bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Assessing the Suitability of Various Physiological Traits to Screen Wheat Genotypes for Salt Tolerance
Authors: El‐Hendawy Salah E. , Hu Yuncai , Schmidhalter Urs 
Published: September 2007

Abstract Success of improving the salt tolerance of genotypes requires effective and reliable screening traits in breeding programs. The objective was to assess the suitability of various physiological traits to screen wheat genotypes for salt tolerance. Thirteen wheat genotypes from Egypt, Germany, Australia and India were grown in soil with two salinity levels (control and 150 mmol/L NaCl) in a greenhouse. The physiological traits (ion contents in leaves and stems, i.e. Na+, Cl−, K+, Ca2+), the ratios of K+/Na+ and Ca+/Na+ in the leaves and stems, net photosynthesis rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, chlorophyll content (SPAD value), and leaf water relations, were measured at different growth stages. The physiological traits except for Na+ and Cl− in stems and the leaf transpiration rate at 150 mmol/L NaCl showed a significant genotypic variation, indicating that the traits that have a significant genotypic variation may be possibly used as screening criteria. According to the analysis of linear regression of the scores of the physiological traits against those of grain yield, however, the physiological traits of Ca2+ and Ca2+/Na+ at 45 d and final harvest with the greatest genotypic variation were ranked at the top. From a practical and economic point of view, SPAD value should be considered to be used as screening criteria and/or there is a need to develop a quick and practical approach to determine Ca2+ in plant tissues.
Inventory of water management practices in Harare, Zimbabwe
Authors: Nhapi Innocent 
Published: September 2007

AbstractLake Chivero, in Zimbabwe, is the major water supply source for the greater Harare area. This paper looks at the sustainability of current practices of the urban water cycle in relation to water quantity and quality management in the Chivero catchment. Data on population, water supply, water and wastewater treatment and river flows were obtained from urban councils and government departments. The data were used to assess water consumption, wastewater generation, treatment and disposal practices, river flow trends, raw water abstractions and water demand patterns. The results showed that the current situation is not sustainable as water quantity in the catchment will soon be a problem at current levels of consumption while water quality is already a problem, especially with regard to nutrient levels. Water and nutrient management strategies, which include water use efficiency, treatment and water recycling and nutrient reuse in controlled urban agriculture, are recommended as matters of urgency.
Events in Syntax: Modification and Predication
Authors: Ramchand Gillian 
Published: September 2007

AbstractWhat are the motivations for including event variables in our representations of natural language semantics? The article focuses narrowly on the issues that provided the basis for the original discussion in Davidson (1967), and seeks to explore its consequences for the advances in syntax and the interface that have taken place since then. The existence of an event variable in semantic representations is argued to be as necessary as it ever was, but a more articulated version of the traditional view is proposed to account for the full range of phenomena such as scope of adverbials, aspectual modification, and aktionsart. A range of important architectural issues arise concerning the relationships between syntax, semantics, and the lexicon once the Davidsonian position is taken seriously, an area that has proved fruitful for investigation and debate. In Section 3, the article gives an example of one kind of answer to the architectural question by proposing a radically decomposed syntax that is tightly correlated with the semantics of event structure, a theoretical position that could be called ‘post‐Davidsonianism’.
Phonological and Phonetic Characteristics of African American Vernacular English
Authors: Thomas Erik R. 
Published: September 2007

AbstractThe numerous controversies surrounding African American Vernacular English can be illuminated by data from phonological and phonetic variables. However, what is known about different variables varies greatly, with consonantal variables receiving the most scholarly attention, followed by vowel quality, prosody, and finally voice quality. Variables within each domain are discussed here and what has been learned about their realizations in African American speech is compiled. The degree of variation of each variable within African American speech is also summarized when it is known. Areas for which more work is needed are noted.
Genetic variation and evidence for population structure in eastern North Pacific false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens)
Authors: Chivers Susan J. , Baird Robin W. , McSweeney Daniel J. , Webster Daniel L. , Hedrick Nicole M. , Salinas Juan Carlos 
Published: September 2007

