bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Serum‐autoantibodies for discovery of prostate cancer specific biomarkers
Authors: Massoner Petra , Lueking Angelika , Goehler Heike , Höpfner Annabel , Kowald Axel , Kugler Karl G. , Amersdorfer Peter , Horninger Wolfgang , Bartsch Georg , Schulz‐Knappe Peter , Klocker Helmut
Published: July 2011

BACKGROUND

The currently used prostate cancer serum marker has a low cancer specificity and improved diagnostics are needed. Here we evaluated whether autoantibodies are present in sera of prostate cancer patients and whether they are useful diagnostic markers for prostate cancer.

METHODS

Sera from 20 prostate cancer patients and 20 healthy controls were incubated on expression clone arrays containing more than 37,000 recombinant human proteins. Functional annotation clustering of the identified autoantigens was performed using the DAVID database. Autoantigens identified in the prostate cancer group were validated on microarrays using sera of 40 prostate cancer patients, 40 patients with elevated PSA levels but prostate cancer negative biopsies (benign disease), and 40 healthy controls.

RESULTS

We detected autoantibodies against 408 different antigens in sera of prostate cancer patients. One hundred seventy‐four of these were exclusively detected in the cancer group compared to the healthy control group. Functional annotation clustering revealed an enrichment of RNA‐associated, cytoskeleton, and nuclear proteins. The autoantibody panel was validated in serum samples of independent prostate cancer patients. Autoantibody profiles discriminated between prostate cancer patients and benign disease patients with an ROC curve AUC of 0.71. TTLL12, a protein recently described to be over‐expressed in prostate cancer, was the highest ranked discrimination autoantigen.

CONCLUSION

A variety of autoantibodies were identified in sera of prostate cancer patients and provide a first step towards autoantibody diagnostics. Serum autoantibodies reflect the disease and represent valuable tools not only for prostate cancer, but also for other diseases affecting the immune response. Prostate 72:427–436, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Ionic strength dependence of F‐actin and glycolytic enzyme associations: A Brownian dynamics simulations approach
Authors: Forlemu Neville Y. , Njabon Eric N. , Carlson Kristine L. , Schmidt Elizabeth S. , Waingeh Victor F. , Thomasson Kathryn A.
Published: July 2011

The association of glycolytic enzymes with F‐actin is proposed to be one mechanism by which these enzymes are compartmentalized, and, as a result, may possibly play important roles for: regulation of the glycolytic pathway, potential substrate channeling, and increasing glycolytic flux. Historically, in vitro experiments have shown that many enzyme/actin interactions are dependent on ionic strength. Herein, Brownian dynamics (BD) examines how ionic strength impacts the energetics of the association of F‐actin with the glycolytic enzymes: lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), glyceraldehyde‐3‐phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), fructose‐1,6‐bisphosphate aldolase (aldolase), and triose phosphate isomerase (TPI). The BD simulations are steered by electrostatics calculated by Poisson‐Boltzmann theory. The BD results confirm experimental observations that the degree of association diminishes as ionic strength increases but also suggest that these interactions are significant, at physiological ionic strengths. Furthermore, BD agrees with experiments that muscle LDH, aldolase, and GAPDH interact significantly with F‐actin whereas TPI does not. BD indicates similarities in binding regions for aldolase and LDH among the different species investigated. Furthermore, the residues responsible for salt bridge formation in stable complexes persist as ionic strength increases. This suggests the importance of the residues determined for these binary complexes and specificity of the interactions. That these interactions are conserved across species, and there appears to be a general trend among the enzymes, support the importance of these enzyme‐F‐actin interactions in creating initial complexes critical for compartmentation. Proteins 2011; © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
PackHelix: A tool for helix‐sheet packing during protein structure prediction
Authors: Hu Chengcheng , Koehl Patrice , Max Nelson
Published: July 2011

The three‐dimensional structure of a protein is organized around the packing of its secondary structure elements. Predicting the topology and constructing the geometry of structural motifs involving α‐helices and/or β‐strands are therefore key steps for accurate prediction of protein structure. While many efforts have focused on how to pack helices and on how to sample exhaustively the topologies and geometries of multiple strands forming a β‐sheet in a protein, there has been little progress on generating native‐like packings of helices on sheets. We describe a method that can generate the packing of multiple helices on a given β‐sheet for αβα sandwich type protein folds. This method mines the results of a statistical analysis of the conformations of αβ2 motifs in protein structures to provide input values for the geometric attributes of the packing of a helix on a sheet. It then proceeds with a geometric builder that generates multiple arrangements of the helices on the sheet of interest by sampling through these values and performing consistency checks that guarantee proper loop geometry between the helices and the strands, minimal number of collisions between the helices, and proper formation of a hydrophobic core. The method is implemented as a module of ProteinShop. Our results show that it produces structures that are within 4–6 Å RMSD of the native one, regardless of the number of helices that need to be packed, though this number may increase if the protein has several helices between two consecutive strands in the sequence that pack on the sheet formed by these two strands. Proteins 2011; Published 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Vacancy growth and migration dynamics in atomically thin hexagonal boron nitride under electron beam irradiation
Authors: Alem Nasim , Erni Rolf , Kisielowski Christian , Rossell Marta D. , Hartel Peter , Jiang Bin , Gannett Will , Zettl A.
Published: July 2011

