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Selected AbstractsIdentification of metastasis candidate proteins among HCC cell lines by comparative proteome and biological function analysis of S100A4 in metastasis in vitroPROTEINS: STRUCTURE, FUNCTION AND BIOINFORMATICS, Issue 22 2006Jie Feng Cui Abstract Widespread metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma,(HCC) was a complex cascade of events, which is still beyond full appreciation. Screening key proteins, which play a critical role in metastasis, using high-throughput proteomics approach help discover valuable biomarkers and elucidate the mechanism of metastasis. This study was to find out some metastasis candidate proteins among HCC cell lines with various metastatic potential by comparative proteomics, and then further validate the biological function of these proteins in metastasis in,vitro. The protein profiles of metastatic HCC cell lines (MHCC97H and MHCC97L) displayed obvious differences compared with nonmetastatic ones (Hep3B). Twenty-six metastasis candidate proteins, which were identified by on-line LC-ESI-MS/MS, such as S100 calcium-binding protein,A4 (S100A4), annexin,1, etc., might have much application in diagnostic procedures and prognosis evaluation. S100A4, as a leading different metastasis candidate protein, which overexpressed only in the metastatic cells, was selected for further investigation. A series of assays related to invasion and metastasis in,vitro, including cell motility, invasion, and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) secretion, were performed in MHCC97H/antisense recombinant plasmid to S100A4 (pcDNA3.1(+) AS S100A4) and the mock controls. All the data in the present study suggested that S100A4 might contribute to HCC invasion and metastasis through two paths of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP9) secretion regulation and strengthened motility and invasion properties. [source] Assessing the influence of environmental heterogeneity on bird spacing patterns: a case study with two raptorsECOGRAPHY, Issue 2 2006Thomas Cornulier Testing for aggregation or regularity in point patterns is difficult in the presence of spatial variation in abundance due to environmental heterogeneity. Using a recently developed method generalizing Ripley's K function for non homogeneous point patterns, we test the aggregation of the nests in two species of birds (little owl and Montagu's harrier) exhibiting heterogeneous distributions in response to landscape structure. We compare the results obtained under different null models accounting for environmental heterogeneity at large and/or small spatial scales. Whereas both species were initially found to form clusters at some scale, taking spatial heterogeneity into account revealed that 1) territorial little owls showed no clustering of territories when habitat availability was considered; 2) semi-colonial harriers still formed significant clusters, but part of the aggregation in this species could be explained by landscape structure alone. Our results highlight that it is feasible and highly recommended to account for non-stationarity when testing for aggregation. Further, provided that sufficient knowledge of the study system is available, this approach helps to identify behavioural and environmental components of spatial variation in abundance. Additionally, we demonstrate that accounting for large or small-scale heterogeneity affects the perception of spacing behaviours differently, so that both need to be considered. [source] Networks, Scale, and Transnational Corporations: The Case of the South Korean Seed IndustryECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, Issue 3 2006Sook-Jin Kim Abstract: In light of recent theoretical scholarship that has incorporated scale with networks perspectives, this article examines the potential of a scalar networks-based approach to understanding the global strategies and activities of transnational corporations (TNCs), through a comparative case study of two TNCs that were involved in the recent transformation of the South Korean seed industry. The comparative study demonstrates that a foreign TNC's mergers and acquisitions (M&As) of major South Korean seed companies in 1998,1999 in the context of structural adjustment (TNC's material politics of scale) was an outcome of complex relations and the intermingling of various actor-networks that were embedded in various scales. A domestic TNC's responses to the M&As, on the other hand, illustrate how the TNC's struggle to reshape power relations through a discursive politics of scale enabled it to extend and enrich its networks and power relations with farmers, politicians, the general public, and the government. Material and discursive uses of scale in the business strategies of TNCs are shaped by complex actor-networks that are embedded in specific sociocultural and institutional contexts and influence new configurations of networks and power relations, and a scalar networks-based approach helps one understand this complexity of TNCs' activities. [source] THE COMMONPLACES OF "REVISION" AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR HISTORIOGRAPHICAL UNDERSTANDINGHISTORY AND THEORY, Issue 4 2007JONATHAN GORMAN ABSTRACT Recognizing the contingent entanglement between historiography's social and political roles and the conception of the discipline as purely factual, this essay provides a detailed