bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Dense habitats selecting for small body size: a comparative study on bovids
Authors: Bro‐Jørgensen Jakob
Published: March 2008

As a crucial adaptation impacting on most aspects of a species’ biology, body size is likely to be under multiple selective pressures. This study aims to determine whether the physical structure of dense habitats selects directly for small size in order to reduce resistance to movement from the vegetation and facilitate concealment (Manoeuvrability hypothesis). This is unclear because other selective forces could indirectly cause habitat to covary with body size. Focusing on bovids, I tested the explanatory power of the Manoeuvrability hypothesis in an interspecific comparative analysis controlling for phylogenetic relatedness. Bovids in dense habitats were indeed found to be reduced in size. Confirming the Food choice hypothesis, grazers, who predominantly feed on abundant food in open habitats, were found to be larger than browsers in a multivariate analysis. However, after controlling for diet there remained a residual variation in body size which correlated negatively with habitat density. No support was found for Bergmann's hypothesis as the explanation for this remaining correlation since body size did not correlate with latitude of the species’ range. Likewise, sexual selection on male body size in open habitats due to increased polygyny was an unlikely cause since body size did not correlate with sexual body size dimorphism in multivariate analysis. Rather, the finding that tail length was disproportionately shorter in closed habitats points to dense habitat structure selecting directly for compact body conformation and small size, as predicted by the Manoeuvrability hypothesis.
Trophic trickles and cascades in a complex food web: impacts of a keystone predator on stream community structure and ecosystem processes
Authors: Woodward Guy , Papantoniou Georgia , Edwards François , Lauridsen Rasmus B.
Published: March 2008

Chalk streams are among the most species‐rich and productive of all temperate ecosystems. Despite this, a few keystone species have the potential to exert disproportionately powerful effects on community structure and ecosystem processes. Two of these are the bullhead Cottus gobio, a small benthic fish that is an extremely abundant, voracious predator, and the freshwater shrimp Gammaruspulex, which dominates the prey assemblage and is the principal detritivore. Field experiments detected a bullhead–Gammarus–detritus trophic cascade, with detrital processing rates slowed dramatically in the presence of the predator. In addition, survey data also revealed strong negative density‐dependence between bullhead and brown trout, adding a further link in the cascade. However, although bullhead also depressed the abundance of a dominant grazer, the snail Potamopyrgus antipodarum, there was no cascading effect upon algal production, suggesting that autochthonous inputs were not controlled by top–down effects. This skewed effect of the predator upon autochthonous versus allochthonous basal resources stresses the need to consider both pathways of energy flux into the food web, whereas many previous studies have potentially overemphasized the importance of predator–herbivore–primary producer cascades. The wider community food web contained 142 species and 1383 feeding links. This complex network exhibited “small world” properties, such as high clustering (unlike many other food webs) and shortest path lengths between species were small (in common with many other food webs). In particular, each of the four members of the detrital cascade could be connected to any other species by three links or fewer. Our data revealed that powerful cascading effects can be imbedded within even very complex ecological networks.
Immunohistochemical assessment of CD25 is equally sensitive and diagnostic in mastocytosis compared to flow cytometry
Authors: Baumgartner C. , Sonneck K. , Krauth M.‐T. , Kneidinger M. , Födinger M. , Hauswirth A. W. , Müllauer L. , Valent P.
Published: March 2008

Background   Systemic mastocytosis (SM) is a clonal myeloid disorder characterized by abnormal accumulation and growth of mast cells (MC) in internal organs. In most cases, the bone marrow is involved. Expression of CD25 in bone marrow MC, with or without coexpression of CD2, is an important minor SM criterion. So far, most studies have examined CD25‐expression on MC by flow cytometry.

Materials and methods   We examined the expression of CD25 in MC in patients with SM (n = 25) by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and compared these data with results obtained by flow cytometric assessment of CD25‐expression. In addition, we compared CD25‐staining results with that obtained with an antibody against CD2.

Results   In a majority of all patients (> 80%), CD25 was detectable by both staining techniques. However, in one patient, CD25 was only detectable on MC by IHC, but not by flow cytometry, and in two patients in whom IHC could not be applied because of lack of compact MC infiltrates, flow cytometry revealed aberrant expression of CD25. The antibody against CD2 produced diagnostic staining results in a smaller group of patients (flow cytometry: 65%; IHC: 28% of SM cases) compared to CD25 (> 80%).

Conclusions   CD25‐IHC is equally diagnostic and sensitive in SM compared to flow cytometry and thus can be recommended as a diagnostic test. Our data also suggest that the diagnostic value of CD25 exceeds that of CD2, and that optimal assessment of CD25‐expression in neoplastic MC in all patients requires the application of both techniques, flow cytometry and IHC.
C‐reactive protein and coronary composition in patients with percutaneous revascularization
Authors: Pucci A. , Brscic E. , Tessitore E. , Celeste A. , Crudelini M. , De Bernardi A. , Alberti A. , Biondi‐Zoccai G. , Sheiban I.
Published: March 2008

Background   C‐Reactive Protein (CRP) is considered a predictive factor for cardiovascular events and its serum levels have been shown to correlate with thin cap coronary plaques in sudden coronary death. Whether serum CRP levels are associated with in vivo atherothrombotic features is unclear. We thus analysed samples from coronary atherectomy specimens obtained during percutaneous coronary intervention.

