bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The reconstitution of unfolded myoglobin with hemin dicyanide is not accelerated by fly‐casting
Authors: Crespin Marcelo O. , Boys Brian L. , Konermann Lars
Published: December 2004

This study explores how the kinetics of a coupled folding/binding reaction depend on the initial conformation of the protein. Stopped‐flow spectroscopy is used to monitor the reaction of apo‐myoglobin (aMb) with hemin dicyanide at pH 7.2. Different initial aMb conformations are tested. In the case of acid‐denatured aMb, the observed kinetics are consistent with a “fly‐casting” scenario [Shoemaker et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97 (2000) 8868–8873]. However, the formation of a compact complex proceeds more rapidly in the case of prefolded aMb. This finding is opposite to what would be expected based on predictions of the fly‐casting model.
Upper ocean ecosystem dynamics and iron cycling in a global three‐dimensional model
Authors: Moore J. Keith , Doney Scott C. , Lindsay Keith
Published: December 2004

A global three‐dimensional marine ecosystem model with several key phytoplankton functional groups, multiple limiting nutrients, explicit iron cycling, and a mineral ballast/organic matter parameterization is run within a global ocean circulation model. The coupled biogeochemistry/ecosystem/circulation (BEC) model reproduces known basin‐scale patterns of primary and export production, biogenic silica production, calcification, chlorophyll, macronutrient and dissolved iron concentrations. The model captures observed high nitrate, low chlorophyll (HNLC) conditions in the Southern Ocean, subarctic and equatorial Pacific. Spatial distributions of nitrogen fixation are in general agreement with field data, with total N‐fixation of 55 Tg N. Diazotrophs directly account for a small fraction of primary production (0.5%) but indirectly support 10% of primary production and 8% of sinking particulate organic carbon (POC) export. Diatoms disproportionately contribute to export of POC out of surface waters, but CaCO3 from the coccolithophores is the key driver of POC flux to the deep ocean in the model. An iron source from shallow ocean sediments is found critical in preventing iron limitation in shelf regions, most notably in the Arctic Ocean, but has a relatively localized impact. In contrast, global‐scale primary production, export production, and nitrogen fixation are all sensitive to variations in atmospheric mineral dust inputs. The residence time for dissolved iron in the upper ocean is estimated to be a few years to a decade. Most of the iron utilized by phytoplankton is from subsurface sources supplied by mixing, entrainment, and ocean circulation. However, owing to the short residence time of iron in the upper ocean, this subsurface iron pool is critically dependent on continual replenishment from atmospheric dust deposition and, to a lesser extent, lateral transport from shelf regions.
Uptake of methanol to the North Atlantic Ocean surface
Authors: Carpenter Lucy J. , Lewis Alastair C. , Hopkins James R. , Read Katie A. , Longley Ian D. , Gallagher Martin W.
Published: December 2004

An anticorrelation between atmospheric methanol (CH3OH) concentrations and wind speed and a positive correlation between dimethylsulphide (DMS) concentrations and wind speed have been observed at the coastal air monitoring site of Mace Head in Ireland, during a period of cyclonic activity in which the averaged surface wind speed changed substantially as a low‐pressure system evolved over the northeast Atlantic. These observations suggest a net air‐to‐sea flux of CH3OH. This conclusion is supported by the good agreement between the wind speed dependencies of the measured gas concentrations and theoretical predictions using wind‐induced turbulent gas transfer velocities of DMS and CH3OH calculated from a resistance model, embedded in a photochemical box model. For a wind speed of 8 m s−1, an ocean deposition rate of methanol of between 0.02 and 0.33 cm s−1 is calculated, with a best estimate of 0.09 cm s−1, in good agreement with deposition rates used in global models and derived from atmospheric budgets. The large uncertainty in the calculated deposition rates is due almost entirely to the uncertainty in the degree of saturation of methanol in the surface ocean, highlighting the critical requirement for measurements of methanol in seawater. Owing to the dependence on wind speed, the deposition rates calculated showed substantial range and the calculated contribution of ocean deposition to total loss of CH3OH (ocean uptake and gas phase OH oxidation) varied from approximately 20% to 60%.
A new high‐pressure form of KAlSi3O8 under lower mantle conditions
Authors: Sueda Yuichiro , Irifune Tetsuo , Nishiyama Norimasa , Rapp Robert P. , Ferroir Tristan , Onozawa Tsuyoshi , Yagi Takehiko , Merkel Sebastien , Miyajima Nobuyoshi , Funakoshi Ken‐ichi
Published: December 2004

