bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Student Bibliographies Improve When Professors Provide Enforceable Guidelines for Citations
Authors: Robinson Andrew M , Schlegl Karen
Published: January 2007

This paper uses bibliometric analysis to test the efficacy of in-class
library instruction in relation to the quality of student term paper
bibliographies and grades. It finds that: instruction alone has limited
effect; instruction combined with academic penalties tied to the use
of a minimum of scholarly sources has positive and significant effects;
electronic citations are less scholarly, but not necessarily less valid
than print citations; and papers with longer bibliographies tend to
receive higher grades irrespective of the kinds of citations. The paper
concludes that since academic penalties are important to the success
of in-class librarian instruction, librarians should work closely
with professors to design class assignments; the provision of minimal
guidelines is preferable to banning Internet citations.
Rhetoric, Dialogue, and Performance in Nelson Mandela's "Televised Address on the Assassination of Chris Hani"
Authors: Zagacki Kenneth S
Published: January 2007

After the assassination of the popular black militant Chris Hani, Nelson
Mandela sought in his "Televised Address on the Assassination of Chris
Hani" to move beyond identity politics and to redefine the murder into
a moment of political and dialogic change. He praised Hani as a model of
proper political engagement, uncovered the dynamics of dialogue between
South Africans, and performed an alternative stance for the post-apartheid
era. Mandela's rhetoric reveals both the limitations and the possibilities
of performative rhetoric during difficult transitions to democracy.
Milton's Neo-Platonic Angel?
Authors: Daniel Clay
Published: January 2007

Readers generally agree that Raphael administers--probably
inappropriately--Neo-Platonic correction to Adam when the man extols Eve's
beauty (Paradise Lost 8.523-51). However, Raphael only appears to
endorse Neo-Platonism in order to entangle a "wary" Adam fatally--and
Neo-Platonically--curious about "proportional ascent, which cannot be /
But to be gods, or angels demi-gods" (PL 9.936-7). Adam is maneuvered
into defending himself by confessing his real fault: his construction of
Eve's soul within the context of his desire for Neo-Platonic ascent,
confirming (for Raphael) the direction of Adam's fall. A similiar
subtlety is evident in Raphael's exposition of the order of creation
(PL 5.469-505).
Cannibalism and the Act of Revenge in Tudor-Stuart Drama
Authors: Rice Raymond J
Published: January 2007

This essay studies the persistence of cannibalism as a specter authorizing the act of revenge in Tudor-Stuart drama. A discussion of the discursive tradition of revenge as inherently masculine and the demonization of female desire as simultaneously cannibalistic and transgressive leads to a comparison of the revenge act between Shakespeare's Hamlet and John Marston's Antonio's Revenge, which is then followed by an analysis of cannibalism as the "obscene supplement" to revenge.
Status, Sodomy, and the Theater in Marlowe's Edward II
Authors: Stymeist David
Published: January 2007

While critics of Marlowe's Edward II have seen the play as an "unwitting tribute" to the dominant ideology or an iconoclastic rewriting of sexual politics, sodomy in the play constitutes a pragmatic strategy of representational ambivalence. On one level, Edward II condemns male homoeroticism when it is specifically combined with issues of status; in this guise, the play's apparent allegiance with legal, popular, and religious prejudice against sodomy functions to partially defuse antitheatrical charges that the theater was a bastion of sodomy and insurgence. On another level, the play recuperates sexual alterity, actively demystifying how sexual acts become criminalized.
False Accents: Embodied Dialects and the Characterization of Ethnicity and Nationality
Authors: Pao Angela Chia-yi
Published: January 2007

Although race rather than ethnicity has been the focus in American theatre of the second half of the 20th century, ethnicity continues to be an important element. It is, however, the ethnicity of characters rather than actors that has been significant. In this essay, I examine the ways in which dialect training manuals from the 1940s through the 1990s created integrated approaches to the construction of ethnicity and nationality through descriptions of national character, phonetic and grammar analyses, speech exercises and methods of classification. The socio-linguistic theories of Ferdinand de Saussure, V.N. Voloshinov and William Labov, along with Robert Hodge and Gunther Kress's work on social semiotics, are used to shed light on the ways in which speech pedagogy has both promoted the perpetuation of cultural types and stereotypes and encouraged more discerning representations of cultural difference.
Strategy and Evolution of Vietnam's China Policy: A Changing Mixture of Pathways
Authors: Vuving Alexander L.
Published: January 2007

This article examines Vietnam's strategy toward China since 1990. The study suggests that Vietnam's China policy has been informed by a changing mix of four different pathways, whose salience depends on the interplay of interest and balance of power among China, America, ASEAN, and Vietnam's two grand strategic camps and supreme leader.
Beyond Non-Interference in ASEAN: The Association's Role in Myanmar's National Reconciliation and Democratization
Authors: Katanyuu Ruukun
Published: January 2007

This article analyzes factors compelling ASEAN to relax its non-interference policy regarding members and intervene in Burma's internal affairs. The paper argues that the factors include pressure from individual members, ASEAN as a group, and the international community. The situation in Burma has led ASEAN to review this policy.
From International Linkages to Internal Divisions in China: The Political Response to Climate Change Negotiations
Authors: Jeon Hyung-Kwon , Yoon Seong-Suk
Published: January 2007

