San Francisco Research Articles

Tai Chi Is Beneficial for Knee Osteoarthritis

Sherry Boschert is with the San Francisco bureau of Elsevier Global Medical News. SAN FRANCISCO — The gentle martial art tai chi significantly improved pain and physical function in a randomized, controlled trial in 40 obese patients around age 65 with knee osteoarthritis. Participants were randomly selected to attend hour-long classes twice a week for 12 weeks to learn and practice 10 modified forms of classical Yang style tai chi or to receive wellness education and engage in stretching in a control group. Patient characteristics were similar between groups, with baseline pain scores of 209 in the tai chi group and 220 in the control group on the Western Ontario and McMaster Osteoarthritis (WOMAC) Index, which was the main outcome measure. After 12 weeks, WOMAC pain scores decreased by 157 points in the tai chi group and 39 points in the control group, a significant difference (P = .004), Chenchen Wang, MD, reported at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology. She and her associates repeated the pain assessment at 24 and 48 weeks to gauge the durability of the effects. Those who continued their tai chi practice continued to show significant improvements in pain and secondary measures of function, compared with the control group, said Dr. Wang of Tufts University, Boston. The tai chi group showed significant improvements, compared with the control group, in the WOMAC physical function score; the patient and physician global assessment scores (on visual analog scales); a timed chair-stand test; an assessment of knee proprioception; and in depression scores on the Center for Epidemiology Studies Depression (CES-D) Index. “This is a very promising study,” Dr. Wang said. “However, these results should be confirmed by future large studies.” Findings from a previous review by Dr. Wang and her associates of 47 studies of tai chi for various chronic medical problems suggested benefits in physical and mental health and function (Arch. Intern. Med. 2004;164:493-501), but a dearth of high-quality studies left these conclusions in doubt and led to the current study, she said. Sessions in the current trial included a warm-up, review of technique, and practice of the meditative movements, some of which were modified for the osteoarthritic cohort by incorporating chairs or other accommodations. Patients were obese, with a baseline body mass index of 30 kg/m2 in both groups. The mean age was 63 years in the tai chi group and 68 years in the control group. Both groups were predominantly white and female. Patients had had knee osteoarthritis for a mean of 10 years. Some patients used nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or other analgesics for their arthritis pain during the study, but medication use did not differ significantly between groups. One limitation of the study was that it was not double blind. Also, results could vary depending on the style of tai chi practiced, or by the effectiveness of the teacher or tai chi master, Dr. Wang said.

Citizenship, Civic Memory and Urban Performance: Mission Wall Dances

The meaning of art changes in various contexts. This article examines how an outdoor performance transformed an urban street in the Mission District of San Francisco into a site of citizenship and political communication. This is the story of how choreographer Jo Kreiter and her small group of dancers used the power of memory, the social narratives about her San Franciscan performance site and symbolism to enhance the political message about gentrification embedded in her dance piece Mission Wall Dances. The relevance of public performance, however, does not come exclusively from its location, but rather includes its engagement with civic life. The performance of Mission Wall Dances became a dialogue between the physical site, the specific subject matter and the experiences and memories of the audience members. The associations made between the performance and its neighbourhood location in the minds of the audience members can build a sense of civic identity, at both individual and group levels. The images and ideas present in the performance commingled in the minds of the audience creating a new meaning for an urban landscape.

Phosphorylation of Endothelial Nitric-oxide Synthase Regulates Superoxide Generation from the Enzyme

In the vasculature, nitric oxide (NO) is generated by endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) in a calcium/calmodulin-dependent reaction. With oxidative stress, the critical cofactor BH(4) is depleted, and NADPH oxidation is uncoupled from NO generation, leading to production of (O(2)*). Although phosphorylation of eNOS regulates in vivo NO generation, the effects of phosphorylation on eNOS coupling and O(2)* generation are unknown. Therefore, we phosphorylated recombinant BH(4)-free eNOS in vitro using native kinases and determined O(2)* generation using EPR spin trapping. Phosphorylation of Ser-1177 by Akt led to an increase (>50%) in maximal O(2)* generation from eNOS. Moreover, Ser-1177 phosphorylation greatly altered the Ca(2+) sensitivity of eNOS, such that O(2)* generation became largely Ca(2+)-independent. In contrast, phosphorylation of eNOS at Thr-495 by protein kinase Calpha (PKCalpha) had no effect on maximum activity or calcium sensitivity but decreased calmodulin binding and increased association with caveolin. In endothelial cells, eNOS-dependent O(2)* generation was stimulated by vascular endothelial growth factor that induced phosphorylation of Ser-1177. With PKC activation that led to phosphorylation of Thr-495, no inhibition of O(2)* generation occurred. As such, phosphorylation of eNOS at Ser-1177 is pivotal in the direct regulation of O(2)* and NO generation, altering both the Ca(2+) sensitivity of the enzyme and rate of product formation, whereas phosphorylation of Thr-495 indirectly affects this process through regulation of the calmodulin and caveolin interaction. Thus, Akt-mediated phosphorylation modulates eNOS uncoupling and greatly increases O(2)* generation from the enzyme at low Ca(2+) concentrations, and PKCalpha-mediated phosphorylation alters the sensitivity of the enzyme to other negative regulatory signals.