In situ X‐ray diffraction measurements have been made on KAlSi3O8 hollandite using diamond anvil cell and multianvil apparatus combined with synchrotron radiation. Both of the measurements with different techniques demonstrated that K‐hollandite transforms to a new high‐pressure phase (hollandite II) at ∼22 GPa upon increasing pressure at room temperature. The X‐ray diffraction peaks of the new phase were reasonably indexed on the basis of a monoclinic cell with I2/m space group. Hollandite II was also confirmed to be formed at high temperatures to 1200°C and pressures to 35 GPa, which was quenched to room temperature under pressure but converted back to hollandite at about 20 GPa on release of pressure. The present result is contradictory to earlier studies based mainly on quench method, which concluded that hollandite is stable up to 95 GPa at both room temperature and high temperatures up to 2300°C.
Feeding methane vents and gas hydrate deposits at south Hydrate Ridge
Authors: Tréhu Anne M. , Flemings Peter B. , Bangs Nathan L. , Chevallier Johanna , Gràcia Eulàlia , Johnson Joel E. , Liu C.‐S. , Liu Xiaoli , Riedel Michael , Torres Marta E.
Published: December 2004

Log and core data document gas saturations as high as 90% in a coarse‐grained turbidite sequence beneath the gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ) at south Hydrate Ridge, in the Cascadia accretionary complex. The geometry of this gas‐saturated bed is defined by a strong, negative‐polarity reflection in 3D seismic data. Because of the gas buoyancy, gas pressure equals or exceeds the overburden stress immediately beneath the GHSZ at the summit. We conclude that gas is focused into the coarse‐grained sequence from a large volume of the accretionary complex and is trapped until high gas pressure forces the gas to migrate through the GHSZ to seafloor vents. This focused flow provides methane to the GHSZ in excess of its proportion in gas hydrate, thus providing a mechanism to explain the observed coexistence of massive gas hydrate, saline pore water and free gas near the summit.
Satellite radar interferometry time series analysis of surface deformation for Los Angeles, California
Authors: Lanari Riccardo , Lundgren Paul , Manzo Mariarosaria , Casu Francesco
Published: December 2004

The Los Angeles, California, metropolitan area is a tectonically active region with surface deformation that is a combination of fault related tectonics plus a variety of natural and anthropogenic signals. We apply the small baseline subset (SBAS) algorithm to produce an interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) time series analysis for the Los Angeles area using data acquired by the ERS satellites from late 1995 into 2002. The result is a space‐time deformation product that can be exploited to view not only the smoothly varying long‐term surface motion, but also its time varying patterns. Large seasonal oscillations of the Santa Ana aquifer observed in Southern California Integrated GPS Network (SCIGN) data are accurately matched in the InSAR time series, moreover, correlations of the InSAR time series with an annual sinusoid allows us to investigate the dynamics of the hydrologic system.
Nonlinear strong ground motion in the ML 5.4 Chittenden earthquake: Evidence that preexisting damage increases susceptibility to further damage
Authors: Rubinstein Justin L. , Beroza Gregory C.
Published: December 2004

We use 55 repeating earthquake sequences located near the 1989 Mw 6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake to identify time dependent velocity changes in the shallow crust. In addition to large delays caused by the Loma Prieta mainshock, the ML 5.4 Chittenden earthquake, an aftershock of Loma Prieta, caused direct S wave delays of up to 6ms and S coda delays exceeding 15ms. We attribute the delays to cracks formed or opened during the strong shaking of the Chittenden earthquake, the same mechanism believed responsible for the delays observed following Loma Prieta. The magnitude of the delays caused by Chittenden strongly correlate with those caused by Loma Prieta. This suggests that rocks recently damaged by nonlinear strong ground motion are particularly susceptible to further damage until they are completely healed. Therefore, we expect that the onset of nonlinearity will occur at substantially lower ground motion for large aftershocks than would otherwise be anticipated.
Subglacial Lake Ellsworth: A candidate for in situ exploration in West Antarctica
Authors: Siegert Martin J. , Hindmarsh Richard , Corr Hugh , Smith Andy , Woodward John , King Edward C. , Payne Antony J. , Joughin Ian
Published: December 2004

Radio‐echo sounding reveals a 10 km‐long lake beneath ∼3.4 km of ice near the Ellsworth Mountains in West Antarctica, 20 km from the ice divide. Subglacial Lake Ellsworth is located within a distinct topographic hollow, which is ∼1.5 km deeper than the surrounding bed. Judging by bed slopes flanking the lake, the water depth is at least 10s of metres. Calculations of basal temperature reveal the ice base to be warm both now and during full glacial periods. As the environments of subglacial lakes are broadly similar, life may be expected in Lake Ellsworth as in any other. Given this, its physical characteristics, and the fact that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has been accessed on several occasions, Lake Ellsworth is an excellent candidate for in situ examination.
Measurement of the sea‐air DMS flux and transfer velocity using eddy correlation
Authors: Huebert Barry J. , Blomquist Byron W. , Hare J. E. , Fairall C. W. , Johnson James E. , Bates Timothy S.
Published: December 2004

We report the successful eddy‐correlation (EC) measurement of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) fluxes using an atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometer (APIMS). Calculated hourly transfer velocities span the range of two widely used parameterizations. The results suggest that factors in addition to wind speed also control the flux, but some of the scatter in each wind speed interval is no doubt due to measurement uncertainties. We can at last measure the flux of a marine biogenic gas on a time scale of tens of minutes, with an accuracy of tens of percent. This enables investigations into the physical controls of air‐sea gas transfer common to many important trace gas species.
Magmatism in the Bransfield Basin: Rifting of the South Shetland Arc?
Authors: Fretzdorff Susanne , Worthington Tim J. , Haase Karsten M. , Hékinian Roger , Franz Leander , Keller Randall A. , Stoffers Peter
Published: December 2004

