bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Reduced collagen accumulation and augmented MMP-2 activity in left ventricle of old rats submitted to high-intensity resistance training
Authors: Guzzoni Vinicius , Marqueti Rita de Cássia , Durigan João Luíz Quagliotti , Faustino de Carvalho Hernandes , Lino Rafael Luis Bressani , Mekaro Marcelo S. , Costa Santos Tayná Oliveira , Mecawi André Souza , Rodrigues José Antunes , Hord Jeffrey M. , Lawler Jonh M. , Davel Ana Paula , Selistre-de-Araújo Heloísa Sobreiro
Published: July 2017

Progressive fibrosis is a hallmark of the aging heart. Age-related fibrosis is modulated by endurance exercise training; however, little is known concerning the influence of resistance training (RT). Therefore we investigated the chronic effects of high-intensity RT on age-associated alterations of left ventricle (LV) structure, collagen content, matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), and extracellular matrix-related gene expression, including transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β). Young adult (3 mo) and aged (21 mo) male Wistar rats were submitted to a RT protocol (ladder climbing with 65, 85, 95, and 100% load), three times a week for 12 wk. Forty-eight hours posttraining, arterial systolic and diastolic pressure, LV end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP) and dP/d t were recorded. LV morphology, collagen deposition, and gene expression of type I (COL-I) and type III (COL-III) collagen, MMP-2, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1), and TGF-β1 were analyzed by quantitative reverse transcriptase-PCR. MMP-2 content was assessed by zymography. Increased collagen deposition was observed in LV from aged rats. These parameters were modulated by RT and were associated with increased MMP-2 activity and decreased COL-I, TGF-β1, and TIMP-1 mRNA content. Despite the effect of RT on collagen accumulation, there was no improvement on LVEDP and maximal negative LV dP/d t of aged rats. Cardiomyocyte diameter was preserved in all experimental conditions. In conclusion, RT attenuated age-associated collagen accumulation, concomitant to the increase in MMP-2 activity and decreased expression of COL-I, TGF-β1, and TIMP-1 in LV, illustrating a cardioprotective effect of RT on ventricular structure and function.

NEW & NOTEWORTHY We demonstrated the beneficial resistance-training effect against age-related left ventricle collagen accumulation in the left ventricle, which was associated with decreased type I collagen (COL-I), transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) gene expression and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) activity. Our findings suggest for the first time the potential effects of resistance training in modulating collagen accumulation and possibly fibrosis in the aging heart.
Trichromatic Color Vision in Primates
Authors: Rowe Michael H.
Published: July 2017

Trichromatic color vision is rare among mammals, occurring only in some primates. Recent work has elucidated the adaptive behavioral significance of trichromacy as well as its underlying genetic and neurophysiological mechanisms. These studies reveal a complex neural system whose design and operation apparently does not conform to rigid deterministic principles.
Metabolic Diseases: the Environment Determines the Odds, Even for Genes
Authors: Schmidt Ingrid
Published: July 2017

The odds for well-being or illness are determined by the interplay of genetic and environmental impacts. In this review, normal and disturbed body weight regulation are used to demonstrate the role of integrative bioresearch in bridging the gap between identified genotypes and an understanding of the functions of redundant and plastic control systems underlying phenotypes.
FOXC1 Regulates FGFR1 Isoform Switching to Promote Invasion Following TGFβ-Induced EMT
Authors: Hopkins Alex , Coatham Mackenzie L. , Berry Fred B.
Published: July 2017

Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is an important physiologic process that drives tissue formation during development, but also contributes to disease pathogenesis, including fibrosis and cancer metastasis. Elevated expression of the FOXC1 transcription factor has been detected in several metastatic cancers that have undergone EMT. Therefore, mechanistic insight into the role of FOXC1 in the initiation of the EMT process was sought. It was determined that although Foxc1 transcript expression was elevated following TGFβ1-induced EMT of NMuMG cells, FOXC1 was not required for this induction. RNA sequencing revealed that the mRNA levels of FGF receptor 1-isoform IIIc (Fgfr1-IIIc), normally activated upon TGFβ1 treatment, were reduced in Foxc1 knockdown cells, and overexpression of Foxc1 was sufficient to induce Fgfr1-IIIc expression, but not EMT. Chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments demonstrated that FOXC1 binds to an Fgfr1 upstream regulatory region and that FOXC1 activates an Fgfr1 promoter element. Furthermore, elevated expression of Foxc1 led to increased Fgfr1-IIIc transcript. Foxc1 knockdown impaired the FGF2-mediated three-dimensional migratory ability of NMuMG cells, which was rescued by expression of FGFR1. In addition, elevated expression of FOXC1 and FGFR1 was also observed in migratory mesenchymal MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Together, these results define a role for FOXC1 in specifying an invasive mesenchymal cell type by promoting FGFR1 isoform switching following induction of TGFβ1-mediated EMT. Mol Cancer Res; 15(10); 1341–53. ©2017 AACR.
Genomics in Primary and Secondary Prevention of Pancreatic Cancer
Authors: Malats Núria , Molina-Montes Esther , La Vecchia Carlo
Published: July 2017

