bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Identification of paraoxonase 3 in rat liver microsomes: purification and biochemical properties
Authors: RODRIGO Lourdes , GIL Fernando , HERNANDEZ Antonio F. , LOPEZ Olga , PLA Antonio
Published: November 2003

Three paraoxonase genes (PON1, PON2 and PON3) have been described so far in mammals. Although considerable information is available regarding PON1, little is known about PON2 and PON3. PON3 has been isolated recently from rabbit serum [Draganov, Stetson, Watson, Billecke and La Du (2000) J. Biol. Chem. 275, 33435–33442] and liver [Ozols (1999) Biochem. J. 338, 265–275]. In the present study, we have identified the presence of PON3 in rat liver microsomes and a method for the purification to homogeneity is presented. PON3 has been purified 177-fold to apparent homogeneity with a final specific activity of 461 units/mg using a method consisting of seven steps: solubilization of the microsomal fraction, hydroxyapatite adsorption, chromatography on DEAE–Sepharose CL-6B, non-specific affinity chromatography on Cibacron Blue 3GA, two DEAE-cellulose steps and a final affinity chromatography on concanavalin A–Sepharose. SDS/PAGE of the final preparation indicated a single protein-staining band with an apparent molecular mass of 43 kDa. The isolated protein was identified by nanoelectrospray MS. Internal amino acid sequences of several peptides were determined and compared with those of human, rabbit and mouse PON3, showing a high similarity. Some biochemical properties of PON3 were also studied, including optimum pH, Km and heat and pH stability.
A tobacco (Nicotiana tabaccum) calmodulin-binding protein kinase, NtCBK2, is regulated differentially by calmodulin isoforms
Authors: HUA Wei , LIANG Shuping , LU Ying-Tang
Published: November 2003

A calcium (Ca2+)/calmodulin (CaM)-binding protein kinase (CBK) from tobacco (Nicotiana tabaccum), NtCBK2, has been characterized molecularly and biochemically. NtCBK2 has all 11 conserved subdomains of the kinase-catalytic domain and a CaM-binding site as shown by other kinases, including Ca2+-dependent protein kinase and chimaeric Ca2+/CaM-dependent protein kinases. However, this kinase does not contain an EF-hand motif for Ca2+ binding, and its activity was not regulated by Ca2+. Whereas NtCBK2 phosphorylated both itself and other substrates, such as histone IIIS and syntide-2, in a Ca2+/CaM-independent manner, as also shown by OsCBK, a CaM-binding protein kinase from rice (Oryza sativa), the kinase activity of NtCBK2 was greatly stimulated by Ca2+/CaM, whereas that of OsCBK was not. By molecular dissection analyses, the CaM-binding domain of NtCBK2 has been localized in a stretch of 30 amino acid residues at residue positions 431–460 as a 1-5-10 protein motif. Three tobacco CaM isoforms (NtCaM1, NtCaM3 and NtCaM13) used in the present study have been shown to bind to NtCBK2, but with different dissociation constants (Kds), as follows: NtCaM1, 55.7 nM; NtCaM3, 25.4 nM; and NtCaM13, 19.8 nM, indicating that NtCBK2 has a higher affinity for NtCaM3 and NtCaM13 than for NtCaM1. The enzymic activity of NtCBK2 was also modulated differently by various CaM isoforms. Whereas the phosphorylation activity of NtCBK2 was shown by assay to be enhanced only ≈2–3-fold by the presence of NtCaM1, the activity could be amplified up to 8–9-fold by NtCaM3 or 10–11-fold by NtCaM13, suggesting that NtCaM3 and NtCaM13 are better activators than NtCaM1 for NtCBK2.
Thimet oligopeptidase expression is differentially regulated in neuroendocrine and spermatid cell lines by transcription factor binding to SRY (sex-determining region Y), CAAT and CREB (cAMP-response-element-binding protein) promoter consensus sequences
Authors: MORRISON Lesley S. , PIEROTTI Adrian R.
Published: November 2003

The zinc metalloprotease thimet oligopeptidase (EP24.15) is found predominantly in the neuroendocrine–gonadal axis where it is implicated in the processing of bioactive peptides, including GnRH (gonadotropin-releasing hormone), β-neoendorphin, α-neoendorphin and dynorphin(1–8), the progression of spermatogenesis and the normal clearance of β-amyloid in brain cells. Regulation of the enzyme's activity may occur in part by phosphorylation and redox disruption of intermolecular disulphide bridges. The elevated levels of both EP24.15 activity and mRNA within testicular and neuroendocrine tissues indicate that EP24.15 gene expression is differentially regulated. In the present paper, we present a detailed analysis of the rat EP24.15 promoter region previously isolated and partially characterized in this laboratory. Employing site-directed mutagenesis to create a series of promoter deletions and full-length promoter mutants, and measuring their activity in luciferase reporter gene and electrophoretic mobility-shift assays, we have shown that the transcription of the EP24.15 gene is differentially regulated in neuroendocrine and spermatid cell lines by transcription factor binding to SRY (sex-determining region Y), CAAT and CREB (cAMP-response-element-binding protein) promoter consensus sequences. The key to identifying the in vivo role of thimet oligopeptidase is likely to be found within the mechanisms by which it is regulated, and it is therefore of particular significance that EP24.15 expression is regulated by SRY and CREB/CREM (cAMP-response element modulator), the principle testes-determining protein and the major orchestrator of spermatogenesis respectively.
Colicins, spermine and cephalosporins: a competitive interaction with the OmpF eyelet
Authors: BREDIN Jérôme , SIMONET Valérie , IYER Ramkumar , DELCOUR Anne H. , PAGÈS Jean-Marie
Published: November 2003

