bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Major histocompatibility complex heterozygosity enhances reproductive success
Authors: THOß M. , ILMONEN P. , MUSOLF K. , PENN D. J. 
Published: February 2011

AbstractWe investigated how heterozygosity at the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) affects fitness in wild‐derived (F2) house mice (Mus musculus musculus). To compare and control for potential confounding effects from close inbreeding and genome‐wide heterozygosity, we used mice that were systematically outbred. We assessed how heterozygosity at MHC and background loci (using 15 microsatellite markers on 11 different chromosomes) affects individual survival and reproductive success (RS) in large, semi‐natural population enclosures. We found that overall heterozygosity significantly increased RS, and this correlation was entirely explained by heterozygosity at two MHC loci. Moreover, we found that the effects of MHC heterozygosity depend on the level of background heterozygosity, and the benefits of maximal MHC heterozygosity show a curvilinear effect with increasing background heterozygosity. The enhanced RS from MHC heterozygosity was not because of increased survival, and although MHC heterozygosity was correlated with body mass, body mass did not correlate with RS when heterozygosity is controlled. Breeders were more MHC heterozygous than nonbreeders for both sexes, indicating that MHC heterozygosity enhanced fecundity, mating success or both. Our results show that (i) MHC heterozygosity enhances fitness among wild, outbred as well as congenic laboratory mice; (ii) heterozygosity–fitness correlations can potentially be explained by a few loci, such as MHC; (iii) MHC heterozygosity can increase fitness, even without affecting survival, by increasing mating and RS; and (iv) MHC effects depend on background genes, and maximal MHC heterozygosity is most beneficial at intermediate or optimal levels of background heterozygosity.
THE ORIGIN AND SIGNIFICANCE OF SAND VOLCANOES IN THE BUDE FORMATION (CORNWALL)
Authors: BURNE R. V. 
Published: February 2011

SummarySand volcanoes have been found in three sedimentary associations in the Upper Carboniferous Bude Formation. In two of these associations they formed when the dewatering of fluidized sand beds, deposited from traction carpets, was temporarily inhibited by the deposition of overlying units. In the third association the volcanoes formed during the normal post‐depositional compaction of fluidized, muddy, poorly sorted units deposited from subaqueous mudflows. While is seems that the tops of fluidized sand beds were characteristically sheared by a fairly powerful current immediately after being deposited, the waters above the recently deposited mudflow units were commonly stagnant, allowing sand volcano growth.
THE FABRIC OF SHALE—AN ELECTRON‐MICROSCOPE STUDY
Authors: O'BRIEN NEAL R. 
Published: February 2011

SummaryScanning and transmission electron micrographs of various shales establish the close correlation between clay‐flake orientation and fissility. The shales with the best fissility have the highest degree of preferred orientation. Randomness of clay flakes prevails in non‐fissile claystones. The results suggest that the fabric of shales may result either from the deposition of dispersed clay or by the collapse of clay floccules after deposition.
MICRO‐FABRICS OF SHALES AND THEIR REARRANGEMENT BY COMPACTION
Authors: HELING DIETRICH 
Published: February 2011

SummaryFabrics of Tertiary shales from the Rhinegraben (southwestern Germany) were studied by methods for fine‐particle measurement including grain‐size distribution, porosity, pore‐size distribution, and specific surface area.The most frequent pore radii (rm) are found to decrease with increasing overburden, this decrease in relation to porosity being more rapid in shales, which are cemented by carbonate. The specific surface area (Sg) is not affected by pressure down to a depth of approx. 1,000 m. With increasing compaction pressure the specific surface areas are found to decrease indicating a fusion of clay‐mineral particles, which corresponds to the alteration of smectite minerals into 10‐Å mica.The sorting index of pore‐size distribution (Sop) remains constant throughout the shallow‐burial range. Below 1,000 m the sorting index increases considerably. This effect is caused by the coarse non‐clay components of the shales, since on both sides of a nearly isometric quartz grain, for instance, large pores may be kept open even under high compaction pressure. This effect is also indicated by the skewness of the pore‐size distribution, which shifts from negative to positive values near 1,000 m of overburden. Above this level fine pores predominate while deeper the relatively coarse pores are more abundant.This study shows that the conventional mechanical model of a clay‐mineral fabric reacting on overburden pressure is applicable to the shallow‐burial range only. After mineral transformations have commenced, the fabrics loose their original grain‐size distribution, so that their porosities are no longer controlled solely by mechanical effects. With the Rhinegraben shales the shallow‐burial range is limited to a depth of about 1,000 m.
MicroRNA‐375 promotes 3T3‐L1 adipocyte differentiation through modulation of extracellular signal‐regulated kinase signalling
Authors: Ling Hong‐Yan , Wen Ge‐Bo , Feng Shui‐Dong , Tuo Qin‐Hui , Ou He‐Sheng , Yao Chao Hua , Zhu Bing‐Yang , Gao Zhi‐Ping , Zhang Liang , Liao Duan‐Fang 
Published: February 2011

