bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Using a Geographic Information System to identify areas with potential for off-target pesticide exposure
Authors: Pfleeger Thomas G. , Olszyk David , Burdick Connie A. , King George , Kern Jeffrey , Fletcher John
Published: July 2006

In many countries, numerous tests are required as part of the risk assessment process before chemical registration to protect human health and the environment from unintended effects of chemical releases. Most of these tests are not based on ecological or environmental relevance but, rather, on consistent performance in the laboratory. A conceptual approach based on Geographic Information System (GIS) technology has been developed to identify areas that are vulnerable to nontarget chemical exposure. This GIS-based approach uses wind speed, frequency of those winds, pesticide application rates, and spatial location of agricultural crops to identify areas with the highest potential for pesticide exposure. A test scenario based on an incident in Idaho (USA) was used to identify the relative magnitude of risk from off-target movement of herbicides to plants in the conterminous United States. This analysis indicated that the western portion of the Corn Belt, the central California valley, southeastern Washington, the Willamette Valley of Oregon, and agricultural areas bordering the Great Lakes are among those areas in the United States that appear to have the greatest potential for off-target movement of herbicides via drift. Agricultural areas, such as the Mississippi River Valley and the southeastern United States, appears to have less potential, possibly due to lower average wind speeds. Ecological risk assessments developed for pesticide registration would be improved by using response data from species common to high-risk areas instead of extrapolating test data from species unrelated to those areas with the highest potential for exposure.
Tests of bioaccumulation models for polychlorinated biphenyl compounds: A study of young-of-the-year bluefish in the Hudson River estuary, USA
Authors: LeBlanc Lawrence A. , Buckel Jeffrey A. , Conover David O. , Brownawell Bruce J.
Published: July 2006

A field-based study regarding uptake of polychlorinated biphenyl compounds (PCBs) by young-of-the-year (YOY) bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) was initiated to test a steady-state model of bioaccumulation and trophic transfer in a rapidly growing fish. Determination of prey composition as well as size-dependent growth and specific consumption rates for YOY bluefish from separate field and laboratory studies enabled the input of these species-specific parameters into the model. Furthermore, the time and duration of the exposure of YOY bluefish to dissolved PCBs from a well-characterized system (Hudson River, USA) was well known. Patterns of accumulation of individual PCB congeners differed relative to the accumulation of total PCBs, with the greatest net accumulation occurring for the higher-molecular-weight congeners. Comparison of lipid-normalized bioaccumulation factors (BAFs) with the octanol–water partition coefficients of individual PCB congeners revealed bluefish to be above the BAFs predicted by lipid-based equilibrium partitioning, suggesting that uptake from food is an important source of PCBs in YOY bluefish. Comparison of measured BAFs with values predicted by a steady-state, food-chain model showed good first-order agreement.
Perchlorate induces hermaphroditism in threespine sticklebacks
Authors: Bernhardt Richard R. , von Hippel Frank A. , Cresko William A.
Published: July 2006

Recently, concern regarding perchlorate contamination has arisen in many contexts. Perchlorate has many military, commercial, and domestic applications, and it has been found in milk, drinking and irrigation water, and produce. Perchlorate is harmful at low levels, yet it remains unregulated in the United States while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency attempts to establish acceptable exposure levels. The present study investigated potential reproductive effects on vertebrates using a model fish species, the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). Sticklebacks were raised from syngamy through sexual maturity in untreated water and in three target concentrations of sodium perchlorate–treated water. Perchlorate was found to interfere with the expression of nuptial coloration, courtship behavior, and normal sexual development. Genetic testing revealed that some females were masculinized to the extent that they produced both sperm and eggs, and histological analysis showed that these individuals had intersexual gonads (ovotestes) containing both oocytes and cells undergoing spermatogenesis. In vitro fertilizations revealed that those gametes were capable of self- and cross-fertilization. However, crosses using sperm derived from genetic females died either during the blastula phase or near the onset of organogenesis. Sperm derived from genetic males produced viable fry when crossed with eggs derived from genetic females from all treatments. To our knowledge, the present study provides the first evidence that perchlorate produces androgenic effects and is capable of inducing functional hermaphroditism in a nonhermaphroditic vertebrate.
Differential roles of humic acid and particulate organic matter in the equilibrium sorption of atrazine by soils
Authors: Yu Zhiqiang , Sharma Samriti , Huang Weilin
Published: July 2006