Atomically thin hexagonal boron nitride (h‐BN) is investigated using aberration‐corrected ultra‐high resolution electron microscopy under 80 kV electron beam. This study focuses on the in situ formation, growth and migration of vacancies in h‐BN. This study also reveals interaction dynamics of edges and vacancies with adatoms and molecules under the electron beam. According to this investigation, boron monovacancies migrate through their second neighbor to reduce the surface energy of the membrane. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
A constrained variational approach to the designing of low transport band gap materials: A multiobjective random mutation hill climbing method
Authors: Sarkar Kanchan , Sharma Rahul , Bhattacharyya S. P.
Published: July 2011

Neutral polythiophene (PT) and polyselenophene (PSe) are semiconductors with band gaps of about 2 eV. We have proposed and implemented a constrained variational method in which total energy of neutral PT or PSe oligomers is minimized under the constraint that the band gap measured by HOMO–LUMO energy difference is also a minimum in each case. The constrained (bimodal) minimization has been carried out by an adaptive random mutation hill climbing method within the basic framework of Su‐Schrieffer‐Heeger type of model. We show that the “band‐gap constrained minimization” automatically creates electron deficient quinoid regions (QR) in the PT or PSe chains, embedded in aromatic regions (ARs), on both sides. We have investigated how the number and distribution of such QRs can reduce the band gap. Band gap constrained electronic structure calculations thus provide designing clues for low transport band gap materials based on molecular chromophores. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2012
Pyrrolidine‐based dye‐sensitized solar cells: A time‐dependent density functional theory investigation of the excited state electronic properties
Authors: Preat Julien , Michaux Catherine , André Jean‐Marie , Perpète Eric A.
Published: July 2011

This work reports a theoretical study of the excited state properties of a series of original conjugated metal‐free organic dyes containing the pyrrolidine (PYR) moiety. These compounds have recently been developed for dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Our polarizable continuum model time‐dependent density functional theory‐based procedure made it possible to efficiently and accurately evaluate (i) the vertical excitation energies, (ii) the related redox potentials, and (iii) the free enthalpies of injection. It turns out that the Becke‐Half‐and‐Half‐Lee‐Yang‐Parr functional, combined to the 6‐311+G(2d,2p) basis set, gives reliable auxochromic shifts when the bulk solvation effects are included in the model. Indeed, the theoretical procedure provides excitation energies with a mean absolute deviation limited to ∼0.10 eV only. In addition, we give insights into the geometrical and electronic structures of the dyes, and we unravel the structural modifications that optimize the properties of PYR‐based DSSCs. This investigation aims at improving the electron injection process, as well as the light harvesting efficiency (LHE) of the dyes. For this purpose, we considered a set of 17 new dyes, and starting from the basic five‐block [PYR]‐[phenyl]‐[ethylene]‐[thiophene]‐[cyano acrylic acid] system (PYR‐m′ structure), several modifications leading to better electron injection and comparable LHE properties have been proposed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2012
Molecular conductance in relation to inverse transport theory and to chemical bond order
Authors: Klein D. J. , March N. H.
Published: July 2011

McCaskill and March (MM) have derived a resistivity theory in the form of a quotient, the numerator of which is a force–force correlation function. The denominator has the form 1 − b, where MM forge a link between the quantity b and bound states. Evidently, as b tends to unity, one approaches a metal‐insulator transition, which has potential relevance for molecular conductance. In addition, Klein was involved in early work in this area, in which contact is established with chemical bond order. Practical examples of this are discussed in this article. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2012
Exact S‐wave solution of the trigonometric pöschl‐teller potential
Authors: Hamzavi M. , Rajabi A. A.
Published: July 2011

The trigonometric Pöschl‐Teller (PT) potential describes the diatomic molecular vibration. By using the Nikiforov‐Uvarov method, we have obtained the exact analytical s‐wave solutions of the radial Schrödinger equation (SE) for the trigonometric PT potential. The energy eigenvalues and corresponding eigenfunctions are calculated in closed forms. Some numerical results are presented too. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2012
Gauge function optimization 2: An accurately solvable model
Authors: Kubo Atsushi
Published: July 2011