analysis of "revision" and its connection to "revisionism." This analysis uses a philosophical approach that begins with the commonplaces of our understanding as expressed in dictionaries, which are compared and contrasted to display relevant confusions. The essay then turns to examining the questions posed by History and Theory's Call for Papers announcing its Theme Issue on Revision in History, and, where philosophically relevant, answers them. The issue of paradigm change proved to be quite significant and required particular attention. A "paradigm" is analyzed in terms of Quine's "web of belief," and that web is itself explained as an ongoing process of revision, in analogy with Rawls's concept of pure procedural justice. Adopting this approach helps clarify the entanglement between politics and historiographical revision. [source] A multifaceted sensitivity analysis of the Slovenian public opinion survey dataJOURNAL OF THE ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETY: SERIES C (APPLIED STATISTICS), Issue 2 2009Caroline Beunckens Summary., Many models to analyse incomplete data have been developed that allow the missing data to be missing not at random. Awareness has grown that such models are based on unverifiable assumptions, in the sense that they rest on the (incomplete) data only in part, but that inferences nevertheless depend on what the model predicts about the unobserved data, given the observed data. This explains why, nowadays, considerable work is being devoted to assess how sensitive models for incomplete data are to the particular model chosen, a family of models chosen and the effect of (a group of) influential subjects. For each of these categories, several proposals have been formulated, studied theoretically and/or by simulations, and applied to sets of data. It is, however, uncommon to explore various sensitivity analysis avenues simultaneously. We apply a collection of such tools, some after extension, to incomplete counts arising from cross-classified binary data from the so-called Slovenian public opinion survey. Thus for the first time bringing together a variety of sensitivity analysis tools on the same set of data, we can sketch a comprehensive sensitivity analysis picture. We show that missingness at random estimates of the proportion voting in favour of independence are insensitive to the precise choice of missingness at random model and close to the actual plebiscite results, whereas the missingness not at random models that are furthest from the plebiscite results are vulnerable to the influence of outlying cases. Our approach helps to illustrate the value of comprehensive sensitivity analysis. Ideas are formulated on the methodology's use beyond the data analysis that we consider. [source] Molecular Modeling in Crystal Engineering for Processing of Energetic MaterialsPROPELLANTS, EXPLOSIVES, PYROTECHNICS, Issue 6 2003Stéphane Bénazet Abstract Nowadays molecular modeling is available to explain molecular phenomena. This approach helps to compute crystal surface property effects that can be used both for morphology studies and optimal design of "bonding agents" to prevent filler-binder detachment. The principles of crystal growth and of interaction energy computing have been applied to Hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane (HNIW). Crystallization experiments validate our calculations. Three families of additives of crystal growth are distinguished: the retarding (and inhibitor) agents, the promoters and finally the "tailor-mades". Retarding and inhibitor agents are the most interesting one to find bonding agents. HNIW is used to present our methodology, but engineering using molecular modeling could be generalized to other fillers. [source] GAUGE: Grid Automation and Generative Environment,CONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION: PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE, Issue 10 2006Francisco Hernández Abstract The Grid has proven to be a successful paradigm for distributed computing. However, constructing applications that exploit all the benefits that the Grid offers is still not optimal for both inexperienced and experienced users. Recent approaches to solving this problem employ a high-level abstract layer to ease the construction of applications for different Grid environments. These approaches help facilitate construction of Grid applications, but they are still tied to specific programming languages or platforms. A new approach is presented in this paper that uses concepts of domain-specific modeling (DSM) to build a high-level abstract layer. With this DSM-based abstract layer, the users are able to create Grid applications without knowledge of specific programming languages or being bound to specific Grid platforms. An additional benefit of DSM provides the capability to generate software artifacts for various Grid environments. This paper presents the Grid Automation and Generative Environment (GAUGE). The goal of GAUGE is to automate the generation of Grid applications to allow inexperienced users to exploit the Grid fully. At the same time, GAUGE provides an open framework in which experienced users can build upon and extend to tailor their applications to particular Grid environments or specific platforms. GAUGE employs domain-specific modeling techniques to accomplish this challenging task. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | |||||||||||||