Recent studies have indicated that soil organic matter (SOM) may consist of physically and chemically different fractions, including particulate organic matter (POM), such as black carbon and unburned coal materials. The present study examined the differential roles of three different SOM fractions isolated from a peat and a topsoil in the equilibrium sorption of the herbicide atrazine (ATZ). The SOM fractions isolated from the two samples included humic acids (HAs), base-extracted humin (HM), and POM after demineralization of HM. A batch technique was employed to measure both the nonequilibrium ATZ sorption on the original and HA samples and the equilibrium ATZ sorption and desorption. The results showed that the phase-distribution relationships measured under nonequilibrium conditions were more linear and had lower sorption-capacity parameters compared with their respective isotherms measured under equilibrium conditions. The sorption isotherms were variously nonlinear, with POM exhibiting the greatest organic carbon–normalized sorption capacity. There existed apparent sorption–desorption hysteresis for each sorbent–sorbate system. It appeared that the extracted HAs could facilitate hydrolysis of ATZ when the reaction time extended to 4 d or longer. The equilibrium sorptive behavior of the HAs therefore was not examined. The present study indicated that both original samples showed lower organic carbon–normalized sorption distribution coefficients compared with their respective SOM fractions, suggesting that a fraction of sorption sites in soil aggregates were not accessed by ATZ.
Ecological hazard assessment of major veterinary benzimidazoles: Acute and chronic toxicities to aquatic microbes and invertebrates
Authors: Oh Su Jin , Park Jeongim , Lee Min Jung , Park So Young , Lee Jong-Hyeon , Choi Kyungho
Published: July 2006

Aquatic toxicities of six benzimidazole-based anthelmintics—namely, albendazole, thiabendazole, flubendazole, febantel, fenbendazole, and oxfendazole—were evaluated with a marine bacterium, Vibrio fischeri, and a freshwater invertebrate, Daphnia magna. Delayed and chronic toxicity tests using D. magna also were conducted for benzimidazoles with high acute toxicity. Vibrio fischeri was greater than 10-fold less sensitive to most of the benzimidazoles tested compared to daphnids. For D. magna, the most acutely toxic anthelmintic compound tested was fenbendazole (48-h median effective concentration [EC50s], 16.5 μg/L), followed by flubendazole (48-h EC50, 66.5 μg/L), albendazole (48-h EC50, 67.9 μg/L), febantel (48-h EC50, 216.5 μg/L), thiabendazole (48-h EC50, 843.6 μg/L), and oxfendazole (48-h EC50, 1,168.4 μg/L). The lipophilicity parameter, log Kow, explained the observed acute D. magna toxicity of the individual benzimidazoles (r = −0.91, p < 0.01). Delayed expression of toxicity observed for 21 d after 96-h exposure to fenbendazole and flubendazole was not notable, which might result from the relatively high elimination constants for the chemicals. With chronic exposure to fenbendazole, D. magna survival, reproduction, and growth were significantly impacted at 1.25 to 4.1 μg/L (p < 0.05). Hazard quotients estimated for fenbendazole, albendazole, flubendazole, and febantel were 2,770, 9.7, 4, and 1.2, respectively, suggesting a need for further investigation and a potential for environmental concerns, particularly with fenbendazole.
Bioaccumulation and trophic transfer of some brominated flame retardants in a Lake Winnipeg (Canada) food web
Authors: Law Kerri , Halldorson Thor , Danell Robert , Stern Gary , Gewurtz Sarah , Alaee Mehran , Marvin Chris , Whittle Mike , Tomy Gregg
Published: July 2006

The extent of bioaccumulation and trophic transfer of brominated diphenyl ether (BDE) congeners, hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) diastereoisomers (α, β, and γ), decabromodiphenylethane (DBDPE), and bis(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy)ethane (BTBPE) was examined in a Lake Winnipeg (Canada) food web. Six species of fish, zooplankton, mussels, sediment, and water from the south basin of the lake were selected for study. Significant positive correlations were found between concentrations of total (Σ) polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs; p < 0.005), ΣHBCDs (p < 0.0001), BTBPE (p < 0.0001), and lipid content in fish. Strong positive linear relationships also were observed from individual plots of BDE 47, BDE 209, and DBDPE concentrations (lipid wt) and trophic level (based on δ15N), suggesting that these compounds biomagnify in the Lake Winnipeg food web. Biomagnification factors varied for the chemicals studied. Plots of log bioaccumulation factors for mussel and zooplankton versus log octanol–water partition coefficient (Kow) were similar and suggest that neither mussels nor zooplankton are in equilibrium with the water. Fifteen BDE congeners were consistently detected in water (dissolved phase, n = 3), with BDE 47 having the greatest concentration (17 pg/L). The rank order of compounds in water (arithmetic mean ± standard error) were ΣPBDEs (49 ± 12 pg/L) > α-HBCD (11 ± 2 pg/L) > BTBPE (1.9 ± 0.6 pg/L). Concentrations of DPDPE, BDE 209, and β- and γ-HBCD isomers were below their respective method detection limits (MDLs) in water. Total PBDE concentrations in sediment (n = 4) were greater than any other brominated flame retardant examined in the present study and ranged from 1,160 to 1,610 ng/g (dry wt), with BDE 209 contributing roughly 50% of the total. The γ-HBCD isomer was detected at concentrations of 50 ± 20 pg/g (dry wt) in sediment, whereas BTBPE and DBDPE were consistently below their respective MDLs in sediment.
Assessment of estrogenic exposure in brown trout (Salmo trutta) in a Swiss midland river: Integrated analysis of passive samplers, wild and caged fish, and vitellogenin mRNA and protein
Authors: Burki Richard , Vermeirssen Etiënne L.M. , Körner Oliver , Joris Caroline , Burkhardt-Holm Patricia , Segner Helmut
Published: July 2006