In negotiations about climate change, China has participated as both a cooperator and a defector. To explain China's contradictory attitude, this article examines both international and domestic factors. Although international linkages played an important role in earlier stages, their influence was significantly limited by domestic constraints as the negotiations deepened.
The Chinese-Korean Border Issue: An Analysis of a Contested Frontier
Authors: Gomà Daniel
Published: January 2007

This analysis examines the little known inherited border disputes that have more or less continuously affected relations between China and the Korean Peninsula since 1950. Though grave, the disputes have never heralded a break in relations.
Patterns of South Korea's Foreign Direct Investment Flows into China
Authors: Kim Eun Mee , Mah Jai S.
Published: January 2007

South Korea's growth as an outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) player is an example of developing countries becoming major foreign investors. China has become the largest destination for Korean OFDI, which appears to complement Seoul's exports to China.
The Political Economy of Chinese Investment in North Korea: A Preliminary Assessment
Authors: Kim Jae Cheol
Published: January 2007

This article explores the burgeoning of Chinese investment in North Korea. By drawing on various materials including press reports and official data from both China and South Korea, the paper suggests that this rapid growth serves China's general policy goals toward North Korea, propping up the Pyongyang regime by leading it to embrace sustainable economic reforms. At the same time, Chinese investment has increasingly taken on commercial attributes.
The Regionalization of Avian Influenza in East Asia: Responding to the Next Pandemic(?)
Authors: Thomas Nicholas
Published: January 2007

In 2003, a highly pathogenic version of an avian influenza virus—H5N1—began to emerge in a number of countries in Southeast Asia. The subsequent spread of this virus to nearly all parts of the world has raised concerns about a possible pandemic. This article explores how the virus spread and the policy implications for regional states.
The Ethics of Paying Drug Users Who Participate in Research: A Review and Practical Recommendations
Authors: Fry Craig L. , Hall Wayne , Ritter Alison , Jenkinson Rebecca
Published: January 2007

The payment of research participants raises ethical and empirical questions that have special importance in addictions research involving drug-dependent participants. Despite a now large literature on human subjects payment, what is still needed is practical guidance for investigators and ethics committees. This paper reviews the literature on: Current payment practices and guidelines; defining features of undue and due incentives and fair reimbursement; and the significance of risks and harms that may arise from paying drug using participants. We conclude that research payments are ethically acceptable in most circumstances of addictions research, but should be closely scrutinized in situations where these may exacerbate existing harms or create additional risks for participants and investigators. General principles, key questions and procedural options are highlighted for an applied approach to ethical research payments. Future research directions are identified.
Paying Clinical Research Participants: One Institution's Research Ethics Committees' Perspective
Authors: Ripley Elizabeth B. D. , Macrina Frank L. , Markowitz Monika
Published: January 2007

Regulatory guidelines leave determination of coercion and undue influence of research participants open to interpretation. A web-based survey was conducted of the research ethics committees members at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) to evaluate their perspectives on paying participants in clinical research via general questions, as well as 8 short cases involving hypertension placebo-controlled trials, a pilot exercise study, a survey of substance abusers, a healthy-volunteer pharmacokinetic study, a twin study involving DNA samples, and an asthma medication study in children. Research ethics committee members were asked to state what payment they would consider appropriate for a given type of protocol. The results suggest that risk, time required, reimbursement for expenses, and inconvenience were important in determining appropriate payment, while income and funding source were not. The case studies revealed wide variation in recommended payments both within type of study and between studies.
Using Formative Research to Develop a Context-Specific Approach to Informed Consent for Clinical Trials
Authors: Corneli Amy L. , Bentley Margaret E. , Sorenson James R. , Henderson Gail E. , van der Horst Charles , Moses Agnes , Nkhoma Jacqueline , Tenthani Lyson , Ahmed Yusuf , Heilig Charles M. , Jamieson Denise J.
Published: January 2007

Participant understanding is of particular concern when obtaining informed consent. Recommendations for improving understanding include disclosing information using culturally-appropriate and innovative approaches. To increase the effectiveness of the consent process for a clinical trial in Malawi on interventions to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV during breastfeeding, formative research was conducted to explore the community's understanding of medical research as well as how to explain research through local terms and meanings. Contextual analogies and other approaches were identified to explain consent information. Guided by theory, strategies for developing culturally appropriate interventions, and recommendations from the literature, we demonstrate how the formative data were used to develop culturally appropriate counseling cards specifically for the trial in Malawi. With appropriate contextual modifications, the steps outlined here could be applied in other clinical trials conducted elsewhere, as well as in other types of research.
Methods and Practices of Investigators for Determining Participants' Decisional Capacity and Comprehension of Protocols
Authors: Kon Alexander A. , Klug Michael
Published: January 2007

