bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Renal proximal tubules from old Fischer 344 rats grow into epithelial cells in cultures and exhibit increased oxidative stress and reduced D1 receptor function
Authors: Asghar Mohammad , Chillar Annirudha , Lokhandwala Mustafa F.
Published: September 2008

Earlier we reported defects in D1 receptor function in renal proximal tubules (RPTs) of aged Fischer 344 (F344) and obese Zucker rats. However, the defects in the receptor function in RPTs of obese Zucker rats do not pass onto primary cultures of RPTs from these animals. Here, we determined whether the defects in D1 receptor function in RPTs of aged F344 rats pass onto the primary cultures. RPTs from aged (24-mo) and adult (6-mo) F344 rats were grown into primary cultures. The microscopic studies showed that cells in cultures from adult and old rats were healthy as determined by the shape and size of the cells and nuclei. D1 receptor agonist SKF-38393 produced inhibition of 86Rb (rubidium) uptake, index of Na-K-ATPase activity, in cells from adult rats, but this was reduced in old rats. Also, SKF-38393 increased the [35S]GTPγS binding, index of receptor activation, in the membranes of cells from adult rats but to a lesser extent from old rats. Furthermore, there was a downward trend in the levels of D1 receptor numbers and in the receptor proteins in old rats. Interestingly, gp 91phox subunit of NADPH oxidase and cellular protein carbonyl levels (oxidative stress marker) were higher in cultures from old rats. These results show that RPTs from adult and old F344 rats grow into epithelial cells in cultures. Furthermore, cells in cultures from old rats are at a higher level of oxidative stress, which may be contributing to the reduced D1 receptor function in the cells from old compared with adult rats.
Novel molecular insights into RhoA GTPase-induced resistance to aqueous humor outflow through the trabecular meshwork
Authors: Zhang Min , Maddala Rupalatha , Rao Ponugoti Vasantha
Published: September 2008

Impaired drainage of aqueous humor through the trabecular meshwork (TM) culminating in increased intraocular pressure is a major risk factor for glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness worldwide. Regulation of aqueous humor drainage through the TM, however, is poorly understood. The role of RhoA GTPase-mediated actomyosin organization, cell adhesive interactions, and gene expression in regulation of aqueous humor outflow was investigated using adenoviral vector-driven expression of constitutively active mutant of RhoA (RhoAV14). Organ-cultured anterior segments from porcine eyes expressing RhoAV14 exhibited significant reduction of aqueous humor outflow. Cultured TM cells expressing RhoAV14 exhibited a pronounced contractile morphology, increased actin stress fibers, and focal adhesions and increased levels of phosphorylated myosin light chain (MLC), collagen IV, fibronectin, and laminin. cDNA microarray analysis of RNA extracted from RhoAV14-expressing human TM cells revealed a significant increase in the expression of genes encoding extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, cytokines, integrins, cytoskeletal proteins, and signaling proteins. Conversely, various ECM proteins stimulated robust increases in phosphorylation of MLC, paxillin, and focal adhesion kinase and activated Rho GTPase and actin stress fiber formation in TM cells, indicating a potential regulatory feedback interaction between ECM-induced mechanical strain and Rho GTPase-induced isometric tension in TM cells. Collectively, these data demonstrate that sustained activation of Rho GTPase signaling in the aqueous humor outflow pathway increases resistance to aqueous humor outflow through the trabecular pathway by influencing the actomyosin assembly, cell adhesive interactions, and the expression of ECM proteins and cytokines in TM cells.
Glucose increases synaptic transmission from vagal afferent central nerve terminals via modulation of 5-HT3 receptors
Authors: Wan Shuxia , Browning Kirsteen N.
Published: September 2008

Acute hyperglycemia has profound effects on vagally mediated gastrointestinal functions. We have reported recently that the release of glutamate from the central terminals of vagal afferent neurons is correlated directly with the extracellular glucose concentration. The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that 5-HT3 receptors present on vagal afferent nerve terminals are involved in this glucose-dependent modulation of glutamatergic synaptic transmission. Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings were made from neurons of the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) in thin rat brainstem slices. Spontaneous and evoked glutamate release was decreased in a concentration-dependent manner by the 5-HT3 receptor selective antagonist, ondansetron. Alterations in the extracellular glucose concentration induced parallel shifts in the ondansetron-mediated inhibition of glutamate release. The changes in excitatory synaptic transmission induced by extracellular glucose concentration were mimicked by the serotonin uptake inhibitor, fenfluramine. These data suggest that glucose alters excitatory synaptic transmission within the rat brainstem via actions on tonically active 5-HT3 receptors, and the number of 5-HT3 receptors on vagal afferent nerve terminals is positively correlated with the extracellular glucose concentration. These data indicate that the 5-HT3 receptors present on synaptic connections between vagal afferent nerve terminals and NTS neurons are a strong candidate for consideration as one of the sites where glucose acts to modulate vagovagal reflexes.
Acclimation of ion regulatory capacities in gills of marine fish under environmental hypercapnia
Authors: Deigweiher Katrin , Koschnick Nils , Pörtner Hans-Otto , Lucassen Magnus
Published: September 2008