Background: Pancreatic cancer (PC) is one of the deadliest cancers worldwide for which little clinical progress has been made in the last decades. Furthermore, increased trends of PC mortality rates have been reported in Westernised countries. PC is usually diagnosed in advanced stages, precluding patients of an effective treatment. Identifying high-risk populations and early detection markers is the first and crucial step to impact on these figures and change the PC horizon. Aims/Objectives: To discuss the published body of evidence on host and tumor genomics promising markers for primary and/or secondary personalised PC prevention, as well as the future perspectives in the field. Methods: A review of the literature was performed to identify germline and tumor DNA and RNA markers that showed potential usefulness in defining the high-risk population, diagnosing the disease early, and identifying new carcinogens associated with PC. Results: Only high-penetrance inherited mutations are used, at present, to define the high-risk PC population. Although there are some promising genomics markers to be used as early detection tests, none has been validated adequately to be integrated into the clinics routine. Conclusions: Despite of important efforts made in the recent time, little progress has been made to better characterise high-risk PC populations and to identify genomics-based markers for its early diagnosis. PC rates continue to rise, and this disease is becoming a real public health problem in the Westernised world. International and multidisciplinary strategies to identify new markers and properly validate the promising ones are urgently needed to implement cost-efficient primary and secondary prevention interventions in PC.
O cru, com açúcar, o cozido, com afeto: a mesa e o imaginário alimentar na literatura
Authors: Gama Mônica , Araújo Aline Macedo da Silva
Published: July 2017

Editorial n. 18
Opressão e resistência na cozinha em Como água para chocolate, de Laura Esquivel
Authors: Santos Jenison Alisson , Lúcio Ana Cristina Marinho
Published: July 2017

O presente artigo objetiva analisar a representação do espaço da cozinha em Como água para chocolate (1993) de Laura Esquivel e suas implicações nos movimentos de opressão e resistência caracterizados pela autora em sua diegese. Tita De la Garza, ao nascer sobre a mesa da cozinha, é destituída de uma vivência plena ao ser subjugada por uma tradição familiar que a coloca na posição de servente de sua mãe até o fim de seus dias. A cozinha, que num primeiro momento se mostra como um lugar de confinamento, ressignifica-se como um eixo subversivo de formação de subjetividades femininas uma vez que Tita encontra no aprisionamento espacial uma forma de projetar sua voz, desejos e sentimentos silenciados através da comida. Apoiamo-nos em teóricos a exemplo de Tuan (2013), Sceats (2003) e Certeau, Giard e Mayol (1993) para melhor compreender como isso se desdobra no romance.
Um manjar de poesia: comidas e etiologias míticas nos Fastos, de Ovídio
Authors: Avellar Júlia Batista Castilho de
Published: July 2017

Com um enfoque nas relações entre comida e literatura na Antiguidade Clássica, este trabalho aborda alguns alimentos – como o libum (bolo sacrificial de farinha, queijo e mel), carnes de animais e favas – oferecidos aos deuses em festividades descritas nos Fasti (Fastos), de Ovídio, seu estatuto nesses ritos e seu estatuto literário no texto ovidiano. Nesse poema em forma de calendário, as datas de importância na cultura romana são reconstruídas e recriadas sob uma perspectiva que insere o mito na história, mediante a narração de relatos etiológicos, que expõem as causas das celebrações romanas e dos alimentos nelas utilizados. Diante disso, evidenciaremos, primeiramente, que o poema, ao apresentar explicações sobre alimentos empregados em ritos, contribui para a construção de uma memória da tradição cultural romana. Em segundo lugar, investigaremos como essas etiologias alimentares introduzem no texto reflexões sobre o próprio fazer poético, de modo a transformar os alimentos em ingredientes para comentários autorreflexivos e metapoéticos.
Endothelial Cell Autophagy Maintains Shear Stress–Induced Nitric Oxide Generation via Glycolysis-Dependent Purinergic Signaling to Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase
Authors: Bharath Leena P. , Cho Jae Min , Park Seul-Ki , Ruan Ting , Li Youyou , Mueller Robert , Bean Tyler , Reese Van , Richardson Russel S. , Cai Jinjin , Sargsyan Ashot , Pires Karla , Anandh Babu Pon Velayutham , Boudina Sihem , Graham Timothy E. , Symons J. David
Published: July 2017

Objective—

Impaired endothelial cell (EC) autophagy compromises shear stress–induced nitric oxide (NO) generation. We determined the responsible mechanism.

