bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Unconscious Processing of Unattended Features in Human Visual Cortex
Authors: Emmanouil Tatiana Aloi , Burton Philip , Ro Tony
Published: November 2012

Unconscious processing has been convincingly demonstrated for task-relevant feature dimensions. However, it is possible that the visual system is capable of more complex unconscious operations, extracting visual features even when they are unattended and task irrelevant. In the current study, we addressed this question by measuring unconscious priming using a task in which human participants attended to a target object's shape while ignoring its color. We measured both behavioral priming effects and priming-related fMRI activations from primes that were unconsciously presented using metacontrast masking. The results showed faster RTs and decreases in fMRI activation only when the primes were identical to the targets, indicating that primes were processed both in the attended shape and the unattended color dimensions. Reductions in activation were observed in early visual areas, including primary visual cortex, as well as in feature-responsive areas for shape and color. These results indicate that multiple features can be unconsciously encoded and possibly bound using the same visual networks activated by consciously perceived images.
Imaging Fatigue of Interference Control Reveals the Neural Basis of Executive Resource Depletion
Authors: Persson Jonas , Larsson Anne , Reuter-Lorenz Patricia A.
Published: November 2012

Executive control coordinates, prioritizes, and selects task-relevant representations under conditions of conflict. Behavioral evidence has documented that executive resources are separable, finite, and can be temporarily depleted; however, the neural basis for such resource limits are largely unknown. Here, we investigate the neural correlates underlying the fatigue or depletion of interference control, an executive process hypothesized to mediate competition among candidate memory representations. Using a pre/post continuous acquisition fMRI design, we demonstrate that, compared with a nondepletion control group, the depletion group showed a fatigue-induced performance deficit that was specific to interference control and accompanied by a left-to-right shift in the network of active regions. Specifically, we observed decreased BOLD signal in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), striatum, and the cerebellum, along with a corresponding increase in right hemisphere regions including the IFG, insular, and temporal cortex. Depletion-related changes in activation magnitude correlated with behavioral changes, suggesting that decreased recruitment of task-relevant regions, including left IFG, contributes to impaired interference control. These results provide new evidence about the brain dynamics of “process-specific” fatigue and suggest that depletion may pose a significant limitation on the cognitive and neural resources available for executive control.
Enhanced Striatal Sensitivity to Aversive Reinforcement in Adolescents versus Adults
Authors: Galván Adriana , McGlennen Kristine M.
Published: November 2012

Neurodevelopmental changes in mesolimbic regions are associated with adolescent risk-taking behavior. Numerous studies have shown exaggerated activation in the striatum in adolescents compared with children and adults during reward processing. However, striatal sensitivity to aversion remains elusive. Given the important role of the striatum in tracking both appetitive and aversive events, addressing this question is critical to understanding adolescent decision-making, as both positive and negative factors contribute to this behavior. In this study, human adult and adolescent participants performed a task in which they received squirts of appetitive or aversive liquid while undergoing fMRI, a novel approach in human adolescents. Compared with adults, adolescents showed greater behavioral and striatal sensitivity to both appetitive and aversive stimuli, an effect that was exaggerated in response to delivery of the aversive stimulus. Collectively, these findings contribute to understanding how neural responses to positive and negative outcomes differ between adolescents and adults and how they may influence adolescent behavior.
Meaningful Family Relationships: Neurocognitive Buffers of Adolescent Risk Taking
Authors: Telzer Eva H. , Fuligni Andrew J. , Lieberman Matthew D. , Galván Adriana
Published: November 2012

Discordant development of brain regions responsible for cognitive control and reward processing may render adolescents susceptible to risk taking. Identifying ways to reduce this neural imbalance during adolescence can have important implications for risk taking and associated health outcomes. Accordingly, we sought to examine how a key family relationship—family obligation—can reduce this vulnerability. Forty-eight adolescents underwent an fMRI scan during which they completed a risk-taking and cognitive control task. Results suggest that adolescents with greater family obligation values show decreased activation in the ventral striatum when receiving monetary rewards and increased dorsolateral PFC activation during behavioral inhibition. Reduced ventral striatum activation correlated with less real-life risk-taking behavior and enhanced dorsolateral PFC activation correlated with better decision-making skills. Thus, family obligation may decrease reward sensitivity and enhance cognitive control, thereby reducing risk-taking behaviors.
Temporal Variability of Land–Atmosphere Coupling and Its Implications for Drought over the Southeast United States
Authors: Roundy Joshua K. , Ferguson Craig R. , Wood Eric F.
Published: November 2012