Ethicists recommend that investigators assess subjects' comprehension prior to accepting their consent as valid. Because children represent an at-risk population, ensuring adequate comprehension in pediatric research is vital. We surveyed all corresponding authors of research articles published over a six-month period in five leading adult and pediatric journals. Our goal was to assess how often subject's comprehension or decisional capacity was assessed in the consent process, whether there was any difference between adult and pediatric research projects, and the rate at which investigators use formal or validated tools to assess capacity. Responses from 102 authors were analyzed (response rate 56%). Approximately two-thirds of respondents stated that they assessed comprehension or decisional capacity prior to accepting consent, and we found no difference between adult and pediatric researchers. Nine investigators used a formal questionnaire, and three used a validated tool. These findings suggest that fewer than expected investigators assess comprehension and decisional capacity, and that the use of standardized and validated tools is the exception rather than the rule.
Ethical Issues in Registry Research: In-Hospital Resuscitation as a Case Study
Authors: Dane Francis C. , Parish David C.
Published: January 2007

Research based on registry studies involves significant ethical issues. Using detailed information about one registry concerning in-hospital resuscitation, we present issues concerning informed consent, access to identifiable medical information, and benefit for participants. In addition, multiple methodological difficulties have indirect implications for the ethical conduct of registry research, including consensus about variable definitions, validity and reliability for clinical decisions, sample sizes, and sources of data. Both direct and indirect ethical issues are examined from the viewpoint of accepted regulations and codes regarding ethical conduct of research; specific examples of more or less ethical solutions to the problems are presented from published research.
A Review of Paying Research Participants: It's Time to Move beyond the Ethical Debate
Authors: Ripley Elizabeth B. D.
Published: January 2007

Current regulatory guidelines require the ethical review committee to consider one question when evaluating payment: Is the payment to the participant undue or coercive? Although this is a seemingly simple question, determining appropriate payment involves a series of complex issues. There is limited empirical knowledge to assist with this determination and little consensus on which elements of a study should be considered in making these decisions. For example, should the culture of the study population or the potential risks and benefits of the research be considered in the selection of appropriate payment? Following a review of national and international guidelines, the concerns and benefits of paying research participants are presented, and prior ethical debate is outlined. The current research literature on the practice of paying participants and the impact of payment on participants and study integrity are reviewed. Finally, given continued debate with limited data to help determine best practices, a research agenda is proposed to assist in the development of an empirical basis to aid investigators and ethical review committees in making appropriate decisions about payment to research participants.
The Aristocrat in the Mirror: Male Vanity and Bourgeois Desire in William Makepeace Thackeray's Vanity Fair
Authors: COLE SARAH ROSE
Published: January 2007

39 Alexis de Tocqueville, The Old R´gime and the French Revolution, trans. Stuart Gilbert (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday and Doubleday, 1955), pp. 88-89.Taking their cue from Thomas Carlyle's Sartor Resartus (1833-34), scholars of Regency and early-Victorian dandyism have focused on a supposed opposition between the dandyism of a declining aristocracy and the moral earnestness of a rising bourgeoisie. This historical model obscures the full complexity of relations between the nineteenthcentury British bourgeoisie and aristocracy, a complexity that can be illuminated by a closer examination of William Makepeace Thackeray's works. Thackeray's novels and sketches, which are surprisingly filled with middle-class dandies (such as Vanity Fair's George Osborne and Jos Sedley) and vigorous, hypermasculine aristocrats (such as Vanity Fair's Rawdon Crawley), reverse the Victorian literary stereotypes of effete aristocrats and manly bourgeoisie. Focusing particularly on Vanity Fair (1847- 48) and on Thackeray's sketch journalism, I seek to understand why Thackeray repeatedly depicts bourgeois men who are feminized both by their vanity and by their homosocial-even homoerotic-desire for more powerful aristocratic men. My essay places Thackeray's works within recent historiographical models that emphasize the fusion of, rather than the opposition between, the nineteenth-century British bourgeoisie and aristocracy. Protesting against this fusion in the name of bourgeois independence, Thackeray indicts the British middle classes for their obsession with aristocratic concepts of gentility,a phenomenon that he was the first to label "snobbism." For Thackeray, I argue, the comic trope of bourgeois male vanity becomes an especially powerful device for critiquing"snobbism." By calling upon the scandalous figure of the mirror-gazing man,Thackeray attempts to shock his middle-class readers into acknowledging the artificial and performative nature of their own class personae.
Property and Selfhood in Herman Melville's Pierre
Authors: Clymer Jeffory A.
Published: January 2007

In Pierre; or, the Ambiguities (1852) Herman Melville analyzes the intricacies of subjectivity and economics by way of two concrete and quite different forms of antebellum American property relations-the residual estates of the landed gentry in upstate New York and the emergent urban market economy of New York City. A condition of unassailability,of timelessness and imperviousness, infuses the family estate in Pierre, while incessant exchange characterizes the novel's urban finale. Taken together, these opposed economic arrangements represent Melville's meditation on how the very concept of alienability, the definitive aspect of modern property relations, impacted forms of non-slave identity in the antebellum United States. The condition of inalienability that structures the patrimonial estates presents the initially attractive possibility of removal from the turbulent world of property relations, exchange, and commodification,but it turns out to be an ideological fantasy supported primarily by violence and death. Melville, always one to brood about selfhood, and faced in Pierre with his realization of the rottenness at the core of his fantasy of a subjectivity not riven by alienability,responds with the novel's urban section. This second portion of the novel presents market relations as a horror wreaked principally on the self. Pierre, ultimately, represents Melville's monument to the desirability, and his dismay at the impossibility, of imagining identity outside the syntax of a market economy's version of property relations.
Constance Naden and the Erotics of Evolution: Mating the Woman of Letters with the Man of Science
Authors: KASTON TANGE ANDREA
Published: January 2007

