bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Anatomy of an Eviction Campaign: The General Election of 1868 in Wales and its Aftermath
Authors: Cragoe Matthew
Published: October 2008

One of the most striking aspects of recent scholarship concerning electoral politics in the Victorian countryside is the widespread consensus that has developed that landlords did not – as was so commonly averred by Radical politicians at the time – use the threat of eviction as a weapon with which to terrorise farming tenants into voting as they were instructed. In the work of Norman Gash, Richard Olney and Frank O'Gorman, English tenants are represented as being quite happy to follow the lead offered them by their landlords, both from a ‘semi-feudal’ sense of loyalty and from a sense of gratitude for past favours and the hope of further favours to come. Even in Ireland, where a historiography dominated by Pomfret presented a much bleaker picture of landlord-tenant relations, the process of revision has considerably modified the received view. J. H. Whyte has argued that the landowners were far less tyrannical than had been generally thought, and regards as particularly erroneous the idea that landlords had regular recourse to eviction to punish tenants who had voted contrary to their wishes. This policy was not used, he suggests, because it patently did not work. Whyte's insights, though they have been modified in certain respects, were recently upheld in W. E. Vaughan's study of landlord and tenant relations in mid-Victorian Ireland. The history of politics in the Irish countryside is thus seen as having approximated that of England, and recent scholarship suggests a similar picture for Lowland Scotland, where, outside the Famine years, patterns of eviction were similar to those in Ireland. In only one country do the landowners still retain intact their reputation for electoral tyranny: Wales.
The Pure Beer Campaign and Arsenic Poisoning, 1896–1903
Authors: Phillips Jim , French Michael
Published: October 2008

In the 1880s English farmers and their political representatives began a long campaign for tighter control of beer ingredients. The chief aim of the campaign, which continued intermittently until the 1920s, was to increase demand for English barley and hops. The proposed measures were variously introduced in Parliament by farming MPs as ‘Beer’, ‘Pure Beer’, and even ‘British Beer’ Bills; each sought to limit, or in some cases prohibit, the use of sugar, rice and all other ‘substitutes’ for barley and hops. These proposals were given a serious hearing only twice, in 1896 and 1901, the latter following an epidemic of arsenic poisoning, traced to contaminated brewing sugar, which had killed at least seventy beer drinkers in northern and central England. Farmers exploited this crisis by introducing a Pure Beer Bill that was only withdrawn after the government had appointed a Royal Commission, chaired by Lord Kelvin, to study beer materials and the wider question of arsenical contamination of foods. To the relief of the brewers' national organisation, the Country Brewers' Society, Kelvin exonerated the trade generally and did not recommend statutory control of brewing ingredients.
‘Farming through Enclosure’ — A Gentle Rejoinder
Authors: Martins Susanna Wade
Published: October 2008

I was most interested in the article by John Beckett et al. which appeared in volume 9 of Rural History. It contained detail about the Enclosure Commissioners' handling of the transition from open to enclosed field farming based mainly on Midlands evidence of which I was unaware and which I have not come across in East Anglia. Continued research may produce comparable material in local record offices and estate and solicitors' collections in other regions.
Common Meeting Places and the Brightening of Rural Life: Local Debates on Village Halls in Sussex after the First World War
Authors: Grieves Keith
Published: October 2008

In the burgeoning literature on war memorials and the commemoration of the war dead in Britain after 1918, the growth of village halls in rural areas has not been extensively analysed. K.S. Inglis has alerted us to the dichotomy of monuments to mourn the dead and amenities to serve the living. He noted that where a preference was made for utility over monumentality, local war memorial committees did not confine their attention to commemorating those who died on active service and made the Great Sacrifice, but also had in mind those who served and returned. The complex locally-determined processes of negotiating ways which would bring solace or comfort to the bereaved, through the creation of an object of mourning, has been examined with great care and detail, but analysis of urban-centred initiatives predominates.

Consequently, the linkage which might be made between the experience of war and the participation of ex-servicemen in village war memorial debates, the demise of old elites and the quest for improved social and material conditions in rural areas, the diminishing support for parish churches as the focal point of community life and the emergence of undenominational social centres, all point towards the need for further examination of the proceedings of local committees, where parish records allow. As British participation in the Great War contained the powerful rhetoric of a religious crusade and was not connected to the improvement of social conditions until the publication of war aims in January 1918, many committees gave priority to the creation of sacred objects of mourning, with much use of exhortatory moral language and Christian iconography.
Labourers are Revolting: Penalising the Poor and a Political Reaction in the Brixworth Union, Northamptonshire, 1875–1885
Authors: Hurren Elizabeth T.
Published: October 2008

Throughout the nineteenth century one of the main issues that preoccupied central government policy-makers was how poverty should be dealt with, in order to reduce poor relief expenditure. The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, as Karel Williams argues, aimed to introduce a general rule against out-door relief by substituting instead a workhouse test that sought to deter paupers with its axiom of ‘less eligibility’. In practice, as Williams explains, regulations only stipulated that a workhouse test was to be strictly applied in the case of able-bodied male applicants and this gave unions the discretion to award out-door relief to other types of pauper. For example a number of unions continued to grant small out-door relief allowances to the aged, widows and infirm on medical out-door relief orders. Others found that it was not possible to follow poor relief guide-lines because they did not have the workhouse capacity to relieve all pauper applicants before the 1860s. This was because a comprehensive administrative infrastructure was not put in place in most unions until after the passing of the Union Chargeability Act of 1865. Once workhouse capacity had been improved with the creation of dispensaries and new medical wards, central government expected out-door poor relief expenditure to decrease. Consequently, in 1870 concern was expressed when they calculated that only 15 per cent of paupers were relieved within workhouses. A new discourse on the causes of poverty, as outlined by organisations such as the Charity Organisation Society, demanded that stricter poor relief regulations should be implemented.
Emigration and the New Poor Law: The Norfolk Emigration Fever of 1836
Authors: Howells Gary
Published: October 2008

