bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The 11–13‐week scan: diagnosis and outcome of holoprosencephaly, exomphalos and megacystis
Authors: Kagan K. O. , Staboulidou I. , Syngelaki A. , Cruz J. , Nicolaides K. H.
Published: March 2010

Objective

To determine the prevalence and outcome of fetuses with holoprosencephaly, exomphalos and megacystis diagnosed at 11–13 weeks of gestation.

Methods

As part of a prospective screening study for trisomy 21 in singleton pregnancies at 11 + 0 to 13 + 6 weeks' gestation, transabdominal ultrasound examination was performed to diagnose holoprosencephaly, exomphalos and megacystis. Fetal karyotype and pregnancy outcome in fetuses with these defects were examined.

Results

Screening was carried out in 57 119 pregnancies. The prevalence of holoprosencephaly, exomphalos and megacystis was 1 : 1298, 1 : 381 and 1 : 1632, respectively. Chromosomal abnormalities, mainly trisomies 18 and 13, were found in 65.9% of fetuses with holoprosencephaly, in 55.3% with exomphalos and in 31.4% with megacystis. There was spontaneous resolution of the defect by 20 weeks in 92.5% of euploid fetuses with exomphalos containing only bowel and in 90% of the euploid fetuses with megacystis and bladder length of ≤ 15 mm.

Conclusions

A high proportion of fetuses with holoprosencephaly, exomphalos and megacystis diagnosed at 11–13 weeks of gestation are aneuploid, but in the majority of cases exomphalos and megacystis represent temporary abnormalities that resolve spontaneously. Copyright © 2010 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Magnetic nanoparticle biosensors
Authors: Haun Jered B. , Yoon Tae‐Jong , Lee Hakho , Weissleder Ralph
Published: March 2010

One of the major challenges in medicine is the rapid and accurate measurement of protein biomarkers, cells, and pathogens in biological samples. A number of new diagnostic platforms have recently been developed to measure biomolecules and cells with high sensitivity that could enable early disease detection or provide valuable insights into biology at the systems level. Most biological samples exhibit negligible magnetic susceptibility; therefore, magnetic nanoparticles have been used for diverse applications including biosensing, magnetic separation, and thermal ablation therapy. This review focuses on the use of magnetic nanoparticles for detection of biomolecules and cells based on magnetic resonance effects using a general detection platform termed diagnostic magnetic resonance (DMR). DMR technology encompasses numerous assay configurations and sensing principles, and to date magnetic nanoparticle biosensors have been designed to detect a wide range of targets including DNA/mRNA, proteins, enzymes, drugs, pathogens, and tumor cells. The core principle behind DMR is the use of magnetic nanoparticles as proximity sensors that modulate the spin‐spin relaxation time of neighboring water molecules, which can be quantified using clinical MRI scanners or benchtop nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxometers. Recently, the capabilities of DMR technology were advanced considerably with the development of miniaturized, chip‐based NMR (µNMR) detector systems that are capable of performing highly sensitive measurements on microliter sample volumes and in multiplexed format. With these and future advances in mind, DMR biosensor technology holds considerable promise to provide a high‐throughput, low‐cost, and portable platform for large scale molecular and cellular screening in clinical and point‐of‐care settings. WIREs Nanomed Nanobiotechnol 2010 2 291–304

This article is categorized under:

Diagnostic Tools > Biosensing

Diagnostic Tools > In Vitro Nanoparticle-Based Sensing
Mechanotransduction: a major regulator of homeostasis and development
Authors: Kolahi Kevin S. , Mofrad Mohammad R.K.
Published: March 2010

In nearly all aspects of biology, forces are a relevant regulator of life's form and function. More recently, science has established that cells are exquisitely sensitive to forces of varying magnitudes and time scales, and they convert mechanical stimuli into a chemical response. This phenomenon, termed mechanotransduction, is an integral part of cellular physiology and has a profound impact on the development of the organism. Furthermore, malfunctioning mechanical properties or mechanotransduction often leads to pathology of the organism. In this review, we describe mechanotransduction and the theories underlying how forces may be sensed, from the molecular to organism scale. The influence of mechanotransduction on normal and abnormal development, such as stem cell differentiation and cancer, is also reviewed. Studies illustrate the diversity of mechanotransduction, and the major role it has on organism homeostasis. Cells employ a variety of mechanisms, which differ depending upon cell type and environment, to sense and respond to forces. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

This article is categorized under:

Biological Mechanisms > Cell Signaling
Fractionation of Short and Medium Chain Fatty Acid Ethyl Esters from a Blend of Oils via Ethanolysis and Short‐Path Distillation
Authors: Vázquez Luis , Akoh Casimir C.
Published: March 2010