Many of the poems by Constance Naden (1858-1889) focus on exploring the intersections of poetry and science, an intriguing effort given that at the end of the Victorian period, these were assumed to be opposite enterprises. Even more interesting is the fact that despite cultural assumptions about science being the province of the masculine mind, Naden's work both purposefully asserts the ability of women to engage with science and challenges the Victorian cultural tendency to offer "scientific" justifications for notions of female intellectual inferiority. This essay examines the quartet of poems called "Evolutional Erotics," the work of hers that has generally garnered attention in the small flurry of scholarly activity recently focused on Naden, against the larger context of her Complete Poetical Works (1894). In these four witty, playful poems,Naden uses the languages of science-evolution, botany, chemistry, physics-to create metaphors and conceits through which to explore the courtships of four fictional couples. Taken together with her long poems, Naden's work presents heterosexual lovematches that interrogate the triangulated relationship between science, poetry, and British Victorian gender-based expectations. Largely through her invocation of Charles Darwin's ideas of evolution, and in verse resembling that of Erasmus Darwin in its conjunction of science and human sexuality, Naden uses her poetry to model the necessary fluidity of disciplinary boundaries. Moreover, in merging the "male" scientific mind with a feminist poetics, Naden is a writer-and, by implication, posits a reader-whose facility with both science and poetics indicates an evolutionary step toward respecting women's intellect.
Hanslick's Idealist Materialism
Authors: Burford Mark
Published: January 2007

In the mid-nineteenth century, materialist and empiricist modes of thought characteristic of natural science increasingly called into question the speculation of German idealist philosophy. Music historians have commonly associated Eduard Hanslick's Vom Musikalisch-Schšnen (On the Musically Beautiful, 1854) with this tendency toward positivism, interpreting the treatise as an argument for musical formalism. His treatise indeed sought to revise idealist musical aesthetics, but in a far less straightforward way. Hanslick devotes considerable attention to the "material" that makes up music and the musical work. The nature of music's materiality is in fact a central pillar of Hanslick's argument, which draws on the abundant literature of the 1840s and 50s promoting scientific materialism and on what might be described as an Aristotelian conception of matter. Hanslick's goal, however, was not to deny idealism, but rather to negotiate a middle ground between idealism and materialism, thereby reconciling a prevailing conception of music's metaphysical status with the physical properties of matter. This is most clearly observed in his carefully crafted conception of the musical "tone," which unites the inner world of thought and the external world of nature. Hanslick's somewhat ironic use of a materialist framework to demonstrate music's inherent ideality betrayed a desire not only to attune musical aesthetics with the latest materialist theories, but also to preserve art music's exclusivity. On the Musically Beautiful is perhaps best understood not as an unequivocal case for formalism but as evidence of the complex ways in which mid-century tensions between idealism and materialism informed German musical discourse.
Mesotrione and Atrazine Combinations Applied Preemergence in Corn (Zea maysL.)
Authors: Bollman Scott L. , Kells James J. , Bauman Thomas T. , Loux Mark M. , Slack Charles H. , Sprague Christy L.
Published: January 2007

Field trials were conducted in 2002 and 2003 at seven sites to determine the optimum rates of mesotrione and atrazine applied PRE for minimal crop injury and control of common lambsquarters, velvetleaf, Pennsylvania smartweed, common ragweed, giant ragweed, ivyleaf morningglory, and common cocklebur. All rates of each herbicide resulted in greater than 95% control of triazine-susceptible common lambsquarters. Mesotrione at 105 g ai/ha resulted in greater than 90% control of triazine-resistant common lambsquarters, velvetleaf, and Pennsylvania smartweed. Control of common ragweed was 90% or greater from mesotrione at 158 g/ha in combination with atrazine at 280 g/ha or greater. In addition, mesotrione at 210 g/ha combined with any rate of atrazine provided at least 92% control of common ragweed. Combinations of mesotrione and atrazine only suppressed, and did not effectively control, giant ragweed, common cocklebur, and ivyleaf morningglory.
Stale Seedbed Techniques for Organic Vegetable Production
Authors: Boyd Nathan S. , Brennan Eric B. , Fennimore Steve A.
Published: January 2007

