bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Mechanism behind Environmental Inequality in Scotland: Which Came First, the Deprivation or the Landfill?
Authors: Richardson Elizabeth A , Shortt Niamh K , Mitchell Richard J
Published: January 2010

Research suggests that people living in deprived areas of the UK are more likely to be exposed to hazardous environments than those in more affluent areas, but the mechanism behind this trend is not clear. Discrimination in the siting of undesirable land uses has often been blamed, leading to claims of environmental injustice. However, environmental inequalities may also arise through postsiting processes that lead to selective migration: the presence of an undesirable land use may devalue local property, encouraging affluent households to move away and deprived households to move in to surrounding areas. Ascertaining the underlying process at work is important as this has significant implications for guiding policies aimed at delivering environmental justice. We investigated the distribution of municipal landfill sites in Scotland and local exposure to their airborne emissions. Geographical information system techniques were used to construct a wind-weighted, emissions-weighted, and distance-weighted model with which small-area exposure to landfills could be classified. This model gave the exposure classification a degree of realism not generally incorporated in similar studies. We found clear evidence of environmental inequality: socially deprived areas of Scotland are disproportionately exposed to municipal landfills and have been since at least 1981. We then asked which came first, the deprivation or the landfill? Our results suggest that both disproportionate siting and postsiting market dynamics may play a role: area deprivation may have preceded disproportionate landfill siting to some extent, particularly in the 1980s, but landfill siting also preceded a relative increase in deprivation in exposed areas. Areas that became exposed to a municipal landfill in the 1980s were subsequently 1.65 times more likely to be classified as deprived by 2001 than areas that remained unexposed.
In Pursuit of Parrhesia: An Investigation into Knowledge Selection in Inquisitorial Planning Practice
Authors: McKay Stephen
Published: January 2010

Drawing upon interviews with procedural actants from Public Inquiry and Examination in Public fora, I draw upon relevant theoretical frameworks to evaluate modes of discourse in inquisitorial planning practice. In the investigation, which is based primarily upon an empirical study, I focus upon the role of evidence, the selection and handling of multiple knowledges, the behaviour of participants, and the methodology underpinning the process. It is established that such arenas can be effective mechanisms for testing complex evidence; and suggestions are made for improved practice, procedure, and future research. I conclude by raising serious ethical questions concerning participant behaviour, particularly on the part of advocates and especially chartered town planners.
Policy Transfer as Policy Assemblage: Making Policy for the Creative Industries in New Zealand
Authors: Prince Russell
Published: January 2010

The study of policy transfer appeals to geography and cognate disciplines because it offers a powerful way of conceptualising how policy regimes travel and internationalise. This is reflected in its use for understanding uneven processes of recent state restructuring, usually referred to as neoliberalisation. In this paper I adopt an assemblage perspective on policy transfer that, instead of emphasising broad processes of change, focuses on how the objects of a transferred policy are constituted in different places. Using the case of the transfer of the creative industries policy concept from the UK to New Zealand as an example, I argue that the rendering of policy objects using, in this case, specific calculate techniques constitutes them as a global form universal to different places. However, this process does not run smoothly; it requires that the policy object is articulated in a policy assemblage in the new site. The work of assembly requires a range of different kinds of work, including the alignment of divergent political motivations, the translation of different ideas, and the invention of new concepts and programmes. This demonstrates how policy transfer is political and technical, and that its study can benefit from analyses that traverse both these aspects.
Revealing Talent: Informal Skills Intermediation as an Emergent Pathway to Immigrant Labor Market Incorporation
Authors: Lowe Nichola , Hagan Jacqueline , Iskander Natasha
Published: January 2010

In today's fast-changing urban labor markets, skill formation is crucial to long-term income security and occupational advancement. While most studies emphasize the skills that workers acquire through formal training and educational programs, a less understood but equally important concern is how workers acquire skills through informal means and then how they demonstrate and defend skills for which they have no formal credentials. This is especially important when considering the labor market participation of less-educated immigrant workers with limited formal training and credentialing support. How do these immigrant workers develop, demonstrate, and defend their skills in receiving community labor markets? What factors facilitate or hinder these processes? How might skill formation be institutionalized in order to enhance immigrant labor market incorporation? In this paper we examine these questions through a study of Latino immigrant workers in North Carolina's construction industry. In particular, we focus on the role that immigrant skills intermediation, and the informal learning processes it supports, play in the formation of emergent pathways for developing, demonstrating, and defending immigrant talent in mainstream labor markets. We conclude that informal intermediation by established immigrant workers can facilitate immigrant skill development and demonstration in mainstream labor markets and thus provides an important pathway for advancing the labor market status of less-educated immigrant workers.
Relational Distance: Sociocultural and Time–Spatial Tensions in Innovation Practices
Authors: Ibert Oliver
Published: January 2010