The preservation of ion balance and pH despite environmental fluctuations is essential for the maintenance of vital cellular functions. While several ion transporters contribute to acid-base regulation in fish, the involvement and expression of key transporters under hypercapnia remain to be established. Here, two members of the HCO3−transporter family (Na+/HCO3−cotransporter NBC1 and Cl−/HCO3−exchanger AE1) were described for the first time in gills of marine fish. Benthic eelpout Zoarces viviparus were acclimated to 10,000 ppm CO2. Hypercapnia did not affect whole animal oxygen consumption over a period of 4 days. During a time series of 6 wk NBC1 mRNA levels first decreased by about 40% (8 to 24 h) but finally increased about threefold over control. mRNA expression of AE1 decreased transiently by 50% at day 4 but recovered to control levels only. Reduced mRNA levels were also found for two Na+/H+exchangers (NHE1A, NHE1B) during the first days (by 50–60% at days 1 and 2), followed by restoration of control levels. This pattern was mirrored in a slight decrease of NHE1 protein contents and its subsequent recovery. In contrast, Na+-K+-ATPase mRNA and protein contents, as well as maximum activity, rose steadily from the onset of hypercapnia, and reached up to twofold control levels at the end. These results indicate shifting acclimation patterns between short- and long-term CO2exposures. Overall, ion gradient-dependent transporter mRNA levels were transiently downregulated in the beginning of the disturbance. Upregulation of NBC1 on long timescales stresses the importance of this transporter in the hypercapnia response of marine teleosts. Long-term rearrangements include Na+-K+-ATPase at higher densities and capacities, indicating a shift to elevated rates of ion and acid-base regulation under environmental hypercapnia.
Fluctuations in central and peripheral temperatures associated with feeding behavior in rats
Authors: Smirnov Michael S. , Kiyatkin Eugene A.
Published: September 2008

We examined the pattern of temperature fluctuations in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc), temporal muscle, and skin, along with locomotion in food-deprived and nondeprived rats following the presentation of an open or closed food container and during subsequent eating or food-seeking behavior without eating. Although rats in food-deprived, quiet resting conditions had more than twofold lower spontaneous locomotion and lower temperature values than in nondeprived conditions, after presentation of a container, they consistently displayed food-seeking behavior, showing much larger and longer temperature changes. When the container was open, rats rapidly retrieved food and consumed it. Food consumption was preceded and accompanied by gradual increases in brain and muscle temperatures (∼1.5°C) and a weaker, delayed increase in skin temperature (∼0.8°C). All temperatures began to rapidly fall immediately after eating was completed, but NAcc and muscle temperatures returned to baseline after ∼35 min. When the container was closed and rats were unable to obtain food, they continued food-seeking activity during the entire period of presentation. Similar to eating, this activity was preceded and accompanied by gradual temperature increases in the brain and muscle, which were somewhat smaller than those during eating (∼1.2°C), with no changes in skin temperature. In contrast to trials with eating, NAcc and muscle temperatures continued to increase for ∼10 min after the container was removed from the cage and the rat continued food-seeking behavior, with a return to baselines after ∼50 min. These temperature fluctuations are discussed with respect to alterations in metabolic brain activity associated with feeding behavior, depending upon deprivation state and food availability.
Regulation of renal 12(S)-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid in diabetes by angiotensin AT1and AT2receptors
Authors: Abdel-Rahman Emaad M. , Abadir Peter M. , Siragy Helmy M.
Published: September 2008

Diabetes is associated with increased production of 12(S)-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid [12(S)-HETE]. The mechanisms involved in this process remain unclear. We hypothesized that hyperglycemia and angiotensin II (ANG II) regulate renal 12(S)-HETE production via a balance between angiotensin AT1and AT2receptors activities. Using a microdialysis technique, renal interstitial fluid (RIF) levels of ANG II and 12(S)-HETE were monitored in normal control and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats at baseline and then weekly thereafter for 12 wk. In a second group of normal and diabetic rats, 3 wk after development of diabetes, we monitored RIF 12(S)-HETE levels in response to acute AT1receptor blockade with valsartan or AT2receptor blockade with PD123319 individually or combined. Two weeks after induction of diabetes there was a 404% increase in ANG II ( P < 0.05), a 149% increase in 12S-HETE ( P < 0.05), and a 649% increase in urinary albumin excretion ( P < 0.05). These levels remained elevated throughout the study. PD123319 given alone had no effect on 12(S)-HETE. Valsartan decreased 12(S)-HETE by 61.6% ( P < 0.0001), a response that was abrogated when PD123319 was given with valsartan. These data demonstrate that hyperglycemia increases renal ANG II and 12(S)-HETE levels. The increase in 12(S)-HETE is mediated via AT1receptor. The attenuation of the effects of AT1receptor blockade by PD123319 suggests that AT2receptor contributes to the downregulation of renal 12(S)-HETE production.
VEGF-121 preserves renal microvessel structure and ameliorates secondary renal disease following acute kidney injury
Authors: Leonard Ellen C. , Friedrich Jessica L. , Basile David P.
Published: September 2008