This field study examined the vitellogenin (VTG) biomarker response under conditions of low and fluctuating activities of environmental estrogenicity. The present study was performed on immature brown trout (Salmo trutta) exposed to the small river Luetzelmurg, which is located in the prealpine Swiss midland region and receives effluents from a single sewage treatment plant (STP). To understand better factors influencing the relationship between estrogenic exposure and VTG induction, we compared VTG levels in caged (stationary) and feral (free-ranging) fish, VTG levels in fish from up- and downstream of the STP, and two different methods for quantifying VTG (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay vs real-time reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction), and we used passive samplers (polar organic chemical integrative sampler [POCIS]) to integrate the variable, bioaccumulative estrogenic load in the river water over time. The POCIS from the downstream site contained approximately 20-fold higher levels of bioassay-derived estrogen equivalents than the POCIS from the upstream site. In feral fish, this site difference in estrogenic exposure was reflected in VTG protein levels but not in VTG mRNA. In contrast, in caged fish, the site difference was evident only for VTG mRNA but not for VTG protein. Thus, the outcome of VTG biomarker measurements varied with the analytical detection method (protein vs mRNA) and with the exposure modus (caged vs feral). Our findings suggest that for environmental situations with low and variable estrogenic contamination, a multiple-assessment approach may be necessary for the assessment of estrogenic exposure in fish.
Partitioning of moderately hydrophobic endocrine disruptors between water and synthetic membrane vesicles
Authors: Kwon Jung-Hwan , Liljestrand Howard M. , Katz Lynn E.
Published: July 2006

The partition coefficient between water and lipid membrane vesicles (Klipw) has been used as an alternative to the 1-octanol–water partition coefficient (Kow) between water and organic solvent, because it more closely represents actual biological membranes. Despite theoretical differences, log Klipw correlates well with log Kow for conventional nonpolar organic pollutants. In the present study, Klipw values of 11 structurally diverse endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) were measured for three different types of lipid membrane vesicles from dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC), DPPC/cholesterol, and palmitoyloleoylphosphatidylcholine. Correlation analyses were conducted to evaluate the effects of hydrophobicity, molar liquid volume (MLV), and polar surface area (PSA) for 20 EDCs, including nine from a previous study. Correlations that include MLV and PSA reduce the predicted value of log Klipw, suggesting that lipid membranes are less favorable than 1-octanol for a hydrophobic solute because of the higher molar volume and higher hydrogen-bonding potential. These results suggested that Kow alone has limited potential for estimating Klipw and that additional descriptors are required. In addition, Klipw values vary by as much as two orders of magnitude because of the changes in membrane fluidity and the amount of cholesterol in the lipid bilayer. Therefore, lipid components should be chosen carefully to evaluate the bioconcentration of these compounds.
Association of europium(III), americium(III), and curium(III) with cellulose, chitin, and chitosan
Authors: Ozaki Takuo , Kimura Takaumi , Ohnuki Toshihiko , Kirishima Akira , Yoshida Takahiro , Isobe Hiroshi , Francis Arokiasamy J.
Published: July 2006

The association of trivalent f-elements—Eu(III), Am(III), and Cm(III)—with cellulose, chitin, and chitosan was determined by batch experiments and time-resolved, laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy (TRLFS). The properties of these biopolymers as an adsorbent were characterized based on speciation calculation of Eu(III). The adsorption study showed that an increase of the ionic strength by NaCl did not affect the adsorption kinetics of Eu(III), Am(III), and Cm(III) for all the biopolymers, but the addition of Na2CO3 significantly delayed the kinetics because of their trivalent f-element complexation with carbonate ions. It also was suggested from the speciation calculation study that all the biopolymers were degraded under alkaline conditions, leading to their masking of the adsorption of Eu(III), Am(III), and Cm(III) on the nondegraded biopolymers. The masking effect was higher for cellulose than for chitin and chitosan, indicating that of the three, cellulose was degraded most significantly in alkaline solutions. Desorption experiments suggested that some portion of the adsorbed Eu(III) penetrated deep into the matrix, being isolated in a cavity-like site. The TRLFS study showed that the coordination environment of Eu(III) is stabilized mainly by the inner spherical coordination in chitin and by the outer spherical coordination in chitosan, with less association in cellulose in comparison to chitin and chitosan. These results suggest that the association of these biopolymers with Eu(III), Am(III), and Cm(III) is governed not only by the affinity of the functional groups alone but also by other factors, such as the macromolecular steric effect. The association of degraded materials of the biopolymers also should be taken into consideration for an accurate prediction of the influence of biopolymers on the migration behavior of trivalent f-elements.
Assessment of the significance of direct and indirect pollution inputs to a major salmon-producing river using polyethylene membrane devices
Authors: Moles Adam , Holland Larry , Andersson Ole
Published: July 2006