Droughts represent a significant source of social and economic damage in the southeast United States. Having sufficient warning of these extreme events enables managers to prepare for and potentially mitigate the severity of their impacts. A seasonal hydrologic forecast system can provide such warning, but current forecast skill is low during the convective season when precipitation is affected by regionally varying land surface heat flux contributions. Previous studies have classified regions into coupling regimes based on the tendency of surface soil moisture anomalies to trigger convective rainfall. Until now, these classifications have been aimed at assessing the long-term dominant feedback signal. Sufficient focus has not been placed on the temporal variability that underlies this signal. To better understand this aspect of coupling, a new classification methodology suitable at daily time scales is developed. The methodology is based on the joint probability space of surface soil moisture, convective triggering potential, and the low-level humidity index. The methodology is demonstrated over the U.S. Southeast using satellite remote sensing, reanalysis, and hydrological model data. The results show strong persistence in coupling events that is linked to the land surface state. A coupling-based drought index shows good agreement with the temporal and spatial variability of drought and highlights the role of coupling in drought recovery. The implications of the findings for drought and forecasting are discussed.
A Long-Term, High-Resolution Wetland Dataset over the Amazon Basin, Downscaled from a Multiwavelength Retrieval Using SAR Data
Authors: Aires Filipe , Papa Fabrice , Prigent Catherine
Published: November 2012

A climatology of wetlands has been derived at a low spatial resolution (0.25° × 0.25° equal-area grid) over a 15-yr period by combining visible and near-infrared satellite observations and passive and active microwaves. The objective of this study is to develop a downscaling technique able to retrieve wetland estimations at a higher spatial resolution (about 500 m). The proposed method uses an image-processing technique applied to synthetic aperture radar (SAR) information about the low and high wetland season. This method is tested over the densely vegetated basin of the Amazon. The downscaling results are satisfactory since they respect the spatial hydrological features of the SAR data and the temporal evolution of the low-resolution wetland estimates. A new long-term and high-resolution wetland dataset has been generated for 1993–2007 for the Amazon basin. This dataset represents a new and unprecedented source of information for climate and land surface modeling of the Amazon and for the definition of future hydrology-oriented satellite missions such as Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT).
Radar Data Assimilation with WRF 4D-Var. Part II: Comparison with 3D-Var for a Squall Line over the U.S. Great Plains
Authors: Sun Juanzhen , Wang Hongli
Published: November 2012

The Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) four-dimensional variational data assimilation (4D-Var) system described in Part I of this study is compared with its corresponding three-dimensional variational data assimilation (3D-Var) system using a Great Plains squall line observed during the International H2O Project. Two 3D-Var schemes are used in the comparison: a standard 3D-Var radar data assimilation (DA) that is the same as the 4D-Var except for the exclusion of the constraining dynamical model and an enhanced 3D-Var that includes a scheme to assimilate an estimated in-cloud humidity field. The comparison is made by verifying their skills in 0–6-h quantitative precipitation forecast (QPF) against stage-IV analysis, as well as in wind forecasts against radial velocity observations. The relative impacts of assimilating radial velocity and reflectivity on QPF are also compared between the 4D-Var and 3D-Var by conducting data-denial experiments. The results indicate that 4D-Var substantially improves the QPF skill over the standard 3D-Var for the entire 6-h forecast range and over the enhanced 3D-Var for most forecast hours. Radial velocity has a larger impact relative to reflectivity in 4D-Var than in 3D-Var in the first 3 h because of a quicker precipitation spinup. The analyses and forecasts from the 4D-Var and 3D-Var schemes are further compared by examining the meridional wind, horizontal convergence, low-level cold pool, and midlevel temperature perturbation, using analyses from the Variational Doppler Radar Analysis System (VDRAS) as references. The diagnoses of these fields suggest that the 4D-Var analyzes the low-level cold pool, its leading edge convergence, and midlevel latent heating in closer resemblance to the VDRAS analyses than the 3D-Var schemes.
“Hippies on the third floor”: Climate Change, Narrative Identity and the Micro-Politics of Corporate Environmentalism
Authors: Wright Christopher , Nyberg Daniel , Grant David
Published: November 2012

Climate change discourse permeates political and popular consciousness, challenging the ecological sustainability of our economic system and the business models that underpin it. Not surprisingly climate change has become an increasingly divisive and partisan political issue. While a growing literature has sought to address how business organizations are responding to climate change, the subjective perceptions of managers on this issue have received less attention. In this article we contribute to an understanding of the dynamic interaction between identities and organizations, by showing how sustainability managers and consultants balance tensions and contradictions between their own sense of self and the various work and non-work contexts in which they find themselves. Based on a qualitative, social constructivist method, we examine how these individuals develop different identities in negotiating between conflicting discourses and their sense of self. We explore how these different identities arise, interact and inform responses to climate change in different settings, and then demonstrate how individuals seek to overcome conflicts between identities in constructing a coherent narrative of themselves and their careers. In doing so, the article highlights how identity work is central to the micro-political enactment of business responses to climate change, and how, for some, the climate crisis provides an impetus for personal reinvention as a moral agent of change.
Science or Science Fiction? Professionals’ Discursive Construction of Climate Change
Authors: Lefsrud Lianne M. , Meyer Renate E.
Published: November 2012

This paper examines the framings and identity work associated with professionals’ discursive construction of climate change science, their legitimation of themselves as experts on ‘the truth’, and their attitudes towards regulatory measures. Drawing from survey responses of 1077 professional engineers and geoscientists, we reconstruct their framings of the issue and knowledge claims to position themselves within their organizational and their professional institutions. In understanding the struggle over what constitutes and legitimizes expertise, we make apparent the heterogeneity of claims, legitimation strategies, and use of emotionality and metaphor. By linking notions of the science or science fiction of climate change to the assessment of the adequacy of global and local policies and of potential organizational responses, we contribute to the understanding of ‘defensive institutional work’ by professionals within petroleum companies, related industries, government regulators, and their professional association.
Climate Change and the Emergence of New Organizational Landscapes
Authors: Wittneben Bettina B. F. , Okereke Chukwumerije , Banerjee Subhabrata Bobby , Levy David L.
Published: November 2012

