bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Women, Rituals, and Social Dynamics at Ancient Chalcatzingo
Authors: Guillén Ann Cyphers
Published: April 2006

Female figurines from the Cantera phase at Chalcatzingo, Morelos, depict stages of the life cycle: puberty, pregnancy, and child rearing. Contextual data indicate that the figurines were used in female-focused life-crisis ceremonies that created a web of social rights and obligations validated by reciprocal exchanges. These rights and obligations were the means by which power and influence were created, directed, and controlled by particular households. Thus, these figurines and their contexts permit a better understanding of the role of women in the dynamics of social-hierarchy formation at Chalcatzingo, and how the formation of social bonds and patterns of exchange were important in the accumulation of power.
Arqueologia del Bajo Patia, Fases y Correlaciones en la Costa Pacifica de Colombia y Ecuador
Authors: Patiño Diógenes
Published: April 2006

La región pacífica de Colombia presenta numerosas áreas inexploradas a lo largo de su litoral costero y tierras bajas. La región sur es la más conocida gracias a la importancia arqueológica de las zonas de Tumaco y La Tolita (Ecuador). Al norte de Tumaco recientemente se exploró la región del bajo Río Patía (Nariño). A traves de este trabajo se observaron asentamientos precolombinos relacionados con dos fases culturales: (a) fase Buena Vista y (b) fase Maina. Los pobladores precolombinos de estas fases se adaptaron básicamente a las áreas bajas de la llanura aluvial selvática y la región costera del sur de Colombia. Hacia finales del período de Desarrollo Regional costero, la fase Buena Vista (ca. 70–500 D.C.) culturalmente se encuentra relacionada con las fases tardías de El Morro y El Balsal de la secuencia establecida para la región de Tumaco (Nariño). Estas fases a su vez forman parte del período tardío “decadente” de la tradición Tumaco-La Tolita (ca. 400 A.C.-500 D.C.) de la costa sur de Colombia y norte del Ecuador. Igualmente, la fase Buena Vista se relaciona con la fase Guadual (ca. 200–600 D.C.) de la cuenca de los ríos Santiago y Cayapas, en el norte de la costa ecuatoriana. Posteriormente, la llegada de nuevos grupos al bajo Patía se representa por asentamientos de la fase Maina datados hacia el 880 D.C., hasta, probablemente, el contacto europeo. Esta fase se caracteriza primordialmente por una industria alfarera sencilla y poco decorada en relación con la cerámica de la fase anterior. Algunos de los sitios tardíos a su vez podrían corresponder a asentamientos de grupos Sindagua que ocuparon el área al tiempo de la Conquista y la Colonia, en los siglos XVI y XVII.
The Hydraulic Hypothesis Revisited: Lake Titicaca Basin Raised Fields in Theoretical Perspective
Authors: Stanish Charles
Published: April 2006

Archaeological research over several decades has documented extensive areas of relict raised fields throughout the Americas. The existence of huge tracts of fields utilized in a context of complex political evolution has fostered a debate similar to the “hydraulic hypothesis” controversy, originated by Julian Steward and Karl Wittfogel over a generation ago. In this paper I assess recent research and offer a model that is tested with settlement and demographic data from the Juli-Pomata area of Lake Titicaca in southern Peru. The key variables of the model are differential levels of surplus production, the control of domestic labor by elite groups, and opportunistic economic strategies by the elite. The Juli-Pomata data support a causal link between complex political organization and the existence of labor-intensive raised-field systems. The simplistic explanations of the hydraulic hypothesis remain untenable, but I argue that more subtle causal relationships exist between political centralization and agricultural intensification.
Huaca de los Reyes Revisited: Clarification of the Archaeological Evidence
Authors: Pozorski Thomas
Published: April 2006

Recent publications have seriously misrepresented architectural and archaeological information concerning the important Initial Period (1800-900 B. C.) site of Huaca de los Reyes in the Moche Valley, Peru. Excavation evidence available since the mid-1970s clearly shows that most of the surface architecture at the site belongs to a single, integrated construction phase and is not the cumulative result of eight construction phases as proposed by Conklin (1985). This chronological clarification is especially significant because some Initial Period coastal mound sites are the result of only one or two large construction phases (Pozorski and Pozorski 1986), whereas others apparently contain multiple small construction phases (Burger 1992). Large-scale planning and construction imply more sophisticated levels of sociopolitical organization.
A Ceramic Perspective on the Formative to Classic Transition in Southern Veracruz, Mexico
Authors: Pool Christopher A. , Britt Georgia Mudd
Published: April 2006

