bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Overproduction of the follistatin‐related gene protein in the placenta and maternal serum of women with pre‐eclampsia
Authors: Pryor‐Koishi K , Nishizawa H , Kato T , Kogo H , Murakami T , Tsuchida K , Kurahashi H , Udagawa Y 
Published: July 2007

Objective  To characterise the follistatin‐related gene (FLRG) in pre‐eclampsia, one of the differentially expressed genes in pre‐eclamptic placenta.Design and methods  We examined and compared the messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein levels of FLRG in placentas and maternal sera from women with uncomplicated pregnancy, and those with pre‐eclampsia using real‐time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, Western blot, immunohistochemistry, and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay.Setting  Antenatal clinics in a teaching hospital.Population  Women with uncomplicated pregnancy (n = 21) and those with pre‐eclampsia (n = 21).Results  FLRG mRNA is overexpressed in pre‐eclamptic placental tissues (P < 0.01). Upregulated FLRG protein consists of both an immature 28‐kDa cellular product and a mature 33‐kDa secretory form, which are differentially glycosylated. FLRG is normally produced at its highest levels in endothelial cells and at moderate amounts in syncytiotrophoblast cells, but in pre‐eclampsia, the syncytiotrophoblast FLRG levels are dramatically increased. We also determined the maternal serum concentrations of FLRG in our uncomplicated pregnancy subjects and in our pre‐eclamptic groups, and found that they are significantly elevated in pre‐eclampsia in a similar manner to activin A and inhibin A. However, the increase in FLRG in these cases is independent of activin A or inhibin A, and is associated with low‐birthweight outcomes.Conclusion  Our current data show the placental and secretory changes of FLRG protein in pre‐eclampsia, and also indicate the potential usefulness of FLRG as an additional diagnostic marker for pre‐eclampsia.
Identifying intimate partner violence: comparing the Chinese abuse assessment screen with the Chinese revised conflict tactics scales
Authors: Tiwari A , Fong DYT , Chan KL , Leung WC , Parker B , Ho PC 
Published: July 2007

Objective  To assess the measurement accuracy and the utility of the Chinese Abuse Assessment Screen (AAS).Design  A cross‐sectional study.Setting  An antenatal clinic of a public hospital and a community centre in Hong Kong.Sample  A total of 257 Chinese women consisting of 100 pregnant women and 157 nonpregnant women.Method  The Chinese AAS was administered first, followed by the Chinese Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2). This was performed in the same sitting, and each participant was interviewed once either at an antenatal clinic (for the pregnant women sample) or at a community centre (for the nonpregnant women sample).Main outcome measures  Estimates of the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values and positive and negative likelihood ratios.Results  Using the Chinese CTS2 as the standard, the specificity estimates of the Chinese AAS for emotional, physical and sexual abuse were ≥89%, while the sensitivity estimates varied from 36.3 to 65.8%. The sensitivity improved in the screening for more severe cases (66.7%). The positive predictive values were ≥80%, and the negative predictive values varied from 66 to 93%. Factors such as the age difference between the couple and the woman’s need for financial assistance were found to be associated with intimate partner violence (IPV).Conclusion  The Chinese AAS has demonstrated satisfactory measurement accuracy and utility for identifying IPV when the Chinese CTS2 was used as the standard.
Why Political Systems Change
Authors: Apter David 
Published: July 2007

I INTEND TO FOLLOW AN ABSTRACT LINE IN ANSWERING THE question why political systems change. That is, I am not concerned with the infinity of descriptive reasons why change occurs in any concrete case. It may be argued that now is not the time to bother with such a trivial approach, particularly when the language of crisis is what must be used, and also understood, and not the language of abstraction.I think the answer to this is that for too long the evaluation of politics, and of government in particular, has become a ‘pseudoactivity’ in which descriptive categories like ‘parliamentary control over the executive’, or ‘reform of the committee system’ are comforting shibboleths which, although meant to contain some inner profundity have lost much of their original meaning. The truth is that the balance between normative givens and structural conditions is becoming so altered that the common-sense foundations of the discipline seem almost irrelevant.
Merchant Guilds (Consulados de Comercio) in the Spanish World
Authors: Woodward Ralph Lee 
Published: July 2007