Caution Is Urged in Elderly Diabetes Care

Caution Is Urged in Elderly Diabetes Care

Mass Casualty in an Isolated Environment: Medical Response to a Submarine Collision

On January 8, 2005, the U.S.S. SAN FRANCISCO (SSN 711), a nuclear-powered submarine, collided with a seamount in a remote Pacific Ocean location. The high-speed impact resulted in injuries to 90% of the crew. Subsequent emergency medical response is described as well as the 3-month physical and psychological morbidity. Recommendations for medical training, equipment, and policy for workers in isolated environments are discussed.

Gloss and Dross

Book Review| May 01 2008 Gloss and Dross GILBERT & GEORGE M.H. DE YOUNG MUSEUMSAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA FEBRUARY 16–MAY 18, 2008 Ara H. Merjian Ara H. Merjian ARA H. MERJIAN is a Mellon post-doctoral fellow and lecturer in the Department of Art and Art History at Stanford University in California. Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Afterimage (2008) 35 (6): 25. https://doi.org/10.1525/aft.2008.35.6.25 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Ara H. Merjian; Gloss and Dross. Afterimage 1 May 2008; 35 (6): 25. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/aft.2008.35.6.25 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAfterimage Search This content is only available via PDF. © 2008 Afterimage/Visual Studies Workshop, unless otherwise noted. Reprints require written permission and acknowledgement of previous publication in Afterimage.2008 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Volume 1, Number 1

Volume 1, Number 1

Mercury concentrations in blood and feathers of prebreeding forster's terns in relation to space use of san francisco bay, california, usa, habitats

We examined mercury concentrations and space use of prebreeding Forster's terns (Sterna forsteri) in San Francisco Bay, California, USA, to assess factors influencing mercury levels in piscivorous birds. In 2005 and 2006, we collected blood and feathers from 122 Forster's terns and radio-marked and tracked 72 terns to determine locations of dietary mercury uptake. Capture site and capture date were the most important factors explaining variation in blood mercury concentrations (geometric mean +/- standard error: 1.09+/-0.89 microg/g wet wt), followed by sex and year. Accordingly, radiotelemetry data revealed that Forster's terns generally remained near their site of capture and foraged in nearby salt ponds, managed and tidal marshes, and tidal flats. In contrast, capture site and capture date were not important factors explaining variation in feather mercury concentrations, probably because feathers were grown on their wintering grounds several months prior to our sampling. Instead, sex and year were the most important factors explaining mercury concentrations in breast feathers (9.57+/-8.23 microg/g fresh wt), and sex was the most important factor for head feathers (6.94+/-7.04 microg/g fresh wt). Overall, 13 and 22% of prebreeding Forster's terns were estimated to be at high risk for deleterious effects due to mercury concentrations in blood (>3.0 microg/g wet wt) and feathers (>20.0 microg/g fresh wt), respectively. Breeding terns are likely to be even more at risk because blood mercury concentrations more than tripled during the 45-d prebreeding time period. These data illustrate the importance of space use and tissue type in interpreting mercury concentrations in birds.