For any particular historical circumstance, explanations of ceramic evolution should consider the performance characteristics of pottery vessels in their behavioral contexts, as well as the varying effects of evolutionary processes operating at different social, spatial, and temporal scales. The replacement of tempered black and differentially fired serving vessels by fine-paste wares during the Formative to Classic transition in the Sierra de los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, Mexico illustrates these points. New radiocarbon assays from the Bezuapan site document the rapidity of this transition. Evaluation of visual performance characteristics and contextual associations suggest that the Tuxtlas fine-paste tradition began as a Late Formative prestige technology. Adoption of updraft kilns in the Terminal Formative period lowered the risk of firing losses and allowed savings in paste preparation and resource procurement costs to be realized. As a result, the fine-paste tradition spread to wider segments of society, ultimately replacing earlier traditions. A volcanic eruption at the close of the Formative period and subsequent immigration of Central Mexican settlers constituted evolutionary sorting mechanisms, which perturbed general trends in ceramic evolution within a restricted area of the central Tuxtlas.
Soil Erosion, Slope Management, and Ancient Terracing in the Maya Lowlands
Authors: Dunning Nicholas P. , Beach Timothy
Published: April 2006

A puzzling aspect of Prehispanic soil erosion and sedimentation in the Maya Lowlands is the variation noted between different regions. In the Petexbatún region of Guatemala, recent investigations indicate great variation in sedimentation rates between watersheds of different sizes. In some places, soil erosion was slowed by stone terraces, possibly in conjunction with other conservation methods. A review of the surficial geology and other data on terraces from across the Maya Lowlands indicates that variations in the form and distribution of ancient agricultural terracing was probably the result of environmental variability and population pressure largely during the Late Classic period.
The Stone Ancestors: Idioms of Imperial Attire and Rank among Huari Figurines
Authors: Cook Anita G.
Published: April 2006

Two caches were recovered at Pikillacta, the largest Huari state installation (A. D. 550-1000) in the southern Andean highlands; each contained 40 richly garbed votive turquoise figurines. The figurines are analyzed in terms of their production, use, and deposition as well as their overall morphology. To the extent possible, the rank associated with the costumes worn by each figure is also considered. Reference is made to Inca apparel and its potential for interpreting Huari official garments. Because the number 40 also held special importance in Inca state organization as an administrative unit or division, the Inca example provides concepts of administration vital to the interpretation of the figurines. A more unusual source—origin myths associated with the Chimor Kingdom—supports the relation between turquoise figurines and ancestor worship. I argue that the stone figurines embody qualities and convey concepts that are central to Andean political administration, and that they are intimately tied into the web of ancestral cults through which kinship, hierarchy, and inheritance were determined.
Style, Technology, and State Production: Inka Pottery Manufacture in the Leche Valley, Peru
Authors: Hayashida Frances M.
Published: April 2006

According to historical sources, the Inka relocated groups of craft specialists to provincial centers to manufacture goods for the state. Recent fieldwork in the Leche Valley on the north coast of Peru provides insights into the organization and technology of pottery production at these centers. While Inka style jars were added to their repertories, potters continued to manufacture vessels in local styles using local techniques. These results caution against a reliance on style in identifying products made in administered contexts, and question the equivalence of style with polity in the Inka provinces. They also highlight a need to critically evaluate Inka cultural policies and the significance of subject styles in the empire.
Village Size and Permanence in Amazonia: Two Archaeological Examples from Brazil
Authors: Heckenberger Michael J. , Petersen James B. , Neves Eduardo Goés
Published: April 2006

Recent archaeological investigations along the lower Negro and upper Xingu Rivers in the Brazilian Amazon provide important new evidence bearing on long-standing debates about the size and permanence of Amerindian settlements in the region. Preliminary regional surveys and more in-depth study of selected large (30-50 ha) sites, particularly analyses of the associations between structural features, anthropogenically altered soils, and artifact distributions, lead us to conclude that large, permanent settlements, likely associated with fairly dense regional populations, existed prehistorically in both areas. These findings cast doubt on the view that environmental limitations prevented sedentism and demographic growth among Amerindian populations throughout much or all of the region. Specifically, we conclude that fully sedentary and relatively large populations emerged in a variety of Amazonian settings prehistorically, not necessarily correlated with the distribution of one or another narrowly defined ecological variable (e. g., high fertility soils). Thus, a critical evaluation of core concepts in Amazonian anthropology, such as the várzea/terra firme dichotomy or tropical forest culture, is advised.
Contested Places and Places of Contest: The Evolution of Social Power and Ceremonial Space in Prehistoric Puerto Rico
Authors: Siegel Peter E.
Published: April 2006

The evolution of social power during the ceramic age of Puerto Rico is investigated. Archaeological site plans, ethnohistoric and ethnographic accounts, and size/spatial distributions of ball courts and ceremonial plazas are investigated as they relate to political organization and leadership roles in prehistoric Puerto Rico. One of the strands linking 14 centuries of ceramicage culture in Puerto Rico is the emphasis on ceremonial space as an overtly integrative arena for the group. As the definition of the “group” evolved from a village-bound entity to a multivillage polity, the importance and elaboration of ceremonial space increased accordingly. The central argument in this paper is that politically motivated individuals accrued power by controlling the rituals and ceremonies that were of fundamental importance for maintaining and reproducing society. Rituals and ceremonies were performed in specially designated areas of communities. As access to power narrowed to specific lineages, families, or individuals, the designated community spaces became more formal in construction and location. These ceremonial spaces, referred to as ball courts and ceremonial plazas in the ethnohistoric accounts, ultimately became contested places as well as places of contest.
Polychrome Pottery and Political Strategies in Late and Terminal Classic Lowland Maya Society
Authors: LeCount Lisa J.
Published: April 2006