The L3 loop is an important feature of the OmpF porin structure, contributing to both channel size and electrostatic properties. Colicins A and N, spermine, and antibiotics that use OmpF to penetrate the cell, were used to investigate the structure–function relationships of L3. Spermine was found to protect efficiently cells expressing wild-type OmpF from colicin action. Among other solutes, sugars had minor effects on colicin A activity, whereas competitions between colicin A and antibiotic fluxes were observed. Among the antibiotics tested, cefepime appeared the most efficient. Escherichia coli cells expressing various OmpF proteins mutated in the eyelet were tested for their susceptibility to colicin A, and resistant strains were found only among L3 mutants. Mutations at residues 119 and 120 were the most effective at conferring resistance to colicin A, probably due to epitope structure alteration, as revealed by a specific antipeptide. More detailed information was obtained on mutants D113A and D121A, by focusing on the kinetics of colicin A and colicin N activities through measurements of potassium efflux. D113 appeared to play an essential role for colicin A activity, whereas colicin N activity was more dependent on D121 than on D113.
Differential modulation of glucocorticoid action by FK506 in A549 cells
Authors: CROXTALL Jamie D. , PAUL-CLARK Mark , van HAL Peter Th. W.
Published: November 2003

Glucocorticoids inhibit the release of eicosanoid pro-inflammatory mediators. The immunosuppressant FK506 is known to enhance many aspects of glucocorticoid action. In the present study we show that FK506 (1 μM or 10 μM) inhibits the release of arachidonic acid and prostaglandin E2 from A549 cells and also inhibits their proliferation. Simultaneous treatment of FK506 together with the glucocorticoids dexamethasone, methyl-prednisolone, fluticasone or mometasone (10 nM) enhances the growth inhibitory effect of these steroids. Furthermore, the simultaneous use of FK506 and these glucocorticoids similarly results in enhanced inhibition of arachidonic acid release. When pretreated for 2 h, FK506 enhances glucocorticoid inhibition of COX2 (cyclo-oxygenase 2) expression. However, when administered simultaneously, FK506 blocks glucocorticoid inhibition of COX2 expression. Nuclear uptake of glucocorticoid receptors mediated by glucocorticoids is also blocked by the simultaneous administration of FK506. These results suggest that the effect of simultaneous treatment of FK506 with glucocorticoids differs significantly from that where pre-treatment of the immunosuppressant is used. Recently, immunophilin interchange has been identified as a first step in glucocorticoid receptor activation following ligand activation. We show here that the FKB51 (FK506-binding protein 51)–FKB52 switch is differentially regulated by glucocorticoid and FK506 treatment strategy.
Mutational epitope analysis of Pru av 1 and Api g 1, the major allergens of cherry (Prunus avium) and celery (Apium graveolens): correlating IgE reactivity with three-dimensional structure
Authors: NEUDECKER Philipp , LEHMANN Katrin , NERKAMP Jörg , HAASE Tanja , WANGORSCH Andrea , FÖTISCH Kay , HOFFMANN Silke , RÖSCH Paul , VIETHS Stefan , SCHEURER Stephan
Published: November 2003

Birch pollinosis is often accompanied by adverse reactions to food due to pollen-allergen specific IgE cross-reacting with homologous food allergens. The tertiary structure of Pru av 1, the major cherry (Prunus avium) allergen, for example, is nearly identical with Bet v 1, the major birch (Betula verrucosa) pollen allergen. In order to define cross-reactive IgE epitopes, we generated and analysed mutants of Pru av 1 and Api g 1.0101, the major celery (Apium graveolens) allergen, by immunoblotting, EAST (enzyme allergosorbent test), CD and NMR spectroscopy. The mutation of Glu45 to Trp45 in the P-loop region, a known IgE epitope of Bet v 1, significantly reduced IgE binding to Pru av 1 in a subgroup of cherry-allergic patients. The backbone conformation of Pru av 1 wild-type is conserved in the three-dimensional structure of Pru av 1 Trp45, demonstrating that the side chain of Glu45 is involved in a cross-reactive IgE epitope. Accordingly, for a subgroup of celery-allergic patients, IgE binding to the homologous celery allergen Api g 1.0101 was enhanced by the mutation of Lys44 to Glu. The almost complete loss of IgE reactivity to the Pru av 1 Pro112 mutant is due to disruption of its tertiary structure. Neither the mutation Ala112 nor deletion of the C-terminal residues 155–159 influenced IgE binding to Pru av 1. In conclusion, the structure of the P-loop partially explains the cross-reactivity pattern, and modulation of IgE-binding by site-directed mutagenesis is a promising approach to develop hypo-allergenic variants for patient-tailored specific immunotherapy.
Regulation of interleukin-3-induced substrate phosphorylation and cell survival by SHP-2 (Src-homology protein tyrosine phosphatase 2)
Authors: WHEADON Helen , EDMEAD Christine , WELHAM Melanie J.
Published: November 2003