There is general agreement across the world that human-made climate change is a serious global problem, although there are still some sceptics who challenge this view. Research in organization studies on the topic is relatively new. Much of this research, however, is instrumental and managerialist in its focus on ‘win-win’ opportunities for business or its treatment of climate change as just another corporate social responsibility (CSR) exercise. In this paper, we suggest that climate change is not just an environmental problem requiring technical and managerial solutions; it is a political issue where a variety of organizations – state agencies, firms, industry associations, NGOs and multilateral organizations – engage in contestation as well as collaboration over the issue. We discuss the strategic, institutional and political economy dimensions of climate change and develop a socioeconomic regimes approach as a synthesis of these different theoretical perspectives. Given the urgency of the problem and the need for a rapid transition to a low-carbon economy, there is a pressing need for organization scholars to develop a better understanding of apathy and inertia in the face of the current crisis and to identify paths toward transformative change. The seven papers in this special issue address these areas of research and examine strategies, discourses, identities and practices in relation to climate change at multiple levels.
Politics in the Wake of Divine Violence
Authors: Smith Ted A.
Published: November 2012

The modern political order rejects any notion of ‘divine violence’. But in refusing the possibility of the category, states obscure their own forms of sacred violence. Carl Schmitt describes the structure of a political theology that can illumine this dynamic. But his account of divine violence would put historical figures in the role of sovereign, and so open the way to theocratic tyranny. Walter Benjamin proposes a more transcendent sovereign power. He describes a divine violence that rejects both the theocracy of Schmitt and the neo-Kantian ‘realism’ critiqued by Gillian Rose. From Benjamin we can develop a notion of divine violence that interrupts the mythologization of the state and makes possible a rightly secular politics.
Virtue and Grace
Authors: Rehnman Sebastian
Published: November 2012

Confessional Protestant ethics is commonly presented nowadays as opposite to virtue. This article establishes the inaccuracy of this presentation from the centrality of virtue and its compatibility with grace in the ethics of the Protestant Reformer Pietro Martire Vermigli (1499–1562). It argues that the notion of virtue is not only central but also consistent with the notion of grace from the distinction between acquired and infused virtue.
Hebephrenia: a conceptual history
Authors: Kraam Abdullah , Phillips Paula
Published: November 2012

This paper traces the conceptual history of hebephrenia from the late nineteenth century until it became firmly embedded into modern psychiatric classification systems. During this examination of the origins and the historical context of hebephrenia it will be demonstrated how it became inextricably linked with twentieth-century notions of schizophrenia. The first detailed description of hebephrenia in 1871 by Ewald Hecker, then a virtually unknown German psychiatrist, created a furore in the psychiatric establishment. Within a decade hebephrenia was a firmly embedded concept of adolescent insanity. Daraszkiewicz, Kraepelin’s brilliant assistant in Dorpat, broadened Hecker’s concept of hebephrenia by including severe forms. This paved the way for Kraepelin to incorporate it together with catatonia as a subtype of dementia praecox. We recognize Hecker’s hebephrenia in DSM-IV as schizophrenia, disorganized type. Although DSM-5 will probably abolish subtypes of schizophrenia, characteristic features of hebephrenia will be found within the proposed domains of disorganization, restricted emotional expression and avolition.
Racial experiments in psychiatry’s provinces: Richard S Lyman and his colleagues in China and the American South, 1932–51
Authors: Rose Anne C
Published: November 2012

The worldwide expansion of psychiatry as a science at times followed pathways already laid by Christian medical missions to cultures seen as disadvantaged by sponsors. Interracial contacts were one outcome, and racial issues gained visibility in psychiatric inquiry and treatment. Richard S. Lyman gathered socially diverse psychiatric teams at Peking Union Medical College in the 1930s and Duke University in the 1940s, both programs funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. Bingham Dai, a Chinese-born theorist and therapist, and Leo Alexander, Holocaust refugee and later medical investigator for the Nuremberg prosecutors, worked with Lyman at both sites. These itinerant professionals repeatedly struggled to comprehend and influence localities. Lyman’s liberal aim to integrate psychiatry succeeded better in China than in segregated North Carolina.
The limits of comparison: institutional mortality rates, long-term confinement and causes of death during the early twentieth century
Authors: Ernst Waltraud
Published: November 2012

