bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Transcriptional regulatory network refinement and quantification through kinetic modeling, gene expression microarray data and information theory
Authors: Sayyed-Ahmad Abdallah , Tuncay Kagan , Ortoleva Peter J
Published: January 2007

Background

Gene expression microarray and other multiplex data hold promise for addressing the challenges of cellular complexity, refined diagnoses and the discovery of well-targeted treatments. A new approach to the construction and quantification of transcriptional regulatory networks (TRNs) is presented that integrates gene expression microarray data and cell modeling through information theory. Given a partial TRN and time series data, a probability density is constructed that is a functional of the time course of transcription factor (TF) thermodynamic activities at the site of gene control, and is a function of mRNA degradation and transcription rate coefficients, and equilibrium constants for TF/gene binding.

Results

Our approach yields more physicochemical information that compliments the results of network structure delineation methods, and thereby can serve as an element of a comprehensive TRN discovery/quantification system. The most probable TF time courses and values of the aforementioned parameters are obtained by maximizing the probability obtained through entropy maximization. Observed time delays between mRNA expression and activity are accounted for implicitly since the time course of the activity of a TF is coupled by probability functional maximization, and is not assumed to be proportional to expression level of the mRNA type that translates into the TF. This allows one to investigate post-translational and TF activation mechanisms of gene regulation. Accuracy and robustness of the method are evaluated. A kinetic formulation is used to facilitate the analysis of phenomena with a strongly dynamical character while a physically-motivated regularization of the TF time course is found to overcome difficulties due to omnipresent noise and data sparsity that plague other methods of gene expression data analysis. An application to Escherichia coli is presented.

Conclusion

Multiplex time series data can be used for the construction of the network of cellular processes and the calibration of the associated physicochemical parameters. We have demonstrated these concepts in the context of gene regulation understood through the analysis of gene expression microarray time series data. Casting the approach in a probabilistic framework has allowed us to address the uncertainties in gene expression microarray data. Our approach was found to be robust to error in the gene expression microarray data and mistakes in a proposed TRN.
Fataluku medicinal ethnobotany and the East Timorese military resistance
Authors: Collins Sean WM , Martins Xisto , Mitchell Andrew , Teshome Awegechew , Arnason John T
Published: January 2007

Background

An ethnobotanical study of medicinal and poisonous plants used by the East Timor resistance was undertaken in the Lautem District of East Timor to study medicinal plant use in the region. Interviews were conducted with a single key consultant from the resistance army who belonged to the Fataluku culture. This study is of importance as a historical document and because no previous medicinal ethnobotanical studies on this region exist.

Methods

A rapid ethnobotanical survey of medicinal and poisonous plants was conducted through the proposed Conis Santana National Park in the Lautem district of East Timor. Medicinal and poisonous plants were identified by a Consultant and data was collected by the authors using classical descriptive ethnobotanical techniques (i.e. no quantitative measures) through an unstructured open ended interview.

Results

During the survey 40 medicinal and poisonous plants were identified by the Consultant and collected by the authors. Defining characteristics of the Consultant's knowledge include a high frequency use of trees, heavily forested habitats, leaves, decoctions and drinks for a range of conditions relevant to a resistance army.

Conclusion

Despite limitations of the study, important contributions of this study include preservation of a part of the cultural history of the resistance movement and traditional botanical knowledge of the Fataluku. Furthermore, initial findings may indicate that traditional botanical knowledge is unique amongst different East Timorese cultures in terms of plant selection.
Relationship between a Clear‐cut Alternative Noncardiac Diagnosis and 30‐day Outcome in Emergency Department Patients with Chest Pain
Authors: Hollander Judd E. , Robey Jennifer L. , Chase Maureen R. , Brown Aaron M. , Zogby Kara E. , Shofer Frances S.
Published: January 2007

Background: Accurate identification of patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACSs) in the emergency department (ED) remains problematic. Studies have not been able to identify a cohort of patients that are safe for immediate ED discharge; however, prior studies have not examined the utility of a clear‐cut alternative noncardiac diagnosis.

Objectives: To compare the 30‐day event rate in ED chest pain patients who were diagnosed with a clear‐cut alternative noncardiac diagnosis with the 30‐day event rate in the cohort of patients in whom a definitive diagnosis could not be made in the ED.

Methods: This was a prospective cohort study of consecutive ED patients with potential ACS. Data included demographics, medical and cardiac history, laboratory and electrocardiogram results, and whether or not the treating physician ascribed the condition to a clear‐cut alternative noncardiac diagnosis. The main outcome was death, acute myocardial infarction (AMI), or revascularization within 30 days, as determined by phone follow‐up or medical record review.

Results: The investigators enrolled 1,995 patients in the ED who had potential ACSs. Overall, 77 had a final hospital diagnosis of AMI (4%). Within 30 days, 73 patients received revascularization (4%), and 26 died (1%). There were 599 (30%) patients given a clear‐cut alternative noncardiac diagnosis. Comparing the patients with a clear‐cut alternative noncardiac diagnosis with those without an obvious noncardiac diagnosis, the presence of a clear‐cut alternative noncardiac diagnosis was associated with a reduced risk of an in‐hospital triple‐composite endpoint (death, MI, and revascularization), with a risk ratio of 0.32 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.19 to 0.55) and 30‐day triple‐composite endpoint with a risk ratio of 0.45 (95% CI = 0.29 to 0.69); however, patients with a clear‐cut alternative noncardiac diagnosis still had a 4% event rate at 30 days (95% CI = 2.4% to 5.6%).