In 1836 under the auspices of section 62 of the New Poor Law, 3,069 poor people from Norfolk were assisted to emigrate to North America. Their passages, and various other requirements including spending money, travel to the port, equipment for the voyage and settling of debts, were paid for out of the poor rates. The rationale for this outflow of people revolved around the issue of surplus labour, which was believed to have a corrosive and unsettling effect upon the state of rural society. Emigration had long been seen as a potential safety valve for surplus labour. Clause 62 can be traced back to the vigorous debate about assisted emigration associated with Robert Wilmot Horton. For one emigration season, it looked as if parochial government were capable of rising to the challenge of solving its surplus labour problems and simultaneously satisfying the needs of the labour-hungry British colonies. This paper examines the Norfolk emigration fever by using a previously unused data set of nineteenth-century emigration (Ministry of Health files held at the Public Record Office). It argues that assisted emigration was the result of a concerted rational policy, applied by the parish officers aimed to benefit emigrants and those left behind. The policy was neither haphazard nor accidental and, though inspired by fear of the consequences of implementing the New Poor Law, was not a panicked response. It argues that the arrangements for assisted emigration resulted in a process of interchange and interaction between rich and poor which makes a mockery of the term ‘shovelling out paupers’. The poor emigrants who were targeted were assisted because they were good labourers, not useless indigents incapable of providing for themselves. The findings shed further light on the nature of emigrating populations, the emigratory process and the mindset of both rich and poor at the time of the introduction of the New Poor Law.
Getting Out and Getting On: Scottish Highland Migration in the First Half of the Twentieth Century
Authors: Maclean Catherine
Published: October 2008

This paper draws on data collected for the author's doctoral thesis (Maclean, 1997), which examined migration and social change in remote rural areas. The research took place mainly in 1995–6, and consisted of tape-recorded interviews and 18 months' ethnographic fieldwork in a parish in the Scottish Highlands, and the use of data including the Census Small Area Statistics and Register of Sasines. Although informed by the research as a whole, the central focus of this paper is data drawn from twenty interviews with members of fifteen families, most of whom were born in the first three decades of the twentieth century. A further ten people provided supplementary data in interviews in which family migration patterns were not the main focus (see table 1 for details). Places and people involved in the research have been given pseudonyms to protect anonymity, privacy and confidentiality, in accordance with the British Sociological Association's Ethical Guidelines.
Rich Agriculture and Poor Farmers: Land, Landlords and Farmers in Flanders in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
Authors: Vanhaute Eric
Published: October 2008

This article focuses on the property relations in Belgian and Flemish agriculture in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The main question is: what was the relationship between land use, land ownership and land rents? By analysing the position of the (small) farmers and of the (small) landlords we could confirm that the dominance of small-scale farming coincided with a specific pattern of property distribution and surplus extraction. The high and increasing returns of the land were almost entirely pruned away by private landowners. The extreme fragmentation of the land, the large proportion of leaseholds and the high rents grew to a maximum in the second half of the nineteenth century due to competition both on the property market and on the leasehold market. This put the Flemish farmer in the worst possible situation, with a sad contrast between brilliant harvests and the miserable existence of those who generated them.
The Drover's Wife and the Drover's Daughter: Histories of Single Farming Women and Debates in Australian Historiography
Authors: Hunter Kathryn M.
Published: October 2008

In the 1980s two vigorous debates commanded the attention of economic and feminist historians alike, and they played a key part in shaping the historiography concerning rural women in Australia. One debate revolved around the use of the nineteenth-century census in determining women's occupations, including those of farming women. The other debate, part of a wider feminist conversation about women's agency, focused on the question of the nature of white women's lives within colonial families and society. Despite the centrality of rural women to these debates, and the role colonial women's histories played in shaping the historiography, these debates did not impact upon the writing of rural history in Australia. This article revisits these debates in the light of new research into the lives of never-married women on Australia's family farms and uses their histories to question the conclusions arrived at by feminist and economic historians. It also questions the continuing invisibility of rural women in histories of rural Australia and hopes to provoke more discussion between rural and feminist historians.
The Landscape History of Grouse Shooting in the Yorkshire Dales
Authors: Done Andrew , Muir Richard
Published: October 2008