The cytosolic SHP-2 (Src homology protein tyrosine phosphatase 2) has previously been implicated in IL-3 (interleukin-3) signalling [Bone, Dechert, Jirik, Schrader and Welham (1997) J. Biol. Chem. 272, 14470 –14476; Craddock and Welham (1997) J. Biol. Chem. 272, 29281–29289; Welham, Dechert, Leslie, Jirik and Schrader (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269, 23764–23768; Qu, Nguyen, Chen and Feng (2001) Blood 97, 911–914]. To investigate the role of SHP-2 in IL-3 signalling in greater detail, we have inducibly expressed WT (wild-type) or two potentially substrate-trapping mutant forms of SHP-2, generated by mutation of Asp-425 to Ala (D425A) or Cyst-459 to Ser (C459S), in IL-3-dependent BaF/3 cells. Effects on IL-3-induced tyrosine phosphorylation, signal transduction and functional responses were examined. Expression of C459S SHP-2 protected the β-chain of the murine IL-3R (IL-3 receptor), the adaptor protein Gab2 (Grb2-associated binder 2), and a cytosolic protein of 48 kDa from tyrosine dephosphorylation, consistent with them being bona fide substrates of SHP-2 in IL-3 signalling. The tyrosine phosphorylation of a 135 kDa transmembrane protein was also protected upon expression of C459S SHP-2. We have identified the inhibitory immunoreceptor PECAM-1 (platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1)/CD31 (cluster determinant 31) as a component of this 135 kDa substrate and also show that IL-3 can induce tyrosine phosphorylation of PECAM-1. Expression of WT, C459S and D425A forms of SHP-2 had little effect on IL-3-driven proliferation or STAT5 (signal transduction and activators of transcription) phosphorylation or activation of protein kinase B. However, expression of WT SHP-2 increased ERK (extracellular-signal-regulated kinase) activation. Interestingly, expression of C459S SHP-2 decreased ERK activation at later times after IL-3 stimulation, but potentiated IL-3-induced activation of Jun N-terminal kinases. In addition, expression of C459S SHP-2 decreased cell survival in suboptimal IL-3 and upon IL-3 withdrawal. These findings indicate that SHP-2 plays an important role in mediating the anti-apoptotic effect of IL-3 and raises the possibility that PECAM-1 participates in the modulation of cytokine-induced signals.
Gaining Access to Housing in Germany: The Foreign-minority Experience
Authors: Drever Anita I. , Clark William A. V.
Published: November 2003

Housing is a critical component of household well-being and the extent to which minority households have achieved parity with Germans is a measure of the extent to which this population is integrated into the larger German society. Specifically, we examine whether the housing conditions for immigrants improved between 1985 and 1998 despite the greater barriers to upward mobility for low-skill workers arising from industrial restructuring.1 We use regression models to determine the degree to which socioeconomic differences between the two populations account for variations in the average quality of their housing. Finally, given the low number of vacancies in the German housing market and the disadvantaged position of minorities within it, we are interested in measuring the magnitude of the improvements persons of foreign origin are able to make through residential mobility. Our descriptive analyses reveal that, although housing conditions for minorities have improved in absolute terms across a wide array of indicators, only in a few instances has the housing quality gap between Germans and persons of foreign origin narrowed. Further, we find that the housing conditions of minorities remained poorer even after controlling for variables thought to be strong predictors of housing quality (income, age, family size, etc.). Finally, persons of foreign origin are becoming increasingly likely to move into the large, often geographically and socially isolated, apartment complexes built in the post-World War II era.
The Negotiated City Image: Symbolic Reproduction and Change through Urban Consumption
Authors: Jansson Andre
Published: November 2003

The article presents an analysis of how consumption contributes to the continuous negotiation between locality, market dynamics and image-creation in a metropolitan area. Approaching consumption in terms of encoding and decoding processes, the aim is to stress both how the city is objectively created and how it is interpreted. Focusing upon the principal distinctions between dominant, oppositional and negotiated modes of consumption, the article illuminates the symbolic struggle that permeates urban development. The findings underscore the self-generating character of contemporary urban image-making. The empirical study combines quantitative and qualitative data: a Swedish market survey and an interview study from Goteborg, Sweden.
Heterogeneity in Asian American Home-ownership: The Impact of Household Endowments and Immigrant Status
Authors: Painter Gary , Yang Lihong , Yu Zhou
Published: November 2003

Recently, research has begun to investigate the reasons for differences in homeownership rates between Asians and Whites. This paper extends this research by examining the heterogeneity that exists across Asian groups in the US. We find that there are important differences across geographical area, across time and across groups in the importance of various factors that influence the likelihood of owning a home. After controlling for household mobility and other socioeconomic characteristics, we find that most Asian groups have home-ownership rates similar to those of Whites, but that Chinese households have home-ownership rates 20 percentage points higher than their household characteristics would predict. In part, this may be due to differences in support unmeasured in the data, but future research is needed to fully understand the source of this differential.
'Social Mixing' and the Management of Disadvantaged Neighbourhoods: The Dutch Policy of Urban Restructuring Revisited
Authors: Uitermark Justus
Published: November 2003