Bransfield Basin is an actively extending marginal basin separating the inactive South Shetland arc from the northern Antarctic Peninsula. Rift‐related volcanism is widespread throughout the central Bransfield Basin, but the wider eastern Bransfield Basin was previously unsampled. Lavas recovered from the eastern subbasin form three distinct groups: (1) Bransfield Group has moderate large‐ion lithophile element (LILE) enrichment relative to normal mid‐ocean ridge basalt (NMORB), (2) Gibbs Group has strong LILE enrichment and is restricted to a relic seamount interpreted as part of the South Shetland arc, and (3) fresh alkali basalt was recovered from the NE part of the basin near Spanish Rise. The subduction‐related component in Bransfield and Gibbs Group lavas is a LILE‐rich fluid with radiogenic Sr, Nd, and Pb isotope compositions derived predominantly from subducting sediment. These lavas can be modeled as melts from Pacific MORB source mantle contaminated by up to 5% of the subduction‐related component. They further reveal that Pacific mantle, rather than South Atlantic mantle, has underlain Bransfield Basin since 3 Ma. Magma productivity decreases abruptly east of Bridgeman Rise, and lavas with the least subduction component outcrop at that end. Both the eastward decrease in subduction component and occurrence of young alkali basalts require that subduction‐modified mantle generated during the lifetime of the South Shetland arc has been progressively removed from NE to SW. This is inconsistent with previous models suggesting continued slow subduction at the South Shetland Trench but instead favors models in which the South Scotia Ridge fault has propagated westward since 3 Ma generating transtension across the basin.
Feral goats (Capra hircus L.) in the Macleay River gorge system, north-eastern New South Wales, Australia. I. Impacts on soil erosion
Authors: Bayne Paul , Harden Robert , Davies Ian
Published: December 2004

The impact of feral goats (Capra hircus) on the rate of erosion in steep gorge country was estimated. The erosion (sediment flux) in a manipulated treatment area before and after the removal of goats was compared with erosion in two adjacent unmanipulated areas: one with goats at high density (~20 goats km–2) and one with very few goats (~0.2 goats km–2). Erosion was measured with 36 2-m-wide catch fences, collecting debris (soil and rock) moving down 40° slopes over 10 collection periods spanning 31 months. In the central manipulated area, goats were initially at high density but were completely removed during the third collection period. Over the 10 collection periods, erosion was consistently greater in the area with many goats than in the area with few goats (mean five times greater, range 2.4–11.8). This difference was significant for 6 of the 10 collection periods. Before goats were removed from the manipulated treatment, the erosion in this area was not significantly different from that in the area with many goats, but was significantly greater than the area with few goats. After goat removal erosion in the manipulated area decreased relative to each of the other treatments. By the final collection period erosion in the manipulated (goats removed) area was significantly less than in the area with many goats, but not significantly different from the area with few goats. Initial reduction in erosion following goat removal was rapid, followed by a continued slower decline over the next two years coincident with a relative increase in ground-cover vegetation. It was thought that both direct physical disturbance by the goats and secondary effects due to goat impacts on the substrate and ground-cover vegetation contributed to the increase in erosion associated with the presence of goats.
Population structure, turnover and movement of spotted-tailed quolls on the New England Tablelands
Authors: Körtner Gerhard , Gresser Shaan , Mott Beth , Tamayo Bobby , Pisanu Phil , Bayne Paul , Harden Robert
Published: December 2004

Between 2000 and 2002 two populations of the spotted-tailed quoll (Dasyurus maculatus) were studied on the New England Tablelands using trapping surveys and radio-tracking. Overall, 85 individuals were trapped, but only two individuals were trapped throughout the 26 months of the study. Trapping was male-biased (74%). Adult males (>1 year) were substantially larger than females. On average, males travelled longer distances than females, and the maximum distances recorded were 8.1 and 3.9 km for a male and female respectively. Home ranges of males overlapped substantially, whereas those of females appeared to be exclusive. Mortality rates and the turnover in the quoll populations appeared to be substantial and at the beginning of autumn the populations comprised ~50% juveniles.
Can outbreaks of house mice in south-eastern Australia be predicted by weather models?
Authors: Krebs Charles J. , Kenney Alice J. , Singleton Grant R. , Mutze Greg , Pech Roger P. , Brown Peter R. , Davis Stephen A.
Published: December 2004