The author discusses and explores empirically how far the notion of relational distance might improve understanding of the geography of innovation processes. Relational distance is regarded (1) as a multidimensional concept which becomes fruitful when used in a heuristic way; (2) as an interactional effect; and (3) as being enacted in practice. The author illustrates this understanding empirically by presenting an ethnographic case study: the development biography of an analytical device. In this case, relational distance emerged between science and business. The author scrutinizes how relational distance not only induces cultural tensions but also intertwines divergent practical activities unfolding differently in space. Thereby it generates dynamic time–spatial ambiguities: namely, effects of dislocation, ambiguities of knowledge allocation, and opportunity costs.
Regional Classification to Enhance Efficiency and Equity in Energy Policy: The Case of Energy Conservation in China
Authors: Wei Dan
Published: January 2010

Energy conservation is a critical policy for China to achieve its economic growth objective within its resource and environmental constraints. I develop a nonlinear programming model to simulate a promising policy instrument—an interregional energy-conservation-quota trading system. A multivariate statistical approach is applied to identify an appropriate regional classification to aggregate provinces of China into trading regions. As with most energy and environmental policies in large countries, implementation will have to take place at the regional level. I show that delineating regions on the basis of socioeconomic and energy-environment characteristics would enable the conservation-quota trading system to function in a more efficient and equitable manner.
Textual Genetics and Manuscript in Word Processing. A new Definition of the Text?
Authors: Fenoglio Irène
Published: January 2010

Abstract: Very little research has been devoted to the way in which the textual genetics approaches the manuscripts in the text processing. However the future of the genetics depends, partly, on the interest which one can carry to this new materiality of the manuscript. The notion of text, the concept of what text is, have they been changed, or at least modified by the use of text processing? To write a text is to elaborate a discourse in the form of an utterance and to record it. The order of the discourse, in other words, the semiotic (the linguistic recognizable) / semantic (the meaning expressed (uttered) in the discourse) ratio should in no way be modified by the use of text processing. What changes, on the other hand, it is the materialization of the paper support of the text and consequently the status of this materialization.
From Contrastive Text Linguistics to Didactic Applications – and back again
Authors: Lundquist Lita
Published: January 2010

Abstract: Results from contrastive text linguistics are used to show how systematic differences between an L1 and an L2 can be applied to foreign language didactics for teaching textual skills in a methodical and efficient way. The language pair studied consists of Danish and French, which, belonging to two different language families, Germanic and Romance languages respectively, show many systematic differences in their fundamental structure – within lexicalisation, morphology, and syntax – that turn out to have a predictable impact on text structure. Thus, differences are found between Danish and French texts at the levels of referential coherence in different types of anaphoric expressions, of temporal coherence in different means for fore- and back-grounding events, and of structural coherence in different effects of framing via pre-posed adverbials, etc. Two e-learning programs, TeXtRay and NaviLire, are presented, which exploit such systematic differences between given language pairs in offering different types of navigation and visualisation exercises aimed at teaching textual skills needed at higher university education, such as reading and writing complex academic or specialised texts in a foreign language.
Text Structure and Referential Choice in Narrative
Authors: Kroon Caroline
Published: January 2010

Abstract: This article addresses the issue of referential choice in Latin, more in particular the anaphoric use of the demonstrative pronoun ille (‘that’, ‘that one’). Ille is usually considered as a relatively ‘heavy’ anaphoric device, which is typically used in environments of participant interference and topic discontinuity, i.e. in cases of problematic accessibility. On the basis of a corpus of Classical Latin narrative texts, it will be argued that this is too simplistic a view, and that in order to explain a considerable number of ‘deviant’ instances of ille, it is necessary to take not only the linear structure of the text into account, but also the global, hierarchical discourse structure. In this context the article will focus especially on the type of structure that is imposed on a text by the alternation of so-called discourse modes. More in general, it shows how ille’s specific deictic value of ‘remoteness’ can be traced in all of its anaphoric uses.
Discourse Modes and Bases
Authors: Adema Suzanne
Published: January 2010

Abstract: This paper compares and contrasts the use of tenses in Vergil’s Aeneid and Ab Urbe Condita (AUC), Livy’s history of Rome. The tense usage in these works is analysed by means of two parameters: discourse mode and base. Discourse modes that occur in the Aeneid and AUC are the narrative mode, the reporting mode, the description mode and the registering mode. These modes are, both in the Aeneid and in AUC, used from a base in the time of narration, and from a shifted base, the reference time of the story. All interpretations of Latin (narrative) tenses found in this corpus are arranged according to discourse mode and base, resulting in seven ‘sets’ of interpretations of tenses. These sets each represent a specific way of presentation and are, so to speak, Vergil’s and Livy’s ‘building blocks’. The way in which they use these building blocks, and, thus, the Latin narrative tenses, differs. As such, the analysis of the use of tense by means of discourse modes and bases turns out to be a fruitful tool to describe differences between texts of different genres on a text linguistic level.
Multidimensional Analysis based on morpho-lexical Features
Authors: Léthier Virginie
Published: January 2010

