bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
State promotion of consumerism in Safavid Iran: Shah Abbas I and royal silk textiles
Authors: Minowa Yuko , Witkowski Terrence H. 
Published: June 2009

PurposeThis purpose of this paper is to investigate the policies and consequences of state‐directed consumerism in Iran during the reign of Shah Abbas I (1587–1629) of the Safavid dynasty.Design/methodology/approachThe research is based upon several secondary literatures, especially Middle Eastern studies and art history, as well as primary source materials in the form of architecture, its decorative elements, and other works. The visual content and consumption themes of a selected tile painting are described and analyzed.FindingsThe Shah strengthened the state by building infrastructure, encouraging international trade, and creating a robust silk industry where he controlled production and marketing. He utilized his city and its architecture as a means of communication to impress his subjects and foreign visitors and to increase domestic demand for silk textiles. These promotional efforts led to a surge in spending, which occurred about the same time as similar booms in England and France. Economic problems and rising Islamism dampened this episode of Persian consumerism in the latter part of the seventeenth century.Research limitations/implicationsThe set of visual data sources is small and limited to works from just one city, Isfahan.Originality/valueThe research fills gaps in the marketing and consumption history literatures which have not as yet fully considered the use of state resources to promote domestic consumption, consumer marketing in the Middle East, and the promotional roles played by architecture and its decorative elements.
An overview of The History of Marketing Thought
Authors: Tamilia Robert D. 
Published: June 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to be more than a book review essay on the work by Tadajewski and Jones, The History of Marketing Thought. It reviews the literature on marketing history and thought, and includes suggestions for additional research on that topic.Design/methodology/approachThe research relies heavily on previously published articles and on databank searches.FindingsA more complete time line of the history of marketing thought is presented. It is also shown that more biographical historical research is needed, especially on those pioneer practitioners of marketing whose legacy has influenced marketing thought and practice.Practical implicationsKnowing more about the history of marketing thought will prove useful both to academics and to practitioners. Biographies are also practical because we learn more about both the scholars and the times that have transformed this discipline.Originality/valueThe essay offers a brief but succinct summary of the history of marketing thought over millennia while at the same time reviewing a readings book on the topic.
A novel DNA vaccine containing multiple TB‐specific epitopes cast in a natural structure elicits enhanced Th1 immunity compared with BCG
Authors: Gao Haifeng , Li Kang , Yu Shanshan , Xiong Sidong 
Published: June 2009

ABSTRACTVaccination is expected to make a major contribution to the goal of eliminating tuberculosis worldwide by 2050. Because the protection afforded by the currently available tuberculosis vaccine, BCG, is insufficient, new vaccine strategies are urgently needed. Protective immunity against MTB depends on generation of a Th1‐type cellular immune response characterized by secretion of IFN‐γ from antigen‐specific T cells. Epitope‐driven vaccines are created from sub‐sequences of proteins (epitopes) derived by scanning the protein sequences of pathogens and selecting epitopes with patterns of amino acids which permit binding to human MHC molecules. Guided by the crystal structure of HSP65 and its characteristics, four functional T cell epitopes elaborately elicited from ESAT‐6, Ag85A, CFP‐10 and Ag85B were cast into the intermediate domain of HSP65. A panel of a novel chimeric vaccine, ECANS, expressing HSP65 and combined T cell epitopes was created. Gene cloning and sequencing, DNA vaccination and humoral and cellular responses were studied. After being immunized with DNA vaccine three times, all mice injected with ECANS had specific cellular immune responses. In addition, lymphocytes obtained from the spleen of ECANS immunized mice at week eight exhibited significantly greater specific lymphocyte proliferation, IFN‐γ secretion and CTL activity than those of mice that had been immunized with BCG. DNA vaccine with ECANS can successfully induce enhanced specific cellular immune response to PPD, and further study of its protective effects against Mycobacterium tuberculosis in vivo is needed.
A host‐vector system for molecular study of the intracellular growth ofMycobacterium tuberculosisin phagocytic cells
Authors: Nomoto Mari , Ogawa Midori , Fukuda Kazumasa , Miyamoto Hiroshi , Taniguchi Hatsumi 
Published: June 2009