The main objective of the present work was to obtain fractions enriched in short (SCFAEE) and medium chain (MCFAEE) fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEE) from a blend of oils. For this purpose, coconut oil and dairy fat were blended and a transesterification of this blend was performed in order to transform the triacylglycerols into their corresponding FAEE. A detailed study of fractionation conditions for FAEE was carried out using short‐path distillation. Different conditions were explored such as feed rates and temperatures; operating conditions, such as successive steps or a single step. The composition and yield of SCFAEE and MCFAEE were determined under different distillation conditions. Optimal fractionation of the desired compounds was achieved. High purity of SCFAEE and MCFAEE (94 wt%) was attained with a yield of ~50%. An increased yield of SCFAEE and MCFAEE was achieved (85%) with a purity of 83 wt%. A broad range of high value fractions was obtained depending on the conditions selected. The fractions we obtained can be used as starting materials for the production of functional lipids.
Imaging of organelles by electron microscopy reveals protein–protein interactions in mitochondria and chloroplasts
Authors: Dudkina Natalya V. , Kouřil Roman , Bultema Jelle B. , Boekema Egbert J.
Published: March 2010

Ongoing progress in electron microscopy (EM) offers now an opening to visualize cells at the nanoscale by cryo‐electron tomography (ET). Large protein complexes can be resolved at near‐atomic resolution by single particle averaging. Some examples from mitochondria and chloroplasts illustrate the possibilities with an emphasis on the membrane organization. Cryo‐ET performed on non‐chemically fixed, unstained, ice‐embedded material can visualize specific large membrane protein complexes. In combination with averaging methods, 3D structures were calculated of mitochondrial ATP synthase at 6 nm resolution and of chloroplast photosystem II at 3.5 nm.
NPC1L1 and cholesterol transport
Authors: Betters Jenna L. , Yu Liqing
Published: March 2010

The polytopic transmembrane protein, Niemann–Pick C1‐Like 1 (NPC1L1), is enriched in the apical membrane of small intestine absorptive enterocytes where it mediates extracellular sterol transport across the brush border membrane. It is essential for intestinal sterol absorption and is the molecular target of ezetimibe, a potent cholesterol absorption inhibitor that lowers blood cholesterol in humans. NPC1L1 is also highly expressed in human liver. The hepatic function of NPC1L1 may be to limit excessive biliary cholesterol loss. NPC1L1‐dependent sterol uptake seems to be a clathrin‐mediated endocytic process and is regulated by cellular cholesterol content. Recently, NPC1L1 inhibition has been shown to have beneficial effects on components of the metabolic syndrome, such as obesity, insulin resistance, and fatty liver, in addition to atherosclerosis.
Effects of early malnutrition, isolation and seizures on memory and spatial learning in the developing rat
Authors: Hemb Marta , Cammarota Martin , Nunes Magda Lahorgue
Published: March 2010

Purpose

In this study we evaluated the effects of undernourishment and seizures on memory and spatial learning in a model of developing brain.

Experimental procedures

Male Wistar rat pups were allocated to one of six experimental groups: nourished control (NC), nourished recurrent seizures (NRS), nourished status epilepticus (NSE), undernourished control (UC), undernourished recurrent seizures (URS) or undernourished status epilepticus (USE). The UC, URS and USE groups were maintained on a starvation regimen from postnatal day 2 (P2) to postnatal day 15 (P15). URS and NRS groups suffered three daily Flurothyl‐induced seizures from P2 to P4. The USE and NSE groups suffered a status epilepticus (SE) on P15. Beginning on P21 all groups were trained in the Morris water maze. At P30 the animals were sacrificed and their brains weighed.

Results

Our data indicate that early undernourishment does not alter seizure susceptibility at P15, but diminishes body and brain weight (p< 0.001), whereas seizures diminish body (p< 0.001) but not brain weight (p= 0.972). In the Morris water probe test we have observed that undernourished rats spent less time in the target quadrant than nourished animals (p< 0.001). Also, rats submitted to recurrent seizures and rats submitted to status epilepticus spent less time in the target quadrant than seizure‐free animals (p= 0.001). There was a significant interaction between undernourishment and seizure (p= 0.013).

Discussion

Our findings show that undernourishment and seizures have an additive detrimental effect on body and brain weight as well as on spatial memory.
Research, influence and impact: Deconstructing the norms of health services research commissioning
Authors: Walshe Kieran , Davies Huw T O
Published: March 2010

The commissioning and production of social sciences research is largely governed and shaped by the norms and values of the academic community, in which research influence and impact on practice are often not prioritised, or are somewhat taken for granted. This paper explores how the research commissioning process might be reconfigured to make research influence and impact issues of central importance. Using examples from a UK government funded health services research programme in which the authors have both been closely involved, it discusses the mission or purpose of research; the nature of research needs and the way that research priorities are set; the products of research and the way such outputs are used; and the nature of healthcare organisations and decision makers who are the intended users of research. It concludes that reinventing the research commissioning process to give primacy to influence and impact opens up exciting possibilities: a world where researchers have detailed and nuanced understandings about local organisational contexts, and are active participants in interpreting the research discourse for managers; and a world where managers are actively engaged with the ideas, theories, insights and critiques that come from research, are participants in local data collection and analysis, and are on a constant quest for reflexive application of these insights in their local contexts.
ASYMPTOTIC PROPERTIES OF KOLMOGOROV WIDTHS
Authors: OSTROVSKII MIKHAIL I.
Published: March 2010

