bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Elián González and the ‘‘Real Cuba’’ of Miami: Visions of Identity, Exceptionality, and Divinity
Authors: Guerra Lillian
Published: January 2008

This essay explores the signiﬁcance and meaning of the international custody battle forged between Miami Cubans and the government of Fidel Castro over six-year-old Elián González, one of only three survivors of a boat loaded with fourteen other Cubans that capsized at sea in late November 1999. It argues that the massive legal and political campaign launched by exile leaders in Miami to prevent Elián from being returned to his father in Cuba dramatized the creation and growth of what many Miami Cubans understand to be the ‘‘real Cuba’’ in the United States. Critical to this vision of the ‘‘real Cuba’’ are two related myths of Cuban exceptionality. Articulated today by exile leaders for their own ends but conceived by powerful, founding groups of exiles who arrived in Miami in the 1960s, these myths posit U.S. Cubans as uniquely entitled to special treatment from the U.S. government and as uniquely qualiﬁed to defend the interests of democracy and anticommunism better than any non-Cuban U.S. citizen and even better than the U.S. government itself. Using popular mobilizations of Miami Cubans around Elián as a window on the political and ideological underpinnings of these myths, this essay also suggests that the ‘‘real Cuba’’ of Miami has, as the case of Elián showed, little legitimacy or resonance with island Cubans, today or in the post-Fidel age. Resumen Este ensayo examina la importancia y el sentido de la batalla internacional entre los cubanos de Miami y el gobierno de Fidel Castro por la custodia del niño de seis años Elián González. Elían González fue uno de los tres sobrevivientes de un bote que transportaba a otros catorce cubanos y que naufragó a ﬁnales de Noviembre de 1999. El mismo argumenta que la masiva campaña legal y política lanzada por los lideres del exilio de Miami para evitar que Elián fuera devuelto a su padre en Cuba puso en escena la estructura y la existencia de lo que muchos cubanos de Miami entienden como la ‘‘Cuba real’’ en Estados Unidos. Al centro de esta visión de la ‘‘Cuba real’’ de Miami están los dos mitos relacionados con la excepcionalidad cubana. Articulados hoy en día por lideres del exilio para servir sus propósitos, pero creados por grupos poderosos de patrocinadores exiliados que llegaron a Miami en los sesenta, estos mitos ratiﬁcaron a los cubanos de Estados Unidos como excepcionalmente investidos de un tratamiento especial de parte del gobierno estadounidense y excepcionalmente caliﬁcados para defender los intereses de la democracia y el anticomunismo mejor que cualquier otro ciudadano americano no cubano y mejor aún que el propio gobierno de Estados Unidos. Usando las movilizaciones populares de los cubanos de Miami alrededor de Elián como una ventana hacia los elementos políticos e ideológicos que sostienen estos mitos, este ensayo también sugiere que la ‘‘Cuba real’’ de Miami tiene, como el caso de Elián mostró, poca legitimidad o resonancia entre los cubanos de la isla tanto hoy como en la era posFidel.
Algunas reflexiones en torno a la película Alicia en el pueblo de Maravillas
Authors: Redruello Campos Laura
Published: January 2008

Resumen Este artículo estudia la polémica mantenida entre los intelectuales y el gobierno cubano con motivo de la prohibición de la película Alicia en el pueblo de Maravillas (1991), una parodia del cuento infantil ‘‘Alicia en el pueblo de las Maravillas’’ convertida en sátira de la realidad cubana de los años noventa. La película, dirigida por Daniel Díaz Torres en 1991, fue producida por el Instituto Cubano de Arte e Industria Cinematografía (ICAIC), y aunque los círculos intelectuales la encontraron en su mayoría acertada y de gran interés crítico, los dirigentes del Partido la estimaron inapropiada para su proyección. No obstante la película se exhibió durante tres días, después de que las autoridades determinaran terminar con la autonomía de la entidad cinematográﬁca que la produjo, el ICAIC, al ordenar su fusión con otras entidades audiovisuales de menor reputación artística. Aunque la razón que se dio para el cierre del ICAIC fue de índole económica, lo cierto es que los intelectuales cubanos interpretaron esta medida como una reacción directa a la realización de la controvertida película. A través de varios testimonios de los directores implicados en esta polémica, este artículo trata de adentrarse en el intenso debate ideológico que, con motivo de la película, mantuvo el gobierno cubano con los intelectuales en lucha por consolidar una cultura crítica en Cuba. This article studies the development of the dispute between the Cuban government and the intellectual community instigated by the ﬁlm Alicia en el pueblo de Maravillas (1991), a parody of the childrens’ story Alice in Wonderland, and a bitter satire of Cuban life under socialism. The ﬁlm, directed by Daniel Díaz Torres, was produced by the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry or ICAIC (Instituto Cubano de Arte e Industria Cinematográﬁca). The ﬁlm caused a great stir and was privately debated among intellectual circles, the majority of whom found it to be apt and useful—never counterrevolutionary. The ofﬁcial reaction, by contrast, was ﬁerce. The ﬁlm was exhibited in public for an incredibly brief three days after the decision to fuse the ICAIC with other, smaller organizations of lesser artistic repute, ﬁnishing with its autonomy as an independent institution. Although the reasons given for the closure had to do with the economic crisis, the Cuban intellectual community suspected that the true causes were to be found in the hostility which had emerged between the authorities and representatives of the ICAIC in the wake of the screening of Alicia en el pueblo de Maravillas. Through several testimonies of the involved ones in this polemic, this study immerses in the intense ideological debate between the Cuban government and the intellectual community in its anxious search for a consolidation of the critical cultures at play on the island.
José Ángel Buesa y la impopularidad del éxito
Authors: Pérez Firmat Gustavo
Published: January 2008