ABSTRACTThe mechanisms by whichMycobacterium tuberculosissurvives and persists in phagocytic cells remain poorly understood. To study the question, a convenient and safe host‐vector system is indispensable. In this study it has been shown that, in contrast withM.smegmatisstrain mc2155 which has been widely used for molecular analysis,M. smegmatisstrain J15cs is able to survive even at day 6 post‐infection in a murine macrophage cell line, J774. The survivability of J15cs was found to depend on the culture medium used for the bacteria prior to infection. Bacteria precultured on nutrient agar medium showed a high survivability and a characteristic cell wall ultrastructure. A plasmid vector, pYT923hyg, was developed from anEscherichia coli‐ mycobacterium shuttle vector pYT923 (previously constructed in our laboratory) to obtain three drug resistant genes (amp‐, hyg‐ and km‐resistant gene) and cloning sites in the km resistant gene. The vector pYT923hyg exerted no influence onin vitrogrowth of J15cs and intracellular survival in J774 cells, and was stably retained in J15cs after serial subculturing (three subcultures) in Luria‐Bertani broth and at day 5 post‐infection into J774 cells. Furthermore, using this system, the possibility of a relationship between some seemingly essential genes ofM. tuberculosisand intracellular growth was demonstrated.In this study,M. smegmatisstrain J15cs and pYT923hyg were found to be capable of serving as an appropriate host‐vector system for molecular study of the intracellular growth ofM.tuberculosisin phagocytic cells; this system may be useful as a screening tool forM.tuberculosisgenes.
Effect of vascular endothelial growth factor polymorphisms on survival in advanced‐stage non‐small‐cell lung cancer
Authors: Masago Katsuhiro , Fujita Shiro , Kim Yung Haku , Hatachi Yukimasa , Fukuhara Akiko , Nagai Hiroki , Irisa Kaoru , Ichikawa Masataka , Mio Tadashi , Mishima Michiaki 
Published: June 2009

Polymorphisms have been identified in the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene that may affect VEGF production. We hypothesized that such polymorphisms may correlate with survival outcomes among advanced‐stage non‐small‐cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. We evaluated the association between VEGF polymorphisms and overall survival among patients with advanced NSCLC who were treated with at least one cytotoxic regimen at Kyoto University Hospital between 2003 and 2008. We investigated the following VEGF polymorphisms: –460T > C (rs833061), +405G > C (rs2010963), +936C > T (rs3025039), –1154G > A (rs1570360), and –2578C > A (rs699947). Analyses of genotype associations with survival outcomes were performed using Cox proportional models, Kaplan–Meier methods, and the log‐rank test. There were 126 patients and 80 deaths. On a Cox regression analysis of a current and former smoker (hazards ratio [HR], 1.422; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.111–1.859; P = 0.0046), poor performance status (PS) (HR, 2.524; 95% CI, 1.483–3.827; P = 0.0019), the VEGF –460CC genotype (HR, 1.719; 95% CI, 1.166–2.390; P = 0.0084), VEGF –1154AA and AG genotypes (HR, 1.482; 95% CI, 1.144–1.897; P = 0.0034), and VEGF –2578AA genotype (HR, 1.797; 95% CI, 1.219–2.495; P = 0.0047) had a significant prognostic effect on survival based on univariate analysis. Based on multivariate analysis of a current and former smoker (HR, 1.407; 95% CI, 1.095–1.840; P = 0.0070), poor PS (HR, 2.249; 95% CI, 1.309–3.468; P = 0.0058), and the VEGF –1154AA and AG genotypes (HR, 1.419; 95% CI, 1.033–1.901; P = 0.0316) were significant independent prognostic factors for survival. In this study, polymorphisms in VEGF may affect survival in advanced NSCLC. (Cancer Sci 2009; 100: 1917–1922)
Protein tyrosine phosphatase SHP‐2: A proto‐oncogene product that promotes Ras activation
Authors: Matozaki Takashi , Murata Yoji , Saito Yasuyuki , Okazawa Hideki , Ohnishi Hiroshi 
Published: June 2009