Abstract: This paper, presenting our contribution to the thematic conference 2008 of the CBL/BKL, offers a methodological approach of an endogen characterization of the columns of a 19th century regional newspaper, named Le Petit Comtois (1883-1903). In such a context, we propose to assess the complementarity of the morphosyntactical level and the lexical one. Some 29,676 articles were thus tagged by Cordial as far as the morphosyntactical level is concerned. Methodogically speaking, the task of a multidimensional analysis based on morphosyntactical features requires to select appropriate descriptors and to proceed to a result validation. To that end, this work aims notably at resorting to the pattern (motif), an operant object indebted to Longrée, D., Luong, X., Mellet, S. (2008) as a recurring element of orderly structures in the text.
Language/Discourse: Textual Analysis, Computer and Statistics
Authors: Viprey Jean-Marie
Published: January 2010

Abstract: Textual linguistics has been undergoing a continuous redefining of its internal and external boundaries after Halliday & Hasan’s inaugural thesis. It notably concerns the concepts of text and discourse, and has led to the constitution of a new research field: Textual Discourse Analysis (TDA). We will start from two questions which were asked at the origin of this Congress: “What is a text – or the text – in the digital age?” and “Which new methods are available for textual analysis?” We assume that text is neither merely nor principally a linguistic object, but is at the meeting point of various fields and key-concepts: sentence, utterance, document, archive, basis and corpuses, discourse. Answers must be searched in digital philology as well as in the hermeneutic aspects of discourse analysis.
Les verbes préfixés en grec moderne
Authors: Fista Eva , Kyriacopoulou Tita , Martineau Claude , Voskaki Rania
Published: January 2010

In the present article we are studying the relation between the prefix sun- and the simple verbal basis of the Greek lexicon-grammar in order to find the regularities pertaining to the behavior of the prefix sun-, which will contribute to the semi-automatic enrichment of the electronic dictionary DELAGR. A series of observations on the syntactic structures containing these verbs reveal the fact that prefixation has to be considered in terms of predicative relations and arguments. The article is divided in three parts: 1. presentation of some particularities; 2. description of the inflection of prefixed verbs 3. presentation of data and restraints. In conclusion we are providing some statistic elements concerning the formation of prefixed verbs with sun-.
Interrogatives et pseudo-clivées portant sur le prédicat
Authors: Mirto Ignazio Mauro
Published: January 2010

A parallel is drawn between two clause-types carrying an obligatory pro-form: wh-questions and the so-called free relative of pseudo-clefts. In the analysis both types are derived from a single counterpart which is structurally simpler. The constituent targeted in the former and focused in the latter always corresponds to the VP of their counterpart. The mandatory verb fare ‘do’ that occurs in the question and in the free relative is analyzed as a support verb. In both cases its origin is traceable to the syntactic function of the pro-form, which is claimed to be double, in that it simultaneously works as a predicate and an argument (direct object).
Analogies entre marqueurs de degré comparatif et exclamatif
Authors: Piot Mireille
Published: January 2010

In the present paper “Similarities between Comparative and Exclamative Degree Markers: French ce and Spanish lo”, we first analyse the so-called pseudo-relativized phrasal comparative construction X que ce que P in French and X de lo que P in Spanish. We after compare the pseudo-relativized phrasal comparative construction properties with the properties of the exclamative French construction Ce que P! and of the Spanish one ¡Lo X que P ! whose form, degree reading, and some syntactic and semantic features are similar. We eventually conclude about the nature of que/que, introducing both subordinate constructions, as a complementizer (and not a Wh- item).
Making connections
Authors: Bell Nancy J.
Published: January 2010

A relational approach is proposed which provides a framework for connecting levels of analysis/phenomena relevant to narrative identity. Because it is grounded in a systemic relational metanarrative, the relational approach does not preference any one level. Small story and big story are both viewed as integral to the larger identity project. A third analytic level, the middle story, is suggested as a bridge between small and big story. As one example of the approach, systemic analyses of narrative stability for two university students are presented, based on interviews conducted over four years. These analyses conceptually connect middle-level processes with big stories and illustrate principles of circular causality. The final portion of the paper discusses implications and requirements of the relational approach, and other ways that it might be applied.
Resistance narratives
Authors: Guntarik Olivia
Published: January 2010

Narrative analysis has emerged as a central analytical force in furthering a critique of colonial discourse. This article examines the relationship between narrative and discourse, by offering a comparative analysis of indigenous narrative, in the context of Australian and Malaysian history and contemporary museum practices of representation. I argue that indigenous knowledge is underpinned by narratives that enable a radical reconceptualization of existing epistemological and philosophical practices to viewing the world. This knowledge reflects various narratives of resistance about indigeneity that challenge traditional understandings of difference, revealing the ways indigenous people make sense of the past and construct their own narratives. My intention is to explore the tensions of place, space and memory through a reflection on indigenous resistance narratives. I examine different knowledges of place and “country”, suggesting there are parallels between indigenous people’s cultural knowledge in Australia and indigenous people’s knowledge in Malaysia. Western preoccupations continue to ignore this cultural knowledge and, in doing so, they eclipse broader awareness about issues of significance for indigenous communities.
Narrative discourse of native and immigrant Russian-speaking mother-child dyads
Authors: Shulova-Piryatinsky Irene , Harkins Debra A.
Published: January 2010