Resumen Tan querido por sus lectores como vituperado por la crítica, José Ángel Buesa (1910– 1982) pertenece a un club exclusivísmo: el de los poetas que escriben best-sellers. Su poemario más conocido, Oasis, publicado en La Habana en 1943 y reeditado numerosas veces, es sin duda uno de los libros de poesía más leídos en Hispanoamérica, superado en popularidad tal vez sólo por los Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada (1924), de Pablo Neruda. Sin embargo, la crítica casi no se ha ocupado de la poesía de Buesa, y la ha descartado por su sencillez y sentimentalismo. Mediante una lectura de sus dos poemas más conocidos, ‘‘Poema del renunciamiento’’ y ‘‘Poema de la despedida,’’ este trabajo se propone demostrar que detrás de la tan mentada ‘‘cursilería’’ de Buesa se oculta una práctica de escritura mucho más complicada de lo que se ha pensado. En contra de lo que usualmente se dice, los mejores momentos de Buesa no se producen cuando se aleja de la poesía del sentimiento, sino cuando la cultiva desembarazadamente. Su logro, su hallazgo, es haber sabido crear una amplia comunidad de lectores mediante la expresión de lo que llamó ‘‘emociones compartibles’’ en un lenguaje llano, que no le pone trabas a la comprensión, pero que tampoco está exento de artiﬁcio, o más bien, de arte. Beloved by his readers but disdained by critics, José Ángel Buesa (1910–1982) belongs to an exclusive club: that of poets who write best-sellers. Originally published in Havana in 1943 and reprinted countless times, his Oasis is one of the most widely read books of poetry in Spanish America, surpassed in popularity perhaps only by Pablo Neruda’s Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada (1924). Nonetheless, scholars of Spanish-American poetry have paid scant attention to Buesa’s work, dismissing it as sentimental and simple-minded. Through a discussion of his two best-known poems, ‘‘Poema del renunciamiento’’ and ‘‘Poema de la despedida,’’ this essay seeks to show that, in spite of his alleged cursilería, Buesa’s best moments occur not when he distances himself from the poetry of feeling, but when he embraces it. His achievement is having found the means to express what he called ‘‘shareable emotions’’ in a language that, though plain and accessible, is not only artful but artistic.
Las corrientes liberales habaneras a través de las publicaciones periódicas de la primera mitad del siglo xix
Authors: Aguilera Manzano José María
Published: January 2008

Resumen El objetivo de este artículo es investigar el origen de las distintas corrientes liberales que surgieron en La Habana en la primera mitad del siglo xix, cuando se estaba produciendo el tránsito del Antiguo Régimen al liberalismo en el Imperio español, y para ello la prensa es un instrumento muy útil. A través de su estudio llegaremos a varias conclusiones: la primera es que, con el tiempo, se fueron constituyendo varias facciones ideológicas que construyeron proyectos de identidad distintos. Una de ellas, encabezada por Claudio Martínez de Pinillos y Ramón de la Sagra, defendió el liberalismo centralista peninsular, que reducía a la isla a la categoría de colonia. Frente a ella, Domingo del Monte se puso al frente de un grupo partidario del liberalismo autonomista. Cada facción estaba compuesta por individuos de procedencia diversa, peninsular, americana y de la propia isla, y con el paso del tiempo se fueron fragmentando. Además, los distintos proyectos culturales no estuvieron plenamente armados desde un principio sino que se fueron negociando y modiﬁcando a lo largo del tiempo. The aim of this article is to research the origins of the different liberal currents that developed in Havana during the ﬁrst half of the nineteenth century. During the transition from Ancien Régime to liberalism the press became a very useful instrument of propaganda. Through a study of the press we will come to several conclusions. Not the least of these is that several ideological factions were building different projects of identity at the same time. One of these, led by Claudio Martínez de Pinillos and Ramón de la Sagra, defended centralist peninsular liberalism, which reduced the island of Cuba to the category of a colony. Domingo del Monte, instead, led a group in favour of liberal autonomy. Each of the two factions was formed of individuals coming from different backgrounds—peninsular, Latin American, and from the island. As time went by, however, these groups fragmented. In addition, the different cultural projects were not set in stone, but were instead negotiated and modiﬁed over time.
School Milk in Britain, 1900–1934
Authors: Atkins Peter
Published: January 2008