Weed control in organic vegetable production systems is challenging and accounts for a large portion of production costs. Six methods to prepare a stale seedbed were compared on certified and transitional organic land in Salinas, CA, in 2004. Weed control operations occurred on raised beds 2 to 3 d before planting baby spinach or a simulated vegetable planting. A flamer and an herbicide application of 10% v/v of a clove oil mixture (45% v/v clove oil) at 280 L/ha (iteration 1) or 15% v/v of a clove oil mixture (45% clove oil) at 467 L/ha (iterations 2 and 3) were used to control weeds without disturbing the soil. Top knives on a sled, a rolling cultivator, and a rotary hoe were used to control weeds while tilling the bed top. A bed shaper–rototiller combination was also used, which tilled the entire bed. Broadleaf weed control was 36% with clove oil, 63% with the rotary hoe, and significantly higher (87 to 100% control) with the remaining treatments in iteration 1. Broadleaf weed control was consistently lower (72 to 86% control) with the flamer than all other treatments (95 to 100% control) in iterations 2 and 3. The difference between sites can probably be attributed to differences in weed size. The flamer and the clove oil herbicide had the lowest number of weeds emerging with the crop following stale seedbed formation. The most expensive technique was clove oil at $1,372/ha. The estimated cost of forming the stale seedbed with the remaining weed management tools ranged from $10 to $43/ha.
Evaluation of Rapid Screening Techniques for Woody Plant Herbicide Development
Authors: Blair Mitchell P. , Zedaker Shepard M. , Seiler John R. , Hipkins Perry L. , Burch Patrick L.
Published: January 2007

Woody plant herbicide screening techniques were evaluated to expedite the screening process and decrease amounts of herbicide active ingredient required. Rapid greenhouse screening of woody plant seedlings was performed in less than 6 months, and rapid seed screening was performed in less than 20 days. A traditional field screen, requiring 10 months from application to final evaluation, was performed for comparison and regression modeling purposes. Imazapyr and triclopyr were used as test chemicals and linear regressions were generated to predict traditional field screen results from rapid screens. Significant regressions were produced that predicted field responses of loblolly pine, sweetgum, and yellow-poplar with the use of both herbicides and either rapid screening technique. This indicated that rapid screening techniques could determine herbicide efficacy and/or species spectrum in much less time with significantly less herbicide. Rapid greenhouse screens of triclopyr produced more statistically significant regressions than those using imazapyr. Rapid seed screens could estimate species spectrum within 5 days after treatment. These results indicate that rapid greenhouse screen and rapid seed screen techniques can provide woody plant herbicide developers initial efficacy and spectrum of control data in a cost- and-time effective manner.
Response of Coastal Bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) to Various Herbicides and Weed Control during Establishment
Authors: Butler Twain J. , Muir James P. , Ducar Joyce Tredaway
Published: January 2007

Field experiments were conducted to determine the effects of application timings and various herbicides on newly established ‘Coastal’ bermudagrass in 2001, 2002, and 2003. The experimental design was a split plot with three replications. Main plots consisted of three herbicide application timings of 1, 14, and 28 d after planting (DAP), and the subplots were 16 herbicide treatments. The hormone herbicides (picloram at 0.19 kg ae/ha + fluroxypyr at 0.19 kg ae/ha, picloram at 0.08 kg/ha + 2,4-D amine at 0.28 kg ae/ha, picloram at 0.15 kg/ha + 2,4-D amine at 0.56 kg/ha, 2,4-D amine at 2.2 kg/ha, 2,4-D amine at 1.2 kg/ha + dicamba at 0.42 kg ae/ha, and 2,4-D ester at 2.3 kg ae/ha) applied 1 DAP controlled large crabgrass 55 to 85%, did not injure Coastal bermudagrass sprigs, and aided establishment resulting in 22 to 27% ground cover in 2001 and 25 to 42% ground cover in 2002. Imazapic at 0.02, 0.035, and 0.05 kg ai/ha applied 1 and 14 DAP injured Coastal bermudagrass 5 to 45% across years, yet these plots had 20 to 54% ground cover compared with only 3 to 7% ground cover in the nontreated area in 2001, 2002, and 2003. The reduced rate of glyphosate (0.21 kg ae/ha) injured Coastal bermudagrass less than 8% and controlled large crabgrass 86 to 90% when applied 14 DAP, resulting in 43, 25, and 18% ground cover in 2001, 2002, and 2003, respectively. Trifloxysulfuron at 0.02 kg ai/ha applied 1 and 14 DAP did not injure Coastal bermudagrass sprigs, controlled junglerice 90%, and resulted in 73 and 52% ground cover, respectively. Coastal bermudagrass establishment was greatly increased when weeds were controlled.
Patterns Of Resistance To Als Herbicides In Smallflower Umbrella Sedge (Cyperus Difformis) And Ricefield Bulrush (Schoenoplectus Mucronatus)
Authors: Busi Roberto , Vidotto Francesco , Fischer Albert J. , Osuna María D. , De Prado Rafael , Ferrero Aldo
Published: January 2007

