bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
PPAR‐γ expression modulates insulin sensitivity in C2C12 skeletal muscle cells
Authors: Verma Navin K , Singh Jaskirat , Dey Chinmoy S 
Published: December 2004

Peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor‐γ (PPAR‐γ) expression is very low in skeletal muscle cells, which is one of the most important target tissues for insulin and plays a predominant role in glucose homeostasis. It has recently been shown that muscle‐specific PPAR‐γ deletion in mouse causes insulin resistance. However, it is likely that the observed effects might be due to secondary interaction in whole animal.
The aim of the study was to explore the role of muscle PPAR‐γ in insulin sensitivity. We stably transfected C2C12 skeletal muscle cells with plasmids containing sense or antisense constructs of PPAR‐γ and examined the effect of modulation of PPAR‐γ expression in terms of glucose uptake. Effect was also examined in insulin‐resistant C2C12 skeletal muscle cells.
In transfected C2C12 cell line, the inhibition of PPAR‐γ expression (23.0±0.005%) was observed to induce insulin resistance as determined by functional assessment of 2‐deoxyglucose incorporation.
Overexpression of PPAR‐γ (28.5±0.008%) produced an additional effect on insulin (100 nM) and Pioglitazone (50 μM), resulting in 42.7±3.5% increase in glucose uptake as against 29.2±2.8% in wild‐type C2C12 skeletal muscle cells differentiated under normal (2% horse serum) condition. Under similar treatment, PPAR‐γ overexpressing cells resistant to insulin exhibited enhanced glucose uptake upto 60.7±4.08%, as compared to 23.8±5.1% observed in wild‐type C2C12 skeletal muscle cells.
These data demonstrate a direct involvement of PPAR‐γ in insulin sensitization of TZD action on skeletal muscle cells, and suggest that pharmacological overexpression of muscle PPAR‐γ gene in skeletal muscle might be a useful strategy for the treatment of insulin resistance.

British Journal of Pharmacology (2004) 143, 1006–1013. doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0706002
Local rigidity of actions of higher rank abelian groups and KAM method
Authors: Damjanović Danijela , Katok Anatole 
Published: December 2004

We develop a new method for proving local differentiable rigidity for actions of higher rank abelian groups. Unlike earlier methods it does not require previous knowledge of structural stability and instead uses a version of the KAM (Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser) iterative scheme. As an application we show

C

∞

\mathcal {C}^\infty

local rigidity for

Z

k

(
k
≥
2
)

\mathbb {Z}^k\ (k\ge 2)

partially hyperbolic actions by toral automorphisms. We also prove the existence of irreducible genuinely partially hyperbolic higher rank actions by automorphisms on any torus

T

N

\mathbb {T}^N

for any even

N
≥
6

N\ge 6

.
Sentimental Poses in the
Souvenirs
of Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun
Authors: Percival Melissa 
Published: December 2004

Abstract

In this article, parallels are found between the painting and writing of Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, notably in her cultivation of expression and reverie. In the artist's memoirs, the
Souvenirs
, a number of
tableaux
can be found which feature a lone female figure in a pose of emotion or reflection. These
tableaux
contain dense neworks of artistic, literary, dramatic and musical allusion. Two such examples are discussed: the first takes place in a church in Bologna, in which Vigée Le Brun's joyous contemplation of an altarpiece by Domenichino gives way to feelings of loss and exile; the second occurs during a boat ride on Lake Geneva, when the artist's experience of the Swiss landscape is intensified through her evocation of Rousseau. These moments of abandonment are not just indulgent lapses; instead they are a vital part of the creative process. In some ways the motif of the sentimental female functions as a poetic mask for real‐life tribulation. But equally, Vigée Le Brun uses it to elevate her art, consciously rivalling with male artists and writers.
Skeletons in the Closet: Homosocial Secrets in Balzac's
La Comédie Humaine
Authors: Knight Diana 
Published: December 2004