Conclusions: In the ED chest pain patient, the presence of a clear‐cut alternative noncardiac diagnosis reduces the likelihood of a composite outcome of death and cardiovascular events within 30 days. However, it does not reduce the event rate to an acceptable level to allow ED discharge of these patients.
The Surgical Care Practitioner: A Feasible Alternative. Results of A Prospective 4-Year Audit at St Mary's Hospital Trust, London
Authors: Martin Shirley , Purkayastha Sanjay , Massey Rachel , Paraskeva Paraskevas , Tekkis Paris , Kneebone Roger , Darzi Ara
Published: January 2007

INTRODUCTION

Surgical care practitioners (SCPs) are an expanding group of professionals, drawn from nursing and the allied health professions. Amongst other functions, SCPs can provide a range of surgical procedures including a ‘minor surgical’ service. The aim of this study was to audit the volume and outcomes related to the SCP service at St Mary's since its inception.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

All prospectively collected data regarding SCP-managed patients between 2001 and 2005 were retrospectively audited. Volume, case mix, waiting times, complications and patient satisfaction were recorded and evaluated.

RESULTS

In this 4-year period, the SCP performed 381 minor operative cases (year 1 to year 4: 32, 74, 114 and 161 cases, respectively). These included excision of lipomas, sebaceous cysts and suspicious naevi under local anaesthesia and 7 similar cases under general anaesthetic. There were 11 minor postoperative complications which included 7 wound infections which were all resolved with a short course of oral antibiotics, 2 seromas of which one needed aspiration under local anaesthetic and one minor wound dehiscence which was re-sutured the same day. Overall, 71% were seen within 1 month of referral, 16% within 1–2 months, 3% within 3 months and 10% within 6 months. In addition, 59% were seen and treated within 20 min of their appointed time, 15% within 30–60 min and 24% within 1–2 h. The 3-month patient perspective audit carried out between May and July 2004 included 59 completed patient questionnaires following surgery; 100% were totally satisfied with the care that they received; 98% were happy to see the SCP and 98% documented that they would recommend the SCP to others.

CONCLUSIONS

The 4-year period of using an SCP at St Mary's shows that it is feasible and safe for minor operative procedures, that it contributes positively to waiting times and is acceptable to patients.
Alendronate Treatment in Women With Normal to Severely Impaired Renal Function: An Analysis of the Fracture Intervention Trial
Authors: Jamal Sophie A , Bauer Douglas C , Ensrud Kristine E , Cauley Jane A , Hochberg Marc , Ishani Areef , Cummings Steven R
Published: January 2007

To determine if alendronate had differential effects on BMD and fracture by renal function, we performed a secondary data analysis of women participating in the FIT. Alendronate increased BMD and decreased fractures to a similar degree among women with and without reduced renal function. There was no increase in adverse events among women with impaired renal function treated with alendronate. Alendronate is safe and effective among this group of women with reduced renal function.

Introduction: Alendronate is cleared by the kidney and may have sustained effects on bone in subjects with impaired renal function. We hypothesized that, with decreasing renal function, alendronate treatment would result in greater increases in BMD and greater decreases in fractures and that the frequency of adverse events would be increased.

Materials and Methods: We studied women participating in the Fracture Intervention Trial (FIT), a randomized controlled trial of alendronate or placebo (n = 6458). We estimated baseline creatinine clearance (eGFR) using the Cockcroft Gault Formula.

Results: Five hundred eighty-one (9.9%) participants had a severely reduced eGFR (<45 ml/minute). Alendronate increased BMD regardless of eGFR, but women with reduced eGFR had a 5.6% (95% CI: 4.8–6.5) increase in total hip BMD compared with 4.8% (95% CI: 4.6–5.0) among women with normal to moderate renal dysfunction (interaction: p = 0.04). Compared with placebo, alendronate increased spine BMD by 6.6 ± 5.8%, but there was no significant interaction for the increase in spine BMD (interaction: p = 0.75). Treatment with alendronate reduced the risk of clinical fractures to a similar degree in those with (OR: 0.78; 95% CI: 0.51–1.21) and without reduced renal function (OR: 0.80; 95% CI; 0.70–0.93; p for interaction = 0.89). Treatment with alendronate reduced the risk of spine fractures to a similar degree in those with (OR: 0.72; 95% CI: 0.31–1.7) and without reduced renal function (OR: 0.50; 95% CI: 0.32–0.76; p for interaction = 0.44). There were no differences in adverse events by renal function.

Conclusions: Alendronate is safe and effective at increasing BMD and decreasing fractures among this group of women with reduced renal function.
XRD and DSC study of the formation and the melting of a new zeolite like borosilicate CsBSi5O12 and (Cs,Rb)BSi5O12 solid solutions
Authors: Bubnova Rimma S. , Krzhizhanovskaya Maria G. , Filatov Stanislav K. , Ugolkov Valeriy L. , Paufler Peter
Published: January 2007

Polycrystalline CsBSi5O12 was prepared from a stoichiometric mixture by solid-state reaction above 1000 °C. The solid solutions Cs1–xRbxBSi5O12 were obtained at 1000 °C during a long heat treatment of polycrystalline Cs1–xRbxBSi2O6 boropollucites (x
Rb = 0, 0.05, 0.2, 0.4). A new borosilicate compound and its solid solutions were studied using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), annealing, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermogravimetry (TG). For Cs,Rb-boropollucites the new phase formation is accompanied by significant mass losses detected by DSC and TG. The following mechanism of phase transformations is assumed: (Cs,Rb)BSi2O6 → (Cs,Rb)BSi5O12 + (Cs,Rb)BO2↑. The zeolite phase forms as a result of the boropollucite decomposition over 1000 °C. Zeolite decomposes also on further heating and the SiO2 reflections are observed in the XRD pattern only. Thus above 1000 °C both boropollucite and zeolite phases are unstable presumably due to the ability of the alkali cations to leave the structure.

