bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Peak effect and dynamic melting transitions of driven vortex system in weakly disordered Josephson junction arrays
Authors: Li B. , Xing Z. W. , Liu M.
Published: November 2010

Using the resistively shunted junction model, we study the magnetic frustration induced dynamic melting transitions of a current-driven vortex system in two-dimensional weakly disordered Josephson juction arrays at zero temperature and very low temperatures. From the unified model simulations, we simultaneously obtain two kinds of dynamic melting transitions of the vortex flow, just below the vortex glass phase and above a dynamic melting threshold, respectively. The reenter pinned dilute vortex liquid behavior and the intrinsic quantum vortex liquid (QVL) phenomenon are also obtained, consistent with the recent experimental reports in disordered and superconducting MoGe films. The peak effect of critical current in the vortex glass is induced by intrinsic collective pinning effects in the plastic flow and the enhancement of critical current and voltage noise in the QVL phase arises from intrinsic quantum fluctuations in the moving vortex flow.
Enhancement of weak-signal response based on stochastic resonance in carbon nanotube field-effect transistors
Authors: Hakamata Yasufumi , Ohno Yasuhide , Maehashi Kenzo , Kasai Seiya , Inoue Koichi , Matsumoto Kazuhiko
Published: November 2010

Stochastic resonance (SR) in carbon nanotube field-effect transistors (CNT-FETs) was investigated to enhance their weak-signal response. When weak pulse trains were applied to the gate of a CNT-FET operating in a subthreshold region, the correlation between the input and output voltages increased upon addition of noise with optimized intensity. Virtual CNT-FET summing networks of N units were demonstrated to improve SR. When no noise was applied for N=1, the correlation coefficient was nearly 0. While, the correlation coefficient at the peak intensity for N=8 was estimated to be 0.58, indicating that significant enhancement of the correlation was observed in the summing network of the CNT-FETs. Moreover, as N increased, the larger correlation coefficient was obtained against large noise intensity, indicating that they are robust against a large amount of unintentional noise. Therefore, CNT-FET summing networks based on SR are promising candidates for highly sensitive label-free sensors.
The structure of strongly additive states and Markov triplets on the CAR algebra
Authors: Jenčová Anna
Published: November 2010

We find a characterization of states satisfying equality in strong subadditivity of entropy and of Markov triplets on the CAR algebra. For even states, a more detailed structure of the density matrix is given.
Current induced effective magnetic field and magnetization reversal in uniaxial anisotropy (Ga,Mn)As
Authors: Endo M. , Matsukura F. , Ohno H.
Published: November 2010

The authors investigate the current density and temperature dependence of current induced effective magnetic field Heff through spin-orbit interaction in a ferromagnetic semiconductor Ga0.92Mn0.08As having uniaxial magnetic anisotropy. The change of the magnitude of apparent magnetic anisotropy induced by Heff that is dependent on the current direction and density is observed by transport measurements using the planar Hall effect. The authors show the 180° magnetization switching through Heff by applying pulsed current.
Nonlinear oscillation behavior of a driven gyrotron backward-wave oscillator
Authors: Yeh Y. S. , Chang T. H. , Fan C. T. , Hung C. L. , Jhou J. N. , Huang J. M. , Shiao J. L. , Wu Z. Q. , Chiu C. C.
Published: November 2010

Controlling the phase and frequency of a gyrotron backward-wave oscillator (gyro-BWO) by means of injection-locking techniques is of practical importance. This study employed a nonlinear self-consistent time-independent code to analyze the nonlinear oscillation behavior of a driven gyro-BWO. There are three regimes in the driven gyro-BWO, including amplification, injection-locked oscillation, and mode competition regimes. Based on the theory of nonlinear oscillation, the amplification and injection-locked oscillation modes are the stable modes and compete with each other in the mode competition regime. An oscillator plane of the driven gyro-BWO is elucidated in the paper. This work demonstrates for the first time that the amplification mode transits to the injection-locked oscillation mode in the driven gyro-BWO. Moreover, the signification efficiency enhancement of the driven gyro-BWO over the free-running efficiency is found.
Indirect excitation of Er3+ ions in silicon nitride films prepared by reactive evaporation
Authors: Steveler E. , Rinnert H. , Devaux X. , Dossot M. , Vergnat M.
Published: November 2010

Er-doped silicon nitride films were obtained by reactive evaporation of silicon under a flow of nitrogen ions and were annealed at temperatures up to 1300 °C. Samples were studied by infrared absorption and Raman spectrometries and by transmission electron microscopy. The 1.54 μm Er-related photoluminescence (PL) was studied in relation with the structure with pump excitation at 488 and 325 nm. Steady-state PL, PL excitation spectroscopy, and time-resolved PL were performed. The results demonstrate that Er3+ ions are indirectly excited both via silicon nanocrystals and via localized states in the silicon nitride matrix.
Field-induced strain degradation of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors on a nanometer scale
Authors: Lin Chung-Han , Doutt D. R. , Mishra U. K. , Merz T. A. , Brillson L. J.
Published: November 2010