We consider two problems concerning Kolmogorov widths of compacts in Banach spaces. The first problem is devoted to relations between the asymptotic behavior of the sequence of n-widths of a compact and of its projections onto a subspace of codimension one. The second problem is devoted to comparison of the sequence of n-widths of a compact in a Banach space 𝒴 and of the sequence of n-widths of the same compact in other Banach spaces containing 𝒴 as a subspace.
Effect of pomegranate seed oil on hyperlipidaemic subjects: a double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial
Authors: Mirmiran Parvin , Fazeli Mohammad Reza , Asghari Golaleh , Shafiee Abbas , Azizi Fereidoun
Published: March 2010

In vitroandin vivostudies have shown that punicic acid, a type of conjugated fatty acid and the main constituent of pomegranate seed oil (PSO), has anti-atherogenic effects. The present study aimed at determining the effect of PSO treatment on serum lipid profiles. This double-blind placebo-controlled randomised clinical trial included fifty-one hyperlipidaemic subjects, diagnosed according to National Cholesterol Education Program definition, and randomly assigned to the PSO and the control groups. The PSO and placebo groups received 400 mg PSO and placebo twice daily, respectively and were followed up for 4 weeks. Serum concentrations of lipids and lipoproteins were measured before and 4 weeks after intervention. Mean concentration of TAG and the TAG:HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio were significantly decreased after 4 weeks in the PSO group as compared with baseline values (2·75 (sd1·40)v. 3·45 (sd1·56) mmol/l,P = 0·009 and 5·7 (sd4·6)v. 7·5 (sd5·0),P = 0·031, respectively). The treatment effect was statistically significant in the PSO group as compared with controls in diminution of cholesterol:HDL-C ratio (5·4 (sd1·5)v. 5·9 (sd1·4),P < 0·05) adjusted for baseline values. We found a mean difference for PSOv.placebo in HDL-C concentration (0·13 v. − 0·02 mmol/l) and cholesterol:HDL-C ratio ( − 0·42 v. 0·01,P < 0·05). Serum cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and glucose concentrations and body composition variables remained unchanged. It is concluded that administration of PSO for 4 weeks in hyperlipidaemic subjects had favourable effects on lipid profiles including TAG and TAG:HDL-C ratio.
Effects of oat bran, processed to different molecular weights of β-glucan, on plasma lipids and caecal formation of SCFA in mice
Authors: Immerstrand Tina , Andersson Kristina E. , Wange Caroline , Rascon Ana , Hellstrand Per , Nyman Margareta , Cui Steve W. , Bergenståhl Björn , Trägårdh Christian , Öste Rickard
Published: March 2010

In the present study, we evaluated the cholesterol-lowering effects of different oat bran (OB) preparations, differing regarding their peak molecular weight (MWp) of β-glucans (2348, 1311, 241, 56, 21 or < 10 kDa), in C57BL/6NCrl mice. The diets were designed to be atherogenic (0·8 % cholesterol and 0·1 % cholic acid), and they reflected the Western diet pattern (41 % energy fat). All OB preparations that were investigated significantly reduced plasma cholesterol when compared with a cellulose-containing control diet, regardless of the molecular weight of β-glucan. Moreover, the difference in viscous properties between the processed OB (from 0·11 to 17·7 l/g) did not appear to play a major role in the cholesterol-lowering properties. In addition, there was no correlation between the molecular weight of β-glucan and the amount of propionic acid formed in caecum. Interestingly, however, there was a significant correlation between the ratio of (propionic acid+butyric acid)/acetic acid and the MWpof β-glucans: the ratio increased with increasing molecular weight. The results of the present study suggest that the molecular weights and viscous properties of β-glucan in oat products may not be crucial parameters for their cholesterol-lowering effects.
Comparing the in vivo glycine fluxes of adolescent girls and adult women during early and late pregnancy
Authors: Thame Minerva , Fletcher Horace , Baker Tameka , Jahoor Farook
Published: March 2010

During pregnancy, growth of the foetus depends on an adequate glycine supply because it is needed for synthesis of fetal DNA, collagen and serine. Since pregnant adolescent girls give birth to lower birth weight babies, it is possible that they do not produce sufficient glycine to meet overall demands as their adult counterparts, especially after an overnight fast. The objective of the study was to measure and compare the flux of glycine among adolescents and adult women in the first and third trimesters of pregnancy. Glycine flux was measured by continuous intravenous infusion of 2H2-glycine in eight overnight fasted adolescents and in eight adult women in the first and third trimesters of pregnancy. There was a significant interaction between subject's age and time of pregnancy (P = 0·02), as weight-specific glycine flux decreased by 39 % from trimesters 1 to 3 in the adolescents but increased by approximately 5 % in the adults. Whole body glycine flux also decreased significantly in the adolescent group (P < 0·05) from trimesters 1 to 3, and this was associated with a significant reduction in plasma glycine concentration. In trimester 3, there was a positive correlation between glycine flux and the subject's age indicating that younger subjects had slower fluxes. These findings suggest that after a brief period of food deprivation, the pregnant adolescent cannot maintain glycine production as her adult counterpart in late pregnancy. It is possible that this inability to maintain endogenous glycine production makes her foetus more vulnerable to impaired growth if food deprivation becomes more frequent or is prolonged.
III. Joseph Chamberlain, the Conservatives and the Succession to John Bright, 1886–89
Authors: Hurst M. C.
Published: March 2010