Acute kidney injury induced by renal ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) compromises microvascular density and predisposes to chronic kidney disease (CKD) and sodium-dependent hypertension. VEGF-121 was administered to rats fed a standard (0.4%) sodium diet at various times following recovery from I/R injury for up to 35 days. VEGF-121 had no effect on the initial loss of renal function, as indicated by serum creatinine levels measured 24 h after injury. Serum creatinine levels declined thereafter, indicative of renal repair. Rats were then switched to an elevated (4.0%) sodium diet for an additional 28 days to induce CKD. The 4.0% sodium diet enhanced renal hypertrophy, interstitial volume, albuminuria, and cardiac hypertrophy relative to postischemic animals maintained on the 0.4% sodium diet. Administration of VEGF-121 from day 0 to 14, day 0 to 35, or day 3 to 35 after I/R suppressed the effects of sodium diet on CKD development, while delayed administration of VEGF-121 from day 21 to 35 had no effect. Endothelial nitric oxide synthase protein levels were upregulated in postischemic animals, and this effect was significantly increased by the 4.0% sodium diet but was not influenced by prior treatment with VEGF. Conversely, microvascular density was preserved in postischemic animals treated with VEGF-121 relative to vehicle-treated postischemic animals. These data suggest that early, but not delayed, treatment with VEGF-121 can preserve vascular structure after ischemia and influence chronic renal function in response to elevated sodium intake.
Suppression of cytokine responses by indomethacin in podocytes: a mechanism through induction of unfolded protein response
Authors: Okamura Maro , Takano Yosuke , Hiramatsu Nobuhiko , Hayakawa Kunihiro , Yao Jian , Paton Adrienne W. , Paton James C. , Kitamura Masanori
Published: September 2008

We found that, in murine podocytes, expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 ( MCP- 1) in response to TNF-α was suppressed by indomethacin but not by ibuprofen. This anti-inflammatory potential was correlated with induction of 78-kDa glucose-regulated protein ( GRP78), a marker of unfolded protein response (UPR). Indomethacin, but not ibuprofen, also triggered expression of CHOP, another endogenous indicator of UPR, as well as repression of endoplasmic reticulum stress-responsive alkaline phosphatase, an exogenous indicator of UPR. Like ibuprofen, other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs including aspirin and sulindac also did not induce UPR, indicating that the induction of UPR by indomethacin was independent of cyclooxygenase inhibition. The induction of UPR by indomethacin was observed similarly in other cells including mesangial cells and tubular epithelial cells. In tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α-treated cells, suppression of MCP-1 by indomethacin was inversely correlated with induction of UPR, and other inducers of UPR including tunicamycin, thapsigargin, and A23187 reproduced the suppressive effect. Reporter assays showed that indomethacin as well as thapsigargin attenuated activation of NF-κB by TNF-α, and it was associated with enhanced degradation of TNF receptor-associated factor 2 (TRAF2) and blunted degradation of IκBβ. Subsequent experiments revealed that acute ablation of GRP78 protein by AB5subtilase cytotoxin caused reinforcement of MCP-1 induction and NF-κB activation by TNF-α and that transfection with GRP78 significantly suppressed the cytokine-induced activation of NF-κB. These results suggested that indomethacin suppressed the response of podocytes to TNF-α via UPR and that UPR-triggered induction of GRP78 and degradation of TRAF2 may be responsible, at least in part, for the suppressive effect of indomethacin.
Nitric oxide inhibits cutaneous vasoconstriction to exogenous norepinephrine
Authors: Shibasaki Manabu , Low David A. , Davis Scott L. , Crandall Craig G.
Published: September 2008

Previously, we found that nitric oxide (NO) inhibits cutaneous vasoconstrictor responsiveness evoked by whole body cooling, as well as an orthostatic stress in the heat-stressed human (Shibasaki M, Durand S, Davis SL, Cui J, Low DA, Keller DM, Crandall CG. J Physiol 585: 627–634, 2007). However, it remains unknown whether this response occurs via NO acting through presynaptic or postsynaptic mechanisms. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that NO is capable of impairing cutaneous vasoconstriction via postsynaptic mechanisms. Skin blood flow was monitored over two forearm sites where intradermal microdialysis membranes were previously placed. Skin blood flow was elevated four- to fivefold through perfusion of the NO donor sodium nitroprusside at one site and through perfusion of adenosine (primarily non-NO mechanisms) at a second site. Once a plateau in vasodilation was evident, increasing concentrations of norepinephrine (1 × 10−8 to 1 × 10−2 M) were administrated through both microdialysis probes, while the aforementioned vasodilator agents continued to be perfused. Cutaneous vascular conductance was calculated by dividing skin blood flow by mean arterial blood pressure. The administration of norepinephrine decreased cutaneous vascular conductance at both sites. However, the dose of norepinephrine at the onset of vasoconstriction (−5.9 ± 1.3 vs. −7.2 ± 0.7 log M norepinephrine, P = 0.021) and the concentration of norepinephrine resulting in 50% of the maximal vasoconstrictor response (−4.9 ± 1.2 vs. −6.1 ± 0.2 log M norepinephrine dose; P = 0.012) occurred at significantly higher norepinephrine concentrations for the sodium nitroprusside site relative to the adenosine site, respectively. These results suggested that NO is capable of attenuating cutaneous vasoconstrictor responsiveness to norepinephrine via postsynaptic mechanisms.
Alexander's Law and the Oculomotor Neural Integrator: Three-Dimensional Eye Velocity in Patients With an Acute Vestibular Asymmetry
Authors: Bockisch Christopher J. , Hegemann Stefan
Published: September 2008

