE response to the different allergens, IgG antibody concentrations to PLA2 were invariably higher than those to HYAL. In addition, the ratio of IgG to IgE antibody was higher for PLA2 (220:1) than for HYAL (10:1). Higher levels of IgG antibody to both allergens (especially HYAL) were found in those who had had prolonged exposure to bee stings. These data suggest that the level of IgG antibody produced is related to the dose administered, while the amount of IgE antibody may be regulated by other factors.
Expression of Heterophile, Paul-Bunnell and Hanganutziu-Deicher Antigens on Human Melanoma Cell Lines
Authors: Nakarai Hideo , Saida Toshiaki , Shibata Yoichi , Irie Reiko F. , Kano Kyoichi
Published: August 2009

Expression of heterophile antigens was studied on 6 human melanoma cell lines. Paul-Bunnell and Hanganutziu-Deicher (H-D) antigens, but not Forssman antigen, were demonstrated on these cell lines. H-D antigen was also demonstrated on melanoma cells isolated from primary and metastatic lesions. Evidence was also presented that HLA class I but not class II (DR and DQ) molecules are expressed on these cell lines. H-D antibodies of IgG class were detected in 10 of 23 (42%) melanoma patients suggesting the possibility that H-D antigen might have been expressed in an immunogenic form in the patients.
Carotid Intima-Media Thickness, Systemic Inflammation, and Incidence of Heart Failure Hospitalizations
Authors: Engström Gunnar , Melander Olle , Hedblad Bo
Published: July 2009

Objectives—

This study explored the relationships between carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), plasma levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), and incidence of heart failure hospitalizations.

Methods and Results—

Men and women from the general population (n=4691), without history of myocardial infarction or stroke, were examined. Incidence of hospitalizations attributable to heart failure was studied over a mean follow-up of 13 years. A total of 75 subjects were hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of heart failure. Adjusted for risk factors, the hazards ratios (95% CI) were 1.00, 0.98 (0.36 to 2.7), 1.9 (0.80 to 4.6), and 2.7 (1.1 to 6.2), respectively, for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quartiles of IMT (
P
for trend=0.003). The HR associated with CRP levels ≥3 mg/L (versus <1 mg/L) was 2.0 (95% CI: 1.06 to 3.9) after adjustments for risk factors. There was a significant interaction between IMT and CRP on heart failure incidence (
P
=0.028). Subjects with CRP ≥3 mg/L and IMT in the 4th quartile had an adjusted HR of 3.7 (1.9 to 7.1) compared to those with CRP <3 mg/L and IMT in quartile 1 to 3.

Conclusion—

High IMT and high CRP are both independent risk factors for incidence of heart failure requiring hospitalization. The joint exposure to both risk factors substantially increases the risk.
The Relationship Between Daily Atrial Tachyarrhythmia Burden From Implantable Device Diagnostics and Stroke Risk
Authors: Glotzer Taya V. , Daoud Emile G. , Wyse D. George , Singer Daniel E. , Ezekowitz Michael D. , Hilker Christopher , Miller Clayton , Qi Dongfeng , Ziegler Paul D.
Published: August 2009

Background—

It is unknown if brief episodes of device-detected atrial fibrillation (AF) increase thromboembolic event (TE) risk.

Methods and Results—

TRENDS was a prospective, observational study enrolling patients with ≥1 stroke risk factor (heart failure, hypertension, age ≥65 years, diabetes, or prior TE) receiving pacemakers or defibrillators that monitor atrial tachycardia (AT)/AF burden (defined as the longest total AT/AF duration on any given day during the prior 30-day period). This time-varying exposure was updated daily during follow-up and related to TE risk. Annualized TE rates were determined according to AT/AF burden subsets: zero, low (<5.5 hours [median duration of subsets with nonzero burden]), and high (≥5.5 hours). A multivariate Cox model provided hazard ratios including terms for stroke risk factors and time-varying AT/AF burden and antithrombotic therapy. Patients (n=2486) had at least 30 days of device data for analysis. During a mean follow-up of 1.4 years, annualized TE risk (including transient ischemic attacks) was 1.1% for zero, 1.1% for low, and 2.4% for high burden subsets of 30-day windows. Compared with zero burden, adjusted hazard ratios (95% CIs) in the low and high burden subsets were 0.98 (0.34 to 2.82,
P
=0.97) and 2.20 (0.96 to 5.05,
P
=0.06), respectively.

