bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Current patch test results in consecutive patients with, and chemical analysis of, disperse blue (DB) 106, DB 124, and the mix of DB 106 and 124
Authors: Uter Wolfgang , Hildebrandt Stephan , Geier Johannes , Schnuch Axel , Lessmann Holger
Published: August 2007

Disperse blue (DB) 106 and 124 are important textile dye allergens. However, the dye raw material is impure, leading to uncertainty regarding the actual patch test (PT) concentration. To examine, (i) the allergen content of previously and currently used DB 106 and 124 and a respective mix, and (ii) the frequency of positive PT reactions to the DB 106/124 mix and to the single compounds in consecutive PT patients. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis and purification of DB 106 and 124, respectively. Descriptive analysis of PT data from the Information network of departments of dermatology obtained between January 2003 and December 2005. Retrospectively, 2 batches of the DB 106/124 mix proved to contain an amount of allergen different to the 1 declared (based on information of suppliers of raw material). However, since February 2005, DB 106 and 124, respectively, are available at a reliable concentration of 0.3% petrolatum. In 2005, the prevalence of positive PT reactions to both the mix (0.89%) and the single constituents combined (0.56%) did not qualify them for inclusion in the standard series. Quality control, providing accurate test concentrations of allergens based on technical grade purity raw materials is necessary for valid diagnosis of contact allergy and comparable epidemiological data.
The Topography of Presence: Bonnefoy and the Spatialization of Poetry
Authors: Argyros Alex
Published: August 2007

Critics have usually read Bonnefoy's poetry as a kind of writing seeking its own annihilation in the face of presence. Using Du mouvement et de l'immobilité de Douve as a laboratory, this paper sets two goals for itself: One, to investigate the theoretical rigor of the critical concepts presupposed by both Bonnefoy himself and his most influential readers. Two, to analyze a typical Bonnefoy poem in the attempt to demonstrate that it in fact doesn't reduce itself in the service of the extra‐textual.

Du mouvement et de l'immobilité de Douve is an elegant example of the recalcitrance of poetry. It refuses to be subsumed into that version of Hegelian dialectics that most critics of Bonnefoy's work have tended to use, either explicitly or implicitly, as a theoretical infrastructure upon which to situate the poem. Instead, it perforais its resistance to speculative negation by thematizing its own linguistic materiality.
Die Zerknirschung des Herzens –über Erinnerung und Grausamkeit im Werk von Peter Weiss
Authors: Sebald W. G.
Published: August 2007

Auf den nachstehenden Seiten geht es um den Versuch, einige Hypothesen zu dem im bildnerischen wie literarischen Werk von Peter Weiss so prävalenten Phänomen der Grausamkeit zu entwickeln. So grundlegende Bezüge wie die zwischen Wahrheitssuche und Grausamkeit einerseits und zwischen Grausamkeit und Erinnerungsvermögen andererseits kommen dabei zur Sprache, sowie auch die solchen extremen Spannungen entsprechenden ästhetischen Konzeptionen. Kunst als die Selbstzerstörung des künstlerischen Subjekts erscheint dabei als ein Paradigma der zur Debatte stehenden Komplexion.

L'homme a des endroits de son pauvre coeur qui n 'existent pas encore et où la douleur entre afin qu'ils soient.

Léon Bloy
Was (is) there an American Avantgarde? Theoretical Reflections on Innovation and Tradition in Avantgarde and Modernism
Authors: Donnerstag Jürgen
Published: August 2007

This article considers the role of the avantgarde in American modernism. It suggests to distinguish modernism and avantgarde with respect to the function of innovation and tradition. Both the modern and the avantgarde author are stylistically innovative, but for the modern author innovation strengthens the traditional concept of the autonomous, self‐sufficient work of art, whereas for the avantgarde writer radical innovation functions as a disruptive force which supposedly leads to a re‐unification of art and life. The avantgarde movements ‐ especially dadaism, futurism, and surrealism ‐ came into existence as an answer to specific European conditions in art and society and did not play any larger role in the United States. The expatriate American authors Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein are not avantgarde authors, but essentially modern writers. After modernism had succeeded in America as the epitome of high art' an American neo‐avantgarde developed during the 1950s and 1960s which revived the disruptive techniques of the European historical avantgarde in an effort to close the gap between art and life. What is called postmodernism today is not an avantgarde movement anymore. It lacks both the negation of the past and the Utopian impulse essential for any avantgarde.
Martin Walsers Novelle «Ein fliehendes Pferd»
Authors: Schote Joachim
Published: August 2007

Die Novelle «Ein fliehendes Pferd» (1978) übernimmt wesentliche Motive aus Goethes Roman Die Wahlverwandschaften (1810). Ebenso wie bei Goethe, beruht auch bei Walser das Geschehen auf der symmetrischen Zuordnung der Hauptfiguren. Außerdem hat sich Walser bei der formalen Konzeption seiner Novelle sehr eng an die klassische Novellentheorie angelehnt, die ebenfalls von Goethe stammt. Dies jedoch bedeutet zugleich eine Ironisierung und Auflösung der klassischen Form. Vor allem an der zentralen Rolle, die die Motive des Scheins und des Wassers spielen, wird dies deutlich. Bei Goethe sind die zwei Bedeutungen des Wassers als schicksalhafte Bestätigung der mythischen Verstrickung der Hauptfiguren und als Medium der Befreiung vom Schein genau voneinander getrennt. Für die mythische Verstrickung steht der Bergsee, für die befreiende Kraft der reißende Strom der eingefügten Novelle. Demgegenüber sind sie bei Walser in Gestalt des durch einen Sturm aufgespeitschten Bodensees zu einer Einheit zusammengezogen. Die dadurch bewirkte Mehrdeutigkeit steht quer zur formalen Strenge und Geschlossenheit der klassischen Novellenform.
Tragic Affirmation in Yeats and Nietzsche
Authors: Grgas Stipe
Published: August 2007