AbstractRecent emphasis on the social and cultural history of colonial Latin America has lessened the former growth of economic and institutional history in the region. Yet there is still need for further research on economic elites and their institutions. Merchant guilds were an important element in the economic and judicial development of the Spanish world from the thirteenth to the nineteenth century. Beginning in Catalonia, they later appeared in Castile, and later yet in Spain's overseas dominions, providing import‐export merchants with a tribunal for commercial litigation and an institution for the protection and promotion of their commerce. Revitalization of the institution in the eighteenth century extended commercial monopolies to more merchant communities, but also established stronger state control over them. The institution declined and largely disappeared during the nineteenth century. Principal studies of the various consulados in Spain and the Indies are referenced in the endnotes.
SEQUENCE ANALYSIS AND TRANSCRIPTIONAL REGULATION OF IRON ACQUISITION GENES IN TWO MARINE DIATOMS1
Authors: Kustka Adam B. , Allen Andrew E. , Morel François M. M. 
Published: July 2007

The centric diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana Hasle et Heimdal and the pennate diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum Bohlin possess genes with translated sequences homologous to high‐affinity ferric reductases present in model organisms. Thalassiosira pseudonana also possesses putative genes for membrane‐bound ferroxidase (TpFET3) and two highly similar iron (Fe) permeases (TpFTR1 and TpFTR2), as well as a divalent metal (M2+) transporter belonging to the NRAMP superfamily (TpNRAMP). In baker’s yeast, the ferroxidase–permease complex transports Fe(II) produced by reductases. We investigated transcript abundances of these genes as a function of Fe quota (QFe). Ferric reductase transcripts are abundant in both species (15%–60% of actin) under low QFe and are down‐regulated by 5‐ to 35‐fold at high QFe, suggesting Fe(III) reduction is a common, inducible strategy for Fe acquisition in marine diatoms. Permease transcript abundance was regulated by Fe status in T. pseudonana, but we did not detect significant differences in expression of the copper (Cu)‐containing ferroxidase. TpNRAMP showed the most dramatic regulation by QFe, suggesting a role in cellular Fe transport in either cell‐surface uptake or vacuolar mobilization. We could not identify ferroxidase or permease homologues in the P. tricornutum genome. The up‐regulation of genes in T. pseudonana that appear to be missing altogether from P. tricornutum as well as the finding that P. tricornutum seems to have an efficient system to acquire Fe′, suggest that diverse (and uncharacterized) Fe‐uptake systems may be at play within diatom assemblages. Different uptake systems among diatoms may provide a mechanistic basis for niche differentiation with respect to Fe availability in the ocean.
SYNCHRONIZED GROWTH OF THALASSIOSIRA PSEUDONANA (BACILLARIOPHYCEAE) PROVIDES NOVEL INSIGHTS INTO CELL‐WALL SYNTHESIS PROCESSES IN RELATION TO THE CELL CYCLE1
Authors: Hildebrand Mark , Frigeri Luciano G. , Davis Aubrey K. 
Published: July 2007

Cell‐cycle effects in phytoplankton have both general and specific influences over a variety of cellular processes. Understanding these effects requires that the majority of cells in a culture are progressing through the same cell‐cycle stage, which requires synchronous growth. We report the development of a silicon starvation–recovery synchrony for the first diatom with a sequenced genome, Thalassiosira pseudonana Hasle et Heimdale, which provides several novel insights into the process of cell‐wall formation. After 24 h of silicate starvation, flow cytometry measurements indicated that 80% of the cells were arrested in the early G1 phase of the cell cycle and then upon silicate replenishment progressed synchronously through the cycle. An early G1‐arrest point was not previously documented in diatoms. After silicate replenishment, girdle‐band synthesis was confined to a particular period in G1, and cells did not lengthen in accordance with each girdle band added, which has implications related to cell growth and separation processes in diatoms. Measurements of silicic acid uptake, intracellular pools, and silica incorporation into the cell wall, coupled with fluorescence visualization of newly synthesized cell‐wall structures, provide the first direct measurements of silica amounts in individual girdle bands and valves in a diatom. Fluorescence imaging indicated why valves in T. pseudonana do not have to reduce in size with each generation and enabled visualization of intermediates in structure formation. The development of a synchrony procedure for T. pseudonana enables correlation of cellular events with the cell cycle, which should facilitate the use of genomic information.
Weighing the Costs and Benefits of Mexican Immigration: The Mexican‐American Perspective*
Authors: Jiménez Tomás R. 
Published: July 2007