The literature concerning recreational landscapes is substantial, but its contents are heavily biased towards the parks and gardens of the aristocratic and land-owning classes. Surprisingly, very little of a landscape historical nature has been published on the countrysides created and maintained for the purpose of grouse shooting, even though the areas concerned are some of the most admired and most ecologically sensitive parts of Britain. The pursuit of grouse shooting has been followed in the Yorkshire Dales for more than 250 years and the activity (in this context ‘sport’ is an emotive term) and its varied impacts upon the landscape have been conditioned by a variety of factors. Some are social, and relate to perceptions of what constitute acceptable forms of upper class recreation and association; some are technological and involve the development of firearms; some are logistical and pertain to improvements in access to the upland grouse moors, while some are ecological and concern the improvement and deterioration of the habitat and fluctuations in the grouse population. All these factors found expression in the landscape, on the grand scale, by the systematic burning, swaling or swiddening of the moors and at the local level, for example, by constructing butts in relation to topography, prevailing wind direction and the flight paths favoured by the game.
Caravans and Slide Shows: Rural Modernism inA Canterbury Tale
Authors: Jones Steve
Published: October 2008

This essay uses the filmA Canterbury Tale(The Archers, 1944) to consider the relationship between the countryside and modernity in English culture during the 1930s and 1940s. While previous analyses have argued thatA Canterbury Talefilm is unambiguously conservative, this paper adopts a Gramscian framework to suggest that its conservatism is intimately bound up with an emergent, modernising structure of feeling. The paper therefore studies those scenes in which the serene rurality of the narrative engages in a visual and aural dialogue with the modern world. The paper argues that three motifs in the film are particularly meaningful: the development of unexpected class and gender inflections in the concept of pilgrimage, the detachment of America from its status as a signifier of ‘bad’ modernity in the English countryside, and the incorporation of the cinematic into the rural.
Sonographische Diagnostik von Trophoblasterkrankungen in der Frühschwangerschaft
Authors: Visca Eva , Vökt Cora Alexandra , Tercanli Sevgi
Published: October 2008

Die gestationsbedingten Trophoblasterkrankungen (GTD) werden in metastasierende und nicht metastasierende Läsionen, sowie basierend auf ihrer Morphologie in villöse und nicht-villöse GTD unterteilt. Aufgrund ihrer höheren Inzidenz und des Risikos für eine persistierende gestationsbedingte trophoblastäre Neoplasie (pGTN) ist die frühzeitige Diagnose von Blasen- und Partialmolen im klinischen Alltag bedeutsam. Fortschritte in der Ultraschalltechnologie und die häufigere Anwendung der Transvaginalsonographie in der Frühschwangerschaft haben das klinische und histopathologische Bild molarer Schwangerschaften verändert. Die meisten Fälle werden heutzutage infolge auffälliger Ultraschallbefunde bzw. histologischer Befunde in der Frühschwangerschaft entweder zufällig oder im Rahmen eines Abortgeschehens diagnostiziert. Molare Schwangerschaften fallen durch charakteristische Ultraschallbefunde auf. In der Frühschwangerschaft variiert die Ultraschallsensitivität für Molen zwischen 34 und 56% in Abhängigkeit vom Gestationsalter, sonographischer und histologischer Morphologie, technischer Ausstattung sowie Erfahrung des Untersuchers. Die sonographische Detektionsrate scheint durch histomorphometrische Eigenschaften der hydropischen Villi limitiert zu sein. Das Fehlen typischer Ultraschallbefunde schließt daher eine Mole nicht aus. Wird jedoch die Prädisposition für eine pGTN nicht rechtzeitig erkannt, wirkt sich das ungünstig auf die Prognose aus. Mit zunehmender Nachfrage nach medikamentösem Management von Aborten und Abruptiones, insbesondere wenn keine histologische Aufarbeitung des Schwangerschaftsmaterials erfolgt, ist eine sonographische Evaluation der Chorionstruktur obligatorisch. Bei auffälligen Ultraschallbefunden sind ein operatives Vorgehen und die histologische Untersuchung indiziert.
Präeklampsie-Screening im 1. und 2. Trimenon
Authors: Kang Anjeung , Struben Hendrik
Published: October 2008