Group to Issue Guidelines for Sleep Disorders

Sherry Boschert is with the San Francisco bureau of Elsevier Global Medical News. SAN FRANCISCO — Sleep should be viewed as a vital sign, and primary care physicians should address sleep disturbances in all visits with older adults, Dr. Harrison G. Bloom said at the annual meeting of the Gerontological Society of America. “Although there has been more than a decade of discussion about the prevalence and low detection rates of sleep problems, little has changed in primary care practice in recognition of sleep problems in the elderly,” said Dr. Bloom of the International Longevity Center, New York. A first draft of new guidelines for the assessment and treatment of sleep disorders in older people should be ready for discussion within the next few months, produced by his organization in collaboration with other groups, he said. AMDA also recently developed a Clinical Practice Guideline for Sleep Disorders in the LTC setting. “Sleep disorders are prevalent in older individuals and have important consequences, yet very seldom are looked at. It should be a vital sign,” Dr. Phyllis C. Zee said in a separate presentation at the same session. She and her associates interviewed older adults aged 65-102 years in 11 primary care offices in the Chicago area and compared the findings with patient charts. Although 70% complained of some sort of sleep disturbance, only 11% of charts mentioned sleep disturbance, even for patients who reported five or more sleep problems (such as insomnia, difficulty falling asleep, early awakening, or restless legs syndrome). “Sleep problems are so common with aging, yet they're not on the radar screen of most primary care physicians,” said Dr. Zee, professor of neurology and director of the sleep disorders center at Northwestern University, Chicago. Symptoms of some treatable sleep disorders, particularly sleep apnea or rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder, may be mistaken for cognitive decline or dementia in the elderly, she said. Multiple factors contribute to the high prevalence of insomnia in the elderly, including medication use, comorbid medical or psychiatric conditions, and psychosocial factors such as bereavement. An assessment of the quantity and quality of sleep should be integrated into the routine review of systems in all examinations of older adults, Dr. Zee said. A growing database of studies directly associates sleep disorders with problems of attention and memory, depression, falls, and metabolic dysfunction, Dr. Andrew A. Monjan said in the same session. Counter to common misconceptions, sleep disturbances are not a natural part of aging but are associated with comorbidities, according to an analysis of epidemiologic data on over 10,000 adults, said Dr. Monjan of the National Institute on Aging. A 2003 telephone poll of 1,500 older people (aged 55-84 years) randomly selected by the institute and the National Sleep Foundation also dispelled the notion that older people need less sleep. People who had four or more medical problems were more likely to report getting less than 6 hours of sleep or having insomnia or excessive daytime sleepiness. Few said they had been diagnosed with insomnia, and even fewer had been treated for insomnia. Pain, obesity, and lack of exercise also contribute to sleep problems. The problem in nursing homes is “even more magnified” due to the frequency of depression, dementia, stroke and other comorbidities, said Dr. Charles Cefalu, CMD, and chair of AMDA's Clinical Practice Committee. Complicating the evaluation and management of sleep problems in the nursing home in particular involves the risk/benefit and cost of formal sleep evaluation, he said. This is especially true as it relates to ruling out obstructive or central sleep disorders in a population of frail elders. For example, the issue of transportation out of the facility for a resident who is bedridden may be problematic. Then there is the issue of an available sleep laboratory, especially in rural settings. LTC physicians also find it difficult to provide adequate non-pharmacological sleep hygiene for residents with insomnia as a first step in management since the nursing home can be a noisy and disruptive environment, especially during twilight hours. Still, Dr. Cefalu said, LTC physicians should consider sleep a vital sign as evidenced-based medicine indicates untreated insomnia results in increased morbidity, mortality, and decreased quality of life.