Using XRD the unit cell parameters of CsBSi5O12 have been determined in the orthorhombic crystal system: a = 16.242(4) Å, b = 13.360(4) Å, c = 4.874(1) Å. The compound is isostructural with the zeolite compound CsAlSi5O12. In the crystal structure of Cs1–xRbxBSi5O12 solid solutions the changes of cell parameters are insignificant under the substitution of Cs by Rb atoms that indicates a very limited substitution range.
Induction of sperm acrosome reaction by perivitelline membrane glycoprotein ZP1 in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica)
Authors: Sasanami Tomohiro , Murata Takeomi , Ohtsuki Mamoru , Matsushima Kayoko , Hiyama Gen , Kansaku Norio , Mori Makoto
Published: January 2007

The extracellular matrix surrounding avian oocytes, called the perivitelline membrane (PL), consists of at least two major glycoproteins, ZP3 and ZP1. Our previous study using Japanese quail had demonstrated that the PL obtained from the preovulatory follicles was incubated in vitro with spermatozoa, and perforations were observed. This result indicated that the PL might contain a constituent that possesses activity to initiate the acrosome reaction (AR) in quail. In order to elaborate upon our previous findings, we evaluated the effects of ZP3 and ZP1 on the induction of sperm AR in Japanese quail. Ejaculated sperm were incubated with or without the purified PL glycoprotein, and their acrosome status was determined based on the presence or absence of the acrosome. Treatment of spermatozoa with increasing doses of the purified monomeric ZP1 led to a concentration-dependent stimulation of AR. The purified dimeric ZP1 had similar effect. Moreover, we found that the ZP1-induced AR was significantly blocked by the digestion of the PL protein with PNGaseF. In contrast, the addition of purified ZP3 failed to induce AR at any doses tested. These results indicate that N-linked glycans on ZP1 play an important role in triggering the AR in Japanese quail.
Potential role for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ in regulating luteal lifespan in the rat
Authors: Tinfo Nicole , Komar Carolyn
Published: January 2007

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) has been shown to stimulate progesterone production by bovine luteal cells. We previously reported higher expression of PPARγ in old compared with new luteal tissue in the rat. The following studies were conducted to determine the role of PPARγ in rat corpora lutea (CL) and test the hypothesis that PPARγ plays a role in the metabolism of progesterone and/or luteal lifespan. Ovaries were removed from naturally cycling rats throughout the estrous cycle, and pseudopregnant rats. mRNA for PPARγ and P450 side-chain cleavage (SCC) was localized in luteal tissue by in situ hybridization, and protein corresponding to PPARγ and macrophages identified by immunohistochemistry. Luteal tissue was cultured with agonists (ciglitazone, prostaglandin J2) or an antagonist (GW-9662) of PPARγ. Progesterone was measured in media by RIA and levels of mRNA for 20α-hydroxysteriod dehydrogenase (HSD) and bcl-2 were measured in luteal tissue after culture by RT-PCR. An inverse relationship existed between the expression of mRNA for SCC and PPARγ. There was no effect of PPARγ agonists or the antagonist on luteal progesterone production in vitro, or levels of mRNA for 20α-HSD. PPARγ protein was localized to the nuclei of luteal cells and did not correspond with the presence of macrophages. In new CL, ciglitazone decreased mRNA for bcl-2 on proestrus, estrus, and metestrus. Interestingly, GW-9662 also decreased mRNA for bcl-2 on proestrus and diestrus in old and new CL, and on metestrus in new CL. These data indicate that PPARγ is not a major player in luteal progesterone production or metabolism but may be involved in regulating luteal lifespan.
Aging does not affect spermatogenic recovery after experimentally induced injury in mice
Authors: Ehmcke Jens , Joshi Bhavika , Hergenrother Scott D , Schlatt Stefan
Published: January 2007

Testes in aging mammals undergo a variety of age-related changes, such as reduction of size, lower sperm output, an increase in abnormal forms of sperm, and endocrine malfunctions. It has been suggested that the spermatogenic defects are due to loss and dysfunction of spermatogonial stem cells as well as deterioration of the tubule microenvironment. In the present study, we explore the depletion and recovery of spermatogenesis in young (3 month) and old (12 month) mice exposed to cooling, X-irradiation (5 Gy) or cytotoxic treatment using Busulfan (40 mg/kg). We aim to determine a potential age-related change of vulnerability to gonadotoxic treatments by describing the intensity of spermatogenic depletion and the degree of spermatogenic recolonization with qualitative and quantitative parameters on organ weights and histological parameters at two time points (2 weeks, depletion; 6 weeks, recovery). Our data reveal specific acute effects of cooling on multinucleation of germ cells but no other severe injury. Irradiation and Busulfan-treatment exerted the expected depletional wave of germ cells leading to severe testicular injury and spermatogenic failure. The recovery of spermatogenesis occurred in both treatment groups and both age groups to a similar extent. We therefore noted no prominent age-related differences in spermatogenic depletion and recovery in any treatment group. We conclude that in both age groups, the remaining spermatogonial stem cells are capable to induce spermatogenic recovery and the aging tubule microenvironment at 1 year has not become more vulnerable to irradiation, Busulfan-treatment or testicular cooling.
Molecular characterization of tumor necrosis α-induced protein 6 and its human chorionic gonadotropin-dependent induction in theca and mural granulosa cells of equine preovulatory follicles
Authors: Sayasith Khampoune , Doré Monique , Sirois Jean
Published: January 2007