The gauge function is optimized by using the Kennedy–Kobe (KK) theory [Kennedy and Kobe, Phys Rev A, (1984) 30, 51] for the anisotropic harmonic oscillator model in a magnetic field. We extend the KK model to describe various electron density distributions, which resemble to those for the ground and excited states of a Hion. The almost divergence‐free current densities can be obtained by this method. The convergence is the fastest for the h2 model without the node of the wavefunction. When the wavefunction has nodal points, the first‐ and the second‐order derivatives of the gauge function diverge at the nodes. We examine these singularities of the gauge function near the nodes both numerically and analytically. We also investigate the computed divergence‐free current density in detail. Many new stagnation vortices appear after the gauge function optimization. The positions of the vortices are compared with those of the electron density maxima. When the maxima are separated from each other, some correlations are found between them. We also investigate the nuclear cusp condition of current density by inspecting the solutions of the KK equation when the electron density has a cusp. We find that the local mean velocity becomes aC0continuous function at the nucleus. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2012
Cell‐penetrating peptide induces various deformations of lipid bilayer membrane: Inverted micelle, double bilayer, and transmembrane
Authors: Kawamoto Shuhei , Miyakawa Takeshi , Takasu Masako , Morikawa Ryota , Oda Tatsuki , Saito Hiroaki , Futaki Shiroh , Nagao Hidemi
Published: July 2011

We investigated the deformation of lipid bilayer membrane by cell‐penetrating peptide using coarse‐grained molecular dynamics simulation. The simulations have been performed with different values of two parameters, strength of angle potential of lipid and strength of attractive interaction between peptide and lipid heads. We obtained the phase diagram of deformation of membrane and found that there are four kinds of structures such as surface dent, inverted micelle, double bilayer, and transmembrane. The results suggest that one peptide can make various structures on lipid bilayer membrane. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2012
Tunable coulomb blockade and giant coulomb blockade magnetoresistance in a double quantum dot system
Authors: Zhang X.‐G. , Xiang T.
Published: July 2011

We propose a Hubbard model to describe the tunneling effect of electrons in a double quantum dot system connected in the parallel circuit configuration to electrodes. The change in the interdot coupling is shown to dramatically influence the Coulomb blockade (CB) properties. For magnetic double dots, the interdot coupling can be tuned by the external magnetic field, leading to a giant CB magnetoresistance. Possible detection of this effect in organic magnetic molecular systems is discussed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2012
Interfacial interaction between ZnO thin film and polyimide substrate investigated by XPS and DFT calculation
Authors: Hu Chang‐Ji , Xie Fang‐Yan , He Chun‐Shan , He Zhen‐Hui
Published: July 2011

The interfacial interaction between the ZnO film and the polyimide substrate was investigated by XPS and density functional theory (DFT) calculation, for the ZnO thin films deposited on polyimide (PI) substrates using cathodic vacuum arc deposition technique. The XPS results showed that a shoulder peak was present for the ZnO film with the thickness of about 15 nm, used for depth profiling, at the binding energy 1 eV higher than that of the Zn2p3 core level for bulk ZnO. Such a shoulder peak is attributed to the interaction between the ZnO and the polyimide. This agrees with the results of DFT calculation. Furthermore, the difference in adsorption energy between the polyimide monomer and the ZnO molecule at different adsorption sites showed that the carbonyl (CO) plays an important role in the interfacial strength. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Methods to elicit experts’ beliefs over uncertain quantities: application to a cost effectiveness transition model of negative pressure wound therapy for severe pressure ulceration
Authors: Soares Marta O. , Bojke Laura , Dumville Jo , Iglesias Cynthia , Cullum Nicky , Claxton Karl
Published: July 2011

We can use decision models to estimate cost effectiveness, quantify uncertainty regarding the adoption decision and provide estimates of the value of further research. In many cases, the existence of only limited data with which to populate a decision model can mean that a cost‐effectiveness analysis either does not proceed or may misrepresent the degree of uncertainty associated with model inputs. An example is the case of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) used to treat severe pressure ulceration, for which the evidence base is limited and sparse. There is, however, substantial practical experience of using this treatment and its comparators. We can capture this knowledge quantitatively to inform a cost‐effectiveness model by eliciting beliefs from experts.

This paper describes the design and conduct of an elicitation exercise to generate estimates of multiple uncertain model inputs and validate analytical assumptions for a decision model on the use of NPWT. In designing the exercise, the primary focus was the use of elicitation to inform decision models (multistate models), where representations of uncertain beliefs need to be probabilistically coherent. This paper demonstrates that it is feasible to collect formally elicited evidence to inform decision models. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Some insight on censored cost estimators
Authors: Zhao H. , Cheng Y. , Bang H.
Published: July 2011