The analysis of decorated pottery across house mounds at the lowland Maya site of Xunantunich in Belize investigates the complex relationships between wealth, social status, and political strategies in state-level societies. Rather than using the distribution of decorated pottery as an indicator of social status, this study treats it as an independent variable and illustrates how prestige goods circulated as political currency to further political ambitions. Two social strata and the two ranks within each stratum are defined by architectural complexity and intersite location of house mounds at the Late Classic II (A. D. 670 to 790) to Terminal Classic (A. D. 790 to 1000) provincial center of Xunantunich and its nearby hamlet, San Lorenzo. During the Late Classic II phase, elaborately decorated pottery was found concentrated in elite households in the civic center, whereas during the Terminal Classic, when Xunantunich was in the process of collapse, they were found dispersed equally among all house mounds. I suggest that local elites, to maintain power, abandoned rival displays of prestige goods and attempted to consolidate community support by gifting luxury items down through the social hierarchy. This article, therefore, seeks not only to craft a clearer definition of wealth, but to build a model of when and how prestige goods function as a means to promote political strategies in state-level societies.
La Deformación Artificial en el Período Arcaíco de Arica
Authors: Cocilovo José A. , Costa-Junqueira María A.
Published: April 2006

En materiales arcaicos de Arica se descubre la existencia de distintas costumbres vinculadas con la deformación artificial de la cabeza. Dichos materiales pertenecen a los sitios Morro 1, Morro 1/6 y Morro de Arica (Uhle). Una vez realizado el diagnóstico morfoscópico se obtuvieron una serie de mediciones en 101 cráneos que fueron procesadas estadísticamente para poner a prueba las diferencias entre cráneos deformados de distintos tipo y no deformados. Se siguió un diseño tipo análisis de la varianza (ANOVA) para una vía, empleando como covariantes sexo, edad y grupo. Los resultados obtenidos permiten confirmar alteraciones en la forma del cráneo comptibles con lo que cabría esperar a partir de la aplicación de las técnicas deformatorias circular erecta, circular oblicua y tabular erecta. Con respecto a esta última se hacen consideraciones sobre la importancia de este hallazgo y sobre la antigüedad de dicha práctica cultural en el área andina.
Returning to the Source: Social Archaeology as Latin American Philosophy
Authors: Benavides O. Hugo
Published: April 2006

The following article proposes reconsidering the social archaeology paradigm as a worthwhile school of thought within Latin American philosophy. Rather than critiquing social archaeology for its supposed methodological limitations, I argue that this Latin American approach has already had an enormous contribution to the anthropological and political thought of the region. Instead of assuming that archaeology is a neutral enterprise, social archaeologists and others influenced by their ideas have already carried out important interdisciplinary and socially relevant research in the historical understanding of the past. Archaeological sites such as those of Cochasquí and Agua Blanca (among others) in Ecuador have benefitted significantly from a more refined political analysis of their histories than those routinely carried out in the positivistic paradigm of the United States. Finally, social archaeology also points to a much needed and useful link between the committed assessment of the continent"s past with the varied and important political transformation essential for the future well being of Latin America’s people.
Cultural Transformation at the Maya Postclassic Community of Laguna de On, Belize
Authors: Masson Marilyn A.
Published: April 2006

Comparisons of Late Classic (A.D. 600-900) and Early-to-Middle Postclassic (A.D. 1000-1400) settlements at Laguna de On illuminate the transformation of Maya society at the community level in the aftermath of the Classic-period collapse. Affluent subsistence production communities such as Laguna de On reflect the emergence of the village as a focal point for social, political, and economic organization at this time, a pattern that persists in the Maya Lowlands to this day. Ties with the past are observed in comparisons of Classic-to-Postclassic domestic and public architectural efforts, burial patterns, faunal remains, lithic tool production and use, and settlement strategy at Laguna de On. Although some technological and material differences are observed in household assemblages of each period, the changes are not interpreted as material reflections of population replacement or ethnic difference. Postcollapse Belize Maya community organization and domestic patterns are analyzed as scaled-down transformations of Classic-period institutions in response to altered conditions of regional demography, ecology, and political geography.
Reconsidering the Ocampo Caves and the Era of Incipient Cultivation in Mesoamerica
Authors: Smith Bruce D.
Published: April 2006

In northeastern Mexico, near Ocampo, Romero’s and Valenzuela’s caves have been central to explanations of agricultural origins in Mesoamerica for more than four decades. Along with caves in Tehuacán and Oaxaca, these "Ocampo caves" have provided almost all of the available evidence for the initial appearance of a number of key Mesoamerican crop plants, including maize, beans, and squash. This article reanalyzes the cultural and temporal context of five crop plant assemblages in the Ocampo caves: maize (Zea mays), bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria), and three species of squash (Cucurbita argyrosperma, C. moschata, C. pepo). Fifteen AMS radiocarbon dates on early domesticates both confirm the stratigraphic integrity of the two caves and substantially revise the temporal framework for initial appearance of core domesticates in northeastern Mexico, showing the transition to food production in Tamaulipas took place more recently than previously thought. A substantially foreshortened chronology for Ocampo crop plants confirms the northern periphery role of Tamaulipas in the origins of agriculture in Mexico, while also underscoring the need for establishing AMS-based archaeobotanical sequences across Mesoamerica to gain an adequate context for understanding the temporal, environmental, and cultural contexts of initial plant domestication in the region.
Tecoh, Izamal: Nobleza Indigena y Conquista Española
Authors: Cámara Luis Millet , M. Heber Ojeda , A. Vicente Suárez
Published: April 2006