This article presents a case study of institutional trends in a psychiatric institution in British India during the early twentieth century. It focuses on mortality statistics and long-term confinement rates as well as causes of death. The intention is two-fold: first, to provide new material that potentially lends itself to comparison with the few existing institutional case studies that have explored this particular period; second, to highlight some of the problems inherent in the status of the statistics and the conceptual categories used, and to consider the challenges these pose for any intended comparative and transnational assessment. Furthermore, it is suggested that historians working on the history of western institutions ought to look beyond the confining rim of Eurocentric self-containment and relate their research to other institutions around the world. It is important for social historians to abstain from uncritically reproducing hegemonic histories of the modern world in which western cultures and nations are posited by default as the centre or metropolis and the rest as peripheries whose social and scientific developments may be seen to be of exotic interest, but merely derivative and peripheral.
Empowerment and Bariatric Surgery
Authors: Knutsen Ingrid Ruud , Terragni Laura , Foss Christina
Published: November 2012

Today obesity is understood as a chronic illness. Programs developed to deal with obesity often build on an explicit aim to “empower” patients to take increased responsibility for their health, in line with contemporary neoliberal discourses. There is little empirically based knowledge about this so-called empowering process. In this article we focus on how an empowering program for patients diagnosed as morbidly obese worked on individuals’ identity. The program encompassed a course in lifestyle change, bariatric surgery, and aftercare. We conducted qualitative interviews with 9 individuals at different stages of their treatment process and applied discourse analysis to interpret their constructions and negotiations as they progressed through the program. We found that dimensions of control and credibility framed the respondents’ identity work. Based on the findings we suggest that contemporary discourses of empowerment as practice might leave the participants “trapped” within the ambivalence of freedom and control.
The Entrepreneurial Rationalities of Governing and the Construction of the Enterprising Nurse
Authors: Gibson Terri
Published: November 2012

Drawing from a wider study exploring the role of registered nurses (RNs) in managing hospital care of older people, I present an analysis of some discursive mechanisms through which an enterprising nursing subjectivity was cultivated in RNs working in an Australian hospital. Data comprised information from the hospital Web site, policy documents, job descriptions, and interviews with 26 RNs. The analysis highlighted how texts such as nursing vision statements and job descriptions were not neutral or innocuous, but mechanisms that individually and collectively specified norms of enterprising conduct for RNs working in that hospital. Although the findings detailed how entrepreneurial rationalities and discourses governing health care actively transformed the meaning and practice of nursing, they also illustrated how factors such as role location and ward culture diluted the take up of enterprise discourses, suggesting that it was not possible to guarantee RNs as particular kinds of enterprising subjects.
Friction characteristics between paper and steel roller under mixed lubrication
Authors: Hashimoto Hiromu
Published: November 2012

This article describes the new theoretical modeling of friction coefficient between uncoated paper-web (newsprint; for example) and steel roller. In the modeling, the paper base is approximated by the linear spring and the surface asperities are treated as rigid body based on the observation of web surface structure. Introducing the contact mechanics, the mixed friction coefficient is formulated theoretically for a wide range of roller surface velocity, in which the air film thickness between the web and roller is estimated based on the foil bearing model. In the experiments, the newsprint is used as uncoated paper-web. Euler’s belt formula is applied to calculate the friction coefficient from the measured data of tension increase. The measurements are carried out by changing five design parameters such as web width, wrap angle, tension, roller diameter, and roller surface velocity. The measured results are compared with the predicted results to verify the applicability of the present theoretical model. Good agreements can be seen between the predicted and measured results.
Secondary education students’ preferences regarding their participation in group work: The case of Greece
Authors: Koutrouba Konstantina , Kariotaki Maria , Christopoulos Ioannis
Published: November 2012

The present questionnaire-based study examines the views of 428 Greek students (aged 13–18 years) from 30 secondary education schools in Athens, who have experienced cooperative learning in group work – an instructional learning strategy not often implemented in Greek schools. The research focuses on students’ preferences as regards the composition of their group and the distribution of roles and tasks within it, and finally the evaluation of and the reward for personal and group performance. Data elaboration, statistical and factor analysis showed that students participate more willingly in group work when wider autonomy is provided and their friends participate in the group, although new friendly relationships with the other members are not developed. It also showed that Greek students prefer clearly defined tasks, seek mainly cognitive attainments, want to be assessed on the basis of socio-affective skills development, dislike grade rewards for group work attainments and prefer non-grade rewards such as praise, provision of free time and excursions.
Vic: The challenges facing schools in a small, newly diverse, Catalan city
Authors: Simó Núria , Telford Jon
Published: November 2012

The arrival over the last 15 years of a substantial number of pupils of immigrant origin has presented Catalan schools with significant challenges. The schools in Vic (70 km north of Barcelona) have been at the forefront of attempts to adjust to this new multicultural reality. This article describes the results of three studies carried out by the Educational Research Group of the University of Vic (GREUV) at critical points in this process. The studies focused on the effects of local decisions taken to balance the social composition of schools, the attempts by some schools to adopt an integrated approach that involves other agencies in order to improve pupils’ learning opportunities, and the effectiveness of different strategies for the reception of newly arrived pupils and their families. The article concludes with some elements of analysis and reflection that might contribute to improving the educational opportunities offered by schools with newly diverse pupil populations.
‘Why didn’t they ask me?’: Student perspectives on a school improvement initiative
Authors: Scanlon Lesley
Published: November 2012