Materials and methods   Patients with coronary artery disease undergoing directional atherectomy, distinguished by unstable versus stable coronary syndrome diagnosis, provided coronary specimens from culprit lesions. Assessment was conducted by means of conventional histology, morphometry and immunohistochemistry. Specific antibodies against erythrocyte‐specific protein glycophorin A, endothelial and macrophage antigens were also used.

Results   There were 51 patients with unstable coronary disease and 47 patients with stable angina. Serum CRP levels ≥ 1 mg L−1 were detected in 24/98 patients, and were significantly associated with hypercellularity, macrophage infiltrates, neoangiogenesis and intraplaque haemorrhage (all P < 0·05). Furthermore, coronary plaques from patients with unstable angina contained larger atheromas, more hypercellular plaques, with abundant macrophages, neoangiogenesis and intraplaque haemorrhages and lesser fibrous tissue (all P < 0·05).

Conclusions   We observed a positive correlation between increased serum CRP levels and typical pathological features of complex atherothrombotic coronary disease, confirming in vivo the mechanistic role of CRP in coronary atherothrombosis.
Novel insights into FGD3, a putative GEF for Cdc42, that undergoes SCFFWD1/β‐TrCP‐mediated proteasomal degradation analogous to that of its homologue FGD1 but regulates cell morphology and motility differently from FGD1
Authors: Hayakawa Makio , Matsushima Masahide , Hagiwara Hiroshi , Oshima Toshiyuki , Fujino Tomofumi , Ando Ken , Kikugawa Kiyomi , Tanaka Hirofumi , Miyazawa Keiji , Kitagawa Masatoshi
Published: March 2008

We previously demonstrated that FGD1, the Cdc42 guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) responsible for faciogenital dysplasia, is targeted by the ubiquitin ligase SCFFWD1/β‐TrCP upon phosphorylation of two serine residues in its DSGIDS motif and subsequently degraded by the proteasome. Here we show that FGD3, which was identified as a homologue of FGD1 but has been poorly characterized, has conserved the same motif and is down‐regulated similarly by SCFFWD1/β‐TrCP. Although FGD3 and FGD1 share strikingly similar Dbl homology (DH) domains and adjacent pleckstrin homology (PH) domains, both of which are responsible for guanine nucleotide exchange, there also exist remarkable differences in their structures. Indeed, FGD1 and FGD3 induced significantly different morphological changes in HeLa Tet‐Off cells: whereas FGD1 induced long finger‐like protrusions, FGD3 induced broad sheet‐like protrusions when the level of GTP‐bound Cdc42 was significantly increased by the inducible expression of FGD3. Furthermore, FGD1 and FGD3 reciprocally regulated cell motility: when inducibly expressed in HeLa Tet‐Off cells, FGD1 stimulated cell migration whereas FGD3 inhibited it. Thus we demonstrate that the highly homologous GEFs, FGD1 and FGD3 play different roles to regulate cellular functions but that their intracellular levels are tightly controlled by the same destruction pathway through SCFFWD1/β‐TrCP.
Rines/RNF180, a novel RING finger gene‐encoded product, is a membrane‐bound ubiquitin ligase
Authors: Ogawa Miyuki , Mizugishi Kiyomi , Ishiguro Akira , Koyabu Yoshio , Imai Yuzuru , Takahashi Ryosuke , Mikoshiba Katsuhiko , Aruga Jun
Published: March 2008

We identified and characterized a novel RING finger gene, Rines/RNF180, which is well conserved among vertebrates. Putative Rines gene product (Rines) contains a RING finger domain, a basic coiled‐coil domain, a novel conserved domain (DSPRC) and a C‐terminal hydrophobic region that is predicted to be a transmembrane domain. N‐terminally epitope tagged‐Rines (Nt‐Rines) was detected in the endoplasmic reticulum membrane/nuclear envelope in cultured mammalian cells. Nt‐Rines was not extracted by high salt or alkaline buffers and was degraded in intact endoplasmic reticulum treated with proteinase K, indicating that Nt‐Rines is an integral membrane protein with most of its N‐terminal regions in the cytoplasm. Rines was expressed in brain, kidney, testis and uterus of adult mice, and in developing lens and brain, particularly in the ventricular layer of the cerebral cortex at embryonic stages. In cultured cells, Nt‐Rines can bind another protein and promoted its degradation. The degradation was inhibited by proteasomal inhibitors. In addition, Nt‐Rines itself was heavily ubiquitinated and degraded by proteasome. The involvement of Rines in the ubiquitin–proteasome pathway was further supported by its binding to the UbcH6 ubiquitin‐conjugating enzyme and by its trans‐ubiquitination enhancing activities. These results suggest that Rines is a membrane‐bound E3 ubiquitin ligase.
Trps1 plays a pivotal role downstream of Gdf5 signaling in promoting chondrogenesis and apoptosis of ATDC5 cells
Authors: Itoh Shunji , Kanno Seiji , Gai Zhibo , Suemoto Hiroki , Kawakatsu Motohisa , Tanishima Hiroyuki , Morimoto Yoshifumi , Nishioka Katsuhiro , Hatamura Ikuji , Yoshida Munehito , Muragaki Yasuteru
Published: March 2008