Investigaciones preliminares en Tecoh, Izamal, Yucatán, sitio a donde aparentemente fue traslada la cabecera del señorío de Ah-Kin Chel, han aportado nuevas evidencias sobre los acontecimientos que afectaron a la comunidad maya durante los primeros años de la dominación española. Algunas casas construídas a la manera occidental y que pertenecieron a la nobleza indígena constituyen ejemplos relevantes de la arquitectura civil del siglo XVI en México, y ponen de manifiesto la importancia que esta clase aún mantenía en la sociedad. El temprano abandono de Tecoh, resulta de gran valor para las investigaciones, pues las construcciones coloniales sufrieron pocas modificaciones y las prehispánicas no fueron totalmente arrasadas.
Water and Land at the Ancient Maya Community of La Milpa
Authors: Scarborough Vernon L. , Becher Matthew E. , Baker Jeffrey L. , Harris Garry , Valdez Fred
Published: April 2006

The Late Preclassic to Classic period (400 B. C.-A. D. 900) Maya community of La Milpa, Belize, has recently revealed an ancient water and land-use system. As demonstrated at other southern Maya Lowland sites, the Maya created a microwatershed to store and convey water during the four months of seasonal drought. In addition to water conservation measures associated with reservoirs, deliberate channelization, diversion weirs, and postulated fields, the importance of rainy-season erosion control is indicated. Given the ancient population densities identified in the Maya area, coupled with the seasonal scarcity of water, we posit a “skill-oriented” economy.
Microwear Analysis in the Southeast Maya Lowlands: Two Case Studies at Copan, Honduras
Authors: Aoyama Kazuo
Published: April 2006

Based on the results of 267 replication experiments with obsidian, chalcedony, and agate tools conducted with a range of working materials, I have classified use-wear patterns using Keeley's high-resolution approach to establish a framework for interpretation of stone-tool use. This paper describes the results of microwear analysis of two assemblages of lithic artifacts from the late Late Classic period (A. D. 763-850) at Copán, western Honduras, and shows how the use-wear data can be interpreted within the archaeological contexts and help to investigate how ancient complex societies functioned as well as how and why they changed. Microwear analysis of chipped-stone artifacts collected in front of Structure 10L-16 and artifacts from Structure 10L-22A show clear differences between the two assemblages. In accordance with the archaeological, epigraphic, and iconographic evidence, the low use-intensity of chipped stone from the first structure could have originated from special use such as ritual, production of marine shell ornaments, etc., during the reign of Yax Pac. Marine shell craft production may have been carried out by members of the royal family or attached specialists serving the ruler. The relatively high use-intensity observable in the second assemblage may reinforce the hypothesis that the building was a Classic Maya popol na (council house) in which feasts or banquets were prepared. If this was the case, use-wear data might support epigraphic and iconographic evidence that suggests the weakening and eventual demise of centralized political authority at Copán in the ninth century.
The Misidentification of Mesoamerican Lithic Workshops
Authors: Moholy-Nagy Hattula
Published: April 2006

In Mesoamerica concentrations of stone debitage from archaeological contexts frequently are regarded as being in primary contexts and marking production loci or “workshops.”

Ethnoarchaeological observations of stone- and glass-artifact manufacture and disposal of the resulting waste indicate that in sedentary societies debitage does not remain in primary context at workshops, but rather enters secondary context when it is moved into workshop dumps. Microdebitage, which often is left in place at the production locus, appears to be the most reliable indicator of workshop location.

An awareness of ethnoarchaeological data can facilitate more plausible constructions of past behavior at different stages of the use-life trajectories of durable materials. Present evidence suggests that concentrations of stone debitage from archaeological settlements are secondary deposits and represent workshop dumps, not workshops.
Site-Planning Principles and Concepts of Directionality among the Ancient Maya
Authors: Ashmore Wendy
Published: April 2006

Many societies use architecture for symbolic expression, and often buildings or other constructions constitute maps of a culture's worldview. Archaeological identification of such ideational expressions is receiving renewed attention, in the Maya area as in many other regions. Excavations in 1988-1989 in Groups 8L-10 through 8L-12, Copán, Honduras, were designed to examine a particular model of ancient Maya site planning and spatial organization, in which the principles of architectural arrangement and their directional associations derive from Maya cosmology. This paper describes the model and its archaeological evaluation at Copán and discusses interpretive implications of the specific results obtained, in the context of other ongoing studies in epigraphy, iconography, and archaeology.
Locating the Quispisisa Obsidian Source in the Department of Ayacucho, Peru
Authors: Burger Richard L. , Glascock Michael D.
Published: April 2006