The preovulatory rise in gonadotropins causes an expansion of the cumulus–oocyte complex, a process requiring the induction of several genes. The objectives of this study were to clone the equine tumor necrosis factor α-induced protein 6 (TNFAIP6), and investigate its regulation in equine follicles during human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)-induced ovulation. The isolation of the equine TNFAIP6 cDNA revealed that it contains an open reading frame of 834 bp (including the stop codon), encoding a predicted 277 amino acid protein that is highly similar (91–93% identity) to known mammalian homologs. The regulation of TNFAIP6 mRNA was studied in equine follicles isolated during estrus between 0 and 39 h post-hCG and in corpora lutea (CL) obtained on day 8 of the estrous cycle. Results from semi-quantitative RT-PCR/Southern blot showed that levels of TNFAIP6 mRNA were low in follicles obtained at 0 h, increased at 12 h, returned to basal levels at 24 h, and increased again at 36 h post-hCG (P<0.05). Levels of TNFAIP6 transcripts were relatively moderate in CL, but low in non-ovarian tissues tested. Analyses performed with isolated preparations of theca and granulosa cells indicated that TNFAIP6 mRNA was regulated in both layers, with a maximal induction obtained 33–36 h post-hCG (P<0.05). Immunohistochemical staining of sections of equine follicles isolated at 0 and 33 h post-hCG confirmed the induction of TNFAIP6 protein in both cell types after hCG treatment. Thus, the present study describes for the first time the gonadotropin-dependent regulation of follicular TNFAIP6 during the ovulation in a monoovulatory species. The biphasic induction of TNFAIP6 in equine theca and granulosa cells differs from the pattern observed in rodents, suggesting a distinct control of gene expression in this monoovulatory species.
Somatic cell nuclear transfer in the sheep induces placental defects that likely precede fetal demise
Authors: Fletcher C J , Roberts C T , Hartwich K M , Walker S K , McMillen I C
Published: January 2007

The efficiency of cloning by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is poor in livestock with ~5% of transferred cloned embryos developing to term. SCNT is associated with gross placental structural abnormalities. We aimed to identify defects in placental histology and gene expression in failing ovine cloned pregnancies to better understand why so many clones generated by SCNT die in utero. Placentomes from SCNT pregnancies (n = 9) and age matched, naturally mated controls (n = 20) were collected at two gestational age ranges (105–134 days and 135–154 days; term = 147 days). There was no effect of cloning on total placental weight. However, cloning reduced the number of placentomes at both gestational ages (105–134 days: control 55.0 ± 4.2, clone 44.7 ± 8.0 and 135–154 days: control 72.2 ± 5.1, clone 36.6 ± 5.1; P < 0.001) and increased the mean individual placentome weight (105–134 days: control 10.6 ± 1.3 g, clone 18.6 ± 2.8 g and 135–154 days: control 6.6 ± 0.6 g, clone 7.0 ± 2.0 g; P < 0.02). Placentomes from cloned pregnancies had a significant volume of shed trophoblast and fetal villous hemorrhage, absent in controls, at both gestational age ranges (P < 0.001) that was shown to be apoptotic by activated caspase-3 immunoreactivity. Consequently, the volume of intact trophoblast was reduced and the arithmetic mean barrier thickness of trophoblast through which exchange occurs was altered (P < 0.001) at both gestational age ranges in clones. In addition, cloning reduced placental expression of key genes in placental differentiation and function. Thus, cloning by SCNT results in both gross and microscopic placental abnormalities. We speculate that trophoblast apoptosis, shedding, and hemorrhage may be causal in fetal death in ovine clones.
Simultaneous gene quantitation of multiple genes in individual bovine nuclear transfer blastocysts
Authors: Smith Craig , Berg Debbie , Beaumont Sue , Standley Neil T , Wells David N , Pfeffer Peter L
Published: January 2007