Biotypes of smallflower umbrella sedge and ricefield bulrush resistant to acetolactate synthase (ALS)-inhibiting herbicides have been reported in several rice areas of the world. Here, we present results of a study conducted on whole plants of seven smallflower umbrella sedge and four ricefield bulrush biotypes collected in Italian, Spanish, and Californian rice fields to evaluate cross-resistance to ALS herbicides in these important weeds of temperate rice. The following herbicides were tested: bensulfuron-methyl, halosulfuron, cinosulfuron, imazamox, and bispyribac-sodium. The smallflower umbrella sedge and ricefield bulrush biotypes studied exhibited different cross-resistance patterns, some of which have not been previously reported. The Italian smallflower umbrella sedge biotype was cross-resistant to bensulfuron-methyl, cinosulfuron, imazamox, and bispyribac-sodium, but was susceptible to halosulfuron. One smallflower umbrella sedge biotype from California was also resistant to bensulfuron-methyl, imazamox, and bispyribac-sodium, but had a lower level of resistance to halosulfuron. In contrast, the second smallflower umbrella sedge biotype from California was strongly resistant to halosulfuron and was also resistant to bensulfuron-methyl and bispyribac-sodium, but moderately resistant to imazamox. The Spanish smallflower biotype was resistant to the sulfonylurea herbicides bensulfuron-methyl and halosulfuron. Different responses were observed in ricefield bulrush. The Italian biotype was resistant to the sulfonylureas only, whereas the biotype from California exhibited broad cross-resistance to all the ALS herbicides tested. Knowledge on cross-resistance is needed to formulate herbicide use and weed management strategies for delaying the evolution of resistance to ALS herbicides in rice systems.
Response of Palmer Amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri) Accessions to Glyphosate, Fomesafen, and Pyrithiobac
Authors: Bond Jason A. , Oliver Lawrence R. , Stephenson Daniel O.
Published: January 2007

Field studies were conducted at Fayetteville, Arkansas, to determine whether 47 Palmer amaranth accessions from different areas of the southern United States varied in response to postemergence applications of the registered rates of the isopropylamine salt of glyphosate (840 g ae/ha), fomesafen (420 g ai/ha), and pyrithiobac (70 g ai/ha). Glyphosate controlled all Palmer amaranth accessions at least 99% 21 d after treatment (DAT). Palmer amaranth control with fomesafen was equivalent for all accessions and at least 96% 21 DAT. Percent dry weight reductions were at least 92 and 94% for glyphosate and fomesafen, respectively. Palmer amaranth control with pyrithiobac was variable and ranged from 20 to 94% 21 DAT, but differences could not be attributed to accession origin. Herbicides with alternate modes of action from pyrithiobac should be utilized for Palmer amaranth control in regions where pyrithiobac has been used continuously.
Cellular localization of sphingomyelin synthase 2 in the seminiferous epithelium of adult rat testes
Authors: Lee Nikki P Y , Mruk Dolores D , Xia Weiliang , Cheng C Yan
Published: January 2007

Sphingomyelin synthase 2 (SMS2) is an enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of phosphatidylcholine and ceramide to sphingomyelin and diacylglycerol, and it is crucial to cellular lipid metabolism. Using the technique of subtraction hybridization, we have isolated a full-length cDNA encoding SMS2 from rat testes, which shared 93 and 87% identity at the nucleotide level with SMS2 in mice and humans respectively. A specific polyclonal antibody was prepared against a 20 amino acid peptide of NH2-FSWPLSWPPGCFKSSCKKYS-COOH near the C-terminus of SMS2. Studies by RT-PCR and immunoblotting have shown that the expression of SMS2 was limited to late round spermatids and elongating spermatids, but it was not detected in late elongate spermatids and Sertoli cells. Furthermore, SMS2 was shown to associate with the developing acrosome beginning in late round spermatid through elongating spermatids (but not late elongate spermatids) and the cell membrane in studies using fluorescent microscopy and immunohistochemistry. These data were further confirmed by studies using immunogold electron microscopy. The expression of SMS2 in the seminiferous epithelium is stage-specific with its highest expression detected in the acrosome region in late round spermatids from stages VIII–IX, and also in the acrosome in elongating spermatids with diminished intensity in stages X–V; however, it was not found in the acrosome in elongate spermatids in stages VI–VIII. Collectively, these results suggest that SMS2 may play a crucial role in the lipid metabolism in acrosome formation and the plasma membrane restructuring from late round spermatids to early elongating spermatids.
Stimulation of the pituitary–adrenal axis and of adrenocortical steroidogenesis ex vivo by administration of di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate to prepubertal male rats
Authors: Supornsilchai Vichit , Söder Olle , Svechnikov Konstantin
Published: January 2007

Phthalate esters exert deleterious effects on testicular physiology and, consequently, on reproduction and fertility. However, little is presently known concerning potential adverse effects of these environmental pollutants on the hormonal functions of the adrenal gland. Therefore, we have investigated the effects of administering to rats of different developmental ages di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) on the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis in vivo, as well as on adrenocortical steroidogenesis ex vivo. Oral exposure to DEHP once daily for 4 days elevated the serum levels of ACTH and corticosterone in rats 20 and 40 days of age, but not in adult, 60-day-old animals. Furthermore, primary cultures of adrenocortical cells isolated from 20- and 40-day-old rats treated with DEHP exhibited an enhanced capacity to produce corticosterone in response to ACTH, dibutyryl cAMP, and 22R-hydroxycholesterol, as well as increased ACTH-stimulated transport of endogenous cholesterol into mitochondria. Neither DEHP nor its major metabolite mono-2-ethylhexyl phthalate altered steroidogenesis in cultures of adrenocortical cells isolated from untreated rats. These findings demonstrate that in male rats, DEHP exerts an age-dependent influence on the pituitary–adrenocortical axis in vivo and adrenocortical steroidogenesis ex vivo. Such perturbation may be of pathological significance in connection with disorders of the hormonal stress response, especially in very young human beings.
Thyroid hormone receptor β mutations in the ‘hot-spot region’ are rare events in thyroid carcinomas
Authors: Rocha Ana Sofia , Marques Ricardo , Bento Inês , Soares Ricardo , Magalhães João , de Castro Inês Vieira , Soares Paula
Published: January 2007