Outbreaks of house mice (Mus domesticus) occur irregularly in the wheat-growing areas of south-eastern Australia, and are thought to be driven by weather variability, particularly rainfall. If rainfall drives grass and seed production, and vegetation production drives mouse dynamics, we should achieve better predictability of mouse outbreaks by the use of plant-production data. On a broader scale, if climatic variability is affected by El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, large-scale weather variables might be associated with mouse outbreaks. We could not find any association of mouse outbreaks over the last century with any ENSO measurements or other large-scale weather variables, indicating that the causal change linking mouse numbers with weather variation is more complex than is commonly assumed. For the 1960–2002 period we were only partly successful in using variation in cereal production to predict outbreaks of mice in nine areas of Victoria and South Australia, and we got better predictability of outbreaks from rainfall data alone. We achieved 70% correct predictions for a qualitative model using rainfall and 58% for a quantitative model using rainfall and spring mouse numbers. Without the detailed specific mechanisms underlying mouse population dynamics, we may not be able to improve on these simple models that link rainfall to mouse outbreaks.
Korean mothers’ proactive socialisation beliefs regarding preschoolers’ social skills
Authors: Park Sung-Yun , Cheah Charissa S.L.
Published: December 2004

The purpose of the present study was to examine the proactive socialisation beliefs (goals, attributions, strategies) of Korean mothers regarding preschoolers’ social skills (sharing, controlling negative emotions, and helping others). Participants were 116 mothers in Seoul, Korea. The reasons that mothers provided for the importance of each skill, their causal attributions for the acquisition of those skills, and the socialisation strategies that would be most effective, were targeted. Korean mothers rated controlling negative emotions as less important than sharing and helping others, and were least likely to attribute the importance of social skills to social conventional reasons and provide different ratings and reasons, for the importance of children’s skills depending on the sex of their child. Specifically, mothers posit more moral reasons for girls, but more developmental reasons for boys. Also, Korean mothers made more external causal attributions than internal attributions for being good at sharing and helping, whereas emotion regulation was thought to be equally a factor of external and internal reasons. In terms of socialisation strategies, Korean mothers endorsed a higher proportion of modelling than any other strategy for the socialisation of all three social skills, regardless of the sex of the child. In conclusion, Korean mothers’ beliefs were related to both traditional and modern Korean ideologies and values in meaningful ways. This study highlights the significance of cultural ideologies regarding children and the family in the study of maternal beliefs regarding child socialisation.
Parenting behaviour and adolescent behavioural and emotional problems: The role of self-control
Authors: Finkenauer Catrin , Engels Rutger C. M. E. , Baumeister Roy F.
Published: December 2004

Cross-sectional data from 1359 boys and girls aged 10–14 years investigated whether parenting behaviours are directly or indirectly (through building self-control) associated with emotional (depression, stress, low self-esteem) and behavioural (delinquency, aggression) problems among adolescents. Replicating existing findings, both types of problems were directly, negatively related to adaptive parenting behaviour (high parental acceptance, strict control and monitoring, and little use of manipulative psychological control). Extending existing findings, self-control partially mediated the link between parenting behaviour and adolescent emotional and behavioural problems. Contrary to earlier suggestions, there was no sign that high self-control was associated with drawbacks or increased risk of psychosocial problems.
Is the Optimal Labor Income Tax Progressive in a Unionized Economy?*
Authors: Aronsson Thomas , Sjögren Tomas
Published: December 2004

This paper concerns optimal nonlinear labor income taxation in an economy with union wage setting and endogenous hours of work. The purpose is to study the determinants of tax progression. We show that the optimal degree of progression of the labor income tax depends on the extent to which the government can influence the wage rate via tax policy as well as on its ability to redistribute income across individuals. In addition, the argument for progressive labor income taxation depends on whether hours of work are chosen by the employed themselves or the union.
Good Jobs, Bad Jobs and Redistribution*
Authors: Lommerud Kjell Erik , Sandvik Bjørn , Straume Odd Rune
Published: December 2004

We analyse the question of optimal taxation in a dual economy, when the policy‐maker is concerned about the distribution of labour income. Income inequality is caused by the presence of sunk capital investments, which creates a “good jobs” sector due to the capture of quasi‐rents by trade unions. With strong unions and high planner preference for income equality, the optimal policy is a combination of investment subsidies and progressive income taxation. If unions are weaker, the policy‐maker may instead choose to tax investment.
Fertility, Taxation and Family Policy*
Authors: Apps Patricia , Rees Ray
Published: December 2004

Historically, there is clear evidence of an inverse relationship between female labour supply and fertility. However, the relationship across countries is now positive. Countries like Germany and Italy, with the lowest fertility, also have the lowest female participation rates. This paper analyses the extent to which this can be explained by public policy, in particular taxation and the system of child support. The results suggest that countries which have individual rather than joint taxation, and which support families through child care facilities rather than child payments, are likely to have both higher female labour supply and higher fertility.
Banking Competition, Risk and Regulation*
Authors: Bolt Wilko , Tieman Alexander F.
Published: December 2004

In a dynamic framework, commercial banks compete for customers by setting acceptance criteria for granting loans, while taking into account regulatory requirements. By easing its acceptance criteria a bank faces a trade‐off between attracting more demand for loans, thus making higher per‐period profits, and deterioration in the quality of its loan portfolio, thus tolerating a higher risk of failure. Our main results state that more stringent capital adequacy requirements lead banks to set stricter acceptance criteria, and that increased competition in the banking industry leads to riskier bank behaviour. It is shown that risk‐adjusted regulation is effective. In an extension of our basic model, we show that it may be beneficial for a bank to hold more equity than prescribed by the regulator, even though issuing equity is more expensive than attracting deposits.
Stalinist Identity from the Viewpoint of Gender: Rearing a Generation of Professionally Violent Women‐Fighters in 1930s Stalinist Russia
Authors: Krylova Anna
Published: December 2004