Treating Insomnia May Help Osteoarthritis Pain

Sherry Boschert is with the San Francisco bureau of Elsevier Global Medical News. SAN FRANCISCO — Cognitive-behavioral therapy for comorbid insomnia in patients with osteoarthritis not only improved sleep but also reduced self-reported pain in a randomized, controlled pilot study of 51 patients, reported Michael V. Vitiello, PhD. The improvements in both sleep and pain levels persisted at 1-year follow-up. This is the first study to demonstrate such a duration of benefit from cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia in patients with comorbid chronic medical illness of any kind, Dr. Vitiello and his associates reported in a poster presentation at the annual meeting of the Gerontological Society of America. This preliminary study suggests that improving sleep can be “analgesic” in patients with osteoarthritis, said Dr. Vitiello, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington, Seattle. “Techniques to improve sleep should be considered for addition to treatment programs for pain management in osteoarthritis and possibly other pain states,” he added. More than half of older adults develop osteoarthritis, and a majority of these develop significant sleep disturbance. The pain initiates and exacerbates the sleep disturbance, and the disturbed sleep then seems to maintain and exacerbate pain by lowering pain thresholds and amplifying transmission of pain signals, he said. The study randomized 23 patients (18 women and 5 men) to cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia and 28 patients (27 women, 1 man) to a control group that received an intervention focused on attention control, stress management, and wellness. Neither group specifically addressed pain control. Each group met 2 hours per week for 8 weeks for the intervention. Several measures of insomnia improved significantly in the treatment group but not in the control group. Sleep latency (the time it takes to fall asleep) decreased from a mean of 40 minutes before therapy to 24 minutes, and nighttime wakefulness decreased from 62 to 25 minutes. Sleep efficiency (the proportion of time in bed spent asleep) improved from 71% to 84%. Self-reported pain on the Short Form-36 pain scale improved from a score of 56 before cognitive-behavioral therapy to 66 afterward (with a higher score indicating less pain), but did not change significantly in the control group. There was a nonsignificant trend toward reduced pain in the treatment group as measured by the McGill Pain Questionnaire. After posttreatment results were assessed, 10 patients in the control group crossed over to receive cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia. Results of 1-year follow-up in 19 patients from the original cognitive-behavioral therapy group plus the 10 crossovers were nearly identical to the results of the after-treatment assessments, showing duration of the improvements over time, Dr. Vitiello explained. Cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia is “not the kind of thing that a physician can do in an office visit, but it can be done by trained health care professionals in relatively quick fashion in group settings,” he said. The cognitive-behavioral intervention consisted of a fairly standard series of behavioral manipulations such as sleep restriction (teaching patients to somewhat curtail their time in bed), stimulus control (telling them not to go to bed unless sleepy), sleep hygiene (teaching them how to nap appropriately), and other techniques. “We always think of sleep disturbance as a symptom, as secondary,” Dr. Vitiello said. “What we're learning, really, is that sleep is interactive with illness, and it is not simply a symptom.” This specific study on cognitive-behavioral therapy and sleep was limited by its small size and the lack of 1-year follow-up in the control group, among other factors, Dr. Vitiello said.

Contraception: A History [2003] by Robert Jütte, Vicky Russell

144 BOOKREVIEWS policy scholars). As such, moves to further embrace the market in countries such as Britain and Denmark are not covered. While eminently readable as a whole, toward the end of the book there is a slight feeling of repetition as, once again, key assertions are reemphasised . Such issues, however, should not detract from what is likely to become, for those concerned about big issues to do with health policy and system design, one of the great books of the decade. ROBIN GAULD UNIVERSITY OF OTAGO RobertJutte, Contraception: A History [2003], translatedby Vicky Russell (Cambridge UK: Polity Press 2008). ISBN- 13:978-074563271 -1. 255 pp. Robert Jutte's Contraception: A History, firstpublished in German in 2003 and then translatedinto English by Vicky Russell in 2008, attempts to survey the history of birth control from ancient times through the twentieth century in the brief space of 220 pages. The book consists of five chapters. The first covers the period of the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans; the second surveys from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment; the thirdtakes up the nineteenth century; the fourth scans the twentieth century; and the fifth- just five pages long- introduces the male pill as a possible 'contraceptive of the future.' The subject of birthcontrol has been well mined by historians. While some have undertakensweeping surveys, otherauthorshave narrowed the subject by time period or geographical region, and still others have focused on one type of contraceptive method. Countless books and articles on numerous topics in the history of contraception have been written in the past three decades, and so we might welcome a new synthesis of all this scholarship as a useful volume for reference and teaching. Unfortunately, Contraception:AHistory falls shortof this goal. Although Jutte promises in his introduction 'to take into account critical changes which indicate the production, acquisition, and circulation of "power-knowledge'"(p. 8), a Foucauldian analysis is absent from the rest of the text. The reader finds only a few Health& History• 10/2 • 2008 145 scattered mentions of power, included almost as afterthoughts. The first chapter catalogs a myriad of references to birth control mined from sources ranging from Ovid and the Old Testament to Lysistrataand the Babylonian Talmud, presumably to demonstrate the breadth of contraceptive knowledge among the ancients, while the second chapter presents a pastiche of information on demographics, lay knowledge of reproduction, and theological pronouncements on sex. Similarly, the chapters on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries are replete with examples of contraceptive practices and policies, without any overarching framework for the analysis of historical trends. The narrative skips from country to country (although with just a single passing reference to Australia and no mention at all of New Zealand); this transnationalapproach does not allow for sufficient consideration of the significance of local contexts in shaping the uses of and attitudes toward birth control. The author is diligent in his citations of the work of other historians, but several of his claims are undocumented, which is frustratingfor the readerwho wants to use this book as a scholarly reference. For example, he declares that, 'We know this [that many women took offence at contraceptive advertising in the late nineteenth century] from a contemporary source' (p. 132), but he gives no citation for that source. The statement that 'even today, sterilizations are still being ordered by the courts in the United States' (p. 177) begs for a reference, but there is no corresponding endnote. These omissions detract from the academic reliability of the work, and the lack of a synthetic thesis to tie together all of the disparate details in the narrative might deter instructors from assigning the text for classroom use. However, readers looking for a descriptive compendium of contraceptive knowledge, attitudes, and practices over the course of almost four thousand years of history will find many entertaining stories in this book. ELIZABETH SIEGEL WATKINS UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO ...