Two thousand people bought tickets for the civic ceremony to welcome Joseph Chamberlain and his young American bride, held in Birmingham Town Hall on 8 January 1889. The Times newspaper was at pains to point out how unstintingly the more warm-hearted of the local Gladstonian Liberals had given of their goodwill, even though the occasion was mainly due to initiatives from the leaders of Radical Unionism. It seemed to bode well for the health of the Unionist alliance that among the worthies listed as present was no less a person than Sir James Sawyer, President of the Conservative Association.
III. The Medical Mission and the Care of the Sick Poor in Nineteenth-Century England
Authors: Heasman Kathleen J.
Published: March 2010

Sidney and Beatrice Webb, in their bookThe State and the Doctor, which was submitted in the first instance as a memorandum to the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws in 1909, dismiss the work of the free dispensaries and medical missions in one short paragraph.
IV. The Abolition of Patronage in the Indian Civil Service and the Closure of Haileybury College
Authors: Moore R. J.
Published: March 2010

During the three great nineteenth-century debates on the charter of the East India Company, Whiggery's finest orators arraigned the system of patronage by which the Directors nominated civil servants to appointments in India. In 1813, Lord Grenville, in a speech to which for decades men turned for ‘inspiration and guidance’, advocated the appointment of writers ‘by free competition and public examination from our great schools and universities’. Defeated at the time, the case for the competitive principle was revived twenty years later by Macaulay in an address before the House of Commons which, it was said, would ‘console the young people for never having heard Mr. Burke’. That ‘universal genius’, as Sir Charles Trevelyan, his brother-inlaw, once described him, carried into legislation a plan for selecting by competitive examination the students for Haileybury, the Company's training college for civil servants. Nominees, four times as numerous as the places at the College, would be examined and the best of them enrolled. However, as Macaulay's biographer observed, ‘backstairs influence in Leadenhall Street’ contrived to render the plan inoperative, until ‘backstairs influence in Parliament’ effected its repeal.
VI. Cairo and Khartoum on the Arab Question, 1915-18
Authors: Kedourie Elie
Published: March 2010

The Arab question in British diplomacy, it is remarkable to observe, has conjured up, both among those directly involved and among subsequent commentators, an amount of passionate discussion, of anguished retrospection, of accusation and self-denunciation, quite out of proportion to its intrinsic importance. For after all, compared to the great issues of Europe, America, the Commonwealth, and India, the Husain-McMahon Correspondence, the Sykes-Picot Agreement, the Balfour Declaration, are small and paltry transactions which, as luck would have it, have turned out, it is true, to be inopportune and profitless and the cause of much loss and tribulation. For the historian of the Middle East, of course, the British connexion must loom very large by reason of its immediate impact and of its ultimate consequences, but in British history can the short-lived middle-eastern episode be more than a passing incident in the Indian summer of the Empire? For they are perhaps right, those who assert that had Britain been able to retain India, her middle-eastern position could probably have been maintained, regardless of mistakes and confusions in middle-eastern policy itself, and that, once India gone, neither virtue nor virtuosity would have availed to preserve Suez, Haifa and Habbaniyya. But this cool, sceptical view is rarely met in the writings either of the participants or of the subsequent commentators, whose mode is one of burning regret, and vehement lamentations, and who are for ever weighing good faith against bad faith, promises kept and promises broken, scrutinizing motives and examining scruples, like the diligent followers of some strict pietism, oppressed by sin and dolefully thirsting for justification.
Obedient servants? Lutheran attitudes to authority and society in the first half of the seventeenth century: the case of Johann Balthasar Schupp
Authors: Whaley Joachim
Published: March 2010

The reunification of Germany has given a new dimension and intensity to the debate about the historical identity of German political culture. In particular, it has revived the issue of whether the Lutheran heritage was inherently conservative, if not authoritarian, in tendency. This article re-examines the issues in relation to Lutheran political and social thought in the first half of the seventeenth century. The life and writings of the Lutheran pastor and influential popular author Johann Balthasar Schupp (1610–61) are examined in detail. What emerges is something more complex than a simple injunction to obey authority at all costs. While he implicitly rejected the idea of a right to rebel, Schupp placed his faith in the willingness of rulers to assist in a ‘reformation of society’. Rebellion would thus be unnecessary. The article argues that this hope was not unrealistic in the context of the small German territorial state in the early modern period. The traditional view of a politically conservative Lutheranism in this period must therefore be revised.
The challenge to laïcité: church, state and schools in Vichy France, 1940–1944
Authors: Atkin Nicholas
Published: March 2010

This article examines the role which education played in church/state relations during the Occupation. It begins with an evaluation of catholic reactions to the defeat and explains why so many church leaders were quick to blame military collapse on the laïcité of the republican educational system. It then investigates the policies which the church wanted to see pursued in regard to schools and assesses how these were received by the Vichy government. Analysis of these issues reveals that Vichy was not as pro-clerical as is sometimes believed. Although initially sympathetic to church requests, by 1942 the regime had become reluctant to introduce any measure that might provoke religious division. At the same time, the article illustrates that French Catholicism was not a monolithic bloc. Arguments over education served only to intensify divisions already present within the church and soon led to catholic disenchantment with the Vichy regime.
In Never-Never Land? the British archives on Intelligence
Authors: Wark Wesley K.
Published: March 2010