Nanoscale Kelvin probe force microscopy and depth-resolved cathodoluminescence spectroscopy reveal an electronic defect evolution inside operating AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors with degradation under electric-field-induced stress. Off-state electrical stress results in micron-scale areas within the extrinsic drain expanding and decreasing in electric potential, midgap defects increasing by orders-of-magnitude at the AlGaN layer, and local Fermi levels lowering as gate-drain voltages increase above a characteristic stress threshold. The pronounced onset of defect formation, Fermi level movement, and transistor degradation at the threshold gate-drain voltage of J. A. del Alamo and J. Joh [Microelectron. Reliab. 49, 1200 (2009)] is consistent with crystal deformation and supports the inverse piezoelectric model of high electron mobility transistor degradation.
An NADPH-dependent genetic switch regulates plant infection by the rice blast fungus
Authors: Wilson Richard A. , Gibson Robert P. , Quispe Cristian F. , Littlechild Jennifer A. , Talbot Nicholas J.
Published: November 2010

To cause rice blast disease, the fungus
Magnaporthe oryzae
breaches the tough outer cuticle of the rice leaf by using specialized infection structures called appressoria. These cells allow the fungus to invade the host plant and proliferate rapidly within leaf tissue. Here, we show that a unique NADPH-dependent genetic switch regulates plant infection in response to the changing nutritional and redox conditions encountered by the pathogen. The biosynthetic enzyme trehalose-6-phosphate synthase (Tps1) integrates control of glucose-6-phosphate metabolism and nitrogen source utilization by regulating the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway, the generation of NADPH, and the activity of nitrate reductase. We report that Tps1 directly binds to NADPH and, thereby, regulates a set of related transcriptional corepressors, comprising three proteins, Nmr1, Nmr2, and Nmr3, which can each bind NADP. Targeted deletion of any of the Nmr-encoding genes partially suppresses the nonpathogenic phenotype of a Δ
tps1
mutant. Tps1-dependent Nmr corepressors control the expression of a set of virulence-associated genes that are derepressed during appressorium-mediated plant infection. When considered together, these results suggest that initiation of rice blast disease by
M. oryzae
requires a regulatory mechanism involving an NADPH sensor protein, Tps1, a set of NADP-dependent transcriptional corepressors, and the nonconsuming interconversion of NADPH and NADP acting as signal transducer.
Heritable victimization and the benefits of agonistic relationships
Authors: Lea Amanda J. , Blumstein Daniel T. , Wey Tina W. , Martin Julien G. A.
Published: November 2010

Here, we present estimates of heritability and selection on network traits in a single population, allowing us to address the evolutionary potential of social behavior and the poorly understood link between sociality and fitness. To evolve, sociality must have some heritable basis, yet the heritability of social relationships is largely unknown. Recent advances in both social network analyses and quantitative genetics allow us to quantify attributes of social relationships and estimate their heritability in free-living populations. Our analyses addressed a variety of measures (in-degree, out-degree, attractiveness, expansiveness, embeddedness, and betweenness), and we hypothesized that traits reflecting relationships controlled by an individual (i.e., those that the individual initiated or were directly involved in) would be more heritable than those based largely on the behavior of conspecifics. Identifying patterns of heritability and selection among related traits may provide insight into which types of relationships are important in animal societies. As expected, we found that variation in indirect measures was largely explained by nongenetic variation. Yet, surprisingly, traits capturing initiated interactions do not possess significant additive genetic variation, whereas measures of received interactions are heritable. Measures describing initiated aggression and position in an agonistic network are under selection (0.3 < |S| <0.4), although advantageous trait values are not inherited by offspring. It appears that agonistic relationships positively influence fitness and seemingly costly or harmful ties may, in fact, be beneficial. Our study highlights the importance of studying agonistic as well as affiliative relationships to understand fully the connections between sociality and fitness.
Topological change disturbs object continuity in attentive tracking
Authors: Zhou Ke , Luo Huan , Zhou Tiangang , Zhuo Yan , Chen Lin
Published: November 2010

The question of what is a perceptual object is one of the most central and also controversial issues in cognitive science. According to the topological approach to perceptual organization, the core intuitive notion of an object—the holistic identity preserved over shape-changing transformations—may be characterized precisely as topological invariance. Here we show that, across a series of multiple-object tracking tasks, performance was not disrupted when the moving items underwent massive featural changes. However, performance was significantly impaired when the items changed their topological properties of holes, demonstrating that topological invariance constrains what counts as an object in the first place. Consistent with previous findings, fMRI studies indicated that the anterior temporal lobe may be involved in the formation of object representation defined by topological constraints.
KIAA1018/FAN1 nuclease protects cells against genomic instability induced by interstrand cross-linking agents
Authors: Yoshikiyo Kazunori , Kratz Katja , Hirota Kouji , Nishihara Kana , Takata Minoru , Kurumizaka Hitoshi , Horimoto Satoshi , Takeda Shunichi , Jiricny Josef
Published: November 2010

