bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Critical Role for Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) duringChlamydia muridarumGenital Infection and Bacterial Replication-Independent Secretion of IL-1β in Mouse Macrophages
Authors: Prantner Daniel , Darville Toni , Sikes James D. , Andrews Charles W. , Brade Helmut , Rank Roger G. , Nagarajan Uma M. 
Published: October 2009

ABSTRACTRecent findings have implicated interleukin-1β (IL-1β) as an important mediator of the inflammatory response in the female genital tract during chlamydial infection. But how IL-1β is produced and its specific role in infection and pathology are unclear. Therefore, our goal was to determine the functional consequences and cellular sources of IL-1β expression during a chlamydial genital infection. In the present study, IL-1β−/−mice exhibited delayed chlamydial clearance and decreased frequency of hydrosalpinx compared to wild-type (WT) mice, implying an important role for IL-1β both in the clearance of infection and in the mediation of oviduct pathology. At the peak of IL-1β secretion in WT mice, the major producers of IL-1β in vivo are F4/80+macrophages and GR-1+neutrophils, but not CD45−epithelial cells. Although elicited mouse macrophages infected withChlamydiamuridarumin vitro secrete minimal IL-1β, in vitro prestimulation of macrophages by Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS) purified fromEscherichiacoliorC. trachomatisL2 prior to infection greatly enhanced secretion of IL-1β from these cells. By using LPS-primed macrophages as a model system, it was determined that IL-1β secretion was dependent on caspase-1, potassium efflux, and the activity of serine proteases. Significantly, chlamydia-induced IL-1β secretion in macrophages required bacterial viability but not growth. Our findings demonstrate that IL-1β secreted by macrophages and neutrophils has important effects in vivo during chlamydial infection. Additionally, prestimulation of macrophages by chlamydial TLR ligands may account for the elevated levels of pro-IL-1β mRNA observed in vivo in this cell type.
A Heterologous Helper T-Cell Epitope Enhances the Immunogenicity of a Multiple-Antigenic-Peptide Vaccine Targeting the Cryptic Loop-Neutralizing Determinant ofBacillus anthracisProtective Antigen
Authors: Oscherwitz Jon , Yu Fen , Cease Kemp B. 
Published: October 2009

ABSTRACTWe previously showed that a multiple antigenic peptide (MAP) displaying amino acids (aa) 305 to 319 from the 2β2-2β3 loop of protective antigen (PA) can elicit high-titered antibody that neutralizes lethal toxin (LeTx) in vitro and that this loop-neutralizing determinant (LND) specificity is absent in PA-immune rabbits. Some immune rabbits were, however, nonresponders to the MAP. We hypothesized that the immunogen elicited suboptimal major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II-restricted T-cell help and that introduction of a functional helper T-cell epitope would increase MHC-restricted responsiveness and the magnitude and affinity of the antibody responses. In the current study, we characterized the T- and B-cell responses to LND peptides in mice, then designed second-generation MAP immunogens for eliciting LND-specific immunity, and tested them in rabbits. The 305-319 sequence was devoid of helper T-cell epitopes in three strains of mice; however, a T-B peptide comprising aa 305 to 319, colinearly synthesized with the P30 helper epitope of tetanus toxin, elicited robust LeTx-neutralizing immunity in mice. T-B MAPs displaying B-cell epitopes 304 to 319 (MAP304) or 305 to 319 (MAP305) elicited high-titer, durable antibody responses in rabbits which exhibited potent neutralization of LeTx in vitro. All MAP304-immune rabbits demonstrated neutralization titers exceeding that of hyperimmune sera of rabbits immunized with PA in Freund's adjuvant, with peak neutralization titers 23-, 6-, and 3-fold higher than that of the PA antiserum. Overall, immunization with MAPs containing the P30 epitope elicited higher antibody and toxin neutralization titers and peptide-specific affinity than immunization with an LND MAP lacking a helper epitope. P30-containing MAP304 represents a promising LND-specific vaccine for anthrax.
Business decision making, management and information technology
Authors: Kumar B. Pradeep , Selvam John , Meenakshi V. S. , Kanthi K. , Suseela A. L. , Kumar V. Lalith 
Published: October 2009