The Dutch government currently pursues a comprehensive and ambitious policy of 'social mixing' in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. The second section of this paper suggests that it has as yet not been adequately explained why the Dutch government pursues this so-called restructuring policy. The third section develops an approach derived from regulation theory that potentially helps to decipher the forces behind the Dutch restructuring policy. It is argued that planning practices and discourses should be analysed in relation to the dynamics of the regulatory framework in which they are embedded. The remainder of the paper uses this approach to give an alternative account of the Dutch restructuring policy, suggesting that it represents an attempt to facilitate the social management of disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Thus, it serves to mitigate the social effects of the problematic integration of ethnic minorities and facilitates a national city-oriented growth strategy.
Economic and Social Status in Household Decision-making: Evidence Relating to Extended Family Mobility
Authors: Chang Chin-Oh , Chen Shu-Mei , Somerville Tsur
Published: November 2003

Models of the allocation of household resources use as a decision rule either the maximisation of a household utility function or the solution to a Nash-bargaining game. The literature on residential mobility has exclusively used the former to analyse the household's decision to change location. This is despite the strong empirical evidence that allocations in other areas are more consistent with the bargaining model. In this paper micro-data from Taipei, Taiwan, are used to determine which approach is most appropriate for studying housing mobility decisions. The mobility decisions of nuclear and different types of extended family household are compared to test whether the social and economic roles of different generations affect the household decision process, as is consistent with the bargaining approach. Thus, household mobility is analysed with a richer description of household structure than is found in the current literature, which implicitly treats households as either a nuclear family or some smaller unit. The results support the bargaining model of household decision-making. Conditional probabilities differ between nuclear and extended families, when a member of the eldest generation in an extended household is the household head, and when a member of the eldest generation contributes to household earnings. Of these, it is found that economic status is paramount to social status.
Paying for Good Neighbours: Estimating the Value of an Implied Educated Community
Authors: Gibbons Steve
Published: November 2003

By definition, spillovers across households in residential communities mean that people incur costs from living in neighbourhoods where a high proportion of households suffer deprivation, regardless of their own economic circumstances. To verify the existence of intracommunity spillovers, this paper shows that home-owners in England and Wales are prepared to pay a substantial premium to avoid educationally poor neighbourhoods. An increase of 1 per cent in the proportion of higher-educated residents in a community, relative to the regional mean, increases prices by 0.24 per cent. One interpretation of this educational elasticity is that it estimates the social benefits of education in the local community. A hedonic approach is used, paying careful attention to the endogeneity of neighbourhood characteristics in a property price model.
Trial and Error in Privatisation: Experiences in Urban Solid Waste Collection in Accra (Ghana) and Hyderabad (India)
Authors: Post Johan , Broekema Jaap , Obirih-Opareh Nelson
Published: November 2003

Although privatisation policies have become extremely popular all over the developing world, there is still only scanty empirical evidence concerning the strengths and weaknesses of different organisational arrangements in service provision or concerning the overall impact of privatisation policies in specific sectors. In this paper, the socioeconomic performance of private modes of solid waste collection are contrasted with that of public modes of service delivery, using material from two different cities, Accra and Hyderabad. Although the forms of privatisation are quite distinct, there are a number of striking similarities in outcome. At the same time, the two cases demonstrate clearly that the dynamics of privatisation policies can only be understood within their particular societal context.
Developments in Urban Housing and Property Markets
Authors: Gibb Kenneth , Hoesli Martin
Published: November 2003

Real estate, encompassing housing, land and commercial property, is a key driver of the urban economy-in terms of economic development, the distribution of opportunities across space and through the evolution of the local built environment. Certain aspects of real estate research are not directly related to urban issues but, through finance and investment decisions, for instance, they do have a major bearing on our towns and cities. Thus, a Review Issue on urban real estate is timely and important. This paper both introduces and provides an assessment of the articles within this Review Issue. First, the paper sets the issue in its wider context. Secondly, it then pulls out the main themes from each contribution before elaborating on the cross-cutting themes that emerge from the collected papers taken together. The final main section outlines a forward-looking research agenda for real estate analysis.
Markets and the Structure of the Housebuilding Industry: An International Perspective
Authors: Ball Michael
Published: November 2003

This paper sets out to examine why the modern housebuilding industry is organised in the ways it is and to identify some implications for the wider operation of housing markets. It concentrates on advanced economies and the impacts of market conditions, regulatory constraints, production characteristics, institutional structures and land supply. Widespread differences occur across countries in the ways in which housebuilding is institutionally structured. It is argued that these differences are generally explicable in economic terms and that regulatory practices determine much of the variation.
Globalisation and Housing Finance Systems in Advanced and Transition Economies
Authors: Stephens Mark
Published: November 2003

'Globalisation' is only the most recent manifestation of convergence theory. This article shows how distinctive housing finance systems in the advanced economies contribute to distinctive housing systems with important social and economic implications. It also suggests that the evidence from the European Union confirms what can be derived from a priori reasoning: that mobility of finance does not alter the nationally based components of the wider housing finance system. Hence, even huge changes in the nature of intermediaries fail to alter the fundamental nature of the mortgage product. Combined with lack of any evidence to suggest that government support for home-ownership is in general or irreversible retreat, it is suggested that the former socialist 'transition' countries have considerably more opportunity to shape their housing finance systems than might be suggested by convergence theory.
Financing Property's Contribution to Regeneration
Authors: Adair Alastair , Berry Jim , McGreal Stanley
Published: November 2003