Conclusions—

The TE rate was low compared with patients with traditional AF with similar risk profiles. The data suggest that TE risk is a quantitative function of AT/AF burden. AT/AF burden ≥5.5 hours on any of 30 prior days appeared to double TE risk. Additional studies are needed to more precisely investigate the relationship between stroke risk and AT/AF burden.
Isthmian Performances: Panama's Festival Internacional de Artes Escénicas
Authors: Bentin Sebastián Calderón
Published: July 2009

Panama's biennial III Festival Internacional de Artes Escénicas presents contemporary Central American performance, testing its relationship to emerging forms of nongovernmental cultural policy via a continuing integration with broader artistic discourses and production networks in Latin America.
Parkour or l'art du déplacement: A Kinetic Urban Utopia
Authors: Ortuzar Jimena
Published: July 2009

Parkour is urban activism emerging as an alternative to the highly controlled environments of the official city and its seemingly uninterrupted spaces of power. Parkouristes enact their escape from the established rules of behavior operating within urban environments and, when successful, transform the spaces they navigate.
The Dirty Physician: Necessary Dishonor and Fleshly Solidarity in Tertullian's Writings
Authors: Radler Charlotte
Published: August 2009

This article examines Tertullian's multifaceted notion of physician and his views of illness and redemptive healing, particularly his arresting re-appropriation of dirt and dishonor as the basis for restoration against Marcion's alleged conception of a pure and spiritual salvation. Tertullian inverts the dominant value paradigm by rendering the shameful and dishonorable circumstances of the flesh as the necessary signifiers of truth and redemption. His creative reconfiguration of healing through filth and shame redraws early Christian discourse on embodiment and corrects facile typologies about purity and impurity, body and soul, incarnation and salvation, and individual and society.
Utilizing Spaceborne Radars to Retrieve Dry Snowfall
Authors: Kulie Mark S. , Bennartz Ralf
Published: July 2009

A dataset consisting of one year of CloudSat Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) near-surface radar reflectivity Z associated with dry snowfall is examined in this study. The CPR observations are converted to snowfall rates S using derived Ze–S relationships, which were created from backscatter cross sections of various nonspherical and spherical ice particle models. The CPR reflectivity histograms show that the dominant mode of global near-surface dry snowfall has extremely light reflectivity values (∼3–4 dBZe), and an estimated 94% of all CPR dry snowfall observations are less than 10 dBZe. The average conditional global snowfall rate is calculated to be about 0.28 mm h−1, but is regionally highly variable as well as strongly sensitive to the ice particle model chosen. Further, ground clutter contamination is found in regions of complex terrain even when a vertical reflectivity continuity threshold is utilized. The potential of future multifrequency spaceborne radars is evaluated using proxy 35–13.6-GHz reflectivities and sensor specifications of the proposed Global Precipitation Measurement dual-frequency precipitation radar (DPR). It is estimated that because of its higher detectability threshold, only about 7%–1% of the near-surface radar reflectivity values and about 17%–4% of the total accumulation associated with global dry snowfall would be detected by a DPR-like instrument, but these results are very sensitive to the chosen ice particle model. These potential detection shortcomings can be partially mitigated by using snowfall-rate distributions derived by the CPR or other similar high-frequency active sensors.
Interactive Feedback between the Tropical Pacific Decadal Oscillation and ENSO in a Coupled General Circulation Model
Authors: Choi Jung , An Soon-Il , Dewitte Boris , Hsieh William W.
Published: August 2009