This is the first in a series of articles which will examine the results of a qualitative, longitudinal study of school improvement initiatives from the perspective of school stakeholders. The article captures the responses of students from a low socio-economic status school in NSW, Australia to a school initiative that restructured the learning and teaching environment of the senior school. This initiative, undertaken in the context of high stakes testing and public accountability, aimed to ‘break the cultural mould’ of poor attendance, retention and below state average examination results in the senior school. After explaining the senior school restructure, the article briefly reviews the literature on cultural change and student voice within the context of school improvement. The qualitative methodology is examined and this is followed by an exploration of the findings where students identify the salient dimensions of the initiative which had an impact on their learning and teaching environment. The discussion examines the findings within the context of the research literature of school improvement, cultural change and transition.
Role of the small GTPase Rab27a during Herpes simplex virus infection of oligodendrocytic cells
Authors: Bello-Morales Raquel , Crespillo Antonio Jesús , Fraile-Ramos Alberto , Tabarés Enrique , Alcina Antonio , López-Guerrero José Antonio
Published: November 2012

Background

The morphogenesis of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) comprises several events, of which some are not completely understood. It has been shown that HSV-1 glycoproteins accumulate in the trans-Golgi network (TGN) and in TGN-derived vesicles. It is also accepted that HSV-1 acquires its final morphology through a secondary envelopment by budding into TGN-derived vesicles coated with viral glycoproteins and tegument proteins. Nevertheless, several aspects of this process remain elusive. The small GTPase Rab27a has been implicated in regulated exocytosis, and it seems to play a key role in certain membrane trafficking events. Rab27a also seems to be required for human cytomegalovirus assembly. However, despite the involvement of various Rab GTPases in HSV-1 envelopment, there is, to date, no data reported on the role of Rab27a in HSV-1 infection.

Results

Herein, we show that Rab27a colocalized with GHSV-UL46, a tegument-tagged green fluorescent protein-HSV-1, in the TGN. In fact, this small GTPase colocalized with viral glycoproteins gH and gD in that compartment. Functional analysis through Rab27a depletion showed a significant decrease in the number of infected cells and viral production in Rab27a-silenced cells.

Conclusions

Altogether, our results indicate that Rab27a plays an important role in HSV-1 infection of oligodendrocytic cells.
The development and evaluation of the Australian child and adolescent recommended food score: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Marshall Skye , Watson Jane , Burrows Tracy , Guest Maya , Collins Clare E
Published: November 2012

Background

Diet quality tools have been developed to assess the adequacy of dietary patterns for predicting future morbidity and mortality. This study describes the development and evaluation of a brief food-based diet quality index for use with children at the individual or population level. The Australian Child and Adolescent Recommended Food Score (ACARFS) was developed to reflect adherence to the Dietary Guidelines for Children and Adolescents in Australia and modelled on the approach of the US Recommended Food Score.

Methods

The ACARFS has eight sub-scales and is scored from zero to 73. The diet quality score was evaluated by assessing correlation (Spearman’s correlations) and agreement (weighted κ statistics) between ACARFS scores and nutrient intakes, derived from a food frequency questionnaire in 691 children (mean age 11.0, SD 1.1) in New South Wales, Australia. Nutrient intakes for ACARFS quartiles were compared with the relevant Australian nutrient reference values.

Results

ACARFS showed slight to substantial agreement (κ 0.13-0.64) with nutrient intakes, with statistically significant moderate to strong positive correlations with all vitamins, minerals and energy intake (r = 0.42-0.70). ACARFS was not related to BMI.Participants who scored less than the median ACARFS were more likely to have sub-optimal intakes of fibre, folic acid and calcium.

Conclusion

ACARFS demonstrated sufficient accuracy for use in future studies evaluating diet quality. Future research on its utility in targeting improvements in the nutritional quality of usual eating habits of children and adolescents is warranted.
Analysis of stress-induced duplex destabilization (SIDD) properties of replication origins, genes and intergenes in the fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe
Authors: Yadav Mukesh P , Padmanabhan Sreedevi , Tripathi Vishnu P , Mishra Rahul K , Dubey Dharani D
Published: November 2012

Background

Replication and transcription, the two key functions of DNA, require unwinding of the DNA double helix. It has been shown that replication origins in the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae contain an easily unwound stretch of DNA. We have used a recently developed method for determining the locations and degrees of stress-induced duplex destabilization (SIDD) for all the reported replication origins in the genome of the fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

Results

We have found that the origins are more susceptible to SIDD as compared to the non-origin intergenic regions (NOIRs) and genes. SIDD analysis of many known origins in other eukaryotes suggests that SIDD is a common property of replication origins. Interestingly, the previously shown deletion-dependent changes in the activities of the origins of the ura4 origin region on chromosome 3 are paralleled by changes in SIDD properties, suggesting SIDD’s role in origin activity. SIDD profiling following in silico deletions of some origins suggests that many of the closely spaced S. pombe origins could be clusters of two or three weak origins, similar to the ura4 origin region.