Tricho‐rhino‐phalangeal syndrome (TRPS) is an autosomal dominant skeletal disorder caused by mutations of TRPS1. Based on the similar expression patterns of Trps1 and Gdf5, we hypothesized a possible functional interaction between these two molecules. Using a chondrogenic cell line (ATDC5), we investigated the association of Gdf5‐mediated signaling pathways with Trps1 and the phenotypic changes of ATDC5 cells due to over‐expression or suppression of Trps1. Treatment of cells with Gdf5 enhanced Trps1 protein levels and phosphorylation of p38 mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) in a dose‐dependent manner. Nuclear translocation of Trps1 was also induced by Gdf5. These effects were blocked by a dominant negative form of activin‐linked kinase 6 (dn‐Alk6) and by SB203580, an inhibitor of the p38 MAPK pathway. Conversely, Gdf5 expression was suppressed by the over‐expression of Trps1. Trps1‐overexpressing ATDC5 (O/E) cells differentiated into chondrocytes more quickly than mock‐infected control cells, whereas cells transfected with dn‐Alk6 showed slower differentiation. On the other hand, O/E cells showed an increase of apoptosis along with the up‐regulation of cleaved caspase 3 and down‐regulation of Bcl‐2, whereas dn‐Alk6 cells showed suppression of apoptosis. In conclusion, Trps1 acts downstream of the Gdf5 signaling pathway and promotes the differentiation and apoptosis of ATDC5 cells.
Regulation of clathrin‐mediated endocytosis by p53
Authors: Endo Yoshie , Sugiyama Atsumi , Li Shun‐Ai , Ohmori Kazuji , Ohata Hirokazu , Yoshida Yusuke , Shibuya Masabumi , Takei Kohji , Enari Masato , Taya Yoichi
Published: March 2008

The p53 gene encodes a multi‐functional protein to prevent tumorigenesis. Although there have been many reports of the nuclear functions of p53, little is known about the cytosolic functions of p53. Here, we found that p53 is present in cytosol as well as nuclei under unstressed conditions and binds to clathrin heavy chain (CHC). CHC is known to play a role in receptor‐mediated endocytosis. Based on our findings, we examined the effect of p53 on clathrin‐mediated endocytosis of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Surprisingly, p53 co‐localized with CHC at the plasma membrane in response to EGF stimulation. In cells with ablated p53 expression by RNAi, EGFR internalization was delayed and intracellular signaling from EGFR was altered. Thus, our findings provide evidence that cytosolic p53 may participate in the regulation of clathrin‐mediated endocytosis to control the correct signaling from EGFR.
ATPase activity and its temperature compensation of the cyanobacterial clock protein KaiC
Authors: Murakami Reiko , Miyake Ayumi , Iwase Ryo , Hayashi Fumio , Uzumaki Tatsuya , Ishiura Masahiro
Published: March 2008

KaiA, KaiB and KaiC constitute the circadian clock machinery in cyanobacteria. KaiC is a homohexamer; its subunit contains duplicated halves, each with a set of ATPase motifs. Here, using highly purified KaiC preparations of the thermophilic cyanobacterium Thermosynechococcus elongatus BP‐1 produced in Escherichia coli, we found that the N‐ and C‐terminal domains of KaiC had extremely weak ATPase activity. ATPase activity showed temperature compensation in wild‐type KaiC, but not in KaiCS431A/T432A, a mutant that lacks two phosphorylation sites. We concluded that KaiC phosphorylation is involved in the ATPase temperature‐compensation mechanism—which is probably critical to the stability of the circadian clock in cyanobacteria—and we hypothesized the following temperature‐compensation mechanism: (i) The C‐terminal phosphorylation sites of a KaiC hexamer subunit are phosphorylated by the C‐terminal domain of an adjacent KaiC subunit; (ii) the phosphorylation suppresses the ATPase activity of the C‐terminal domain; and (iii) the phosphorylated KaiC spontaneously dephosphorylates, resulting in the recover of ATPase activity.
Mass spectrometric analysis of microtubule co‐sedimented proteins from rat brain
Authors: Sakamoto Tatsuhiko , Uezu Akiyoshi , Kawauchi Shinya , Kuramoto Takuya , Makino Koji , Umeda Kazuaki , Araki Norie , Baba Hideo , Nakanishi Hiroyuki
Published: March 2008

Microtubules (MTs) play crucial roles in a variety of cell functions, such as mitosis, vesicle transport and cell motility. MTs also compose specialized structures, such as centrosomes, spindles and cilia. However, molecular mechanisms of these MT‐based functions and structures are not fully understood. Here, we analyzed MT co‐sedimented proteins from rat brain by tandem mass spectrometry (MS) upon ion exchange column chromatography. We identified a total of 391 proteins. These proteins were grouped into 12 categories: 57 MT cytoskeletal proteins, including MT‐associated proteins (MAPs) and motor proteins; 66 other cytoskeletal proteins; 4 centrosomal proteins; 10 chaperons; 5 Golgi proteins; 7 mitochondrial proteins; 62 nucleic acid‐binding proteins; 14 nuclear proteins; 13 ribosomal proteins; 28 vesicle transport proteins; 83 proteins with diverse function and/or localization; and 42 uncharacterized proteins. Of these uncharacterized proteins, six proteins were expressed in cultured cells, resulting in the identification of three novel components of centrosomes and cilia. Our present method is not specific for MAPs, but is useful for identifying low abundant novel MAPs and components of MT‐based structures. Our analysis provides an extensive list of potential candidates for future study of the molecular mechanisms of MT‐based functions and structures.
Childhood spinal muscular atrophy induces alterations in contractile and regulatory protein isoform expressions
Authors: Stevens L. , Bastide B. , Maurage C. A. , Dupont E. , Montel V. , Cieniewski‐Bernard C. , Cuisset J. M. , Vallée L. , Mounier Y.
Published: March 2008