"Information technology is no longer a business resource; it is the business environment." His statement is not far from truth. Ongoing advances in information technology (IT), along with increasing global competition, are adding complexity and uncertainty of several orders of magnitude to the organizational environment.
Information technology management (or IT management) is a combination of two branches of study, information technology and management. This aims at achieving the goals and objectives of an organization through computers.
Also called IT management, this name is a common business function within corporations. Strictly speaking, there are two incarnations to this definition. One implies the management of a collection of systems, infrastructure, and information that resides on them. Another implies the management of information technologies as a business function.
The first definition is the subject of technical manuals and publications of various information technologies providers; while the second definition stems from the discussion and formation of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL).
The ITIL has been in practice throughout regions of the world mainly conducted by IT service providers consulting companies. The relative paucity in the use of the best practice set can be attributed to lack awareness among IT practitioners. However the lack of ready-to-use tools also presents a significant barrier.
Some organizations that value such practices tend to engage consultants to introduce the practice. Such implementations can conflict with the home-grown culture due to a lack of internal buy-in. Other organizations implement the practices by spending resources to develop in-house tools. Most in-house developed tools tend to focus on one or a few specific areas where the organizations feel the most pains. To reap the full advantages, tools will need to be integrated with the organization's IT data in the center.
One notable mention is a relatively small but integrated tool on the market that seems to be developing in this direction
A guide for project-based manufacturers and secrets for software buyers
Authors: Pal Sanjay Kumar 
Published: October 2009

Most systems have their heritage in the Material Requirements Planning (MRP) philosophy developed in the 1960s. This concept utilized computer power to calculate time-phased material requirements. It later evolved into MRPII promoted by APICS and Ollie Wight during the 1980s, and further evolved to the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems available today.
The original premise of all of these systems is that material planning is the center of the universe. The typical manufacturing system was designed with an MRP process at the heart of the system. The emphasis of such systems is on standard bills and routings and standard costs.
Companies in the ETO world have different requirements. Designing and building complex products to exact customer specifications frequently involves long lead times and heavy engineering content. To win business, you must provide accurate estimates and quotations to a demanding customer base. Unlike the majority of manufacturers, capital equipment manufacturers typically purchase material to a specific project or job. You need to do progress billing and collect actual costs to projects. Often, you will not receive payment for a project until it is installed and operating at a customer's site. So, cash management is of vital importance. And after the sale, you need to track warranty information and provide aftermarket services, including the sale of spare parts that may constitute a significant share of your company's business.
An approach for conducting enterprise resource planning assessment
Authors: Pal Sanjay Kumar , Pal Anindya Jyoti 
Published: October 2009

The failure to plan will lead to results that fall short of expectations. The same thing can be said of companies and their search for a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. All companies undertake the search for a new system because they believe there is an opportunity to improve the organization, either by improving the revenue, decreasing costs or both.
But far too often, companies undertake this effort without having a plan on how to select a new ERP system. They fall victim selecting the product with the best sales presentation or the best cost proposal. There is not quantitative evidence that this new system will actually achieve the goals of improving the revenue or decreasing the cost.
So put an evaluation plan in place. No two plans will be the same but all should have the same basic concepts.
On our duties as scientists
Authors: Goldreich Oded 
Published: October 2009

Our primary duty as scientists is to contribute to the progress of science. By doing so, we best fulfill our duties to the society at large. Our primary duty is not fulfilled by merely doing research, but rather by communicating our findings to the relevant scientific community. The role of this community in the scientific process, entails some important (secondary) duties towards this community (e.g., evaluation of scientific work and education of future generations of researchers).
Needless to say, this essay presents my own subjective opinions regarding the aforementioned issues. I also seize the opportunity to express some related and less related opinions.
SystemAda
Authors: Mahani Negin , Mokri Parnian , Sedghi Mahshid , Navabi Zainalabedin 
Published: October 2009