Mother-child storytelling was used here as a first step toward exploring language socialization through the narrative discourse of Russian-speaking non-Orthodox Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants in two host cultures. This study examined five groups of mother-child dyads: Russian-speaking Ashkenazi Jews living in Ukraine, Israel, and the United States and two Russian-speaking Jewish immigrant groups living in the United States and Israel. These five groups of mothers and their three to five-year-old children were asked to tell a story using a wordless picture book. This study sought to examine the themes of home present in narrative discourse across these groups. More specifically, this research attempted to explore the ways in which the narrative process may facilitate and/or obstruct the necessary skills children need to be socialized into their cultural communities (Ochs, 2002; Ochs & Schieffelin, 2008). Measures included quantitative analysis of the length of narrative, use of questions, character speech, emotion qualifiers, and switches in language use for mothers and their children as well as narrative expressions of issues of loss common among immigrant groups. Findings are discussed in terms of how narratives reveal the language socialization practices of immigrants, including linguistic choices made to use native or host goals and styles and thematic expression of their immigrant experience.
Differential object marking and topicality
Authors: Escandell-Vidal Victoria
Published: January 2010

The aim of this paper is to examine Differential Object Marking (DOM) in Balearic Catalan. While definiteness and animacy can explain the distribution of DOM in other varieties of Catalan, in Balearic, the split between marked and non-marked objects is not dependent on inherent or referential properties of the object noun phrases, but determined by topicality. A preposition is consistently used to mark a subset of topical objects, namely those occurring in clitic left- and right-dislocation structures, which correspond to two kinds of hearer-known topics: shifting topics and continuing topics. The preposition does not occur, however, with hanging topics, which introduce discourse-new topical entities. In this way, a correlation can be found between formal properties and well-motivated discourse functions that explains the distribution of DOM in Balearic. Similar patterns can be found in other Romance varieties as well, thus suggesting that topicality is relevant to account for both intra- and interlinguistic variation in DOM.
Plasma density enhancement in atmospheric-pressure dielectric-barrier discharges by high-voltage nanosecond pulse in the pulse-on period: a PIC simulation
Authors: Sang Chaofeng , Sun Jizhong , Wang Dezhen
Published: January 2010

A particle-in-cell (PIC) plus Monte Carlo collision simulation is employed to investigate how a sustainable atmospheric pressure single dielectric-barrier discharge responds to a high-voltage nanosecond pulse (HVNP) further applied to the metal electrode. The results show that the HVNP can significantly increase the plasma density in the pulse-on period. The ion-induced secondary electrons can give rise to avalanche ionization in the positive sheath, which widens the discharge region and enhances the plasma density drastically. However, the plasma density stops increasing as the applied pulse lasts over certain time; therefore, lengthening the pulse duration alone cannot improve the discharge efficiency further. Physical reasons for these phenomena are then discussed.
Deposition and characterization of titania–silica optical multilayers by asymmetric bipolar pulsed dc sputtering of oxide targets
Authors: Sagdeo P R , Shinde D D , Misal J S , Kamble N M , Tokas R B , Biswas A , Poswal A K , Thakur S , Bhattacharyya D , Sahoo N K , Sabharwal S C
Published: January 2010

Titania–silica (TiO2/SiO2) optical multilayer structures have been conventionally deposited by reactive sputtering of metallic targets. In order to overcome the problems of arcing, target poisoning and low deposition rates encountered there, the application of oxide targets was investigated in this work with asymmetric bipolar pulsed dc magnetron sputtering. In order to evaluate the usefulness of this deposition methodology, an electric field optimized Fabry Perot mirror for He–Cd laser (λ = 441.6 nm) spectroscopy was deposited and characterized. For comparison, this mirror was also deposited by the reactive electron beam (EB) evaporation technique. The mirrors developed by the two complementary techniques were investigated for their microstructural and optical reflection properties invoking atomic force microscopy, ellipsometry, grazing incidence reflectometry and spectrophotometry. From these measurements the layer geometry, optical constants, mass density, topography, surface and interface roughness and disorder parameters were evaluated. The microstructural properties and spectral functional characteristics of the pulsed dc sputtered multilayer mirror were found to be distinctively superior to the EB deposited mirror. The knowledge gathered during this study has been utilized to develop a 21-layer high-pass edge filter for radio photoluminescence dosimetry.
Mechanical anisotropy of nanostructured parylene films during sliding contact
Authors: So Eric , Demirel Melik C , Wahl Kathryn J
Published: January 2010