It seems to be generally accepted that school meals played a small but important role in the creation of conceptual and practical space for the first green shoots of the modern welfare state, and that their provision, no matter how modest at the outset, therefore represented a major departure in the history of social policy. As Bentley Gilbert notes: “The passage of the Education (Provision of Meals) Act of 1906, and the Education (Administrative Provisions) Act of 1907, establishing medical inspection in State schools, marked the beginning of the construction of the welfare state. For the historian, feeding was the more important measure, not because it was wider in scope or more beneficial, but simply because it occurred first.” Thus the Liberal party's reforming administration of 1906–14 began with legislation on free school meals and school medical inspection. According to Pat Thane, this “was the first extension from the field of schooling into that of welfare of the principle that a publicly financed benefit could be granted to those in need, free both of charge and of the disabilities associated with the Poor Law,” and Charles Webster suggests that “the foundations were laid for the principle of providing publicly funded welfare benefits for an entire class of recipient without the imposition of the kind of limitations traditionally imposed under the Poor Law.” In more general terms, Ulla Gustafsson has asserted that school meals “inform our understanding of the relationship between the state, the family and children.”
O Libertarian, Where Is Thy Sting?
Authors: Burns Jennifer
Published: January 2008

With the 2008 Democratic National Convention slated for Denver, the libertarian concerns of Western voters, denizens of the so-called purple states, are suddenly of high interest. Pundits and commentators see in the “live and let live” ethos of the West a chance for the Democracy to reshape its faltering coalition and enter the twenty-first century rejuvenated and strong. Ryan Sager, a critic from the right, notes that from the Democratic perspective, “the West looks abundant with opportunities. And the same might be said of a long-neglected, long-suffering political demographic: libertarians.” This optimism in part underlay the party's choice of Denver over the traditional Democratic bastion of New York. Colorado is often identified as a libertarian-leaning state, and it was where the Libertarian Party was founded. But what exactly is libertarianism?
Richard Nixon and the Desegregation of Southern Schools
Authors: Davies Gareth
Published: January 2008

Scholars assessing Richard Nixon's contribution to the desegregation of Southern schools have often been unimpressed. His biographer Stephen Ambrose concedes that there was some White House contribution, but observes that “Nixon had to be hauled kicking and screaming into desegregation on a meaningful scale, and he did what he did not because it was right but because he had no choice.” The political scientist Michael Genovese concurs, telling us that Nixon sought to “withdraw the federal government from its efforts at desegregation.” A recent civil rights dictionary concludes that this was “the first successful presidential candidate to be opposed to civil rights enforcement,” adding that “many of his tactics thwarted the furthering of school desegregation.” The noted civil rights historian, William Chafe, meanwhile, contends that “Nixon repeatedly demonstrated his commitment to the politics of polarization”; “continued to embrace” southern evasions that “had been invalidated by the Supreme Court”; and used “the power of the presidency to delay, if not halt completely, federally imposed school desegregation.” And Kevin O'Reilly, in an overview of presidential leadership on civil rights, finds the 37th president to have been essentially indistinguishable from the race-baiting George Wallace. Nixon resented the Alabamian, he reveals, because “he wanted the gutter all to himself.” Considering a number of contenders, he concludes that “school desegregation emerged as the administration's most important and enduring (anti)civil rights crusade.”
The First Social Policy: Alcohol Control and Modernity in Policy Studies
Authors: Schrad Mark Lawrence
Published: January 2008

From modest beginnings in the systematic analysis of social insurance programs of advanced, industrialized countries, the scope of social policy studies has expanded to encompass myriad programs that seek to mitigate potential risks to employment, income, and economic security.1 At the same time, historical interest on policy development has extended back further in time to contextualize the otherwise excessive concentration on social policy developments of the twentieth century.2 Yet, as the boundaries of epistemology broaden, there remains a curious tendency among policy historians to maintain that what they are studying are the origins ofmodernsocial policies.3 Perhaps this focus on modernity is the outgrowth of a perceived need to have such research remain relevant to contemporary social policy debates. Whatever the reason, it does raise the question–What makes a social policymodern?4 To assume that particular social policies aremodernsuggests that there may be social policies that are not. Do there indeed exist social policies that might be thought of aspremodern?If so, do such premodern social policies differ from modern ones not only in terms of particular historical epochs but also in terms of more-substantive distinctions?
Songs about entertainment: self-praise and self-mockery in the American musical
Authors: Garber Michael G
Published: January 2008

Songs about entertainment, such as There's No Business Like Show Business (Annie Get Your Gun, 1946), abound in the American musical from at least the late 1890s, and they reveal important aspects of the genre. Jane Feuer notes the self-praise in such songs, as well as the nostalgia
for past entertainment traditions. In addition, however, musicals feature a strong, heretofore neglected propensity towards satire of a wide range of artistic culture. Specifically, the American musical is frequently self-mocking. Parody, burlesque, and irony are long-standing conventions
of the genre; and they imply a sophisticated reception process that encourages a sense of community. This paper illustrates these tendencies by analyzing songs about entertainment dating from both the mid-century period so often dubbed the Golden Age of the American Musical and also, crucially,
from the formative decades of the early twentieth century that are frequently neglected in critical analyses of the genre.
Remembering and re-membering: Sondheim, the waltz, and A Little Night Music
Authors: Swayne Steve
Published: January 2008

