bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Nitrogen homeostasis in a willow leaf beetle, Plagiodera versicolora, is independent of host plant quality
Authors: Kagata H. , Ohgushi T. 
Published: January 2006

AbstractWhile foliar nitrogen (N) content of host plants depends on environmental conditions, N content of herbivorous insects may remain relatively constant due to homeostasis. However, it is unknown to what extent insects can maintain their body elemental composition against natural variation in host plant quality. The present study examined the performance and N content of a willow leaf beetle, Plagiodera versicolora Laicharting (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), when fed leaves of host willow, Salix eriocarpa Franchet et Savatier (Salicaceae), with varying nutritional status.Water content, toughness, and N content of willow leaves varied seasonally, and they affected performance of the leaf beetle. The leaf beetle achieved high performance when fed young leaves. On the other hand, the N content of the leaf beetle changed little, and it was independent of that of willow leaves, indicating strong N homeostasis of the leaf beetle. We discussed the function of N homeostasis in herbivorous insects in tritrophic level interactions.
Writing About Defoe: What is a Critical Biography?
Authors: Richetti John 
Published: January 2006

AbstractThis essay considers traditional biographical approaches to literary figures and examines the validity of the connections that literary biography claims to make between life events and an author's writings. Proposing several exemplary instances of critical biographies of Samuel Johnson by Lipking and De Maria that focus instead on an author's writing, the essay compares their approaches to the assumptions that guide two biographies of Daniel Defoe by Novak and Backscheider. The essay examines Defoe's life and writings to explore just how his personal life can be clearly related to the writing, concluding that not enough is known about his life to warrant a purely biographical approach. Instead, the essay outlines a critical‐biographical method that focuses on Defoe's writing and its political and social circumstances.
ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE OF CAMPYLOLOBACTER ISOLATED FROM AUTOMATED BROILER FARMS
Authors: DE MOURA OLIVEIRA KEILY ALVES , MENDONÇA REGINA CÉLIA SANTOS , DE OLIVEIRA GLAUCO VIEIRA , SODRÉ ARTHUR FREITAS 
Published: January 2006

ABSTRACT The use of the same antibiotics in animal food and conventional medicine can cause problems in the treatment of human diseases, because poultry frequently carry human pathogens. The aim of the present study was to determine the antibiotic resistances patterns of Campylobacter jejuni isolated from the rearing environment of broiler chickens – litter, drinking water, feed and the bird's cloaca. The results showed significant resistance to the following antibiotics: sulfonamide (77%), tetracycline (100%), erythromycin (80%) and penicillin G (100%). Intermediary resistance was present in bacitracin (90%), trimethoprim (100%), vancomycin (100%), chloramphenicol (97%), nalidixic acid (100%) and azithromycin (100%). However, new studies need to be carried out in Brazil to determine the resistance amplitude of this microorganism in other animals and humans. It is important to define some control strategies of the antibiotics used in animal production and human medicine.
PHILIPPINE FOODBORNE‐DISEASE OUTBREAKS (1995–2004)
Authors: AZANZA MA. PATRICIA V. 
Published: January 2006

ABSTRACT The study presented details about 60 reported Philippines foodborne outbreaks for the period of 1995–2004. It was established that meat‐containing dishes were the more common causes of the outbreaks evaluated, with spaghetti as the leading food vehicle. Common risk settings for the outbreaks were the food services of schools and workplaces. Salmonella and Vibrio spp. were cited as the primary causes of infections, while human intoxications involved staphylococcal enterotoxins, paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins and histamine.
Educating Jesus: The Search for a Plausible Context
Authors: Foster Paul 
Published: January 2006

AbstractMany reconstructions of the life of the historical Jesus have tended to portray him as being born into illiterate peasant stock. By so doing, significant statements in the Gospels, both canonical and non-canonical, are ignored. While much caution is needed, since there is a tendency to valorize the young Jesus in early Christian literature and to heighten miraculous events surrounding his childhood, nonetheless there are indicators that Jesus' background did not reflect the lowest echelons of Galilean peasantry. Instead, it is suggested that internal Gospel evidence and knowledge of aspects of the social milieu of first-century Judaism give weight to seeing Jesus as a person with what would now be classified as functional on basic literacy levels.
Morphological and chemical variations between juvenile wood, mature wood, and compression wood of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.)
Authors: Yeh Ting-Feng , Braun Jennifer L. , Goldfarb Barry , Chang Hou-min , Kadla John F. 
Published: January 2006