Summary1. Adipocyte hypertrophy and hyperplasia are important processes in the development of obesity. To understand obesity and its associated diseases, it is important to elucidate the molecular mechanisms governing adipogenesis. MicroRNA‐375 has been shown to inhibit differentiation of neurites, and participate in the regulation of insulin secretion and blood homeostasis. However, it is unknown whether miR‐375 plays a role in adipocyte differentiation.2. To investigate the role of miR‐375 in adipocyte differentiation, we compared the miR‐375 expression level between 3T3‐L1 pre‐adipocytes and adipocytes using miRNA microarray and quantitative real‐time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR) analysis. Furthermore, we evaluated the effects of overexpression or inhibition of miR‐375 on 3T3‐L1 adipocyte differentiation.3. In the present study, we found that miR‐375 expression was increased after induction of adipogenic differentiation. Overexpression of miR‐375 enhanced 3T3‐L1 adipocyte differentiation, as evidenced by its ability to increase mRNA levels of both CCAAT/enhancer binding protein‐α (C/EBPα) and peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor‐γ (PPARγ2), and induction of adipocyte fatty acid‐binding protein (aP2) and triglyceride (TG) accumulation. Furthermore, we found overexpression of miR‐375 suppressed phosphorylation levels of extracellular signal‐regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2). In contrast, anti‐miR‐375 increased ERK1/2 phosphorylation levels and inhibited mRNA expression of C/EBPα, PPARγ2 and aP2 in 3T3‐L1 adipocyte, accompanied by decreased adipocyte differentiation.4. Taken together, these data suggest that miR‐375 promotes 3T3‐L1 adipocyte differentiation, possibly through modulating the ERK–PPARγ2–aP2 pathway.
Lessons in product innovation: A case study of biotechnology firms
Authors: Woiceshyn Jaana 
Published: February 2011

AbstractFirms that are able more quickly than others to add value through product development will be the winners in technology‐based industries. This paper examines value‐added progress by contrasting four agricultural biotechnology firms that have managed to create value with one that failed to do so. Lessons were induced for new firms struggling to develop products in emerging industries such as biotechnology. The following findings emerged from manager interviews and secondary data.In contrast to the ‘progressive’ firms, the failed firm neglected to develop a clear product‐market focus, complementary skills outside its core technology, and relationships with universities and government. These contrasts seemed to stem from differences in the financing arrangements and the level of organizational politics. The failed firm received a generous one‐time funding and had a relatively high level of politics, whereas the funding of the progressive companies was tied to performance milestones and little politicking took place. The reasons for organizational politics are discussed.
Proteomic analysis of cPKCβII‐interacting proteins involved in HPC‐induced neuroprotection against cerebral ischemia of mice
Authors: Bu Xiangning , Zhang Nan , Yang Xuan , Liu Yanyan , Du Jianli , Liang Jing , Xu Qunyuan , Li Junfa 
Published: February 2011