In its early years, the waltz scandalized people because of the intimacy required to execute the dance. This, in turn, has given the waltz its stance among dances as the emblem of togetherness, romance, longing and nostalgia. Sondheim upsets this middle-European view of the waltz, first,
by relying mostly on French variants of the dance, and second, by using the waltz as a sign of decoupling and separation. Nowhere is this clearer than in his 1973 musical A Little Night Music. Sondheim's reinterpretation of the waltz is obscured when commentators equate the dance with
its metrical components, and Sondheim spoke against such reductive strategies. This article similarly argues for an abandonment of the term waltz musical not only in recognition of the presence of other dance topoi skilfully deployed by Sondheim but also in appreciation for how the
waltz itself has been re-scandalized in Sondheim's works.
Beyond Jumping the Shark: the new television musical
Authors: Lodge Mary Jo
Published: January 2008

This article explores the recent musical episodes of television series, among them ones from Xena: Warrior Princess, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and particularly Scrubs, in order to develop a greater understanding of the uniquely modern television musical episode. By examining
the ways in which music, heightened reality and camp aesthetics are used in the musical episodes of the three series, the article explores why these three recent episodes have succeeded in a landscape dominated by both critically and popularly panned musical television episodes and failed
musical series like Cop Rock and Viva Laughlin.
Book Reviews
Authors: Colton Lisa , Schopf Jane , Symonds Dominic , Pritchard Arthur , Macpherson Ben , Mehler Charles Eliot , Havelkov Tereza
Published: January 2008

Synopsis of Vocal Musick by A.B. Philo-Mus, Music Theory in Britain, 15001700: Critical Editions, edited and with an introduction by Rebecca Herissone, (2006)Aldershot: Ashgate, 223 pp., ISBN-13 978-0-7546-3505-5, ISBN-10 0-7546-3505-8 (hbk), 55.00.

Mallarm and Wagner: Music and Poetic Language, Heath Lees, (2007)Aldershot: Ashgate, 286 pp., ISBN-13 978-0-754-65809-2, ISBN-10 075-4-65809-0, (hbk), 55.00

Lady in the Dark: Biography of a Musical, bruce d. mcclung, (2007)Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, xxi 274 pp., ISBN-13 978-0-19-512012-7 (hbk), 19.99

The American Musical and the Formation of National Identity, Raymond Knapp, (2005)Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 362 pp., ISBN-10 0-691-11864-7 (hbk), ISBN-13 978-0-691-12613-5 (pbk), 12.95

The American Musical and the Performance of Personal Identity, Raymond Knapp, (2006)Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 470 pp., ISBN-13 978-0-691-12524-4, ISBN-10 0-691-12524-4 (hbk), 23.95

The Musical World of Boublil and Schnberg,Margaret Vermette,(2006)New York: Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, xiv 345 pp., ISBN 978-1-55783-715-8 (pbk), US$19.95

The Megamusical, Profiles in Popular Music, Jessica Sternfeld, (2006)Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 441pp., ISBN-13 978-0-253-34793-0, ISBN-10 0-253-34793-9 (hbk), 17.99

The Music of Mauricio Kagel, Bjrn Heile, (2006)Aldershot: Ashgate, 209 pp., ISBN-13 978-0-7546-3523-9, ISBN-10 0-7546-3523-6 (hbk), 50.00
Posttranscriptional gene regulation by RNA-binding proteins during oxidative stress: implications for cellular senescence
Authors: Abdelmohsen Kotb , Kuwano Yuki , Kim Hyeon Ho , Gorospe Myriam
Published: January 2008

To respond adequately to oxidative stress, mammalian cells elicit rapid and tightly controlled changes in gene expression patterns. Besides alterations in the subsets of transcribed genes, two posttranscriptional processes prominently influence the oxidant-triggered gene expression programs: mRNA turnover and translation. Here, we review recent progress in our knowledge of theturnover andtranslationregulatory (TTR) mRNA-bindingproteins (RBPs) that influence gene expression in response to oxidative damage. Specifically, we identify oxidant damage-regulated mRNAs that are targets of TTR-RBPs, we review the oxidant-triggered signaling pathways that govern TTR-RBP function, and we examine emerging evidence that TTR-RBP activity is altered with senescence and aging. Given the potent influence of TTR-RBPs upon oxidant-regulated gene expression profiles, we propose that the senescence-associated changes in TTR-RBPs directly contribute to the impaired responses to oxidant damage that characterize cellular senescence and advancing age.
Studies on the expression of 6S RNA from E. coli: involvement of regulators important for stress and growth adaptation
Authors: Neußer Thomas , Gildehaus Nina , Wurm Reinhild , Wagner Rolf
Published: January 2008