Fanconi anemia (FA) is a rare genetic disease characterized by congenital defects, bone marrow failure, chromosomal instability, and cancer susceptibility. One hallmark of cells from FA patients is hypersensitivity to interstrand cross-linking agents, such as the chemotherapeutics cisplatin and mitomycin C (MMC). We have recently characterized a FANCD2/FANCI-associated nuclease, KIAA1018/FAN1, the depletion of which sensitizes human cells to these agents. However, as the down-regulation of FAN1 in human cells was mediated by siRNA and thus only transient, we were unable to study the long-term effects of FAN1 loss on chromosomal stability. We now describe the generation of chicken DT40 B cells, in which the
FAN1
locus was disrupted by gene targeting. FAN1-null cells are highly sensitive to cisplatin and MMC, but not to ionizing or UV radiation, methyl methanesulfonate, or camptothecin. The cells do not display elevated sister chromatid exchange frequencies, either sporadic or MMC-induced. Interestingly, MMC treatment causes chromosomal instability that is quantitatively, but not qualitatively, comparable to that seen in FA cells. This finding, coupled with evidence showing that DT40 cells deficient in both FAN1 and FANCC, or FAN1 and FANCJ, exhibited increased sensitivity to cisplatin compared with cells lacking only FAN1, suggests that, despite its association with FANCD2/FANCI, FAN1 in DT40 cells participates in the processing of damage induced by interstrand cross-linking-generating agents also independently of the classical FA pathway.
Jumonji domain protein JMJD5 functions in both the plant and human circadian systems
Authors: Jones Matthew A. , Covington Michael F. , DiTacchio Luciano , Vollmers Christopher , Panda Satchidananda , Harmer Stacey L.
Published: November 2010

Circadian clocks are near-ubiquitous molecular oscillators that coordinate biochemical, physiological, and behavioral processes with environmental cues, such as dawn and dusk. Circadian timing mechanisms are thought to have arisen multiple times throughout the evolution of eukaryotes but share a similar overall structure consisting of interlocking transcriptional and posttranslational feedback loops. Recent work in both plants and animals has also linked modification of histones to circadian clock function. Now, using data from published microarray experiments, we have identified a histone demethylase, jumonji domain containing 5 (JMJD5), as a previously undescribed participant in both the human andArabidopsiscircadian systems.Arabidopsis JMJD5is coregulated with evening-phased clock components and positively affects expression of clock genes expressed at dawn. We found that bothArabidopsis jmjd5mutant seedlings and mammalian cell cultures deficient for the human ortholog of this gene have similar fast-running circadian oscillations compared with WT. Remarkably, both theArabidopsisand humanJMJD5orthologs retain sufficient commonality to rescue the circadian phenotype of the reciprocal system. Thus, JMJD5 plays an interchangeable role in the timing mechanisms of plants and animals despite their highly divergent evolutionary paths.
A 17th-century account of Mohawk
Authors: Dinneen Francis P.
Published: November 2010

Jacques Bruyas (c.l630-c.l701) left a set of notes on Mohawk in the late 1600s which were published in 1862. His account and work done on the language in the 20th century are compared. Where he fails to record all the sound-contrasts that are functional in the language and is unable to cope with allophones, modern workers may still disagree on how best to represent them. His lack of models for the description of a polysynthetic language, with a modest phonemic inventory, but complex morphophonemics, obscures morphemic boundaries. Bruyas had the reputation among contemporaries of being equally fluent in French and Mohawk, yet his notes fail to mention factors that are obviously frequent, complex and demanded for accurate communication. While the vocabulary in his account is perhaps better handled than in modern works, the selection is more guided by human interest than grammatical relevance.
Franz Boas, Edward Sapir, and the Americanist text tradition
Authors: Darnell Regna
Published: November 2010

The collection of native texts was foundational to the practice of Boasian anthropology and linguistics because it preserved for posterity the understanding of a culture by its members – not just the ethnographic facts but their integration into the lives of particular individuals. Edward Sapir went far beyond his mentor Franz Boas, however, in exploring the connection between text collections from which grammatical and ethnological information could be extracted and the integration of cultural information by the individual narrator of a given text. Revision of the text tradition, then, provides a link between Sapir’s conventionally Boasian early career in linguistics and ethnology and his later theoretical work on the interrelationship between language, personality and culture. Because linguistic and cultural theory are presently considered very far apart, this continuity in Sapir’s thinking has-been eclipsed in professional memory.
Nebrija’s syntatic theory in its historical setting
Authors: Percival W. Keith
Published: November 2010

Antonio de Nebrija (1444?–1522) inherited his syntactic theory from a grammatical tradition which had developed in Italy in the High Middle Ages more or less independently of the speculative tradition of northern Europe. The distinctive features of this system are the following: (1) The main verb in a sentence governs not only the oblique cases of the complements but also the nominative case of the subject. (2) Verbs are subclassified depending on the morphological cases of their nominal complements. Nebrija must have assimilated this system as a student in Italy in the 1460s.
La Gramaticografía Del Siglo xviii, entre Tradición y Reorientación
Authors: Niederehe Hans-Josef
Published: November 2010