Censored survival data analysis has been studied for many years. Yet, the analysis of censored mark variables, such as medical cost, quality‐adjusted lifetime, and repeated events, faces a unique challenge that makes standard survival analysis techniques invalid. Because of the ‘informative’ censorship imbedded in censored mark variables, the use of the Kaplan–Meier (Journal of the American Statistical Association 1958; 53:457–481) estimator, as an example, will produce biased estimates. Innovative estimators have been developed in the past decade in order to handle this issue. Even though consistent estimators have been proposed, the formulations and interpretations of some estimators are less intuitive to practitioners. On the other hand, more intuitive estimators have been proposed, but their mathematical properties have not been established. In this paper, we prove the analytic identity between some estimators (a statistically motivated estimator and an intuitive estimator) for censored cost data. Efron (1967) made similar investigation for censored survival data (between the Kaplan–Meier estimator and the redistribute‐to‐the‐right algorithm). Therefore, we view our study as an extension of Efron's work to informatively censored data so that our findings could be applied to other marked variables. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Working covariance model selection for generalized estimating equations
Authors: Carey Vincent J. , Wang You‐Gan
Published: July 2011

We investigate methods for data‐based selection of working covariance models in the analysis of correlated data with generalized estimating equations. We study two selection criteria: Gaussian pseudolikelihood and a geodesic distance based on discrepancy between model‐sensitive and model‐robust regression parameter covariance estimators. The Gaussian pseudolikelihood is found in simulation to be reasonably sensitive for several response distributions and noncanonical mean–variance relations for longitudinal data. Application is also made to a clinical dataset. Assessment of adequacy of both correlation and variance models for longitudinal data should be routine in applications, and we describe open‐source software supporting this practice. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Long‐Range Nanoparticle Surface‐Energy‐Transfer Ruler for Monitoring Photothermal Therapy Response
Authors: Singh Anant K. , Lu Wentong , Senapati Dulal , Khan Sadia Afrin , Fan Zhen , Senapati Tapas , Demeritte Teresa , Beqa Lule , Ray Paresh Chandra
Published: July 2011

A recent gold nanotechnology‐driven approach opens up a new possibility for the destruction of cancer cells through photothermal therapy. Ultimately, photothermal therapy may enter into clinical therapy and, as a result, there is an urgent need for techniques to monitor the tumor response to therapy. Driven by this need, a nanoparticle surface‐energy‐transfer (NSET) approach to monitor the photothermal therapy process by measuring a simple fluorescence intensity change is reported. The fluorescence intensity change is due to the light‐controlled photothermal release of single‐stranded DNA/RNA via dehybridization during the therapy process. Time‐dependent results show that just by measuring the fluorescence intensity change, the photothermal therapy response during the therapy process can be monitored. The possible mechanism and operating principle of the NSET assay are discussed. Ultimately, this NSET assay could have enormous potential applications in rapid, on‐site monitoring of the photothermal therapy process, which is critical to providing effective treatment of cancer and multidrug‐resistant bacterial infections.
Elementary students' views of explanation, argumentation, and evidence, and their abilities to construct arguments over the school year
Authors: McNeill Katherine L.
Published: July 2011

Science includes more than just concepts and facts, but also encompasses scientific ways of thinking and reasoning. Students' cultural and linguistic backgrounds influence the knowledge they bring to the classroom, which impacts their degree of comfort with scientific practices. Consequently, the goal of this study was to investigate 5th grade students' views of explanation, argument, and evidence across three contexts—what scientists do, what happens in science classrooms, and what happens in everyday life. The study also focused on how students' abilities to engage in one practice, argumentation, changed over the school year. Multiple data sources were analyzed: pre‐ and post‐student interviews, videotapes of classroom instruction, and student writing. The results from the beginning of the school year suggest that students' views of explanation, argument, and evidence, varied across the three contexts with students most likely to respond “I don't know” when talking about their science classroom. Students had resources to draw from both in their everyday knowledge and knowledge of scientists, but were unclear how to use those resources in their science classroom. Students' understandings of explanation, argument, and evidence for scientists and for science class changed over the course of the school year, while their everyday meanings remained more constant. This suggests that instruction can support students in developing stronger understanding of these scientific practices, while still maintaining distinct understandings for their everyday lives. Finally, the students wrote stronger scientific arguments by the end of the school year in terms of the structure of an argument, though the accuracy, appropriateness, and sufficiency of the arguments varied depending on the specific learning or assessment task. This indicates that elementary students are able to write scientific arguments, yet they need support to apply this practice to new and more complex contexts and content areas. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 48: 793–823, 2011
Emotion and perception: the role of affective information
Authors: Zadra Jonathan R. , Clore Gerald L.
Published: July 2011

Visual perception and emotion are traditionally considered separate domains of study. In this article, however, we review research showing them to be less separable than usually assumed. In fact, emotions routinely affect how and what we see. Fear, for example, can affect low‐level visual processes, sad moods can alter susceptibility to visual illusions, and goal‐directed desires can change the apparent size of goal‐relevant objects. In addition, the layout of the physical environment, including the apparent steepness of a hill and the distance to the ground from a balcony can both be affected by emotional states. We propose that emotions provide embodied information about the costs and benefits of anticipated action, information that can be used automatically and immediately, circumventing the need for cogitating on the possible consequences of potential actions. Emotions thus provide a strong motivating influence on how the environment is perceived. WIREs Cogni Sci 2011 2 676–685 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.147

This article is categorized under:

Psychology > Emotion and Motivation
Transfer RNA travels from the cytoplasm to organelles
Authors: Rubio Mary Anne T. , Hopper Anita K.
Published: July 2011

Transfer RNAs (tRNAs) encoded by the nuclear genome are surprisingly dynamic. Although tRNAs function in protein synthesis occurring on cytoplasmic ribosomes, tRNAs can transit from the cytoplasm to the nucleus and then again return to the cytoplasm by a process known as the tRNA retrograde process. Subsets of the cytoplasmic tRNAs are also imported into mitochondria and function in mitochondrial protein synthesis. The numbers of tRNA species that are imported into mitochondria differ among organisms, ranging from just a few to the entire set needed to decode mitochondrially encoded mRNAs. For some tRNAs, import is dependent on the mitochondrial protein import machinery, whereas the majority of tRNA mitochondrial import is independent of this machinery. Although cytoplasmic proteins and proteins located on the mitochondrial surface participating in the tRNA import process have been described for several organisms, the identity of these proteins differ among organisms. Likewise, the tRNA determinants required for mitochondrial import differ among tRNA species and organisms. Here, we present an overview and discuss the current state of knowledge regarding the mechanisms involved in the tRNA retrograde process and continue with an overview of tRNA import into mitochondria. Finally, we highlight areas of future research to understand the function and regulation of movement of tRNAs between the cytoplasm and organelles. WIREs RNA 2011 2 802–817 DOI: 10.1002/wrna.93

This article is categorized under:

RNA Processing > tRNA Processing

RNA Export and Localization > Nuclear Export/Import

RNA Export and Localization > RNA Localization
Osteoprotegerin (OPG) and Related Proteins (RANK, RANKL and TRAIL) in Thyroid Disease
Authors: Sood Sumit K. , Balasubramanian Sabapathy , Higham Sue , Fernando Malee , Harrison Barney
Published: July 2011

Background

Osteoprotegerin (OPG), receptor activator of nuclear factor kappaB (RANK), RANK ligand (RANKL), and TNF related apoptosis inducing ligand (TRAIL) are the key proteins in the development of bone metastases. Osteoprotegerin improves tumor cell survival and inhibits TRAIL induced apoptosis of cancer cell lines. It also binds to RANKL and inhibits its interaction with RANK (cell surface receptor), which influences osteoclast formation and function. The aim of the present study was to characterize the expression of OPG, RANK, RANKL, and TRAIL in benign and malignant thyroid tissue and thyroid cell lines.

Methods

Archived thyroid tissue from 79 patients (60 differentiated thyroid cancers and 19 benign thyroids) was stained for OPG, RANK, RANKL, and TRAIL by immunohistochemistry. Staining was assessed semiquantitatively and correlated with pathology. Western blots were performed on three human thyroid cell lines: Nthy‐ori 3‐1 (thyroid follicular epithelium), FTC‐133 (follicular thyroid carcinoma), and K1E7 (subclone of papillary thyroid carcinoma).

Results

Osteoprotegerin and RANKL staining was cytoplasmic; RANK staining was nuclear; and TRAIL staining was predominantly cytoplasmic. All four proteins were expressed in benign and malignant tissue. There was significant difference in RANK expression between malignant and benign tissue (8 vs. 84%, respectively; Fisher’s exact test; P < 0.001). RANKL expression was significantly increased in malignant tissue (Fisher’s exact test; P = 0.04). Western blotting showed OPG expression in all cell lines and TRAIL in none. RANK and RANKL were not detected in papillary and follicular cell lines, respectively.

Conclusions

Nuclear expression of RANK protein in thyroid tissue is paradoxical; it could be due to nuclear migration after ligand binding. Suppression of RANK and increased expression of RANKL in malignant tissue warrant further investigation.
Determination of Underivatized Long Chain Fatty Acids Using HPLC with an Evaporative Light‐Scattering Detector
Authors: Guo Hui , Hu Chen , Qian Junqing , Wu De
Published: July 2011

A high‐performance liquid chromatographic method with an evaporative light‐scattering detector has been developed for the separation and quantitative analysis of four underivatized long chain fatty acids in four different oil matrices. An isocratic elution mode using methanol/water/acetic acid and an Agilent Eclipse XDB‐C18 analytical column was used. Calibration curves of the four fatty acids (FA) were well correlated (r2 > 0.999) within the range of 1–10 mg mL−1 for linoleic acid, 0.8–10 mg mL−1 for stearic acid and 0.5–10 mg mL−1 for the other FA. Four oil samples were examined; camellia oil, olive oil, Brucea javanica oil and sesame oil. Good agreement was found with the standard gas chromatographic (GC) method. The proposed method offers distinct advantages over the official GC method; better separation and precision, and the sample components do not need to be derivatized.
Immigrant Struggles in New Orleans Post-Katrina
Authors: Flaherty Jordan
Published: July 2011