The small bacterial 6S RNA has been recognized as a transcriptional regulator, facilitating the transition from exponential to stationary growth phase by preferentially inhibiting Eσ70 RNA polymerase holoenzyme transcription. Consistent with this function, the cellular concentration of 6S RNA increases with stationary phase. We have studied the underlying mechanisms responsible for the growth phase-dependent differences in 6S RNA concentration. To this aim, we have analyzed the effects of the typical bacterial growth phase and stress regulators FIS, H-NS, LRP and StpA on 6S RNA expression. Measurements of 6S RNA accumulation in strains deficient in each one of these proteins support their contribution as potential regulators. Specific binding of the four proteins to DNA fragments containing 6S RNA promoters was demonstrated by gel retardation and DNase I footprinting. Moreover, in vitro transcription analysis with both RNA polymerase holoenzymes, Eσ70 and Eσ38, demonstrated a direct inhibition of 6S RNA transcription by H-NS, StpA and LRP, while FIS seems to act as a dual regulator. In vitro transcription in the presence of ppGpp indicates that 6S RNA promoters are not stringently regulated. Our results underline that regulation of 6S RNA transcription depends on a complex network, involving a set of bacterial regulators with general importance in the adaptation to changing growth conditions.
New biological activity against phospholipase A2 by Turmerin, a protein from Curcuma longa L.
Authors: Chethankumar Mukunda , Srinivas Leela
Published: January 2008

Turmerin is a protein from Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) with a relative molecular mass of 14 kDa. The protein inhibits the enzymatic activity and neutralises the pharmacological properties, such as cytotoxicity, oedema and myotoxicity of multitoxic phospholipase A2 (NV-PLA2) of cobra (Naja naja) venom at a 1:2.5 molar ratio of NV-PLA2:Turmerin. A Lineweaver-Burk plot indicates that Turmerin follows a linear mixed type of inhibition.
Kinetic properties of cathepsin D and BACE 1 indicate the need to search for additional β-secretase candidate(s)
Authors: Schechter Israel , Ziv Etty
Published: January 2008

Many studies suggest that BACE 1 is the genuine β-secretase; however, this is not undisputed. The wild-type (WT) β-site of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) present in the worldwide population is cleaved very slowly (k
cat/K
m: approx. 50 m
-1 s-1), while proteases acting on relevant substrates are much more efficient (k
cat/K
m: 104–106 m
-1 s-1). Knock-out of BACE 1 in mouse markedly reduces Aβ formation. Nevertheless, studies in other systems show that knock-out experiments in rodents and corresponding genetic defects in human may reveal different phenotypes. Considering these issues, we searched for other β-secretase candidate(s), identified cathepsin D, and evaluated properties of cathepsin D related to BACE 1 that were not examined previously. The kinetic constants (k
cat, K
m, k
cat/K
m) for cleaving peptides with β-sites of the WT or the mutated Swedish families (SW) APP by human BACE 1 and cathepsin D were determined and found to be similar. Western blots reveal that in human brain cathepsin D is approximately 280-fold more abundant than BACE 1. Furthermore, pepstatin A strongly inhibits the cleavage of SW and WT peptides by both brain extracts and cathepsin D, but not by BACE 1. These findings indicate that β-secretase activity observed in brain extracts is mainly due to cathepsin D. Nevertheless, as both BACE 1 and cathepsin D show poor activity towards the WT β-site sequence, it is necessary to continue the search for additional β-secretase candidate(s).
Regulation of the expression of components of the exocytotic machinery of insulin-secreting cells by microRNAs
Authors: Lovis Pascal , Gattesco Sonia , Regazzi Romano
Published: January 2008

Fine-tuning of insulin secretion from pancreatic β-cells participates in blood glucose homeostasis. Defects in this process can lead to chronic hyperglycemia and diabetes mellitus. Several proteins controlling insulin exocytosis have been identified, but the mechanisms regulating their expression remain poorly understood. Here, we show that two non-coding microRNAs, miR124a and miR96, modulate the expression of proteins involved in insulin exocytosis and affect secretion of the β-cell line MIN6B1. miR124a increases the levels of SNAP25, Rab3A and synapsin-1A and decreases those of Rab27A and Noc2. Inhibition of Rab27A expression is mediated by direct binding to the 3′-untranslated region of Rab27A mRNA. The effect on the other genes is indirect and linked to changes in mRNA levels. Over-expression of miR124a leads to exaggerated hormone release under basal conditions and a reduction in glucose-induced secretion. miR96 increases mRNA and protein levels of granuphilin, a negative modulator of insulin exocytosis, and decreases the expression of Noc2, resulting in lower capacity of MIN6B1 cells to respond to secretagogues. Our data identify miR124a and miR96 as novel regulators of the expression of proteins playing a critical role in insulin exocytosis and in the release of other hormones and neurotransmitters.
Modulation of longevity-associated genes by estrogens or phytoestrogens
Authors: Viña Jose , Sastre Juan , Pallardó Federico V. , Gambini Juan , Borrás Consuelo
Published: January 2008

Females live longer than males. We have shown that the higher levels of estrogens in females protect them against aging, by up-regulating the expression of antioxidant, longevity-related genes, such as that of selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and Mn-superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD). Both estradiol and genistein (the most abundant phytoestrogen in soybeans) share chemical properties which confer antioxidant features to these compounds. However, the low concentration of estrogens and phytoestrogens make it unlikely that they exhibit significant antioxidant capacity in the organism. Physiological concentrations of estrogens and nutritionally relevant concentrations of genistein activate the MAP kinase pathway. These, in turn, activate the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway. Activation of NF-κB by estrogens subsequently activates the expression of Mn-SOD and GPx, but genistein is only capable of activating Mn-SOD expression. This could be due to the fact that genistein binds preferably to estrogen receptor β. The antioxidant protection is reflected in the lower peroxide levels found in cells treated with estrogens or phytoestrogens when compared with controls. The challenge for the future is to find molecules that have the beneficial effects of estradiol, but without its feminizing effects. Phytoestrogens or phytoestrogen-related molecules may be good candidates to meet this challenge.
Klotho as a regulator of oxidative stress and senescence
Authors: Kuro-o Makoto
Published: January 2008