Approach and Results—

On autophagy compromise in bovine aortic ECs exposed to shear stress, a decrease in glucose uptake and EC glycolysis attenuated ATP production. We hypothesized that decreased glycolysis-dependent purinergic signaling via P2Y1 (P2Y purinoceptor 1) receptors, secondary to impaired autophagy in ECs, prevents shear-induced phosphorylation of eNOS (endothelial nitric oxide synthase) at its positive regulatory site S1117 (p-eNOS
S1177
) and NO generation. Maneuvers that restore glucose transport and glycolysis (eg, overexpression of GLUT1 [glucose transporter 1]) or purinergic signaling (eg, addition of exogenous ADP) rescue shear-induced p-eNOS
S1177
and NO production in ECs with impaired autophagy. Conversely, inhibiting glucose transport via GLUT1 small interfering RNA, blocking purinergic signaling via ectonucleotidase-mediated ATP/ADP degradation (eg, apyrase), or inhibiting P2Y1 receptors using pharmacological (eg, MRS2179 [2′-deoxy-
N
6
-methyladenosine 3′,5′-bisphosphate tetrasodium salt]) or genetic (eg, P2Y1-receptor small interfering RNA) procedures inhibit shear-induced p-eNOS
S1177
and NO generation in ECs with intact autophagy. Supporting a central role for PKCδ
T505
(protein kinase C delta T505) in relaying the autophagy-dependent purinergic-mediated signal to eNOS, we find that (1) shear stress–induced activating phosphorylation of PKCδ
T505
is negated by inhibiting autophagy, (2) shear-induced p-eNOS
S1177
and NO generation are restored in autophagy-impaired ECs via pharmacological (eg, bryostatin) or genetic (eg, constitutively active PKCδ) activation of PKCδ
T505
, and (3) pharmacological (eg, rottlerin) and genetic (eg, PKCδ small interfering RNA) PKCδ inhibition prevents shear-induced p-eNOS
S1177
and NO generation in ECs with intact autophagy. Key nodes of dysregulation in this pathway on autophagy compromise were revealed in human arterial ECs.

Conclusions—

Targeted reactivation of purinergic signaling and PKCδ has strategic potential to restore compromised NO generation in pathologies associated with suppressed EC autophagy.
Automatic Recruitment of the Motor System by Undetected Graspable Objects: A Motor-evoked Potential Study
Authors: McNair Nicolas A. , Behrens Ashleigh D. , Harris Irina M.
Published: July 2017

Previous behavioral and neuroimaging studies have suggested that the motor properties associated with graspable objects may be automatically accessed when people passively view these objects. We directly tested this by measuring the excitability of the motor pathway when participants viewed pictures of graspable objects that were presented during the attentional blink (AB), when items frequently go undetected. Participants had to identify two briefly presented objects separated by either a short or long SOA. Motor-evoked potentials were measured from the right hand in response to a single TMS pulse delivered over the left primary motor cortex 250 msec after the onset of the second target. Behavioral results showed poorer identification of objects at short SOA compared with long SOA, consistent with an AB, which did not differ between graspable and nongraspable objects. However, motor-evoked potentials measured during the AB were significantly higher for graspable objects than for nongraspable objects, irrespective of whether the object was successfully identified or undetected. This provides direct evidence that the motor system is automatically activated during visual processing of objects that afford a motor action.
Does Electoral Manipulation Vary?
Authors: Hauser Megan
Published: July 2017

Electoral manipulation is committed both during hotly contested elections as well as quite predictable ones. Comparative scholarship has sought to understand this variation, acknowledging that electoral manipulation can serve an informational as well as an instrumental role, but has not distinguished when, if ever, electoral manipulation is more likely to serve one role over another. This paper examines these issues, asking if and how strategies of manipulation differ depending on the conditions of the election. Using a newly developed measure of contestation and original data on elections from ten post-Soviet states, this paper quantitatively analyzes the types of strategies used depending on election-level factors. The results reveal that incumbents are likely to select some, but not all, types of manipulation depending on contestation of the election, the level of incumbent dominance, and the type of election being held. This paper concludes that while electoral manipulation can be used for instrumental and informational purposes, they are likely to be pursued in different elections, and that this depends on the conditions of the elections.
Econationalism in Soviet literature
Authors: Dronin N.M. , Francis J.M.
Published: July 2017

Literature was a significant vehicle for ecological thinking in the post-World War ii Soviet Union. In early 1950 a group of Russian writers known as ‘villagers’ advanced environmental themes, equating preservation of the environment in the face of frenzied industrialization and modernization with the preservation of Russian culture itself. The work of the villagers – so known for their focus on the history and condition of the Russian village – reached its peak in the 1970s when many of them had gained a following among the Soviet intelligentsia as a result of their critical stand on the socialist transformation of rural areas and their advocacy for the protection of land, forests, and rivers. In this period, environmental, social, and moral motifs were artfully presented in village prose. From the mid-1980s a nationalistic element came to dominate their art. In the post-Soviet period this tendency deepened, leading finally to marginalization of village prose.
Validation of CLIGEN Parameter Adjustment Methods for Southeastern Australia and Southwestern Western Australia
Authors: Vaghefi Parshin , Yu Bofu
Published: July 2017