Die Präeklampsie ist eine schwangerschaftassozierte Komplikation, die sich meist in der zweiten Schwangerschaftshälfte nach der 20. Schwangerschaftswoche manifestiert. Die Häufigkeit hypertensiver Schwangerschaftserkrankungen liegt zwischen 5–11% und ist am häufigsten bei den unter 20-jährigen Frauen. Eine inadäquate Trophoblasteninvasion mit konsekutiver plazentarer Ischämie aufgrund von ungenügender Dilatation der uterinen Spiralarterien gilt als initiales Ereignis in der Pathogenese der Präeklampsie. Im Anschluss daran kommt es zu einer generalisierten Endotheldysfunktion, die die klinischen Symptome der Präeklampsie bedingen, wie die Abnahme des intravasalen Volumens und Ödeme. Diese Symptome werden durch die Hypertension und durch einen erniedrigten kolloidosmotischen Druck im Plasma verstärkt. Die Hauptzielorgane der Präeklampsie sind: das vaskuläre, hepatische, renale, zerebrale und koagulatorische System. Der Verlauf ist umso schwerer, je früher sie in einer Schwangerschaft auftritt. Erhöhte Blutdruckwerte (über 140 mmHg systolisch und 90 mmHg diastolisch) kombiniert mit Proteinurie gelten als Erstsymptome. Häufige Begleitsymptome sind Hyperreflexie und Ödeme. Die genaue Ätiologie für die Präeklampsie ist nicht bekannt. Zu den Risikofaktoren bzw. Auslösern für die Entwicklung einer Präeklampsie gelten: vorbestehender hoher Blutdruck, Erstgebärende über 35 Jahre, Nierenerkrankung, Thrombophilie (heterozygote Faktor V Leiden Mutation, Antiphospholipid Syndrom, heterozygote Prothrombinmutation und homozygote MTHFR), Mehrlingsschwangerschaften (aufgrund Sterilitätsbehandlung heutzutage häufiger auftretend) und früher durchgemachte Präeklampsie. Die Inzidenz bei den Nulliparae ist höher als bei Multiparae. Die Präeklampsie steht noch in vielen Ländern an erster Stelle der mütterlichen perinatalen Todesursachen. Das HELLP-Syndrom (Haemolysis-Anämie, Elevated Liver enzyme-erhöhte Leberwerte, Low Platelets-Störungen in der Blutgerinnung) stellt ein schwere Verlaufsform der Präeklampsie dar. Die Eklampsie, generalisierte tonisch-klonische Krämpfe, ist die gefährlichste Komplikation der Präeklampsie, die sowohl prä- als auch postpartal auftreten kann und mit einer erhöhten Mortalität bei Mutter und Kind einhergeht. Länger andauernde Bluthochdruckwerte während der Schwangerschaft können die Blutgefäße der Plazenta schädigen. Dies kann zu einer Unterversorgung des Kindes mit Wachstumsretardierung bis -stillstand und somit zu einem niedrigen Geburtsgewicht bis hin zum Tod des Kindes führen. Je früher diese Krankheit erkannt wird, desto günstiger ist die Prognose für Mutter und Kind. Deshalb ist es neben Präventionsmaßnahmen wichtig, durch eine geeignete Screeningmethode Patientinnen mit Risikofaktoren zu selektionieren, um diese Krankheit früher zu erkennen und einen besseren Schwangerschaftsoutcome für Mutter und Kind zu erhalten. Ein Screening auf Thrombophilie ist nicht sinnvoll und so scheint ein Screening mittels Dopplersonographie die Screeningmethode der Wahl zu sein.
Defizite der sensomotorischen Filterleistung bei psychiatrischen Erkrankungen
Authors: Quednow Boris B.
Published: October 2008

Die Präpuls-Inhibition (PPI) des akustischen Schreckreflexes gilt als operationales Maß für einen teils vorbewußten attentionalen Filterprozeß, der auch als sensomotorisches Gating bezeichnet wird. Die PPI wird durch ein cortico-striato-pallido-pontines (CSPP) Netzwerk reguliert, welches frontale und mediotemporale Hirnareale, das ventrale Striatum, das ventrale Pallidum und pontine Bereiche des Hirnstamms mit einbezieht. Verschiedene psychiatrische und neurologische Erkrankungen zeigen beeinträchtigte Gating-Prozesse, doch insbesondere die konsistenten Befunde eines PPI-Defizits in der Schizophrenie haben dazu beigetragen, daß die Schizophrenie heute auch als Filterstörung verstanden wird. Die PPI hat sich mittlerweile als translationales Modell für gestörte Filterprozesse in der Schizophrenie etabliert, da sie bei verschiedenen Versuchstieren abgeleitet werden kann und pharmakologisch manipulierbar ist. Darüber hinaus wurde die PPI als vielversprechender Endophänotyp, d. h. als Gen-naher biologischer Marker, der Schizophrenie vorgeschlagen. Man erhofft sich von der Identifizierung solcher Endophänotypen eine verbesserte Entschlüsselung der krankheitsmitverursachenden Gene im Vergleich zu bislang nicht zielführenden genetischen Assoziationsstudien mit den komplexeren Krankheitsphänotypen. Des Weiteren wird die Korrektur künstlich erzeugter PPI-Defizite bei Versuchstieren als Modell für antipsychotische Wirksamkeit neu entwickelter Substanzen zur Behandlung der Schizophrenie genutzt. Der vorliegende Artikel soll einen Überblick über die Anwendungsmöglichkeiten und Grenzen des PPI-Paradigmas in der klinischen und grundlagenorientierten psychologischen und psychiatrischen Forschung geben.
Modeling seismicity rate changes during the 1997 Umbria‐Marche sequence (central Italy) through a rate‐ and state‐dependent model
Authors: Catalli Flaminia , Cocco Massimo , Console Rodolfo , Chiaraluce Lauro
Published: October 2008

We model the spatial and temporal pattern of seismicity during a sequence of moderate‐magnitude normal faulting earthquakes, which struck in 1997 the Umbria‐Marche sector of Northern Apennines (Italy), by applying the Dieterich (1994) rate‐ and state‐dependent constitutive approach. The goal is to investigate the rate of earthquake production caused by repeated coseismic stress changes computed through a 3‐D elastic dislocation model in a homogeneous half‐space. The reference seismicity rate is assumed time independent, and it is estimated by smoothing the seismicity that occurred in the previous decade without declustering. We propose an analytical relation for deriving the stressing rate directly from the reference seismicity rate. This allows us to perform a tuning of the constitutive parameter Aσ (where A accounts for the direct effect of friction in the rate‐ and state‐dependent model and σ is the effective normal stress) into the Dieterich model through a maximum likelihood method, which yields for this seismic sequence a best fitting value equal to 0.04 MPa. Our computations show that, although seven out of eight main shocks are located in areas of increased rate of earthquake production, numerous aftershocks are located in seismicity shadows. Our simulations point out that the adopted value of Aσ strongly affects the pattern of both seismicity shadow and areas of enhanced rate of earthquake production. We conclude that solely accounting for static stress changes caused by the main shocks of this seismic sequence is not sufficient to forecast the complex spatial and temporal evolution of seismicity.
East–west differences in water mass, nutrient, and chlorophyll a distributions in the sea ice reduction region of the western Arctic Ocean
Authors: Nishino Shigeto , Shimada Koji , Itoh Motoyo , Yamamoto‐Kawai Michiyo , Chiba Sanae
Published: October 2008