In 1999, the Quispisisa source of obsidian was located in the Province of Huanca Sancos in central Ayacucho near the village of Sacsamarca. This discovery has been confirmed at the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR) by comparing the neautron activation analyses of source samples with artifacts. The Quispisisa source of volcanic glass provided the raw material for most of the obsidian artifacts utilized in central and northern Peru throughout prehispanic times.
Excavations of Aztec Urban Houses at Yautepec, Mexico
Authors: Smith Michael E. , Heath-Smith Cynthia , Montiel Lisa
Published: April 2006

Our recent excavations at the site of Yautepec in the Mexican state of Morelos have uncovered a large set of residential structures from an Aztec city. We excavated seven houses with associated middens, as well as several middens without architecture. In this paper, we briefly review the excavations, describe each house, and summarize the nature of construction materials and methods employed. We compare the Yautepec houses with other known Aztec houses and make some preliminary inferences on the relationship between house size and wealth at the site.
Roedores Y Lagartos Como Emergentes De La Diversificacion De La Subsistencia Durante El Holoceno Tardio En Sierras De La Region Pampeana Argentina
Authors: Quintana Carlos Adrián , Valverde Federico , Mazzanti Diana Leonis
Published: April 2006

The record of a lizard (Tupinambis cf. merianae) and Caviidae rodents or “guinea pigs” (Cavia aperea and Galea tixiensis) in the archaeological sites of Cueva Tixi and Cueva El Abra, located in the hills of the Eastern Tandilia Range, Buenos Aires Province, is described. Hunter-gatherer exploitation of these species in the Pampean Region is proposed for the first time on the basis of cultural evidence. The Cueva Tixi sequence (late Pleistocene to late Holocene) has numerous remains of these species in archaeological context. Tupinambis cf. merianae was intensively exploited during the last 1,000 years in Cueva Tixi and Cueva El Abra. Arm and leg bones, vertebrae, and mandibular rami display cutmarks from lithic tools. Two Caviidae rodents were identified to the level of species on the basis of cranial remains. During the latest Holocene these rodents also display cutmarks from lithic tools, detected in mandibular rami, leg, and arm bones in the two sites. The lizard and rodents represent new small animal resources in the subsistence strategies of inhabitants of the Tandilia Range. It is proposed that the exploitation of these species occurred in the context of profound changes in subsistence strategies during the late Holocene.
Early Agriculture in the Maya Lowlands
Authors: Pohl Mary D. , Pope Kevin O. , Jones John G. , Jacob John S. , Piperno Dolores R. , deFrance Susan D. , Lentz David L. , Gifford John A. , Danforth Marie E. , Josserand J. Kathryn
Published: April 2006

Wetland research in northern Belize provides the earliest evidence for development of agriculture in the Maya Lowlands. Pollen data confirm the introduction of maize and manioc before 3000 B.C. Dramatic deforestation, beginning ca. 2500 B.C. and intensifying in wetland environments ca. 1500-1300 B.C., marks an expansion of agriculture, which occurred in the context of a mixed foraging economy. By 1000 B.C. a rise in groundwater levels led farmers to construct drainage ditches coeval with the emergence of Maya complex society ca. 1000-400 B.C. Field manipulations often involved minor modifications of natural hummocks. Canal systems are not as extensive in northern Belize as previously reported, nor is there evidence of artificially raised planting platforms. By the Classic period, wetland fields were flooded and mostly abandoned.
The Technology and Organization of Agricultural Production in the Tiwanaku State
Authors: Kolata Alan L.
Published: April 2006

Utilizing data from six seasons of field research, this article focuses on the question of the technology and social organization of intensive agricultural production in the Andean state of Tiwanaku. Recent literature in Andean archaeology and ethnohistory asserts the dominance of local kin groups in the organization of agricultural production rather than supracommunity state authority. The analysis presented here takes issue with this perspective as applied to the core territory of the Tiwanaku state during the period from ca. A. D. 400 to 1000 (Tiwanaku IV-V). I conclude that in this period: (1) the technology of Tiwanaku intensive agricultural production turned on the creation of an artificial regional hydrological regime of canals, aqueducts, and groundwater regulation articulated with massive raised-field systems, and (2) the organization of agricultural production in this core territory entailed structured, hierarchical interaction between urban and rural settlements characterized by a substantial degree of political centralization and the mobilization of labor by social principles that reached beyond simple kinship relations.
Synthesis, characterization, and antimicrobial studies of newly developed metal‐chelated epoxy resins
Authors: Nishat Nahid , Ahmad Sharif , Ahamad Tansir
Published: April 2006