According to Alexander's law (AL), the slow phase velocity of nystagmus of vestibular origin is dependent on horizontal position, with lower velocity when gaze is directed in the slow compared with the fast phase direction. Adaptive changes in the velocity-to-position neural integrator are thought to cause AL. Although these changes have been described for the horizontal neural integrator, nystagmus often includes vertical and torsional components, but the adaptive abilities of the vertical and torsional integrators have not been investigated. We measured 11 patients with a peripheral vestibular asymmetry and used second-order equations to describe how velocity varied with position. Horizontal velocity changed with horizontal position in accordance with AL and the second-order term for horizontal position was also significant. Whereas velocity decreased in the slow phase direction, it was relatively unchanged >10° into the fast phase direction. Vertical velocity was also highest in the vertical fast phase direction and the second-order term for vertical position was also significant, in that vertical velocity increased in the vertical fast phase direction, but was unchanging in the slow phase direction. Torsional velocity varied linearly with horizontal, but not vertical, position. These results show that the horizontal and vertical oculomotor neural integrators react to altered vestibular input by maintaining different integrating time constants depending on gaze direction.
Selective, State-Dependent Activation of Somatostatin-Expressing Inhibitory Interneurons in Mouse Neocortex
Authors: Fanselow Erika E. , Richardson Kristen A. , Connors Barry W.
Published: September 2008

The specific functions of subtypes of cortical inhibitory neurons are not well understood. This is due in part to a dearth of information about the behaviors of interneurons under conditions when the surrounding circuit is in an active state. We investigated the firing behavior of a subset of inhibitory interneurons, identified using mice that express green fluorescent protein (GFP) in a subset of somatostatin-expressing inhibitory cells (“GFP-expressing inhibitory neuron” [GIN] cells). The somata of the GIN cells were in layer 2/3 of somatosensory cortex and had dense, layer 1–projecting axons that are characteristic of Martinotti neurons. Interestingly, GIN cells fired similarly during a variety of diverse activating conditions: when bathed in fluids with low-divalent cation concentrations, when stimulated with brief trains of local synaptic inputs, when exposed to group I metabotropic glutamate receptor agonists, or when exposed to muscarinic cholinergic receptor agonists. During these manipulations, GIN cells fired rhythmically and persistently in the theta-frequency range (3–10 Hz). Synchronous firing was often observed and its strength was directly proportional to the magnitude of electrical coupling between GIN cells. These effects were cell type specific: the four manipulations that persistently activated GIN cells rarely caused spiking of regular-spiking (RS) pyramidal cells or fast-spiking (FS) inhibitory interneurons. Our results suggest that supragranular GIN interneurons form an electrically coupled network that exerts a coherent 3- to 10-Hz inhibitory influence on its targets. Because GIN cells are more readily activated than RS and FS cells, it is possible that they act as “first responders” when cortical excitatory activity increases.
Accelerated Runge‐Kutta Methods
Authors: Udwadia Firdaus  E. , Farahani Artin
Published: September 2008

Standard Runge‐Kutta methods are explicit, one‐step, and generally constant step‐size numerical
integrators for the solution of initial value problems. Such integration schemes of orders 3, 4, and 5
require 3, 4, and 6 function evaluations per time step of integration, respectively. In this paper, we
propose a set of simple, explicit, and constant step‐size Accerelated‐Runge‐Kutta methods that are two‐step in nature. For orders 3, 4, and 5, they require only 2, 3, and 5 function evaluations per time step,
respectively. Therefore, they are more computationally efficient at achieving the same order of local
accuracy. We present here the derivation and optimization of these accelerated integration methods.
We include the proof of convergence and stability under certain conditions as well as stability regions
for finite step sizes. Several numerical examples are provided to illustrate the accuracy, stability, and
efficiency of the proposed methods in comparison with standard Runge‐Kutta methods.
Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography Myocardial Perfusion Defects Are Associated With an Increased Risk of All-Cause Death, Cardiovascular Death, and Sudden Cardiac Death
Authors: Piccini Jonathan P. , Horton John R. , Shaw Linda K. , Al-Khatib Sana M. , Lee Kerry L. , Iskandrian Ami E. , Borges-Neto Salvador
Published: September 2008

Background—

Single-photon emission computed tomography myocardial perfusion imaging defects are associated with increased all-cause mortality and cardiovascular death. However, it is unknown whether single-photon emission computed tomography myocardial perfusion imaging can identify patients at increased risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD).