Objective.Survey research posits that Mexican Americans' perceptions of the costs and benefits of immigration drive their opinions about immigration, but this research does not provide a clear picture of how Mexican Americans calculate these costs and benefits. This article aims to understand the processes that explain how Mexican Americans calculate the costs and benefits of Mexican immigration.Methods.The article employs 123 in‐depth interviews and observation with later‐generation Mexican Americans in Garden City, Kansas, and Santa Maria, California.Result.Respondents are ambivalent about how Mexican immigrants affect their lives, and their ambivalence is driven by prevailing ideologies in American society regarding immigration, race, and ethnicity. On the one hand, ardent anti‐Mexican nativism leads Mexican Americans to see substantial costs accruing to Mexican immigration. Mexican Americans fear that anti‐Mexican nativism leads to status degradation for all people of Mexican descent. On the other hand, an ideology of multiculturalism and its accompanying value of diversity lead Mexican Americans to see substantial benefits accruing to the large Mexican‐immigrant population, particularly in politics, the labor market, and popular culture.Conclusions.Mexican Americans' perceptions of the costs and benefits of Mexican immigration are based not only on economic considerations, but on social and cultural considerations structured by prevailing and often paradoxical ideologies. Respondents' structural position increases concerns about status degradation resulting from immigration, but also shapes how they are positioned to benefit from the boost in prominence that immigration provides to the entire Mexican‐origin population.
The Precautionary Principle in Context: U.S. and E.U. Scientists' Prescriptions for Policy in the Face of Uncertainty*
Authors: Silva Carol L. , Jenkins‐Smith Hank C. 
Published: July 2007

Objective. Our objective is to explain how scientists interpret less‐than‐certain scientific findings to inform policymakers' choices on controversial science policy issues. We focus on two particularly difficult policy cases concerning global climate change and low‐dose radiation protection.Methods. Our method is to analyze data from a unique multination survey of scientists to analyze the ways their views about what is scientifically correct are translated into judgments about appropriate policy. The surveys asked scientists, randomly drawn from U.S. and E.U. subscribers to the journal Science, to indicate the “most likely” relationships between greenhouse gas emissions and average global temperatures and between radiation dose and incidence of cancer in humans. Follow‐up questions asked for their judgments about appropriate policy targets for reductions in greenhouse gas emission and safety standards for radiation exposure. The data permit analysis of the relationships between scientific certainty and policy judgments in these two cases.Results. Our results shed light on when and how scientists reach precautionary policy conclusions, demonstrating that scientists' application of precaution is dependent on context. In the case of radiation protection, greater certainty is associated with less precaution. But with respect climate change, we found the opposite relationship.Conclusions. We conclude with a discussion of the implications for the role of scientists, and scientific advice, in the policy process.
Interscholastic Athletics and Investment in Human Capital*
Authors: Leeds Michael A. , Miller Cristen , Stull Judith 
Published: July 2007

Objectives. Several studies, such as Hoberman (1997) and Leeds (2003), have claimed that success in the athletic arena has distorted the human capital decisions of young black men. We test this hypothesis by determining how participation in interscholastic athletics affects the study habits of black and white youths.Methods. We build a theoretical model that allows youths to invest in athletic or academic human capital. We test this model using data from the National Educational Longitudinal Survey and accounting for possible self‐selection bias.Results. We find that athletic participation does not have a statistically significant impact on the amount of time young black men and women spend studying. The impact for young white men and women is positive and significant, though the impact of playing football and basketball does have a negative impact for young white men.Conclusions. Participating in interscholastic athletics does not have the pervasive negative impact on young black men that Hoberman (1997) and Leeds (2003) claim. The expected negative impact of basketball and football—the so‐called money sports—exists for young white men, though this is offset by the positive impact of participation in athletics per se.
Marital Assimilation Among Hispanics: Evidence of Declining Cultural and Economic Incorporation?*
Authors: Lichter Daniel T. , Brown J. Brian , Qian Zhenchao , Carmalt Julie H. 
Published: July 2007