Race relations in New Orleans have often been narrowed to Black and white, especially pre-Katrina. According to the 2000 census, the city was about 67% African American, 27% white, 2% Asian, and 3% “Hispanic.” In a city with a deep history of racial tensions between Black and white, other people of color—and especially recent immigrants—often went unmentioned in discussions of city demographics. The city's world famous culture—whether in the traditions of Mardi Gras Indians and secondline parades, or in music like jazz and bounce—is also famously rooted in specifically African cultures. Even in media coverage of the city post-Katrina, the story of immigrant experiences has remained mostly invisible. When these stories have been told, they have often fit into the old stereotypes of “model minorities” (as in the case of the Vietnamese recovery) or of low-wage workers stealing jobs (as in the case of news reports on the city's new Latino population). However, the stories of these other New Orleanians offer an important lens through which to view the overall struggle over the city's recovery. And the work of grassroots activists from these communities, who strived to not only work for justice for their friends and neighbors, but also to build broad multi-racial alliances, provides an inspiring example for people in other cities who are waging similar fights.
Time history of regular to Mach reflection transition in steady supersonic flow
Authors: LI S. G. , GAO B. , WU Z. N.
Published: July 2011

In this paper, we study the transition from regular to Mach reflection (RR → MR) in the dual solution domain due to the influence of an upstream disturbance, by considering the transition as an evolutionary rather than an abrupt process. From numerical simulation, we observe for the early stage of transition a multiple interaction structure, composed of a triple-shock structure, a type VI shock interaction and a shock/slipline interaction. In the end, we observe a pure unsteady MR structure. Under self-similar assumption of the triple point for the first stage and including additional Mach waves over the slipline for the last stage, we develop an idealized unsteady model to obtain the evolution of the Mach stem height and the time taken for the Mach stem to stabilize. The triple point is found to move at a nearly constant speed in the multiple interaction stage which occupies about one quarter of the transition time. In the pure unsteady MR stage, which occupies the rest of transition, the speed of the triple point drops nonlinearly until the Mach stem stabilizes.
Horizontal Inequalities and Ethnonationalist Civil War: A Global Comparison
Authors: CEDERMAN LARS-ERIK , WEIDMANN NILS B. , GLEDITSCH KRISTIAN SKREDE
Published: July 2011

Contemporary research on civil war has largely dismissed the role of political and economic grievances, focusing instead on opportunities for conflict. However, these strong claims rest on questionable theoretical and empirical grounds. Whereas scholars have examined primarily the relationship between individual inequality and conflict, we argue that horizontal inequalities between politically relevant ethnic groups and states at large can promote ethnonationalist conflict. Extending the empirical scope to the entire world, this article introduces a new spatial method that combines our newly geocoded data on ethnic groups’ settlement areas with spatial wealth estimates. Based on these methodological advances, we find that, in highly unequal societies, both rich and poor groups fight more often than those groups whose wealth lies closer to the country average. Our results remain robust to a number of alternative sample definitions and specifications.
Cr-spinel compositions in serpentinites and their implications for the petrotectonic history of the Zagros Suture Zone, Kurdistan Region, Iraq
Authors: ASWAD KHALID J. A. , AZIZ NABAZ R. H. , KOYI HEMIN A.
Published: July 2011

Accessory chrome spinels are scattered throughout the serpentinite masses in two allochthonous thrust sheets belonging to the Penjween–Walash sub-zone of the northwestern Zagros Suture Zone in Kurdistan. Based on field evidence, the serpentinites are divided into two groups: (1) highly sheared serpentinites (110–80 Ma), which occupy the lower contact of the ophiolitic massifs of the Upper Allochthonous sheet (Albian–Cenomanian age), and (2) ophiolitic mélange serpentinites of mixed ages (150 and 200 Ma) occurring along thrust faults on the base of the volcano-sedimentary segment (42–32 Ma) of the Lower Allochthonous sheet. The Cr-spinels of both groups show a wide range of YCr(Cr/(Cr + Al) atomic ratio) from 0.37 to 1.0, while the XMg(Mg/(Mg + Fe2+) atomic ratio) ranges from 0.0 to 0.75. Based on the Cr-spinel compositions of the entire dataset and in conjunction with back-scattered electron imaging, from core to rim, three spinel stages have been recognized: the residual mantle stage, a Cr-rich stage and a third stage showing a very narrow magnetite rim. These three stages are represented by primary Cr-spinel, pre-serpentinization metamorphosed spinel and syn- or post-serpentinization spinel, respectively. The chemical characteristics of primary (first-stage) Cr-spinels of both serpentinite groups indicate a tectonic affinity within a fore-arc setting of peridotite protoliths. The second stage indicates that Cr-spinels have undergone subsolidus re-equilibration as a result of solid–solid reaction during pre-serpentinization cooling of the host rock. Here the primary Cr-spinel compositions have been partly or completely obscured by metamorphism. During the third stage, the Cr-spinels have undergone solid–fluid re-equilibration during syn- or post-serpentinization processes. Both the second and third stages point to diachronous metamorphic paths resulting from continuous tectonic evolution influenced by either slow or fast uplift of mantle protoliths. In the fast metamorphic paths, the primary chrome spinels are flanked by a very narrow magnetite rim. The presence of two groups of distally separated serpentinites with different emplacement ages and fore-arc tectonic affinity could indicate that the closure of the Tethys Ocean culminated in two fortuitous subduction processes.
Interaction energy and closest approach of moving charged particles on a plasma and neutral gas background
Authors: ØIEN ALF H.
Published: July 2011