Methods and Results—

We analyzed a cohort of 6383 patients with angiographically documented coronary artery disease who underwent single-photon emission computed tomography imaging. Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to examine the relationship between patient characteristics and SCD. Among patients who died, the median time to SCD was 2.7 years (25
th
, 75
th
percentiles 0.9, 4.9, respectively). The incidence of SCD was 3.4% (n=215) over 6.1 years (25
th
, 75
th
percentiles 3.7, 9.2, respectively) of follow-up. Patients with SCD had more severe heart failure symptoms, greater comorbidity (Charlson index), and higher summed stress perfusion scores (all
P
<0.001). After adjusting for left ventricular ejection fraction and other clinical factors in the multivariable model, the summed stress perfusion score (fixed plus reversible defects) remained significantly associated with the occurrence of SCD: summed stress perfusion score (hazard ratios per 3 U: 1.16 [95% CI, 1.08 to 1.25],
P
<0.001), left ventricular ejection fraction (hazard ratios per 5 U: 0.90 [95% CI, 0.85 to 0.95],
P
<0.001), and Charlson index (hazard ratios 1.35 [95% CI, 1.23 to 1.49],
P
<0.001).

Conclusions—

Myocardial perfusion imaging is a significant predictor of SCD and provides information independent of clinical history and left ventricular ejection fraction. Gated single-photon emission computed tomography imaging, which evaluates both myocardial perfusion and function, may represent a more effective means of risk stratification than solitary left ventricular ejection fraction determination and should be evaluated in prospective trials.
Doctrinalia Heraclitea I et II: Âme du monde et embrasement universel (Notes de lecture)
Authors: Mouraviev Serge
Published: September 2008

In this first paper dealing with Heraclitus' doctrine as such (as opposed to the texts both of our sources on him and of the surviving fragments of his book), the author examines and discusses two recent controversial articles with the content of which he sympathizes – one by Gábor Betegh (2007) on the cosmological (physical) status of Heraclitus' psychê, and the other by Aryeh Finkelberg (1998) on Heraclitus' cosmogony and the reality of a Heraclitean world conflagration. This examination is aimed, first, at fostering "marginal" opinions which the author believes to be fundamentally correct – and the rejection of which since times immemorial (by Schleiermacher and others) he considers to have greatly harmed and hampered our understanding of the Ephesian philosopher ; second, at introducing some personal corrections and additions to these opinions ; and third, at illustrating the advantages of a deliberately un prejudiced approach towards our sources, an approach based on the presumption of innocence, knowledgeability and intelligence for all our informers and on the rejection of any rejection [this is not a dittography!] of any source on ground of mere suspicion.Among the proposed novelties (or olden oblivitions) the following particularly deserve to be underscored: (1) the defense of the authenticity of "fr. B 76" DK qua three different fragments and (2) the reconstruction of Heraclitus' system of four physical exhalations – both of which are connected with the notion of a world soul; and (3) the interpretation of Plat. Soph. 242 C – 243 A [T 132] as confirming (and not as contradicting) Arist. De cael. 279b12 [T 170] and (4) the cosmogonical interpretation of F 31 – both of which presuppose the reality of a Heraclitean ecpyrosis.Yet, since the author's dogmatism does not extend beyond the requirement of having re course to (methodo)logically sound procedures, he is ready to give up any conclusion of which it can be proven that it is irreconcilably contradicted by a sounder one and supported by none.
The Private Parts of Animals: Aristotle on the Teleology of Sexual Difference
Authors: Nielsen Karen
Published: September 2008

In this paper I examine Aristotle's account of sexual difference in Generation of Animals, arguing that Aristotle conceives of the production of males as the result of a successful teleological process, while he sees the production of females as due to material forces that defeat the norms of nature. My suggestion is that Aristotle endorses what I call the "degrees of perfection" model. I challenge Devin Henry's attempt to argue that Aristotle explains sex determination exclusively with reference to material necessity (in particular, levels of "vital heat" in the male semen), for Aristotle's notion of "sufficient" or "deficient" vital heat is itself teleological. If, as Aristotle is aware, male and female embryos appear with approximately equal frequency in most species, how, in light of Physics II, can he conceive of the former as in accordance with nature, and the latter as somehow contrary to nature? My proposal is that Aristotle's notion of what happens usually (ως επì τò πoλυ) is bifurcated: the usual need not be more frequent.
Simulating Range Oversampled Doppler Radar Profiles of Inhomogeneous Targets
Authors: Schutgens N. A. J.
Published: September 2008

A new technique for generating range oversampled profiles of Doppler radar signals that have been backscattered by distributed targets is presented in this paper. The technique was developed for spaceborne cloud radars, but it can just as well be used for ground-based precipitation or wind-profiling radars. The technique is more versatile than the traditional inverse FFT technique and faster than the individual hydrometeor simulation (Monte Carlo) technique.

Doppler radar signals from backscattering hydrometeors are essentially correlated stochastic variables. The technique uses an accurate description of covariances between voltages measured for different pulses and at different positions (range gates) along a profile. A matrix formalism is developed to subsequently transform uncorrelated Gaussian noise into correlated receiver voltages with the appropriate covariances.