Aims: Although modifications of the survival motor neurone gene are responsible for most spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) cases, the molecular pathophysiology and the muscular target proteins involved are still unknown. The aim of this study was to compare the expression of contractile and regulatory protein isoforms in quadriceps muscles from SMA children with age‐matched control quadriceps. Methods: The isoform patterns of myosin heavy chains (MHC), troponin subunits (T, C and I) and tropomyosin were determined by immunoblotting, reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction and mass spectrometry analyses. Depending on the disease severity, their expression levels were followed in specific variants of SMA populations (types I, II and III), with comparison with age‐matched control muscles. Results: The isoform transitions in SMA muscles were different from the fast‐to‐faster transitions occurring in normal muscles from children aged 1 month to 5 years old. Moreover, the expression of the neonatal MHC isoform was not repressed in SMA muscles. Conclusions: The presence of the neonatal MHC isoform in SMA muscles indicates an alteration of the phenotype in these diseased muscles. It is strongly suggested that MHC and troponin T proteins may be good markers for the SMA pathology.
Phylogenetic and serological analyses reveal genetic diversity of Agrobacterium vitis strains in Japan
Authors: Kawaguchi A. , Sawada H. , Ichinose Y.
Published: March 2008

Twenty‐eight strains of Agrobacterium vitis, including both tumorigenic and nonpathogenic phenotypes involving 26 isolated in Japan and strains NCPPB 3554T and NCPPB 2562 isolated in Australia and Greece, respectively, were characterized by means of a slide agglutination test (SAT) using antisera prepared against somatic antigens. Phylogenetic analyses were also carried out, using the results of repetitive sequence‐based polymerase chain reaction and the partial nucleotide sequences of pyrG, recA and rpoD. The A. vitis strains separated into four serogroups (A to D) based on the SAT reactivity. The phylogenetic analyses showed A. vitis strains separated into four tumorigenic groups (A to D) and one nonpathogenic group (E). Serogroups A to C corresponded exactly to genetic groups A to C, respectively, whereas serogroup D further divided into two distinct genetic groups, D and E. Genetic group E was isolated in Okayama Prefecture, Japan, and all strains of it have been found to coexist with tumorigenic strains belonging to the other groups within the same galled grapevine tissues. These results suggest that A. vitis strains are genetically heterogeneous and can be separated into several genetic groups. The differences between the nucleotide sequences of pyrG, recA and rpoD of the genetic groups will enable the development of a simple and convenient monitoring method, which will increase understanding of the dynamics of each genetic group of A. vitis in the natural environment.
Sorghum ergot can develop without local Claviceps africana inoculum from nearby infected plants
Authors: Chakraborty S. , Ryley M. J.
Published: March 2008

Batches of glasshouse‐grown flowering sorghum plants were placed in circular plots for 24 h at two field sites in southeast Queensland, Australia on 38 occasions in 2003 and 2004, to trap aerial inoculum of Claviceps africana. Plants were located 20–200 m from the centre of the plots. Batches of sorghum plants with secondary conidia of C. africana on inoculated spikelets were placed at the centre of each plot on some dates as a local point source of inoculum. Plants exposed to field inoculum were returned to a glasshouse, incubated at near‐100% relative humidity for 48 h and then at ambient relative humidity for another week before counting infected spikelets to estimate pathogen dispersal. Three times as many spikelets became infected when inoculum was present within 200 m of trap plants, but infected spikelets did not decline with increasing distance from local source within the 200 m. Spikelets also became infected on all 10 dates when plants were exposed without a local source of infected plants, indicating that infection can occur from conidia surviving in the atmosphere. In 2005, when trap plants were placed at 14 locations along a 280 km route, infected spikelets diminished with increasing distance from sorghum paddocks and infection was sporadic for distances over 1 km. Multiple regression analysis showed significant influence of moisture related weather variables on inoculum dispersal. Results suggest that sanitation measures can help reduce ergot severity at the local level, but sustainable management will require better understanding of long‐distance dispersal of C. africana inoculum.
A primer‐introduced restriction analysis‐PCR‐based method to analyse Pepper mild mottle virus populations in plants and field soil with respect to virus mutations that break L3 gene‐mediated resistance of Capsicum plants
Authors: Sakamoto M. , Tomita R. , Hamada H. , Iwadate Y. , Munemura I. , Kobayashi K.
Published: March 2008