During somatic cell nuclear transfer (NT), the transcriptional status of the donor cell has to be reprogrammed to reflect that of an embryo. We analysed the accuracy of this process by comparing transcript levels of four developmentally important genes (Oct4, Otx2, Ifitm3, GATA6), a gene involved in epigenetic regulation (Dnmt3a) and three housekeeping genes (β-actin, β-tubulin and GAPDH) in 21 NT blastocysts with that in genetically half-identical in vitro produced (IVP, n=19) and in vivo (n=15) bovine embryos. We have optimised an RNA-isolation and SYBR-green-based real-time RT-PCR procedure allowing the reproducible absolute quantification of multiple genes from a single blastocyst. Our data indicated that transcript levels did not differ significantly between stage and grade-matched zona-free NT and IVP embryos except for Ifitm3/Fragilis, which was expressed at twofold higher levels in NT blastocysts. Ifitm3 expression is confined to the inner cell mass at day 7 blastocysts and to the epiblast in day 14 embryos. No ectopic expression in the trophectoderm was seen in NT embryos. Gene expression in NTand IVP embryos increased between two- and threefold for all eight genes from early to late blastocyst stages. This increase exceeded the increase in cell number over this time period indicating an increase in transcript number per cell. Embryo quality (morphological grading) was correlated to cell number for NT and IVP embryos with grade 3 blastocysts containing 30% fewer cells. However, only NT embryos displayed a significant reduction in gene expression (50%) with loss of quality. Variability in gene expression levels was not significantly different in NT, IVP or in vivo embryos but differed among genes, suggesting that the stringency of regulation is intrinsic to a gene and not affected by culture or nuclear transfer. Oct4 levels exhibited the lowest variability. Analysing the total variability of all eight genes for individual embryos revealed that in vivo embryos resembled each other much more than did NT and IVP blastocysts. Furthermore, in vivo embryos, consisting of 1.5-fold more cells, generally contained two- to fourfold more transcripts for the eight genes than did their cultured counterparts. Thus, culture conditions (in vivo versus in vitro) have greater effects on gene expression than does nuclear transfer when minimising genetic heterogeneity.
Design of jet-grouting cut-offs
Authors: Croce P. , Modoni G.
Published: January 2007

This paper deals with the design of jet-grouting cut-offs for dams. Available information from several cases is first reviewed, pointing out the differences between projects concerning dams under construction and operational ones. Various dam types and treatment schemes are considered; functions and requirements of jet-grouting cut-offs are defined; and possible solutions are proposed. Particular attention is devoted to the occurrence of discontinuities along the cut-offs, which may derive from two main factors: deviation of the treatment axes and variation of the jet-column's diameter. A probabilistic design method is developed in order to minimise the risk of such defects. Finally, the drawbacks and advantages of deterministic and probabilistic approaches are discussed.

Cet article étudie la conception géotechnique d'écrans étanches traités par injection par jet pour les barrages. Il passe tout en abord en revue les informations disponibles relatives à plusieurs cas, soulignant les différences entre les projets concernant des barrages en cours de construction et ceux déjà opérationnels. Plusieurs types de barrages et approches de traitement sont considérés. L'article définit les fonctions et critères requis pour les écrans étanches traités par injection par jet et propose plusieurs solutions éventuelles. L'apparition de discontinuités le long des écrans y est considérée avec une attention particuliàre. Elle peut découler de deux facteurs principaux: déviation des axes de traitement et variation du diamètre des colonnes de jet. Une méthode de conception probabiliste est ici développée pour minimiser le risque de telles défectuosités. La conclusion présente les avantages et inconvénients rencontrés avec les approches déterministes et probabilistes.
Genetic Improvement of Grain Yield and Associated Traits in the Northern China Winter Wheat Region from 1960 to 2000
Authors: Zhou Y. , He Z. H. , Sui X. X. , Xia X. C. , Zhang X. K. , Zhang G. S.
Published: January 2007

Knowledge of changes associated with advances in crop productivity is essential for understanding yield limiting factors and developing strategies for future genetic improvement. The objectives of this study are to understand genetic gain for grain yield and associated traits in the Northern China Winter Wheat Region (NCWWR). Four trials, comprised of 47 leading common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars from the NCWWR from 1960 to 2000, were conducted during 2001 to 2003 using a completely randomized block design of three replicates under controlled field environments. Molecular markers were used to detect the presence of dwarfing genes and the 1B/1R translocation. Results showed that average annual genetic gain in grain yield ranged from 32.07 to 72.11 kg ha−1yr−1 or from 0.48 to 1.23% annually in different provinces. The most significant increase in grain yield occurred in the early 1980s, largely because of the successful utilization of dwarfing genes and the 1B/1R translocation. There was no common trend across trials in terms of changes in spikes m−2, kernels per spike, 1000‐kernel weight (TKW), or biomass. The genetic improvement in grain yield was primarily attributed to increased grain weight per spike, reduced plant height, and increased harvest index (HI). The dwarfing allele Rht‐D1b was the most frequent (68.0%) among the cultivars, followed by Rht 8 (42.0%) and Rht‐B1b (16.0%). The frequency of 1B/1R translocation cultivars was 42.6%. The future challenge of wheat breeding in this region is to maintain the genetic gain in grain yield and to improve grain quality, without increasing inputs for the wheat‐maize double cropping system.
AFLP‐RGA Markers in Comparison with RGA and AFLP in Cultivated Tetraploid Cotton
Authors: Zhang Jinfa , Yuan Youlu , Niu Chen , Hinchliffe Doug J. , Lu Yingzhi , Yu Shuxun , Percy Richard G. , Ulloa Mauricio , Cantrell Roy G.
Published: January 2007