The starting point for this paper was the realization that a sort of complex dynamics, a deterministic relationship is evident in Yeats's poetic output and Nietzsche's thought. In the article I try to show the similarity of structure and relations between the basic motifs of Nietzsche's and Yeats's writings. The article makes an attempt to show how tragic affirmation, evaluated here as the matrix of their work, is consequent upon the turn to the earth and the cyclical conception of time. Although the phrase “tragic joy” appears only once in the poetry. I argue that Yeats expresses this psycho‐emotional complex in at least four different ways: through his frequent evocations of laughter; by his use of the imagery of dancing; the ironic function that he assigns to the refrain; and through the emotional tonality which permeates the majority of his later poetry.
Medusas Metamorphosen. Stefan Schütz' Medusa und Peter Weiss' Die Ästhetik des Widerstands
Authors: Knittel Anton Philipp , Deutschland Tübingen
Published: August 2007

Die Ästhetik des Widerstands von Peter Weiss und Medusa von Stefan Schütz kennzeichen nicht nur eine ähnliche Sprach‐Gewalt und «Bilderwut», sondern auch eine je besondere Inszenierung des Medusenmythos'. Medusa im Fadenkreuz beider Werke liefert schließlich die Bedingung der Möglichkeit, die oft beklagte Hermetik sowohl des einen wie des anderen Textes aufzubrechen und den ästhetisch‐poetologischen Anspruch beider Werke zu hinterfragen.
‘Entgleisungen’in Hauptmanns Nachlaß. Zur Thematisierung weiblicher Sexualität bei Ola Hansson und Laura Marholm
Authors: Sprengel Peter
Published: August 2007

Anhand eines bisher unbekannten Textes aus Hauptmanns hand‐schriftlichem Nachlaß (Die entgleiste Dame; Veröffentlichung am Ende des Aufsatzes) wird Hauptmanns zwiespältiges Verhältnis zum Ehepaar Hansson/Marholm dargestellt. Die Thematisierung weiblicher Sexualität in Ola Hanssons Alltagsfrauen. Ein Stück moderner Liebesphysiologie (deutsche Erstausgabe Ende 1891) erscheint dem naturalistischen Dramatiker als überspitzt und einseitig. Laura Marholms Beiträge zur Frauenliteratur werden von Hauptmann ‐ trotz partieller Übereinstimmung in der Auffassung der Frau als Geschlechtswesen ‐ mit einer Heftigkeit abgelehnt, die sich nur aus unterschwelliger Konkurrenzangst erklären laßt. Die entgleiste Dame, eine parodistische Zitat‐Klitterung aus Hanssons Erzählung Entgleist, erweist sich als Satire auf Laura Marholm, entstanden wohl im Sommer 1892.
Laura Marholm, Fr. Nietzsche und G. Hauptmanns Einsame Menschen
Authors: Sørensen Bengt Algot
Published: August 2007

Die kurze, aber intensive, fast freundschaftlich anmutende Verbindung zwischen Laura Marholm und Gerhart Hauptmann im Jahre 1890 wird zunächst charakterisiert. Die damalige Beschäftigung Gerhart Hauptmanns mit Nietzsche, die nicht zuletzt durch Georg Brandes, Ola Hansson und Laura Marholm angeregt wurde, wird dokumentiert und das bisher übersehene Vorhandensein von Nietzsches Ideen im Drama Einsame Menschen nachgewiesen. Dieses Drama, das ebenfalls im Jahre 1890 begonnen und vollendet wurde, entstand unter dem unmittelbaren Eindruck von Laura Marholms Persönlichkeit und geistig‐literarischer Tätigkeit. Trägerin der Nietzsche‐Ideen in Einsame Menschen ist die weibliche Hauptperson Anna Mahr, die deshalb und auch aus anderen Gründen als Vorlage Laura Marholm erkennen läßt. Diese Auffassung steht im Widerspruch zu der späteren Erklärung Gerhart Hauptmanns, daß ihm die Polin Josepha Krzyzanowska als Modell für Anna Mahr gedient habe. Die beiden Auffassungen schließen sich allerdings nicht aus, aber Gerhart Hauptmann hat aus persönlichen Gründen die Bedeutung Laura Marholms für das Drama Einsame Menschen verschwiegen.
Song, Snow, and Feasting: Dialogue and Carnival in The Dead*
Authors: Kelman Edna
Published: August 2007

Joyce's The Dead illustrates Bakhtin's idea that meaning is a living, dialogic phenomenon, where words struggle to capture potential meaning in a fluctuating context. At the same time, Bakhtin's dialogic methodology is itself enriched when Joyce's text anticipates, figures and sometimes resists its Bakhtinian intertext. A Bakhtinian Joyce offers readers an “epiphanic” perception of the openendedness of the heteroglossic “arguments” that take place throughout the text between inside and outside, life and death, voices (narrative and characters’voices) and silence. The “grace notes” in Aunt Julia's song and its depiction are no mere embellishment: they enact heteroglossia, and reveal potential textual manipulations of the reader. “Snow” ‐ a focusing agent in the text ‐ brings forward cultural and literary intertexts, while the feasting, like traditional carnival, permits subversive “unofficial truth” to be spoken. Like Joyce's “impersonal” artist and Bakhtin's “third party” author, the snow manages to express an impulse toward neutrality as it blankets the meanings it exposes, Yet the word “snow,” like a self‐contradicting Bakhtinian voice, dialogically and repeatedly breaks through to potentially renewed meaning.
Maximes de roman en anthologie: périls et dérives
Authors: Camprubí Carles Besa
Published: August 2007