Attracting investment and finance into inner-city and other renewal areas poses particular difficulties and is frequently reliant on strong public-sector commitment through special incentives or other mechanisms to provide the conditions to lever private-sector activity. This paper initially links the concept of market failure and the rationale for regeneration and examines policy responses from UK, European and US perspectives, followed by a consideration of public- and private-sector financing approaches. International perspectives draw particularly upon the use of tax-based mechanisms in regeneration—notably, those used in the US. In the European context, the paper highlights implications for regeneration stemming from the interpretation of State Aid rules and competition policy. Conclusions reflect upon the complexity of regeneration and the importance of the different stakeholders within the regeneration process.
Local Politics and the Demand for Public Education
Authors: Colburn Christopher B. , Horowitz John B.
Published: November 2003

This paper expands on the school finance literature by using a political fragmentation index to calculate how political power affects educational spending in Virginia, USA. The methodology allows the comparison of different political voices relative to each other and the consideration of the role of the distribution of political power. Political fragmentation is considered across several different dimensions, including race, age, income and political parties. Using a demand for local public goods model, it is found that, along with traditional demand variables, the interest-group pressures dominated by the primary beneficiaries (teachers and students) increase educational spending while higher income and a larger percentage of African-Americans in the population reduce educational spending.
The Demise of Afghanistan’s Jewish Community and the Soviet Refugee Crisis (1932–1936)
Authors: Koplik Sara
Published: November 2003

The Modern Jewish Community in Afghanistan was Shaped by the Exigencies of long-distance trade. Jewish merchants along with their Hindu and Muslim counterparts provided goods to remote regions and tribes. Often these traders would be the only ones allowed into disputed areas, as they were considered neutral. Jewish merchants in particular also acted as intermediaries to help nomadic groups settle conflicts peaceably. In order to fill this economic role, unusual domestic arrangements developed. Men would depart alone for long periods of time from Herat, the center of the Jewish community in Afghanistan, as the journey was generally too risky for an entire family to undertake. After traveling the long caravan routes, they would live in Jewish caravanserais for much of the year, generally returning for the holidays of the month of Tishri and for Passover.
Power, Rules of the Game and the Limits to Knowledge Management: Lessons from Japan and Anglo-Saxon Alarms
Authors: Clegg Stewart , Ray Tim
Published: November 2003

Much of the Knowledge Management (KM) literature assumes that all relevant knowledge can be represented as information and 'managed'. But the meaning of information is always context-specific and open to subsequent reinterpretation. Moving over time or between contexts affords scope for new meanings to emerge. Making sense of information signals (speech, body language, tone-of-voice or whatever)--Aand the absence of such signals--Ainvolves dimensions of individual and collective tacit knowledge that are frequently misrepresented or ignored in mainstream KM. By relating power and knowledge to 'rules of the game', it is possible to consider how the contexts in which information is rendered meaningful are bounded, as well as crucially related in the stretch between macro-level processes and micro-level practices. In the knowledge debate, Japan stands as a counterfactual to Anglo-Saxon expectations about formal rules, liberal individualism and market-rational entrepreneurship. While seminal accounts of knowledge creation in Japanese companies impelled the West towards KM, there has been no corresponding KM-boom in Japan. Our interpretation of the processes by which Japanese and Anglo-Saxon practices are situated suggests that KM is limited by the separation of knowledge from power and information from meaning.
Cultural Dimensions of Website Design and Content
Authors: Zhao Wenyong , Massey Brian , Murphy Jamie , Fang Liu
Published: November 2003

The proposition that the technology of the Internet and Web offers a basis for culturally-neutral, computer-mediated communication was tested through a content analysis of 100 Mainland Chinese and American websites. It was found that the tools of the Internet and Web were neither fully neutral nor fully specific to the websites' 'home' cultures. Cultural hybridisation and diffusion of innovation are suggested as alternative explanations.
The Austrians on Relative Inflation as a Cause of Crisis
Authors: Klausinger Hansjörg
Published: November 2003

The development of Austrian economics in the interwar period was marked by the contrast between its high esteem at the beginning of the 1930s and its dwindling influence throughout the remainder of the decade. A variety of reasons have been conjectured for this decline (and the eventual dissolution) of the Austrian school of economics (see Caldwell 1988, pp. 517–21). A rarely mentioned factor of a more sociological nature that may have contributed to or that at least indicated the school's decline was its loss of coherence during the late 1930s, when, as a consequence of the emigration of the most prominent members, Vienna lost its role as the Austrian school's main center of communication. Insofar as this lack of coherence led not just to diversity within a unifying framework but to crucial divergences among the school's leading members, this might help to explain why after 1945 the Austrians were no longer perceived as a distinct school—some parts of their thinking had been fused into the neoclassical mainstream and others had largely fallen into disregard.
That which is Desired, which Pleases, and which Satisfies: Utility According to Alfred Marshall
Authors: Martinoia Rozenn
Published: November 2003