Abstract
To better understand the within-tree variations between juvenile wood, mature wood, and compression wood, wood from a 35-year-old mature bent loblolly pine was separated into seven groups by different positions in the tree. Morphological and chemical structure analyses, including fiber quality, X-ray diffraction, sugar and lignin content analysis, as well as nitrobenzene oxidation, ozonation, and advanced NMR spectroscopy, were performed. Fiber properties were significantly different for tree-top juvenile normal wood and tree-bottom juvenile normal wood, juvenile normal and mature normal wood, juvenile compression and mature compression wood. However, differences in the chemical structure and composition were less significant within the specific tissues indicated above.
Creating water-repellent effects on wood by treatment with silanes
Authors: Donath Steffen , Militz Holger , Mai Carsten 
Published: January 2006

Abstract
Three types of silanes were tested for their ability to impart hydrophobicity to solid wood samples: a tetraalkoxy silane bearing four hydrolysable alkoxy groups; two alkyl-trialkoxy silanes; and two multifunctional oligomeric silane systems. The first two types were applied as monomeric silane solutions and pre-condensed sols. The water uptake of treated wood was considerably reduced, especially after treatment with multifunctional water-borne silane systems, while uptake of gaseous water was not changed. Initial water repellence was most pronounced when a fluoro-alkyl functional oligomeric silane system was used; however, after a longer submersion time (24 h), the reduction in water uptake was strongly diminished. Wetting-drying cycles led to a reduction in hydrophobicity of samples treated with sols of alkoxysilanes, while aqueous functional silanes revealed enhanced water-repellent effects after these tests. This was explained by continued condensation of unreacted silanol groups in the aqueous functional silanes during the wetting-drying cycles. X-Ray mapping of silicon (SEM-EDX) showed that the reduction in water uptake due to the multifunctional silane HS 2909 is caused by plugging of the main penetration pathways such as pits, ray cells and ray tracheids.
Biological resistance of wood treated with zinc and copper metaborates
Authors: Furuno Takeshi , Wada Fuyuki , Yusuf Sulaeman 
Published: January 2006

Abstract
Insoluble metaborates were formed by impregnating wood with borax and metallic salts, and the biological resistance of samples treated with metaborates was evaluated. The double-diffusion process was carried out to form metaborate precipitates in sapwood specimens of Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica). Water-saturated wood specimens were first impregnated by a saturated borax solution and then diffusion-penetrated with solutions of zinc sulfate or copper sulfate of different concentrations. In laboratory-scale termite tests of wood specimens treated with zinc and copper metaborates at five concentrations from 3% to 20% using a virulent subterranean termite (Coptotermes formosanus), metaborate-treated wood showed negligible weight loss, with high termite mortality at the lowest concentration of 3%. An additional termite test for treatments at lower concentrations of 1% and 2% revealed good termite resistance even with small weight gains of 2.3–6.7%. In field termite tests using a tropical dominant termite (Macrotermes gilvus) in Serpong, Indonesia, wood specimens of 2 cm (r)×2 cm (t)×10 cm (l) treated with metaborates at 5% and 20% showed little weight loss against termite attack for 2 months or more. In addition, in a decay test using a white-rot fungus (Trametes versicolor) and a brown-rot fungus (Fomitopsis palustris), metaborate-treated woods showed enhanced decay resistance. This superb enhancement of biological resistance against termite and decay attacks is considered to be attributable to the presence of metaborates containing effective components such as boron, zinc or copper in the cell walls, which were detected by EPMA observations.
Deterministic and Monte Carlo Neutron Transport Calculation for Greifswald-1 and Comparison with Ex-vessel Measured Data
Authors: Borodkin G , Khrennikov N , Böhmer B , Noack K , Konheiser J 
Published: January 2006