Global climate models (GCMs) are usually used for future climate projections. Model output from GCMs needs to be downscaled and stochastic weather generators such as Climate Generator (CLIGEN) are tools to downscale GCM output and to produce synthetic weather sequences that are statistically similar to the observed weather data. Two methods of adjusting CLIGEN parameters were developed to reproduce precipitation sequences for southeastern Australia (SEA), where significant changes in annual precipitation had occurred, and for southwestern Western Australia (SWWA), where the precipitation has shown a significant decreasing trend since the 1920s. The adjustment methods have been validated using observed precipitation data for these regions. However, CLIGEN outputs ultimately will be used as input to other simulation models. The objective of this research was to further validate the methods of CLIGEN parameter adjustment using conceptual hydrological models to simulate streamflow and to compare the streamflow using observed and CLIGEN-generated precipitation data. Six precipitation sites from SEA and SWWA were selected and synthetic time series of daily precipitation were generated for these sites. Conceptual hydrological models, namely, the Australian Water Balance Model and SimHyd, were used for flow simulation and were calibrated using recorded daily streamflow data from six gauging stations in SEA and SWWA. Both monthly and annual streamflow show statistically similar patterns using observed and CLIGEN-generated precipitation data. The adjustment methods for CLIGEN parameters are further validated and can be used to reproduce the significant changes, both abrupt and gradually decreasing, in streamflow for these two climatically contrasting regions of Australia.
Nonmarket Signals: Investment in Corporate Political Activity and the Performance of Initial Public Offerings
Authors: Rudy Bruce C. , Cavich Jason
Published: July 2017

Research on firm initial public offering (IPO) performance has primarily utilized an economics of information perspective, which assumes that publicly available information is incorporated into a stock’s price when it is issued. However, the valuation process associated with IPOs remains manifest with considerable uncertainty for the prospective investor. This study argues that corporate political activity undertaken prior to the firm’s IPO acts as a signal to investors, reducing the uncertainty the market places on the value of the firm’s equity. Utilizing a sample of 180 IPOs, we show that the more a firm invests in corporate political activity prior to its IPO, the better its IPO performance. These findings provide evidence that corporate political activity acts as a nonmarket signal, influencing investor behavior by reducing the information asymmetries between investors and the target firm.
Leopardi, l'Europa e l'Italia del XIX secolo: le radici della mancata unità nazionale
Authors: Giulio Rosa
Published: July 2017

La particolare “visione” di Leopardi delle cause originarie e profonde che hanno impedito per secoli l'unità nazionale dell'Italia, diversamente dalle nazioni più evolute nell'Europa del XIX secolo, è analizzata in stretta connessione con i fondamenti teorici del suo pensiero. Vengono pertanto individuati e indagati i complessi percorsi concettuali che, pur attraversando spazi testuali diversi e distanti delle sue opere, collegano alla basilare distinzione tra popoli meridionali e settentrionali, antichi e moderni, gli illuminanti giudizi di Leopardi sui ceti dirigenti e i costumi degl'Italiani, dialetticamente valutati tra contingenza storica prerisorgimentale e costante antropologica identitaria. Le osservazioni sull'Italia, priva di un «centro politico», sono inoltre confrontate con il più ampio contesto delle nuove forme istituzionali assunte dalla civiltà moderna, ritenute di indubbia necessità sociale, ma, in perfetta coerenza con i suoi presupposti ideologici, considerate simulacri di magnanime illusioni irrimediabilmente perdute.
Maternity, Mortality and Mourning in the Trench Poetry of World War I
Authors: Boylan Amy
Published: July 2017

This investigation of the ways in which Italian poet soldiers represented mothers and motherhood seeks to shed light on the relationship between gender and war in early-twentieth-century Italy by exploring the intersections and divergences between the official discourses on motherhood and the Madre-patria, represented here by D'Annuzio's “Il rinato,” and the counter-discourses offered in the poetry of Ugo Betti and Corrado Alvaro. In order to illustrate a fundamental difference in the way D'Annunzio, on the one hand, and Betti and Alvaro, on the other, portray mothers, I will focus on their various depictions of maternal grief. I argue that Betti's and Alvaro's representations of melancholic mothers constitute an ethical choice that runs counter to the nationalist narrative of sacrifice and regeneration, but in the end I also question whether their melancholic mothers can be viewed as a new kind of model of womanhood or if she is just another iteration of the mater dolorosa projected onto women by both Catholicism and pseudo-science.
A New Laser-Processing Strategy for Improving Enamel Erosion Resistance
Authors: Esteves-Oliveira M. , Wollgarten S. , Liebegall S. , Jansen P. , Bilandzic M. , Meyer-Lueckel H. , Fischer H. , Stollenwerk J. , Poprawe R.
Published: July 2017