The klotho gene functions as an aging-suppressor gene that extends life span when overexpressed and accelerates aging-like phenotypes when disrupted in mice. The klotho gene encodes a single-pass transmembrane protein that binds to multiple fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptors and functions as a co-receptor for FGF23, a bone-derived hormone that suppresses phosphate reabsorption and vitamin D biosynthesis in the kidney. In addition, the extracellular domain of Klotho protein is shed and secreted, potentially functioning as a humoral factor. The secreted Klotho protein can regulate multiple growth factor signaling pathways, including insulin/IGF-1 and Wnt, and the activity of multiple ion channels. Klotho protein also protects cells and tissues from oxidative stress, yet the precise mechanism underlying these activities remains to be determined. Thus, understanding of Klotho protein function is expected to provide new insights into the molecular basis for aging, phosphate/vitamin D metabolism, cancer and stem cell biology.
nestor: Network of Expertise in Long-term Storage of Digital Resources. A Digital Preservation Initiative for Germany
Authors: Dobratz Susanne , Neuroth Heike
Published: January 2008

Sponsored by the German Ministry of Education and Research with funding of 800.000 EURO, the German Network of Expertise in long-term storage of digital resources (
National Digital Preservation Initiatives: An Overview of Developments in Australia, France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom and of Related International Activity Commissioned for and sponsored by the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program, Library of Congress
Authors: Brown Heather
Published: January 2008

Neil Beagrie's report gives an overview of some key international developments in digital preservation, selected because of their potential relevance to the U. S. National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program. The study focuses on major programs in four countries – Australia, France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom – and systematically describes each program's national context, institutional and national initiatives, international initiatives and planned/future international activities. It also describes some key multinational initiatives such as the Open Archival Information System and Preservation Technology for European Broadcast Archives.
Wild-Type But Not FAD Mutant Presenilin-1 Prevents Neuronal Degeneration by Promoting Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase Neuroprotective Signaling
Authors: Baki Lia , Neve Rachael L. , Shao Zhiping , Shioi Junichi , Georgakopoulos Anastasios , Robakis Nikolaos K
Published: January 2008

The role of presenilin-1 (PS1) in neuronal phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling was investigated in primary neuronal cultures from wild-type (WT) and PS1 null (PS1−/−) embryonic mouse brains. Here we show that in PS1−/− cultures, the onset of neuronal maturation coincides with a decrease in the PI3K-dependent phosphorylation-activation of Akt and phosphorylation-inactivation of glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3). Mature PS1−/− neurons show increased activation of apoptotic caspase-3 and progressive degeneration preceded by dendritic retraction. Expression of exogenous WT PS1 or constitutively active Akt in PS1−/− neurons stimulates PI3K signaling and suppresses both caspase-3 activity and dendrite retraction. The survival effects of PS1 are sensitive to inhibitors of PI3K kinase but insensitive to γ-secretase inhibitors. Familial Alzheimer disease (FAD) mutations suppress the ability of PS1 to promote PI3K/AKT signaling, prevent phosphorylation/inactivation of GSK-3 and promote activation of caspase-3. These mutation effects are reversed upon coexpression of constitutively active Akt. Together, our data indicate that the neuroprotective role of PS1 depends on its ability to activate the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway and that PS1 FAD mutations increase GSK-3 activity and promote neuronal apoptosis by inhibiting the function of PS1 in this pathway. These observations suggest that stimulation of PI3K/Akt signaling may be beneficial to FAD patients.
The Structure of Motives*
Authors: Perinbanayagam R.S.
Published: January 2008

It is argued that decisions are processes that occur in the ordinary course of a human life and that actions taken in life, when they are not habitual, follow such decisions. Decisions are undertaken in the framework of socially validated identities and are accompanied by vocabularies of motive which serve to guide action as well as to justify them. How then are these decisions reached? These decisions are reached, it is argued, by using various objective structures and three cases—Astrology in Ceylon, the Cuban Missile crisis and the Azande Oracles are used to support this claim and to propose a dialectical and interactionist theory of the relationship between actor and motives. The availability of such objective structures allows an actor to use them to legitimize his lines of action as well as to justify them in any future challenges.
Conceptual and Methodological Issues in the Study of Role‐taking Accuracy
Authors: Sherohman James
Published: January 2008

An attempt is made to point out and clear up some of the major conceptual and methodological issues in the study of role‐taking accuracy. Three conceptual issues are discussed: the relationship between roles and role‐taking, the distinction between role‐taking and related concepts such as empathy and sympathy, and the distinction between role‐taking accuracy and role‐taking ability. Methodological criticisms by Cronbach and others of the type of measure that is typically used to measure role‐taking accuracy are reviewed and evaluated. It is concluded that these criticisms pertain mainly to the measurement of role‐taking ability and empathy, and not to the measurement of role‐taking accuracy.
The Intcractionist Study Of Social Organization: A Note On Method*
Authors: Denzin Norman K.
Published: January 2008