One or a few nucleotide changes in the coat protein gene reportedly confer Pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV) with the ability to overcome L3 gene‐mediated resistance in Capsicum plants. Primer‐introduced restriction analysis‐PCR (PIRA‐PCR) was set up to detect four known resistance‐breaking mutations. Each mutation from the L3‐breaking PMMoV strains was successfully detected by reverse transcription‐PCR amplification of the viral coat protein gene, PCR amplification of the regions containing the mutations with restriction site‐introducing primers, followed by restriction analysis. Since PIRA‐PCR primers were designed such that only PCR products from L3‐breaking PMMoV strains can be digested by appropriate restriction enzymes, L3‐breaking strains could be detected when they comprised no more than 20% of the mixture with non‐L3‐breaking strain. Using this PIRA‐PCR‐based method, L3‐breaking PMMoV was detected in field soil samples taken from the base of both diseased and non‐diseased plants harbouring L3. The results show that PIRA‐PCR is useful to quickly detect L3‐breaking PMMoV strains not only in Capsicum plants harbouring the L3 resistance gene but also in field soil, which serves as a reservoir of infectious viruses.
Morphology, phylogeny and pathogenicity of Botryosphaeria and Neofusicoccum species associated with drupe rot of olives in southern Italy
Authors: Lazzizera C. , Frisullo S. , Alves A. , Phillips A. J. L.
Published: March 2008

Species of Botryosphaeria and Neofusicoccum are well known as pathogens of woody hosts. In this study the species that occur on rotting olive drupes in the main production areas of southern Italy were studied. Species were identified from the morphology of their conidial states in culture and from sequence data of the ITS rDNA operon and partial sequence of the translation elongation factor 1‐α gene. Botryosphaeria and Neofusicoccum species were isolated from more than 60% of the affected drupes, suggesting that they are the main contributors to this disease. The most common species was B. dothidea, which was isolated from 34% of the drupes. However, N. australe and N. vitifusiforme were also common and were isolated from 16 and 12%, respectively. Two other species (N. parvum and N. mediterraneum) were uncommon and occurred on less than 1% of the drupes. All five species were pathogenic on the two cultivars of olive tested. The most aggressive species was N. vitifusiforme, followed by N. australe and B. dothidea. The two olive cultivars differed in their susceptibility to the pathogens. The results show that B. dothidea, N. vitifusiforme and N. australe are important pathogens of olives.
The evolution of a thick shallow marine succession, the South Munster Basin, Ireland
Authors: QUIN JAMIE G.
Published: March 2008

The relatively fine‐grained Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous ‘Cork Beds’ succession of the South Munster Basin includes continuous sections of paralic facies that are over 1000 m thick and individual sandstone units over 300 m thick. However, the succession does not reflect prolonged phases when facies belts were stationary, but rather multiple stacking of small‐scale, high‐frequency sequences, each associated with pronounced migration of shorelines. What seems to have been unusual about the South Munster Basin succession was that the geographical positioning of these high‐frequency sequences was fixed. This resulted from an unusual combination of tectonics, shelf hydrodynamics, sedimentation rates and the textural maturity of the sediment within the basin. Of these, tectonics was probably most critical, particularly the juxtaposition of rapid subsidence in basinal areas and a basin margin zone (to the north) that was sufficiently up‐standing to pin the maximum extent of transgression during repeated highstands of sea‐level, yet not so upstanding as to have diverted the major regional drainage system. The embayed palaeogeography of the area may also have been influential.
Sedimentology and preservation potential of carbonate sand sheets deposited by the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami: South Baa Atoll, Maldives
Authors: NICHOL SCOTT L. , KENCH PAUL S.
Published: March 2008

Observations of carbonate sand sheets deposited by the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami across island surfaces in the Maldives archipelago provide an opportunity to investigate tsunami flow behaviour across relatively simple coastal forms. This paper presents data on tsunami sand sheet deposits for five islands located along an east–west transect through the central atoll of South Baa. Sedimentary data include: field measurement of sand sheet planform, thickness and volume; descriptions of sedimentary structure and stratigraphic relationships with underlying surfaces; laboratory measurement of grain‐size as a proxy of settling velocity; and observations of post‐depositional changes to sand sheet characteristics two years following the Indian Ocean tsunami. Results show cross‐atoll trends in volume and form of sand sheets that are interpreted as a proxy of waning and scattering of energy, as the wave train interacted with the shallow waters and numerous islands of the atoll. On individual islands, the basin topography resulted in tsunami overwash but no return flow, so that sand sheets are the product of unidirectional flow, with evidence in grain‐size trends for minor acceleration across landward slopes. A key finding is the evidence for rapid post‐depositional changes to the form and extent of tsunami deposits. Within two years of deposition, reworking of the seaward edge of sand sheets has destroyed the thickest part of the deposit and the thinner landward part of the sand sheets has been reworked by bioturbation. This study concludes that the preservation potential of these tsunami deposits is low to moderate, with the only probable recognizable signature being local variation in the micro‐topography of island surfaces.
Palaeo‐climate controlled diagenesis of the Westphalian C & D fluvial sandstones in the Campine Basin (north‐east Belgium)
Authors: BERTIER PIETER , SWENNEN RUDY , LAGROU DAVID , LAENEN BEN , KEMPS RAYMOND
Published: March 2008