In the present study, a new automatic laser-processing strategy allowing standardized irradiation of natural tooth areas was investigated. The objective was to find a combination of laser parameters that could cause over a 600°C temperature increase at the enamel surface while not damaging enamel, avoiding temperature change above 5.5°C in the pulp and increasing enamel erosion resistance. Seventy-seven bovine enamel samples were randomly divided into 6 laser groups and 1 negative control (C/no treatment/ n = 11). A scanning strategy (7 × 3 mm) was used for the CO2 laser treatment (λ = 10.6 µm, 0.1–18 J/cm2) with different pulse durations—namely, 20 µs (G20), 30 µs (G30), 55 µs (G55), and 490 µs (G490), as well as 2 modified pulse distances (G33d, G40d). Measurements of temperature change were performed at the surface (thermal camera/50 Hz), at the underside (thermocouples), and at the pulp chamber using a thermobath and human molars ( n = 10). In addition, histology and X-ray diffraction (XRD/ n = 10) were performed. Erosion was tested using an erosive cycling over 6 d, including immersion in citric acid (2 min/0.05 M/pH = 2.3) 6 times daily. Surface loss was measured using a profilometer and statistical analysis with a 2-way repeated-measures analysis of variance (α = 0.05). Only G20 fulfilled the temperature requirements at the surface (619 ± 21.8°C), at the underside (5.3 ± 1.4°C), and at the pulp (2.0 ± 1.0°C), and it caused no mineral phase change and significant reduction of enamel surface loss (–13.2 ± 4.0 µm) compared to C (–37.0 ± 10.1 µm, P < 0.05). A laser-scanning strategy (20 µs/2 kHz/1.25 J/cm2, 3.4 mm/s) has been established that fulfilled the criteria for biological safety and significantly increased enamel erosion resistance (64%) in vitro.
Temporal and Atemporal Foresight
Authors: STARK STANLEY
Published: July 2017

The thesis of the following paper is that one's conception of foresight depends on his conception of man's cognitive nature and the systems in which man operates. Two decision theorists are contrasted, one a political scientist, the other an economist. It is alleged that one emphasizes the passive, reactive, outer-stimulated character of man's mind and the permanent, predictable character of the world he inhabits. The other allegedly emphasizes the active, spontaneous, autogenic character of man's mind and the changing, unpredictable character of his world. These pairs of conceptions lead to conceptions of foresight as respectively atemporal and temporal. Atemporal foresight is represented as calculation within a closed system, an essentially mechanical operation better performed by computers than by men. Temporal foresight is represented as creation within an open system, an essentially human operation performable only by the frontal lobe of the human cerebral cortex.
The Effect of Regional Similarity-Dissimilarity on Communicator Credibility
Authors: Miller Dale T. , Hoppe Ronald A.
Published: July 2017

Using English Canadian university students as subjects, an experiment was conducted to examine the effects of regional identification in responses to written communications relevant and irrelevant to regional norms. For a communication advocating separatism for Quebec, an English Canadian communicator was judged to be both more trustworthy and more competent than a French Canadian communicator. For the other communication, advocating obligatory financial contributions by alumni to their Alma Mater, no communicator differences were found. Inconsistencies between these findings and previous findings led to the view that the emotional tone of the communications was an important operating variable.
Children's Language Coding in Short-Term Memory
Authors: Locke John L.
Published: July 2017

This paper presents a review of various studies on the acquisition, nature and function of language coding in children's learning. Recent experiments are described in which hearing children's phonetic, and deaf children's dactylic, coding activity and mediation effects were expressed in tasks requiring recall from short-term memory. There is some review of verbal production and mediation deficiency hypotheses, and a possible connection between disordered language and inefficient coding is discussed. As opposed to their value in generating meaning, language segments are considered useful in the rehearsal and storage of codable material in memory.
The Effect of Intonational Emphasis on Sentence Comprehension in Severely Subnormal and Normal Children
Authors: Wheldall Kevin , Swann William
Published: July 2017

The effect of intonational emphasis on the sentence comprehension of severely subnormal and normal pre-school children was investigated by stressing the critical elements of sentences of varying syntactic structure. The results concurred with previous work insofar as intonational emphasis did not facilitate comprehension. There was, however, some evidence to show that intonational emphasis may have a detrimental effect on the subnormal child's comprehension of negative structures.
New Methods for Studying Plant Disease Epidemics
Authors: Hirst J. M.
Published: July 2017

New instruments and methods developed at Rothamsted are proving to be of great value in studying the epidemiology of plant diseases. With their aid much has been learned about the infection requirements of potato blight and apple scab, and it has been possible to define more precisely than before when attacks start and how they progress, indicating the direction that further work in control of these diseases by fungicides should take.
A type of farming map based on agricultural census data
Authors: Church B. M. , Boyd D. A. , Evans J. A. , Sadler J. I.
Published: July 2017

The first detailed map showing the types of farming in England and Wales was published in 1941; this valuable map was necessarily and admittedly subjective. A new map has now been prepared from farm census data, a task which has become practicable by use of electronic computers. Both the method of constructing this map and the characteristics of the areas distinguished are objectively defined. The authors point to the advantages of agreeing a specification so that a map of this kind may be made periodically to illustrate regional changes in farming pattern.
Grassland pests – an unseen enemy
Authors: Clements R O
Published: July 2017

Except when it is newly sown, pasture grass in the UK rarely shows any obvious sign of attack by the large burden of insects and other invertebrates that inhabit it. As a result of studies carried out over the past ten years, however, it now seems that large and widespread losses do occur as a result of insect pest damage. Lowland ryegrass-dominant swards are worst affected and may lose up to a third of the total annual yield, but there is a wide range of varietal susceptibility.
Renewable sources of energy (carbohydrates)
Authors: Coombs J
Published: July 2017