Objective. We document intermarriage patterns between Hispanics and non‐Hispanic whites over the 1990 to 2000 period in 155 U.S. metropolitan areas and evaluate the effects of spatial, cultural, and economic assimilation on interdecade changes in intermarriage. We hypothesize that changes in Hispanic‐white intermarriage during the 1990s reflect changing spatial, cultural, and economic assimilation among U.S. Hispanics.Methods. We use data from the 1990 and 2000 Census Public Use Microdata Samples.Results. Analyses show that intermarriage between Hispanics and non‐Hispanic whites declined during the 1990s, a result fueled in part by burgeoning immigration of Hispanics, especially Mexicans. The 1990s also ushered in a period of increasing Hispanic segregation from non‐Hispanic whites, growing language barriers, and accelerated educational inequality, which also dampened Hispanic‐white intermarriage rates.Conclusions. Our results imply that the Hispanic population is at a transition point, if intermarriage rates are an indication, and possibly a new period of retrenchment in the assimilation process.
Population Size, Local Autonomy, and Support for the Political System*
Authors: Matsubayashi Tetsuya 
Published: July 2007

Objectives. Does size of democracy shape citizens' support for the democratic regime? Previous literature demonstrates that a variety of political contexts are associated with the level of system support among citizens, yet none has tested the effect of a fundamental contextual feature of contemporary societies—size of democracy—on system support from a cross‐national perspective.Methods. Survey data for nations of different sizes in Europe, North America, and Oceania are analyzed using a hierarchical generalized linear model.Results. Empirical analysis shows that less populous states and highly decentralized states demonstrate higher system support among citizens, and it offers some evidence that the negative effect of population size is moderated by the level of decentralization.Conclusions. My findings are consistent with the common expectation that smaller size of nation and governments “closer to the people” are preferred. Further, they have substantive implications for contemporary democratic governance.
Partisan Cross‐Pressure and Voter Turnout: The Influence of Micro and Macro Environments*
Authors: Bélanger Paul , Eagles Munroe 
Published: July 2007

Objectives. This article explores the impact of the partisan homogeneity/heterogeneity of a variety of group environments on patterns of voter turnout for recent presidential elections in Erie County, New York.Methods. Using multilevel methods (HLM) with data drawn from voter registration files and Census sources, we simultaneously estimate the independent and joint effects on turnout of a variety of the nested contexts inhabited by individuals.Results. Our analysis uncovers strong evidence that politically homogeneous households reinforce participatory behaviors, but that this effect is also conditioned by the partisan complexion of their district environment.Conclusions. We also demonstrate that contextual influences from both households and neighborhoods are stronger for members of the partisan minority.
Detection of compact radio emission from Circinus X-1 with the first Southern hemisphere e-VLBI experiment
Authors: Phillips C. J. , Deller A. , Amy S. W. , Tingay S. J. , Tzioumis A. K. , Reynolds J. E. , Jauncey D. L. , Stevens J. , Ellingsen S. P. , Dickey J. , Fender R. P. , Tudose V. , Nicolson G. D. 
Published: July 2007

Abstract
Circinus X-1 has recently returned to a state of strong radio flaring. Here we report on the first VLBI observations, and detection, undertaken in the 25 years since the 1975–1985 period of strong recurrent flaring activity. We detected Circinus X-1 with the first observations conducted by a recently developed Southern hemisphere e-VLBI array, at both 1.6 and 8.4 GHz, over a three-day period. At 1.6 GHz, the compact source has a total flux density of 11 mJy and a size of 60 ± 15 mas (Gaussian model full width at half maximum). At 8.4 GHz, the compact source is less than 60 mas. The size variation with frequency is consistent with a broadened image due to scattering in the turbulent, ionized interstellar medium of our Galaxy. However, these size measurements appear inconsistent with the λ2.2 variation expected for strong interstellar scattering and previous VLBI observations made at 2.3 GHz in the early 1980s. To explain this apparent inconsistency, we suggest that Circinus X-1 supports a weak, non-varying component of 35 mas extent (175 au at 5 kpc distance), corresponding to compact structure in the extended radio nebula. No significant variation in the flux density at 1.6 GHz is evident between two observations 24 h apart. No jet-like structures are evident on scales of tens of mas, simply a scatter broadened source, presumably coincident with the suggested neutron star in the binary system.
Quasar H ii regions during cosmic reionization
Authors: Alvarez Marcelo A. , Abel Tom 
Published: July 2007