A series of novel metal‐chelated epoxy resins have been synthesized by the condensation of epichlorohydrin (1‐chloro‐2, 3 epoxy propane) with bisphenolic metal chelates in alkaline medium. The bisphenolic chelates were initially prepared by the reaction of 3‐formyl‐4, 4′‐dihydroxy diphenyl methane and diamine (ethylenediamine/o‐phenylenediamine) in 1:2 molar ratio and then with Cu(II), Ni(II), and Co(II) acetate. The metal‐chelated epoxy resins were characterized by various instrumental techniques, such as elemental analysis, DSC and TGA, electronic, FTIR,1H‐NMR, and13C‐NMR spectra. The physicochemical properties, viz., epoxide equivalent weight (eq/100 g), hydroxyl value (eq/100 g), refractive index, specific gravity, and specific viscosity were measured by standard procedures. The antimicrobial activities of these chelated resins were screened againstEscherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillius subtilis(bacteria), andCandida albicans, Mucor species(yeast) by using agar well diffusion method. All the polymeric chelates show promising antimicrobial activities. Among these polymeric chelates (ERPD)‐Cu(II) shows better antimicrobial activities, which can be attributed to higher stability constant of Cu(II) chelate than others. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101: 1347–1355, 2006
Human discs large and scrib are localized at the same regions in colon mucosa and changes in their expression patterns are correlated with loss of tissue architecture during malignant progression
Authors: Gardiol Daniela , Zacchi Alberto , Petrera Francesca , Stanta Giorgio , Banks Lawrence
Published: April 2006

Loss of cell polarity is one of the hallmarks of malignant carcinomas. Most of the understanding about the link between cell polarity and proliferation control comes from studies on the Drosophila tumor suppressors discs large (Dlg), scribble (Scrib) and lethal giant larvae (lgl). Mammalian homologues of these proteins have been described and are conserved in sequence and function. Human Dlg (hDlg) and Scrib were independently shown to be down‐regulated during malignant progression. This, and other lines of evidence, points toward the participation of both hDlg and hScrib in a common pathway involved in polarity control and tumor suppression. We investigated the correlation between the expression of both proteins in tissues and their relative contributions to the maintenance of tissue architecture during colon cancer development. We analyzed the levels and distribution of hDlg and hScrib by immunohistochemistry, using serial sections of the same sample. We used normal and neoplastic colon mucosa, since it offers a good model for analyzing these features in progressive dysplastic stages. The results demonstrate that both proteins localize at the same regions in polarized colon epithelia, and that in normal samples the proteins' distribution varies as cells differentiate at the surface mucosa. In neoplasia, alterations in the expression pattern of hDlg and of hScrib increase during tumor progression; down‐regulation of both proteins being associated with lack of epithelial cell polarity and disorganized tissue architecture. The results, therefore, demonstrate that there is an inverse relationship between the levels of hDlg and hScrib expression and the loss of cell polarity and tissue architecture in the colon. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Hypermethylation of hMLH1, HPP1, p14ARF, p16INK4A and APC in primary adenocarcinomas of the small bowel
Authors: Brücher Björn L.D.M. , Geddert Helene , Langner Cord , Höfler Heinz , Fink Ulrich , R. Siewert Jörg , Sarbia Mario
Published: April 2006

Small bowel adenocarcinoma (SB‐AC) is a very rare tumor entity. Epigenetic alterations, including hypermethylation of DNA mismatch repair genes and tumor suppressor genes, seem to be important for carcinogenesis in tumors of the gastrointestinal tract, but have not yet been investigated in SB‐AC. In the current study, the prevalence of hypermethylation in a panel of genes involved in gastrointestinal carcinogenesis (hMLH1, HPP1, p14ARF, p16INK4A, APC) was determined in a series of SB‐AC. Paraffin‐embedded tumor samples from 56 patients with SB‐AC who underwent surgical resection between January 1985 and December 2003 were investigated for hypermethylation by means of methylation‐specific real‐time PCR, and compared with our findings in a previously investigated series of 50 gastric adenocarcinomas. In comparison with adenocarcinomas of the stomach, SB‐AC revealed a significantly higher rate of hypermethylation of HPP1 (86% versus 54%, p = 0.0003), p16INK4A (32% versus 10%, p = 0.0006), and a significantly lower rate of hypermethylation of APC (48% versus 84%, p = 0.0001). Hypermethylation of hMLH1 and p14ARF was present in 23% and 9% of SB‐AC, respectively. Locally advanced tumor categories (pT3/4) showed a higher rate of hypermethylation of HPP1 (90%) than did early tumor categories (pT1/2 categories, 40%; p = 0.0036). This was also reflected by the correlation between the HPP1 hypermethylation and high UICC stage (p = 0.02). No correlation was found between hypermethylation and other clinicopathologic parameters such as age, tumor grade and nodal status. Our findings suggest that hypermethylation of hMLH1, HPP1, p16INK4A and APC is frequent in primary adenocarcinomas of the small bowel. The differences in the hypermethylation spectrum of small bowel and stomach cancer indicate significant epigenetic differences between these tumors. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Extracorporeal photopheresis in children with graft‐versus‐host disease
Authors: Chan Ka Wah
Published: April 2006