Abstract

This article explores the potential for a reading of Balzac of the interrelated critical concepts of the ‘open secret’ (D. A. Miller, 1985) and the ‘epistemology of the closet’ (Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, 1990). They are used to establish a connection between the content of Balzac's realist representations of homosociality, homosexuality and homophobia in
La Comédie humaine
and the epistemological status of the secrets that circulate within this vast fictional cycle and typically structure its narratives. I argue that Balzac plays ironically with the heterosexual conventions of stage farce (notably the adulterous lover in the closet) to expose, in
La Cousine Bette
, the homosocial underpinning of what is literally a social charade. The position within these structures of the key figure of Rastignac is then traced through three novels:
La Maison Nucingen, Le Père Goriot and Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes
.
‘A Blatant Interrogative’ in Marcel Proust's
A La Recherche du Temps Perdu
Authors: Surprenant Céline 
Published: December 2004

Abstract

This article considers interrogative constructions in
A la recherche du temps perdu
, which it links first with the inquisitiveness that jealousy imparts to its sufferers, and more generally, with the problem of the ‘other’ in Proust. It first establishes a distinction between direct and indirect interrogatives according to the type of answers they elicit. Indirect interrogatives go together with other linguistic deviations that the novel compiles, and are signposted by the narrator's comments. The article then examines one example of direct interrogative — ‘Quoi?’ — which, in being paired recurrently with the phrase ‘autre chose’, leads on to the problem of ‘otherness’ in Proust. One of the concerns of the article is whether anything in the Proustian text allows us unambiguously to identify ‘otherness’.
Loss, Re‐figuration and Death in
Raoul de Cambrai
Authors: Sinclair Finn E. 
Published: December 2004

Abstract

Raoul de Cambrai
, like many other
chansons de geste
, portrays a scene of feudal crisis, where the vision of a harmonious homosocial ideal is revealed as flawed and dysfunctional. Yet in
Raoul
the lack inherent in this utopic vision points to something that lies beyond, to the failure of the paternal function itself, as the social construction of the world along patriarchal lines is shown to be innately flawed and the father‐figures of the narrative are found wanting. In place of an inviolable masculine authority founded on the word as law, as imposition — the
nom‐du‐père
— we find a world where this masculine investment in the paternal metaphor is troubled and disrupted. The ambivalence that
Raoul de Cambrai
manifests towards the place of the father is revealed through the text's innate lack of paternal authority and its falling away into violence and death. In contrast to the life of genealogical progression, the repetition and continuation provoked by the father, in particular the dead father, only produce further death. The tension created by this paternal lack can be mapped on to many other epics, which manifest similar patterns of dissatisfaction and attempted recuperation.
‘La force du tact’: Representing the Taboo Body in Jacques Duval's
Traité des hermaphrodits
(1612)
Authors: Harris Joseph 
Published: December 2004

Abstract
The representation of sexual material in any period is potentially a contentious issue and this article discusses how sexual taboos can influence representation even in medical writings. Written at a liminal period before the advent of both ‘modern’ scientific attitudes and the fabled prudery of the ‘Grand Siècle’, Duval's treatise reveals a stance towards language and representation that is both playful and problematic. In a legal trial, Duval saved a young woman named Marie le Marcis who had been sentenced to death for ‘sodomy’ with another woman. By manually stimulating her, Duval was able to prove that she actually possessed an internal penis, and could thus not be accused of ‘unnatural’ acts. Although Duval feels compelled to justify both this action and his general interest in sexual matter against anticipated reproaches of indecency, he also acknowledges the reader's libidinal interest in reading about sex. By comparing the treatise with legal, pornographic and theoretical attitudes towards representing sexual matter, I explore how Duval's text is caught between portraying his own text as ‘transparent’ and acknowledging that, if such a language is possible, then ethical strictures and taboos placed on the empirical body must also condition the representation of this body within discourse.
To Lise Deharme's Lighthouse:
Le Phare de Neuilly
, A Forgotten Surrealist Review
Authors: Barnet Marie‐Claire 
Published: December 2004