S'interroger sur la “mise en liste” par laquelle les anthologies rendent compte de la portée et la valeur des énoncés doxologiques imbriqués dans un roman, revient à poser la problématique du statut lui‐même de la maxime fictionnelle. En effet, alors que, en qualité de “texte dans un autre texte”, la maxime romanesque est moins un genre qu'un type de parole—une force dans le récit qui l'inclut et l'englobe—, dans une anthologie elle devient une forme sans fonction, c'est‐à‐dire un énoncé privé de son énonciation. Les impostures d'une telle approche sautent aux yeux dès que l'on fait une lecture authentiquement fictionnelle de la maxime. L'exemple de Proust, qui a conçu pour son narrateur un discours théorique volontairement imparfait ou incorrect sur le plan idéologique (car ce discours ne s'accorde pas toujours aux épisodes internes du récit), prouve que la maxime ne peut nullement être envisagée en tant qu'élément textuel sécable—en tant qu'énoncé sérieux ou sincère, autosuffisant ou autocommunicatif—, mais comme un “lieu stratégique”—un acte de fiction. Détextualiser la maxime implique donc faire basculer frauduleusement l'esthétique dans l'éthique, la fiction dans l'autobiographie, le vraisemblable dans le vrai.
The Scenario of Letters; Beckford and the Epistolary Narrative
Authors: Claésson Dick
Published: August 2007

The article deals with the epistolary narrative of William Beckford (1760–1844), most renowned as the author of the Oriental tale Vathek (1786). Although a copious letter‐writer, Beckford's letters have not received much critical attention. The article attempts a close reading of some features of Beckfordian letter‐writing—a preliminary investigation into its style, rhetorical complexities and consistent merging of narrator and narratee. Studying separate letters as a whole (as one text), the article tries to make visible those literary strategies that make Beckford's epistolary prose—even at its most private and personal—a subject worth historical as well as theoretical scrutiny.
Ökonomie und Sexualität in Georg Kaisers Von morgens bis mitternachts und seiner Verfilmung durch Karl‐Heinz Martin*
Authors: Wilke Sabine
Published: August 2007

Hinter Kaiser's Drama Von morgens bis mitternachts verbirgt sich eine interessante und zeittypische Analyse der kapitalistischen Geldwirtschaft aus der Perspektive der phallischen Sexualität, deren Strukturmuster als analog empfunden werden. Kaisers Drama und, mit einer Akzentverschiebung, auch der von Karl‐Heinz Martin 1920 fertiggestellte Film sind Zeugnis einer als enge Umschlingung empfundenen Symbiose von Ökonomie und männlicher Sexualität mit ihrer im freudianischen Sinne konzipierten Dynamik von Ver‐ausgabung und Projektion. Kaisers und Martins Kassierer erfahren die Eigengesetzlichkeit von Zirkulationsfluß und Geldregulierung an ihrem eigenen Körper in Form von Befriedigung und Nichtbe‐friedigung ihrer phallischen Wünsche und halten von daher noch an einer traditionellen Vorstellung von Wert‐ und Objektrelation fest. Die Erfahrung der Eigendynamik von Kreditwirtschaft wird über‐tragen auf die Wunschökonomie der männlichen Sexualität: je mehr die Frau in die Projektion der verführerischen, aber grausamen Venus im Pelz eingefangen wird, umso mehr entzieht sie sich der tat‐sächlichen Kontrolle durch den Mann.
Lipopolyamine treatment increases the efficacy of intoxication with saporin and an anticancer saporin conjugate
Authors: Geden Sandra E. , Gardner Richard A. , Fabbrini M. Serena , Ohashi Masato , Phanstiel IV Otto , Teter Ken
Published: August 2007

Saporin is a type I ribosome‐inactivating protein that is often appended with a cell‐binding domain to specifically target and kill cancer cells. Urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA)‐saporin, for example, is an anticancer toxin that consists of a chemical conjugate between the human uPA and native saporin. Both saporin and uPA‐saporin enter the target cell by endocytosis and must then escape the endomembrane system to reach the cytosolic ribosomes. The latter process may represent a rate‐limiting step for intoxication and would therefore directly affect toxin potency. In the present study, we document two treatments (shock with dimethylsulfoxide and lipopolyamine coadministration) that generate substantial cellular sensitization to saporin/uPA‐saporin. With the use of lysosome‐endosome X (LEX)1 and LEX2 mutant cell lines, an endosomal trafficking step preceding cargo delivery to the late endosomes was identified as a major site for the dimethylsulfoxide‐facilitated entry of saporin into the cytosol. Dimethylsulfoxide and lipopolyamines are known to disrupt the integrity of endosome membranes, so these reagents could facilitate the rapid movement of toxin from permeabilized endosomes to the cytosol. However, the same pattern of toxin sensitization was not observed for dimethylsulfoxide‐ or lipopolyamine‐treated cells exposed to diphtheria toxin, ricin, or the catalytic A chain of ricin. The sensitization effects were thus specific for saporin, suggesting a novel mechanism of saporin translocation by endosome disruption. Lipopolyamines have been developed as in vivo gene therapy vectors; thus, lipopolyamine coadministration with uPA‐saporin or other saporin conjugates could represent a new approach for anticancer toxin treatments.
Chronic Lead Exposure May be Associated with Erectile Dysfunction
Authors: Anis Tarek H. , ElKaraksy Ahmed , Mostafa Taymour , Gadalla Amr , Imam Hager , Hamdy Lamya , Abu el-Alla Omayma
Published: August 2007