Abstract
The results of a study of neutron and gamma field functionals derived by deterministic Sn and Monte Carlo calculation methods and by neutron activation measurements in application to the ex-vessel cavity of the VVER-440 reactor Greifswald-1 are presented. A good agreement of deterministic and stochastic calculation results with each other as well as with measurement results was found for neutron threshold detector reaction rates at ex-vessel positions. The influence of different numbers of cross-sectional groups on the calculation results is demonstrated.
Identification of Guanylyl Cyclases That Function in Thermosensory Neurons of Caenorhabditis elegans
Authors: Inada Hitoshi , Ito Hiroko , Satterlee John , Sengupta Piali , Matsumoto Kunihiro , Mori Ikue 
Published: January 2006

Abstract
The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans senses temperature primarily via the AFD thermosensory neurons in the head. The response to temperature can be observed as a behavior called thermotaxis on thermal gradients. It has been shown that a cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channel (CNG channel) plays a critical role in thermosensation in AFD. To further identify the thermosensory mechanisms in AFD, we attempted to identify components that function upstream of the CNG channel by a reverse genetic approach. Genetic and behavioral analyses showed that three members of a subfamily of gcy genes (gcy-8, gcy-18, and gcy-23) encoding guanylyl cyclases were essential for thermotaxis in C. elegans. Promoters of each gene drove reporter gene expression exclusively in the AFD neurons and, moreover, tagged proteins were localized to the sensory endings of AFD. Single mutants of each gcy gene showed almost normal thermotaxis. However, animals carrying double and triple mutations in these genes showed defective thermotaxis behavior. The abnormal phenotype of the gcy triple mutants was rescued by expression of any one of the three GCY proteins in the AFD neurons. These results suggest that three guanylyl cyclases function redundantly in the AFD neurons to mediate thermosensation by C. elegans.
In situ lubricant degradation in Antarctic marine sediments. 1. Short-term changes
Authors: Thompson Belinda A. W. , Davies Noel W. , Goldsworthy Paul M. , Riddle Martin J. , Snape Ian , Stark Jonathan S. 
Published: January 2006

Abstract
A large-scale, in situ experiment was set up near the Bailey Peninsula area (Casey Station, East Antarctica) to monitor the natural attenuation of synthetic lubricants in marine sediments over five years. Here, we report the short-term changes after 5 and 56 weeks. The lubricants tested were an unused and used Mobil lubricant (0W/40; Exxon Mobil, Irving, TX, USA) and a biodegradable alternative (0W/20; Fuchs Lubricants, Harvey, IL, USA). Clean sediment was collected, contaminated with the lubricants, and deployed by divers onto the seabed in a randomized block design. The sampled sediments were analyzed by gas chromatography–flame-ionization detector and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry with selective ion monitoring. The base fluid of all lubricant treatments did not decrease significantly after 56 weeks in situ. Alkanoate esters of 1,1,1-tris(hydroxymethyl)propane in the biodegradable and unused lubricants were degraded extensively in situ; however, these esters constituted only a minor proportion of the lubricant volume. The additives, alkylated naphthalenes and substituted diphenylamines, were fairly resistant to degradation, which is of environmental concern because of their toxicity. The biodegradable lubricant did not break down to recognized biodegradable thresholds and, as such, should not be classified as biodegradable under Antarctic marine conditions. A separate experiment was conducted to determine the influence of sediment preparation and deployment on compound ratios within the lubricants, and we found that preparation and deployment of the contaminated sediments had only a minor effect on compound recovery. Further monitoring of this in situ experiment will provide much needed information about the long-term natural attenuation of lubricants.
Northern pocket gophers (Thomomys talpoides) as biomonitors of environmental metal contamination
Authors: Reynolds Kevin D. , Schwarz Matthew S. , McFarland Craig A. , McBride Toby , Adair Blakely , Strauss Richard E. , Cobb George P. , Hooper Michael J. , McMurry Scott T. 
Published: January 2006