Over the course of the Great Patriotic War, 1941–1945, over 800,000 Soviet women volunteered to the front and served in the field army. Among them were thousands of snipers, riflewomen, machine‐gunners and mortar women. Thousands of women were trained to serve as commanders and commissars of rifle, machine‐gun and mortar subdivisions. Women also mastered fighter planes, dive bombers and night bombers as well as light and heavy tanks. I pursue three questions in the article: how did this women's entitlement to fighting become thinkable in the first place, acceptable in the second, and thirdly, realisable in Soviet society? I argue that the conceivability of women's compatibility with combat, war and violence was a product of the radical undoing of traditional gender differences that Stalinist society underwent in the 1930s. By the late 1930s, combat duty in wartime became an acknowledged option for women in Stalinist political culture. The construction of alternative gender personalities enjoyed both public articulation in press and military expert approval. The alternative femininity encompassed and redefined the traditionally incompatible qualities: maternal love and military violence, feminine charm.
‘Generous Amazons Came to the Breach’: Besieged Women, Agency and Subjectivity during the French Wars of Religion
Authors: Sandberg Brian
Published: December 2004

Gender studies of violence have forced scholars to rethink the association of femininity with ‘vulnerability’ and the objectivisation of women as mute victims of organised violence and oppression, incapable of agency. Recent debates about the role women and homosexuals should play in military systems in the United States and other countries have sparked a renewed interest in exploring historical contexts of the relationships between gender and organised violence. If we consider violence as a performative act, whole new dimensions of gendered aspects of the history of violence and warfare emerge. In this article, I intend to draw on my research on gender, honour, and violence during the French Wars of Religion to explore the roles played by Protestant and Catholic women in southern France during siege operations. These besieged women acted to support their coreligionists by participating in the conflicts as healers, suppliers and even combatants. Besieged women were considered ‘vulnerable’ in sieges, yet their involvement in siege operations challenged contemporary gender stereotypes, threatened social norms and opened new potential cultural possibilities for these women. I hope to show how the discourses on violence, bodies, revolt and religion shaped the tough choices that confronted these women as they participated actively in civil violence. The besieged women in southern France, I believe, are key to understanding the dynamics of gender and warfare and the ways in which women have actively participated in violence – especially in cases of civil violence where the status of the body politic was thrown into question.
Rethinking Law and Violence: The Domestic Violence (Prevention) Bill in India, 2002
Authors: Sunder Rajan Rajeswari
Published: December 2004

This essay focuses on the controversy generated by recent proposed legislation on domestic violence in India. An alternative draft bill on domestic violence prepared by the feminist legal NGO, the Lawyers’ Collective, and supported by women's groups nationally, includes a demand that victims of domestic violence (usually wives) be permitted by law to continue to occupy the domestic home, a demand that the Government bill has refused to include. This demand is theoretically informed by a politics of space. Bodies and space are linked, to the extent that each is an abstraction without the concept of the other to ground it. The feminist legal proposal challenges property‐as‐absolute‐(male) ownership by conceptualising the household as, instead, shared domestic space. The proposal does not dissimulate common sense – it is conscious of being radical, in part at least because it demystifies the ‘domestic’ as an ideological construct and offers it instead realistically and minimally as simply an alternative to destitution. The recognition that there are no support structures for dependant women outside the family (such as, for example, state‐sponsored welfare institutions), so that destitution can be both sudden and real for women of any class and circumstances, has led to the conceptualisation of a law that formulates a right to shared space as one that makes no claim to shared ownership – while at the same time questioning the other's absolute property right. Despite the limited nature of the claim it makes, this proposal has been viewed as threatening by Indian law‐makers.
Apparitions of Desire: Clive van den Berg and the Art of Historical Unknowability
Authors: Morris Rosalind C.
Published: December 2004

This paper considers the art of South African artist, Clive van den Berg. Van den Berg has long been engaged in a careful exploration of landscapes and their capacity to bear traces of what is no longer known, often in ways that question the archive fever of contemporary historians and cultural activists. In a variety of media – from fire‐installations to oil pastel, from light and wood to acrylic, in video and in mono‐print – he has probed the history of eros and its relationship to the violences of apartheid, simultaneously citing the aesthetic traditions of the Italian Renaissance and Southern Africa. The paper both describes and explicates the aesthetico‐political ambition of the artist's work as it has developed over the last decade, in the aftermath of apartheid's dismantling.
The Currency Ratio in Tanzania: An Econometric Analysis
Authors: Ndanshau Michael O.A.
Published: December 2004