Disease resistance (R) genes have been isolated from many plant species and R genes with domains of nucleotide binding sites (NBS) and leucine‐rich repeats (LRR) represent the largest R gene family. The objective of this investigation was to test a resistance gene analog (RGA) anchored marker system, called amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP)‐RGA in cotton (Gossypium spp.). The AFLP‐RGA analysis uses one degenerate RGA primer designed from various NBS and LRR domains of R genes in combination with one selective AFLP primer in a PCR reaction. Out of a total of 446 AFLP‐RGA bands amplified by 22 AFLP‐RGA primer combinations, 76 (17.0%) and 37 (8.3%) were polymorphic within four G. hirsutum L. genotypes and four G. barbadense L. cotton genotypes, respectively. The number of polymorphic AFLP‐RGA bands (256) between G. hirsutum and G. barbadense was much higher (57.4%). This level of polymorphism mirrors that of AFLP. The genetic similarity among the eight genotypes based on AFLP‐RGA or AFLP lead to similar results in genotype grouping at the species and intraspecies level. However, RGA markers amplified by only degenerate RGA primers could not discriminate several genotypes. AFLP‐RGA offers a great flexibility for numerous primer combinations in a genome‐wide search for RGAs. Due to the distribution of RGAs or RGA clusters in the plant genome, genome‐wide AFLP‐RGA analysis provides a useful resource for candidate gene mapping of R genes for disease resistance in cotton.
Soybean Rust Resistance Derived from Glycine tomentella in Amphiploid Hybrid Lines
Authors: Patzoldt M. E. , Tyagi R. K. , Hymowitz T. , Miles M. R. , Hartman G. L. , Frederick R. D.
Published: January 2007

Soybean rust (SBR), caused by the fungal pathogen Phakopsora pachyrhizi Syd., has the potential to cause significant economic yield loss in U.S. soybean production. Four single dominant resistance genes have been identified in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] that only confer specific resistance to a few rust isolates that have been tested. Additional resistance genes have been identified in wild perennial relatives, including G. tomentella Hayata (accession PI 483218, 2n = 78). Intersubgeneric hybrids have been created between G. max (cv. Altona) and this G. tomentella accession. Amphiploid hybrid lines (2n = 118) were the result of this hybridization and when further backcrossed to G. max (cv. Clark 63), derived fertile lines (2n = 40) were also generated. Both sets of progeny were screened at the USDA‐ARS facility at Ft. Detrick, MD, to determine if the resistance to SBR was inherited in the subsequent populations. The amphiploid hybrid clones still retained the genetic SBR resistance that was found in the G. tomentella parent. However, the derived fertile lines were susceptible. These lines were not screened for SBR resistance following each backcross, which may explain this occurrence. Reinstituting the backcross procedure, while testing for SBR resistance at every generation, could move the SBR resistance gene(s) from G. tomentella to the cultivated soybean G. max.
A Mitochondrial Repeat Specific Marker for Distinguishing Wild Abortive Type Cytoplasmic Male Sterile Rice Lines from their Cognate Isogenic Maintainer Lines
Authors: Rajendrakumar P. , Biswal A. K. , Balachandran S. M. , Ramesha M. S. , Viraktamath B. C. , Sundaram R. M.
Published: January 2007

The realization of yield potential of rice (Oryza sativa L.) hybrids developed through the “three‐line system” largely depends on genetic purity of parental lines. Cytoplasmic male sterile (CMS) lines often get contaminated with cognate isonuclear maintainer lines during multiplication. We report identification of a rice mitochondrial DNA sequence, possessing a repeat motif that is polymorphic between the wild abortive (WA)‐CMS lines and their cognate isonuclear maintainer lines. We have designed a primer pair flanking the unique repeat and two fragments of different size were amplified in all WA‐CMS and their maintainer lines through PCR. The PCR assay was able to precisely detect the impurities in a commercial seed lot of a popular CMS line, IR58025A. The possibility of utilizing this marker as a replacement for the morphology‐based (grow‐out test) GOT in accurate detection of contaminants in CMS seed stocks is discussed.
The Heroic Extremity
Authors: Bermel Albert
Published: January 2007

The story of Corneille's Horatius (Horace)follows the incidents described in two chapters of Livy's history of the Roman Empire, with only minor modifications. The twin cities of Rome and Alba are so closely linked by marriage and other ties that they decide to settle their long-standing rivalry—which city shall rule the other—by selecting three warriors from each side. Rome chooses Horatius and his two brothers; Alba chooses Curiatus (who is engaged to marry Horatius’ sister, Camilla) and his two brothers. During the contest Horatius’ brothers are slain but Horatius, by a clever stratagem, separates the three wounded Curiatus brothers and kills them in turn. He is welcomed back as the hero of Rome and honored with laurels, but Camilla insults him for having killed her lover, refuses to recognize his victory and calls down curses on Rome. Horatius, in a continuing frenzy of patriotism, kills his own sister.
To Jean Giraudoux
Authors: Anouilh Jean
Published: January 2007

Fortunate are those young men who have had masters!

Fortunate are the nervous youngsters who went and rang doorbells and received with flushed faces the encouraging word from the man whom they admired!

I grew up without any masters; in the years around 1928, I had a warm place in my heart for Claudel and I carried dog-eared copies of Shaw and Pirandello in my pockets, and yet, I was all alone. Alone with the anguish of one soon to be twenty years old, with a love for the theatre, and all the awkwardness of youth. Who would divulge to me the secret in those days in which only wellmade plays were performed? Musset, Marivaux reread a thousand times? They were too far off. They were from an era already fabulous in which spoken French still had periods and commas, from an era in which the very sentences danced.
Design for Acting: The Quest of Technique
Authors: Carnovsky Morris
Published: January 2007

I'm glad that the name and purpose of these conferences define my function here along lines that happen to be congenial to myself. The Factor of Acting in the Working Theatre—the subject is organic in my life to an overwhelming degree. I think I've gone beyond the point where it would be possible for anyone to ask me, as a woman put it to me bluntly years ago, “What's uppermost in you, the actor or the man?” The answer, I hope, is now, “Both.” For I've learned that if you endeavor to express your life without some form to receive it, you're apt to produce a chaotic mess—and on the other hand, if you play-act at life, well, there you'll certainly come a cropper.
Theatre as Enterprise
Authors: Herman William
Published: January 2007

We have money, big money, wanting to be spent on the theatre.