Conclusion

SIDD appears to be a highly conserved, functionally important property of replication origins in S. pombe and other organisms. The distinctly low SIDD scores of origins and the long range effects of genetic alterations on SIDD properties provide a unique predictive potential to the SIDD analysis. This could be used in exploring different aspects of structural and functional organization of origins including interactions between closely spaced origins.
Large scale extraction of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) from Ralstonia eutropha H16 using sodium hypochlorite
Authors: Heinrich Daniel , Madkour Mohamed H , Al-Ghamdi Mansour A , Shabbaj Ibraheem I , Steinbüchel Alexander
Published: November 2012

Isolation of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) from bacterial cell matter is a critical step in order to achieve a profitable production of the polymer. Therefore, an extraction method must lead to a high recovery of a pure product at low costs. This study presents a simplified method for large scale poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), poly(3HB), extraction using sodium hypochlorite. Poly(3HB) was extracted from cells of Ralstonia eutropha H16 at almost 96% purity. At different extraction volumes, a maximum recovery rate of 91.32% was obtained. At the largest extraction volume of 50 L, poly(3HB) with an average purity of 93.32% ± 4.62% was extracted with a maximum recovery of 87.03% of the initial poly(3HB) content. This process is easy to handle and requires less efforts than previously described processes.
Clinical application of induced and spontaneous sputum in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Authors: Antus Balázs
Published: November 2012

In recent years induced sputum analysis has become a non-invasive method for the assessment of airway inflammation in obstructive airway diseases. Sputum induction is safe and well tolerated by the patients. The method has been standardized, and this has markedly improved the quality and reproducibility of sputum samples. Identification of sputum eosinophilia has the greatest clinical relevance as it predicts a favorable response to corticosteroids. Treatment strategy aiming normalisation of sputum eosinophil cell count may reduce the rate of exacerbations in asthma. Profiling inflammatory mediators in sputum supernatant provides new insights into the pathogenesis of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Cell type analysis in spontaneous sputum may also provide much information about inflammatory processes in the airways. Based on the results of clinical studies sputum analysis should be more often used in clinical settings in the future. Orv. Hetil., 2012, 153, 1847–1854.
Control of Field Dodder (Cuscuta campestris) Parasitizing Tomato with ALS-Inhibiting Herbicides
Authors: Goldwasser Yaakov , Sazo Mario R. Miranda , Lanini W. Thomas
Published: November 2012

Field dodder is a parasitic plant that attaches to the stems and leaves of broadleaf plants, including weeds, field crops, vegetables, and ornamentals, throughout most agricultural regions of the world. Effective field dodder control is extremely difficult to achieve, due to the nature of attachment and close association between host and parasite, which requires a highly effective and selective herbicide to destroy the parasite without crop damage. Previous studies have demonstrated the tolerance of certain tomato varieties to dodder parasitism. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the ability of sulfonylurea herbicides to control field dodder under greenhouse and field conditions. Two greenhouse studies and three field studies were conducted to evaluate the efficiency and crop selectivity of the sulfonylurea herbicides sulfosulfuron, rimsulfuron, halosulfuron, and flazasulfuron in controlling field dodder parasitizing tomato plants. Sulfosulfuron at 50 or 100 g ai ha−1 was effective and safe for tomato in field dodder control, while the other herbicides exhibited little or no dodder control.
Tolerance of Tomato to Herbicides Applied through Drip Irrigation
Authors: Dittmar Peter J. , Monks David W. , Jennings Katherine M. , Booker Fitzgerald L.
Published: November 2012

Greenhouse and field studies were conducted to determine tolerance of tomato to halosulfuron, imazosulfuron, and trifloxysulfuron herbicides applied through drip irrigation. In greenhouse studies, PRE- and POST-applied trifloxysulfuron caused greater tomato injury (14 and 54% injury, respectively) than PRE- and POST-applied halosulfuron (5 and 26% injury, respectively) or imazosulfuron (5 and 23% injury, respectively). All herbicide treatments in the greenhouse studies caused greater injury to tomato than the nontreated. Greater tomato injury was observed in the greenhouse from herbicides applied POST than when soil applied. Tomato injury from POST-applied halosulfuron, imazosulfuron, or trifloxysulfuron followed a linear relationship, with tomato injury increasing with increasing herbicide rate. Tomato photosynthetic rate did not differ among the herbicide treatments (32.7 to 55.0 μmol m−2s−1) and the nontreated (38.0 to 55.0 μmol m−2s−1). At 5 to 16 days after treatment (DAT), tomato treated with imazosulfuron POST (0.26 to 0.46 cm s−1) or trifloxysulfuron POST (0.27 to 0.51 cm s−1) had lower stomatal conductance compared to the stomatal conductance of the nontreated tomato (0.65 to 0.76 cm s−1). Chlorophyll content did not differ among treatments at 0 to 6 DAT. At 7 to 12 DAT, tomato treated with imazosulfuron POST (34.0 to 40.1 SPAD) and trifloxysulfuron POST (35.0 to 41.6 SPAD) had lower chlorophyll content compared to the nontreated (39.1 to 48.1 SPAD). In 2008 and 2009 field studies, no tomato injury was observed. Herbicide, herbicide application method, and herbicide rate had no effect on tomato height (73 to 77 cm 14 DAT, 79 to 84 cm 21 DAT) and total fruit yield (62,722 to 80,328 kg ha−1).
Response of Alfalfa, Green Onion, Dry Bulb Onion, Sugar Beet, Head Lettuce, and Carrot to Imazosulfuron Soil Residues 2 Years after Application
Authors: Felix Joel , Fennimore Steven A. , Rachuy John S.
Published: November 2012