Abstract

Lise Deharme (1898–1980) has almost been forgotten, except for being a Surrealist muse and impossible mad love of André Breton. While she may also be remembered (or derided) for her literary salon in the 1950s, her prolific and diverse literary production has been neglected. This article focuses on one particular aspect of her work and investigates the fate of Deharme's forgotten Surrealist review, the ephemeral
Phare de Neuilly
of 1933. Firstly, this analysis introduces the participants and contributions to the review and retraces the links with the earlier, dissident Surrealist reviews,
Documents
(1929–30) and
Bifur
(1929–31). The second section discusses aesthetics and politics, underlining how the technique of collage is applied to mix and (mis)match varied pictures with a wide range of articles. What is highlighted is the subversive and courageous way this ‘phare’ blends ethical and aesthetic issues to address the socio‐political troubles of the early 1930s, in particular the threat of Fascism. Bearing in mind the ambivalence and selective nature of memory and anthologies, the conclusion examines attacks on
Le Phare de Neuilly
to reassess the reputation and the relevance of this original review and its editor.
Nouveau réalisme et politique de l'anti‐spectacle:
Y aura‐t‐il de la neige à Noël?
de Sandrine Veysset
Authors: Beugnet Martine 
Published: December 2004

Abstract

Y aura‐t‐il de la neige à Noël?
est l'un des exemples les plus remarqués du nouveau réalisme qui s'impose dans le cinéma français des années 1990. L'article retrace à grands traits le contexte d'émergence et les caractéristiques de cette tendance avant de se concentrer sur un film qui suscite des interrogations propres à ce type de cinéma. A travers l'analyse de
Y aura‐t‐il de la neige à Noël?
, l'article explore les implications d'une approche qui ne se conforme ni aux conventions naturalistes qui présenteraient la réalité pro‐filmique comme une donnée, ni aux conventions du mélodrame qui privilégieraient l'affect. L'article souligne comment les choix thématiques et stylistiques mettent en relief à la fois la fonction du hors‐champ et l'importance du contexte économique et social. L'article suggère que, dans la maniè re dont il situe et définit le contenu émotionnel et les rapports de pouvoir (notamment les rapports d'âge et de sexe) qu'il met en scène, le film se démarque de certaines des stratégies de représentation traditionnelles les mieux établies du cinéma, et notamment du cinéma français.
Separating the Saints from the Boys: Sainthood and Masculinity in the Old French
Vie de Saint Alexis
Authors: Campbell Emma 
Published: December 2004

Abstract

This article considers how the analysis of medieval French saints' lives might contribute to current discussions concerning the study of gender and identity in literary texts. Basing her discussion on the
Vie de Saint Alexis
, Campbell uses anthropological theories of the gift and its relationship to gender to explore how the masculinity of the Saint is construed in relation to networks of gift exchange, arguing that the parallel terrestrial and celestial economies represented in the poem provide alternative contexts within which this identity is to be read. The article considers, firstly, the evolution of the masculine identity associated with the Saint and the relationship that this gender category bears to the secular and spiritual gender systems represented in the poem. This examination of the Saint's masculinity focuses on how conflicts between worldly and spiritual exchange are used to negotiate a new masculine type that ultimately supersedes secular gender categories. Secondly, this construction of masculinity and its importance as a narrative device are explored in terms of the formulation of response to the Saint. To conclude, the article suggests how viewing gender identity in this way — as part of systems of exchange as opposed to a category independent of these networks — might modify the way gender is discussed in connection with medieval (and non‐medieval) literature.
Writing to Paris: Poets, Nobles and Savages in Nineteenth‐Century Brittany
Authors: Williams Heather 
Published: December 2004

Abstract

In this article, representations of Brittany in nineteenth‐century French‐language literature are studied in order to investigate the way in which cultural cross‐currents can be observed in the detail of the text. A lexical approach shows how writers have re‐worked motifs and clichés about Brittany (particular attention is paid to the lexical field of ‘sauvage’), and to how writers' precise choice of words can reveal the complexity of the relationship between the regional writer and the literary life of the capital. Auguste Brizeux's collection of poetry
Marie
(1831) is identified as marking the emergence of a tradition of Breton writing of French expression. However, the success of this work is attributed to the way in which it is ‘written to Paris’; that is, written with close regard for the fashions and tastes of the capital.
Apollinaire, Salome and the Dance of Death
Authors: Bohn Willard 
Published: December 2004