—Richard Scheduler in T20.

The fact is, as we all know, that today's theatre is run with money. Tomorrow's theatre, such as it may be, must also be solvent…. I am concerned with certain economic facts of the present, certain trends that will shape the theatres of the future.

—Charles L. Mee, Jr. in T20.

I have just been reading in the papers that you are writing a play. Write, write, write! It is ‘ necessary. Even should the play fail, don't let that discourage you…. a success, however slight, may be of vast service to the theatre…. By all means, golubchik, finish the play

—Chekhov in a letter to Gorki.

I know what wages beauty gives,How hard a life her servant lives,Yet praise the winters gone:There is not a fool can call me friend,And I may dine at journey's endWith Landor and with Donne.—W. B. Yeats
Shakespeare's Subtext: II
Authors: Brown John Russell
Published: January 2007

In ordinary daily life we often say one thing and think another: “Do you mind?” when we think “How dare you!,” “You're looking fine” when we think “He is getting old.” Our social behavior is one truth about us, but there is another which our words and actions seldom display directly: if our acquaintances know anything of this, they have usually inferred it from tones of voice, physical reactions, peculiar emphases or hesitations, apparently meaningless mannerisms. Yet, paradoxically, this indirect impression can be the strongest and most lasting, our unspoken nervousness or confidence making a greater effect than considered conversation. And sometimes the indirect impression is one we do not take into account ourselves; perhaps some person arouses a reaction which we have never recognized in ourselves, or a situation makes us more afraid than we are able to admit. But even so, others may observe our changed behavior, for the effect we make individually is both direct and indirect, conscious and subconscious.
A Subtext Based on Nothing
Authors: Blau Herbert
Published: January 2007

The world of dark powers which comes from Nothing to fulfill Lear's “darker purpose.” Hecate's world, the world of the absent Queen (Genet's world), the Womb, the sulphurous pit, consumption, stench, madness, the wheel of fire, rage.

To begin the ceremony, Lear speaks of that darker purpose. (With our inadequate terminology, we might call it his Super objective.) He is in good spirits, prepared to bestow bounty and receive love; in a moment he is staring into vacancy. In the divided kingdom, the heart of darkness: “Nothing will come of nothing.” The line recapitulates a cracked fantasy of Power; the rest of the play proceeds from it. For us it was a datum: ground level. Cordelia says “Nothing“—and history is annihilated. Out of the appearance of Absolute Form, hallucination—a dark voyage through the anarchic id. Why did she say nothing? Later, the words of her charity, the most forgiving words of all, tell what weighed down her ponderous tongue: “No cause, no cause.”
Italian Theatre Since the War
Authors: Pandolfi Vito , Rizzo Gino
Published: January 2007

Vito Pandolfi, born in 1917, is a leading Italian theatre critic, historian, and director. The article we are publishing was taken in part from his book, Contemporary Italian Theatre (Teatro italiano contemporaneo, Milan, 1959). Pandolfi revised and updated his analysis for TDR. A graduate of D'Amico's Accademia d'Arte Drammatica, Pandolfi has directed plays by Tasso, Goethe, Lorca, and Moravia, as well as adapting and directing The Masks’ Fair (La fiera delle maschere, 1947), derived from commedia dell'arte scenarios. His best known scholarly work is the five-volume study of commedia texts and history, La commedia dell'arte (Florence, 1956-1959). Pandolfi's critical method springs both from his Marxism and from his conviction that the Italian theatre no longer reflects Italian society accurately because working-class characters are excluded from most Italian plays. Pandolfi's theatre criticism is indicative of a very strong current in today's Italian thought.
Religion and the Theatre
Authors: Betti Ugo
Published: January 2007

To approach a subject like this in a truly meaningful way, it seems to me that it is necessary first to force oneself to a humble objectivity and even to a certain detachment. This subject is too important and we are bound to it by too jealous a commitment to allow ourselves to dismiss it with pat solutions or lyrical effusions. It is necessary to examine it with a dispassionate eye instead of imagining what we would like it to be. The point is to understand to what extent the movement which is drawing the theatre towards religious, Christian themes is authentic.
Interpreting Betti
Authors: McWilliam G. H.
Published: January 2007

The more influential (though not necessarily the more perceptive) of English and American dieatre reviewers have consistently withheld their approval to the work of Ugo Betti, a writer who in Italy is acknowledged by all save a handful of critics on the extreme left to be the only major Italian dramatist of the post-Pirandello period. Many regard him as the equal in stature of his more widely known predecessor. Yet the two Betti plays that reached Broadway (The Gambler and Island of Goats) survived for only a matter of days, whilst the English productions of The Queen and the Rebels, The Burnt Flower-Bed, and Summertime (original title: II paese delle vacanze), staged in the West End in 1955-56, each ran for a relatively short period. To a student and admirer of Betti's drama, this record is disappointing, and also a little bewildering.
When Is A Play Not A Play
Authors: Hauger George
Published: January 2007