In the period of the marginal revolution in England, utility was traditionally defined in reference to either desire or pleasure. William Stanley Jevons, for example, referred to pleasure. According to Jevons, utility was actually identical with the addition made to a person's happiness, that is to say to the sum of the pleasure created and the pain prevented (1871, pp. 5354). Henry Sidgwick, Alfred Marshall's spiritual father and mother, criticized this Benthamist perspective (Sidgwick 1883, p. 63) and introduced another definition at Cambridge. By utility of material things, Sidgwick stated, we mean their capacity tosatisfy men's needs and desires (1883, p. 84, emphasis added). Marshall, for his part, repeatedly moved from one meaning to another. In the first edition of his Principles of Economics, the term utility alternatively designated desire or pleasure. Few commentators have noted this double meaning of utility (Homan 1933, p. 224; Stigler 1950, p. 384; Guillebaud 1961, pp. 23637; Aldrich 1996, p. 211). Only Arthur Cecil Pigou (1903) and Jacob Viner (1925, p. 64749) have actually brought out its theoretical implications. No explanation as to the prevalence of this duality or its status in Marshall's welfare economics seems to have been proposed. Such is the intention of this article.
The Italian colonial cinema: agendas and audiences
Authors: Ben-Ghiat Ruth
Published: November 2003

What role has culture played in shaping Italians’ experiences of Italian colonialism before and after the Second World War? How can the tools of cultural analysis be employed to understand the place and space Italian colonialism has had within Italian and European history? This article draws on and discusses the growing body of scholarly work about colonial narratives and representations (exhibitions, travel writings, etc.) but is centred on the Italian colonial cinema. It focuses, in particular, on the issue of the double-edged power of the visual in colonial films with respect to both Italian and African audiences. The article explores spectatorship under colonial conditions but also how the visual elements of colonial films contributed to or complicated the production of ‘colonial experiences’ among the many Italians who never set foot in Africa.
From territorial to ethnographic colonies and back again: the politics of Italian expansion, 1890–1912
Authors: Choate Mark I.
Published: November 2003

For Italy, unprecedented mass migration in the late nineteenth century overshadowed the European Scramble for Africa. To secure Italy's place in the new imperial order, Francesco Crispi proposed to harness emigration for colonial expansion, by settling Italy's East African colonies with the surplus Italian population. Defeat at Adwa in 1896 shattered Crispi's project, and turned attention to colonial possibilities elsewhere. Luigi Einaudi and other Liberals trumpeted the value of Italian collectivities or colonie across the Atlantic, where Italy exerted only indirect influence. In theory, these ‘spontaneous colonies’ would boost the Italian economy at little expense. Italian colonialist societies turned from Africa to the Americas, working to make Italian migration more prestigious, successful and profitable. After 1908, however, Enrico Corradini and the Italian Nationalists mocked these initiatives, and called upon the Italian state to return to traditional imperialism in Africa.
Region‐dependent changes in endocannabinoid transmission in the brain of morphine‐dependent rats
Authors: GONZÁLEZ SARA , SCHMID PATRICIA , FERNÁNDEZ‐RUIZ JAVIER , KREBSBACH RANDY , SCHMID HARALD , RAMOS JOSÉ
Published: November 2003

It has been suggested recently that the endocannabinoid system might be a component of the brain reward circuitry and thus play a role not only in cannabinoid tolerance/dependence, but also in dependence/withdrawal to other drugs of abuse. Here we have examined the changes in endocannabinoid ligands and their receptors in different brain regions, with particular attention to those areas related to reinforcement processes, during dependence on the powerful addictive drug, morphine. Thus, we analysed the brain contents of N‐arachidonoylethanolamine (anandamide, AEA), the first discovered endocannabinoid, in rats subjected to daily injections of increasing doses of morphine, according to a schedule designed to render the animals opiate‐dependent. Although evidence of physical dependence was assured by the appearance of somatic and neurovegetative responses in these animals after an acute challenge with naloxone, there were no changes in the contents of this endocannabinoid in any of the brain regions analysed. By contrast, we observed a significant decrease in the specific binding for CB 1 receptors in the midbrain and the cerebral cortex of morphine‐dependent rats, with no changes in the other regions. The decrease in the cerebral cortex was, however, accompanied by a rise in the activation of signalling mechanisms by CB 1 receptor agonists, as revealed by WIN‐55,212‐2‐stimulated [35 S]GTPγS binding, whereas a reduction in this parameter was measured in the brainstem of morphine‐dependent rats. In summary, the present data are indicative of the existence of an alteration of the endocannabinoid transmission during morphine dependence in rats, although the changes observed were region‐dependent and affected exclusively CB 1 receptors with no changes in endocannabinoid levels. Because the changes occurred in regions of the midbrain, the cerebral cortex and the brainstem, which have been implicated in drug dependence, our data suggest that pharmacological manipulation of the endocannabinoid system might be a novel tool to reduce morphine addiction.
Selective d‐opioid receptor antagonist N,N(CH 3) 2 ‐Dmt‐Tic‐OH does not reduce ethanol intake in alcohol‐preferring AA rats
Authors: INGMAN KIMMO , SALVADORI SEVERO , LAZARUS LARRY , KORPI ESA , HONKANEN AAPO
Published: November 2003