A leading historian of the British intelligence community has described the British public archives as ‘laundered’. Christopher Andrew was, of course, referring to the closure, sometimes deceptively, of the official records of the security services. ‘Laundered’ can cover a wide variety of sins and might even give a misleading impression. An understanding of the disposition of the historical records of British intelligence, of the prospects for access to such an archive, and the implications for research in this field, depend on more than knowledge of Whitehall practice or the state of legislation regarding public records. Such understanding depends, in the first instance, on what we mean by ‘intelligence archives’.
A border baron and the Tudor state: the rise and fall of Lord Dacre of the North
Authors: Ellis Steven G.
Published: March 2010

Crown policy towards the nobles and the rule of the provinces under the early Tudors reflected the values and social structures of ‘civil society’ in lowland England. Using as a case-study the Dacres, a minor peerage family who were wardens of the Anglo-Scottish marches, this paper explores the strains and tensions which were created by the application of these norms to the ‘peripheral’ parts of the Tudor state. The paper outlines the political ambitions, resources, and estate-management policies of a border baron, and argues that Henry VIII's policies for the rule of the borders and his expectations of his officials there were unrealistic. It also suggests that the traditional approach of historians to the problems of Tudor politics and government reflects too much a view of events as seen from ‘the centre’ and needs to be balanced by a more sensitive treatment of the problems of the ‘periphery’.
Politics and science: Francis Bacon and the true greatness of states
Authors: Peltonen Markku
Published: March 2010

The main aim of the article is to question the widely held view that Francis Bacon's different writings form a single great project. His numerous writings on the greatness of states were not part of his scientific programme. Since Bacon's scientific writings do not provide us with the context in which we should place his texts on the greatness of states, the attempt is made to place them in their contemporary political context. These texts, it is argued, addressed the issue of the union of England and Scotland as well as the question concerning England's possible intervention in the European war in early 1620s. Several scholars have also claimed that, in accordance with Bacon's scientific project, his idea of the greatness of states was an essentially modern programme. Nevertheless, the article attempts to show that as far as his writings on civic greatness are concerned Bacon's moral and economic ideas could be classified as classical republican. James Harrington's analysis of Bacon offers a historical point of departure for reading of his writings on the true greatness of states.
The London Committee and mobilization of public opinion against the slave trade
Authors: Oldfield J. R.
Published: March 2010

During the late eighteenth century organized anti-slavery, in the shape of the campaign to end the African slave trade (1787–1807), became an unavoidable feature of political life in Britain. Drawing on previously unpublished material in the Josiah Wedgwood Papers, the following article seeks to reassess this campaign and, in particular, the part played in it by the (London) Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. So far from being a low-level lobby, as historians like Seymour Drescher have suggested, it is argued here that the Committee's activities, both in terms of opinion-building and arranging for petitions to be sent to the house of commons, were central to the success of the early abolitionist movement. Thus while the provinces and public opinion at the grass roots level were undoubtedly important, not least in the industrial north, it was the metropolis and the London Committee which gave political shape and significance to popular abolitionism.
Money and the real impact of the Fourth Reform Act
Authors: Dawson Michael
Published: March 2010

The real significance ofthe Representation of the People Act, 1918, for the Liberal and Labour parties lay in its mundane and little discussed financial provisions, not in its extension of the franchise. Despite the electoral reforms of 1883–5, election contests before 1914 were still expensive enough effectively to exclude the Labour party from politics outside the industrial centres. In 1918 the politicians of the older parties took the opportunity to relieve their pockets of a substantial part of the expense of elections. However, Labour was the main beneficiary: its new strategy of contesting seats nationwide was only made possible by the changes in and underlying the Fourth Reform Act. These changes, in turn, enabled Labour to benefit from being a ‘national’ party and ‘alternative government’, during a period when the established leading ‘progressive’ party was divided and weakened. The Fourth Reform Act also assisted Labour's strategy of eliminating the Liberal party as a parliamentary force: Liberals could be denied election victories in the countryside and the suburbs by hopeless but inexpensive Labour interventions.
The Wehrmacht bureau on war crimes
Authors: de Zayas Alfred-Maurice
Published: March 2010