With the transition from the so-called ‘Golden Ages’ to the age of Enlightenment, Spain lost its political and cultural hegemony to its northern neighbour, France. In the field of the language studies, this change is evident especially in the area of lexicography: theDiccionario de la Real Academia Española(1726–1739) was soon modeled after theDictionnaire de l’Académie Française(1694). In grammaticography, things seem to have been different, at least if one listens to those few historians of linguistics who payed attention to 18th-century Spanish linguistics. The overall judgements range from ‘a total lack of good grammar’ to a ‘complete disregard of modern [i.e., French] theories’. However, a closer look at the grammatical production of the time does not confirm any of these assessments. Apart from Latin grammars in the tradition of Nebrija and bilingual Spanish-French grammars clearly influenced by contemporary French theories, there are a tradition of monolingual grammaticography, which are totally up-to-date on contemporary European grammatical discussions, focussed, as they were, on the teachings of Port-Royal. TheGramática de la lengua castellanaof the Spanish Royal Academy follows along the same lines by developing even more the logical approach to grammatical description. Before starting to write down the final version of their grammar, the Academicians even went as far as to study dozens of grammars of other languages, old and new, Western as well as non-Western, in order to get a more general linguistic framework and to follow more closely the theories of the scholar who, in the eyes of the grammarians of Port-Royal, was the starting point of ‘modern’ linguistics, the Spaniard Francisco Sanchez de las Brozas (1523–1600/1601).
Los Epígonos Del Racionalismo en España
Authors: Ridruejo Emilio
Published: November 2010

French philosophical grammmar and grammatical rationalism developed from the 17th-century Port Royal Grammar, but they were not adopted by Spanish grammarians until early in the 19th century. Of works responsible for the introduction of French grammatical philosophy in Spain, one of the earliest and the most important one is the Principios de gramática general (Madrid 1835), by José Gómez Hermosilla (1771–1837/38?). The work was very well received; by 1841 it already was into a third edition. Even before first appearing in print, a manuscript of the Gramática General was used to adapt Gómez Hermosilla’s ideas to the 1828 Castilian grammar of Jacobo Saqueniza (anagram for Joaquín Cabezas). The most important of the Castilian grammars influenced by the work of Gómez Hermosilla were the one just mentioned and the one by Antonio Martinez de Noboa, published in 1839. The application of Hermosilla’s theories to descriptive grammars of Castilian required adapting both the theory and the description to achieve a reasonable fit between universal and language specific aspects. Other adjustments were required of the writers of descriptive grammars in order to avoid conflicts with a long and well established grammatical tradition. Nevertheless, grammars like those of Saqueniza and Noboa show innovations which resulted from their relationship with the theories of Hermosilla which will produce a deictic interpretation of articles, possesives and demonstratives, and will affect the theory of verb tenses, as well as the definitions of prepositions and conjunctions, and the classification of sentences. Additionally, Noboa’s Castilian Gramática, whose title makes a claim to be in accordance with grammatical philosophy, includes the most extensive and systematic treatment of syntax prior to the appearance of the work of Andres Bello (1781–1865) in 1847.
Domingo F. Sarmiento y la función social de la lengua
Authors: Velleman Barry L.
Published: November 2010

The linguistic ideas of Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (Argentina, 1811–1888), while never stated as an organized whole in his copious Complete Works, occupy a central position in his thought on social organization, education, and the advance of what he called ‘civilization’. While he never proposed to analyze ‘language’ in a systematic way, Sarmiento’s linguistic ideas reveal a surprising intuition. This study attempts to trace some of these reflections, emphasizing materials produced in the period 1841–1843, when Sarmiento participated in a lively polemic motivated, in part, by the controversy of whether or not to break with Peninsular models. Sarmiento found the Spanish language incapable of providing a prestige dialect, since it was the reflection of an inert culture. He strove to distinguish between a language and the graphic symbols which represent it, and to find American prestige linguistic models. Seeing language as a dynamic construct with variations through time, place, and social level, Sarmiento anticipates modern descriptivist and pragmatic theories. He also proposes that the basis of language education is reading, and supports both foreign language teaching and massive translation of foreign texts. Sarmiento’s dismissal of Spain as a literary and linguistic model softened over the years, beginning with the period of ‘codification’ seen between 1843 and 1849. By the period 1879–1883, Sarmiento acknowledged Bello’s great contribution. The Argentine thinker is seen in the context of the Argentine Generation of 1837 whose Naturalistic-Romantic concept of language evolved into a Darwinian positivism.
Premodern Letters and Textual Consciousness
Authors: Amsler Mark E.
Published: November 2010