Microscale sliding friction experiments were performed on nanostructured poly-chloro-p-xylylene (PPX-Cl, a.k.a, parylene) films. Oblique-angle vapour-phase deposition resulted in nanostructured columnar films tilted 57°–63° relative to the surface. The mechanical response to sliding was studied relative to the film structural anisotropy by examining contact friction and deformation in three sliding orientations: ‘with’, ‘against’ and ‘perpendicular’ to the tilt axis of the columns. Friction coefficients were uniformly high (0.5–1.5) for all orientations. Neither frictional anisotropy nor depth hysteresis was observed for sliding perpendicular to the column tilt axis. However, sliding ‘with’ and ‘against’ the column tilt axis resulted in measurable friction anisotropy as well as depth hysteresis, with larger contact depths and higher friction coefficients for sliding ‘with’ the column tilt. In comparison, planar films did not exhibit either frictional anisotropy or depth hysteresis. The depth hysteresis during sliding parallel to the tilt axis is attributed to the lateral force contribution to the total contact loading. Contacts formed when the sliding orientation was perpendicular to the column tilt axis were nominally Hertzian, allowing estimation of elastic moduli of the films from the load–displacement data during sliding. These films may have applications in the area of tissue engineering for directional cell sheet growth, MEMS developments for directional microfluidic pumps and sensors for deformation induced detection.
A Preclinical Evaluation of Antrodia camphorata Alcohol Extracts in the Treatment of Non‐Small Cell Lung Cancer Using Non‐Invasive Molecular Imaging
Authors: Chiou Jeng-Feng , Wu Alexander T. H. , Wang Wei-Tin , Kuo Tsu-Hsiang , Gelovani Juri G. , Lin I-Hsin , Wu Chih-Hsiung , Chiu Wen-Ta , Deng Win-Ping
Published: January 2010

This study was carried out to provide a platform for the pre‐clinical evaluation of anti‐cancer properties of a unique CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) agent, Antrodia camphorata alcohol extract (ACAE), in a mouse model with the advantageous non‐invasive in vivo bioluminescence molecular imaging technology. In vitro analyses on the proliferation, migration/invasion, cell cycle and apoptosis were performed on ACAE‐treated non‐small cell lung cancer cells, H441GL and control CGL1 cells. In vivo, immune‐deficient mice were inoculated subcutaneously with H441GL followed by oral gavages of ACAE. The effect of ACAE on tumor progression was monitored by non‐invasive bioluminescence imaging. The proliferation and migration/invasion of H441GL cells were inhibited by ACAE in a dose‐dependent manner. In addition, ACAE induced cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase and apoptosis in H441GL cells as shown by flow cytometric analysis, Annexin‐V immunoflourescence and DNA fragmentation. In vivo bioluminescence imaging revealed that tumorigenesis was significantly retarded by oral treatment of ACAE in a dose‐dependent fashion. Based on our experimental data, ACAE contains anti‐cancer properties and could be considered as a potential CAM agent in future clinical evaluation.
Ameliorative Effect of Active Principle Isolated from Seeds of Eugenia jambolana on Carbohydrate Metabolism in Experimental Diabetes
Authors: Sharma Suman Bala , Rajpoot Reenu , Nasir Afreena , Prabhu Krishna Madhava , Murthy Pothapragada Suryanarayana
Published: January 2010

The aim of this study was to evaluate the antidiabetic activity of LH II purified from ethanolic seed extract of Eugenia jambolana in alloxan‐induced mild diabetic (MD) and severely diabetic (SD) rabbits. Ethanolic extract upon chromatographic purification yielded partially purified hypoglycemic principle (SIII) which on further purification by sephadex LH 20 yielded pharmacological active compound LH II. Homogeneity of LH II was tested by HPLC. Phytochemical investigation of LH II by various structural spectra showed the presence of saturated fatty acid, Δ5 lipid and presence of sterol. LH II was administered orally at a dose of 10 mg kg−1 body weight to MD and SD. LH II resulted, significant fall in FBG at 90 min (21.2% MD: 28.6% SD), 7th day (35.6% MD) and 15th day (59.6% SD). Glycosylated hemoglobin was significantly decreased (50.5%) in SD after 15 days treatment (Tt). Plasma insulin levels were significantly increased (P <  .001). In vitro studies with pancreatic islets showed 3‐fold increase in insulin levels as compared to untreated animals. LH II also showed extrapancreatic effect by significantly increasing (P <  .001) the activity of key enzymes of glycolysis and significantly decreasing (P <  .001) the activity of key enzymes of gluconeogenesis. Liver and muscle glycogen content were increased by 36.6 and 30% for MD, and 52 and 47% for SD, respectively. Thus, the present study demonstrates that LH II possesses potent antidiabetic activity and it is effective in both MD and SD rabbits.
Biofortification of Durum Wheat with Zinc Through Soil and Foliar Applications of Nitrogen
Authors: Kutman U. Baris , Yildiz Bahar , Ozturk Levent , Cakmak Ismail
Published: January 2010