A symbolic interactionist approach to the study of social organizations is specified. Materials are drawn from an on‐going investigation of the American liquor industry, which is treated as a fragmented organization. The core actors, activities and interactional locales of the industry are identified. The problems of establishing a historical baseline for a case study are discussed, as are the problems of confronting archival data, locating informants, and establishing interactive linkages. The stages in writing a case history of an organization are presented and illustrated with examples drawn from the American liquor industry.
Political Activist As Participant Observer: Conflicts Of Commitment In A Study Of The Draft Resistance Movement Of The 1960's*
Authors: Thome Barrie
Published: January 2008

In studying the draft resistance movement of the 1960's the author combined sociological observation with active and politically committed participation in the movement. The resulting conflicts of loyalty were rooted in basic characteristics of the movement, and of field research as a way of being in and experiencing the world. There were conflicts between political and research goals in daily decisions about how to allocate time and energy, and in larger choices about whether to take risks and to more fully join the community of fate of the movement. The role of researcher became a retreat, expressing limits to involvement and risk‐taking, and providing a point of outside leverage which full participants lacked. The movement's ways of defining and interpreting experience ran counter to the more detached and routihizing perspectives of sociology. Conflicts between being a committed participant and an observing sociologist culminated in a sense of betraying the movement, and raised basic questions about uses, organization, and types of knowledge.
A Dramaturgical Analysis Of Movement Accommodation: Building Idiosyncrasy Credit As A Movement Mobilization Strategy*
Authors: Snow David A.
Published: January 2008

Addressed in this paper are two problems that have received little empirical attention in the social movement literature: the problem of outward‐reaching strategies and tactics and the problem of movement adaptation and accommodation to its environment of operation. The paper sheds some empirical and theoretical light on these two problems by examining how a contemporary religious movement in America has strategically sought to establish a viable, accommodative relationship with the larger society by attempting to render itself respectable and legitimate in the public eye. The findings suggest that movement accommodation might be best understood as an outward‐reaching strategy aimed at securing “idiosyncrasy credit”—which is conceptualized as a movement‐related resource that has the property of allowing a certain amount of idiosyncratic behavior or nonconformity.
THE IMPACT OF INVESTIGATOR PERCEPTIONS OF VICTIM LEGITIMACY ON THE PROCESSING OF RAPE/SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES*
Authors: Rose Vicki McNickle , Randall Susan Carol
Published: January 2008

This analysis of 610 reports of rape/sexual assault, collected during six months of intensive field research within a metropolitan police department, addresses the issue of differential handling of such reports by police investigators. Their attributions of “relative legitimacy” to cases and victims are analyzed in the light of information items contained in the offense reports completed by patrol officers. Victim credibility, victim consent, offense seriousness, and victim characteristics are among the factors taken into account by the investigators as they assess rape/sexual assault cases and victims for the purpose of making dispositionary decisions. The likelihood of a case being actively pursued is discussed in terms of the tendency of investigators to classify cases along a continuum from “real” rapes to “deals”.
ACCOUNTS AS ASSEMBLED FROM BREACHING EXPERIMENTS*
Authors: Gregory Stanford W.
Published: January 2008

A good deal of recent sociological literature has been involved with statements and explanations of the so‐called “breaching experiments” or “incongruity procedures” originally introduced to sociological literature by Harold Garfinkel in his article “A Conception of, and Experiments with, ‘Trust’ as a Condition of Stable Concerted Actions.” The recent literature has essentially explained the breaching experiments as demonstrations of a means of eliciting social order through the disruption of taken‐for‐granted realities. An area, however, which has not been explained is the mental state of the persons who voluntarily involve themselves in these breachings. Persons who do these experiments almost unanimously remark that conducting these breachings creates anxiety and dread for them. Although there are numerous occasions in everyday life when persons find themselves in untoward positions, the breaching experiment can be used as a method of creating experimenter anxiety which is localized and pinpointed in such a way that it can be researched. This paper produces a sociological explanation of this breaching experiment anxiety. It offers therefore some insights into the influence of social situations on individuals' mental states, as well as a better understanding of the social dynamics behind the accounts people provide to explain their behavior.
Taking on the Role of Doctor: A Dramaturgical Analysis of Professionalization*
Authors: Haas Jack , Shaffir William
Published: January 2008

This paper applies dramaturgical analysis to the study of professional socialization in an innovative medical school. Using concepts from the theater, professionalization is seen as critically involving performances before legitimating audiences. The data were collected by means of participant observation and interviews of a cohort of students as they proceeded through the professionalizing career.