Modern linguistics textbooks devote little, if any, space to writing systems. Shifting our attention from naming precursors or proto-theories to reading earlier language study and linguistics as theorizing and description, the present paper explores ancient and early medieval concepts of the letter in terms of the semiotics of written language and the emergence of textual consciousness in manuscript culture. Early concepts and uses of the letter in alphabetic writing were ambiguous, multilayered, and occasionally contested, but they were not confused. Ancient and early medieval concepts of the letter were based on a semiotics of language and writing which connected spoken and visual signs as multimodal textual activity. Theories of the letter included: (a) the written character (gramma, littera) is a visual sign signifying a particular sound or group of sounds; (b) letters can function as arbitrary second-order signifying systems, such as numbers or diacritics; (c) different alphabets are rooted in the history of peoples although the Roman alphabet is a plastic medium for inscribing the emerging European vernaculars; (d) letters are material substances; (e) the written character is a mute sign; (f) the written character is imperfect or incomplete when detached from sound and the practice of reading aloud.
Patronage, Sacrality and Power at the Court of Vittoria della Rovere: Antonio Veracini's Op. 1 Trio Sonatas
Authors: D'Ovidio Antonella
Published: November 2010

During the seventeenth century, the Medici family sought to legitimize its power by using art to communicate a political message, referring constantly to a precise code of sacred imagination and religious devotion. This article focuses on Antonio Veracini – a violinist in the service of Vittoria della Rovere – and on his op. 1, which shows a perfect agreement with the aesthetic ambitions of the grand duchess and with her double role of regent and defensor fidei. In the light of recent studies that reconsider the traditional historiographical approach to what has been called the ‘bigotry’ of Cosimo III, Antonio Veracini's sonatas – in comparison with two other coeval collections of trio sonatas dedicated to Grand Prince Ferdinando (by Pietro Sanmartini and Giovan Battista Gigli) – show a full awareness of the expressive potential of the sonata, transforming it into a musical genre capable of conferring not only ‘pleasure’ and ‘delight’ but also symbolic significance within specific cultural contexts.
Plasmacytoid dendritic cells sense skin injury and promote wound healing through type I interferons
Authors: Gregorio Josh , Meller Stephan , Conrad Curdin , Di Nardo Anna , Homey Bernhard , Lauerma Antti , Arai Naoko , Gallo Richard L. , DiGiovanni John , Gilliet Michel
Published: November 2010

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) are specialized type I interferon (IFN-α/β)–producing cells that express intracellular toll-like receptor (TLR) 7 and TLR9 and recognize viral nucleic acids in the context of infections. We show that pDCs also have the ability to sense host-derived nucleic acids released in common skin wounds. pDCs were found to rapidly infiltrate both murine and human skin wounds and to transiently produce type I IFNs via TLR7- and TLR9-dependent recognition of nucleic acids. This process was critical for the induction of early inflammatory responses and reepithelization of injured skin. Cathelicidin peptides, which facilitate immune recognition of released nucleic acids by promoting their access to intracellular TLR compartments, were rapidly induced in skin wounds and were sufficient but not necessary to stimulate pDC activation and type I IFN production. These data uncover a new role of pDCs in sensing tissue damage and promoting wound repair at skin surfaces.
Promoters, enhancers, and transcription target RAG1 binding during V(D)J recombination
Authors: Ji Yanhong , Little Alicia J. , Banerjee Joydeep K. , Hao Bingtao , Oltz Eugene M. , Krangel Michael S. , Schatz David G.
Published: November 2010

V(D)J recombination assembles antigen receptor genes in a well-defined order during lymphocyte development. This sequential process has long been understood in the context of the accessibility model, which states that V(D)J recombination is regulated by controlling the ability of the recombination machinery to gain access to its chromosomal substrates. Indeed, many features of “open” chromatin correlate with V(D)J recombination, and promoters and enhancers have been strongly implicated in creating a recombinase-accessible configuration in neighboring chromatin. An important prediction of the accessibility model is that cis-elements and transcription control binding of the recombination-activating gene 1 (RAG1) and RAG2 proteins to their DNA targets. However, this prediction has not been tested directly. In this study, we use mutant Tcra and Tcrb alleles to demonstrate that enhancers control RAG1 binding globally at Jα or Dβ/Jβ gene segments, that promoters and transcription direct RAG1 binding locally, and that RAG1 binding can be targeted in the absence of RAG2. These findings reveal important features of the genetic mechanisms that regulate RAG binding and provide a direct confirmation of the accessibility model.
A MODEL OF MIRA'S COMETARY HEAD/TAIL ENTERING THE LOCAL BUBBLE
Authors: Esquivel A. , Raga A. C. , Cantó J. , Rodríguez-González A. , López-Cámara D. , Velázquez P. F. , De Colle F.
Published: November 2010

We model the cometary structure around Mira as the interaction of an asymptotic giant branch stellar wind from Mira A with a streaming environment. Our simulations introduce the following new element: we assume that after 200 kyr of evolution in a dense environment, Mira entered the Local Bubble (low-density coronal gas). As Mira enters the bubble, the head of the comet expands quite rapidly, while the tail remains well collimated for a >100 kyr timescale. The result is a broad-head/narrow-tail structure that resembles the observed morphology of Mira's comet. The simulations were carried out with our new adaptive grid code Walicxe, which is described in detail.
Telomeric recombination induced by dysfunctional telomeres
Authors: Brault Marie Eve , Autexier Chantal
Published: November 2010