Nowadays, what is more often than not meant by theatre is the theatrical realization of plays, yet any view of theatre that excludes opera and ballet is obviously incomplete. A careful examination of the natures of these three theatrical forms ought to reveal clearly the limitations and potentialities of each, and to indicate the desirability, or even possibility, of mixing the forms in order to make available new theatrical experiences. Naturally, such an examination cannot be accomplished within the space of a short article, and in any case a thorough examination will have to await the attention of some theatrical Leonardo da Vinci with vast knowledge, sensitivity, and experience. Yet the rushing of the fool into an unknown region has its value. If it results in disaster, wiser men are warned of things they would have had to establish by cautious experiment; but it is not unknown for an uncalculated risk to make clear to the angels that in fearing to tread they are being unnecessarily hesitant. Thus, the present expedition may hope to serve some useful purpose. Like many expeditions, its goal is a land long dreamed of, and its departure has been made under an immediate stimulus—in this case, the chance reading of three pieces in The Tulane Drama Review (September, 1959) immediately after looking through Mary Caroline Richards’ translations from Artaud.
An Audience of Critics and the Lost Art of "Seeing" Plays
Authors: Hoffman Theodore
Published: January 2007

For some time now I have been trying to shrug off the hunch that contemporary audiences and dramatic critics have lost the art of seeing plays. Now this is a disturbing thought to anyone engaged in the practice of theatre. It is hard to work without some faith in the intelligence and appreciation of either critics or audiences. When you don't succeed in maintaining that faith to some degree, you feel anxious and guilty, and begin to get paranoic.

But “paranoia” occurs when imaginary dangers are identified as real; and although I am perfectly willing to regard my feelings as neurotic, I have also found that they seem to be widely shared in the profession. Something has happened to audiences and critics that fills the theatre with irritation. The mere mention of a critic's name in professional circles causes hackles to rise.
An Epic Theatre Catechism
Authors: Gorelik Mordecai
Published: January 2007

By this time many of us have heard of the controversial doctrines of Epic Theatre. Some of us have been intrigued by Epic theory; others have lost no time expressing their annoyance. In his lifetime Bertolt Brecht, Epic's chief architect, encountered a full measure of both reactions. He accepted enthusiasms calmly and took rejections in the same spirit. In spite of all box-office accountants he insisted that the validity of a theatrical credo was not to be determined by a counting of heads. “Einstein's theory was understood at first by half a dozen people,” he once told me. “Whether I am accepted by six people or six million is beside the point. The point is whether I am justified.“

It must be admitted that the meaning of Epic Theatre is not quickly grasped.
Directions for Twelfth Night, or What You Will
Authors: Brown John Russell
Published: January 2007

After the first dozen Twelfth Night's there are still surprises, new guises for the old masterpiece. Directors color it golden, russet, silver or white; blue for dreams, and sometimes pink; or they allow red and even purple to dominate. They can make it sound noisy as a carnival, or eager, simple or melodious, or quarrelsome like children; it can also be strained and nervous. In 1958, Peter Hall at Stratford-upon-Avon hung the stage with gauzes and contrived what The Times called a “Watteauesque light.” And critics report that a year previously, at Stratford, Ontario, Tyrone Guthrie contrasted Feste and Malvolio in “psychological terms,” allowing the final song of the “wind and the rain” to be “as plaintive and wonderful as a Jewish lament.” Two years before that, at the English Stratford, Sir John Gielgud brought “a faint chill to the air” of his production: the comics were on their best behavior in deference to a pervasive “charm”; The Observer said that the polite word for this would be “formal,” and the exact word “mechanical”; it seemed as if, during rehearsals of the last scene, Sir John had stopped the actors and commanded, “Be beautiful; be beautiful.”
The Memory of Heroism
Authors: Brustein Robert
Published: January 2007

Like most monuments of the past in an America obsessed with its present and future, the extant plays of the three Attic tragic dramatists are works for which everyone expresses reverence, but which few read without compulsion. It is a commonplace that fifth century Athens, along with seventeenth century Europe, produced the most sublime drama the world has ever known; yet, stage performances of Greek tragedy are extremely rare, casual reading of the plays is almost unheard of, and, even in the colleges—where the spirit of the past is kept fitfully alive—the Oresteia is sometimes taught primarly as an introduction to Mourning Becomes Electra. All things conspire to keep Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides at a respectful distance. Present-day scholarship, when it employs the (often valuable) archetypal critical techniques, tends to analyze the tragedies as mosaics of mythical patterns rather than immediate, sensual experiences; and, on Broadway, the techniques of Greek drama are exploited only to give dignity to dramatic enterprises which have little importance by themselves.
The Unreconstructed Heroes of Molière
Authors: Nelson Robert J.
Published: January 2007

There are, as Bailly has said, no conversions in Molière. To the end, Arnolphe remains a bigot, Harpagon a miser, Jourdain a parvenu, Argan a hypochondriac. Thus Molière remains true to a rule of comedy far more important than the conventions of time, place, and unity considered the hallmarks of classical dramaturgy: the rule of the unity of character. For, conversion would take the spectator into affective and moral regions where the satiric purpose—laughter—might be compromised. A repentant Arnolphe, a disabused Jourdain, an enlightened Argan might satisfy our sense of the pathetic or the propitious, but only at the expense of our pleasure. In fact, to make us feel sorry for such characters at the end of the play or to make them share our superior view of their previous conduct would come dangerously close to identifying us with them in that previous conduct as well. In leaving these characters “unreconstructed” Molière earns our gratitude as well as our applause.