Alcohol produced from carbohydrates by gasification followed by catalytic re-synthesis or by fermentation can be used as substitute liquid transport fuel or as chemical feedstock. Sugar cane at present appears to be the most attractive resource in tropical countries but there are other potentially suitable cereal and root crops. In temperate climates it is unlikely that biomass fuel will contribute much of the energy demand except in countries with large timber resources.
Monitoring Fertilizer Supply and Demand in a Deregulated Market
Authors: Qureshi Mushtaq Ahmed
Published: July 2017

The fertilizer sector in Pakistan is on the verge of fundamental changes. Some barriers have been removed and others will follow. The process of privatization has greatly increased the need for monitoring supplies, prices and stocks. This paper describes the importance of continued monitoring of the fertilizer supply and demand situation and prices. This must be undertaken on a regular basis because while fertilizer consumption is purely seasonal, yet we continue to depend on imports of phosphatic and potassic fertilizer. Moreover, importation procedures take time. This paper also places emphasis on the correct forecasting of fertilizer demand, to avoid shortages for the farmers, or excess stocks which would yield low profits for the distributors.
Look at it this way
Authors: Fitzhugh Hank
Published: July 2017

The Look at it this way section of the journal features contributions from distinguished scientists on contentious and current issues in areas such as development, population growth, agricultural production and policy.
Biotechnology: a key element in the CGIAR's livestock research programme
Authors: Teale Alan
Published: July 2017

The unique potential of biotechnology to provide new solutions to old problems constraining the contribution of livestock to farming systems in the developing world is emphasized in this paper. An overview of biotechnological aspects of livestock research within the CGIAR, including a description of the research approaches being adopted at the International Livestock Research Institute, is provided. The products of the research are then identified, and their potential applications in disease diagnosis and vaccination, as well as in the fields of animal breeding and genetic improvement, are described.
Partnership with Malawian Farmers to Develop Organic Matter Technologies
Authors: Kanyama-Phiri G. , Snapp S. , Minae S.
Published: July 2017

One of the biggest challenges in the tropics is to develop organic matter technologies (OMT) which increase production, reduce risk and are taken up by farmers. An interdisciplinary team of researchers, extension staff and farmers addressed this challenge in southern Malawi. Two watersheds were identified as the primary unit of research, extension and development to test OMTs. This landscape-based approach provided the platform for interdisciplinary research and farmer-participatory, community based assessment of OMTs. The on-going process involves testing a menu of farmers' OMT recommendations and closely linked process research conducted in the field. The OMT with promise in the maize-dominated cropping system of the watersheds was relay intercropping of agroforestry species ( Sesbania sesban and Tephrosia vogelii). Evaluation of OMT performance involved farmer assessment and biological evaluation. Farmer participatory methods included village group and individual semi-structured questionnaires, linear transect walks, and farmer-managed, researcher-designed trials. Biology included monitoring cropping system production, linked with soil nitrogen dynamics and watershed nutrient budgets to assess sustainability of OMTs. Nutrient budgets indicated that system productivity can be enhanced almost two-fold by addition of 30 N kg/ha N as an organic or inorganic source, and nutrient losses will be lowest with a combined OMT plus inorganic fertilizer technology. The poorest farmers with access to small, infertile fields tended to have sandy soils with low nitrate levels and limited growth of Sesbania. This reduced the benefit from relay OMT systems. These farmers may be candidates for more intensive use of grain legume intercrops and rotations, as benefits from the grain are needed by these food-insecure households, and will complement soil fertility amelioration.
Soil Fertility Status and Cassava Yield in Tanzania: (I) Nutrient Levels in Cassava-Growing Soils
Authors: Asadu Charles L.A. , Nweke Felix I.
Published: July 2017

One of the main objectives of the Collaborative Study of Cassava in Africa (COSCA) was to obtain data on the cassava production systems in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Tanzania soils grown to cassava and other major arable crops in 45 villages were sampled in order to assess and compare their fertility status and relate the fertility status to factors which could have given rise to any observed variations. Soils were collected from 0–20 and 20–40 cm depth and 16 physicochemical properties were considered. Both climate and altitude significantly influenced at least 11 of the soil properties in fields grown to cassava. Human population density and cassava mixture significantly influenced particle-size distribution, total nitrogen, organic matter (OM) and exchangeable acidity. The soils of the non-humid and those of the low altitude zones were respectively, on average, more fertile than those of the subhumid and mid-altitude zones. Comparatively, soils grown to cassava were as fertile as or more fertile than soils grown to other arable crops, except in the cases of Mg++, total exchangeable bases (TEB) and effective cation exchange capacity (ECEC) for soils grown to banana or plantain. Based on the rating scale for optimum cassava performance, only nitrogen was found to be lower than the critical minimum required by cassava and thus needs to be applied in most of the soils. On average, the soils of the entire area sampled were generally medium to high in fertility.
Leveraging the idea of ‘Humanitarian War’
Authors: Banta Benjamin R
Published: July 2017