Telomere maintenance is essential for cellular immortality, and most cancer cells maintain their telomeres through the enzyme telomerase. Telomeres and telomerase represent promising anticancer targets. However, 15% of cancer cells maintain their telomeres through alternative recombination-based mechanisms, and previous analyses showed that recombination-based telomere maintenance can be activated after telomerase inhibition. We determined whether telomeric recombination can also be promoted by telomere dysfunction. We report for the first time that telomeric recombination can be induced in human telomerase-positive cancer cells with dysfunctional telomeres.
Effect of Adding Different Dietary Fiber Sources on Farinographic Parameters of Wheat Flour
Authors: Almeida Eveline Lopes , Chang Yoon Kil , Steel Caroline Joy
Published: November 2010

Breadmaking is a complex process that involves a series of parameters that must be controlled. Rheological measurements are often used to predict the behavior of wheat dough during processing and the quality of the final product. There are many different dietary fiber sources that can be used to enhance the nutritional quality of bread. However, they will affect processing and final product quality. Response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to study the effects of adding different dietary fiber sources (wheat bran, resistant starch, and locust bean gum) on farinographic parameters of wheat flour. The experiments were conducted according to a 23 central composite rotational design (CCRD). With the experimental results or responses (farinographic parameters), the effect of each variable was calculated and the interactions between them were determined. Models that explain the effects of the different fiber sources on water absorption, arrival time, dough development time, and mixing tolerance index of wheat flour were established. The fiber sources interacted for some of the parameters analyzed, demonstrating that if two or more sources of dietary fiber are present in the mix, they might act different to what would be expected of the sum of them. It was also noticed that for most parameters, wheat bran and locust bean gum had a greater influence on farinographic parameters than resistant starch. The simultaneous presence of the three fibers, within the ranges studied, contributed to an increase in water absorption, arrival time, and mixing tolerance index, and to a reduction in departure time and dough stability.
Antibodies to the Wheat Storage Globulin Glo‐3A in Children Before and at Diagnosis of Celiac Disease
Authors: Taplin Craig E , Mojibian Majid , Simpson Melissa , Taki Iman , Liu Edwin , Hoffenberg Edward J , Norris Jill M , Scott Fraser W , Rewers Marian
Published: November 2010

Objective:

Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune disease triggered by exposure to gluten‐containing foods. IgA autoantibodies to tissue transglutaminase (TTG) are elevated in CD, but little is known about the gastrointestinal state before the appearance of TTG. Antibodies to wheat storage globulin Glo‐3A have been studied in type 1 diabetes, and may be a marker of altered mucosal barrier and/or immune function. In the present study, we investigated antibody responses to Glo‐3A in CD.

Patients and Methods:

In the Diabetes Autoimmunity Study in the Young, children were studied prospectively from birth for the appearance of TTG and CD. Fifty cases of CD were frequency matched with 50 controls on age (of TTG seroconversion in the case), sex, ethnicity, presence of a first‐degree relative with type 1 diabetes mellitus, and human leukocyte antigen ‐DR3 genotype. In cases and controls, IgG antibodies to Glo‐3A were analyzed in a blinded manner in the sample collected at the time of seroconversion to TTG positivity (or the matched sample in controls) and in all of the previous samples since birth (mean 4.5 samples). The association between Glo‐3A antibody levels and CD case status was explored using t tests at the TTG‐positive visit and when Glo‐3A levels were highest, and mixed modeling to describe Glo‐3A over time.

Results:

At the time of first elevated TTG (mean 4.9 years), patients with CD had higher Glo‐3A antibody levels than controls (13.3 ± 17.2 vs 7.6 ± 11.7, P = 0.005). In both cases and controls, Glo‐3A antibodies appear to peak at a mean age of 2.9 years, before mean age of initial TTG seroconversion. The peak Glo‐3A antibody levels were higher in cases than controls (25.5 ± 21.8 vs 14.9 ± 18.3 P = 0.0007). Using mixed modeling to account for multiple visits per person, cases had higher levels of Glo‐3A antibodies than controls at all ages from birth to TTG seroconversion (β = 0.53, P = 0.002).

Conclusions:

Compared with controls, CD cases have higher Glo‐3A antibody responses in the beginning years, before initial detection of TTG.
Hepatic Expression of Cell Proliferation Markers and Growth Factors in Giant Cell Hepatitis: Implications for the Pathogenetic Mechanisms Involved
Authors: Fang Jane WS , González‐Peralta Regino P , Chong Sonny KF , Lau Grace M , Lau Gillian M , Lau Johnson YN
Published: November 2010

Objectives:

The aim of this study is to determine whether amitotic division or nuclear proliferation is involved in the formation of giant cells (GCs) in giant cell hepatitis (GCH).