Introduction

Heavy metals constitute significant potential threats to human health in both occupational and environmental settings. Research examining the etiology of lead toxicity-induced hypertension reveals that the free radical production and lowering of inherent antioxidant reserves resulting from lead toxicity are directly related to vasoconstriction underlying lead-induced hypertension. A similar mechanism would affect smooth muscle relaxation in the cavernous tissue leading to erectile dysfunction (ED).

Aim

Is to study the possible hazardous effect of chronic lead exposure on the erectile function, and to document the deposition of lead in the cavernous tissue.

Methods

The study group consisted of 34 men with ED, consecutively scheduled for penile implant insertion at Cairo University Hospital, as well as 15 controls. We determined the blood lead level for the two groups by the use of atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Sixteen of the 34 patients, and none of the 15 controls, had elevated lead serum levels (above 25 [g/dL]).

Main Outcome Measures

We estimated the levels of two reactive oxygen species (ROS) and four antioxidants in peripheral blood for the two groups. At the time of penile implant insertion, we prepared cavernous tissue paraffin sections stained with Mallory–Parker stain to study lead deposition. We also prepared ultrathin sections for electron microscopy. We estimated cavernous tissue lead level.

Results

The ED group had significantly higher blood lead level when compared with the control group. A significant positive correlation was found between the blood lead level and cavernous tissue lead level of the ED group. Individuals with high blood lead had significantly higher levels of serum ROS and significantly lower levels of serum antioxidants, compared with those having low blood lead. Histological sections from patients with high blood lead showed deposition of grayish lead granules in the cavernous tissue.

Conclusions

Chronic lead exposure may be associated with ED.
EQAS for peripheral blood morphology in Spain: a 6‐year experience
Authors: GUTIÉRREZ G. , MERINO A. , DOMINGO A. , JOU J. M. , REVERTER J. C.
Published: August 2007

The Spanish haematology external quality assessment scheme (EQAS), established in 1984, is run by the Spanish Haematology and Haemotherapy Association (AEHH) [Quality Assurance in Health Care 3 (1991) 75] and functions to evaluate the quality and reproducibility of the assessment of diagnostic samples by clinical laboratories. The Hospital Clinic of the University of Barcelona (HCB) serves as the EQAS Coordination Centre and follows the guidelines established by the International Committee for Standardization in Haematology [Annali dell'Istituto superiore di Sanità 31 (1995) 95; International Journal of Hematology 68 (1998) 45]. During the period 2001–2006, replicates of 25 different blood films were sent to 604 EQAS participants for cell morphology evaluation. Some patient details corresponding to the samples were disclosed, such us age, sex, haemoglobin value and white blood cell count. The participants were asked to select up to four significant morphology features using a coding list, provided by the Coordination Centre, which included significant morphological alterations that appear in haematopoietic cells. For each survey, individual results were assessed against the morphological reference results (MRR) established by the Cytology Group of the AEHH (‘true’ answers). This paper describes the organization of the 6‐year‐long study and the evaluation of laboratory performance for blood smear interpretation by the Spanish haematology EQAS. Different performance levels were detected relative to the laboratory category. Laboratories providing services to hospitalized patients showed higher performances compared with laboratories providing services to nonhospitalized patients. Pathological lymphoid cells were the most difficult to identify by the participants. To improve the results in EQAS peripheral blood morphology, the development of specific cytology educational trainings is discussed.
What Is ‘Body Work’? A Review of the Literature
Authors: Gimlin Debra
Published: August 2007

Lyon and Barbalet (1994), Kang (2003), Wolkowitz (2002, 2006), and others have proposed the concept of ‘body work’ as a means for further developing the sociology of the body. This article gives an overview of the different (although frequently overlapping) forms of body work that have been identified in the sociological literature. These include a notion of body work as (i) the work performed on one's own body, (ii) paid labor carried out on the bodies of others, (iii) the management of embodied emotional experience and display, and (iv) the production or modification of bodies through work. The article concludes with suggestions for the future of research on body work and the sociology of the body.
Histone H3K4 demethylases are essential in development and differentiationThis paper is one of a selection of papers published in this Special Issue, entitled 28th International West Coast Chromatin and Chromosome Conference, and has undergone the Journal's usual peer review process.
Authors: Benevolenskaya Elizaveta V.
Published: August 2007