The output from a coupled general circulation model (CGCM) is used to develop evidence showing that the tropical Pacific decadal oscillation can be driven by an interaction between the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the slowly varying mean background climate state. The analysis verifies that the decadal changes in the mean states are attributed largely to decadal changes in ENSO statistics through nonlinear rectification. This is seen because the time evolutions of the first principal component analysis (PCA) mode of the decadal-varying tropical Pacific SST and the thermocline depth anomalies are significantly correlated to the decadal variations of the ENSO amplitude (also skewness). Its spatial pattern resembles the residuals of the SST and thermocline depth anomalies after there is uneven compensation from El Niño and La Niña events. In addition, the stability analysis of a linearized intermediate ocean–atmosphere coupled system, for which the background mean states are specified, provides qualitatively consistent results compared to the CGCM in terms of the relationship between changes in the background mean states and the characteristics of ENSO. It is also shown from the stability analysis as well as the time integration of a nonlinear version of the intermediate coupled model that the mean SST for the high-variability ENSO decades acts to intensify the ENSO variability, while the mean thermocline depth for the same decades acts to suppress the ENSO activity. Thus, there may be an interactive feedback consisting of a positive feedback between the ENSO activity and the mean state of the SST and a negative feedback between the ENSO activity and the mean state of the thermocline depth. This feedback may lead to the tropical decadal oscillation, without the need to invoke any external mechanisms.
Multimodel Approach Based on Evidence Theory for Forecasting Tropical Cyclone Tracks
Authors: Poroseva Svetlana V. , Lay Nathan , Hussaini M. Yousuff
Published: July 2009

In this paper a new multimodel approach for forecasting tropical cyclone tracks is presented. The approach is based on the Dempster–Shafer theory of evidence. At each forecast period, the multimodel forecast is given as an area where the tropical cyclone position is likely to occur. Each area includes a quantitative assessment of the credibility (degree of belief) of the prediction. The multimodel forecast is obtained by combining individual model forecasts into a single prediction by Dempster’s rule. Mathematical requirements associated with the Dempster’s rule are discussed. Particular attention is given to the requirement of independence of evidence sources, which, for tropical cyclone track forecasting, are the model and best-track data. The origin of this requirement is explored, and it is shown that for forecasting tropical cyclone tracks, this requirement is excessive. The influence of the number of models included in the multimodel approach on the forecasting ability is also studied. Data produced by the models of the Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction are used to produce two-, three-, and four-model forecasts. The forecasting ability of the multimodel approach is evaluated using the best-track database of the tropical cyclones that occurred in the eastern and western North Pacific and South Indian Ocean basins in the year 2000.
Tropical Cyclone Initialization with a Spherical High-Order Filter and an Idealized Three-Dimensional Bogus Vortex
Authors: Kwon In-Hyuk , Cheong Hyeong-Bin
Published: August 2009

A tropical cyclone initialization method with an idealized three-dimensional bogus vortex of an analytic empirical formula is presented for the track and intensity prediction. The procedure in the new method consists of four steps: the separation of the disturbance from the analysis, determination of the tropical cyclone domain, generation of symmetric bogus vortex, and merging of it with the analysis data. When separating the disturbance field, an efficient spherical high-order filter with the double-Fourier series is used whose cutoff scale can be adjusted with ease to the horizontal scale of the tropical cyclone of interest. The tropical cyclone domain is determined from the streamfunction field instead of the velocities. The axisymmetric vortex to replace the poorly resolved tropical cyclone in the analysis is designed in terms of analytic empirical functions with a careful treatment of the upper-layer flows as well as the secondary circulations. The geopotential of the vortex is given in such a way that the negative anomaly in the lower layer is changed into positive anomaly above the prescribed pressure level, which depends on the intensity of the tropical cyclone. The geopotential is then used to calculate the tangential wind and temperature using the gradient wind balance and the hydrostatic balance, respectively. The inflow and outflow in the tropical cyclone are constructed to resemble closely the observed or simulated structures under the constraint of mass balance. The bogus vortex is merged with the disturbance field with the use of matching principle so that it is not affected except near the boundary of tropical cyclone domain. The humidity of the analysis is modified to be very close to the saturation in the lower layers near the tropical cyclone center. The balanced bogus vortex of the present study is completely specified on the basis of four parameters from the Regional Specialized Meteorological Center (RSMC) report and the additional two parameters, which are derived from the analysis data. The initialization method was applied to the track and the intensity (in terms of central pressure) prediction of the TCs observed in the western North Pacific Ocean and East China Sea in 2007 with the use of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. No significant initial jump or abrupt change was seen in either momentum or surface pressure during the time integration, thus indicating a proper tropical cyclone initialization. Relative to the results without the tropical cyclone initialization and the forecast results of RSMC Tokyo, the present method presented a great improvement in both the track and intensity prediction.
Elite Higher Education Admissions in the Arts and Sciences: Is Cultural Capital the Key?
Authors: Zimdars Anna , Sullivan Alice , Heath Anthony
Published: August 2009