In particular, the new technique deals with target variability in a physically consistent manner, accounting for the effects of inhomogeneity both within the instantaneous field of view and between subsequent pulses. The new technique is showcased with examples of simulated 95-GHz Doppler radar observations by the Earth Clouds, Aerosols and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) space mission.
Thuggee, marginality and the state effect in colonial India, circa 1770–1840
Authors: Lloyd Tom
Published: September 2008

This essay explores the way that the ‘effect’ of a colonial state was achieved in India in the course of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It does so by scrutinizing the East India Company's initiatives against what political, military and judicial officers termed ‘extraordinary’ crime; beginning with Warren Hastings’ attempts to tackle dacoity in late eighteenth-century Bengal and culminating with William Sleeman's notorious campaign to suppress ‘thuggee’ in the early-mid nineteenth-century, this essay surveys similarly extraordinary initiatives that were at first experimented with but gradually normalised in the course of British pursuit of bandits. An engagement with the recent work of Giorgio Agamben underpins the attempt to offer significant revisions to both the extant historiography on ‘thuggee’ and, more broadly, the idea of such a coherent, free-standing entity as the ‘colonial state’—as an abstracted force directing India social, economic, cultural and political life. Intrinsic to this attempt is the problematization of the elaboration and operation of government sovereignty in early colonial India.
School Psychologists and the Assessment of Childhood Internalizing Disorders
Authors: Miller David N. , Jome LaRae M.
Published: September 2008

This study examined the perceptions of a national sample of school psychologists in the United States regarding their knowledge, preferred roles and training needs in the assessment of nine prominent childhood internalizing disorders. Knowledge about all disorders was rated by respondents as being at least fairly important. In particular, knowledge regarding school phobia/refusal and suicidal threats and acts were perceived as being especially important for school psychologists and assessing these disorders was viewed as an appropriate role for school psychologists. The school-based assessment of eating disorders was rated lowest in terms of need for knowledge and as an appropriate role for school psychologists. The majority of the sample indicated they needed some or significant additional training in the assessment of all nine disorders. Participants also rated the utility of various instruments for assessing internalizing disorders, with child self-reports and interviews rated as particularly important.
Deleuzian capitalism
Authors: Vandenberghe Frédéric
Published: September 2008

Contemporary capitalism is in effect, if not in intent, Deleuzian. As a network of networks, it is rhizomatic, flexible, chaosmotic, evolving, expanding. In the negativist spirit that characterizes the work of the Frankfurt School, this article shows via an analysis of the goverment of the self, the commodification of culture and the modification of nature, how contemporary capitalism does colonize not only the life-world but also life itself.
More Than Motherhood
Authors: Armenia Amy B.
Published: September 2008

This article examines motivations for entering family day care work as they relate to responsibilities of motherhood and the prominence of these motivations for the women providing day care within and across groups of workers. Using data from a large-scale representative survey of family day care workers in Illinois, the author examines the range of reasons for job entry. The author also uses cluster analysis to categorize workers by the common patterns of these reasons and uses demographic, family, and work characteristics to predict membership in these categories. The finding is that the majority of family day care workers are trying to meet a broad range of mothering responsibilities—including economic provision and commitments to kith, kin, and community—rather than focusing only on physical and emotional care of their own children. Furthermore, these differences vary strongly by race.
Agamben at Ground Zero
Authors: McKim Joel
Published: September 2008

Construction has recently begun on Michael Arad and Peter Walker's `Reflecting Absence' 9/11 memorial in New York. The design, with its emphasis on traumatic absences and silent contemplation, has moved from selection to construction with relatively little public debate, an indication of a problematic creative and critical consensus forming around contemporary memorial aesthetics. The article seeks to re-open this critical discussion by turning to the philosophy of aesthetics, poetics and language developed by Giorgio Agamben. Agamben reminds us of the classical Greek association of art to poiesis, a passive act of bringing into being, rather than praxis, the active expression of the artist's creative will. Taking this distinction as his starting point, Agamben develops a theory of aesthetics that is neither a modernist embrace of nihilism nor a conservative call for a return to the classical pursuit of universal truths. Agamben posits instead an art concerned not with the transmission of any particular content, but with the task of transmission itself. For Agamben it is the potentiality of the event of language, a kind of pure communicability, that is the ground for our common belonging in the world. Agamben's theories of poetics and language may help us imagine a Ground Zero memorial that moves beyond a strictly didactic or therapeutic role and seeks instead to bring into being a radical space of communication.
`The End of the Monarchy of Sex'
Authors: Noys Benjamin
Published: September 2008