Recent research on system level design has produced a new level of abstraction for description of hardware that is referred to as Transaction Level Modeling, or TLM. TLM separates hardware into computation and communication units and describes each at a very abstract level. Another important property of electronic circuits, which is also modeled well in TLM, is concurrency of tasks and operations. Inherent concurrency of Ada, makes this language a good candidate for design and description of modern electronic systems. This paper* describes how to use.
Ada as a system description language like SystemC, and will use Ada compilers (such as Gnat) to evaluate systems described using Ada. We refer to the adaptation of Ada for system level description as SystemAda. This paper reviews Ada programming language requirements for modeling behavior of a digital system at transaction level, and considers possible approaches for extending Ada to meet these requirements.
Gem #52
Authors: Briot Emmanuel 
Published: October 2009

Ada Gem #52 -- Programming languages are, at least in the mind of most programmers, divided into two categories: scripting languages and others. The dividing line is not always obvious, and generally has to do with the size of the application, whether the language is interpreted or compiled, and whether doing operations such as manipulating external processes is easy.
It's safe to say, though, that Ada is almost never classified as a scripting language. This Gem demonstrates a few of the packages that are part of the GNAT distribution and that provide helpful scripting features to accomplish tasks that would often be thought to be in the domain of languages specialized for scripting. Portability is of course a major advantage of choosing Ada!
Gem #61
Authors: Miranda Javier , Charlet Arnaud 
Published: October 2009

In the previous Gem about generating bindings from C++ headers, we mentioned, without going into details, how to interface with C++ constructors in Ada using the CPP_Constructor pragma.
In this Gem we present some common uses of C++ constructors in mixed-language programs in GNAT, and in the next Gem, we will show the use of some powerful Ada 2005 features in conjunction with C++ constructors.
Hereditary Deficiency of gp91phoxIs Associated With Enhanced Arterial Dilatation
Authors: Violi Francesco , Sanguigni Valerio , Carnevale Roberto , Plebani Alessandro , Rossi Paolo , Finocchi Andrea , Pignata Claudio , De Mattia Domenico , Martire Baldassarre , Pietrogrande Maria Cristina , Martino Silvana , Gambineri Eleonora , Soresina Anna Rosa , Pignatelli Pasquale , Martino Francesco , Basili Stefania , Loffredo Lorenzo 
Published: October 2009

Background—NADPH oxidase is believed to modulate arterial tone, but its role in humans is still unclear. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether NADPH oxidase is involved in flow-mediated arterial dilation (FMD).Methods and Results—Twenty-five patients with hereditary deficiency of gp91phox, the catalytic core of NADPH oxidase, (X-CGD), 25 healthy subjects, and 25 obese patients matched for sex and age were recruited. FMD, platelet gp91phox, serum levels of nitrite and nitrate as markers of nitric oxide generation, oxidized low-density lipoprotein, and urinary excretion of isoprostanes as markers of oxidative stress were determined. Platelet gp91phoxexpression was downregulated in X-CGD patients (1.0±0.8 mean fluorescence;P<0.001) and upregulated in obese patients (4.1±2.2 mean fluorescence;P=0.01) compared with healthy subjects (2.9±1.7 mean fluorescence). Urinary excretion of isoprostanes was reduced in X-CGD patients (41.7±33.3 pg/mg creatinine;P=0.04) and increased in obese patients (154.4±91 pg/mg creatinine;P<0.001) compared with healthy subjects (69.5±52.4 pg/mg creatinine). Obese patients had higher serum oxidized low-density lipoprotein than healthy subjects (35.3±6.7 versus 24.8±9.8 U/L;P<0.001) and X-CGD patients (28.5±7.2 U/L;P<0.001). X-CGD patients had significantly higher FMD (14.7±5.9%) compared with healthy subjects (7.9±2.5%;P<0.001); obese patients had lower FMD (5.3±3.0%;P=0.028) compared with healthy subjects. Serum nitrite and nitrate levels were significantly higher in patients with X-CGD (36.0±10.8 μmol/L;P=0.016) and lower in obese patients (9.3±11.0 μmol/L;P=0.001) compared with healthy subjects (27.1±19.1 μmol/L). Serum nitrite and nitrate levels significantly correlated with FMD (Rs=0.403,P<0.001) and platelet gp91phox(Rs=−0.515,P<0.001). FMD inversely correlated with platelet gp91phox(Rs=−0.502,P<0.001) and isoprostanes (Rs=−0.513,P<0.001).Conclusion—This study provides the first evidence that, in humans, gp91phoxis implicated in the modulation of arterial tone.
Legal Predicament of Combining 'Regional' and 'National' Autonomy: A Group Rights Perspective
Authors: Zhou Yong 
Published: October 2009