Abstract:  This study tested some key hypotheses on the determinants of the currency ratio in Tanzania. The econometric results suggest that real income is, as theorized, negatively related to and a significant determinant of the currency ratio in Tanzania. The estimated income elasticity coefficient, found to be far less than unity, suggests there is poor substitution between currency and demand deposits in Tanzania. The results also showed that expected inflation was negatively related to the currency ratio in Tanzania. While the structural adjustment programme was found to increase and shift upward the currency ratio function in Tanzania, the liberalization of the financial sector was found to shift decrease and shift downward the currency ratio function. Most institutional variables were found to lack the expected sign and significance in explaining the currency ratio in Tanzania, probably because of inadequacy of the proxies used.
African Poverty Reduction Strategy Programmes and the Fisheries Sector: Current Situation and Opportunities*
Authors: Thorpe Andy , Reid Chris , Van Anrooy Raymon , Brugere Cecile
Published: December 2004

Abstract:  The formulation of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) is one of the main conditions for concessional lending by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank to developing countries. Nevertheless, while evidence indicates that the fisheries sector can contribute (often markedly at the local level) to improved livelihoods and the achievement of food security in Africa, the sector is often neglected in PRSPs. This article focuses on the 29 African states that have currently produced a PRSP, highlighting those nations for whom the fisheries sector has been a significant motor of economic growth or likely poverty refuge. It then analyses the extent to which the fisheries sector is incorporated into national PRSPs. Results of a mapping exercise demonstrate that while the sector is significant (in either growth or poverty terms) in 12 states, the sector was effectively mainstreamed in only three national PRSPs (Ghana, Guinea and Senegal).
Phylogenetic analysis of bovine pestiviruses: testing the evolution of clinical symptoms
Authors: Jones L. R. , Cigliano M. M. , Zandomeni R. O. , Weber E. L.
Published: December 2004

This study presents a phylogenetic analysis of 115 bovine pestiviruses. A sequence data set from the 5′ untranslated genomic region was analyzed with maximum parsimony, bootstrapping and parsimony jackknifing. We tested for the proposed classifications of the group and analyzed the evolution of the symptoms associated withPestivirusinfections in bovines. Based on the historical framework provided by our phylogenetic trees, we also characterized the extent and importance of contamination caused in biologicals by the virus. Our phylogenetic analyses showed that the previously defined genotypes are monophyletic, except for genotype 1a. Based on our cladograms, we propose the existence of more than 12 monophyletic groups within the species BVDV 1. The mapping of clinical symptoms suggests that the emergence of some genotypes could have been driven by a change in the pathogenic process.Enteric Problemsappear to be ancestral, whileReproductiveandRespiratory Problemsarise with the emergence of genotypes1b,1dand the herein‐proposed genotypeArg 1. The distribution of contaminant strains on the cladograms shows that pestiviral contamination is a common process, and also suggests that a contaminated product might be a vehicle for virus dispersion. Implications for virus evolution, virus taxonomy, veterinary medicine and biotechnology are discussed.
A combined approach to the phylogeny of Cephalopoda (Mollusca)
Authors: Lindgren A. R. , Giribet G. , Nishiguchi M. K.
Published: December 2004

Cephalopoda represents a highly diverse group of molluscs, ranging in habitat from coastal regions to deep benthic waters. While cephalopods remain at the forefront of modern biology, in providing insight into fields such as neurobiology and population genetics, little is known about the relationships within the group. This study provides a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of Cephalopoda (Mollusca) using a combination of molecular and morphological data. Four loci (three nuclear 18S rRNA, fragments of 28S rRNA and histone H3 and one mitochondrial cytochromecoxidase subunit I) were combined with 101 morphological characters to test the relationships of 60 species of cephalopods, with emphasis within Decabrachia (squids and cuttlefishes). Individual and combined data sets were analyzed using the direct optimization method, with parsimony as the optimality criterion. Analyses were repeated for 12 different parameter sets accounting for a range of indel/change and transversion/transition cost ratios. Most analyses support the monophyly of Cephalopoda, Nautiloidea, Coleoidea and Decabrachia, however, the monophyly of Octobrachia was refuted due to the lack of support for a Cirroctopoda + Octopoda group. When analyzing all molecular evidence in combination and for total evidence analyses, Vampyromorpha formed the sister group to Decabrachia under the majority of parameters, while morphological data and some individual data sets supported a sister relationship between Vampyromorpha and Octobrachia. Within Decabrachia, a relationship between the sepioids Idiosepiida, Sepiida, Sepiolida and the teuthid Loliginidae was supported. Spirulida fell within the teuthid group in most analyses, further rendering Teuthida paraphyletic. Relationships within Decabrachia and specifically Oegopsida were found to be highly parameter‐dependent. © The Willi Hennig Society 2004.
Clade stability and the addition of data: A case study from erigonine spiders (Araneae: Linyphiidae, Erigoninae)
Authors: Miller Jeremy A. , Hormiga Gustavo
Published: December 2004