This article examines the extent to which cultural capital helps to explain the link between social background and gaining an offer for study at the University of Oxford. We find that cultural knowledge, rather than participation in the beaux arts, is related to admissions decisions.This effect is particularly pronounced in arts subjects. We only partly support Bourdieu's postulation of cultural capital as the main differentiator between fractions of the middle class. Measures of cultural capital do not account for the gender gap in admission and only explain a small part of the disadvantage faced by South-Asian applicants.
The Fifth Element: Social Class and the Sociology of Anorexia
Authors: Darmon Muriel
Published: August 2009

Epidemiological research has identified a significant association between upper- or middle-class membership and a woman's probability of becoming anorexic, but the extant literature has yet to address the social processes underlying this association. In order to fill this gap, this article frames anorexia as a deviant career that entails the adoption of an anorexic set of practices and orientations that may be recognized as a distinctive type of Bourdieuian habitus. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and qualitative interviews conducted in France, this article argues that the set of practices and orientations acquired through an anorexic career builds upon practices and orientations clearly identified with middle- and upper-class status.
`How Other People See You, It's Like Nothing That's Inside': The Impact of Processes of Disidentification and Disavowal on Young People's Subjectivities
Authors: Valentine Gill , Sporton Deborah
Published: August 2009

In this article we draw on research with young (aged 11 to 18 years old) Somali refugees and asylum seekers currently living in the UK, to explore their narratives of identity in the context of complex histories of mobility. We focus on how processes of disidentification or disavowal impact on young people's subjectivities and are lived out in particular spaces. Specifically, we examine the young people's experiences of having their claims to be British denied, of disidentifying as black, and as having to negotiate the complex ambiguities of being positioned as Somali in the UK but British in Somalia. In the conclusion we reflect on the importance of the young people's emotional investment in the subject position Muslim as an explanation for why they prioritize their faith above their racial, gender or ethno-national identities in their narratives of the self.
Hacía la Alcaldía
Authors: Cameron John D.
Published: August 2009

Struggles for the control of rural municipal governments have become an important new element of indigenous and peasant political activism throughout the Andean region. An analysis based on field research in rural Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru conducted between 1999 and 2006 reveals that the control of rural municipal power is an important mechanism for enhancing indigenous and peasant political autonomy, improving rural infrastructure and social services, and fostering a sense of citizenship among historically excluded populations. It is also an important element in the production of administratively competent and politically experienced indigenous and peasant leaders. Indigenous and peasant struggles for municipal political power are not simply products of recent decentralization reforms but have deep historical roots in broader struggles for political autonomy and territorial control. While indigenous and peasant control of municipal power represents an important scaling-up of rural struggles in many locales, it carries with it serious dangers of bureaucratization, co-optation, and the fragmentation of indigenous and peasant struggles.
Land Occupations, Violence, and the Politics of Agrarian Reform in Brazil
Authors: Hammond John L.
Published: August 2009