Conventional passive sampling devices for monitoring pollution input often prove to be cost-prohibitive when assessing large spatial and temporal scales. The Kenai River, a major salmon-producing river in Alaska (USA), served as the perfect laboratory to test the utility of polyethylene membrane devices for assessing chronic nonpoint-source inputs to a large riverine watershed. Comparison of the relative levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) at a large number of locations over time allowed us to assess the significance and potential source of these compounds in the river. Concentrations of PAH were greatest near urban areas and peaked during the late winter, when streams flows and dilution were low. Vessel activity and PAH levels peaked in July and were heaviest in the lower 16 km of the river, where fishing activity was concentrated. Nearly one-third of the vessels observed on the river were powered by two-stroke engines, which release a higher proportion of unburned fuel into the water than the cleaner burning four-stroke engines. The low concentrations of hydrocarbons upriver of the boat traffic suggest very little remote delivery of these contaminants to the watershed. Polyethylene strips proved to be an excellent, low-cost tool for determining the PAH patterns in a large watershed.
Comparative evaluation of three high-performance liquid chromatography–based Kow estimation methods for highly hydrophobic organic compounds: Polybrominated diphenyl ethers and hexabromocyclododecane
Authors: Hayward Stephen J. , Lei Ying D. , Wania Frank
Published: July 2006

Three methods for estimating the octanol–water partition coefficient (Kow) based on its relationship with capacity factors on reversed-phase (RP) high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) columns were compared in terms of their applicability to highly hydrophobic compounds (HHCs). Methods based on simple isocratic elutions were found to be unsuitable, because the very high organic modifier fractions that are required to elute HHCs from RP columns challenge the basic assumption of the similarity between the octanol–water and RP–eluent systems. Compound planarity was found to exert a considerable influence on the retention of HHCs in RP columns, leading to different linear calibration curves for chlorobenzenes and chlorobiphenyls. Only an empirical exponential regression succeeded in describing the behavior of both groups of compounds during gradient elutions. In a method based on isocratic retention times at multiple temperatures, satisfactory calibration was achieved with a multivariate linear regression that included a numerical indicator of compound planarity. Considering experimental simplicity, speed, precision, and accuracy, with the latter judged by comparison with Kow values for polybrominated diphenyl ethers and polychlorinated naphthalenes as reported in the literature, a gradient elution combined with an exponential calibration curve is recommended for estimating the Kow of HHCs. To our knowledge, the first isomer-specific Kow values for hexabromocyclododecane are reported. Bearing in mind that the influence of structural characteristics on retention is likely to increase with hydrophobicity, it is not justified to judge a HPLC-based Kow estimation method as being suitable for HHCs because it is shown to work well for less hydrophobic substances. Whereas univariate linear regressions often may prove to be sufficient when dealing with substances having a log Kow of less than five, methods for HHCs need to account for the influence of structure on retention.
Modern Biotechnology as an Integral Supplement to Conventional Plant Breeding: The Prospects and Challenges
Authors: Jauhar Prem P.
Published: July 2006

The art of plant breeding was developed long before the laws of genetics became known. The advent of the principles of genetics at the turn of the last century catalyzed the growth of breeding, making it a science‐based technology that has been instrumental in substantial improvements in crop plants. Largely through exploitation of hybrid vigor, grain yields of several cereal crops were substantially increased. Intervarietal and interspecific hybridizations, coupled with appropriate cytogenetic manipulations, proved useful in moving genes for resistance to diseases and insect pests from suitable alien donors into crop cultivars. Plant improvement has been further accelerated by biotechnological tools of gene transfer, to engineer new traits into plants that are very difficult to introduce by traditional breeding. The successful deployment of transgenic approaches to combat insect pests and diseases of important crops like rice (Oryza sativa L.), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), maize (Zea mays L.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), and cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is a remarkable accomplishment. Biofortification of crops constitutes another exciting development in tackling global hunger and malnutrition. Golden Rice, genetically enriched with vitamin A and iron, has, for example, the real potential of saving millions of lives. Yet another exciting application of transgenic technology is in the production of edible vaccines against deadly diseases. How these novel approaches to gene transfer can effectively supplement the conventional breeding programs is described. The current resistance to acceptance of this novel technology should be assessed and overcome so that its full potential in crop improvement can be realized.
Effect of Cover Crops Alfalfa, Red Clover, and Perennial Ryegrass on Soybean Cyst Nematode Population and Soybean and Corn Yields in Minnesota
Authors: Chen Senyu , Wyse Donald L. , Johnson Gregg A. , Porter Paul M. , Stetina Salliana R. , Miller Daniel R. , Betts Kevin J. , Klossner Lee D. , Haar Milton J.
Published: July 2006