Good acting demands that you are convincing in your part. The audience must be willing to take part in a ritual, in which you represent, say, Hamlet. You must be able to sustain this representation convincingly: that is to say, you must consistently satisfy the audience's imagination and never outrage its acceptance of the fact that yours is a convincing, or consistently credible, Hamlet,…or whatever character you are impersonating (Guthrie, 1971:11).
Telephone Troubles: Interactional Breakdown and its Management by Stutterers and Their Listeners*
Authors: Petrunik Michael
Published: January 2008

While both face‐to‐face and telephone interaction involve problems of management for stutterers and their listeners, the absence of visual cues in telephone talk poses special problems which can lead to interactional breakdown. These problems are accentuated by factors such as an individual's pattern of stuttering and adaptations to stuttering, the awareness context in which interaction takes place, and the nature of the relationship between the speakers. The author's sociological perspective goes beyond the clinical perspective of speech pathology in helping to understand the interactional and identity troubles of stutterers. His analysis also shows how both stutterers' breaches of conversational norms and the practices used to remedy these breaches illuminate taken‐for‐granted expectations in telephone interaction.
A Self‐Image Inventory: Its Theoretical Background, Reliability and Validity*
Authors: Kinch John , Falk R. Frank , Anderson Donna
Published: January 2008

Wylie (1974) points out that there is a lack of adequate theoretical development in the investigation of the self‐concept. The result is a proliferation of operational definitions with no clear understanding of the relationship between operations, between constructs, and between the constructs and their operationalizations.

In this article we make explicit the theoretical component of self to which this Self‐image Inventory relates. The article presents the inventory and twenty years of research experience with it. The inventory is found to be both reliable and valid for measuring the self‐image as a role specific component of self.
Realism in Organizational Theory: A Reassessment*
Authors: Keeley Michael
Published: January 2008

Among organizational theorists, the old debate concerning the reality of social groups has been largely settled in favor of a realist position, which portrays organizations as natural entities that have many of the properties of living beings. I argue in this article that an alternative, interactionist view has been too lightly regarded as a general framework for organizational analysis. This view is defended on descriptive grounds, and its normative advantages are discussed.
DIVINATORY DISCOURSE*
Authors: Jorgensen Danny L.
Published: January 2008

Using data from an ethnographic study oftarot divination, occult claims to knowledge are analyzed and interpreted. Attention is focused on theproceduresparties to occult divination employ to claim and sustain what they regard as extraordinary knowledge. This view of occult knowledge stands opposed to efforts to discredit occult claims as unscientific or the result of psychosocial conditions like deprivation and marginality. Like knowledge in general, occult knowledge is a product of sociohistorical influences, interactional negotiation, and interpretation. The challenge for sociology therefore is the pursuit of the social interactional and historical processes whereby knowledge and interpretation are accomplished in everyday life.
Deviance, Rule‐Breaking and Male Dominance in Conversation
Authors: Orcutt James D. , Harvey Lynn Kenneth
Published: January 2008

Previous research on dyadic interaction indicates that cross‐sex conversations (male‐female) are characterized by more frequent interruptions than same‐sex conversations. More specifically, males consistently tend to interrupt their female co‐conversationalists. Survey data from three student samples suggest that normative definitions reflected in perceptions of interruption are inconsistent with the empirical distribution of rule‐breaking observed by conversational researchers. These results provide some strategic insights into the problematic distinction between deviance and rule‐breaking that has been central to labeling theory.
The Mainstream of Consciousness: An Interactions Analysis of a Phenomenological Concept*
Authors: Sharron Avery
Published: January 2008

William James' concept of a personal “stream of consciousness” was carried in a phenomenological direction by Alfred Schutz, who showed that people create their individual and interpersonal reality through selective attention to one another. This idea is discussed here from a symbolic‐interactionist standpoint, wherein the various “streams” become one “mainstream” of social thought, consciousness and action. Fundamental concepts of interpretive sociology such as the self, meaningful objects, interpersonal encounters and relations, and social reality, are examined through observations of a jazz ensemble during rehearsals, using James' original ideas and their further development by Schutz.
The War Game: Organizational Scripting and the Expression of Emotion*
Authors: Zurcher Louis A.
Published: January 2008

The War Game, a military Reserve exercise, was examined by participant observation and informal interviews in order to illustrate the effect of an organization's scripting of emotion upon its members and to demonstrate the facility of dramaturgical analysis to incorporate micro‐interactional and macro‐organizational factors in the study of emotion. The findings are summarized as suggesting a dramaturgical/mesostructural view of emotional expression in organizational settings. The frame includes organizational scripting (macro), specifics of the immediate situation (meso), interactions among the actors (micro), and actors' resultant formulations for emotional expression.
Emotion as Lived Experience*
Authors: Denzin Norman K.
Published: January 2008

The place of the lived body in emotional experience is examined. Four layers, or levels, of lived‐emotion are identified: (1) sensible feelings, (2) feelings of the lived body, (3) intentional value‐feelings, (4) feelings of the self or the moral person. An account of lived emotionality given by James Joyce is analyzed. The importance of a phenomenological and interactionist view of self, emotionality and social experience is indicated.
Universal Expressive Needs: A Critique and a Theory*
Authors: Scheff Thomas J.
Published: January 2008

This article proposes a theory of expressive needs common to all human beings, which grow out of biologically based “coarse emotions”: grief, fear, anger, shame, joy, and love‐attachment. In order to locate the new theory within the framework of existing thought on the relation between culture and biology, I classify, in a provisional way, the major theorists as belonging to one of the following schools of thought: instinctivist, culturist, or humanist. The weakness of each of these positions is outlined, and the way the new theory corrects the weaknesses is described.