On September 4, 1939, a special bureau was established within the legal department of the Wehrmacht with the task of ‘ascertaining violations of international law committed by enemy military and civilian persons against members of the German armed forces, and investigating whatever accusations foreign countries should make against the Wehrmacht’. The purpose of this article is to provide a brief overview of the material collected by the Germans during the war, to test the credibility of the German investigations, review case-studies and inquire into the integrity of the judges carrying out the investigations. The Wehrmacht bureau functioned from the very beginning until the final days of war. It investigated some 10,000 war crimes, of which the files for perhaps some 4,000 have survived. Half the files contain investigations of war crimes in the Soviet Union; the other volumes refer to war crimes allegedly committed by American, British, French, Polish, Yugoslav and other Allied nationals. After a careful review of the bureau's records and methods of operation, the conclusion is warranted that the investigations were carried out in a methodically correct manner and that many of the reports present prima facie cases that deserve further investigation. There remains thefundamental question of the judges' integrity, how it was possible for them to carry out investigations into Allied war crimes, when the German government, the SS, the Einsatzgruppen and the Wehrmacht were engaging in various degrees of official criminality. In search of an answer, the author reviews the testimony of numerous witnesses at the Nuremberg trials, including SS judge Georg Konrad Morgen, who had the commander of Buchenwald arrested on corruption charges, but was prevented from completing investigations into concentration camp killings. Hitler's order no. I concerning secrecy appears to have been largely observed, thus frustrating investigation attempts and keeping knowledge of the Holocaust relatively limited.
Germany and the Seventeenth-Century Crisis
Authors: Ogilvie Sheilagh C.
Published: March 2010

This article surveys the debate on the ‘General Crisis’ of the seventeenth century in the light of hitherto neglected research. Firstly, most theories of the crisis fail to combine its economic and socio-political aspects. Secondly, few explanations of the crisis take account of evidence from the local and regional levels. Thirdly and most seriously, theories of the crisis have ignored Germany, while historians of Germany have ignored the crisis debate. This article seeks to Jill these gaps. It puts Germany at the centre of a comprehensive theory of the crisis that takes existing crisis theories as its starting point, but also shows how the Thirty Tears War, largely caused by the peculiar institutional structure of the Holy Roman Empire, in turn wrought significant institutional change, not just in Germany, but throughout Europe.
Religion and the struggle for freedom in the English Revolution
Authors: Davis J. C.
Published: March 2010

The essay attempts to recover a language of liberty, a set of assumptions common participants in the mid-seventeenth-century discourse on religion and liberty. The current historiography of seventeenth-century liberty and contemporary consensus on the complementarity civil liberty and law are used as contexts. In the religious sense, liberty was commonly taken to imply submission to the will of a God of millennial purpose and providential power. In the struggle for appropriate submission to such divine authority issues of freedom arose in the Pauline paradoxes service as perfect freedom and in the process of liberation from inappropriate authorities. The polarization of liberty and authority in traditional accounts of the puritan revolution, the reduction of religious liberty to an element within a greater struggle over constitutional forms, and the identification of religious liberty with individual and corporate rights are called in question.
George III, peerage creations and politics, 1760–1784
Authors: Lowe William C.
Published: March 2010

This article looks at the political role of the royal prerogative to create and promote British peers in the period 1760–1784. It argues that during the first two decades of his reign George III maintained his original intention that peerage creations should befew in number and isolated from short-term political influences, but that during the prolonged political crisis that unfolded at the end of the American War of Independence, the king's power to create peers became deeply embroiled in politics. Not only were all eight of the peerages created in 1782–1783 influenced by political considerations, this aspect of the royal prerogative became itself the topic of parliamentary discussion. It was in this context of recent creations and heightened interest in the royal prerogative that George III's refusal to make peers proved to be an effective tactic in his struggle with the Fox-North coalition. Especially damaging was the coalition's inability to secure Lord North's promotion to the upper house. Once the coalition had been dismissed, George HI used his prerogative in an overtly political fashion to strengthen the younger Pitt in both houses of parliament.
What did ‘the people’ want?: the meaning of the 1945 general election
Authors: Fielding Steven
Published: March 2010

Labour's victory at the general election of 1945, the first in which the party won an absolute majority in the house of commons, had fundamental implications for Britain's post-war history. Despite this, historians have failed to examine the popular political temper which made Labour's term of office possible. Instead, they have largely assumed that the Second World War radicalized the public, turning an unprecedented number into enthusiastic Labour voters. Whilst not denying that the war had a profound impact on the politics of some sections of society this article proposes a rather different perspective to that normally offered. Instead of promoting pro-Labour sentiment it seems that the conflict left many members of the public disengaged from the political process and cynical about the motives of all politicians. As a consequence, rather than have Labour hold office by itself the generally favoured outcome appears to have been the formation of a progressive coalition committed to the implementation of the Beveridge report. However, in reality, electors who did not want to see the return of a Conservative government had no choice but to vote ‘straight left’.
What has happened to French social history?
Authors: Prost Antoine
Published: March 2010

This paper deals with the history of French social history. Social history was not created once and for all; it is an historical construction; it had a beginning and may come to an end. Hence, its history may be written. However, two preliminary qualifications are needed. I shall not comment on ancient or medieval social history, but on the only social history which I know a little, that of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Secondly, for the same reason, I shall only discuss French social history written by French historians.
More'sRichard IIIand the mystery plays
Authors: Warnicke Retha M.
Published: March 2010