The effects of alfalfa, red clover, and perennial ryegrass as cover crops on soybean cyst nematode (SCN) and soybean and corn yields were evaluated in Waseca, Lamberton, and Rosemount, MN. The cover crops were interseeded in soybean at 0 or 2 wks after planting soybean in 2002 and killed with herbicide before planting corn in 2003. As expected, SCN‐susceptible soybean supported higher SCN population density than SCN‐resistant soybean. Reduction of SCN population density by red clover (up to 40%) and alfalfa (up to 55%) was observed in some sampling occasions at Lamberton and Rosemount, probably due to reduced soybean growth, but the effect was inconsistent. No significant reduction of SCN population by the two crops was detected at Waseca. While perennial ryegrass did not affect SCN population density in most cases, up to 46% higher egg population densities were observed in the perennial ryegrass treatment as compared to the control at Waseca. SCN‐resistant soybean produced higher yield than susceptible soybean at all sites. While alfalfa reduced soybean yield at Lamberton (up to 50%) and Rosemount (up to 11%), red clover and perennial ryegrass reduced soybean yield only at Lamberton (up to 38%) and Waseca (up to 34%), respectively. No difference in corn yield was observed at Waseca. At Lamberton, alfalfa and red clover planted at the time of planting soybean reduced corn yield in the following year 17 and 13%, respectively, and perennial ryegrass planted 2 wks after planting soybean reduced corn yield 13%. At Rosemount, significant reduction of corn yield was observed with red clover (15–21%) interseeded in SCN‐susceptible soybean and with alfalfa (12%) and red clover (12%) interseeded in SCN‐resistant soybean at the time of planting soybean. The results suggest that an even later planting date of cover crops in soybean may reduce yield loss due to competition and make these cover crops more appropriate for use in the soybean‐corn rotation in Minnesota.
Grazing Influences on Mass, Nutritive Value, and Persistence of Stockpiled Jesup Tall Fescue without and with Novel and Wild‐Type Fungal Endophytes
Authors: Burns J. C. , Fisher D. S. , Rottinghaus G. E.
Published: July 2006

Introducing novel endophytes into tall fescue (Festuca arundinaceaSchreb.) that produce no ergot alkaloids could prevent negative impacts on animal performance while improving plant persistence. This 3‐yr study evaluated ‘Jesup’ tall fescue (TF) for forage mass, nutritive value, and stand persistence when containing no endophyte, a novel endophyte (no ergot alkaloids), or a wild‐type endophyte (ergot alkaloids). Forage was accumulated from mid‐August and treatments consisted of (i) a grazed control (grazed when growth approximated 10 to 15 cm), or forage accumulated and grazed in (ii) mid‐November, (iii) mid‐December, (iv) mid‐January, and (v) mid‐February. Endophyte status had no influence on total forage mass; forage removed by grazing; proportion of leaf, stem, and dead fractions; or on nutritive value (except ergovaline which was greatest in the wild type). Delaying defoliation linearly reduced forage mass, ergovaline concentration, and nutritive value. All stands of TF declined with losses similar (P= 0.37) for wild‐type and novel stands (29 vs. 42%) but were greatest for the TF without an endophyte (29 vs. 75%;P= 0.01 and 42 vs. 75%;P= 0.04). These data support the use of novel endophytes in TF for animal production and caution against the use of endophyte‐free TF because of decreased stand longevity. The presence of ergovaline can be minimized by stockpiling TF with utilization after late autumn but occurs with a sacrifice in forage mass and nutritive value.
Soybean Maturity Groups, Environments, and Their Interaction Define Mega‐environments for Seed Composition in Argentina
Authors: Dardanelli Julio L. , Balzarini Mónica , Martínez Maria José , Cuniberti Martha , Resnik Silvia , Ramunda Silvina F. , Herrero Rosana , Baigorri Hector
Published: July 2006

Argentina is the largest soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] meal and oil exporter in the world, with crops covering a 23° to 39° S latitude range, allowing the presence of genotypes from different maturity groups (MG). Multi‐environment yield trials (MET) for commercial cultivars are conducted each year across the crop area. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the consistency of MG effects and its interaction with environments (E), first to investigate if different mega‐environments (ME) for oil, protein, and oil + protein exist in Argentina, and second to identify superior MG regarding these traits. We analyzed a 3‐yr series of oil and protein data from MET involving six MG and more than 14 E per year. Statistical analysis was based on ANOVA and graphical displays from E‐centered biplots to explore MG‐related effects and to identify ME. No ME were identified for oil content because of MG II, III, and IV showed higher content than other groups in every E. Two or three ME (depending on the growing season) were identified for protein and oil + protein contents; in one of them MG VI cultivars had the highest value of these compounds whereas in the other set of E, higher yielding cultivars were from MG II–III. The oil variations among E depended mainly on MG effects suggesting broad adaptations of short MG, whereas MG × E interaction effects for protein and oil + protein were higher than for oil, and enough to create opportunities for handling environment‐specific adaptations.
Charles Lennox Wyke and the Clayton-Bulwer Formula in Central America, 1852-1860
Authors: Brown Richmond F.
Published: July 2006

People here don't care two straws about Central America, or Mosquitia or the Bay Islands or the Honduras boundary,” complained British Foreign Secretary Lord Clarendon to Prime Minister Lord Palmerston in December 1857, “all they wish for is freedom of interoceanic communication and this they believe can be achieved without a quarrel with the U.S.” Clarendon's bitter remark reflected his government's enduring frustration in arranging British holdings in Central America in accord with the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850. That diplomatic landmark was to have commenced an unprecedented era of Anglo-American cooperation in Central America that would finally fulfill the ancient dream of rapid interoceanic transit through the isthmus. The treaty prohibited colonization or fortification of Central America by either side and provided Anglo-American protection for a U.S. company's canalbuilding venture in Nicaragua. But the unfortunate document had yet to bring about the desired ends. No canal had materialized and the “Central American Question” would not go away. In vain the British government had tried to extricate itself from its embarassingly forward position in Central America. In the meantime, a wave of U.S. filibusters, urged on by the bold words and permissive attitude of their government, threatened to trample underfoot the treaty's prohibitions against foreign colonization. By the end of 1857, the Clayton-Bulwer treaty was in imminent danger of U.S. abrogation, and Palmerston and his cabinet had nearly despaired of ever exiting the isthmian quagmire with British honor intact, without at the same time opening the gates for the “most disageeable” Yankees.
Financial Development in Peru Under Agrarian Export Influence, 1884-1950
Authors: Quiroz Alfonso W.
Published: July 2006