Acute and chronic graft‐versus‐host disease (GVHD) are major complications after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Systemic corticosteroid is the first line of therapy but only half of the patients will respond. The management of steroid‐refractory or steroid‐dependent GVHD is challenging. Intensification of immunosuppression has been the main strategy but the response rate is not satisfactory. Furthermore, the incidence of treatment‐related toxicity and opportunistic infection is unacceptably high.Extracorporel photopheresis (ECP) has been used in the management of refractory GVHD. Retrospective analysis of the experience in adult patients showed activity in both acute and chronic GVHD. The procedure was well tolerated with minimal changes in the hematologic and biochemical parameters. However the machine currently approved is designed for patients over 40 kg of body weight. Significant fluid shift and venous access are major concerns when ECP is performed in children. Various modifications of the ECP procedure have been tried to manage patients with low body weight. Experience with ECP in children is limited but preliminary data also showed favorable response in children with resistant GVHD. Further investigations are needed to refine the optimal schedule, duration, and treatment technique for pediatric patients. J. Clin. Apheresis 21:60–64, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The NHLBI Clinical Trials Network in transfusion medicine and hemostasis: An overview
Authors: Dzik Walter H.
Published: April 2006

Transfusion Medicine is a broad discipline that affects the health care of patients from many medical disciplines. Despite the large impact of transfusion therapies on the management of patients with a variety of diseases, there are few clinical trials that evaluate the indications or the effectiveness of transfusion therapies. To respond to this need for better clinical data, the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health established a clinical trials network in Transfusion Medicine and Hemostasis. Following a competitive selection process, 17 university medical centers and a data coordinating center joined together to collaboratively address clinical questions in transfusion medicine and hemostasis. The activities, organization, and scope of the network is described below. Examples of clinical trials currently in the network “pipeline” are briefly summarized as an overview to more detailed presentations given elsewhere in this symposium. J. Clin. Apheresis 2006. 21:57–59, © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Chronic hyperglycemia modulates osteoblast gene expression through osmotic and non‐osmotic pathways
Authors: Botolin Sergiu , McCabe Laura R.
Published: April 2006

Insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM; type I) is a chronic disease stemming from little or no insulin production and elevated blood glucose levels. IDDM is associated with osteoporosis and increased fracture rates. The mechanisms underlying IDDM associated bone loss are not known. Previously we demonstrated that osteoblasts exhibit a response to acute (1 and 24 h) hyperglycemia and hyperosmolality. Here we examined the influence of chronic hyperglycemia (30 mM) and its associated hyperosmolality on osteoblast phenotype. Our findings demonstrate that osteoblasts respond to chronic hyperglycemia through modulated gene expression. Specifically, chronic hyperglycemia increases alkaline phosphatase activity and expression and decreases osteocalcin, MMP‐13, VEGF and GAPDH expression. Of these genes, only MMP‐13 mRNA levels exhibit a similar suppression in response to hyperosmotic conditions (mannitol treatment). Acute hyperglycemia for a 48‐h period was also capable of inducing alkaline phosphatase and suppressing osteocalcin, MMP‐13, VEGF, and GAPDH expression in differentiated osteoblasts. This suggests that acute responses in differentiated cells are maintained chronically. In addition, hyperglycemic and hyperosmotic conditions increased PPARγ2 expression, although this increase reached significance only in 21 days chronic glucose treated cultures. Given that osteocalcin is suppressed and PPARγ2 expression is increased in type I diabetic mouse model bones, these findings suggest that diabetes‐associated hyperglycemia may modulate osteoblast gene expression, function and bone formation and thereby contribute to type I diabetic bone loss. J. Cell. Biochem. 99: 411–424, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
On the efficient evaluation of Fourier patterns for nanoparticles and clusters
Authors: Cervellino Antonio , Giannini Cinzia , Guagliardi Antonietta
Published: April 2006

Samples made of an isotropically oriented ensemble of atomic clusters or structures that are not large crystals (i.e. extended less than 10 periods in each direction) are at the frontier of today's material science and chemistry. Examples are nanoparticles, nanotubes, amorphous matter, polymers, and macromolecules in suspension. For such systems the computation of powder diffraction patterns (which may provide an efficient characterization) is to be performed the hard way, by summing contributions from each atom pair. This work deals with performing such computation in the most practical and efficient way. Three main points are developed: how to encode the enormous array of interatomic distances (which increase as the square or higher powers of the cluster diameter) to a much smaller array of equispaced values on a coarse grid (whose size increases linearly with the diameter); how to perform a fast computation of the diffraction pattern from this equispaced grid; how to optimize the grid step to obtain an arbitrarily small error on the computed diffraction pattern. Theory and examples are jointly developed and presented. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 27: 995–1008, 2006
Human subcutaneous adipose cells support complete differentiation but not self‐renewal of hematopoietic progenitors
Authors: Corre Jill , Barreau Corinne , Cousin Beatrice , Chavoin Jean‐Pierre , Caton David , Fournial Gerard , Penicaud Luc , Casteilla Louis , Laharrague Patrick
Published: April 2006