We studied the effect of a novel δ‐opioid receptor antagonist N,N(CH 3) 2 Dmt‐Tic‐OH (Me 2 ‐Dmt‐Tic‐OH) on voluntary ethanol intake in an alcohol‐preferring AA (Alko, Alcohol) rat line using a 4‐hour limited access paradigm. Acute injections of Me 2 ‐Dmt‐Tic‐OH (10 and 30 mg/kg, i.p.) did not reduce 1‐hour or 4‐hour ethanol intake. Subtype non‐selective opioid receptor antagonist naltrexone [0.1 and 0.3 mg/kg, subcutaneously (s.c.)] significantly reduced 1‐hour ethanol drinking but had no effect on 4‐hour ethanol consumption. Locomotor stimulation induced by the δ‐opioid receptor agonist Tyr‐D‐Pen‐Gly‐Phe‐D‐Pen (DPDPE; 15 μg, intracerebroventricularly) was significantly attenuated by Me 2 ‐Dmt‐Tic‐OH (10 and 30 mg/kg, i.p.), which confirmed its efficacy as a δ‐opioid receptor antagonist in rat brain. Our results support the idea that δ‐opioid receptors do not mediate alcohol reward in AA rats.
A pilot study on the effects of treatment with acamprosate on craving for alcohol in alcohol‐dependent patients
Authors: WEINSTEIN AVIV , FELDTKELLER BARBARA , FEENEY ADRIAN , LINGFORD‐HUGHES ANNE , NUTT DAVID
Published: November 2003

This study investigated the effects of treatment with acamprosate on craving for alcohol by using a contextual priming task with alcohol and neutral words and craving questionnaires (ACQ, OCDS) in alcohol‐dependent patients who abstained from alcohol for 6 weeks. The acamprosate‐treated group (n =16) were given 666 mg t.d.s. with standard group‐work aimed at abstinence. The unmedicated control group (n =13) received only standard group therapy. The results showed that the acamprosate treated group was faster in their responses to craving‐related stimuli and scored lower on craving questionnaires during week 6 compared with week 2. Our results suggest that acamprosate may play a role in reduction of craving for alcohol after 6 weeks of treatment.
Ethanol consumption in mice with a targeted disruption of the dopamine‐3 receptor gene
Authors: MCQUADE JOHN‐ANDREWS , XU MING , WOODS STEPHEN , SEELEY RANDY , BENOIT STEPHEN
Published: November 2003

Considerable evidence suggests that the mesolimbic dopaminergic system is an important substrate for the rewarding effects of ethanol consumption. Previous data have demonstrated that pharmacological agents that alter dopamine signaling also influence the self‐administration of ethanol. The present experiments were designed to assess the role of the dopamine‐3 receptor (D3‐R) on voluntary ethanol consumption in C57BL/6 mice. Mice with targeted disruption of the D3‐R gene (D3‐R −/−) were compared to wild‐type controls in an ethanol intake paradigm. In Experiment 1, mice had 24‐hour access to ethanol each day in a two‐bottle choice paradigm for a period of 7 days per concentration. The concentrations tested were 3, 6, 10 and 15%. In Experiment 2, mice had 1 hour of access to ethanol each day in a two‐bottle paradigm for a period of 7 days per concentration. The same concentrations in Experiment 1 were compared in Experiment 2. In Experiment 3 we sought to test the development of a conditioned taste aversion (CTA) after receiving an intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of 2.0 g/kg ethanol. In Experiment 4, blood ethanol levels where assessed following a 2.0 g/kg i.p. injection of ethanol. Experiment 5 assessed taste preference for saccharine and quinine in wild‐type and D3‐R −/− mice. Contrary to our predictions, both D3‐R −/− and wild‐types on a C57BL/6 background had similar intakes of ethanol, at all concentrations tested, in the 24‐hour and 1‐hour intake paradigms. Wild‐type and D3‐R −/− mice respond to injected ethanol similarly by developing a conditioned taste aversion. Metabolic analysis revealed mutant mice are slower in metabolizing a bolus injection of ethanol. Lastly, wild‐type and D3‐R −/− mice showed similar consumption to increasing concentration of both sweet and bitter tastes. These data suggest that deletion of the D3‐R gene does not increase ethanol consumption above that found on the C57BL/6 genetic background. Furthermore, the D3‐R −/− mice adequately learn a CTA to ethanol and do not have differing taste reactivity to saccharin or quinine. However, D3‐R −/− mice do appear to have a slower rate of ethanol metabolism.
Blood morphine levels in naltrexone‐exposed compared to non‐naltrexone‐exposed fatal heroin overdoses
Authors: ARNOLD‐REED DIANE , HULSE GARY , HANSSON ROBERT , MURRAY SEAN , O'NEIL GEORGE , BASSO MARIA , HOLMAN C D'ARCY J.
Published: November 2003