Abstract
We live-trapped 40 northern pocket gophers across two years from the Anaconda Smelter Superfund Site, Anaconda, Montana, USA, to determine their exposure to five metal contaminants and effects of exposure on selected measurements. Soil, gopher blood, liver, kidney, and carcass samples were analyzed for arsenic, cadmium, lead, copper, and zinc. Hematological parameters, kidney and liver porphyrins, and red blood cell δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD) activity were also measured. Micronutrients Cu and Zn were detected in all tissues analyzed, and Cd, Pb, and As were detected less frequently. We report differences in metal distribution among different tissues and differences in bioaccumulation for different metals within the same tissue. No significant differences were observed in concentrations of Zn or Cu in any tissue across the study site, but relationships between lead in soil and lead in carcass proved especially strong (r2 = 0.80; p &lt; 0.001; n = 18). Among biomarker data, we observed a negative relationship between concentration of lead in the soil and ALAD activity in gophers with detectable concentrations of lead in their blood (r2 = 0.45; p = 0.006; n = 15). Results of this study suggest that northern pocket gophers are useful biomonitors of environmental Pb, Cd, and As contamination, and their broad geographic range across North America could allow them to be an important component of site-specific metals assessments.
Seasonal variations in the concentration of microcystin-LR in two lakes in western Texas, USA
Authors: Billam Madhavi , Tang Lili , Cai Qingsong , Mukhi Sandeep , Guan Hongxia , Wang Piwen , Wang Zemin , Theodorakis Christopher W. , Kendall Ronald J. , Wang Jia-Sheng 
Published: January 2006

Abstract
Seasonal variations in the concentration of microcystin-LR (MCLR) in Buffalo Springs Lake (BSL) and Lake Ransom Canyon (LRC; both locations in Lubbock, TX, USA) were monitored from 2003 to 2004. In BSL, the average concentrations of MCLR were 1.78 ± 1.43 μg/L (mean ± SD; range, 0.177–4.914 μg/L) in spring, 0.41 ± 0.096 μg/L (range, 0.191–0.502 μg/L) in summer, 0.46 ± 0.41 μg/L (range, 0.205–1.598 μg/L) in fall, and 1.04 ± 0.71 μg/L (range, 0.096–2.428 μg/L) in winter. In LRC, the corresponding concentrations were 1.08 ± 1.29 μg/L (range, 0.2–5.83 μg/L) in spring, 0.83 ± 0.46 μg/L (range, 0.315–1.671 μg/L) in summer, 0.44 ± 0.03 μg/L (range, 0.368–0.555 μg/L) in fall, and 0.78 ± 0.52 μg/L (range, 0.225–2.130 μg/L) in winter. In both lakes, the seasonal fluctuation of MCLR concentrations correlated positively with dissolved oxygen and negatively with temperature and pH.
Effects of environmentally relevant concentrations of atrazine on gonadal development of snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina)
Authors: De Solla Shane R. , Martin Pamela A. , Fernie Kimberly J. , Park Brad J. , Mayne Gregory 
Published: January 2006

Abstract
The herbicide atrazine has been suspected of affecting sexual development by inducing aromatase, resulting in the increased conversion of androgens to estrogens. We used snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina), a species in which sex is dependent on the production of estrogen through aromatase activity in a temperature-dependent manner, to investigate if environmentally relevant exposures to atrazine affected gonadal development. Eggs were incubated in soil to which atrazine was applied at a typical field application rate (3.1 L/ha), 10-fold this rate (31 L/ha), and a control rate (no atrazine) for the duration of embryonic development. The incubation temperature (25°C) was selected to produce only males. Although some males with testicular oocytes and females were produced in the atrazine-treated groups (3.3–3.7%) but not in the control group, no statistical differences were found among treatments. Furthermore, snapping turtle eggs collected from natural nests in a corn field were incubated at the pivotal temperature (27.5°C) at which both males and females normally would be produced, and some males had oocytes in the testes (15.4%). The presence of low numbers of males with oocytes may be a natural phenomenon, and we have limited evidence to suggest that the presence of normal males with oocytes may represent a feminizing effect of atrazine. Histological examination of the thyroid gland revealed no effect on thyroid morphology.
Presence and distribution of wastewater-derived pharmaceuticals in soil irrigated with reclaimed water
Authors: Kinney Chad A. , Furlong Edward T. , Werner Stephen L. , Cahill Jeffery D. 
Published: January 2006