Adipose tissue is now considered as an endocrine organ implicated in energy regulation, inflammation and immune response, and as a source of multipotent cells with a broad range of differentiation capacities. Some of these cells are of a mesenchymal type which can—like their bone marrow (BM) counterpart—support hematopoiesis, since in a previous study we were able to reconstitute lethally irradiated mice by cells isolated from adipose tissue. In the present study, we established that cells derived from the stroma‐vascular fraction of human subcutaneous fat pads support the complete differentiation of hematopoietic progenitors into myeloid and B lymphoid cells. However, these cells are unable to maintain the survival and self‐renewal of hematopoietic stem cells. These features, similar to those of BM adipocytes, are the opposite of those of other cell types derived from mesenchymal progenitors such as BM myofibroblasts or osteoblasts. Because it is abundant and accessible, adipose tissue could be a convenient source of cells for the short‐term reconstitution of hematopoiesis in man. J. Cell. Physiol. 208: 282–288, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The evolution of immune mechanisms
Authors: Danilova Nadia
Published: April 2006

From early on in evolution, organisms have had to protect themselves from pathogens. Mechanisms for discriminating “self” from “non‐self” evolved to accomplish this task, launching a long history of host–pathogen co‐evolution. Evolution of mechanisms of immune defense has resulted in a variety of strategies. Even unicellular organisms have rich arsenals of mechanisms for protection, such as restriction endonucleases, antimicrobial peptides, and RNA interference.

In multicellular organisms, specialized immune cells have evolved, capable of recognition, phagocytosis, and killing of foreign cells as well as removing their own cells changed by damage, senescence, infection, or cancer. Additional humoral factors, such as the complement cascade, have developed that co‐operate with cellular immunity in fighting infection and maintaining homeostasis. Defensive mechanisms based on germline‐encoded receptors constitute a system known as innate immunity. In jaw vertebrates, this system is supplemented with a second system, adaptive immunity, which in contrast to innate immunity is based on diversification of immune receptors and on immunological memory in each individual.

Usually, each newly evolved defense mechanism did not replace the previous one, but supplemented it, resulting in a layered structure of the immune system. The immune system is not one system but rather a sophisticated network of various defensive mechanisms operating on different levels, ranging from mechanisms common for every cell in the body to specialized immune cells and responses at the level of the whole organism. Adaptive changes in pathogens have shaped the evolution of the immune system at all levels. J. Exp. Zool. (Mol. Dev. Evol.) 306B, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Acrolein‐mediated mechanisms of neuronal death
Authors: Liu‐Snyder Peishan , McNally Helen , Shi Riyi , Borgens Richard Ben
Published: April 2006

It is well known that traumatic injury in the central nervous system can be viewed as a primary injury and a secondary injury. Increases in oxidative stress lead to breakdown of membrane lipids (lipid peroxidation) during secondary injury. Acrolein, an alpha,beta‐unsaturated aldehyde, together with other aldehydes, increases as a result of self‐propagating lipid peroxidation. Historically, most research on the pathology of secondary injury has focused on reactive oxygen species (ROS) rather than lipid peroxidation products. Little is known about the toxicology and cell death mediated by these aldehydes. In this study, we investigated and characterized certain features of cell death induced by acrolein on PC12 cells as well as cells from dorsal root ganglion (DRG) and sympathetic ganglion in vitro. In the companion paper, we evaluated a possible means to interfere with this toxicity by application of a compound that can bind to and inactivate acrolein. Here we use both light and atomic force microscopy to study cell morphology after exposure to acrolein. Administration of 100 μM acrolein caused a dramatic change in cell morphology as early as 4 hr. Cytoskeletal structures significantly deteriorated after exposure to 100 μM acrolein as demonstrated by fluorescence microscopy, whereas calpain activity increased significantly at this concentration. Cell viability assays indicated significant cell death with 100 μM acrolein by 4 hr. Caspase 3 activity and DNA fragmentation assays were performed and supported the notion that 100 μM acrolein induced PC12 cell death by the mechanism of necrosis, not apoptosis. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Language ability and adjustment: Western expatriates in China
Authors: Selmer Jan
Published: April 2006

Although the standard of English proficiency is rising in China, using English in conversations with Chinese host nationals may be difficult. Therefore, proficiency in the Chinese language may promote the adjustment of foreign business expatriates in China. To test this proposition, a mail survey was directed to Western business expatriates assigned to China. Controlling for the time expatriates had spent in China, results showed that their language ability had a positive association with their sociocultural adjustment. Not surprisingly, this positive relationship was strongest for interaction adjustment and weakest for work adjustment. The straightforward implications of these clear findings are discussed in detail. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Patent protection and foreign direct investment
Authors: Seyoum Belay
Published: April 2006

The importance of development and use of products embodying intellectual property rights has increased dramatically. The growing share of knowledge‐intensive products in worldwide trade, together with the increase in international technological competition, has magnified the importance of patents and other forms of intellectual property. The objective of this study is to examine the effect of patent protection on inward foreign direct investment (FDI). It also examines the relative importance of other variables such as market size, trade orientation, unemployment rates, and so on. The findings are supportive of the fact that the level of patent protection is a strong determinant of investment flows. A proper understanding of this relationship will help firms and governments devise appropriate intellectual property policy to encourage the growth and expansion of FDI. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.