This study presents a new phylogeny of erigonine spiders with emphasis on genera from the Neotropics. Thirty‐nine exemplar taxa representing mostly Neotropical genera were added to a global sample of 31 erigonine and 12 outgroup exemplar taxa analyzed in a previous study. These 82 taxa were coded for 176 (172 informative) mostly morphological characters. Eighty‐one characters were identical to or modified from the 73 (67 informative) characters included in a previous study; the remaining 95 characters are new. The complete data set includes 70 erigonine exemplars representing 65 genera, seven nonerigonine linyphiid exemplars, and five exemplars representing four araneoid families in the outgroup. Cladistic analysis resulted in a single most parsimonious tree (L =904, CI = 0.23, RI = 0.58; uninformative characters excluded: L = 900, CI = 0.23). This paper explores the implications of the new topology for the evolution of several characters of interest in erigonine evolution. The phylogeny implies that the desmitracheate condition is a synapomorphy of erigonines, with a reversal to the haplotracheate condition in one large clade within Erigoninae. We infer that the loss of the paracymbium in Neotropical erigonines occurred twice and may have progressed by different evolutionary pathways. Our phylogeny differs markedly from the previous cladistic hypothesis of erigonine relationships. We investigate how the addition of characters and taxa (alone and together) have altered the earlier hypothesis of erigonine phylogeny. We conclude that topological changes from the previous study to the current one are largely the result of adding and modifying characters, not adding taxa. Continuous Jackknife Function (CJF) analysis predicts that the inclusion of additional character data will continue to imply changes in the relationships among taxa in our analysis.
Diatom phylogenetics inferred based on direct optimization of nuclear‐encoded SSU rRNA sequences
Authors: Sorhannus Ulf
Published: December 2004

Direct optimization (DO) of 126 nuclear‐encoded SSU rRNA diatom sequences was conducted. The optimal phylogeny indicated several unique relationships with respect to those recovered from a maximum likelihood (ML) analysis of an alignment based on maximizing primary and secondary structural similarity between 126 nuclear‐encoded SSU rRNA diatom sequences (Medlin and Kaczmarska, 2004). Dividing diatoms into the subdivisions Coscinodiscophytina and Bacillariophytina was not supported by the DO phylogeny, due to the paraphyly of the former. The same pertains to Coscinodiscophyceae, Mediophyceae, Thalassiosira, Fragilaria and Amphora. The ordinal‐level classification of the diatoms proposed by Round et al. (1990) was for the most part found to be unsupported. The DO phylogeny represented a more rigorous hypothesis than the ML tree because DO maximized character congruence during the homology testing (i.e., alignment/tree search) process whereas the non‐phylogenetic similarity‐based alignment used in the ML analysis did not. The above statement is supported by “controlled” parsimony analyses of 35 sequences, which strongly suggested that dissimilarities in the DO and ML tree structure were due to the specific homology testing approach used. It could not be precluded that differences in taxon sampling and the use of a dissimilar optimality criteria contributed to discrepancies in the structure of the optimal ML and DO trees.
Peri‐operative complications during percutaneous tracheostomy in obese patients
Authors: Byhahn C. , Lischke V. , Meininger D. , Halbig S. , Westphal K.
Published: December 2004

The safety of percutaneous tracheostomy in 73 obese patients (body mass index ≥ 27.5 kg.m−2) in a cohort of 474 adults was studied. Four percutaneous techniques were employed (percutaneous dilational tracheostomy, n = 48; Ciaglia Blue Rhino, n = 157; guide wire dilating forceps, n = 62, translaryngeal tracheostomy, n = 207). The overall complication rate was 43.8% (n = 32) in the obese group compared to 18.2% (n = 73) in the control group (p < 0.001). Seven (9.6%) obese patients suffered life‐threatening complications compared to three non‐obese patients (0.7%, p < 0.001). Obese patients had a 2.7‐fold increased risk for peri‐operative complications, and a 4.9‐fold increased risk for serious complications. The data suggest that percutaneous tracheostomy in obese patients is associated with a considerably increased risk for peri‐operative complications, especially for serious adverse events.
Randomised trial of intravenous infusion of ephedrine or mephentermine for management of hypotension during spinal anaesthesia for Caesarean section
Authors: Kansal A. , Mohta M. , Sethi A. K. , Tyagi A. , Kumar P.
Published: December 2004

This study compared the effects of intravenous infusions of ephedrine and mephentermine for maintenance of maternal arterial pressure and neonatal outcome in pregnant women receiving subarachnoid block for lower segment Caesarean section. Sixty patients who developed hypotension following subarachnoid block for Caesarean section were randomly divided into two groups of 30 each to receive an intravenous infusion of ephedrine or mephentermine. Hypotension was defined as a decrease in systolic blood pressure of ≥ 20% from the baseline value or an absolute value of <100 mmHg, whichever was higher. The vasopressor infusion was titrated to maintain systolic blood pressure between ‘hypotension’ and baseline values. Baseline haemodynamic parameters, haemodynamic changes subsequent to the start of vasopressor infusion, duration of hypotension and amount of vasopressor required were statistically similar for both groups. Neonatal APGAR scores and acid‐base profiles were also comparable. To conclude, mephentermine can be used as safely and effectively as ephedrine for the management of hypotension during spinal anaesthesia in patients undergoing elective Caesarean section.
Effect of cricoid pressure on the view at laryngoscopy*
Authors: Haslam N. , Parker L. , Duggan J. E.
Published: December 2004