J. Neurochem. (2011) 117, 346–356.AbstractHypoxic preconditioning (HPC) initiates intracellular signaling pathway to provide protection against subsequent cerebral ischemic injuries, and its mechanism may provide molecular targets for therapy in stroke. According to our study of conventional protein kinase C βII (cPKCβII) activation in HPC, the role of cPKCβII in HPC‐induced neuroprotection and its interacting proteins were determined in this study. The autohypoxia‐induced HPC and middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO)‐induced cerebral ischemia mouse models were prepared as reported. We found that HPC reduced 6 h MCAO‐induced neurological deficits, infarct volume, edema ratio and cell apoptosis in peri‐infarct region (penumbra), but cPKCβII inhibitors Go6983 and LY333531 blocked HPC‐induced neuroprotection. Proteomic analysis revealed that the expression of four proteins in cytosol and eight proteins in particulate fraction changed significantly among 49 identified cPKCβII‐interacting proteins in cortex of HPC mice. In addition, HPC could inhibit the decrease of phosphorylated collapsin response mediator protein‐2 (CRMP‐2) level and increase of CRMP‐2 breakdown product. TAT‐CRMP‐2 peptide, which prevents the cleavage of endogenous CRMP‐2, could inhibit CRMP‐2 dephosphorylation and proteolysis as well as the infarct volume of 6 h MCAO mice. This study is the first to report multiple cPKCβII‐interacting proteins in HPC mouse brain and the role of cPKCβII‐CRMP‐2 in HPC‐induced neuroprotection against early stages of ischemic injuries in mice.
The Importance of Type, Amount, and Timing of Internet Use for Understanding Psychological Distress*
Authors: Cotten Shelia R. , Goldner Melinda , Hale Timothy M. , Drentea Patricia 
Published: February 2011

Objective. Few social scientists have examined how Internet usage, including using the Internet for health purposes, may affect mental health. This study assesses whether the type or amount of online health activities and the timing of Internet use are associated with psychological distress.Methods. We use data from the National Cancer Institute's 2005 Health Information National Trends Survey.Results. When we compare Internet users to non‐Internet users, using the Internet and using the Internet for health purposes are negatively associated with distress. However, among Internet users, the number of online health activities is positively associated with distress. Greater distress is also associated with using the Internet on weekdays and looking online for information on sun protection.Conclusions. Internet usage is not necessarily positively associated with psychological distress. The effects depend on the type, amount, and timing of Internet usage.
Elites, Oil, and Democratization: A Survival Analysis*
Authors: Gurses Mehmet 
Published: February 2011

Objective. This study explores the relationship between natural resource wealth, most notably oil, and democratic survival. I contend that natural resources help sustain democratic regimes by easing social conflict between the rich and the poor. As such, the availability of abundant natural resource revenues alleviates the elites' fear of redistribution of wealth, thereby stabilizing the regime.Methods. I estimate a series of survival analyses for the period between 1960 and 1999.Results. Elite support and oil wealth independently help stabilize democracies.Conclusions. The results bring the widely held views on the link between oil and democracy into question and invite further scrutiny.
State Educational Investments and Economic Growth in the United States: A Path Analysis*
Authors: Baldwin J. Norman , Borrelli Stephen A. , New Michael J. 
Published: February 2011

Objective. This article investigates direct and indirect relationships between state investments in education and economic growth measured as change in per‐capita gross state product (GSP). As a basis for selecting control variables, it also applies a conceptual framework borrowed from the cross‐national growth research.Method. We gathered 18 years of panel data on the 48 continental states and ran GLS regressions with panel corrected standard errors after executing an AR1 correction for autocorrelation.Results. Per‐capita savings deposits, college attainment, and initial GSP are the most consistent predictors of GSP growth over the 18‐year period investigated. However, all the independent variables in the model, except high school attainment, predict per‐capita GSP growth from 1997 to 2005.Conclusion. The study supports the virtues of a path model and a cross‐national framework for explaining the relationship between educational expenditures and GSP growth, especially from 1997 to 2005.
Separation of Ownership and Management: Implications for Risk‐Taking Behavior
Authors: Cole Cassandra R. , He Enya , McCullough Kathleen A. , Sommer David W. 
Published: February 2011