Increasing zinc (Zn) concentration of cereal grains is a global challenge to alleviate Zn deficiency‐related health problems in humans caused by low dietary Zn intake. This study investigated the effects of soil‐ and foliar‐applied nitrogen (N) and Zn fertilizers on grain Zn accumulation of durum wheat (Triticum durum) grown on a Zn‐deficient soil. In addition, localization of Zn and protein within durum wheat grain was studied by using Bradford reagent for protein and dithizone (diphenyl thiocarbazone) for Zn. Grain Zn concentration was greatly enhanced by soil or foliar applications of Zn. When Zn supply was adequately high, both soil and foliar N applications improved grain Zn concentration. Consequently, there was a significant positive correlation between grain concentrations of Zn and N, when Zn supply was not limiting. Protein and Zn staining studies showed co‐localization of Zn and protein within grain, particularly in the embryo and aleurone. Results indicate that N and Zn fertilization have a synergistic effect on grain Zn concentration. Possibly, increasing N supply contributes to grain Zn concentration by affecting the levels of Zn‐chelating nitrogenous compounds or the abundance of Zn transporters. Our results suggest that nitrogen management can be an effective agronomic tool to improve grain Zn concentration.
REVIEW: Biofortification of Durum Wheat with Zinc and Iron
Authors: Cakmak Ismail , Pfeiffer Wolfgang H. , McClafferty Bonnie
Published: January 2010

Micronutrient malnutrition affects over 2 billion people in the developing world. Iron (Fe) deficiency alone affects >47% of all preschool aged children globally, often leading to impaired physical growth, mental development, and learning capacity. Zinc (Zn) deficiency, like iron, is thought to affect billions of people, hampering growth and development, and destroying immune systems. In many micronutrient‐deficient regions, wheat is the dominant staple food making up >50% of the diet. Biofortification, or harnessing the powers of plant breeding to improve the nutritional quality of foods, is a new approach being used to improve the nutrient content of a variety of staple crops. Durum wheat in particular has been quite responsive to breeding for nutritional quality by making full use of the genetic diversity of Fe and Zn concentrations in wild and synthetic parents. Micronutrient concentration and genetic diversity has been well explored under the HarvestPlus biofortification research program, and very positive associations have been confirmed between grain concentrations of protein, Zn, and Fe. Yet some work remains to adequately explain genetic control and molecular mechanisms affecting the accumulation of Zn and Fe in grain. Further, evidence suggests that nitrogen (N) nutritional status of plants can have a positive impact on root uptake and the deposition of micronutrients in seed. Extensive research has been completed on the role of Zn fertilizers in increasing the Zn density of grain, suggesting that where fertilizers are available, making full use of Zn fertilizers can provide an immediate and effective option to increase grain Zn concentration, and productivity in particular, under soil conditions with severe Zn deficiency.
REVIEW: An Overview on Fusarium Mycotoxins in the Durum Wheat Pasta Production Chain
Authors: Visconti Angelo , Pascale Michelangelo
Published: January 2010

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is one of the major diseases of wheat (both common and durum wheat) caused by various fungi including Microdochium nivale and different Fusarium species. Most of the Fusarium species associated with FHB (mainly F. graminearum, F. culmorum and F. sporotrichioides), under favourable environmental conditions, can produce various toxic secondary metabolites (mycotoxins) that can contaminate grains. The major Fusarium mycotoxins that can occur in wheat and derived products are deoxynivalenol, nivalenol, T‐2 and HT‐2 toxins, and zearalenone. Processing has generally significant effects on the levels of mycotoxins in the final products. Deoxynivalenol is typically concentrated in the bran coat which is removed in the production of semolina; consequently, a consistent reduction of deoxynivalenol levels has been observed during each of the processing steps, from raw durum wheat to pasta production. To allow monitoring programs and protect consumers' health, several analytical methods have been developed for Fusarium mycotoxins, based on chromatographic or immunometric techniques. The European Union has established maximum permitted levels for some Fusarium mycotoxins in cereals and cereal‐based products (including unprocessed durum wheat, bran, wheat flour, and pasta). Recommendations for the prevention and reduction of Fusarium mycotoxins contamination in cereals based on identification of critical risk factors and crop management strategies have been published by the Codex Alimentarius and the European Commission.
Folic Acid Content of Ready‐to‐Eat Cereals Determined by Liquid Chromatography‐Mass Spectrometry: Comparison to Product Label and to Values Determined by Microbiological Assay
Authors: Phillips Katherine M. , Ruggio David M. , Ashraf‐Khorassani Mehdi , Eitenmiller Ronald R. , Cho Sungeun , Lemar Linda E. , Perry Charles R. , Pehrsson Pamela R. , Holden Joanne M.
Published: January 2010