The R/V Mirai conducted hydrographic surveys in the western Arctic Ocean during summer 2004 across a front between cold Arctic water and warm water from the Pacific Ocean where sea ice cover has been largely reduced in recent summers. The hydrographic data indicate a new type of vertical temperature minimum water west of the front along isohaline surfaces with approximate salinity (S) of 32, which is fresher than the typical temperature minimum (S ≈ 33) caused by spreading of Pacific winter water (PWW) mainly to the east of the front. Both of the temperature minimum waters are characterized by low potential vorticity with near‐freezing temperature, suggesting that they are formed by winter convection with sea ice formation. A difference between the waters results from a large contribution of sea ice meltwater to the fresh temperature minimum (frTmin) water of S ≈ 32. The distributions of the sea ice meltwater contribution and nitrogen deficit suggest that summer shelf water, largely influenced by the sea ice melt in the Chukchi Sea, is modified by winter convection on its way to the Chukchi Abyssal Plain to form the frTmin water. This water supplies nutrients through the water distribution to the west of the front at depths shallower than the nutrient maximum layer caused by the PWW spreading. The shallower nutrient supply by the frTmin water combined with light penetration without sea ice cover could produce a prominent chlorophyll a maximum layer west of the front.
Geochemical variations of air‐free crater fumaroles at Mt Etna: New inferences for forecasting shallow volcanic activity
Authors: Martelli M. , Caracausi A. , Paonita A. , Rizzo A.
Published: October 2008

We investigated the gas geochemistry of fumaroles close to the Voragine crater of Mt Etna that have a temperature of 90–95°C, are CO2‐dominated, and have an air content as low as <1%. This is the first report of the monitoring of such air‐free fumaroles at the Etnean crater area—previous studies indicated an air contribution of 70% or more. The helium and carbon isotopes (Rc/Ra = 6.5 ± 0.4, δ13CCO2 = −1.7 ± 0.5‰) suggest that the released gas is directly related to the magmatic degassing. The fumaroles were sampled 12 times between June 2007 and June 2008, which revealed an increase in Rc/Ra from 6.1 to 6.9 that can be related to the increasing volcanic activity at the summit area of Mt Etna. These fumaroles offer a new tool for detecting magmatic processes (magma ascent, refilling, degassing, etc.), and will be useful for volcano surveillance.
Scale‐free and scale‐dependent modes of energy release dynamics in the nighttime magnetosphere
Authors: Uritsky V. M. , Donovan E. , Klimas A. J. , Spanswick E.
Published: October 2008

Based on a spatiotemporal analysis of POLAR UVI images, we show for the first time that energy, power, area and lifetime probability distributions of electron precipitation events in the nighttime auroral oval have a significant latitudinal dependence. The low‐latitude group of the events contains a distinct subpopulation of strong auroral disturbances violating the uniform power‐law behavior reported in previous publications, while the high latitude group is described by nearly perfect power‐law statistics over the entire range of scales studied, in agreement with earlier findings. The results obtained indicate that the inner and outer portions of the plasma sheet may be characterized by substantially different scaling regimes of bursty energy dissipation suggestive of different universality classes and/or driving conditions associated with multiscale turbulence in these regions.
Chemical and physical erosion rhythms of the West African Cenozoic morphogenesis: The 39Ar‐40Ar dating of supergene K‐Mn oxides
Authors: Beauvais Anicet , Ruffet Gilles , Hénocque Olivier , Colin Fabrice
Published: October 2008

Chemical weathering and mechanical erosion are first‐order processes of long‐term tropical morphogenesis, which is still poorly deciphered for lack of time constraints. We address this issue by laser probe 39Ar‐40Ar dating of generations of cryptomelane [K1–2Mn8O16, nH2O] from the manganese ore deposit of Tambao in northern Burkina Faso. This Mn deposit results from the supergene weathering of carbonate and silicate Mn protores underneath lateritic palaeolandsurfaces. It consists of an upper cryptomelane‐rich domain and a lower domain where pyrolusite (β‐MnO2) is the dominant Mn oxide. The oldest 39Ar‐40Ar ages (59–45 Ma) are obtained on surface outcrops while the youngest ones characterize deep oxidation fronts (3.4–2.9 Ma). Apparent correlations of 39Ar‐40Ar age groups with δ18O and eustatic curves allow definition of the different stages of morphogenesis. Paleocene‐Eocene ages (59–45 Ma) bracket a greenhouse period propitious to bauxitic weathering. The lack of significant ages between ∼45 and 29 Ma characterizes a period dominated by mechanical erosion, during which detrital sediments, including lateritic materials, were accumulated in intracratonic basins allowing the exhumation of a new lateritic landsurface. Two major weathering periods separated by a second erosion episode (24–18 Ma) are also depicted at the end of Oligocene (29–24 Ma) and lower to mid‐Miocene (18–11.5 Ma) in the upper domain, during which newly shaped land surfaces conspicuously weathered. The shorter‐weathering and erosion episodes recorded in the lower domain from ∼18 to ∼2.9 Ma led to the final geomorphic changes that were conducive to the formation of glacis. The preservation of old cryptomelane (59–45 Ma) in the upper part of the ore deposit indicates a Cenozoic denudation limited to the erosion of previous bauxites, and partly, of ferricretes.
Retention of phosphorus in highly weathered soils under a lowland Amazonian forest ecosystem
Authors: McGroddy M. E. , Silver W. L. , de Oliveira R. C. , de Mello W. Z. , Keller M.
Published: October 2008