AbstractIssues associated with the relation between the separation of ownership and management and risk‐taking behavior have been considered in an array of studies, with varying results. Due to the wide variety of ownership structures present, the property–casualty insurance industry provides an excellent setting to test the conflicting hypotheses related to separation of ownership from management and risk taking behavior. Employing a large sample of property–liability insurance companies over the period of 1996–2004, we empirically test the alternative hypotheses regarding the implications of separation of ownership from management for firms’ risk taking behavior. The empirical tests include the ownership structures specified in prior research as well as a more detailed classification scheme. We find that each ownership structure is significantly different from every other ownership structure in terms of risk.
Kinship as gift and theft: Acts of succession in Mayotte and Israel
Authors: LAMBEK MICHAEL 
Published: February 2011

ABSTRACTWhen kinship is viewed through the lens of succession rather than reproduction, conflict between siblings becomes salient and the gift of kinship can be experienced as theft. Developing an approach to kinship as ethically constituted through acts, I draw on the biblical story of Jacob and Esau to frame an account of succession in Mayotte that transpires in the register of spirit possession. This account follows the lives of two sisters I first described in this journal in 1988.
Tantalus in the Digital Age: Coltan ore, temporal dispossession, and “movement” in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
Authors: SMITH JAMES H. 
Published: February 2011

ABSTRACTThis article concerns the paradoxical value potentials of coltan and coltan mining in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, focusing on the actions and statements of diggers, traders, and state and military authorities in and around mining enclaves. Coltan ore is essential for Digital Age technology, and the struggle for it and other minerals is partly responsible for the historical and ongoing violent conflict in the region. However, a great deal of bottom‐up social collaboration occurs around these minerals, and many Eastern Congolese argue that controlling and improving their relationship to them is essential for achieving incremental progress over time. I approach coltan's relationship to violence, autochthony, temporality, and political order by focusing on how it has become, for many, iconic of the elemental power of Congolese earth—a potential that foreigners need and try to capture. I convey the experience of temporal dispossession, epitomized in the life story of a child soldier, as context for understanding why some have projected the desire for progressive temporality, epistemological transparency, and social connectivity onto digital minerals and what the consequences of the symbolic struggle over coltan have been, as different groups try to access its social and temporal potentials for diverse ends.
On value and values in a West Bank settlement
Authors: WEISS HADAS 
Published: February 2011

ABSTRACTIn this article, I use value theory to interrogate values in the West Bank settlement of Beit‐El, particularly the coexistence of pragmatism with the valorization of self‐sacrifice. My aims are threefold: to make sense of West Bank settlement values specifically, and contemporary fundamentalism by extension, within the socioeconomic coordinates of the present moment; to illustrate the contribution of value theory to an ethnography of values; and to tease out from the case study some generalizations regarding the formal relations between value and values as they pertain to contemporary possibilities for and limitations on social agency.
Resistance or inaction? Protecting ayurvedic medical knowledge and problems of agency
Authors: HALLIBURTON MURPHY 
Published: February 2011

ABSTRACTThrough an examination of reactions by practitioners of ayurvedic medicine to India's new WTO‐mandated Patents Act, this article problematizes approaches to agency, resistance, and the intelligibility of systems of power in social theory. The coming together of law, science, and different practices of medicine in this case is challenging to decipher in terms of its potential effects on India's ayurvedic medical system, and ayurvedic medical practitioners have very divergent positions about how to protect their knowledge from misappropriation—ranging from organized resistance to deliberate inaction—and disagree over whether the new laws present a threat. I present theoretical approaches, largely from science and technology studies, that decenter the role of human agency and consider inaction an informed reaction to power in an effort to begin to focus more fully on problems of agency and intelligibility that social analysts have only peripherally acknowledged in their considerations of power and resistance.
Place markers: Tracking spatiality in Brazilian hip‐hop and community radio
Authors: PARDUE DEREK 
Published: February 2011

ABSTRACTCommunity radio and hip‐hop constitute sociopolitical agency in the (sub)urban, working‐class neighborhoods of São Paulo. Practitioners and performers have defined themselves, in part, by their success in “conquering space” and, in turn, have created a productive public sphere. Members of both groups consistently describe what they do as public exchange, a viable and visible option on the part of the disenfranchised to engage in a Habermasian ideal sphere of civic agency. In this article, I argue that it is this epistemology of knowledge as exchange coupled with a sociogeographical presence that make hip‐hop and community radio provocative to local residents and periodically irritating to state authorities.
Utopian virtues: Muslim neighbors, ritual sociality, and the politics of convivència
Authors: ERICKSON BRAD 
Published: February 2011