The hegemonic form of contemporary queer theory is dependent on a model of desire as autonomous and deregulated, derived from post-'68 French theory and particularly the work of Michel Foucault. Such a model is at risk of finding itself in congruence with a deregulated post-Fordist capitalism that recuperates supposedly dissident sexual identities. This article returns to the work of Foucault to identify a largely unacknowledged tendency in his work that contests the valorization of sexuality and calls for an `end of the monarchy of sex'. This possibility is linked to Foucault's controversial exploration of the concept of `spiritual politics' through his engagement with the Iranian revolution. Rather than regarding this as a regression into a reactionary religiosity, I argue that it forms an inquiry into new political possibilities of revolt. These possibilities contest what Alain Badiou has identified as the nihilism of contemporary capitalism, in which desire and sexuality are deployed to constrain the political imagination to a limited bodily `materialism'. Drawing on the work of the later Foucault, it becomes possible to develop this new politics around asceticism, which is not so much withdrawal from the world but the refusal of the mediations of identity through sexuality and the body.
Toward Understanding Work Motivation
Authors: Boardman Craig , Sundquist Eric
Published: September 2008

Government reformers in the United States have recently focused on running public agencies more like private firms by emphasizing economic rewards, such as merit pay. Meanwhile, a body of literature has grown that indicates that public servants respond to factors that financially based reward initiatives tend to ignore. We introduce a new explanatory variable, perceived public service efficacy ( PPSE), which quantifies public servants' perception about the benefit their employing agencies provide the public. We present empirical evidence demonstrating that as PPSE rises—that is, as public servants more strongly perceive their agencies to be benefiting the public—reported levels of role ambiguity decrease, whereas job satisfaction and organizational commitment responses increase.
Extinction debt: origins, developments, and applications of a biogeographical trope
Authors: Malanson George P.
Published: September 2008

The concept of the extinction debt has two components: a direct timelag between an environmental perturbation and the consequent extinction of a species and the idea that among species going extinct the strong competitors/weak colonizers go extinct first. Although the term was first used in 1994 in the context of metapopulation models, its roots go back to general systems theory and the theory of island biogeography. It has been qualified and elaborated since 1994, mostly in terms of the effects of spatial pattern on the outcomes. The strongest critiques of the concept emphasize that the direct trade-off between competition and colonization abilities is not simple. The original application was to remnant habitat patches, but it could be applied to spatially heterogeneous habitats that are subject to climate change or invasive species. As a guide to conservation practice, extinction debt remains a general cautionary principle rather than a specific prescription, but the raising of awareness is nevertheless significant.
`After the End' Baudrillard's Future
Authors: Merrin William
Published: September 2008

Resisting the closure offered by most obituaries upon the death of Jean Baudrillard, this paper considers instead what remains unknown and unexplored in Baudrillard's work. It offers an overview of his career and reception, highlighting the aporias in our critical understanding of his development and ideas, as well as considering the question of his own theoretical methodology and the problem of how his project can continue with his demise. The paper argues that after Baudrillard a twofold project remains to us: to deepen our understanding of his work and its development, influences and critical position, and follow Baudrillard's own mode of thought; and use this understanding to continue his critique, to escalate our own understanding of and response to the advance of simulation.
Cool Memories
Authors: Gane Mike
Published: September 2008

In his Cool Memories series (and its complementary text, America) written over almost a quarter of a century (1980—2004), Baudrillard attempted to write in an aphoristic, fragmented mode in order to grasp the world without `finding a central point, a point of interpretation'. How should these notebooks be read? Are they simply an account of a way of living, or do they provide illustrations of a doctrine worked out in Baudrillard's theoretical works? This article examines a kind of writing which was envisaged as providing a mode of access to radical modernity beyond any possibility of interpretation. It suggests that the series can be considered as Baudrillard's way of living in the world as a tension between radical empiricism and mastery in the symbolic order. This then presents the reader with an impossible dilemma between critique or jouissance.
Lessons from Witchetty Grubs and Eskimos
Authors: Baldwin Jon
Published: September 2008

This paper investigates the French anthropological context of the work of Jean Baudrillard. The religious anthropological though of Émile Durkheim, Marcel Mauss and Georges Bataille is considered. This context is vital to the understanding of Baudrillard's oeuvre. Analysis is given to Mauss's work on the seasonal variations of the Eskimo and the prayers of the Witchetty Grub clan. Two core ideas emerge: the decline of the religious and thereby the social, and the decline of alternation in social life. Durkheim and Bataille clarify these ideas with the notion that the social bond is in decline and that there is a loss of intimacy. Baudrillard's reading and response to this anthropology is to be discovered in his key notions of symbolic exchange, reversibility, and antagonism.
Baudrillard's Illusions
Authors: Grace Victoria
Published: September 2008

Anglo-American and European feminists have approached the work of Jean Baudrillard, but have rarely engaged with his ideas. Baudrillard's discussion of `seduction' has been a significant deterrent, mainly because of feminism's imperative to distance itself from the figure of the `seductive feminine'. Sympathetic to this imperative, this essay attempts to identify where Baudrillard's writing problematically links the notion of seduction to sacrificial processes. Such a linkage is argued to be a weakness. There appears to be a `blind spot' in relation to gender; a failure to see that the murder of a sacrificial victim exemplifies a murder of singularity rather than its reinstatement and invigoration. Baudrillard's notion of seduction is important to feminist theory, and commensurate with its fundamental aspirations to oppose the eradication of otherness and alterity. The challenge, however, is to identify elements of his discourse whereby this opposition falters; I argue this is evident in the connections between gender, seduction and the sacrificial.
Rethinking Race in American Politics
Authors: Novkov Julie
Published: September 2008