Patients and Methods:

Liver sections from 18 pediatric patients with idiopathic infantile GCH and 12 patients with postinfantile GCH were evaluated for the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and human histone 3 (H3) mRNA, transforming growth factor‐alpha (TGF‐α), TGF‐β1, hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR).

Results:

Proliferation markers were detected in 1% to 80% in the nuclei of GC and non‐GC hepatocytes in 10 of 18 (56%) infantile GCH biopsies and 11 of 12 (92%) postinfantile GCH biopsies, but not in normal liver. The expression of proliferation markers in GCs paralleled that in non‐GC hepatocytes (P < 0.05 for both markers). TGF‐α and EGFR were detected in both GCs (9/29 and 4/30 patients with infantile or postinfantile GCH, respectively) and non‐GC hepatocytes (15/29 and 11/30 patients with infantile or postinfantile GCH, respectively). TGF‐β1 and HGF were detected mainly in sinusoidal cells in 20 of 29 and 10 of 30 patients with infantile or postinfantile GCH, respectively; the expression of HGF was positively correlated with PCNA and H3 mRNA in non‐GC hepatocytes and with H3 mRNA in GCs (P < 0.01).

Conclusions:

Hepatic expressions of nuclear proliferation markers and growth factors were similar in infantile and postinfantile GCH, nuclear proliferation markers were detected in both GCs and non‐GC hepatocytes in a high proportion of patients, and expression of HGF correlated positively with the proliferation markers. These data indicate that nuclear proliferation may contribute to the pathogenesis of GCs in at least a proportion of patients with GCH. A model for the pathogenesis of GCH is proposed.
Glucose-1-Phosphate Transport into Protoplasts and Chloroplasts from Leaves of Arabidopsis
Authors: Fettke Joerg , Malinova Irina , Albrecht Tanja , Hejazi Mahdi , Steup Martin
Published: November 2010

Almost all glucosyl transfer reactions rely on glucose-1-phosphate (Glc-1-P) that either immediately acts as glucosyl donor or as substrate for the synthesis of the more widely used Glc dinucleotides, ADPglucose or UDPglucose. In this communication, we have analyzed two Glc-1-P-related processes: the carbon flux from externally supplied Glc-1-P to starch by either mesophyll protoplasts or intact chloroplasts from Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). When intact protoplasts or chloroplasts are incubated with [U-14C]Glc-1-P, starch is rapidly labeled. Incorporation into starch is unaffected by the addition of unlabeled Glc-6-P or Glc, indicating a selective flux from Glc-1-P to starch. However, illuminated protoplasts incorporate less 14C into starch when unlabeled bicarbonate is supplied in addition to the 14C-labeled Glc-1-P. Mesophyll protoplasts incubated with [U-14C]Glc-1-P incorporate 14C into the plastidial pool of adenosine diphosphoglucose. Protoplasts prepared from leaves of mutants of Arabidopsis that lack either the plastidial phosphorylase or the phosphoglucomutase isozyme incorporate 14C derived from external Glc-1-P into starch, but incorporation into starch is insignificant when protoplasts from a mutant possessing a highly reduced ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase activity are studied. Thus, the path of assimilatory starch biosynthesis initiated by extraplastidial Glc-1-P leads to the plastidial pool of adenosine diphosphoglucose, and at this intermediate it is fused with the Calvin cycle-driven route. Mutants lacking the plastidial phosphoglucomutase contain a small yet significant amount of transitory starch.
Numerical analysis of the effect of poling‐loading misalignment and mechanical boundary conditions on piezoelectric actuation
Authors: Qidwai Siddiq M. , DeGiorgi V.G.
Published: November 2010

Purpose

The paper aims to highlight the computational implementation of a nonlinear piezoelectric constitutive model and its application in determining the impact of misalignment between initial poling direction and applied electrical field, and mechanical boundary conditions on actuator performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The numerical analysis is based on an existing three‐dimensional model, where the original rate‐independent evolution equations are replaced by their rate‐dependent counterparts to facilitate implementation, which is performed in a partial differential equation solver. The execution of the model is verified through several benchmark constitutive responses.

Findings

The analysis shows that small angles of poling and loading axes misalignment such as may occur in fabrication (less than 5○) have minor impact on piezoelectric performance regardless of the type of imposed mechanical boundary conditions. On the other hand, larger angles of misalignment can have a significant impact, the feasibility of which in actuator design remains to be seen. Furthermore, it is shown that the linear response range of these actuators can be expanded by increased levels of mechanical constraint at the cost of maximum actuation stroke regardless of the degree of misalignment.

Originality/value

The misalignment, which occurs accidentally, but can also be introduced purposefully during the fabrication process when poled material is cut into specimen form, may exhibit desirable performance features for actuator design when combined with appropriate mechanical constraints.
An Agile approach to library IT innovations
Authors: Chang May
Published: November 2010

Purpose

This paper seeks to describe the application of the Agile software development approach to rapidly develop and deploy a variety of innovative IT applications.