Field studies were conducted from 2009 to 2011 in Oregon and from 2006 to 2008 in California to evaluate the response of various crops to imazosulfuron soil residues 91 to 731 d after application (DAA). Imazosulfuron rates applied in Oregon were 224 or 450 g ai ha−1PRE, sequential 224 g ha−1PRE and POST, or 450 g ha−1as a tank mixture with PRE appliedS-metolachlor at 1,060 g ai ha−1followed by 224 g ha−1POST to potato. Imazosulfuron was applied on bare ground PRE at 224, 336, and 450 g ha−1and applied sequentially at 450 g ha−1in California. Sugar beet planted 91 to 364 and 458 to 731 DAA were injured 83 to 94% and 54 to 78% among imazosulfuron rates and application timing in 2007 and 2008, respectively. Alfalfa planted 701 DAA at rates greater than 224 g ha−1was injured, and the forage yield was reduced. Onion, spinach, carrot, and broccoli were also injured by imazosulfuron residues when planted 91 to 731 DAA, regardless of the rate or interval before planting. Imazosulfuron applied at 224 to 450 g ha−1458 to 731 d before planting head lettuce resulted in moderate injury that did not reduce fresh-weight yield. The results indicated that imazosulfuron residues in the soil have the potential to injure many rotational specialty crops for 2 yr or more in soils with pH > 6.9.
Evaluation of Application Program and Timing in Herbicide-Resistant Corn
Authors: Lindsey Laura E. , Everman Wesley J. , Chomas Andrew J. , Kells James J.
Published: November 2012

Field studies were conducted from 2007 to 2009 in East Lansing, MI to evaluate three residual herbicide programs, three POST herbicide application timings, and two POST herbicides in glyphosate- and glufosinate-resistant corn. Herbicide programs included a residual PRE-applied herbicide followed by (fb) POST application (residual fb POST), a residual herbicide tank-mixed with a POST herbicide (residual + POST), and a nonresidual POST. Three POST herbicide application timings included early POST (EP), mid-POST (MP), and late POST (LP) at an average corn growth stage of V3/V4, V4/V5, and V5/V6, respectively. The two POST herbicides evaluated were glyphosate and glufosinate. Control of common lambsquarters and giant foxtail was evaluated 28 d after the LP application. Glyphosate often provided greater weed control than glufosinate. The LP application resulted in greater giant foxtail control compared with the EP application timing, which may be attributed to control of late-emerging weeds. The EP application timing improved common lambsquarters control compared with the LP application timing. The residual + POST program resulted in greater weed control compared with the residual fb POST program in all years. The effect of residual herbicide program, POST herbicide, and POST application timing on corn grain yield varied by year. In 2007, the use of glyphosate resulted in higher grain yield compared with glufosinate. In 2008, corn grain yield was the highest in the PRE fb POST program and with POST applications at EP and MP. To provide the most consistent weed control and minimize the likelihood of grain yield reductions, a PRE fb POST program applied at EP or MP is recommended.
Response of Processing Tomato to Simulated Glyphosate Drift Followed by In-Crop Metribuzin Application
Authors: McNaughton Kristen E. , Sikkema Peter H. , Robinson Darren E.
Published: November 2012

Eight field studies were conducted over a 3-yr period from 2008 to 2010 in Ridgetown, Ontario, Canada, to determine the cumulative stress caused by simulated glyphosate spray drift followed by an in-crop application of metribuzin in processing tomato. As the simulated glyphosate spray drift rate increased so did the degree of injury to the tomatoes. At a simulated spray drift rate of 22.5 g ae ha−1(2.5% of the recommended glyphosate field rate), a 23% decrease in red tomato yield was observed. Yield reductions increased to 88% of the control when 180 g ae ha−1glyphosate (20% of the recommended field rate) was applied. Similarly when simulated spray drift rates were followed 3 to 5 d later with an in-crop application of metribuzin at 250 g ai ha−1, tomato yields decreased by 22 to 85% depending on glyphosate rate applied. A transient synergistic interaction was observed only when 22.5 g ae ha−1glyphosate was followed by metribuzin. The synergistic response was no longer evident by the 28-d injury rating. Herbicide interactions were additive for crop injury, dry weight, fruit counts, and yield when glyphosate spray drift rates of 45, 90, or 180 g ae ha−1were followed by metribuzin.
Preemergence Herbicides for Potential Use in Potato Production
Authors: Boydston Rick A. , Felix Joel , Al-Khatib Kassim
Published: November 2012