Landless farmworkers in Brazil typically occupy land that is legally eligible for expropriation, but the state normally does not expropriate until a land occupation forces the hand of authorities. Landowners and local authorities in the Brazilian countryside frequently respond to occupations with violent repression. Their action reflects the hybrid character of the Brazilian state, modern and rational in cities and at the federal level but, in many rural areas, still clientelistic and marked by nonlegitimate violence. Land occupiers, landowners, and authorities jointly enact a repertoire of collective action that corresponds to the backward character of the state in those areas. The action of the land occupiers, however, is legitimated by the claim of civil disobedience while the efforts to repress them cannot lay claim to legitimacy on that basis.
Social Class and Ethnicity/Race in the Dynamics of Indigenous Peasant Movements
Authors: Hristov Jasmin
Published: August 2009

Examination of the experiences of one contemporary Latin American indigenous rural movement, the Indigenous Regional Council of Cauca (CRIC), demonstrates the centrality to those experiences of resource expropriation, exploitation, and military repression. At the same time, it draws attention to the ways in which the cultural history of the indigenous people of Cauca has shaped their strategies of resistance. Out of this analysis arises the argument that forms of oppression along the lines of class and ethnicity/race are inextricably linked and that an intersectional approach is required to capture the dynamics and complexities of these movements.
Camponeses
Authors: Welch Cliff
Published: August 2009

Comparison of the histories of three leading peasant organizations in the Pontal do Paranapanema region of Brazil—the Partido Comunista do Brasil (PCB) from 1945 to 1964, the Confederação Nacional de Trabalhadores na Agricultura (CONTAG) from 1964 to 1984, and the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem-Terra (MST) from 1984 to 2004—suggests that continuity is as important as change in understanding Brazilian peasant movements. The MST has been considered a “new social movement” in that it has eschewed partisan politics, incorporated families as members rather than just male heads of household, had a national scope and a participatory decision-making structure, and been attuned to the international struggle over globalization. Placing it in historical perspective makes it clear, however, that this is not the first time that militants have organized around the concept of peasants as a political identity; that while the representation of peasants in the leadership of contemporary rural labor organizations may be greater than in the past, earlier peasant leaders also struggled on behalf of their class; that earlier peasant organizations had, if not a national presence, a substantial presence in the agricultural states of the time; and that attempts at international organization to unite peasant struggles around the globe are not entirely new. This is not to deny the innovative features of contemporary movements but to suggest that the investigation of past achievements will contribute to a fuller appreciation of these movements' conditions and prospects.
Open Sourcing Our Way to an Online Commons
Authors: Milberry Kate , Anderson Steve
Published: July 2009

Understanding the social dynamics shaping the internet is vital as media power takes on new dimensions in the digital realm. The internet is increasingly necessary for participation in social life yet corporations continue to shape the online architecture to suit their own narrow commercial interests. In their drive to enclose the internet, online media companies create synergistic membranes with prescribed circuits that constrain user freedoms. Taken together, these synergistic membranes form a new layer of the internet — the Google layer, which constrains and commodifies users' range of motion within a narrow, privatized slice of the world wide web. This jeopardizes the creation of a commons-based communications system with a public service orientation, something that is essential to participatory and democratic dialogue. The open architecture of the internet, characterized and supported by free and open source software (FOSS), defends the digital commons against cyber-enclosure. Social practices and values that distinguish FOSS comprise a liberatory praxis as well as an alternative vision of social organization offline that prefigures a more democratic media system, and broadly construed, a more democratic society.
Barriers to achieving care at home at the end of life: transferring patients between care settings using patient transport services
Authors: Ingleton C. , Payne S. , Sargeant A. , Seymour J.
Published: July 2009