An analysis of Thomas Mare's English version ofThe history of King Richard IIIindicates that the popular mystery cycles influenced his composition. Associated with the celebrations of Corpus Christi Day, the cycles present a series of biblical plays, beginning with the Creation and ending with the Last Judgment. The important themes of tyranny and sacrifice, which this drama explores, also loom large inRichard III. The theme of tyranny is loosely related in the cycles through Lucifer's functioning as the prototype of all earthly tyrants, including More'sRichard III. Evidence of the sacrifice, which is at the heart of the mass, can also be found in many biblical scenes. More's reference to Richard's adolescent nephews as ‘innocent babes’ links them to the infants Herod earlier sacrified to his ambitions. Indeed, inRichard III, More does make an intriguing reference to a cobbler performing the role of a ‘sowdayne’ in a play. The suggestion that this drama influenced More's writing is consistent with the speculation that he composed the English version first and then, with the classics in mind, wrote out a separate Latin text, for the two versions have significant differences in imagery, word choice and structure.
Henry VIII's will – a forensic conundrum
Authors: Ives E. W.
Published: March 2010

The 30 December 1546 date for the finalizing of Henry VIll's will is vindicated and the text re-established as the king's own work, namely (1) the supposed priority of a copy dated 13 December is shown to be erroneous; (2) the hypothesis that the will was manipulated by faction is rejected because (a) a reconstruction of the operating procedure of the Dry Stamp Office indicates the strong probability of the traditional date, (b) analysis of provisions allegedly suggesting forgery reveals no valid grounds for suspicion, and (c) circumstantial evidence; (3) the real interest of the Seymour faction in January 1547 is demonstrated as lying in implementing the king's intentions. An hypothesis is offered as to the king's motives. The prominence given to reformers is explained as projecting forward a movement from orthodoxy to reform which was inherent in the Supremacy. The conciliar provisions for Edward's reign are argued to be an attempt to create a closed regency council which would prevent both faction and individual bids for supremacy. The fact that Edward Seymour could become de facto regent only by a coup which jettisoned the will, is a vindication of Henry's provisions.
The Swiss and Swabian Agencies, 1795–1801
Authors: Sparrow Elizabeth
Published: March 2010

This article continues an examination of the British government's counter-revolutionary organization begun in ‘The Alien Office 1792-1806’, The Historical Journal, XXXIII (1990), which outlined the department's functions and secret service policy. The Swiss and Swabian agencies were one aspect of British foreign secret service; they linked the French princes' secret agents to the British government under the central European control of William Wickham, ambassador in Berne 1794–7, and military and diplomatic subsidiaries. Anti-republican secret committees were set up covering all France, Switzerland, northern Italy and southern Germany, which included members from every grade of society. French republican generals, even Ministers were swayed, allowing infiltration of the French secret police. British control was however limited to the finesse of finance – bribery was implicit. By never offering enough to the leaders and too much to assistants, initial constitutional intentions slid into subversion and assassination. The first complete andfully documented description is included of how, why, and by whom, the French deputies were assassinated at Rastadt.
The ‘Antrim Plot’ of 1641 – A Myth?
Authors: Ohlmeyer Jane H.
Published: March 2010

This is an account of one of the more controversial Irish conspiracies of 1641 which allegedly involved Charles I and the earl of Antrim, a prominent Gaelic warlord with extensive connections in all three of the Stuart kingdoms. No irrefutable contemporary documentation to the plot appears to have survived and so the ambiguous and scrappy evidencefor the conspiracy, dating from the 1640s, 1650s and 1660s, has been examined here in an attempt to establish whether the ‘Antrim plot’ was a myth or a reality.
Oxidative stress indicators and metabolic adaptations in response to the omission of the dry period in dairy cows
Authors: Mantovani Roberto , Sgorlon Sandy , Marinelli Lieta , Bailoni Lucia , Bittante Giovanni , Gabai Gianfranco
Published: March 2010

The effects of dry period omission on oxidative stress and metabolic indicators around calving were studied. Seventeen Italian Friesian cows were randomly assigned to two groups, homogeneous for milk yield and parity, and managed either with a traditional 55-d dry off period (n=8) or continuously milked till parturition (n=9). Between 60 d before expected calving and 90 d after calving, body condition (BCS) was recorded and blood samples were collected to measure cortisol, urea, cholesterol, glucose, NEFA, triglycerides, insulin, malondialdehyde (MDA), total glutathione (GSH) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity. BCS changes after calving were not different between the two groups. The normally dried group showed lower (P<0·05) glucose concentrations on day 7 before calving, greater (P<0·01) non-esterified fatty acid concentrations at 7 d and 15 d after calving, and greater (P<0·01) triglyceride concentrations for all the period before calving. On the other hand, plasma MDA was not different between groups. On average, plasma GSH concentrations were greater in continuously milked cows after calving (P<0·05), while plasma GPx was greater with continuous milking up to parturition (P<0·01). The results confirmed that omitting the dry period leads to an improved energy balance. The degree of oxidative stress was not detrimental for animal health, and the slight modifications of GPx observed prepartum were possibly related to continuous milk secretion. The differences in plasma GSH observed after calving may depend upon sulphur amino acid sparing in continuously milked cows.
In vitrocomparison of protease activities in preparations from free-living (Panagrellus redivivus) and plant-parasitic (Meloidogyne incognita) nematodes using FMRFa and FMRFa-like peptides as substrates
Authors: Masler E.P.
Published: March 2010