The low available phosphorus (P) pools typical of highly weathered tropical forest soils are thought to result from a combination of export of phosphorus via erosion and leaching as well as chemical reactions resulting in physically and chemically protected P compounds. Despite the low apparent P availability, these soils support some of the highest terrestrial net primary productivity globally. We followed different P fractions after P additions to two soil types, sandy loam and sandy clay, over 1 year in a lowland Amazonian forest. Of all the soil P fractions measured, only the NaHCO3 and NaOH extractable fractions showed a significant increase following P additions, and this occurred only in sandy clays (+ 56.9 ± 15.1 kg ha−1 and + 2.8 ± 1.5 kg ha−1, respectively). Our results indicate that intermediate rather than recalcitrant pools are the dominant fate of added P over an annual timescale even in fine‐textured soils. Fine root and forest floor P pools increased more in the sandy loams following P additions suggesting a larger biotic P sink in these soils. Leaching of inorganic P from the surface soils was an unexpected and significant fate of added P in both soil types (9 ± 3% in the sandy loams, 2 ± 1% in the sandy clays). Significantly more of the added P was retained in the sandy clay soils than in the sandy loams (69 ± 20% versus 33 ± 7%) over the 1‐year period.
Onset and growth of tributary‐dammed lakes
Authors: Hsu Jammie P. C. , Capart Hervé
Published: October 2008

We propose and test a theory describing the onset and growth of tributary‐dammed lakes. Using a diffusion equation constrained by backwater effects, we show how tributary sediment influx can cause either a cuspate river aggradation or the formation of a lake upstream of the tributary junction. This lake expands up valley and drowns previous deposits to leave a downstream‐facing lake bed of inclination milder than the angle of stability. We obtain exact similarity solutions for such river and lake bed profiles and validate them quantitatively using laboratory experiments. The resulting profiles are in qualitative accord with those of natural tributary‐dammed rivers.
Self‐reported Stigmatization Among Candidates for Bariatric Surgery
Authors: Sarwer David B. , Fabricatore Anthony N. , Eisenberg Miriam H. , Sywulak Laura A. , Wadden Thomas A.
Published: October 2008

The popularity of bariatric surgery has increased the focus on the psychological aspects of extreme obesity. Although a growing literature has documented the psychosocial burden associated with extreme obesity, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the experience of weight‐related stigmatization among extremely obese individuals. The present study investigated self‐reported experiences of weight‐related stigmatization, weight‐related quality of life, and depressive symptoms among 117 extremely obese individuals (BMI = 48.2 ± 7.5 kg/m2) who presented for bariatric surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. In general, these individuals reported infrequent weight‐related stigma, which was unrelated to BMI. Some specific forms of stigmatization, however, appear to be related to body size. The occurrence of stigmatization was associated with poorer weight‐related quality of life and greater symptoms of depression.
A Historical Analysis of Public Health, the Law, and Stigmatized Social Groups: The Need for Both Obesity and Weight Bias Legislation
Authors: Pomeranz Jennifer L.
Published: October 2008

History teaches that discrimination against socially undesirable groups leads to societal and governmental neglect of the stigmatized group's health problem. By placing weight discrimination in a historical context, this article demonstrates that legislation specifically aimed at rectifying obesity is less likely while weight bias is socially acceptable. Beyond obesity legislation, public health professionals may consider advocating for legislation directly targeting discrimination based on weight. This article reviews the history of discrimination against distinct groups and provides statutory solutions for discrimination based on weight. In addition to revising current statutes and regulatory rules, a unique statute targeting weight bias in the employment context is considered.
Perceived Interpersonal Mistreatment Among Obese Americans: Do Race, Class, and Gender Matter?
Authors: Carr Deborah , Jaffe Karen J. , Friedman Michael A.
Published: October 2008

Objective: We examine the extent to which body weight affects three types of perceived interpersonal mistreatment, and evaluate whether these patterns vary by race, social class, and gender in a large sample of American men and women.

Methods and Procedures: We use data from the first wave (1995) of the Midlife Development in the United States (N = 3,511), a survey of persons aged 25–74, to contrast underweight, normal weight, overweight, obese I, and obese II/III persons’ reports of three types of perceived interpersonal mistreatment: disrespectful treatment; harassment/teasing; and being treated as if one has a character flaw. We assess whether these relationships are contingent upon one's gender, race, and occupational status. We control for possible confounding influences, including physical and mental health.