Lysine histone methylation is one of the most robust epigenetic marks and is essential for the regulation of multiple cellular processes. The methylation of Lys4 of histone H3 seems to be of particular significance. It is associated with active regions of the genome, and in Drosophila it is catalyzed by trithorax-group proteins that have become paradigms of developmental regulators at the level of chromatin. Like other histone methylation events, H3K4 methylation was considered irreversible until the identification of a large number of histone demethylases indicated that demethylation events play an important role in histone modification dynamics. However, the described demethylases had no strictly assigned biological functions and the identity of the histone demethylases that would contribute to the epigenetic changes specifying certain biological processes was unknown. Recently, several groups presented evidence that a family of 4 JmjC domain proteins results in the global changes of histone demethylation, and in elegant studies using model organisms, they demonstrated the importance of this family of histone demethylases in cell fate determination. All 4 proteins possess the demethylase activity specific to H3K4 and belong to the poorly described JARID1 protein family.
Chromatin and chromatin-modifying proteins in adipogenesisThis paper is one of a selection of papers published in this Special Issue, entitled 28th International West Coast Chromatin and Chromosomes Conference, and has undergone the Journal's usual peer review process.
Authors: Musri Melina M. , Gomis Ramon , Párrizas Marcelina
Published: August 2007

Long considered scarcely more than an uninteresting energy depot, adipose tissue has recently achieved star status. Far from being mere fat droplets, the adipocytes secrete a number of hormones and bioactive peptides, collectively known as adipokines, which participate in the regulation of a variety of functions, from haemostasis to angiogenesis to energy balance. Adipose tissue constitutes a bona-fide endocrine organ whose main dysfunctions, obesity and lipodystrophy, are related to the development of diabetes, hypertension, or dyslipidemia. The renewed interest in this tissue has prompted an escalation in the number of studies focusing on every aspect of the biology of the adipose cell, in the belief that a detailed knowledge of the mechanisms involved in the differentiation and function of adipocytes may contribute new therapeutical approaches to the treatment of such alarming medical problems. Adipogenesis is the result of an intertwined network of transcription factors and coregulators with chromatin-modifying activities that together, are responsible for the establishment of the gene expression pattern of mature adipocytes. Although the exquisitely regulated transcription factor cascade controlling adipogenesis has been extensively studied, the role of chromatin and chromatin-modifying proteins has become apparent only in recent times.
Gas exchange and resource utilization in two alpine oaks at different altitudes in the Hengduan Mountains
Authors: Zhang Shi-Bao , Zhou Zhe-Kun , Hu Hong , Xu Kun
Published: August 2007

The evergreen sclerophyllous broadleaf forests composed of alpine oaks in the Hengduan Mountains of southwest China are mainly distributed at altitudes of 1700–4800 m. Gas exchange and related leaf traits of Quercus guyavifolia H. Lév. and Quercus pannosa Hand.-Mazz. were measured at eight sites along an altitudinal gradient to understand their physiological adaptabilities. Both Q. guyavifolia and Q. pannosa showed a significant midday depression in the photosynthesis rate (PN) due to a high vapor pressure deficit and high temperature around noon. The optimum temperature for photosynthesis for the two oak species ranged from 17 to 23 °C depending on altitude. When the temperature exceeded 25 °C, PN decreased sharply. However, PN was not depressed by high irradiance. As altitude increased, the leaf dry mass per unit area of the two oaks increased but the chlorophyll content decreased, while the maximum values of daily mean photosynthesis rate (Pd), maximum photosynthesis rate (Pmax), Pd/Pmax, water-use efficiency, and photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency occurred at altitudes of 3240–3610 m. Although the photosynthetic capacities of the two oaks were higher in August than in May, altitudinal trends did not change with season. The altitudinal range from 3240 to 3610 m would be optimal for the growth and development of these two alpine oaks in the Hengduan Mountains.
Reconstitution historique du paysage préindustriel de la région écologique des hautes collines du Bas-Saint-Maurice
Authors: Barrette Martin , Bélanger Louis
Published: August 2007

L’aménagement écosystémique nécessite une bonne connaissance de base des écosystèmes vierges et de leur fonctionnement. Toutefois, dans la plupart des régions du Québec, le paysage forestier d’origine a été altéré par les activités humaines. Afin de valider la gestion des écosystèmes effectuée en Basse-Mauricie, le paysage préindustriel des hautes collines du Bas-Saint-Maurice a été caractérisé par l’analyse de 18 inventaires forestiers de l’industrie des pâtes et papiers datant du début du 20e siècle. L’analyse de ces inventaires a révélé la prédominance des peuplements au stade mature ayant une structure diamétrale irrégulière. Les deux tiers de ces peuplements étaient de type mélangé, alors qu’une très faible proportion des peuplements matures était de type feuillu. Le volume résineux était principalement constitué de sapin baumier ( Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) et d’épinettes rouge ( Picea rubens Sarg.) et noire ( Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP). Enfin, l’analyse des inventaires historiques nous indique l’existence, dans le paysage préindustriel, d’un régime de perturbations mixte où les feux et les épidémies d’insectes sévères coexistaient avec les perturbations partielles. Dans une perspective plus large, cette étude a démontré l’importance et l’utilité pour l’aménagement écosystémique de conserver les archives d’inventaires forestiers, car dans bien des cas, celles-ci constituent les seules références au paysage préindustriel.
Sapwood moisture in Douglas-fir boles and seasonal changes in soil water
Authors: Beedlow Peter A. , Tingey David T. , Lee E. Henry , Phillips Donald L. , Andersen Christian P. , Waschmann Ronald S. , Johnson Mark G.
Published: August 2007