SHP‐2 is a cytoplasmic protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) that contains two Src homology 2 (SH2) domains. Although PTPs are generally considered to be negative regulators on the basis of their ability to oppose the effects of protein tyrosine kinases, SHP‐2 is unusual in that it promotes the activation of the Ras‐MAPK signaling pathway by receptors for various growth factors and cytokines. The molecular basis for the activation of SHP‐2 is also unique: In the basal state, the NH2‐terminal SH2 domain of SHP‐2 interacts with the PTP domain, resulting in autoinhibition of PTP activity; the binding of SHP‐2 via its SH2 domains to tyrosine‐phosphorylated growth factor receptors or docking proteins, however, results in disruption of this intramolecular interaction, leading to exposure of the PTP domain and catalytic activation. Indeed, SHP‐2 proteins with artificial mutations in the NH2‐terminal SH2 domain have been shown to act as dominant active mutants in vitro. Such activating mutations of PTPN11 (human SHP‐2 gene) were subsequently identified in individuals with Noonan syndrome, a human developmental disorder that is sometimes associated with juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia. Furthermore, somatic mutations of PTPN11 were found to be associated with pediatric leukemia. SHP‐2 is also thought to participate in the development of other malignant disorders, but in a manner independent of such activating mutations. Biochemical and functional studies of SHP‐2 and genetic analysis of PTPN11 in human disorders have thus converged to provide new insight into the pathogenesis of cancer as well as potential new targets for cancer treatment. (Cancer Sci 2009; 100: 1786–1793)
Characterization of brain cancer stem cells: a mathematical approach
Authors: Turner C. , Stinchcombe A. R. , Kohandel M. , Singh S. , Sivaloganathan S. 
Published: June 2009

AbstractObjective:  In recent years, support has increased for the notion that a subpopulation of brain tumour cells in possession of properties typically characteristic of stem cells is responsible for initiating and maintaining the tumour. Unravelling details of the brain tumour stem cell (BTSC) hierarchy, as well as interactions of these cells with various therapies, will be essential in the design of optimal treatment strategies.Materials and methods:  Motivated by this, we have developed a mathematical model of the BTSC hypothesis that may aid in characterization of brain tumours, as well as in prediction of effective therapeutic strategies, which can be further validated in experimental and clinical studies. At the level of a small number of cells, the model developed herein is stochastic. For larger populations of cancer cells, the model is handled from a deterministic approach.Results and conclusions:  In the stochastic regime, importance of a relationship between the likelihoods of two distinct types of symmetric BTSC divisions in determining BTSC survival rates becomes apparent, consequently emphasizing the need for a set of biomarkers that are able to better characterize the BTSC hierarchy. At the large scale, we predict the importance of the aforementioned symmetric division rates in dictating brain tumour composition. Furthermore, we demonstrate possible therapeutic benefits of considering combination treatments of radiotherapy and putative BTSC inhibitors, such as bone morphogenetic proteins, while reinforcing the importance of developing novel treatment strategies that specifically target the BTSC subpopulation.
A practice framework to guide screening and assessment in the Australian Family Relationship Centres and Advice Line
Authors: Winkworth Gail , McArthur Morag 
Published: June 2009

ABSTRACTIn recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the reactive way in which policy is translated into practice on the front lines of child and family welfare organizations, particularly in how risk is assessed and responded to by staff at all levels in these organizations. Major reforms to family law in Australia and programmes set up to complement the existing Commonwealth‐Funded Family Relationship Services Program provide an opportunity to rethink how staff can be provided with a systematic and research‐based set of guidelines for screening and assessment. This paper examines the role of practice frameworks in general and the Australian family relationships screening and assessment practice framework in particular to demonstrate not only how this broader evidence‐based approach encourages well‐informed, professional and ethical practice but also how it leaves room for creativity and local, place‐based responsiveness.
A low dose of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection enhances an established allergic inflammation in mice: the role of the prostaglandin E2 pathway
Authors: Wu Q. , Martin R. J. , LaFasto S. , Chu H. W. 
Published: June 2009