In the study of Latin America's economic history, discussion of the role of the export sector in promoting development has entered a provocative new stage. Recently, advances in the understanding of export economies have questioned the view that export orientation is the principal cause of underdevelopment and dependence. New studies have demonstrated the impact of export growth on the increasingly efficient use of domestic factors of production improvement of transportation networks, urban and industrial diversification, and active state intervention accompanied by the rising political influence of middle and labor sectors. Yet despite the perceived importance of domestic and foreign credit during the heyday of export-led growth, and the often underestimated but crucial native struggle to control and direct Latin American financial structures, few of those works have analyzed the crucial links between the economic structure and native financial development.
Mexico's Pre-Revolutionary Reckoning with Railroads
Authors: Randall Robert W.
Published: July 2006

Economic considerations all but dominate recent historical writing in this country about the railroads of Mexico. Technical matters of construction and operation, as well as the role of the state in both, are touched upon, but economic interpretation, whether of the development of a railway system or of its impact on the nation, is the watchword if not catchword of most writing. Probably the leading example of the dominant approach isGrowth against Development: The Economic Impact of Railroads in Porfirian Mexico(Northern Illinois University Press, 1981), by John H. Coatsworth, in which the author concludes that, while “the short run contribution of railroads to economic growth was large,” their longrun impact helped “to create the underdeveloped country Mexico has become.” Applying economic theory and measuring, Coatsworth in essence proves with numbers a case argued more elegantly in straight prose early in this century: that the application of a modern transportation network to a staple producing economy will do little more than extend and intensify the production system so as to increase the staple output.
Indigenous Communities and Water Rights in Colonial Puebla: Patterns of Resistance
Authors: Lipsett-Rivera Sonya
Published: July 2006

Agriculture was at the center of the Poblano indigenous communal economy, and therefore, successful harvests were the motor of the community's survival. The struggle to retain land by Indians was a fundamental part of their quest to retain a viable community, but for some, an equally important task was to maintain control of water rights. The central place of sufficient water resources for the well-being of the collectivity was often expressed when village elders complained that its loss led to migration of substantial numbers to more vital economic regions. As such, the defense of water resources had a more important place in the survival mechanisms of indigenous groups than usually accorded it by scholars.
Mission Manifesto: A Document
Authors: McCarty Kieran
Published: July 2006

The Spanish mission system was a tool of empire. If we consider it oppressive by modern standards, it was—at least in intent—a lesser of the many evils invariably accompanying the historical tactics of imperialism. With the Enlightenment and the new world republican movements of the early nineteenth century, the lot of the “mission Indian” grew worse rather than better. Although along with the other “citizens” of the new American republics he was declared “liberated,” he soon found out that some citizens were more liberated than others. With the rejection of the centralized authority of the Spanish monarchy, land-grabbing became the order of the day and Indian lands were the easiest target.
The Brazilian Black Guard Racial Conflict in Post-Abolition Brazil
Authors: Trochim Michael R.
Published: July 2006

The existence of racial democracy in Brazil has long since come into serious question. The work of sociologists like Florestan Fernandes and historians like Carl Degler has demonstrated the fact of racial discrimination in Brazil, yet the history of race relations in Brazil still seems to stand in contrast to that of the United States. Occurrences of widespread racial violence and the organization of militant movements for social, economic, and political equality take up little space in the historical literature dealing with Brazil. The apparent lack of endemic racial conflict in Brazil has been explained as the result of the marginalization of black people in Brazilian capitalism or as the result of a social mechanism like Degler's “mulatto escape hatch,” which separates the mass of black people from their natural leaders. Consequently, a consciousness of racial solidarity did not develop as the basis for political organization. Without such organization, black people could not effectively confront the white power structure on the issues of race, and, ultimately, class discrimination.
The Taming of a Colombian Caudillo: Juan Nepomuceno Moreno of Casanare
Authors: Rausch Jane M.
Published: July 2006