Enabling patients to be cared for in their preferred location often involves journeys between care settings. The challenge of ensuring journeys are timely and safe emerged as an important issue in an evaluation of palliative care services, which informed a service redesign programme in three areas of the United Kingdom by the Marie Curie Cancer Care ‘Delivering Choice Programme’. This article explores perceptions of service users and key stakeholders of palliative care services about problems encountered in journeys between care settings during end-of-life care. This article draws on data from interviews with stakeholders (n = 44), patients (n = 16), carers (n = 19) and bereaved carers (n = 20); and focus groups (n = 9) with specialist nurses. Data were gathered in three areas of the United Kingdom. Data were analysed using a framework approach. Transport problems between care settings emerged as a key theme. Four particular problems were identified: (1) urgent need for transport due to patients’ rapidly changing condition; (2) limited time to organise transfers; (3) the management of specialist equipment and (4) the need to clarify the resuscitation status of patients. Partnership working between Ambulance Services and secondary care is required to develop joint protocols of care to ensure timely and safe transportation between care settings of patients, who are near their end of life. Commissioning of services should be responsive to the complexities of patients’ needs and those of their families.
Experimental Investigation on Onsetting Internal Fire Whirls in a Vertical Shaft
Authors: Chow W.K. , Han S.S.
Published: July 2009

Internal fire whirls might be induced in tall buildings under fires. Hazards associated with such fire whirls should be assessed carefully. The physics behind is not clearly understood, even the conditions of onsetting internal fire whirls are unknown. It is important to observe the physical phenomenon carefully first, before carrying out theoretical analysis.

In this article, internal fire whirls were studied with a small vertical shaft model under different ventilation conditions. A 1.6 kW propanol pool fire was placed in a rectangular vertical shaft of height 145 cm. Ventilation provisions at the bottom and side wall were arranged. The conditions of onsetting internal fire whirls were investigated in detail with support from some full-scale burning tests at Harbin, Heilongjiang, China.

It is concluded that allowing a vertical gap of appropriate width and height at the side wall would onset internal fire whirls. Flame height would be stretched by several times the value for free burning. The burning rate of the pool fire would increase. Results are also confirmed by full-scale burning tests.
Parental Influences, Career Decision-Making Attributions, and Self-Efficacy
Authors: Lease Suzanne H. , Dahlbeck David T.
Published: August 2009

This study investigated the relations of maternal and paternal attachment, parenting styles, and career locus of control to college students’ career decision self-efficacy and explored whether these relations differed by student gender. Data analysis using hierarchical multiple regression revealed that attachment was relevant for females’ career decision self-efficacy but not for men’s. Authoritarian parenting styles were predictive of women’s career decision self-efficacy. Locus of control was important for male students but not for females.
Effect of Ultraviolet Radiation from an Oxygen Plasma on the Atomic Oxygen-induced Etching of Fluorinated Polymer
Authors: Tagawa Masahito , Yokota Kumiko , Kishida Kazuhiro , Okamoto Akio , Ishizawa Junichiro , Minton Timothy K.
Published: July 2009

The contribution of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) from a laser-sustained plasma on mass loss phenomenon of fluorinated polymer in the ground-based laser-detonation atomic oxygen (AO) beam source was evaluated. The AO beam and EUV/VUV from an oxygen plasma were separated by a high-speed chopper wheel installed in the beam source. Mass changes of fluorinated polymer and polyimide were measured from the frequency shift of the quartz crystal microbalances during the beam exposures. It has been made clear that the fluorinated polymer is eroded by EUV/VUV exposure alone. In contrast, no erosion was detected for polyimide by EUV/VUV alone. The AO-induced erosion was measured for both materials even without EUV/VUV exposure. However, no strong synergistic effect was observed for the fluorinated polymer even under the simultaneous exposure condition of AO and EUV/VUV. Similar results were observed even in the simultaneous exposure condition of AO (without EUV/VUV from the laser plasma) and VUV from the 172 nm excimer lamp and D2 lamp. These experimental results suggest that the primary origin of the accelerated erosion of fluorinated polymer observed in the laser detonation AO source is not EUV/VUV from the laser-sustained plasma.