Large conifers, such as Douglas-fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco var. menziesii), purportedly draw on water stored in their boles during periods of summer drought. The relation of seasonal changes in soil moisture to sapwood water content was evaluated in four forest stands dominated by mature Douglas-fir along a transect from the Pacific Coast to 1200 m in the western Cascade Mountains of Oregon, USA. The sites varied in stand age, elevation, topography, and soil characteristics, including available soil water capacity. At two sites, gravimetric measures of sapwood relative water content (SRWC) were taken approximately every 4 weeks from May 2002 through July 2004; two additional sites were similarly measured from February 2003 through July 2004. Automated meteorological stations located on the sites and in adjacent open areas continuously monitored weather and soil moisture. Plant-available soil water (ASW) in the upper 0.6 m of soil reached minimum values during the summer drought and rewetted during fall and winter. Large seasonal changes in ASW did not result in corresponding changes in SRWC. Minimum SRWC was lower at sites with higher ASW. At all sites, Douglas-fir trees apparently regulate water loss to maintain consistent (±10%) bole water content throughout the year despite large changes in soil moisture.
Evaluation of irradiance metrics with respect to predicting sapling growth
Authors: Kobe Richard K. , Hogarth Leah J.
Published: August 2007

Accurate and efficient measurement of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) is critical in ecological studies. We evaluated 25 metrics of PAR with respect to predicting growth of sugar maple ( Acer saccharum Marsh.) and white ash ( Fraxinus americana L.) saplings from understory to large gap conditions. PAR metrics were derived from gallium arsenide photodiodes, hemispherical canopy photographs (film and digital), and a LI-COR LAI-2000 plant canopy analyzer. In general, percent canopy openness, estimated with film photographs or LAI-2000, best predicted growth. Mean daily photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) from photodiodes ranked intermediate; direct beam radiation (from digital and film photographs) was among the poorest growth predictors. Metrics that integrate direct radiation may be relatively poor predictors of growth, because sunflecks were above PPFD levels at which photosynthesis saturates but fully contributed to the calculation of mean daily PPFD. Mean daily PPFD based on truncated sunflecks (to PPFD levels at which photosynthesis saturates) improved predictions of white ash radial growth. Film canopy photographs and the LAI-2000 had relatively low measurement error (indicated by repeatability). High contrast in film photographs, compared to digital, reduced ambiguity in manual thresholding. From a plant-centered perspective, percent canopy openness measured with either the LAI-2000 or film hemispherical photographs provided the best growth predictions.
Graft survival and promotion of female and male strobili by topgrafting in a third-cycle slash pine (Pinus elliottiivar.elliottii) breeding program
Authors: Medina Perez Alex M. , White Timothy L. , Huber Dudley A. , Martin Timothy A.
Published: August 2007

A total of 2561 slash pine ( Pinus elliottii Engelm. var. elliottii) grafts were topgrafted in the winter of 2003 and evaluated in January of 2004. The objectives of this study were to understand the effect of the genetic material and crown position on survival and flowering response of topgrafts. Also, the effects of geographic direction, branch order, and scion age on topgraft response were assessed. Topgrafting was an effective tool for promoting both female and male strobili. The genetic material (scion and interstock clones) and the crown position had large effects on the promotion of female flowering and topgraft survival. More than 23% of the total variation in female flowering and 16.3% of the total variation in topgraft survival were due to differences among scion clones and among interstock clones, respectively. The highest survival rate was reached by grafting in the mid-top followed by the top crown position. Grafting in the top of the crown was highly superior in promoting female strobili followed by the mid-top position. First-order branches showed a significantly superior production of female strobili. Chronologically older scions, from selections made in the first and second generations of the tree improvement program, produced more female and male strobili than third-cycle forward selections.
Physiological responses to drought and enhanced UV-B radiation in two contrastingPicea asperatapopulations
Authors: Lu Yanwei , Duan Baoli , Li Chunyang
Published: August 2007

The responses of two Picea asperata Mast. populations to enhanced ultraviolet B (UV-B) radiation under well-watered and drought conditions were investigated to further elucidate the effect of UV-B radiation on drought tolerance. Two P. asperata populations originating from wet- and dry-climate regions in China were employed. Drought significantly decreased the CO2assimilation rate, stomatal conductance, and effective photosystem II quantum yield, while it significantly increased nonphotochemical quenching and the activity of superoxide dismutase in both populations. Compared with the wet-climate population, the dry-climate population was more acclimated to drought stress and showed much higher superoxide dismutase and ascorbate peroxidase activities and much lower levels of malondialdehyde and electrolyte leakage. Enhanced UV-B radiation also induced a significant decrease in chlorophyll content in both populations under well-watered conditions and a significant increase in UV-absorbing compounds in the wet-climate population. After exposure to different UV-B radiation levels and watering regimes over one growing season, the increases in malondialdehyde and electrolyte leakage, which are indicators of damage to the cellular membrane induced by drought, were less pronounced under the combination of enhanced UV-B radiation and drought than they were under well-watered conditions without enhanced UV-B radiation. In addition, an additive effect of drought and UV-B radiation on the CO2assimilation rate and stomatal conductance was observed in the wet-climate population and on the activity of ascorbate peroxidase and nonphotochemical quenching in the dry-climate population. These results suggest that the UV-B exposure may have alleviated some of the damage induced by drought.
Effects of disinhibition of neurons in the dorsomedial hypothalamus on central respiratory drive
Authors: McDowall Lachlan M. , Horiuchi Jouji , Dampney Roger A. L.
Published: August 2007