SummaryBackground
Over 40% of chronic stable asthma patients have evidence of respiratory Mycoplasma pneumoniae (Mp) infection as detected by PCR, but not by serology and culture, suggesting that a low‐level Mp is involved in chronic asthma. However, the role of such a low‐level Mp infection in the regulation of allergic inflammation remains unknown.Objective
To determine the impact of a low‐level Mp infection in mice with established airway allergic inflammation on allergic responses such as eosinophilia and chemokine eotaxin‐2, and the underlying mechanisms [i.e. the prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) pathway] since PGE2 inhalation before an allergen challenge suppressed the eosinophil infiltration in human airways.Methods
BALB/c mouse models of ovalbumin (OVA)‐induced allergic asthma with an ensuing low‐ or high‐dose Mp were used to assess IL‐4 expression, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) eosinophil, eotaxin‐2 and PGE2 levels, and lung mRNA levels of microsomal prostaglandin E synthase‐1 (mPGES‐1). Primary alveolar macrophages (pAMs) from naïve BALB/c mice were cultured to determine whether Mp‐induced PGE2 or exogenous PGE2 down‐regulates IL‐4/IL‐13‐induced eotaxin‐2.Results
Low‐dose Mp in allergic mice significantly enhanced IL‐4 and eotaxin‐2, and moderately promoted lung eosinophilia, whereas high‐dose Mp significantly reduced lung eosinophilia and tended to decrease IL‐4 and eotaxin‐2. Moreover, in both OVA‐naïve and allergic mice, lung mPGES‐1 mRNA and BAL PGE2 levels were elevated in mice infected with high‐dose, but not low‐dose Mp. In pAMs, IL‐4/IL‐13 significantly increased eotaxin‐2, which was reduced by Mp infection accompanied by dose‐dependent PGE2 induction. Exogenous PGE2 inhibited IL‐4/IL‐13‐induced eotaxin‐2 in a dose‐dependent manner.Conclusions
This study highlights a novel concept on how different bacterial loads in the lung modify the established allergic airway inflammation and thus interact with an allergen to further induce Th2 responses. That is, unlike high‐level Mp, low‐level Mp fails to effectively induce PGE2 to down‐regulate allergic responses (e.g. eotaxin‐2), thus maintaining or even worsening allergic inflammation in asthmatic airways.
Glucocorticoid treatment restores the impaired suppressive function of regulatory T cells in patients with relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis
Authors: Xu L , Xu Z , Xu M 
Published: June 2009

Summary
Patients relapsing from multiple sclerosis (MS) are treated with high-dose, short-term intravenous injection of glucocorticoid (GC), although its mechanism of action remains only partly understood. We evaluated the ex vivo and in vitro effects of GC on regulatory T cell (Treg) function in 14 relapsing–remitting MS (RR-MS) patients in acute phase and 20 healthy controls (HC). Treg function was enhanced significantly after 5 days of GC treatment. Furthermore, there was a trend towards increasing proportions of CD4+CD25+forkhead box P3+ T cells and interleukin-10 secretion with GC treatment when compared with HC. In conclusion, GC treatment restores the impaired Treg function in patients with RR-MS in its acute phase.
Conserved T cell and natural killer cell function in treatment-experienced adults receiving tenofovir plus didanosine as nucleoside reverse transcription inhibitor backbone
Authors: Costa P , Bozzano F , Fenoglio D , Beltrame A , Cenderello G , Di Biagio A , Ferrea G , Pagano G , De Maria A 
Published: June 2009

Summary
Anti-retroviral treatment (ART) usually results in efficient control of virus replication and in immune reconstitution. Among potential adverse effects, impairment of immune responses in terms of CD4+ T cell counts has been attributed to some ART regimens, as with didanosine–tenofovir. We studied the functional integrity of adaptive and innate immunity during didanosine–tenofovir-containing ART. Two groups of extensively pretreated patients completing at least 48 weeks of ART containing either lamivudine–didanosine (n = 21) or tenofovir–didanosine (n = 25) were identified. In addition to standard clinical immune and virological parameters, we performed a flow cytometric analysis of natural killer (NK) cells, of memory and naive CD4+ T cells and of T cell receptor αβ+ T cells co-expressing inhibitory NK receptors. Functional analysis consisted in specific and total interferon-γ production by NK cells and of recall antigen proliferation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Comparable clinical immunological reconstitution and virological control were confirmed in the two groups of patients in the absence of clinically relevant adverse effects. The proportion of CD4+CD45RA+ T cells and of functionally inhibited killer immunoglobulin-like receptor T cell receptor αβ+ cells, the proliferation to recall antigens as well as NK cell phenotype and function as determined by interferon-γ production in patients treated with tenofovir–didanosine were comparable to those treated with a different regimen. Thus, no differences in functional innate or adaptive immune reconstitution are detected in drug-experienced human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients on tenofovir–didanosine nucleoside reverse transcription inhibitor regimens.
Invasion or invisibility: using genetic and distributional data to investigate the alien or indigenous status of the Atlantic populations of the peracarid isopod, Stenosoma nadejda (Rezig 1989)
Authors: XAVIER R. , SANTOS A. M. , LIMA F. P. , BRANCO M. 
Published: June 2009