AbstractThe Chinese regional national autonomy (RNA) is stated as an institutional arrangement for safeguarding the specific rights of certain minority nationalities living concentrated in their inhabited areas. The combination of 'regional autonomy' and 'national autonomy', which is claimed to be the significant feature of this institution, has not yet been discussed in terms of the institutional design and legal techniques used. Taking a group rights perspective on the institutional arrangement of RNA, the paper explores the legal difficulties inherent in the combination of the two kinds of autonomy as suggested by the terms 'regional' 'national' 'autonomy'. This research exposes the conditions and limits of the existing legal mechanism under RNA and shows that the alleged right combination of two kinds of autonomy is difficult to logically expound from a group rights perspective. It discloses the problems of institutional design in addition to the faulty implementation of the Law on the Regional National Autonomy as the reason for the malfunction of RNA to achieve its stated purpose.
Hunting-Prohibition in the Hunters' Autonomous Area: Legal Rights of Oroqen People and the Implementation of Regional National Autonomy Law
Authors: Zhou Yong , Lundberg Maria 
Published: October 2009

AbstractThe hunting-prohibition announced by the Oroqen autonomous government in the Oroqen hunters' homeland, raise controversial issues of the actual function of regional national autonomy and the effectiveness of the implementation of law in relation to this autonomy arrangement in China. In this article, three key issues of this case are discussed in relation to the institutional design and practice of regional national autonomy: i.e., the exercise of Oroqen autonomy in the process of local forest exploitation; the representation of the Oroqen in the organs of self-government and the procedures of decision-making in the reform of the Oroqen's traditional way of life. These issues are both independent and interrelated to the legal rights of the Oroqen people based on Chinese domestic law and international treaties. Through the description and analysis of the Oroqen case, this research presents the institutional obstacles for the Oroqen people to realise their rights and the failure of the regional national autonomy to fulfill its stated purpose.
Regional National Autonomy and Minority Language Rights in the PRC
Authors: Lundberg Maria 
Published: October 2009

AbstractThe existing Chinese legal framework for the protection of minority language rights is challenged by the development of law for the promotion of the majority language. The Regional National Autonomy Law (RNAL) is a centre-piece in the protection of minority language rights having the aim of guaranteeing the rights of the minority nationalities to administer their internal affairs. However, despite that, the RNAL stipulates that the autonomous organs shall guarantee the freedom of the minority nationalities to use and develop their language, culture and traditions. The law- and decision-making powers of the autonomous organs are subject to the approval of higher level authorities under the rules of governance based on the principles of 'democratic centralism'. This research argues that, particularly in view of the legal developments to promote the majority language, the institutional framework of the RNAL cannot provide an effective procedural guarantee for the implementation of minority language rights in accordance with international human rights law. Nevertheless, this article propounds that since China has proclaimed that it is moving towards governance based on the principles of the rule of law and international human rights standards for the protection of minority language rights could have an influence in this transition by increasing the clarity of the aims of the protection of minority language rights. In accordance with these principles, the role of the autonomous organs could be strengthened and clarified by the adoption of regulations and specific measures for the implementation of the RNAL by central and provincial authorities.
Written Language Reform and Regional Autonomy of Dai Nationality in Xishuangbanna
Authors: Xisheng Zhang 
Published: October 2009