The Westphalian C and D fluvial sandstones in the Campine Basin (north‐east Belgium) are potential reservoirs for the sequestration of CO2 and interesting analogues of the hydrocarbon reservoirs in the Southern North Sea. Although these sandstones were deposited in a relatively short period of time, their reservoir properties and mineralogical compositions are very different. A petrographic study complemented with stable isotope analyses, fluid inclusion microthermometry and X‐ray diffraction analyses of the clay fractions of the sandstones, which were sampled from deep boreholes (>1000 m) in the Campine Basin, revealed that these differences are related mainly to the climate at the time of deposition. The most important eogenetic processes affecting the Westphalian sandstones were the generation of a pseudomatrix by physical compaction of Al‐silicates and lithic fragments that were strongly altered by extensive meteoric leaching, kaolinitization of unstable silicates and precipitation of siderite. These processes had a detrimental influence on the reservoir properties of Westphalian C sandstones, but their impact on the Westphalian D sandstones was minimal. The difference is assumed to be related to the climate at the time of deposition, which changed from tropical humid in the Westphalian C to semi‐arid/arid during the Late Westphalian D. Both the Westphalian C and D sandstones were affected by similar mesogenetic processes. Mesogenetic quartz cementation resulted from chemical compaction and illitization of kaolinite, K‐feldspar and smectitic clays. Illitization of kaolinite was controlled by the available quantities of co‐existing kaolinite and K‐feldspar and mainly affected the Westphalian D sandstones. Illitization of K‐feldspar was controlled by the K‐feldspar content. It had a much larger impact on the reservoir properties of the Westphalian D as, in these sandstones, K‐feldspar was less affected by eogenetic alteration. The illitization of smectitic clays resulted in illite, quartz and ankerite cementation in both reservoirs. This process had a more important impact on the Westphalian C reservoir, since cementation here also resulted from smectite to illite conversion in the interbedded and underlying shales. The effect of mesogenetic alterations on the reservoir properties was much less drastic than the impact of eodiagenesis. Mesogenetic alterations do exert a significant control on the properties of the Westphalian D. The vast impact of eodiagenesis on the Westphalian C sandstones made them less susceptible to mesogenetic alteration. The effect of telogenetic processes on the porosity and permeability of the Westphalian sandstones was small and restricted to the top reservoir intervals that directly underlie the Cimmerian Unconformity. No significant telogenetic alterations related to the Variscan Unconformity were observed.
The use of voltage‐sensitive dyes to monitor signal‐induced changes in membrane potential–ABA triggered membrane depolarization in guard cells†
Authors: Konrad Kai R. , Hedrich Rainer
Published: March 2008

The plant membrane potential reports on the activity of electrogenic plasma membrane transport processes. The membrane potential is widely used to report for early events associated with changes in light regime, hormone action or pathogen attacks. The membrane potentials of guard cells can be precisely measured with microelectrodes, but this technique is not well suited for rapid screens with large sample numbers. To provide the basis for large‐scale membrane potential recordings, we took advantage of voltage‐sensitive dyes. Using the fluorescent dyes bis‐(1,3‐dibutylbarbituric acid)‐trimethine oxonol (DiBAC4(3)) and the FLIPR Membrane Potential Assay Kit (FMP) dye we followed changes in the membrane potential in guard cells and vacuoles. Based on the fluorescence of DiBAC4(3) a method was established for quantification of the membrane potential in guard cell protoplasts which should be considered as an excellent system for high‐throughput screening of plant cells. In the absence of abscisic acid (ABA), one‐third of the guard cell protoplast population spontaneously oscillated for periods of 5‐6 min. Upon application of ABA the hyperpolarized fraction (∼50%) of the guard cell protoplast population depolarized within a few minutes. Membrane potential oscillations were terminated by ABA. Oscillations and ABA responses were found in cell populations with active anion channels. Thus time‐ and voltage‐dependent anion channels likely represent the ABA‐sensitive conductance and part of the membrane potential oscillator. The suitability of membrane potential dyes was tested on vacuoles, too. Dye‐based vacuolar membrane polarization was monitored upon ATP exposure. We conclude that voltage‐sensitive dyes provide an excellent tool for the study of changes in the membrane potential in vacuole as well as guard cell populations.
AGAMOUS‐LIKE 17, a novel flowering promoter, acts in a FT‐independent photoperiod pathway
Authors: Han Ping , García‐Ponce Berenice , Fonseca‐Salazar Gabriel , Alvarez‐Buylla Elena R. , Yu Hao
Published: March 2008

The photoperiod pathway is a genetically conserved pathway that affects flowering in distantly related angiosperms. Here we report a novel flowering promoter AGAMOUS‐LIKE 17 (AGL17) acting in the photoperiod pathway of Arabidopsis. AGL17 transcripts were detectable in various plant organs with the highest expression in the root. Under long‐day conditions, expression of AGL17 gradually increased in the aerial part of seedlings during the floral transition. Overexpression of AGL17 caused early flowering, while loss of function of AGL17 exhibited late flowering, particularly under long days. Analysis of AGL17 expression in various flowering‐time mutants showed that its transcripts were significantly reduced in the photoperiod pathway mutant co‐1. Correspondingly, AGL17 expression was upregulated in transgenic plants overexpressing CONSTANS (CO) and also when CO activity was induced by light. Genetic analysis further showed that overexpression of AGL17 could partially suppress the late flowering of co‐1. These results suggest that AGL17 acts to promote flowering and is positively controlled by the photoperiod pathway regulator CO. In contrast, another target of CO, FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT), did not affect AGL17 expression, and vice versa. The expression of two floral meristem identity genes LEAFY (LFY) and APETALA1 (AP1) decreased in agl17‐1, while LFY and AP1 could be rapidly induced by AGL17 using a functional estradiol‐inducible system. These findings indicate that AGL17 ultimately promotes flowering via regulation of LFY and AP1.
Productivism, Post‐Productivism and European Agricultural Reform: The Case of Sugar
Authors: Ward Neil , Jackson Peter , Russell Polly , Wilkinson Katy
Published: March 2008