No statue of Juan Nepomuceno Moreno stands today in Bogotá. Most Colombians have never heard of him, and probably only a few scholars could identify him as a Llanero patriot who fought in the battles of Boyacá and Carabobo. Yet it is not too much to say that in May 1831, the action of this obscure caudillo from Casanare might have changed the course of Colombian history. Already in Venezuela and Argentina, José Antonio Páez and Juan Manuel de Rosas had used the plains as a springboard to unseat the urban elite and take command of their nations. Now Moreno, fresh from a stunning defeat of the forces of Rafael Urdaneta at Cerinza and poised in Zipaquirá with an army of fierce Llaneros, threatened to invade Bogotá, overthrow Bolívar's successor, and impose his own dictatorship. While historians agree that the events of 1831 mark a turning point in the evolution of Colombian politics, they have yet to analyze the role played by Moreno. An examination of his career suggests that his failure to seize control stemmed not only from his own personal limitations as a leader, but was also conditioned by two important trends of nineteenth century Colombian history—the subordination of the Llanos frontier to the highlands, and the emergence of a political system dominated by civilian caudillos.
The Todd Duncan Affair: Acción Democrática and the Myth of Racial Democracy in Venezuela
Authors: Wright Winthrop R.
Published: July 2006

In June, 1945, Time Magazine informed its readers that the North American singer, Robert Todd Duncan, had been refused accomodations by three prominent hotels in Caracas, Venezuela. This news, came as a shock to many Venezuelans who had considered their nation a racial democracy in which discrimination and prejudice did not exist. They felt doubly disturbed because a North American news magazine charged that the hotels had refused to admit Duncan, his wife, and his accompanist, William Allen, because of their race. They resented the fact that representatives of the press in the most racist society of the Americas accused Venezuelans of practicing racial discrimination of the sort found in the United States.
The Cargo of the Montserrat: Gilbertese Labor in Guatemalan Coffee, 1890-1908
Authors: McCreery David , Munro Doug
Published: July 2006

Upon the plantations themselves the laborers are not so badly treated, for there they are the property of their owners, and men treat their own property well, especially when it is of considerable value. But they are brought from a thoroughly healthy climate, where disease is almost unknown, to a feverstricken region. Within twelve months their numbers will probably be reduced to one-third, and at the expiration of the three years a woefully diminished number will return to their lovely homes in the Western Pacific.

In recent years much attention has focused on the labor migration of Pacific Islanders, and particularly Melanesians, during the second half of the nineteenth century for work on the export plantations of Fiji, Samoa, New Guinea, and Queensland. A smaller number, but a quantity nevertheless significant for the populations from which they came, went to labor in Latin America. In 1862-63, for example, vessels from Peru kidnapped perhaps 3,600 persons from the smaller islands of the eastern Pacific and ventured as far west as the Gilbert Islands, where they ensnared three hundred or more unsuspecting individuals. A larger migration from the Gilberts occurred almost thirty years later, when in 1890-92 some twelve hundred individuals signed up to work on the coffee plantations (fincas) of the Pacific piedmont (boca costa) of southern Mexico and Guatemala; this constituted almost fifteen percent of the Gilbertese who migrated for offisland labor after the middle of the century. Less than 800 of the 1890s cohort actually arrived, and perhaps a quarter to a third of these died in the first year, so that their impact on an industry which annually mobilized tens of thousands of local Indians was limited. Nevertheless, for the Guatemalan coffee elites the experience confirmed what they had long suspected, that there would be no solution to their labor problems outside of the republic itself. For the Gilbertese this was by far the largest instance of labor recruitment of the decade, a period of economic hardship and political changes in the archipelago.
The Impact of Religion in Central America: A Bibliographical Essay
Authors: Brett Edward T.
Published: July 2006

Prior to the last two decades most scholars paid little attention to the Central American Catholic Church, viewing it in general as little more than a benevolent arm of the elite power structure or as an anachronistic institution intent on regaining privileges it lost during the nineteenth-century Liberal reforms. Traditionally conservative, its sacerdotal leadership had long accepted without question the medieval notions of church-state cooperation and social inequality. Such a mentality had led to a paternalistic approach to the poor. Rejecting as un-Christian all concepts of class conflict, the church believed the lower classes should be patient and ought not take it upon themselves to attempt to better their own condition. Instead, a well- ordered society was seen as a cooperative, top-down venture in which the upper class worked with the church to ameliorate the condition of the masses.
Ruy González's 1553 Letter to Emperor Charles V An Annotated Translation
Authors: Stabler Arthur P. , Kicza John E.
Published: July 2006

The letter sent by Ruy González, a councilman of Mexico City, to the Spanish monarch, Charles I (Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire), in April 1553 constitutes an excellent example of the genre of correspondence sent by the conquerors and early settlers of the colonies back to Spain. These men, self-assured and successful, proud of their achievements and unbothered by moral doubt, though now generally well off and powerful, were nonetheless greatly perturbed in their old age by a growing governmental reluctance to allow them to pass on their status and wealth undisturbed to the next generation. To them there appeared to be a great influx of royal and ecclesiastical officials, characteristically accompanied by dependents and sycophants seeking favor and grants, as well as an unjustified questioning of the moral probity of the actions of the conquerors themselves. In this climate, feeling that his wisdom and deeds were unappreciated, Ruy González sent his several-page letter to the king, justifying his life, arguing his point of view, and advising changes in royal policies towards the colony that he had helped to found.
The Enchanted Burro, Bayonets and the Business of Making Sugar: State, Capital, and Labor Relations in the Ingenio San Antonio, 1912-1926
Authors: Gould Jeffrey L.
Published: July 2006

Since the 1920s, the San Antonio sugar mill in Chichigalpa, Nicaragua has been that country's largest manufacturing establishment. The ingenio (the sugar mill along with the plantation) employed close to 2,000 workers in 1920, and has since consistently employed far more workers than any other single enterprise. The owners of San Antonio were—and continue to be—the most economically powerful group within the Nicaraguan elite, In contemporary Nicaragua, the above affirmations remain valid: San Antonio is still the largest employer and economically most powerful financial group in the country.