AbstractOne important aspect of the regional autonomy of Dai nationality is the autonomy in using the written language. For over half a century, this autonomy has seen some success but also some setbacks. It went through two main periods: the first was from 1953 when a local representative meeting in Xishuangbanna Autonomous Region decided to create the new Dai written language from the traditional written language, promoting the new script in education and newspapers. The second period spans from 1986 until today. In 1986, the people's congress of the prefecture adopted the Decision of Using the Traditional Dai Written Language. Since then, all circles, including education, media, etc, were devoted to popularising the traditional Dai written language, but the effort seems unsuccessful. On the basis of fieldwork and documentary review, this article makes a preliminary investigation into the legal system with regard to the autonomy of using the written language in Xishuangbanna.
Negotiable Rights? China's Ethnic Minorities and the Right to Freedom of Religion
Authors: Wellens Koen 
Published: October 2009

AbstractIn order to get a fuller picture of the conditions for religious freedom for ethnic minorities in China, we must both look beyond laws and central policies as well as beyond the more publicised cases of religious suppression in Tibet and Xinjiang, both hot-spots of party-state concerns of ethnic separatism. The province of Yunnan – where one-third of the population are members of one of 26 different recognised ethnic minorities – presents a more nuanced picture of the conditions for practicing religion in the People's Republic of China. This article argues that in the case of China we need to expand the concept of implementation by taking into account the public discourse that accompanies the laws and policies on both religion and ethnic minorities. Local officials and intellectuals belonging to ethnic minorities in Yunnan have been successful in exploiting public discourse on 'religious freedom' and 'cultural rights of ethnic minorities' in order to revive or reinvent traditional religious practice.
Nationality Townships – An Endangered Species?
Authors: Leijonhufvud Göran 
Published: October 2009

AbstractThe nationality township is a particular form developed by China for extending preferential treatment to minority nationalities that live in complex geographical patterns. These townships, also known as ethnic townships, are a complement to the regional autonomous system. However, our research indicates that the Communist Party and other units in charge have failed to explain even the most basic characteristics of a nationality township to its citizens. Nationality townships have not improved the status or the self-consciousness of the relevant minority nationalities in Yunnan Province, or their effective participation in the economy. If there is a future at all for nationality townships, they need to be protected by stronger regulations.
The Law and Politics of International Cultural Rights: E. Stamatopoulou, Cultural Rights in International Law; F. Francioni and M. Scheinin (eds.), Cultural Human Rights
Authors: Macklem Patrick 
Published: October 2009

AbstractTwo recent books place international law at the centre of inquiries into the nature of cultural rights. The first, Cultural Rights in International Law: Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Beyond, by Elsa Stamatopoulou, explores "the concept of cultural rights by reviewing international and national legal instruments, international practice, and especially the role of UN bodies and entities in the implementation of these rights". The second, Cultural Human Rights, is a collection of essays edited by Francesco Francioni and Martin Scheinin. Wide-ranging in scope, Cultural Human Rights includes contributions that explore the relationship between cultural rights and the state, the relationship between cultural rights and other human rights, the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples, normative justifications of human rights in general and minority rights in particular, the law and politics of cultural identity and collective memory, and various forms of cultural protection in a variety of regional and international institutional contexts. Both demonstrate that understanding cultural rights in international law requires a multi-faceted approach, one that pays close attention to the historical, textual and institutional dimensions of cultural rights. They reveal, too, that international legal commitments to sovereignty and human rights are more relevant to moral and political accounts of the significance of cultural rights than they might otherwise appear.