Design/methodology/approach

The Agile approach is flexible and iterative with continuous feedback and constant communication. It is also marked by frequent and short delivery schedules. An Agile team of staff and students was formed for different projects, and visual tools were used to show process and progress. Team members were also co‐located (situated in the same space), a key element that allowed faster and direct communication. Within the Agile framework, the Crystal Clear methodology was selected, which is based on team size and criticality of the application to develop the workflow and iterative processes.

Findings

The Agile approach is particularly suited to innovation development and creative teams for rapid development of products, services, and technology. However, its acceptance is dependent on organizational culture and nature of application.

Research limitations/implications

As a next step, it would be useful to test the Agile approach in an innovative application that is on a larger scale than six team members and with a different level of criticality.

Practical implications

Flexibility and adaptability are needed in managing the development of IT innovations and applications as they vary in size and complexity. The flexible and iterative Agile approach provided the framework to develop and implement these projects despite the small staff size.

Originality/value

There is little in the professional literature on software development and project management approaches for small teams. The Agile approach would be of interest to an IT unit or library with limited staff resources and interested in a lightweight framework to develop and deploy innovative projects.
Association of bronchial reactivity to occupational agents with methacholine reactivity, sputum cells and immunoglobulin E‐mediated reactivity
Authors: Malo J‐L , Cardinal S. , Ghezzo H. , L'Archevêque J. , Castellanos L. , Maghni K.
Published: November 2010

Cite this as: J‐L Malo, S. Cardinal, H. Ghezzo, J. L'Archevêque, L. Castellanos and K. Maghni, Clinical & Experimental Allergy, 2011 (41) 497–504.

Background
Bronchial responsiveness and IgE‐mediated reactivity are associated with specific bronchial reactivity to allergens.

Objective
Our aim was to examine whether airway inflammation also plays a role.

Methods
Retrospective analysis of all subjects who underwent specific inhalation challenges in the investigation of occupational asthma (OA) since 2000. Responsiveness to methacholine (PC20) and levels of eosinophils and neutrophils in induced sputum on the control day were associated with the presence of OA (positive‐specific inhalation challenge). In a sample of subjects exposed to wheat flour, we also examined the role of specific IgE‐ mediated reactivity (skin reactivity, specific IgE).

Results
PC20 level was significantly more often normal in subjects with OA (35 of 129, 27% instances) by comparison with non‐OA (15 of 189, 8% instances), but the positive predictive value of responsiveness to methacholine for OA was low (35%). Coupling information on the level of eosinophils to responsiveness to methacholine increased positive predictive values for OA from 39% to 69% depending on the thresholds used. The best balance of positive (69%) and negative (60%) predictive values was obtained in the case of normal PC20 and eosinophils 3%. In a multivariate analysis carried out in 34 subjects exposed to wheat flour, responsiveness to methacholine, sputum eosinophils, skin weal size and levels of specific IgE were all significantly associated with OA to wheat flour.

Conclusion and Clinical Relevance
Information on the level of sputum eosinophils in addition to PC20 provides a better association with OA vs. non‐OA when PC20 is normal. Levels of sputum eosinophils in addition to PC20 and IgE‐mediated reactivity increase the likelihood of OA due to wheat flour.
Ecological coherence of marine protected area networks: a spatial assessment using species distribution models
Authors: Sundblad Göran , Bergström Ulf , Sandström Alfred
Published: November 2010

1. The juvenile stages of fish are often dependent on specific habitat types for their survival. Protecting these habitats may be crucial for maintaining strong adult stocks. The Natura 2000 network of the European Union offers protection of marine habitats that are essential for the recruitment of many fish species. By protecting these critical habitats the network may be important for maintaining the stocks of these fish species.

2. We present a spatially explicit, GIS‐based, assessment of two important components of the ecological coherence of Marine Protected Area (MPA) networks: representativity and connectivity. Representativity can be measured as the proportion of each conservation feature that is protected, whereas connectivity assesses the spatial configuration of the network. We apply these analyses to study the ecological coherence of the Natura 2000 network in a 30 000‐km2 archipelago in the Baltic Sea, with respect to a coastal fish assemblage and associated habitats. The analyses are based on fish distribution maps that have been constructed by statistically relating life stage specific occurrence to environmental variables, and thereafter making spatial predictions based on maps of the environmental variables.

3. The map‐based analyses show that both the representativity and the connectivity of the network are poor with respect to the studied fish species. In total, 3·5% (11 km2) of the assemblage recruitment habitat was protected and 48% of the potentially connected habitats were included in the MPA network.

4. The assessment explicitly identified geographical areas, visually communicated using maps, where the network should be improved to ensure ecological coherence.

5. Synthesis and applications. Many MPA networks around the world, such as the Natura 2000 network in Europe, have recently come into effect. Establishment of the networks has often been governed by opportunity rather than by strict ecological analyses, primarily because distribution maps of species and habitats have been unavailable. Map‐based assessments of the strengths and weaknesses of evolving MPA networks, such as the one presented here, are needed in adaptive management. They can provide an efficient tool for visualising and communicating the results to stakeholders and policy makers in the process of working towards ecological coherence.