Thyroid cancer constitutes the most frequent endocrine neoplasia. Targeted expression of rearranged during transfection (RET)/papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and V600E V-raf murine sarcoma viral oncogene homolog B1 (BRAF) to the thyroid glands of transgenic mice results in tumours similar to those of human PTC, providing evidence for the involvement of these oncogenes in PTC. Kato et al. developed a mouse model that mimics the full spectrum of the human follicular form of thyroid cancer (FTC). FTC rapidly develops in these mice through introduction of the thyroid hormone receptor β (THRB)PV mutant on the background of the inactivated THRB wt locus. Our aim was to verify if, in the context of human follicular thyroid carcinogenesis, THRB acted as a tumour suppressor gene. We screened for mutations of the THRB gene in the hot-spot region, spanning exons 7–10, in 51 thyroid tumours and six thyroid cancer cell lines by PCR and direct sequencing. We did not find mutations in any of the tumours or cell lines analysed. Our findings suggest that, in contrast to the findings on the THRB-mutant transgenic mice, THRB gene mutations are not a relevant mechanism for human thyroid carcinogenesis.
Differential regulation of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator and Na+,K+-ATPase in gills of striped bass, Morone saxatilis: effect of salinity and hormones
Authors: Madsen Steffen Søndergaard , Jensen Lars Nørholm , Tipsmark Christian Kølbæk , Kiilerich Pia , Borski Russell John
Published: January 2007

Effects of salinity and hormones on cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) and α-subunit Na+,K+-ATPase (α-NKA) mRNA (analysed by semi-quantitative PCR) and protein expression (analysed by western blotting and immunocytochemistry) were investigated in gills of striped bass. Freshwater (FW) to seawater (SW) transfer induced a disturbance in serum [Na+]. Gill CFTR protein, mRNA level and Na+,K+-ATPase activity were unaffected by SW transfer, whereas α-NKA mRNA increased after transfer. CFTR immunoreactivity was observed in large cells in FW and SW gill filaments at equal intensity. Cortisol decreased serum [Na+] in FW fish, but had no effect on gill Na+,K+-ATPase activity, α-NKA and CFTR mRNA levels. Incubation of gill tissue with cortisol (24 h, >0.01 μg/ml) and epidermal growth factor (EGF 10 μg/ml) decreased CFTR mRNA levels relative to pre-incubation and control levels. CFTR expression was unaffected by IGF-I (10 μg/ml). α-NKA mRNA levels decreased by 50% after 24 h control incubation; it was slightly stimulated by cortisol and unaffected by IGF-I and EGF. In isolated gill cells, phosphorylation of extracellular-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2 was stimulated by EGF but not affected by IGF-I. This study is the first to report a branchial EGF response and to demonstrate a functional ERK 1/2 pathway in the teleost gill. In conclusion, CFTR and Na+,K+-ATPase are differentially regulated by salinity and hormones in gills of striped bass, despite the putative involvement of both in salt excretion.
Male congenital hypothyroid Pax8−/− mice are infertile despite adequate treatment with thyroid hormone
Authors: Wistuba Joachim , Mittag Jens , Luetjens C Marc , Cooper Trevor G , Yeung Ching-Hei , Nieschlag Eberhard , Bauer Karl
Published: January 2007

Severe forms of congenital hypothyroidism lead to serious clinical symptoms if thyroid hormone replacement therapy is not instituted immediately after birth. In this study, Pax8−/− mice that are born without a thyroid gland were used as an animal model to study the consequences of congenital hypothyroidism. As expected, adequate treatment of these animals with thyroxine restored the general deficits of congenital hypothyroidism; however, Pax8-deficient male mice were infertile. We report here that in these mice, the efferent ducts and epididymides are either absent or the efferent ducts exhibit a reduced lumen and extensive connective tissue, which appears to impair testicular drainage and subsequently leads to complete absence of spermatozoa from the epididymis. The results suggest that, starting with the onset of pubertal testicular fluid secretion, a backpressure is created in the testis by the absence of efferent ducts or constriction of their tubule lumen when present. This subsequently leads to secondary disorganization of the seminiferous epithelium that increases with age, resulting in mixed atrophy of the testis in the adult. Serum testosterone levels as well as mRNA expression of anterior pituitary hormones are in the normal range, indicating that the observed infertility is not due to hormonal imbalance, but rather to a developmental defect of the efferent ducts. The demonstration of Pax8 expression in the epithelia of the epididymis and the efferent ducts suggests a direct morphogenic role of Pax8 in the development of these organs. It remains to be elucidated whether congenital hypothyroid male patients with mutations in the Pax8 gene are similarly affected.
Oestrogen formation and connective tissue growth factor expression in rat granulosa cells
Authors: Harlow Christopher R , Bradshaw Angela C , Rae Michael T , Shearer Kirsty D , Hillier Stephen G
Published: January 2007