Global Warming Coming Home to Roost in the American West

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA-- Assigning blame for regional climate disasters is hard, but scientists have finally implicated the greenhouse in a looming water crisis.

The human–canine environment: A risk factor for non-play bites?

Few dog bite risk factor studies have been conducted. This veterinary clinic-based retrospective cohort study was aimed at identifying human–canine environmental risk factors for non-play bites in Kingston, Jamaica (660) and San Francisco (SF), USA (452). Data were analysed using modified Poisson regression with confounders selected using directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) and the change-in-estimate procedure. Dogs acquired for companionship were more likely (RR = 1.66; 95% CI 1.02–2.70) to bite than those acquired for protection. Routinely allowing a dog into the presence of visitors was also positively associated with it biting. A dog sleeping in a family member’s bedroom was a risk factor for biting in Kingston (RR = 2.54; 95% CI 1.43–4.54) but not in SF, while being able to leave the yard unaccompanied was a risk factor for biting in SF (RR = 3.40; 95% CI 1.98–5.85) but not in Kingston. Overall, dogs which were less restricted in their interactions with humans were at elevated risk for biting. An observed association with dog bites in one cultural setting might not exist in another.

Explosive bolide impact designates the Cambrian Explosion, terminating the Cambrian event in New York

In 1978 as chairman of the Geology and Geography Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) I planned a program for the 1980 annual convention in San Franscisco, California. The 1980 program included Louis W. Alvarez (1911–1988) who reported that an asteroid 10 kilometers in diameter struck the earth at the end of the Cretaceous. This conclusion resulted from Alvarez and colleagues discovery in Gubbio, Europe, of a centimeter-thick clay layer among carbonate rock containing iridium, a siderophile element, at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. Involvement in this discussion stimulated my interest in the study of Taconic carbonate deposits of my home and university setting in the Troy, New York and contiguous areas dating to the base of the Cambrian. Analyses of the New York carbonate samples gave comparable iridium results to those from the end of the Cretaceous in Europe. From these iridium anomalies I concluded that an extraterrestrial source, namely an asteroid, produced the iridium anomalies in the Cambrian of New York.

Participation in patient self‐management programs

Participation in evidenced-based arthritis self-management programs (SMPs) has not been well documented. The purpose of this study was to investigate the participation rate and participant characteristics in a closed cohort of subjects in a geographic region where arthritis SMPs have been offered multiple times and continuously for 2 decades. Data were from osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis subjects participating in the Arthritis, Rheumatism, and Aging Medical Information System (ARAMIS) who resided in the San Francisco (SF) Bay area who had responded to questions about ever participating in an SMP. Differences between participants and nonparticipants were examined by t-tests and chi-square tests. Questions added to the Health Assessment Questionnaire were returned by 1,176 patients; 618 resided in the SF Bay area. Of the SF Bay area sample, 41.9% had participated in an SMP. Small group SMPs, which had been offered multiple times, in diverse settings, continuously over the past 2 decades, were attended by the highest proportion (28%) of participants. Characteristics of participants and nonparticipants in the SF Bay area were similar ( approximately 70 years old, 15 years of education, and the majority had OA [ approximately 72%]). However, a higher proportion of participants were white (88% versus 82%; P = 0.046) and female (82% versus 73%; P < 0.05). When arthritis SMPs were offered multiple times in diverse settings and continuously over many years, >40% of the cohort was reached. More research is needed with larger samples and different geographic regions to identify participation rates in more diverse populations.