Results: In the total sample, obese I and obese II/III persons report significantly higher levels of all three types of perceived mistreatment (compared to normal weight persons), even when demographic, socioeconomic status, and health characteristics are controlled. Among black men, however, obese II/III persons report significantly lower levels of all three types of perceived mistreatment, compared to their normal weight peers. Among both men and women, obese professional workers report significantly more perceived interpersonal mistreatment, compared to obese persons of lower socioeconomic status.

Discussion: These findings reveal the ways that intersecting social identities may shape obese Americans’ perceptions of stigmatizing interpersonal encounters.
Recent Experiences of Weight‐based Stigmatization in a Weight Loss Surgery Population: Psychological and Behavioral Correlates
Authors: Friedman Kelli E. , Ashmore Jamile A. , Applegate Katherine L.
Published: October 2008

Objective: This study evaluated the association between experiences of weight‐based stigmatization (e.g., job discrimination, inappropriate comments from physicians) within the past month, psychological functioning, and binge eating among a sample of individuals seeking weight loss surgery.

Methods and Procedure: Ninety‐four obese adults (25 males and 69 females) seeking weight loss surgery underwent a diagnostic clinical interview and completed a battery of self‐report questionnaires measuring experiences of weight‐related stigmatization, psychological adjustment, and binge eating behavior.

Results: Weight‐based stigmatization was a common experience within the past month among participants. Frequency of stigmatizing experiences was negatively associated with self‐esteem and positively associated with depression, anxiety, body image disturbance, and emotional eating. Recent experiences of stigmatization were associated with a diagnosis of binge eating disorder.

Discussion: Weight‐based stigmatization is a common experience among obese individuals seeking weight loss surgery, and these experiences are associated with deleterious consequences. It appears that environmental barriers (e.g., chairs too small, not being able to find medical equipment in an appropriate size) and interpersonal attacks are the most common stigmatizing experiences. These data justify future studies to better understand causal relationships and efforts to design and test interventions aimed at reducing weight‐based stigmatization and the associated negative consequences.
Biochemical characterization and mutational analysis of the mononuclear non-haem Fe2+ site in Dke1, a cupin-type dioxygenase from Acinetobacter johnsonii
Authors: Leitgeb Stefan , Straganz Grit D. , Nidetzky Bernd
Published: October 2008

β-Diketone-cleaving enzyme Dke1 is a homotetrameric Fe2+-dependent dioxygenase from Acinetobacter johnsonii. The Dke1 protomer adopts a single-domain β-barrel fold characteristic of the cupin superfamily of proteins and features a mononuclear non-haem Fe2+ centre where a triad of histidine residues, His-62, His-64 and His-104, co-ordinate the catalytic metal. To provide structure–function relationships for the peculiar metal site of Dke1 in relation to the more widespread 2-His-1-Glu/Asp-binding site for non-haem Fe2+, we replaced each histidine residue individually with glutamate and asparagine and compared binding of Fe2+ and four non-native catalytically inactive metals with purified apo-forms of wild-type and mutant enzymes. Results from anaerobic equilibrium microdialysis (Fe2+) and fluorescence titration (Fe2+, Cu2+, Ni2+, Mn2+ and Zn2+) experiments revealed the presence of two broadly specific metal-binding sites in native Dke1 that bind Fe2+ with a dissociation constant (Kd) of 5 μM (site I) and ∼0.3 mM (site II). Each mutation, except for the substitution of asparagine for His-104, disrupted binding of Fe2+, but not that of the other bivalent metal ions, at site I, while leaving metal binding at site II largely unaffected. Dke1 mutants harbouring glutamate substitutions were completely inactive and not functionally complemented by external Fe2+. The Fe2+ catalytic centre activity (kcat) of mutants with asparagine substitution of His-62 and His-104 was decreased 140- and 220-fold respectively, compared with the kcat value of 8.5 s−1 for the wild-type enzyme in the reaction with pentane-2,4-dione. The H64N mutant was not catalytically competent, except in the presence of external Fe2+ (1 mM) which elicited about 1/1000 of wild-type activity. Therefore co-ordination of Fe2+ by Dke1 requires an uncharged metallocentre, and three histidine ligands are needed for the assembly of a fully functional catalytic site. Oxidative inactivation of Dke1 was shown to involve conversion of enzyme-bound Fe2+ into Fe3+, which is then released from the metal centre.
RP-HPLC measurement and quantitative structure - property relationship analysis of the n-octanol - water partitioning coefficients of selected metabolites of polybrominated diphenyl ethers
Authors: Yu Yijun , Yang Weihua , Gao Zishen , Lam Michael H. W. , Liu Xiaohua , Wang Liansheng , Yu Hongxia
Published: October 2008