AbstractThe peracarid isopod, Stenosoma nadejda (Rezig 1989), until recently considered to be endemic of the Mediterranean region, was first reported in the Atlantic coast of southern Spain in 2001, and in 2006 abundant populations were discovered throughout the southwestern Portuguese coast. This fast expansion was intriguing because, as a direct brooder, this species has limited mechanisms for dispersal, such as rafting on seaweeds. Did S. nadejda recently extend its range into the Atlantic or was it overlooked in the past? We examined the patterns of genetic diversity and population differentiation accordingly by sequencing the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I mitochondrial gene from 75 individuals collected in five locations in Atlantic Iberia and one in the Mediterranean. Our results indicate that the newly discovered Atlantic populations of S. nadejda appear to be old and have long persisted on Atlantic shores rather than being a recent introduction. High levels of genetic diversity and geographic structure were uncovered in what was initially suspected to be an ‘invasive’ species. Recent changes in population dynamics may have made S. nadejda more conspicuous in the Atlantic shores, or a more comprehensive survey led to the recognition of this species where it was not expected.
In situpopulation structure andex siturepresentation of the endangered Amur tiger
Authors: HENRY P. , MIQUELLE D. , SUGIMOTO T. , McCULLOUGH D. R. , CACCONE A. , RUSSELLO M. A. 
Published: June 2009

AbstractThe Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) is a critically endangered felid that suffered a severe demographic contraction in the 1940s. In this study, we sampled 95 individuals collected throughout their native range to investigate questions relative to population genetic structure and demographic history. Additionally, we sampled targeted individuals from the North Americanex situpopulation to assess the genetic representation found in captivity. Population genetic and Bayesian structure analyses clearly identified two populations separated by a development corridor in Russia. Despite their well‐documented 20th century decline, we failed to find evidence of a recent population bottleneck, although genetic signatures of a historical contraction were detected. This disparity in signal may be due to several reasons, including historical paucity in population genetic variation associated with postglacial colonization and potential gene flow from a now extirpated Chinese population. Despite conflicting signatures of a bottleneck, our estimates of effective population size (Ne = 27–35) andNe/Nratio (0.07–0.054) were substantially lower than the only other values reported for a wild tiger population. Lastly, the extent and distribution of genetic variation in captive and wild populations were similar, yet gene variants persistedex situthat were lostin situ. Overall, our results indicate the need to secure ecological connectivity between the two Russian populations to minimize loss of genetic diversity and overall susceptibility to stochastic events, and support a previous study suggesting that the captive population may be a reservoir of gene variants lostin situ.
The ethanolamine branch of the Kennedy pathway is essential in the bloodstream form of Trypanosoma brucei
Authors: Gibellini Federica , Hunter William N. , Smith Terry K. 
Published: June 2009

SummaryPhosphatidylethanolamine (GPEtn), a major phospholipid component of trypanosome membranes, is synthesized de novo from ethanolamine through the Kennedy pathway. Here the composition of the GPEtn molecular species in the bloodstream form of Trypanosoma brucei is determined, along with new insights into phospholipid metabolism, by in vitro and in vivo characterization of a key enzyme of the Kennedy pathway, the cytosolic ethanolamine‐phosphate cytidylyltransferase (TbECT). Gene knockout indicates that TbECT is essential for growth and survival, thus highlighting the importance of the Kennedy pathway for the pathogenic stage of the African trypanosome. Phosphatiylserine decarboxylation, a potential salvage pathway, does not appear to be active in cultured bloodstream form T. brucei, and it is not upregulated even when the Kennedy pathway is disrupted. In vivo metabolic labelling and phospholipid composition analysis by ESI‐MS/MS of the knockout cells confirmed a significant decrease in GPEtn species, as well as changes in the relative abundance of other phospholipid species. Reduction in GPEtn levels had a profound influence on the morphology of the mutants and it compromised mitochondrial structure and function, as well as glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor biosynthesis. TbECT is therefore genetically validated as a potential drug target against the African trypanosome.