This piece introduces the four articles in this issue's minisymposium by explaining how they fit in with an emerging body of scholarship that places race centrally in asking and answering questions about American political development. The author identifies common themes and debates among the articles that contribute to understandings of the role of race in American politics and to different approaches in American political development. The author suggests that these articles together generate a new critical purchase on American politics through placing questions about civic membership as a crucial developmental phenomenon at the center of the analysis.
Losing Fewer Votes
Authors: Hanmer Michael J. , Park Won-Ho , Traugott Michael W. , Niemi Richard G. , Herrnson Paul S. , Bederson Benjamin B. , Conrad Frederick C.
Published: September 2008

Problems in the 2000 presidential election, especially in Florida, initiated a large-scale shift toward new voting technology. Using cross-sectional and longitudinal data, we report on the effects of changes in voting systems in Florida and Michigan. The variety of initial conditions and the numerous changes make these excellent case studies. We find that reforms succeeded in reducing the residual vote. Every change from old to new technology resulted in a decline in residual votes that was significantly greater than in areas that did not change voting equipment. The percentage of residual votes in the 2004 presidential race in localities that changed voting systems was well under 1 percent, representing a 90 percent reduction in error in Florida and a 35 percent reduction in Michigan. We run these analyses separately for undervotes and overvotes. Using ecological-inference techniques, we investigate the persistence of residual votes when technology changed and find very little persistence.
School-Based Support Groups for Adolescents With a Substance-Abusing Parent
Authors: Gance-Cleveland Bonnie , Mays Mary Z.
Published: September 2008

BACKGROUND Adolescents with substance-abusing parents need interventions to reduce their risk for a variety of problems. School-based support groups (SBSGs) have been proposed to increase resilience in this population. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to evaluate a SBSG for adolescents with substance-abusing parents. STUDY DESIGN The randomized, controlled study was conducted with high-school students (n = 109) to evaluate the impact of SBSGs on resiliency. Resiliency was operationalized as positive physical health, mental health, and risk behaviors in the presence of adverse life events. Data were collected pre- and postintervention. RESULTS Significant improvements in knowledge of substance abuse were noted. Findings suggested gender differences in coping and health outcomes and positive trends in substance use. CONCLUSIONS SBSGs may increase resilience in this at-risk population. However, there were gender differences in response to the intervention, and group facilitators should be aware that participants' gender may influence response to the groups.J Am Psychiatr Nurses Assoc, 2008; 14(4), 297-309. DOI: 10.1177/1078390308321223
Boundary Integral Equations for Thermoelastic Plates with Cracks
Authors: Chudinovich I. , Constanda C.
Published: September 2008

The solutions of initial-boundary value problems for bending of a thermoelastic plate with a crack in the case of Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions prescribed on the crack edges are represented as a sum of thermoelastic single-layer and double-layer potentials with unknown densities, and the unique solvability of the corresponding boundary integral equations is discussed in a distributional setting.
Exact Analytic Solutions of the Plastic Spin Equations in Simple Shear
Authors: Panayotounakos D.E. , Theotokoglou E.E. , Sotiropoulos N.B. , Sotiropoulou A.B.
Published: September 2008

We prove that the first-order nonlinear differential system governing the plastic spin response in simple shear (Dafalias’s equations) is reduced to an equivalent equation of the Abel normal form by means of admissible functional transformations. In similar Abel equations result also the original and the generalized Volterra differential systems, describing the problem of two populations conflicting with one another. The above reduced Abel equations do not admit exact analytic solutions in terms of known (tabulated) functions, since only very special cases of these types of equations can be analytically solved in parametric form. We provide a mathematical solution methodology leading to the construction of exact implicit analytic solutions of the above-mentioned type of equations. Since the plastic spin nonlinear differential system results in a special unsolvable form of Abel’s equation of the normal form, we perform the exact implicit analytic solution of this system too.
Solvability of Weak Solutions to Anti-Plane Cosserat Elasticity by Means of Boundary Integral Equations
Authors: Potapenko S. , Shmoylova E.
Published: September 2008

In this paper, we solve interior and exterior Dirichlet and Neumann problems of anti-plane micropolar elasticity in Sobolev space setting using boundary integral equation method. Corresponding weak solutions are derived in terms of modified single and double layer potentials with distributional densities.
Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia With Thrombosis After Endovascular Aneurysm Repair
Authors: Kolluri Raghu , Rocha-Singh Krishna , Sarac Timur , Bartholomew John R.
Published: September 2008

Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia is an immune-mediated syndrome that results from unfractionated heparin or low molecular weight heparin exposure. It often remains unrecognized and undertreated and can cause limb and/or life-threatening thrombosis. The authors present 2 cases of thrombosis: one arterial and the other venous that occurred following endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair. To the authors' knowledge, this is only the second report of arterial thrombosis and the first of deep vein thrombosis as a result of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia developing following endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair. This underscores the importance of considering heparin-induced thrombocytopenia as a potential cause for postendovascular thrombotic complications in the patient who develops thrombocytopenia following this procedure.