Abstract

In 1905, Guillaume Apollinaire published a poem in
Vers et Prose
entitled ‘Salomé’, which was later included in
Alcools
. Celebrated by the Symbolists and the Decadents, Salome had become an extremely popular character by this date, and most of the aesthetic options had already been explored. Instead of writing a pastiche, Apollinaire decided to compose a revolutionary new poem, one that would make the literary world sit up and take notice. Inspired perhaps by a medieval painting, he situated the drama in the French royal court during the Middle Ages. In addition, he decided that it would take place on Midsummer Night, a time long associated with madness and the eve of John the Baptist's feast day. Thirdly, he painted a sympathetic picture of Salome who, having loved John, was driven mad by his death (at her own hand). Finally, by employing a dramatic monologue, he created an intimate psychological portrait of Salome. The apparently nonsensical ending, in which the royal party dances around John's grave, is shown to be indebted to two folkloric sources: children's rhymes and Midsummer fires.
How a specialist and a non‐specialist insect cope with dimethyl disulfide produced by Allium porrum
Authors: Dugravot Sébastien , Thibout Eric , Abo‐Ghalia Ahmed , Huignard Jacques 
Published: December 2004

AbstractDamaged Allium plants produce and release sulfur allelochemicals, presumably to prevent insect herbivory. Defensive sulfur compounds, particularly dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), are highly toxic for non‐adapted species. The toxicity of DMDS in these insects is due to disruption of the cytochrome oxidase system of their mitochondria. The purpose of this study was to compare susceptibility to DMDS in a specialist and a non‐specialist insect of Allium plants, i.e., Acrolepiopsis assectella Zeller (Lepidoptera: Acrolepiidae) and Callosobruchus maculatus Fabricius (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) a specialist insect of Leguminosae. Results showed that A. assectella larvae are less susceptible to DMDS than C. maculatus adults. This bruchid becomes more tolerant after a first exposure to 0.2 µl l−1 of DMDS, with second‐exposure toxicity depending on the time lapse between exposures. Higher second‐exposure tolerance could be due to selection and detoxification. To answer this question, the activity of glutathione S‐transferase (GST), a key enzyme in the detoxification system, was analyzed after DMDS exposure of C. maculatus adults and larvae and of A. assectella larvae. Exposure to DMDS increased GST activity in C. maculatus adults and larvae. This finding implies that induced GST is involved in C. maculatus tolerance to DMDS. Exposure to DMDS had no effect on GST activity in A. assectella. Adaptations underlying A. assectella tolerance to sulfur compounds are discussed.
Behavioral and reproductive effects of ultrasound on the Indian meal moth, Plodia interpunctella
Authors: Huang Fangneng , Subramanyam Bhadriraju 
Published: December 2004

AbstractThe daily activity patterns of adult movement, female calling, and mating of the Indian meal moth, Plodia interpunctella (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), were examined both in the absence and presence of ultrasound. Moths were exposed to ultrasound from a commercial ultrasonic device (Cix 0600) that produces constant sound patterns, and from a device developed at Kansas State University (KSU device) that produces random sound patterns. Daily activity patterns of adult movement, female calling, and mating followed a similar trend in the absence or presence of ultrasound. Female calling and mating, both in the absence and presence of ultrasound, primarily occurred during scotophase (21.00–07.00 hours). Ultrasound from the two devices significantly reduced the frequency of female calling and mating relative to unexposed moths. Consequently, the number of spermatophores transferred by males to females and egg production were lower in females exposed to ultrasound compared with unexposed females. In the absence of ultrasound, female P. interpunctella mated 2.9 times, resulting in 2.8 spermatophores/female. In the presence of ultrasound from the Cix 0600 device, a female mated 2.1 times and had 1.7 spermatophores. Corresponding values for the KSU device were 1.9 and 1.4, respectively. In the absence of ultrasound, 78% of the matings lasted 30–90 min, whereas in the presence of ultrasound 45–58% of the matings lasted either less than 30 min or more than 90 min. Moths exposed to ultrasound laid 96–130 eggs female−1 compared with 229 eggs female−1 for unexposed moths. Ultrasound did not affect the pre‐oviposition period and adult longevity of P. interpunctella.
Mealybug, Phenococcus solani, and barley aphid, Sipha maydis, response to endophyte‐infected tall and meadow fescues
Authors: Sabzalian Mohammad Reza , Hatami Bijan , Mirlohi Aghafakhr 
Published: December 2004