Changes in European agricultural policy and institutions over the past two decades have been characterised as a transition from a productivist to a post‐productivist framework. This account of policy change has been accused of being overly structuralist and deterministic. This article makes the case for taking a commodity‐specific approach to analysing European agricultural policy reform to contribute to understanding the specificities and contingencies of agricultural productivism, the interplay between external and internal pressures which help drive the reform process and the implications of the material properties of foods in understanding regulatory change. Drawing on original interview material and other secondary sources, the article examines the recent reform of the European Union sugar regime – widely regarded as the last bastion of the highly regulated and protectionist Common Agricultural Policy. It argues that the case of sugar sheds new light on the processes through which the productivist order is being dismantled, highlighting the importance of world trade and international development concerns in shaping agricultural policy change in the EU.
Gender and Work in Norwegian Family Farm Businesses
Authors: Bjørkhaug Hilde , Blekesaune Arild
Published: March 2008

The traditional way of organising agricultural production in Norway has been through family farming. A family farm is defined by the ownership of the farm through kinship over a number of generations. This article examines structural changes on Norwegian family farms based on the impact of increased competition and falling prices and subsidies. The strategy traditionally employed has been to increase total household income on the farm through working off‐farm. We map changes in income allocation and work strategies on Norwegian family farms over time, changes in income allocation and work strategies among men and women on family farms over time and we show income allocation and work strategies among men and women as farmers and as farmers’ spouses. Through a quantitative analysis of data on Norwegian farmers from 1987 until 2004, we show that there are continuing changes in work and income allocation on Norwegian farms. The trend is a higher dependence on off‐farm income. However, this development is not only explained by more off‐farm work by farmers – which is an indication of lower value of farm work itself – but to a large degree this is a result of the increasing off‐farm work of farm women. While at the same time more women are entering agriculture as farmers, we find clear evidence of differences in the organisation of farms operated by men and women. While male farmers are professionalising as ‘one‐man farmers,’ female farmers to a larger degree depend (voluntarily or not) on their partner's assistance in the farm work.
Re‐thinking the Transformation of Organics: The Role of the UK Government in Shaping British Organic Food and Farming
Authors: Tomlinson Isobel
Published: March 2008

The focus of international scholarship on the contemporary transformation of organic food and farming has been a rather narrow preoccupation with the ‘conventionalisation thesis’ that describes a process whereby the structure and ideology of the expanding organic sector is seen increasingly to resemble that of the conventional food and farming sector that it has traditionally opposed. This study seeks to contribute to this literature by examining the role of the UK government in shaping the British organic sector since 1980, when it first began to engage seriously with organic farming. It draws on the analysis of a wide range of government and organic movement publications for the period 1980–2006, as well as a programme of semi‐structured interviews with key organic policy actors during this time frame. By analysing the way in which the UK government has discursively constructed three separate story‐lines about organics, this study argues that the effects of government action on British organic food and farming are best described as a process of containment. Further, it posits the need to move on from the rather reductionist focus offered by the conventionalisation thesis to more nuanced approaches to the transformation of contemporary food and farming that account for different geographical contexts, and the particular roles of different actors actively constructing what ‘organics’ is.
Revisiting the welfare state system in the Republic of Korea
Authors: Park Yong Soo
Published: March 2008

Abstract  The Republic of Korea's welfare system has undergone radical institutional expansion since the 1990s, largely as a consequence of the financial crisis of 1997. In spite of these changes, public social expenditure remains extremely low — particularly with regard to all other OECD countries — with the result that the overall social insurance system and social welfare service sector remain underdeveloped. Thus, the current welfare system can best be characterized as a residual model, in that state intervention as a provider of welfare remains highly limited and the family and the private market economy play the central roles in offering a social safety net. This situation is largely the legacy of the so‐called ‘growth‐first’ ideology, which has remained the dominant approach favoured by the majority of the country's political and economic decision‐makers since the period of authoritarian rule (1961‐1993). The adoption of Western European‐style neo‐liberal restructuring, implemented following the 1997 financial crisis, has also played a role.
Making work pay, making tax credits work: An assessment with specific reference to lone‐parent employment
Authors: Millar Jane
Published: March 2008

Abstract  This article examines the origins, aims, and design of tax credits in the United Kingdom, and discusses the extent to which tax credits represent a new approach in social security policy. It then focuses on the role that these transfers play in supporting lone mothers in employment, drawing on the experiences of lone‐parent families to explore how tax credits worked for them. The discussion highlights the tensions between family and employment change and tax credits rules about reporting changes in circumstances and income.
Giants old and new: Promoting social security and economic growth in the Asia and Pacific Region
Authors: Walker Robert , Pellissery Sony
Published: March 2008