Neurons within the dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH) play a critical role in subserving the cardiovascular and neuroendocrine response to psychological stress. An increase in respiratory activity is also a characteristic feature of the physiological response to psychological stress, but there have been few studies of the role of DMH neurons in regulating respiratory activity. In this study we determined the effects of activation of DMH neurons on respiratory activity (assessed by measuring phrenic nerve activity, PNA) and the relationship between evoked changes in respiratory activity and changes in sympathetic vasomotor activity in spontaneously breathing urethane-anesthetized rats. Microinjections of bicuculline (4–40 pmol in 20 nl) into the DMH evoked dose-dependent increases in PNA burst frequency and amplitude. These were accompanied by dose-dependent decreases in mean tracheal CO2 levels, indicative of hyperventilation. In control experiments, microinjections of bicuculline into sites adjacent to the DMH evoked much smaller or no changes in PNA. In experiments where renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA) was also measured, cycle-triggered averaging revealed that RSNA under resting conditions was partly correlated with the PNA, but in response to DMH disinhibition there was no consistent change in the amplitude of the respiratory-related variations in RSNA. The results indicate that DMH neurons can exert a powerful stimulatory effect on respiratory activity, causing hyperventilation. This is not associated with an increase in the degree of coupling between PNA and RSNA, indicating that the DMH-evoked increase in RSNA is not a consequence of increased central respiratory drive.
Coordination of Smooth Pursuit and Saccade Target Selection in Monkeys
Authors: Case Gilbert R. , Ferrera Vincent P.
Published: August 2007

The coordination of saccadic and smooth pursuit eye movements in macaque monkeys was investigated using a target selection paradigm with two moving targets crossing at a center fixation point. A task in which monkeys selected a target based on its color was used to test the hypothesis that common neural signals underlie target selection for pursuit and saccades, as well as testing whether target selection signals are available to the saccade and pursuit systems simultaneously or sequentially. Several combinations of target color, speed, and direction were used. In all cases, smooth pursuit was highly selective for the rewarded target before any saccade occurred. On >80% of the trials, the saccade was directed toward the same target as both pre- and postsaccadic pursuit. The results favor a model in which a shared target selection signal is simultaneously available to both the saccade and pursuit systems, rather than a sequential model.
Inhibition and Synchronization of Basal Amygdala Principal Neuron Spiking by Parvalbumin-Positive Interneurons
Authors: Woodruff Alan R. , Sah Pankaj
Published: August 2007

Using mice that express enhance green fluorescent protein (EGFP) under the control of the parvalbumin promoter, we made paired recordings from interneurons and principal neurons in the basal amygdala. In synaptically connected pairs, we show that single action potentials in a parvalbumin expressing interneuron can inhibit spiking in the synaptically connected principal neuron. When principal neurons were provided with suprathreshold oscillatory drive via a somatic patch pipette, action potentials in the interneuron inhibited spiking in principal neurons only when the interneuron spike occurred shortly before excitation reached threshold in the principal neuron. Moreover, after this spike inhibition, there was a rebound excitation in the principal neurons that was seen as an increased probability of firing on the cycle after inhibition. These results illustrate the major role of local inhibition in the basal amygdala. We propose that these interneurons in the basal amygdala provide a potent inhibition that acts to inhibit firing of principal neurons during cortically driven oscillations.
Ammonia excretion in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss): evidence for Rh glycoprotein and H+-ATPase involvement
Authors: Nawata C. Michele , Hung Carrie C. Y. , Tsui Tommy K. N. , Wilson Jonathan M. , Wright Patricia A. , Wood Chris M.
Published: August 2007

Branchial ammonia transport in freshwater teleosts is not well understood. Most studies conclude that NH3diffuses out of the gill and becomes protonated to NH4+in an acidified gill boundary layer. Rhesus (Rh) proteins are new members of the ammonia transporter superfamily and rainbow trout possess genes encoding for Rh30-like1 and Rhcg2. We identified seven additional full-length trout Rh cDNA sequences: one Rhag and two each of Rhbg, Rhcg1, and Rh30-like. The mRNA expression of Rhbg, Rhcg1, and Rhcg2 was examined in trout tissues (blood, brain, eye, gill, heart, intestine, kidney, liver, muscle, skin, spleen) exposed to high external ammonia (HEA; 1.5 mmol/l NH4HCO3, pH 7.95, 15°C). Rhbg was expressed in all tissues, Rhcg1 was expressed in brain, gill, liver, and skin, and Rhcg2 was expressed in gill and skin. Brain Rhbg and Rhcg1 were downregulated, blood Rh30-like and Rhag were downregulated, and skin Rhbg and Rhcg2 were upregulated with HEA. After an initial uptake of ammonia into the fish during HEA, excretion was reestablished, coinciding with upregulations of gill Rh mRNA in the pavement cell fraction: Rhcg2 at 12 and 48 h, and Rhbg at 48 h. NHE2 expression remained unchanged, but upregulated H+-ATPase (V-type, B-subunit) and downregulated carbonic anhydrase (CA2) expression and activity were noted in the gill and again expression changes occurred in pavement cells, and not in mitochondria-rich cells. Together, these results indicate Rh glycoprotein involvement in ammonia transport and excretion in the rainbow trout while underscoring the significance of gill boundary layer acidification by H+-ATPase.
Effect of Sleep Deprivation on the Corticosterone Secretion in an Experimental Model of Autoimmune Disease
Authors: Palma Beatriz Duarte , Suchecki Deborah , Catallani Bruna , Tufik Sergio
Published: August 2007