Environmental context. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are ubiquitous environmental contaminants and numerous studies have demonstrated a marked increase in the levels of PBDEs in human biological tissues and fluids, especially breast milk. How PBDEs are transported through the environment, taken up by biota, transported across membranes, and metabolised depends strongly on such fundamental properties as lipophilicity (log KOW). However, very little data on log KOW exist for PBDEs. In the present paper, the authors determine PBDE metabolites’ log KOW using reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography, as recommended by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and US Environmental Protection Agency, along with quantitative structure–property relationships.
Abstract. n-Octanol–water partitioning coefficient (log KOW) values of selected hydroxylated and methoxylated polybrominated diphenyl ether metabolites were measured for the first time by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) using a C18 stationary phase with a water/methanol mixture as a mobile phase. The retention parameters, log kw (extrapolated retention indices) and k′ (gradient retention indices) were calibrated to log KOW by a set of calibration standards. For the PBDE metabolites investigated, extrapolated retention indices from isocratic elution seem to be more reliable and their RP-HPLC-derived log KOW values were found to range from 4.63 to 7.67. Some commonly available software, including ClogP, KowWin, AclogP, MlogP, AlogP, MilogP, and XlogP, was used to estimate the log KOW values of the analytes. Significant correlations were obtained between the RP-HPLC-derived log KOW and the software-computed log KOW, with squared correlation coefficients (R2) ranging from 0.793 to 0.922, but the difference between them was also significant. Then a quantitative structure–property relationship model based on topological descriptors was established and showed good reliability and predictive power for the estimation of RP-HPLC-derived log KOW values of PBDE metabolites. It was applied to estimate the log KOW values of some PBDE metabolites that are commercially available or have appeared in the literature. Lastly, factor analysis was carried out using the theoretical linear salvation/free-energy relationships, which indicated the average polarisability (α) and the most negative atomic partial Mulliken charge in the molecule (q–) were the most important parameters affecting their partition between n-octanol and water, supporting the factorisation of log KOW in bulk and electronic terms.
Gadolinium-enhanced three-dimensional magnetization-prepared rapid gradient-echo (3D mp-rage) imaging is superior to spin-echo imaging in delineating brain metastases
Authors: Takeda T. , Takeda A. , Nagaoka T. , Kunieda E. , Takemasa K. , Watanabe M. , Hatou T. , Oguro S. , Katayama M.
Published: October 2008

Background: Precisely defining the number and location of brain metastases is very important for establishing a treatment strategy for malignancies. Although magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is now considered the best modality, various improvements in sequences are still being made.

Purpose: To prospectively compare the diagnostic ability of three-dimensional, magnetization-prepared rapid gradient-echo (3D MP-RAGE) imaging in detecting metastatic brain tumors, with that of two-dimensional spin-echo (2D SE) T1-weighted imaging.

Material and Methods: A total of 123 examinations were included in this study, and 119 examinations from 88 patients with known malignancies were analyzed. All patients underwent T1- and T2-weighted 2D SE transverse imaging, followed by gadolinium-enhanced T1-weighted transverse and coronal 2D SE imaging and 3D MP-RAGE transverse imaging. Four radiologists interpreted the images to compare the accuracy and the time required for interpretation for each imaging.

Results: 3D MP-RAGE imaging was significantly better than 2D SE imaging for detecting metastatic brain lesions, regardless of the readers’ experience. The sensitivities of the 3D MP-RAGE and 2D SE imaging for all observers were 0.81 vs. 0.80 ( P>0.05), specificities were 0.93 vs. 0.87 ( P<0.05), positive predictive values were 0.92 vs. 0.86 ( P<0.05), negative predictive values were 0.78 vs. 0.75 ( P>0.05), and accuracies were 0.84 vs. 0.78 ( P<0.05), respectively. There was no significant difference in the time required for image interpretation between the two modalities (15.6±4.0 vs. 15.4±4.1 min).

Conclusion: 3D MP-RAGE imaging proved superior to 2D SE imaging in the detection of brain metastases.
Reconstruction of transcriptional dynamics from gene reporter data using differential equations
Authors: Finkenstädt Bärbel , Heron Elizabeth A. , Komorowski Michal , Edwards Kieron , Tang Sanyi , Harper Claire V. , Davis Julian R. E. , White Michael R. H. , Millar Andrew J. , Rand David A.
Published: October 2008

Motivation: Promoter-driven reporter genes, notably luciferase and green fluorescent protein, provide a tool for the generation of a vast array of time-course data sets from living cells and organisms. The aim of this study is to introduce a modeling framework based on stochastic differential equations (SDEs) and ordinary differential equations (ODEs) that addresses the problem of reconstructing transcription time-course profiles and associated degradation rates. The dynamical model is embedded into a Bayesian framework and inference is performed using Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms.

Results: We present three case studies where the methodology is used to reconstruct unobserved transcription profiles and to estimate associated degradation rates. We discuss advantages and limits of fitting either SDEs ODEs and address the problem of parameter identifiability when model variables are unobserved. We also suggest functional forms, such as on/off switches and stimulus response functions to model transcriptional dynamics and present results of fitting these to experimental data.

Contact:  b.f.finkenstadt@warwick.ac.uk

Supplementary Information:  Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Climate-change policy: why has so little been achieved?
Authors: Helm Dieter
Published: October 2008

While the scientific evidence for climate change grows, the policy responses have so far had little or no impact on the build-up of emissions. Current trends in emissions are adverse. The paper considers why the disconnect between science and policy exists and, in particular, why the Kyoto Protocol has achieved so little. Some contributing factors considered are: the focus on carbon production rather than consumption in the architecture of Kyoto; the flaws in the analysis presented in the Stern Report (notably on the impacts of climate change on economic growth, on the costs of mitigation, and on discounting); and the political economy of the choice of policy instruments, the politics of the rents that arise, and the technology bias. The challenges facing the Copenhagen conference are noted, and it is concluded that, with a recasting of the economics of climate change, the prospects for closing the gap between the science and policy are grim.