ABSTRACTIn this article, I explore articulations between ritual practice, public sociality, and the politics of immigration in Catalonia (Spain). I investigate phenomena associated with a vernacular interculturalist project known in Catalan as convivència (living together), an alternative to both xenophobic and liberal multiculturalist discourses circulating in Europe. I focus on the capacity of ritual practice to shape embodied socialities between hosts and immigrants and contextualize these dynamics by asking, what congeries of history, public reasoning, techniques of sociality, and policy feed momentum toward polarization or toward pluralism?
Concentric and eccentric shoulder and elbow muscle strength in female volleyball players and non‐active females
Authors: Alfredson H. , Pietilä T. , Lorentzon R. 
Published: February 2011

Alfredson H, Pietilä T, Lorentzon R. Concentric and eccentric shoulder and elbow muscle strength in female volleyball players and non‐active females.Maximal isokinetic concentric (60°/s and 180°/s) and eccentric (60°/s) muscle strength of the external and internal rotator muscles of the shoulder and the flexor and extensor muscles of the elbow was measured in a position resembling spiking and serving in volleyball, on 11 non‐injured female volleyball players (first division) and 11 non‐active females. In the dominant arm, the volleyball players had significantly higher concentric peak torque of the internal and external rotators and elbow extensors at both velocities, and significantly higher eccentric peak torque of the shoulder internal and external rotators and elbow flexors and extensors, than the controls. In the volleyball group, the concentric internal rotation peak torque at 60°/s was significantly higher in the dominant than in the non‐dominant arm. The external/internal strength ratio was significantly lower at 60°/s, but not at 180°/s, in the dominant arm.Conclusion: The female volleyball players had a higher concentric and eccentric strength in the rotator muscles of the shoulder and in the extensor muscles of the elbow compared to untrained controls in this special test position. There were signs of rotator muscle imbalance at the low test speed, but no signs of weakness of the external rotators, in the dominant arm of the volleyball players.
Evaluation of Microstructural Properties of Coffee Beans by Synchrotron X‐Ray Microtomography: A Methodological Approach
Authors: Pittia Paola , Sacchetti Giampiero , Mancini Lucia , Voltolini Marco , Sodini Nicola , Tromba Giuliana , Zanini Franco 
Published: February 2011

Abstract:  Synchrotron radiation microtomography was used as a nondestructive imaging technique to investigate the microstructural properties of green and roasted coffee beans. After image acquisition, 2D images have been reconstructed and 3D images of the beans have been then obtained. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the images allow to fully characterize the morphological and structural features of the coffee beans. Roasting causes meaningful changes in the microstructure of the coffee bean tissue with the development in the entire bean of a porous structure with pores of different shape and size depending on the zone of the bean and cracks occurring mainly in the more external regions and between parenchyma and mucilage. The highly contrasted X‐ray images have been analyzed to determine the pore size and its distribution in different regions of the coffee beans by selecting Volume‐of‐Interest (VoI). The use of phase‐contrast hard X‐rays imaging techniques represents an interesting tool of investigation of the internal structure, morphology, as well as the quality of whole coffee beans. Moreover, the high potentiality of 3D X‐ray imaging and the approach used in this study could be applied in understanding the effects of roasting process conditions on the evolution of microstructural properties of the bean that may affect the stability as well the grinding and brewing performances.Practical Application:  Synchrotron radiation microtomography is an elegant nondestructive imaging technique to investigate the microstructural properties of porous cellular matrices like the green and roasted coffee beans. The quantitative analysis of the resulting 2D and 3D images allows a more comprehensive and objective characterization of the sample under investigation as a whole or of extracted Volumes‐of‐Interest in the bean. This imaging technique could have a major role in understanding the effects of roasting process conditions on the microstructural properties of the bean.