Extracts prepared from the microbivorous nematodePanagrellus redivivusand the plant-parasitic nematodeMeloidogyne incognitawere used to provide general protease activities for peptide substrate screening and species comparisons. Each extract was evaluated for its ability to degrade a broad range of nematode FMRFamide-like peptides (FLPs), key regulatory messengers governing nematode growth and development. Clear quantitative differences between the two extracts were observed using FMRFamide as a substrate. Extract potency assessed at EC50(μg/μ l extract protein for 50% substrate digestion) was 1.8-fold greater forP. redivivusthan forM. incognita, and potency assessed at EC90was 2.5-fold greater. An overall potency difference was also present when screening the digestion of 17 nematode FLPs, but it was not universal. The mean percentage digestion of eight of the 17 FLPs was greater (P < 0.02) withP. redivivusextract (76.3 ± 8.2) than withM. incognitaextract (38.1 ± 8.7), but the means for the other nine FLPs were not different. Three FLPs (KPSFVRFa, AQTFVRFa, RNKFEFIRFa) were degraded extensively by the extracts of both species, and two FLPs (SAPYDPNFLRFa, SAEPFGTMRFa) were degraded 2.9-fold and 5.3-fold greater, respectively, withM. incognitaextract than withP. redivivusextract. The ability of each extract to degrade FMRFa and KSAYMRFa was significantly reduced by using peptide analogues containing singled-amino acid substitutions, and the substitution effects were positional. Both FMRFa and KSAYMRFa were competitive substrates for aminopeptidases in each extract, but only the competitive ability of FMRFa was reduced byd-amino acid substitution. The variety and complexity of nematode FLP degradation by preparations representing phylogenetically and developmentally different nematode sources are discussed.
Detection and identification of Diphyllobothrium nihonkaiense plerocercoids from wild Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) in Japan
Authors: Suzuki J. , Murata R. , Sadamasu K. , Araki J.
Published: March 2010

We investigated the risk of diphyllobothriasis from ingestion of wild Pacific salmon in Japan by surveying Diphyllobothrium plerocercoids in 182 salmon samples obtained from Japan. The plerocercoids were not detected in chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) (0/26), called Akizake in Japan, caught between September and November. However, the detection rate of plerocercoids in chum salmon, called Tokishirazu in Japan, caught between early April and June, was 51.1% (24/47) with an average of two plerocercoid larvae per fish. The detection rates of cherry salmon (Oncorhynchus masou) and pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) were 12.2% (10/82) and 18.5% (5/27), respectively, and the average number of plerocercoids per fish was 0.45 (37 larvae/82 fishes) and 0.22 larvae (6 larvae/27 fishes), respectively. Plerocercoids isolated from O. keta and O. masou were identified as Diphyllobothrium nihonkaiense on the basis of molecular analysis of the cox1 and nad3 genes. Moreover, four tapeworms (three from O. keta and one from O. masou) were obtained by infecting golden hamsters with plerocercoids. The morphological features of these tapeworms were similar to those of D. nihonkaiense isolated from humans. Therefore, we think that O. keta and not O. masou is the most important source of plerocercoid infections in Japan.
Responses of volunteers to inactivated influenza virus vaccines
Authors: Jennings R. , Potter C. W. , Massey P. M. O. , Duerden B. I. , Martin J. , Bevan A. M.
Published: March 2010

Three different types of bivalent influenza virus vaccine, a whole virus, an aqueous-surface-antigen vaccine and an adsorbed-surface-antigen vaccine were tested at three dosage levels in volunteers primed with respect to only one of the haemagglutinin antigens present in the vaccines.

The local and systemic reactions to all three vaccine types were mild in nature and, following first immunization, the aqueous-surface-antigen vaccine was the least reactogenic. The serum haemagglutination-inhibiting antibody response to the A/Victoria/75 component of the vaccines, to which the volunteer population was primed, was greatest following immunization with the aqueous-surface-antigen vaccine; the greatest antibody response to the A/New Jersey/76 component of the vaccines was observed following immunization with whole virus vaccine.
Strain specificity of serum antibody to the haemagglutinin of influenza A (H3N2) viruses in children following immunization or natural infection
Authors: Oxford J. S. , Haaheim L. R. , Slepushkin A. , Werner J. , Kuwert E. , Schild G. C.
Published: March 2010

The specificity of serum anti-HA antibody from children immunized or infected with A/Victoria/75 (H3N2) or A/Texas/77 (H3N2) virus was examined using the single radial haemolysis test together with adsorption of antibody with three antigenic variants A/Hong Kong/68 (H3N2), A/Port Chalmers/73 (H3N2) and A/Victoria/75 (H3N2). The majority of young children reacted to vaccination or infection by producing strain-specific (SS) antibody to the homologous virus. A small proportion of children's sera contained cross-reacting (CR) antibodies capable of reacting with the haemagglutinins of all antigenic variants of the subtype including A/HK/1/68. In contrast, most adults reacted immunologically to either vaccination or infection by producing CR antibody, reacting with all variants of the antigenic subtype including the prototype virus A/HK/1/68 (H3N2).