The impact of cricoid pressure on laryngoscopy is unknown. We have developed a quantitative method of recording the laryngoscopic view using a rigid, zero‐degree endoscope. We found that an image matching the laryngoscopist's view could be obtained by positioning the endoscope along the laryngoscopist's ‘line of sight’. Photographing this image allowed us to measure laryngeal exposure. We set out to define the effect of cricoid pressure on laryngoscopy using this method. In 40 patients undergoing elective surgery, laryngoscopy was performed with cricoid pressures of 0–60 N, increasing by increments of 10 N. We photographed the laryngoscopic view at each force and recorded dynamic images as cricoid pressure was released. The change in laryngoscopic view with increasing cricoid pressure fell into one of four broad patterns: little change (11 subjects); gradual deterioration (10 subjects); improvement at low force (< 20 N) followed by deterioration (9 subjects); improvement at high force (> 30 N) (10 subjects). We identified five subjects with a good initial view (anteroposterior length of the rima glottidis > 5 mm) who showed a marked deterioration in laryngoscopic view as cricoid pressure increased; in three of these subjects this progressed to obscure the larynx completely at a force of 30 N, 40 N and 60 N, respectively. We conclude that the effect of cricoid pressure on laryngoscopy is complex. However, in some individuals, a force close to that currently recommended (30 N) may cause a complete loss of the glottic view.
Single nucleotide polymorphism screening and association analysis – exclusion of integrin β7 and vitamin D receptor (chromosome 12q) as candidate genes for asthma
Authors: Vollmert C. , Illig T. , Altmüller J. , Klugbauer S. , Loesgen S. , Dumitrescu L. , Wjst M.
Published: December 2004

Background
The human genes coding for integrin β7 (ITGB7) and vitamin D receptor (VDR) are two of the several candidate genes for asthma and related phenotypes found in a promising candidate region on chromosome 12q that has been identified in multiple genomewide screens and candidate gene approaches.

Methods
All exons, including parts of the neighbouring introns, and the predicted promoter region of the ITGB7 gene were screened for common polymorphisms in 32 independent asthmatic and healthy probands, resulting in the detection of two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) unknown so far. In addition to these SNPs, five already described SNPs of the ITGB7 and one in the human VDR gene were analysed in a Caucasian sib pair study of 176 families with at least two affected children, using matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry. All confirmed SNPs were tested for linkage/association with asthma and related traits (total serum IgE level, eosinophil cell count and slope of the dose–response curve after bronchial challenge).

Results
Two new variations in the ITGB7 gene were identified. The coding SNP in exon 4 causes a substitution of the amino acid GLU by VAL, whereas the other variation is non‐coding (intron 3). None of the eight analysed SNPs, of either the ITGB7 or the VDR genes, showed significant linkage/association with asthma or related phenotypes in the family study.

Conclusions
These findings indicate that neither the human ITGB7 nor the VDR gene seem to be associated with the pathogenesis of asthma or the expression of related allergic phenotypes such as eosinophilia and changes in total IgE level.
Surfactant protein D deficiency influences allergic immune responses
Authors: Schaub B. , Westlake R. M. , He H. , Arestides R. , Haley K. J. , Campo M. , Velasco G. , Bellou A. , Hawgood S. , Poulain F. R. , Perkins D. L. , Finn P. W.
Published: December 2004

Background
The collectin surfactant protein D (SP‐D) confers protection against pulmonary infection and inflammation. Recent data suggest a role for SP‐D in the modulation of allergic inflammation.

Objective
The aim of this study is to characterize the immune responses of SP‐D‐deficient (SP‐D−/−) mice in a kinetic model of allergic inflammation. We determined whether allergic parameters were enhanced in SP‐D−/− mice in vivo. Further, we examined whether functional immune responses in vitro such as lymphocyte proliferation (LP) and cytokine production were modulated in the absence of SP‐D.

Methods
In vivo, wild‐type (WT) and SP‐D−/− mice were sensitized and challenged with the allergen ovalbumin (OVA) and assessed for allergic parameters (bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) eosinophils, IL‐13 production, pulmonary IFN‐γ, IL‐10 expression) at early time points (1 and 3 days of challenge) in comparison with late time points (7 days of challenge). In vitro, spleen cells from WT and SP‐D−/− mice were stimulated with the mitogen concanavalin A (ConA) and lipid A (LpA) and analysed for LP, IL‐13 and IFN‐γ production. Toll‐like receptor 4 (TLR4), ligand for LpA, was assessed by mRNA expression and immunohistochemistry in vivo.

Results
Following allergen exposure in vivo, SP‐D−/− mice expressed higher BAL eosinophils and IL‐13 concentrations and lower IFN‐γ expression at early time points compared with WT mice. IL‐10 expression was increased at early time points in SP‐D−/− compared with WT mice. Allergen‐induced TLR4 expression was increased in WT, but not in SP‐D−/− mice. After stimulation with LpA and ConA in vitro LP was increased and IFN‐γ concentration was decreased in SP‐D−/− mice.

Conclusion
SP‐D may be critical for the modulation of early stages of allergic inflammation in vivo.