Abstract
Cosmic reionization progresses as H ii regions form around sources of ionizing radiation. Their average size grows continuously until they percolate and complete reionization. We demonstrate how this typical growth can be calculated around the largest, biased sources of UV emission, such as quasars, by further developing an analytical model based on the excursion set formalism. This approach allows us to calculate the sizes and growth of the H ii regions created by the progenitors of any dark matter halo of given mass and redshift with a minimum of free parameters. Statistical variations in the size of these pre-existing H ii regions are an additional source of uncertainty in the determination of very high redshift quasar properties from their observed H ii region sizes. We use this model to demonstrate that the transmission gaps seen in very high redshift quasars can be understood from the radiation of only their progenitors and associated clustered small galaxies. The fit sets a lower limit [Correction added after online publication 16 July 2007: the term ‘sets an upper limit’ has been corrected to ‘sets a lower limit’] on the redshift of overlap at z = 5.8 ± 0.1. This interpretation makes the transmission gaps independent of the age of the quasars observed. If this interpretation were correct it would raise the prospects of using radio interferometers currently under construction to detect the epoch of reionization.
Trajectories in the Development of Islamic Theological Thought: the Synthesis ofKalām
Authors: Shah Mustafa 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThe field of Islamic theology (kalām) is not merely a receptacle for the presentation of the creedal statements and doctrinal catechisms of Islam; it derives itsraison d’êtrenot only from the articulation and elucidation of the doctrines of faith, but also by means of its rational and painstaking explication of dogma. While many of the dogmatic statements expressed in Islamic theology naturally emanate from a traditional substratum, countless more are the result of dialectical discussions as theologians expounded upon abstract constructs of religious dogma. Recent academic research is exploring the history, trends and conceptual achievements behind the Islamic experiment with theology, providing insights into the tradition's ability to integrate, refine and expand theological constructs. Scholars are also concerned with issues such as origins, authenticity and ascription, although such matters are not deflecting attention from the rich stock of resources and materialskalāmhas to offer.
The Impact of Complement Activation on Tumor Oxygenation During Photodynamic Therapy†
Authors: Cecic Ivana , Minchinton Andrew I. , Korbelik Mladen 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThe response to photodynamic therapy (PDT) mediated by photosensitizer Photofrin was examined with Lewis lung carcinomas growing in either complement‐proficient C57BL/6 (B6) or complement‐deficient complement C3 knockout (C3KO) mice. The results reveal that Photofrin‐PDT was more effective in attaining cures of tumors in C3KO than in B6 hosts. Colony‐forming ability of cells from tumors excised immediately after Photofrin‐PDT confirmed that the direct cell killing effect was more pronounced in C3KO than in B6 hosts. In contrast, PDT mediated by photosensitizer benzoporphyrin derivative (BPD) produced higher cure rates of tumors in B6 hosts than those in C3KO hosts. Determination of tumor C3 levels by ELISA showed that Photofrin‐PDT induced markedly more pronounced complement activation than BPD‐PDT. Measurements of tumor oxygen tension immediately after PDT by Eppendorf pO2 histograph showed that Photofrin‐PDT induced a marked decline in the oxygenation of tumors growing in B6 mice that was much less pronounced in C3KO hosts. With BPD‐PDT the oxygen tensions in tumors in B6 and C3KO hosts decreased to a similar extent. This study indicates that complement activation in PDT‐treated tumors that varies with different photosensitizers is an important determinant of tumor oxygen limitation effects directly associated with photodynamic action.