Twelve popular ready‐to‐eat breakfast cereals fortified with folic acid were sampled in the United States in 2006, and the data have been incorporated into the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference. Cereals were collected from three statistically selected retail outlets in each of four primary census regions, and four composites of each product were prepared using random groupings of three locations each. Folic acid was determined using a validated LC‐MS method, with 13C‐folic acid as an internal standard, after trienzyme treatment and solid phase extraction. A cereal reference material (AACC VMA399) was analyzed as a control. Selected samples were also assayed using the standard microbiological method, with and without trienzyme extraction, to generate an estimate of endogenous folate. On average, as shown on the label, folate content was underestimated. In seven cereals, folate was within 5% of the declared value; in four cereals, it was 5–20% higher; and in two cereals, it was >20% greater, representing –75 to +69 μg/serving (mean 17) of the label value, equivalent to –19% to +17% of the 400 μg/daily value. The microbiologically determined folic acid was higher than LC‐MS by 10–67% (mean 40%). Therefore, use of label values might underestimate folate intake from some breakfast cereals.
Physicochemical and Enzyme Characterization of Small and Large Starch Granules Isolated from Two Maize Cultivars
Authors: Utrilla‐Coello Rubí G. , Agama‐Acevedo Edith , Barba de la Rosa Ana Paulina , Rodríguez‐Ambriz Sandra L. , Bello‐Pérez Luis Arturo
Published: January 2010

In this study, some morphological, physicochemical, and the initial characterization of the starch granule enzymes of blue and white maizes of small and large granules are described. Starch was isolated from blue and white maizes, and the small and large granules were separated. The efficiency of separation was higher in large granules than small of the blue maize starch. The amylose content was slightly greater (1.3%) in large granules than smaller in both starches studied. No differences in the average gelatinization temperature were found between large and small granules, but the enthalpy of gelatinization value was higher in the small granules. The electrophoretic pattern showed that the granule‐bound starch synthase (GBSSI) had higher expression in large than small granules and that explain the higher amylose content in the former granules. The differences showed in the starch biosynthesis enzymes in small and large granules might explain partially the physicochemical and functional properties of maize.
Quality of Fiber‐Enriched Spaghetti Containing Microbial Transglutaminase
Authors: Sissons Mike , Aravind Nisha , Fellows Christopher M.
Published: January 2010

The effects of transglutaminase (TG) on the properties of semolina dough and pasta cooking properties in durum‐only and fiber‐enriched pasta were investigated. TG was blended at levels 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, and 1% of semolina weight with semolina and semolina‐pollard (60% w/w) and semolina‐guar gum (15%) mixtures. The addition of TG increased dough maximal resistance, making the dough inextensible at >1%. Optimum effects on dough strength were obtained at 0.5% TG; this dough gave the firmest and least sticky pasta. A more extensive and thicker protein matrix was observed in the TG pasta by confocal scanning laser microscopy, indicating more cross‐links were formed, a finding supported by measuring percentage of unextracted polymeric protein. TG was unable to overcome the negative effect of 60% pollard on cooking loss or 15% guar gum on stickiness. Gluten was generally more effective than TG in restoring the properties of pastas with added fiber.
Effect of Formulation and Processing Treatments on Viscosity and Solubility of Extractable Barley β‐Glucan in Bread Dough Evaluated Under In Vitro Conditions
Authors: Moriartey Stephanie , Temelli Feral , Vasanthan Thava
Published: January 2010

β‐Glucan shows great potential for incorporation into bread due to its cholesterol lowering and blood glucose regulating effects, which are related to its viscosity. The effects of β‐glucan concentration, gluten addition, premixing, yeast addition, fermentation time, and inactivation of the flour enzymes on the viscosity of extractable β‐glucan following incorporation into a white bread dough were studied under physiological conditions, as well as, β‐glucan solubility in fermented and unfermented dough. β‐Glucan was extracted using an in vitro protocol designed to approximate human digestion and hot water extraction. The viscosity of extractable β‐glucan was not affected by gluten addition, the presence of yeast, or premixing. Fermentation produced lower (P ≤ 0.05) extract viscosity for the doughs with added β‐glucan, while inactivating the flour enzymes and increasing β‐glucan concentration in the absence of fermentation increased (P ≤ 0.05) viscosity. The physiological solubility of the β‐glucan concentrate (18.1%) and the β‐glucan in the unfermented dough (20.5%) were similar (P > 0.05), while fermentation substantially decreased (P ≤ 0.05) solubility to 8.7%, indicating that the reduction in viscosity due to fermentation may be highly dependent on solubility in addition to β‐glucan degradation. The results emphasize the importance of analyzing β‐glucan fortified foods under physiological conditions to identify the conditions in the dough system that decrease β‐glucan viscosity so that products with maximum functionality can be developed.
Evolutionary constraint facilitates interpretation of genetic variation in resequenced human genomes
Authors: Goode David L. , Cooper Gregory M. , Schmutz Jeremy , Dickson Mark , Gonzales Eidelyn , Tsai Ming , Karra Kalpana , Davydov Eugene , Batzoglou Serafim , Myers Richard M. , Sidow Arend
Published: January 2010