Electric interaction between two negatively charged particles of different sizes on a mixed background of positive, negative, and neutral particles is complex and has relevance both to dusty plasmas and to transports in ionized fluids in general. We consider particularly effects during interaction that particle velocity and neutrals in the background may have on the well-known “dressing” and electric shielding that is due to the charged part of the background and how the interaction energy is modified because of this. Without such effects earlier works show the interaction becomes attractive when the distance between the two particles is a bit larger than the Debye length. We use a model where one of the two interacting particles has a radius much larger than the Debye length and the other a radius shorter than the Debye length. Then, the complex interaction may be more easily determined for particle separation up to a few Debye lengths. We consider the larger particle as stationary while the smaller may move. We find quite simple analytic expressions for the dressed particle interaction energy over the whole range of speed of the incoming smaller particle, assumed coming head on the larger particle, and the whole range of neutral particle densities. We also derive a distance of closest approach of small and large particles for all such parameter values. This distance is important for excluded volume estimations for moving small charged particles in media populated by large charged particles on a background as described above, and hence, important for determining the speed of flow of the smaller particles through such media.
Automatic sensory information processing abnormalities across the illness course of schizophrenia
Authors: Jahshan C. , Cadenhead K. S. , Rissling A. J. , Kirihara K. , Braff D. L. , Light G. A.
Published: July 2011

Background

Deficits in automatic sensory discrimination, as indexed by a reduction in the mismatch negativity (MMN) and P3a event-related potential amplitudes, are well documented in chronic schizophrenia. However, MMN and P3a have not been sufficiently studied early in the course of psychotic illness. The present study aimed to investigate MMN, P3a and reorienting negativity (RON) across the course of schizophrenia.

Method

MMN, P3a, and RON were assessed in 118 subjects across four groups: (1) individuals at risk for psychosis (n=26); (2) recent-onset patients (n=31); (3) chronic patients (n=33); and (4) normal controls (n=28) using a duration-deviant auditory oddball paradigm.

Results

Frontocentral deficits in MMN and P3a were present in all patient groups. The at-risk group's MMN and P3a amplitudes were intermediate to those of the control and recent-onset groups. The recent-onset and chronic patients, but not the at-risk subjects, showed significant RON amplitude reductions, relative to the control group. Associations between MMN, P3a, RON and psychosocial functioning were present in the chronic patients. In the at-risk subjects, P3a and RON deficits were significantly associated with higher levels of negative symptoms.

Conclusions

Abnormalities in the automatic processes of sensory discrimination, orienting and reorienting of attention are evident in the early phases of schizophrenia and raise the possibility of progressive worsening across stages of the illness. The finding that MMN and P3a, but not RON, were reduced before psychosis onset supports the continued examination of these components as potential early biomarkers of schizophrenia.
Movement abnormalities and psychotic-like experiences in childhood: markers of developing schizophrenia?
Authors: MacManus D. , Laurens K. R. , Walker E. F. , Brasfield J. L. , Riaz M. , Hodgins S.
Published: July 2011

Background

Both involuntary dyskinetic movements and psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) are reported to be antecedents of schizophrenia that may reflect dysfunctional dopaminergic activity in the striatum. The present study compared dyskinetic movement abnormalities displayed by children with multiple antecedents of schizophrenia (ASz), including speech and/or motor developmental lags or problems, internalising/externalising problems in the clinical range, and PLEs, with those displayed by children with no antecedents (noASz).

Method

The sample included 21 ASz and 31 noASz children, aged 9–12 years old. None had taken psychotropic medication or had relatives with psychosis. The antecedents of schizophrenia were assessed using questionnaires completed by children and caregivers. A trained rater, blind to group status, coded dyskinetic movement abnormalities using a validated tool from videotapes of interviews with the children.

Results

ASz children reported, on average, ‘certain experience’ of 2.5 PLEs, while noASz children, by definition, reported none. The ASz children, as compared with noASz children, displayed significantly more dyskinetic movement abnormalities in total, and in the facial and the upper-body regions, after controlling for sex and age. Receiver operator characteristics analyses yielded high area under the curve values for the total score (0.94), facial score (0.91) and upper-body score (0.86), indicating that these scores distinguished between the ASz and noASz children with great accuracy.