Abstract
Three sites in the Front Range of Colorado, USA, were monitored from May through September 2003 to assess the presence and distribution of pharmaceuticals in soil irrigated with reclaimed water derived from urban wastewater. Soil cores were collected monthly, and 19 pharmaceuticals, all of which were detected during the present study, were measured in 5-cm increments of the 30-cm cores. Samples of reclaimed water were analyzed three times during the study to assess the input of pharmaceuticals. Samples collected before the onset of irrigation in 2003 contained numerous pharmaceuticals, likely resulting from the previous year's irrigation. Several of the selected pharmaceuticals increased in total soil concentration at one or more of the sites. The four most commonly detected pharmaceuticals were erythromycin, carbamazepine, fluoxetine, and diphenhydramine. Typical concentrations of the individual pharmaceuticals observed were low (0.02–15 μg/kg dry soil). The existence of subsurface maximum concentrations and detectable concentrations at the lowest sampled soil depth might indicate interactions of soil components with pharmaceuticals during leaching through the vadose zone. Nevertheless, the present study demonstrates that reclaimed-water irrigation results in soil pharmaceutical concentrations that vary through the irrigation season and that some compounds persist for months after irrigation.
Effect of simulated rhizodeposition on the relative abundance of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon catabolic genes in a contaminated soil
Authors: Da Silva Marcio L. B. , Kamath Roopa , Alvarez Pedro J. J. 
Published: January 2006

Abstract
Microcosms were used to investigate whether soil exposure to mulberry root extracts (rich in phenolic compounds) select for bacteria that degrade polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Unlike previous studies with freshly spiked soil, the present experiments were conducted with soils aged for 518 d with [14C]phenanthrene to decrease bioavailability and avoid exaggerating the selective pressure exerted by PAHs relative to the rhizosphere effect. Microcosms simulating contaminated planted soil were exposed to carbon at 20 mg/L/week of mulberry root extract for 211 d to simulate rhizodeposition. Contaminated bulk soils microcosms were amended with a C-free mineral medium to discern the effect of rhizodeposition. Uncontaminated soil controls also were exposed to similar dose regimes. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to enumerate total bacteria and PAH degraders harboring the genes nahAc (coding for naphthalene dioxygenase), todC1 (coding for toluene/benzene/chloro-benzene dioxygenase), bmoA (coding for hydroxylating monooxygenases), and dmpN (coding for phenol hydroxylase). Exposure to root extracts enhanced the growth of total bacteria and PAH degraders in both contaminated and uncontaminated rhizosphere microcosms. The relative abundance of PAH-degrader gene copies (as a fraction of the total bacteria) was similar for different treatments, suggesting that the root extracts did not select for PAH degraders. Overall, these results suggest that rhizodeposition from phenolic releasers contributes to the fortuitous (but not selective) proliferation of PAH degraders, which may enhance phytoremediation.
Characterization of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor repressor and a comparison of its expression in Atlantic tomcod from resistant and sensitive populations
Authors: Roy Nirmal K. , Courtenay Simon C. , Chambers R. Christopher , Wirgin Isaac I. 
Published: January 2006

Abstract
Atlantic tomcod from the Hudson River, USA, are resistant to cytochrome P4501A1 (CYP1A1) mRNA induction and early life stage toxicities induced by coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) or tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxins but not polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. We sought to determine if basal expression or inducibility of aryl hydrocarbon receptor repressor (AHRR) mRNA is higher in tomcod from the resistant Hudson River population than in those from sensitive populations. Tomcod AHRR cDNA was characterized and its expression quantified in different tissues and life stages of tomcod from the Hudson River, Miramichi River, Canada (sensitive), and among environmentally exposed tomcod from these two sources and the St. Lawrence River, Canada. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that tomcod AHRR falls within the clade of other vertebrate aryl hydrocarbon receptors (AHRs) but is most closely related to the four previously identified AHRR genes. Induction of AHRR mRNA was observed in all tissues of PCB77-treated juvenile tomcod of Miramichi River descent, and expression differed among tissues and was significantly related to levels of CYP1A1 mRNA expression. Aryl hydrocarbon receptor repressor mRNA was similarly inducible in F2 embryos of Miramichi and Hudson River descent by benzo[a]pyrene but less by PCB77 in Hudson River offspring. A significant, positive correlation was observed between CYP1A1 mRNA and AHRR mRNA concentrations in environmentally exposed tomcod from the three rivers. We conclude that differences in basal expression or inducibility of AHRR mRNA are not the mechanistic basis of resistance but that levels of AHRR often mirror those of CYP1A1, suggesting that a common AHR pathway–related mechanism may modulate expression of both genes.