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between prior exposure to naltrexone and increased risk of fatal heroin overdose using a review of toxicology reports for heroin‐related fatalities between July 1997 to August 1999 for two groups: those treated with oral naltrexone and those who were not treated. Additional information for the oral naltrexone group was obtained from clinic files. Naltrexone‐treated deaths were identified from the patient database at the Australian Medical Procedures Research Foundation (AMPRF), Perth, Western Australia (WA) through the Western Australian Department of Health, Data Linkage Project. Non‐treated cases were identified from the database at the Forensic Science Laboratory, State Chemistry Centre (WA). We identified and investigated blood morphine concentrations following 21 fatal heroin overdoses with prior exposure to naltrexone and in 71 non‐naltrexone‐exposed cases over the same time period. The proportion of deaths where heroin use was a major contributing factor was little different in the non‐naltrexone compared to the naltrexone‐exposed group. Furthermore, in ‘acute opiate toxicity’ deaths, blood morphine levels were lower in non‐naltrexone‐exposed compared with naltrexone‐exposed cases. Although there was a higher number of deaths designated as rapid (i.e. occurring within 20 minutes) in the naltrexone‐exposed (89%) compared with the non‐exposed group (72%) this was not statistically significant. Other drug use in relation to heroin‐related fatalities is discussed. Findings do not support the hypothesis that prior exposure to naltrexone increases sensitivity to heroin toxicity.
Rapid detoxification from opioid dependence under general anaesthesia versus standard methadone tapering: abstinence rates and withdrawal distress experiences
Authors: KRABBE PAUL , KONING JEROEN , HEINEN NADIA , LAHEIJ ROBERT , VAN CAUTER RM VICTORY , DE JONG COR
Published: November 2003

The aim of this work was to study abstinence rates and withdrawal effects of rapid detoxification of opioid‐dependents under general anaesthesia (RD‐GA) compared to standard methadone tapering (SMT) using a prospective clinical trial with a follow‐up of 3 months, as a preliminary study at the Novadic addiction centre in St Oedenrode and St Joseph Hospital in Veghel, the Netherlands. Thirty opioid‐dependent patients took part. Outcome measures included urine toxicology screening for opiates to determine abstinence and presence of objective and subjective opioid withdrawal distress symptoms. Statistically significant differences in abstinence rate between RD‐GA and SMT were present after one (RD‐GA 100% vs. SMT 40%, p <0.01) and 2 months (RD‐GA 93% vs. SMT 33%, p <0.01). After 3 months the difference in abstinence was still substantial, but no longer statistically significant (RD‐GA 67% vs. SMT 33%, p =0.14). Objective and subjective withdrawal symptoms showed largely identical outcomes and were equally low in the two groups for those who remained in the study. There was a considerably higher percentage of abstinence in the RD‐GA group after 1, 2 and 3 months of follow‐up accompanied by relatively mild withdrawal symptoms of shorter duration. However, if one completes SMT the data suggest a greater chance of staying clean in the long term than those completing RD‐GA.
Bupropion‐induced somnambulism
Authors: KHAZAAL YASSER , KRENZ SONIA , ZULLINO DANIELE FABIO
Published: November 2003

Whereas there are some case reports of bupropion‐induced vivid dreaming and nightmares, until now it has not been associated with somnambulism. A case is reported of a patient treated with bupropion as a smoking cessation medication, who developed somnambulism during nicotine withdrawal. Furthermore, the sleepwalking episodes were associated with eating behaviour. Amnesia was reported for all episodes. As, on one hand, bupropion is a noradrenergic and dopaminergic drug and nicotine withdrawal, on the other hand, is associated with alterations in monoaminergic functions, an interaction at the level of these neurotransmitters is suggested as the underlying mechanism.
Presentation, Prognostic Factors and Patterns of Failure in Adult Rhabdomyosarcoma
Authors: Simon James H. , Paulino Arnold C. , Ritchie Justine M. , Mayr Nina A. , Buatti John M.
Published: November 2003

Purpose: The purpose of our study is to retrospectively review our institutional experience with adult rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) to determine presentation, prognostic factors and patterns of failure in this disease.

Materials and Methods: All patients ≥ 16 years with a diagnosis of rhabdomyosarcoma were retrospectively reviewed. Tumors were classified according to the Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study (IRS) staging and grouping system. Median follow‐up for surviving patients was 12.5 years.

Results: A total of 39 patients (23 male, 16 female) were seen at our institution from 1961 to 1999. Median age was 45 years,
and age distribution showed a bimodal peak at the late teens to twenties and later in the sixties. Tumor in the extremity was
most common as seen in 15 (39%); this was followed by head and neck in 11 (28%), genitourinary in eight (20%), trunk/retroperitoneum in four (10%) and other in one (3%). Tumor stage was T1 in 21 (52%) while 26 (67%) were > 5 cm in size.
Pleomorphic histology was most common (36%) and increased in incidence according to age category: 0% for ages 16–19,
27% for ages 20–49 and 60% for ages ≥ 50 years old (P < 0.01). The median survival for the entire population was 2.25 years
with a 5‐year overall survival rate of 35%. Multivariate analysis identified early IRS stage (P < 0.001), non‐embryonal
histology (P < 0.009), favorable site (P = 0.024), female gender (P = 0.034), early T‐stage (P = 0.034) and absence of nodal
metastases (P = 0.037) as predictors of a better survival. The 5‐year progression‐free survival rate was 21%. Female gender
(P = 0.002), non‐embryonal histology (P = 0.009), early IRS stage (P = 0.02) and early T stage (P = 0.033) were found on
multivariate analysis to predict for improved progression‐free survival. The 5‐year local control rate was 51%, and
multivariate analysis found that only early T‐stage was predictive of better local control (P = 0.045). Five of six Group II
patients and five of eight Group III patients who received radiotherapy (RT) were locally controlled. Only one of five Group
III patients was locally controlled without RT.

Conclusions: The overall prognosis of adult RMS is worse than reported in children, but age criteria within the adult
population did not further classify outcome. RT is an effective local modality providing local control in almost all Group II
and majority of Group III patients.