Ovarian follicular development involves continual remodelling of the extracellular matrix (ECM) forming the basement membrane and intercellular framework that support granulosa cell (GC) growth and differentiation. Insight into the molecular regulation of ovarian ECM remodelling is potentially translatable to tissue remodelling elsewhere in the body. We therefore studied the link between a gene marker of ECM remodelling (connective tissue growth factor (CTGF)) and oestrogen biosynthesis (cytochrome P450aromatase (P450arom)) in rat granulosa cells. To determine if a cause–effect interaction exists, we used semi-quantitative in situ hybridisation to analyse patterns of CTGF and P450arom mRNA expression and immunohistochemistry to detect CTGF protein localisation throughout follicular development, and tested the actions of CTGF on oestrogen biosynthesis and oestradiol on CTGF mRNA expression in isolated GC in vitro. CTGF mRNA levels in GC rose gradually through small preantral (SP) and small antral (SA) stages of development to a maximum (fivefold higher) in large antral (LA) follicles. In preovulatory (PO) follicles, the CTGF mRNA level fell to 30% of that in SP follicles. P450arom mRNA also increased (threefold in LA relative to SP) throughout antral development follicles, but in contrast to CTGF continued to increase (12-fold) in PO follicles. In the cumulus oophorus of PO follicles, the residual GC CTGF mRNA expression increased with proximity to the oocyte, being inversely related to P450arom. Elsewhere in the follicle wall, there was a mural-to-antral gradient of CTGF mRNA expression, again inversely related to P450arom. Immunohistochemistry showed CTGF protein localisation broadly followed mRNA expression during follicular development, although the protein was also present in the theca interna and ovarian surface epithelium. Gradients in CTGF expression across the cumulus oophorus and follicle wall were similar to those observed for mRNA with CTGF protein expression being greatest in proximity to the oocyte. Treatment of isolated GC from preantral and SA follicles with recombinant human CTGF (1–100 ng/ml) did not affect basal or FSH-stimulated GC aromatase activity. However, in the absence of FSH, oestradiol (10−7–10−5 M) stimulated CTGF mRNA expression up to twofold. Conversely, FSH (10 ng/ml) alone reduced CTGF mRNA expression by 40% and combined treatment with FSH and oestradiol further suppressed CTGF to 10% of the control value. The oestrogen receptor (ER) antagonist, ICI 182 780 blocked the stimulatory and inhibitory effects of oestradiol, suggesting a specific ER-mediated mode of action on CTGF. Therefore, CTGF gene expression in GC is under local control by oestrogen whose effect (positive or negative) is modulated by FSH. This helps explain why gene expression of CTGF and P450arom diverge in FSH-induced PO follicles and has implications for oestrogenic regulation of CTGF formation elsewhere in the body.
Developmental expression of cell cycle regulators in the baboon fetal adrenal gland
Authors: Dumitrescu Adina , Aberdeen Graham W , Pepe Gerald J , Albrecht Eugene D
Published: January 2007

Although the human and the nonhuman primate fetal adrenal glands undergo a highly unique pattern of cortical zone-specific intrauterine growth and development, studies of the regulatory components of the cell cycle responsible for this growth have not been conducted. Therefore, the present study determined expression of the cell cycle regulators, cyclin D1 and cyclin E, and their cyclin-dependent kinases, Cdk2, Cdk4, and Cdk6, and Ki67 a marker of cell proliferation within the baboon fetal adrenal cortex during advancing stages of gestation. Fetal adrenal glands were obtained on days 60 (early), 100 (mid), and 160–170 (late) of gestation (term = 184 days). Mean ( ± s.e.) cyclin D1 mRNA levels, determined by RT-PCR and expressed relative to 18S rRNA, were similar at early (0.85 ± 0.09) and mid (1.04 ± 0.08) gestation, then decreased (P < 0.001, ANOVA) approximately 50% by late gestation (0.57 ± 0.04). Cyclin E mRNA levels were also similar at early (2.03 ± 0.07) and mid (1.63 ± 0.31) gestation, and decreased by 70% (P < 0.001) in late gestation (0.53 ± 0.09). Coinciding with the decrease in cyclin D1 and cyclin E, the percentage of Ki67 positive cells in the definitive zone decreased twofold (P < 0.01) between mid (28.2 ± 3.6) and late (13.8 ± 1.7) gestation. The cyclin D1 and cyclin E proteins, determined by immunocytochemistry, were expressed at high levels in the definitive zone of baboon fetal adrenal gland, where they decreased between mid- and late gestation. In contrast, immunocytochemical expression of the functionally important steroidogenic enzyme Delta; 5-3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3β-HSD) became abundant in the definitive and transitional zones with advancing pregnancy. However, fetal adrenal Cdk2, Cdk4, and Cdk6 mRNA levels and protein immunoexpression were similar in the baboon fetal adrenal at early-, mid-, and late gestation. In summary, expression of cyclin D1, cyclin E, and Ki67 decreased, while 3β-HSD expression increased, in the fetal adrenal cortex, particularly in the definitive zone, between mid- and late-baboon gestation. We propose that a developmental decline in cellular proliferation permits functional differentiation of fetal adrenal cortical cells, leading to increased production of steroid hormones important for placental estrogen synthesis and maturation of organ systems within the developing fetus.