The Great San Francisco Earthquake: One of America's Worst Urban Disasters (review)

THE GREAT SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE: ONE OF AMERICA'S WORST URBAN DISASTERS (2005) American Experience, WGBH The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 ranks with Hurricane Katrina's effect on the city of New Orleans in 2005 and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 as one of the worst disasters to befall an American city. This fifty-six minute documentary, produced for WGBH and American Experience, tells the story of the earthquake using still photographs drawn from archives and some rare cinematic footage of San Francisco at this time. The documentary, narrated by Academy Award winning actor, F. Murray Abraham, opens with an explanation of San Francisco's turn-of-the-century charm. The city dazzled visitors, including Rudyard Kipling and President Theodore Roosevelt, as a city of alluring entertainment and as a symbol of the booming Roosevelt referred to it as the of the West. The film shows a clip of Roosevelt's visit to the city, complete with one of his signature boisterous speeches. As the ninth biggest city in the United States, and the biggest city of the West in 1906, San Francisco had a lot to offer visitors and newcomers, and no one felt it was poised for disaster. Immigrants and migrants streamed in; San Francisco was comprised of onethird immigrants and one-third children of immigrants at the time of the quake. Of particular interest were the neighborhoods known as South of Market-made mostly of wood buildings, this immigrant neighborhood was first to burn in the fires following the earthquake-and North of Market, the five block square neighborhood offering a home to the city's 20,000 Chinese. The earthquake hit the city at 5:12 AM on April 18, 1906. Two hundred miles of the San Andreas Fault rumbled, making eight thousand homeless in San Jose and leveling the city of Santa Rosa. But San Francisco felt the earthquake most keenly. The greatest devastation stemmed from the fires that followed the quake. Gas mains ruptured and chimneys collapsed. Fifty fires broke out around the city. A blaze known as the ham and eggs fire began when one family prepared their breakfast relying on a damaged chimney. Twenty-eight thousand buildings were destroyed in the earthquake and resulting fires; San Franciscans filed $170,000,000 in insurance claims. Two hundred thousand people, rendered homeless, took refuge in the city parks. Estimates on death counts vary, yet most likely number in the thousands. Efforts to stop the looting that followed the quake, as well as attempts to quench the fire, often failed. …

The Cultural Politics of Tourism in San Francisco's Chinatown, 1882-1917

During the 1880s San Francisco bohemians began to portray Chinatown as a place in which the forces of marginalization allowed a premodern authenticity to fl ourish. Their depictions of Chinatown resonated with a growing number of tourists. Historians have examined these developments, but few have considered the ways in which touristic interest in "authentic Chinatown" created new opportunities for entrepreneurial activity and social action. As this article argues, white and Chinese San Franciscans seized these opportunities. By the 1890s white tour guides had begun to stage scenes of depravity and present them as "authentic." Some Chinese San Franciscans performed within these scenes; others responded to tourists with practiced indifference, contempt, or hostility. A loose coalition of Chinatown merchants pursued a third strategy. They sought to rechannel touristic interest by locating Chinatown's authenticity within its exotic architecture, theatrical performances, curios, and cuisine. In doing so, they affi rmed perceptions of Chinese American "otherness."

Could Mother Nature Give the Warming Arctic a Reprieve?

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA-- At the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union, held here from 11 to 15 December 2006, climate scientists announced that the high Arctic--the poster child of global-warming activists--may get a temporary reprieve. (Read more.)

The Earthquake That Will Eat Tokyo

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA-- Tokyo is not likely to see another offshore megaquake for many, many decades, researchers reported at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union, held here from 11 to 15 December 2006. But the same study finds that a far more immediate threat lies right beneath Tokyo and surrounding cities. (Read more.)

Sex-based differences in physiology: what should we teach in the medical curriculum?

An abundance of recent research indicates that there are multiple differences between males and females both in normal physiology and in the pathophysiology of disease. The Refresher Course on Gender Differences in Physiology, sponsored by the American Physiological Society Education Committee at the 2006 Experimental Biology Meeting in San Franciso, CA, was designed to provide teachers of medical physiology with the background necessary to include the most important aspects of sex-based differences in their curricula. The presentations addressed sex-based differences in the physiology and pathophysiology of the cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and immune systems as well as the cellular mechanisms of sex steroid hormone actions on non-reproductive tissues. The slides and audio files for these presentations are available at http://www.the-aps.org/education/refresher/index.htm. This overview highlights the key concepts relevant to the topic of sex-based differences in physiology: why these differences are important, their potential causes, and examples of prominent differences between males and females in normal physiological function for selected organ systems.