Here, we demonstrate how comparative sequence analysis facilitates genome-wide base-pair-level interpretation of individual genetic variation and address two questions of importance for human personal genomics: first, whether an individual's functional variation comes mostly from noncoding or coding polymorphisms; and, second, whether population-specific or globally-present polymorphisms contribute more to functional variation in any given individual. Neither has been definitively answered by analyses of existing variation data because of a focus on coding polymorphisms, ascertainment biases in favor of common variation, and a lack of base-pair-level resolution for identifying functional variants. We resequenced 575 amplicons within 432 individuals at genomic sites enriched for evolutionary constraint and also analyzed variation within three published human genomes. We find that single-site measures of evolutionary constraint derived from mammalian multiple sequence alignments are strongly predictive of reductions in modern-day genetic diversity across a range of annotation categories and across the allele frequency spectrum from rare (<1%) to high frequency (>10% minor allele frequency). Furthermore, we show that putatively functional variation in an individual genome is dominated by polymorphisms that do not change protein sequence and that originate from our shared ancestral population and commonly segregate in human populations. These observations show that common, noncoding alleles contribute substantially to human phenotypes and that constraint-based analyses will be of value to identify phenotypically relevant variants in individual genomes.
The embryonic origins of lymphatic vessels: an historical review
Authors: Ribatti Domenico , Crivellato Enrico
Published: January 2010

Work on the lymphatic system began in the 17th century, and by the beginning of the 19th century the anatomy of most of the lymphatic system had been described. One of the most important questions in this field has been the determination of the embryological origin of the lymphatic endothelium. Two theories were proposed. The first suggested that lymphatic endothelium derived by sprouting from venous endothelium, the so‐called centrifugal theory. The second, the so‐called centripetal theory, suggested that lymphatic endothelium differentiates in situ from primitive mesenchyme, and secondarily acquires connection with the vascular system. More recent evidence has provided support for both hypotheses.
Prognostic relevance of dic(9;20)(p11;q13) in childhood B‐cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukaemia treated with Berlin‐Frankfurt‐Münster (BFM) protocols containing an intensive induction and post‐induction consolidation therapy
Authors: Pichler Herbert , Möricke Anja , Mann Georg , Teigler‐Schlegel Andrea , Niggli Felix , Nebral Karin , König Margit , Inthal Andrea , Krehan Daniela , Dworzak Michael N. , Janousek Dasa , Harbott Jochen , Schrappe Martin , Gadner Helmut , Strehl Sabine , Haas Oskar A. , Panzer‐Grümayer Renate , Attarbaschi Andishe ,   on behalf of the Berlin‐Frankfurt‐Münster (BFM) Study Group
Published: January 2010

The presence of a dicentric chromosome dic(9;20) has been reported to have an unfavourable prognosis in children with B‐cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (BCP‐ALL). As outcome may be influenced by type and composition of treatment, we analyzed 19 BCP‐ALL patients with dic(9;20) who have been treated with ALL‐BFM (Berlin‐Frankfurt‐Münster) protocols that included a 4‐drug induction and subsequent consolidation therapy. All patients were good responders to prednisone and in complete remission after induction therapy. Eight patients had no molecular disease after induction and another eight patients had levels ≤10−4 after consolidation therapy. After a median follow‐up of 3·4 years, probabilities of 5‐year event‐free and overall survival were 75 ± 11% and 94 ± 6%, respectively. Of note, there was a tendency for extramedullary disease in case of relapse (two of three relapses with central nervous system involvement). In conclusion, in the context of ALL‐BFM protocols dic(9;20)‐positivity appeared to have a favourable prognosis, which could be due to a dose‐ and time‐intensified induction and induction consolidation therapy. Given that in vitro studies have shown high cellular sensitivity of dic(9;20)‐positive leukemic blasts to l‐asparaginase and cytarabine, it is reasonable to speculate that both drugs, as given early during BFM‐like induction and consolidation therapy, may have contributed to this good outcome.
Evaluating effects of water withdrawals and impoundments on fish assemblages in southern New England streams, USA
Authors: KANNO Y. , VOKOUN J. C.
Published: January 2010

Abstract  Balancing aquatic conservation and water supply is becoming a major global issue for urban landscapes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ecological effects of stream‐flow alterations via water withdrawals and impoundments on fish assemblage structure. Electric fishing data were collected at 33 wadeable streams in Connecticut, located in the Southern New England region of USA. Fish sampling was conducted directly downstream of water withdrawals for municipal and agricultural water supply, and study sites differed in potential water withdrawal rates and the presence of impoundments. Regression analysis showed that water withdrawal rate was more important than other natural and anthropogenic factors (e.g. landcover and stream size) in explaining several fish assemblage metrics. Stream sites with high withdrawal rates were generally characterised by lower proportions of fluvial dependent fishes (fish which need flowing water to complete a portion of their life history) and benthic invertivores (fish which feed on bottom‐dwelling stream insects in riffle habitat), and had a greater percent composition of macrohabitat generalists, particularly members of the family Centrarchidae. Some assemblage metrics responded linearly with increasing magnitude of water withdrawals, but others were non‐linear. Results are consistent with ecological theory that alteration of the natural flow regime will impact stream biota.