In attempting to bring the frame of war more directly into the discussion over humanitarian intervention in the early 1990s, Adam Roberts quipped that ‘“humanitarian war” is an oxymoron that may yet become a reality’. No longer was humanitarianism only meant to restrain the means of warfare, but the violent and political logic of war was now supposed to serve the caring and universal dictates of humanitarianism. This essay takes the chance to theorize the idea of humanitarian war further to help improve our understanding of the reality that has become of it, where not only humanitarian interventions or coercive enactments of the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ feature humanitarian casus belli, but even more geopolitically motivated wars often do as well. It notes how scholarship on such phenomena often rests on overly restrictive and sometimes only implicit notions of how a humanitarian justification can and does influence the practice of war. It then offers a deeper and more plausible theorization of humanitarian war, laying out a range of possible forms and a central tendency that ties them together. This essay closes by discussing some of the benefits of grounding future analyses of humanitarian war in the theorization on offer.
Fault Lines of the American Military Profession
Authors: Crosbie Thomas , Kleykamp Meredith
Published: July 2017

Over the past decade, the American armed services have witnessed a near-constant stream of so-called ethical lapses. Spanning rank, specialty, and service, these “lapses” have given rise to a flood of criticism by journalists and piercing calls for reform from politicians. In response, American military leaders have pointed to the paired concepts of profession and professionalism as the solution. In this article, we use classical conceptualizations of the military profession to resituate the problem of ethical lapses as instead one of the three fault lines of the contemporary American military profession, unfolding alongside crises in military expertise and identity. The three fault lines reveal at once the large scale of the challenges facing the American armed services and our very limited social scientific understanding of those problems. We end by emphasizing the need for future research to establish an updated empirical baseline for theories of the military profession in America.
Empirical derivation of flow parameters describing the behaviour of a novel artificial test solid for building drainage systems
Authors: Campbell David
Published: July 2017

The empirical investigation and development of a new Drainage Research Group drain-line carry test solid (DRG) for use in building drainage, waste and ventilation system research is described. The ‘shelf life’ of the National Bureau of Standards test solid used historically (NBS solid) was short and variability in results was large, making it problematic for use in extended investigative work. Further investigations revealed that the materials used in its construction were porous and osmosis would be a contributing factor to the variability observed, as would biofilm growth, causing changes in the coefficients of kinetic and static friction. This research is timely in view of the changing (i.e. generally reducing) volume and energy of contemporary discharges through water conservation initiatives such as WaterWise. Modern materials and analytical techniques present an opportunity to update the NBS solid and develop a modern alternative for research. The results from laboratory testing of the DRG solid compare favourably to the results from the NBS solid. The current mathematical description of the behaviour of a test solid used in a computer-based simulation model (DRAINET) is expanded and updated to include the new findings, creating the potential for extensive follow-on uptake of these results and use by other researchers and potentially use as a standard.

Practical application: The research described articulates with other work in this field related to water conservation strategies; specifically, the investigation of potential unintended consequences through failure to maintain effective drain line carry and self-cleansing velocities. The results are suitable for use by researchers generally and by mathematical modellers in particular.
Offshore Geology and Petroleum Potential of Eastern Canada
Authors: Grant A. C. , McAlpine K. D. , Wade J. A.
Published: July 2017

The continental margin of eastern Canada is underlain by a series of Mesozoic-Cenozoic sedimentary basins that have been targets of active hydrocarbon exploration for over two decades. Data from approximately 170 released exploratory wells and about 600 000 km of multichannel seismic coverage have delineated three major geological/geochemical regions. On the Scotian Shelf, 18 significant (predominantly gas/condensate) discoveries have been made out of 78 wildcats drilled since 1967. Seven of these, including the Venture field, are in an overpressured zone that has been explored extensively only since 1979. The 61 wildcat wells drilled on the Grand Banks through mid- 1985 have yielded 13 significant (predominantly light oil) discoveries, including the giant Hibernia oil field. Labrador-Southeast Baffin Shelf exploration has yielded six gas/condensate discoveries in 24 wildcat wells drilled since 1971. As petroleum exploration is still at an early stage off eastern Canada these results represent an auspicious beginning.
Gas Market Developments in Western Europe
Authors: Odell Peter R.
Published: July 2017

Prospects for the European gas markets are excellent because North Sea reserves are extensive, the distance to markets small and the latent domestic demand to replace uneconomic coal gas. Nevertheless, expansion in the gas trade has been modest because the industry has not been sufficiently assertive to dispel misconceptions about the adequecy of supply and to deal with pressures from competing energy interests. Increasing rivalry between suppliers can only lead to greater sales effort and the creation of demand, particularly for non-traditional end-users. Expansion of European gas markets could be drastically increased through greater efforts by the Soviet Union to export. This could only happen with price competitiveness that would significantly expand gas markets. There is every reason to expect that the natural gas share of the European energy market would continue to grow until it was the single most important component of western Europe's supply of energy.
Lessons from Environmental Monitoring of the La Grande Complex – Phase 1
Authors: Chartrand N. , Doucet J. , Egré D. , Hayeur G. , Schetagne R. , Verdon R.
Published: July 2017