Abstract  While the Asia and Pacific region is characterised by vast diversity, the region as a whole warrants attention. There have been great achievements in recent years in promoting economic growth, building social security and reducing poverty, but giant challenges remain, nine of which are identified. Five resemble problems prevalent in Europe 60 years ago: want; squalor; underemployment; poor education; and bad health. The four others, inequitable growth, discrimination, corruption, and ageing populations lessen the effectiveness of policies targeted on the other five. A fourfold responsive strategy is sketched that includes mechanisms to extend formal sector employment, expand coverage of social security within the formal sector and to the informal sector, and to establish and sustain social safety nets for those otherwise excluded from social protection.
Evidence of Management Discrimination Among Analysts during Earnings Conference Calls
Authors: MAYEW WILLIAM J.
Published: March 2008

This paper considers the potential for public information disclosures to complement the existing private information of financial analysts. In such a setting, analysts allowed to participate during earnings conference calls by asking questions receive public signals that can facilitate the generation of new and valuable private information for the asking analyst. Realizing these public signals are valuable for the asking analyst, managers can use their discretion to discriminate among analysts by granting more participation to more favorable analysts. I use post–Regulation Fair Disclosure conference call transcripts to document that the probability of an analyst asking a question during an earnings conference call is increasing in the favorableness of the analyst's outstanding stock recommendation. I also find that downgrades are associated with decreases in access to management during the conference call relative to other recommendation change activity. Analyst prestige moderates these effects. Favorable and prestigious analysts have higher participation probabilities than favorable and unprestigious analysts. Further, downgrades result in participation decreases only for unprestigious analysts. These findings are consistent with practitioner and regulatory concerns that managers discriminate among analysts by allowing more management access to more favorable analysts.
Regulation Fair Disclosure and the Cost of Adverse Selection
Authors: SIDHU BALJIT , SMITH TOM , WHALEY ROBERT E. , WILLIS RICHARD H.
Published: March 2008

Regulation Fair Disclosure (FD), imposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission in October 2000, was designed to prohibit disclosure of material private information to selected market participants. The informational advantage such select participants gain is unclear. If multiple “insiders” receive identical information, private information is immediately incorporated in price and each insider has zero expected profit. If, on the other hand, Regulation FD has curtailed the flow of information from firms, private information becomes longer‐lived and more valuable. Hence, market makers will demand increased compensation by widening the adverse selection component of the bid‐ask spread. We identify the cost components of the bid‐ask spread for a sample of NASDAQ stocks surrounding the implementation of Regulation FD. Controlling for other factors affecting the spread, we find that adverse selection costs increase approximately 36% after Regulation FD. We interpret our finding as Regulation FD failing to achieve one of its desired objectives.
Did Clément Marot really offer his Trente Pseaulmes to the Emperor Charles V in January 1540?
Authors: Wursten Dick
Published: March 2008

In both popular and scholarly literature, the offering of an early manuscript of the Trente Pseaulmes by Clément Marot to the Emperor Charles V, passing through France in the winter of 1539–1540, is presented as a matter of fact, often combined with an identification of this manuscript with Ms. Cod. Vind. 2644 (Vienna, Staatsbibliothek).1 The fact that this story is only known from one source, the so‐called Villemadon Letter, dated 1559, is hardly ever taken into account when referring to this event. This article raises questions concerning the historical trustworthiness of the information contained in this letter by sketching the historical background of it (the French Wars of Religion), and the way the reference to the ‘Psalm offering’ functions in the propagandist discourse of the Letter. Finally, the common identification of the presentation copy with the Ms. Cod. Vind. 2644 is discussed.
Megillat Ester in Ottava Rima: Mordecai Dato's poetry regarding sixteenth‐century Italian Jewish women
Authors: Tennen Deborah
Published: March 2008

The focus of the present paper is a translation of Mordecai Dato's Megillat Ester in ottava rima, a sixteenth‐century poetic retelling of the biblical book of Esther written in Judeo‐Italian. Previously untranslated, this poem provides subtle yet important insight into views of Italian Jewish women, and even into the reality of their daily lives. Dato's poetic version differs drastically from the original biblical text, indicating that these divergences were conscious choices on the part of the author and should therefore be considered evidence of the changing views of Jewish women by their male counterparts in sixteenth‐century Italy. The introduction to the translation is an analysis of Dato's divergences from the biblical story in regards specifically to the characterization of his female characters. The poet mirrors a contemporary literary and artistic tendency to focus on the position of the woman in both society and religion, crafting marked changes that reflect the growing presence of women in sixteenth‐century Italian Jewish society.
Headache in patients with epilepsy: A prospective incidence study
Authors: Kwan Patrick , Man Celeste B. L. , Leung Howan , Yu Evelyn , Wong Ka S.
Published: March 2008

Summary

High prevalence of headache has been reported in patients with refractory epilepsy in cross‐sectional surveys based on retrospective recall. We conducted a prospective study to document the incidence of headache over a 3‐month observation period in a cohort of 227 adult patients with less refractory epilepsy. The mean seizure frequency was 2.46 per month. Fifty (22%) patients reported to have had at least one headache episode, 45 (19.8%) had interictal headache, 11 (4.8%) had periictal headache, and 5 (2.2%) had both interictal and periictal headache. Forty‐nine percent of the patients with headache took over‐the‐counter analgesics as acute treatment. The headache was rated to have made very severe or substantial impact on their lives by 34% of patients. A formal headache diagnosis was not made in any of the patients prior to the survey. Although the incidence of headache in epilepsy patients appeared to be low, it was underdiagnosed and associated with substantial negative impact.