Field trials were conducted in 2009 and 2010 near Paterson, WA and Ontario, OR to evaluate weed control and potato tolerance to PRE-applied pyroxasulfone, saflufenacil, and KSU12800 herbicides. Pyroxasulfone at 0.09 to 0.15 kg ai ha−1and saflufenacil at 0.05 to 0.07 kg ai ha−1applied PRE alone or in tank mixes with several currently labeled herbicides did not injure potatoes at either site in both years. KSU12800 at 0.15 kg ai ha−1injured potatoes from 18 to 26% for a period of about 4 wk after emergence at Ontario both years. In addition, KSU12800 at 0.29 and 0.45 kg ha−1injured potatoes from 17 to 38% at 17 d after treatment (DAT) at Paterson in 2009. Pyroxasulfone at 0.15 kg ha−1controlled barnyardgrass, hairy nightshade, and redroot pigweed 96% or greater, but control of common lambsquarters was variable. Saflufenacil at 0.07 kg ha−1provided greater than 93% control of common lambsquarters, hairy nightshade, and redroot pigweed at both sites in 2010. KSU12800 at 0.15 kg ha−1controlled common lambsquarters, hairy nightshade, and redroot pigweed 99% or more at Ontario, but only 87 to 93% at Paterson in 2010. These herbicides did not reduce yield of U.S. no. 1 tubers or total tuber yields compared to standard labeled herbicide treatments when weed control was adequate.
Influence of Flumioxazin Application Timing and Rate on Cotton Emergence and Yield
Authors: Berger Sarah , Ferrell Jason , Brecke Barry , Faircloth Wilson , Rowland Diane
Published: November 2012

Palmer amaranth is one of the most troublesome weeds in the southeast. Significant reductions in cotton yield because of Palmer amaranth competition warrant intense control efforts consisting of both PRE and POST herbicides. Flumioxazin is a soil-active, protoporphyrinogen oxidase-inhibiting herbicide that is labeled for use in cotton 14 to 21 d before planting; however, shorter preplant application intervals could increase the duration of control from this herbicide. Flumioxazin was applied at 3 rates (0.03 and 0.06 kg ai ha−1in 2009 and an additional rate of 0.09 kg ai ha−1in 2010 and 2011) and 6 application timings (30, 20, 15, 10, 5, and 0 d before planting cotton). Cotton emergence, height, and yield were documented. In 2009, at the Jay and Citra, FL, sites, cotton emergence, plant height, and yield were not affected by any herbicide rate or timing. At Dawson, GA, in the same year, significant reduction in cotton stand counts were observed with application timings < 10 d before planting. Cotton height was reduced similarly at Dawson, GA, but recovered to levels equal to the control by 45 d after planting (DAP). It is believed that rainfall during cotton emergence resulted in this significant level of injury at Dawson, GA. In 2010 and 2011, at Citra, FL, cotton emergence was only reduced when 0.06 and 0.09 kg ha−1were applied at planting. Cotton height showed a similar pattern with additional reductions in height at 0.03 kg ha−1applied at planting and 0.09 kg ha−1applied 5 d before planting. In 2010 and 2011, at Citra, FL, yield was reduced when 0.09 kg ha−1flumioxazin was applied 5 d before planting and when 0.06 and 0.09 kg ha−1were applied at planting. These results indicate that flumioxazin application intervals can be shortened with little crop impact likely to be seen at lower use rates. However, rainfall at crop emergence has the potential to significantly injure cotton and reduce yield.
Influence of Late-Season Herbicide Applications on Control, Fecundity, and Progeny Fitness of Glyphosate-Resistant Palmer Amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri) Biotypes from Arkansas
Authors: Jha Prashant , Norsworthy Jason K.
Published: November 2012

Experiments were conducted in 2008 and 2009 in Fayetteville, AR, to determine the influence of late-season herbicide applications on control, seed reduction, seed viability, and seedling fitness of two glyphosate-resistant (GR) Palmer amaranth biotypes, one from Mississippi County (MC) and the other from Lincoln County (LC) in Arkansas. Glyphosate (870 g ae ha−1), glufosinate (820 g ai ha−1), 2,4-D amine (1,060 g ae ha−1), dicamba (280 g ae ha−1), and pyrithiobac (70 g ai ha−1) were each applied at the first visible sign of inflorescence of GR Palmer amaranth plants. Glufosinate, 2,4-D, and dicamba provided 52 to 74% control of MC GR Palmer amaranth plants 28 d after treatment (DAT). The LC biotype was larger (94 cm tall) than the MC biotype was (64 cm tall) at application and was more difficult to control. Although control of GR Palmer amaranth was inadequate, late-season applications of glufosinate, 2,4-D, and dicamba reduced seed production of the LC biotype by 75 to 87% and production of the MC biotype by 94 to 95% compared with nontreated plants. Irrespective of biotypes, glufosinate, 2,4-D, and glyphosate reduced 100-seed weight by 22% compared with the nontreated control, and viability of seeds produced by treated plants was only 45 to 61% compared with 97% seed viability in nontreated plants. Glyphosate, glufosinate, 2,4-D, or dicamba reduced cumulative seedling emergence by an average of 84% compared with the nontreated check. Seedling biomass was four times greater for the LC than for the MC biotype, suggesting greater vigor and fitness for the LC progeny. This research demonstrates that a single, late-season (early inflorescence stage) application of glufosinate, 2,4-D, or dicamba could potentially reduce seedbank replenishment of GR Palmer amaranth. Additionally, reduction in seed weight, viability, and seedling recruitment would impair the success of GR Palmer amaranth progeny in the following season.