Conclusions

Brief questionnaires identified children with multiple antecedents of schizophrenia who displayed significantly more involuntary dyskinetic movement abnormalities than children without antecedents. The presence of PLEs and dyskinesias could reflect early disruption of striatal dopamine circuits.
Affective functioning and social cognition in Noonan syndrome
Authors: Wingbermühle E. , Egger J. I. M. , Verhoeven W. M. A. , van der Burgt I. , Kessels R. P. C.
Published: July 2011

Background

Noonan syndrome (NS) is a common genetic disorder, characterized by short stature, facial dysmorphia, congenital heart defects and a mildly lowered IQ. Impairments in psychosocial functioning have often been suggested, without, however, systematic investigation in a clinical group. In this study, different aspects of affective processing, social cognition and behaviour, in addition to personal well-being, were assessed in a large group of patients with NS.

Method

Forty adult patients with NS were compared with 40 healthy controls, matched with respect to age, sex, intelligence and education level. Facial emotion recognition was measured with the Emotion Recognition Task (ERT), alexithymia with both the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and the Bermond–Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire (BVAQ), and mentalizing with the Theory of Mind (ToM) test. The Symptom Checklist-90 Revised (SCL-90-R) and the Scale for Interpersonal Behaviour (SIB) were used to record aspects of psychological well-being and social interaction.

Results

Patients showed higher levels of cognitive alexithymia than controls. They also experienced more social distress, but the frequency of engaging in social situations did not differ. Facial emotion recognition was only slightly impaired.

Conclusions

Higher levels of alexithymia and social discomfort are part of the behavioural phenotype of NS. However, patients with NS have relatively intact perception of emotions in others and unimpaired mentalizing. These results provide insight into the underlying mechanisms of social daily life functioning in this patient group.
Predictors of 1-year outcomes of major depressive disorder among individuals with a lifetime diagnosis: a population-based study
Authors: Wang J. L. , Patten S. B. , Currie S. , Sareen J. , Schmitz N.
Published: July 2011

Background

Examining predictors of the outcomes of major depressive disorder (MDD) is important for clinical practice and population health. There are few population-based longitudinal studies on this topic. The objectives of this study were to (1) estimate the proportions of persistent and recurrent MDD among those with MDD over 1 year, and (2) identify demographic, socio-economic, workplace psychosocial and clinical factors associated with the outcomes.

Method

From a population-based longitudinal study of the working population, participants with a lifetime diagnosis of MDD were selected (n=834). They were classified into two groups: those with and those without current MDD. The proportions of 1-year persistence and recurrence of MDD were estimated. MDD was assessed by the World Health Organization (WHO) Composite International Diagnostic Interview, CIDI-Auto 2.1, by telephone.

Results

The proportions of persistent and recurrent MDD in 1 year were 38.5% [95% confidence interval (CI) 31.1–46.5] and 13.3% (95% CI 10.2–17.1) respectively. Long working hours, negative thinking and having co-morbid social phobia were predictive of persistence of MDD. Perceived work–family conflict, the severity of a major depressive episode and symptoms of depressed mood were significantly associated with the recurrence of MDD.

Conclusions

Clinical and psychosocial factors are important in the prognosis of MDD. The factors associated with persistence and recurrence of MDD may be different. More large longitudinal studies on this topic are needed so that clinicians may predict potential outcomes based on the clinical profile and provide interventions accordingly. They may also take clinical action to change relevant psychosocial factors to minimize the chance of persistence and/or recurrence of MDD.
Financial Inclusion: Lessons from Rural South India
Authors: CNAAN RAM A. , MOODITHAYA M. S. , HANDY FEMIDA
Published: July 2011

Financial inclusion/exclusion has recently been emphasised as an important policy option aimed at alleviating poverty, minimising social exclusion and enhancing economic growth. In this article, we review the growing interest in financial exclusion and inclusion, define them and demonstrate their existence in developing and developed countries. Our empirical focus is on whether financial inclusion has been successfully implemented in four sites in rural South India where banks claimed that financial inclusion is complete. Although many rural people in South India are financially included, the concept of financial inclusion is more complex than usually portrayed. Our findings show that social and personal deprivation contributes to financial exclusion and should be viewed as key barriers to financial inclusion. We also suggest that financial inclusion is not a monolithic phenomenon and should be studied in a multi-layered fashion, ranging from having a bank account to making full use of modern financial instruments.
Insecurity and economic development in Colombia in the 1stcentury of independence
Authors: Deas Malcolm
Published: July 2011

The article questions the degree of importance that has been attributed to insecurity in the recent analysis of Colombia's lack of development in the 19thcentury, and of the lack of development in post-independence Latin America generally. The author criticizes their lack of empirical evidence, and their lack of comparative focus, both within the hemisphere and outside it, and offers a series of arguments against their conclusions. His own evidence in the Colombian case indicates that neither «anarchy» nor deficiencies in property rights constituted significant brakes on the development of the country's economy. He also questions the direction of causation in institutionalist explanations.