Any consideration of the development of Nicaraguan capitalism must take into account the history of the Ingenio San Antonio (ISA). In this article, I will examine the development of relations among labor, management, and the state in San Antonio from the 1890s until 1930 using archival and oral sources. Throughout this period, politics and economics were inseparable for the workers. Particularly after the U.S. Marines occupied Nicaragua in 1912 and bolstered the Conservative regime, the political Liberalism of the San Antonio workers was something of a popular revolutionary
The Great Adventure: Mercenaries in The Mexican Revolution, 1910-1915
Authors: Taylor Lawrence D.
Published: July 2006

Scholarly studies of the Mexican revolutionary period seldom have approached the subject from the standpoint of how this momentous struggle was actually waged by its combatants. While considerable investigation has rendered valuable insights into leading personalities and movements of the time, no comparable effort has been made to unravel the myriad military complexities and paradoxes of one of the major wars waged on the North American continent.

A case in point concerns the foreign soldiers who fought side by side with Mexican troops in the rebel armies. Such military personnel are commonly referred to in modern-day parlance as mercenaries, a term indicating “paid soldiers in the service of a foreign country.” However, not all foreigners who served in the Revolution were professional soldiers for hire, nor did all have previous military experience. Such words and phrases as soldiers of fortune or adventurers, in vogue during the period, more clearly define the status of these combatants as “men fighting for pay or love of adventure under the flag of any country.” Be that as it may, all of the terms given above are basically synonymous and can be used interchangeably to refer to the foreign volunteers who joined the various armed factions contending for supremacy in Mexico.
Blue and Brown: Contraband Indigo and the Rise of a Free Colored Planter Class in French Saint-Domingue
Authors: Garrigus John
Published: July 2006

In 1791 the French Caribbean colony of Saint-Domingue became the site of the only successful slave uprising in the history of the New World. As the French Revolution reshaped the political and social institutions of the mother country, Saint-Domingue's free people of color, led by an indigo planter from the island's southern peninsula, began a campaign for civil reform that helped destabilize colonial slave society. Despite their pivotal role in what would become the Haitian Revolution, relatively little is known about this important population. Widely acknowledged to be the largest and wealthiest group of its kind in the New World, this class comprised a remarkable 47 percent of the colony's free inhabitants in 1788. While elsewhere in the eighteenth-century Caribbean free coloreds tended to be urban based, most of Saint-Domingue'sgens de couleurdwelt in the countryside and a number were successful planters. By 1790 members of this class owned enough slaves and plantations that they were said to possess one-third of the colony.
“Not a Pastor, But a Wolf”: Indigenous-Clergy Relations in Early Cuernavaca and Taxco
Authors: Haskett Robert
Published: July 2006

“Not a pastor, but a wolf who gains sustenance from the blood of his sheep” is the way in which a parish priest was described in a petition written on behalf of the town council of Jonacatepec, an important indigenous community in what is now the state of Morelos. Addressing the ecclesiastical authorities in 1818, the petitioners sought to discredit the priest who like a wolf, they claimed, “gains sustenance from the blood of his sheep” by charging too much for his services, for refusing to perform those services in the first place if it was inconvenient, and by keeping a mistress.
The Men of Nikolaus Federmann: Conquerors of the New Kingdom of Granada
Authors: Avellaneda Jose Ignacio
Published: July 2006

The New Kingdom of Granada, now Colombia, was discovered and settled by three unrelated expeditions organized for different purposes. Two of them were led by Spaniards and one by a German. The first was placed under the leadership of Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada by the governor of Santa Marta, and ordered to go south in search of a passage to Peru. Another was led from the south and out of Peru by Sebastián de Benalcázar in search of one Dorado or golden man, who was supposed to reign in the Indian area of Cundirumarca, while the third was organized by Nikolaus Federmann in the province of Venezuela, with the aim of reaching the Xerira land of riches, the existence of which was known from the Indians encountered in early explorations. He was to proceed under the auspices of the German House of Welser, concessionary at the time of the exploration and exploitation of the province of Venezuela.
Rio Studies Rio: Ongoing Research on the First Republic in Rio de Janeiro
Authors: Smith Naro Nancy Priscilla
Published: July 2006

The recently unfolding process of transition from twenty years of military government to a new republic with democratic ideals in Brazil brings, as one of its correlates, an upsurge of citizen interest about a previous period of transition which took place almost one hundred years ago. That transition, marked by the end of modern slavery, led to the implantation of a dependent capitalist bourgeois order. The focus of many controversies and the object of considerable debate, “transition” in the late nineteenth century, has been most widely researched in São Paulo. There, the influx of European immigration accompanied the expansion of coffee production in the western frontier and excess capital generated from the sale of coffee was injected into the incipient industrial sector of the economy.