AbstractMealybugs and aphids are insects which damage grass species. The effects of fungal endophytes on the feeding of the mealybug, Phenococcus solani Ferris (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae), and barley aphid, Sipha maydis Passerini (Homoptera: Aphididae), on tall fescue, Festuca arundinacea Schreb. and meadow fescue, Festuca pratensis Huds., were studied under greenhouse conditions. Mealybugs preferred endophyte‐free (E–) clones over their endophyte‐infected (E+) counterparts. E+ plants had a significantly lower number of mealybugs than E– plants. A mixture of E+ and E– plants supported intermediate mealybug numbers, between pure plantings of E+ and E– grasses. Barley aphids released on to plant materials were deterred from feeding and could not persist on E+ plants. E– plants did not survive because of aphid damage, while E+ plants generally re‐grew, but were damaged to some degree. The results showed that the use of pure stands of endophyte‐infected grasses or a mixed stand of infected and non‐infected plants may increase the persistence and durability of turf and forage grass species in the presence of foliar damaging insects.
Women's programs versus mixed‐gender day treatment: results from a randomized study
Authors: Kaskutas Lee Ann , Zhang Lixia , French Michael T. , Witbrodt Jane 
Published: December 2004

ABSTRACTAims  To compare outcomes and costs of out‐patient women's treatment to mixed‐gender programs.Design  Randomized clinical trial.Setting  Northern California (USA).Intervention  Day treatment: one community‐based women's program, two mixed‐gender community‐based programs and one mixed‐gender hospital‐based program.Participants  Substance‐dependent women recruited from the community (n = 122).Measurements  Women were interviewed at baseline, at the end of treatment (94% response rate) and at 6 and 12 months post‐treatment (100% response rates). Measures included alcohol and drug use, and psychiatric and social problems. Program costs were estimated using the Drug Abuse Treatment Cost Analysis Program.Findings  No significant differences between the women's program and any of the mixed‐gender programs were found for psychiatric problem severity, problems with family and friends or rates of drug use at any of the follow‐up points. Rates of alcohol abstinence and total abstinence were similar between the women's program and both of the mixed‐gender community programs, but were higher at the mixed‐gender hospital program. Only one of these results was replicated in the multivariate analysis, with the odds of total abstinence significantly lower for those randomized to the women's program than the mixed‐gender hospital program. However, the average cost of a treatment episode was significantly higher at the hospital program than at the women's program ($1212 versus $543).Conclusions  These findings suggest that female substance abusers may be treated as effectively in mixed‐gender programs as in women's programs.
Does stage‐based smoking cessation advice in pregnancy result in long‐term quitters? 18‐month postpartum follow‐up of a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Lawrence Terry , Aveyard Paul , Cheng K. K. , Griffin Carl , Johnson Carol , Croghan Emma 
Published: December 2004

ABSTRACTAims To evaluate the effect on quitting smoking at 18 months postpartum of smoking cessation interventions based on the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) delivered in pregnancy compared to current standard care. It has been claimed that TTM‐based interventions will continue to create quitters after the end of the intervention period.Design Cluster randomized trial.Setting Antenatal clinics in general practices in the West Midlands, UK.Participants A total of 918 pregnant smokers originally enrolled in the trial, of which 393 women were followed‐up at 18 months postpartum.Interventions One hundred general practices were randomized into the three trial arms. Midwives in these practices delivered three interventions: A (standard care), B (TTM‐based self‐help manuals) and C (TTM‐based self‐help manuals plus sessions with an interactive computer program giving individualized smoking cessation advice).Measurements Self‐reported continuous and point prevalence abstinence since pregnancy.Findings When combined together, there was a slight and not significant benefit for both TTM arms compared to the control, with an odds ratio (OR) 95% confidence interval (CI) of 1.20 (0.29–4.88) for continuous abstinence. For point prevalence abstinence, the OR (95%CI) was 1.15 (0.66–2.03). Seven of the 54 (13%) women who had quit at the end of pregnancy were still quit 18 months later, and there was no evidence that the TTM‐based interventions were superior in preventing relapse.Conclusions The TTM‐based interventions may have shown some evidence of a short‐term benefit for quitting in pregnancy but no benefit relative to standard care when followed‐up in the longer‐term.