Objective: Sleep disturbances have been observed in a number of chronic inflammatory conditions, such as systemic lupus erythematosus. Previous results from our laboratory showed that when NZB/NZWF1 mice, an experimental model of lupus, are submitted to sleep deprivation (SD), they exhibit an earlier onset of the disease. Sleep disturbances have far-reaching effects on the endocrine and immune system, changes that may be linked to disease manifestation. Immunoendocrine communication via the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis has been proposed as an important modulatory factor for the development of autoimmune disease. We hypothesized here that corticosterone (CORT) could be involved in earlier onset of the disease in sleep-deprived NZB/NZWF1 mice. Methods: The profile of CORT secretion was measured immediately after the end of SD (platform method) and during the development of the disease. Also, we analyzed the effects of SD on CORT secretion of Swiss albino mice, which do not present immune alterations. Results: The results showed that NZB/NZWF1 mice exhibited a CORT response to SD similar to Swiss albino mice. However, CORT levels remained elevated throughout the whole period of evaluation. There was an increase in circulating levels of CORT in the NZB/NZWF1 mice as the disease progressed, but this effect was more evident in the sleep-deprived mice. Conclusion: According to these results, we suggest that elevated CORT levels are involved in the earlier onset of the disease.
Impact of Gender and Menstrual Cycle Phase on Plasma Cytokine Concentrations
Authors: O’Brien Sinead M. , Fitzgerald Peter , Scully Paul , Landers Anne , Scott Lucinda V. , Dinan Timothy G.
Published: August 2007

Objective: The lifetime prevalence of major depression is twice as high in females as in males. Depression is known to increase at periods where there are changes in gonadal hormones. We examined pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine levels during the normal menstrual cycle of healthy females compared to similar time points in healthy males. Methods: Plasma concentrations of interleukin (IL)-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and soluble IL-6 receptor (sIL-6R) were measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays in healthy females during the normal ovulatory menstrual cycle and also in males at similar time points. Results: The luteal phase of the menstrual cycle is associated with increased production of sIL-6R, IL-4 and TNF-α compared to the early follicular phase. No change was observed in IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10 concentration throughout the menstrual cycle. We found IL-4 positively correlated with oestrogen while TNF-α positively correlated with progesterone. Females were found to have significantly higher concentrations of TNF-α and sIL-6R across all phases of the menstrual cycle, compared to males across similar time points. Conclusion: The normal menstrual cycle is associated with increased production of sIL-6R, IL-4 and TNF-α in the luteal phase compared to the early follicular phase. Females have significantly higher concentrations of sIL-6R and TNF-α at all time points across the menstrual cycle than males.
Effects of Levofloxacin and Doxycycline on Interleukin-6 Production of Chlamydia trachomatis-Infected Human Synovial Fibroblasts
Authors: Ikeda-Dantsuji Yurika , Konomi Ichiro , Nagayama Ariaki
Published: August 2007

Background: Alarge amount (80,000–100,000 pg/ml) of interleukin-6 (IL-6) was detected in cultures of human synoviocytes infected with Chlamydia trachomatis. In this study, we investigated the effect of antibiotics on the IL-6 production of C. trachomatis-infected human fibroblast-like synovial cells (HFLS). Methods: The minimum inhibitory concentrations of levofloxacin and doxycycline against C. trachomatis were determined in either HFLS or HeLa 229 cells. The number of live Chlamydia was also examined. IL-6 in the supernatants of infected cultures was quantified by capture ELISA. Results: The production of IL-6 was suppressed to as low as 1,800 pg/ml in the infected HFLS treated with levofloxacin or doxycycline immediately or early after infection. In HFLS treated with levofloxacin and doxycycline, the IL-6 levels decreased to 37,000 and 21,000 pg/ml, respectively, 48 h after infection, and levofloxacin was thus found to be less effective than doxycycline. In addition, the number of viable C. trachomatis in the infected cultures treated with levofloxacin 24 h after infection was higher than when treated with doxycycline. Conclusions: The early administration and proper selection of antibiotics is important for the suppression of inflammatory cytokine production. These findings indicate that antibiotic therapy will not only work in treating infections but might also be useful in treating reactive arthritis secondary to the infection.
Solvent-Stable Pseudomonas aeruginosa PseA Protease Gene: Identification, Molecular Characterization, Phylogenetic and Bioinformatic Analysis to Study Reasons for Solvent Stability
Authors: Gupta Anshu , Ray Swatismita , Kapoor Sanjay , Khare S.K.
Published: August 2007

We have previously isolated a solvent-stable protease from a novel solvent-tolerant strain of Pseudomonasaeruginosa (PseA). Here we report cloning and characterization of the gene coding for this solvent-tolerant protease. A homology search of the N-terminal amino acid sequence of the purified PseA protease revealed an exact match to a P. aeruginosa PST-01 protease gene, lasB. The c-DNA sequence of the PST-01 protease was used to design primers for the amplification of a 1,494-bp open reading frame encoding a 53.6-kDa, 498-amino-acid PseA LasB polypeptide.The deduced PseA LasB protein contained a 23-residue signal peptide (2.6 kDa) followed by a propeptide of 174 residues and a 33-kDa mature product of 301 residues. A phylogenetic analysis placed PseA lasB closest to the known zinc metalloproteases from P. aeruginosa. This gene was also found to contain a conserved HEXXH zinc-binding motif, characteristic of all zinc metallopeptidases. The 3D structure analysis of PseA protease revealed the presence of 7 α-helices (36% of the sequence). The molecule was found to have two disulfide bonds (between Cys-227 and Cys-255 and between Cys-467 and Cys-494) and had a number of hydrophobic clusters at the protein surface. These hydrophobic patches (21% of the sequence) and disulfide bonds may possibly be responsible for the solvent-stable nature of the enzyme.