A monitoring program and network of stations was established to assess the environmental consequences of the hydroelectric developments on the La Grande Rivière to: Collect data for environmental management, for better forecasting of impact of future projects and to monitor changes affecting native communities. The results of monitoring activities were reviewed by an advisory panel of experts. Observations were made on fish populations, mercury levels, estuaries, wildfowl and the Cree communities. Studies such as these, conducted over the last 20 years, have contributed to establishing analytical methods and enhancement measures that are the basis of practices.
Kupe – A Dove in Search of an Olive Tree
Authors: Hutchinson R.
Published: July 2017

The address covers the New Zealand energy market, the likely role of Kupe South in this market and looks at options beyond Kupe South. These include exploration. conservation and importation. A comparison between the New Zealand gas scene and that in Australia is made. Does this present some Trans-Tasman opportunities? Are there any lessons to be learnt? Will our environmental goals prevent us from optimising our greenhouse emissions? How can we best proceed?
Gas in Electricity Generation
Authors: Devine K.
Published: July 2017

Gas is New Zealand's major thermal fuel for electricity generation. This paper describes what influences the volumes of gas burnt by ECNZ, and forecasts future gas demands for electricity generation. It also reviews the uncertainties associated with these forecasts and likely competition in building new electricity generating stations and outlines the strategy now being formulated to accommodate them. Because ECNZ's generation system is hydro-based, relatively small rapid changes in hydrological conditions can significantly affect the amount of gas used. This situation will change over time with major increases in thermal generation likely to be needed over the next 20 years. However, there are considerable uncertainties on gas supply and electricity demand levels in the long run, which will complicate investment and fuel decisions.
Competition for Petroleum Exploration Capital in the Asia-Pacific Region – Implications for New Zealand and Austrialia
Authors: Miller A
Published: July 2017

This paper examines the future energy production and demand profiles for the Asia Pacific region and the global allocation of exploration capital made by major international petroleum companies. The implications of these factors for future government petroleum exploration policies within the region are considered, in particular the Australian and New Zealand situations, together with likely effects of such measures on the ability of exploration and production companies to raise capital.
On the Influence of Uncertainties in Estimating Risk Aversion and Working Interest
Authors: MacKay J.A. , Lerche I.
Published: July 2017

The influence of uncertainties in costs, value, success probability, risk tolerance and mandated working interest are evaluated for their impact on assessing probable ranges of uncertainty on risk adjusted value, RAV, using different models. The relative importance of different factors in contributing to the uncertainty in RAV in analyzed, as is the influence of different probability distributions for the intrinsic variables entering the RAV model formulae.

Numerical illustrations indicate how the RAV probabilities depend not only on the model functions (Cozzolino, hyperbolic tangent) used to provide RAV estimates, but also on the intrinsic shapes of the probability distributions from which are drawn input parameter values for Monte Carlo simulations.

In addition, a mandated range of working interest can be addressed as an extra variable contributing to the probabilistic range of RAV; while negative RAV values for a high-cost project can be used to assess the probable buy-out amount one should be prepared to pay depending on corporate risk philosophy.

Also, the procedures illustrate how the relative contributions of scientific factors influence uncertainty of reserve assessments, allowing one to determine where to concentrate effort to improve the ranges of uncertainty.
Evaluation of Seal Capacity for Carbonate Reservoir with Salt Seal in Karachaganak Field, Kazakhstan
Authors: Nakayama Kazuo
Published: July 2017

It is important to estimate sealing capacity for traps before drilling, because of the direct influence on the estimation of hydrocarbon reserves. In general, sealing capacity can be measured by a maximum hydrocarbon column height that retains a hydrostatic equilibrium condition between the buoyancy exerted upward and the capillary pressure exerted downward. Gas column height is smaller than that of an oil column because the buoyancy of gas caused by the density difference relative to water is much larger than that of oil, although the gas interfacial tension is greater than that of oil. For a carbonate sequence with salt as a cap rock, we can apply this concept to estimate the trapped reserves.

In the Karachaganak Field, North Caspian Basin, the gas/oil contact (GOC) and oil/water contact (OWC) are observed at −4950m and −5150m respectively, while the top of the structure is at −3526m. Oil was initially accumulated and gas migrated into the structure afterwards. There are two possible scenarios for the way oil and gas accumulated.

The application of the concept of estimating sealing capacity for the case of the “Independent Buoyancy Model” reveals that an equivalent pore throat for salt is about 10–5mm, equivalent to that formed by a shale of equivalent grain-size of 9.8 in phi-scale. If we take the case of “Total Buoyancy Model”, shale of the same grain-size could have held 1000 m oil column height at the depth of 2900 m. As the formation was being buried, migrating gas pushed down the oil downward, resulting in the present situation.

In either case, a maximum gas column of 1424 m would be expected over this area. If we try to find oil trapped as an economical reserve in this area, it is necessary to find a structure that has a relief of more than 1400m. Thus the sealing capacity estimation plays an important role for hydrocarbon exploration.