False killer whales ( Pseudorca crassidens (Owen, 1846)) are incidentally taken in the North Pacific pelagic long-line fishery, but little is known about their population structure to assess the impact of these takes. Using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region sequence data, we quantified genetic variation for the species and tested for genetic differentiation among geographic strata. Our data set of 124 samples included 115 skin-biopsy samples collected from false killer whales inhabiting the eastern North Pacific Ocean (ENP), and nine samples collected from animals sampled at sea or on the beach in the western North Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic oceans. Twenty-four (24) haplotypes were identified, and nucleotide diversity was low (π = 0.37%) but comparable with that of closely related species. Phylogeographic concordance in the distribution of haplotypes was revealed and a demographically isolated population of false killer whales associated with the main Hawaiian islands was identified (ΦST= 0.47, p < 0.0001). This result supports recognition of the existing management unit, which has geo-political boundaries corresponding to the USA’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Hawai‘i. However, a small number of animals sampled within the EEZ but away from the near-shore island area, which is defined as <25 nautical miles (1 nautical mile = 1.852 km) from shore, had haplotypes that were the same or closely related to those found elsewhere in the ENP, which suggests that there may be a second management unit within the Hawaiian EEZ. Biologically meaningful boundaries for the population(s) cannot be identified until we better understand the distribution and ecology of false killer whales.
Activation of Holliday Junction–Recognizing Protein Involved in the Chromosomal Stability and Immortality of Cancer Cells
Authors: Kato Tatsuya , Sato Nagato , Hayama Satoshi , Yamabuki Takumi , Ito Tomoo , Miyamoto Masaki , Kondo Satoshi , Nakamura Yusuke , Daigo Yataro 
Published: September 2007

Abstract
We identified a novel gene HJURP (Holliday junction–recognizing protein) whose activation seemed to play a pivotal role in the immortality of cancer cells. HJURP was considered a possible downstream target for ataxia telangiectasia mutated signaling, and its expression was increased by DNA double-strand breaks (DSB). HJURP was involved in the homologous recombination pathway in the DSB repair process through interaction with hMSH5 and NBS1, which is a part of the MRN protein complex. HJURP formed nuclear foci in cells at S phase and those subjected to DNA damage. In vitro assays implied that HJURP bound directly to the Holliday junction and rDNA arrays. Treatment of cancer cells with small interfering RNA (siRNA) against HJURP caused abnormal chromosomal fusions and led to genomic instability and senescence. In addition, HJURP overexpression was observed in a majority of lung cancers and was associated with poor prognosis as well. We suggest that HJURP is an indispensable factor for chromosomal stability in immortalized cancer cells and is a potential novel therapeutic target for the development of anticancer drugs. [Cancer Res 2007;67(18):8544–53]
MicroRNA-34b and MicroRNA-34c Are Targets of p53 and Cooperate in Control of Cell Proliferation and Adhesion-Independent Growth
Authors: Corney David C. , Flesken-Nikitin Andrea , Godwin Andrew K. , Wang Wei , Nikitin Alexander Yu. 
Published: September 2007

Abstract
MicroRNAs (miRNA) are a recently discovered class of noncoding RNAs that negatively regulate gene expression. Recent evidence indicates that miRNAs may play an important role in cancer. However, the mechanism of their deregulation in neoplastic transformation has only begun to be understood. To elucidate the role of tumor suppressor p53 in regulation of miRNAs, we have analyzed changes in miRNA microarray expression profile immediately after conditional inactivation of p53 in primary mouse ovarian surface epithelium cells. Among the most significantly affected miRNAs were miR-34b and miR-34c, which were down-regulated 12-fold according to quantitative reverse transcription–PCR analysis. Computational promoter analysis of the mir-34b/mir-34c locus identified the presence of evolutionarily conserved p53 binding sites ∼3 kb upstream of the miRNA coding sequence. Consistent with evolutionary conservation, mir-34b/mir-34c were also down-regulated in p53-null human ovarian carcinoma cells. Furthermore, as expected from p53 binding to the mir-34b/c promoter, doxorubicin treatment of wild-type, but not p53-deficient, cells resulted in an increase of mir-34b/mir-34c expression. Importantly, miR-34b and miR-34c cooperate in suppressing proliferation and soft-agar colony formation of neoplastic epithelial ovarian cells, in agreement with the partially overlapping spectrum of their predicted targets. Taken together, these results show the existence of a novel mechanism by which p53 suppresses such critical components of neoplastic growth as cell proliferation and adhesion-independent colony formation. [Cancer Res 2007;67(18):8433–8]
The organizational effects of oxytocin on the central expression of estrogen receptor α and oxytocin in adulthood
Authors: Kramer Kristin M , Yoshida Shigeto , Papademetriou Eros , Cushing Bruce S 
Published: September 2007

Abstract

Background
Previous studies have demonstrated that neonatal manipulation of oxytocin (OT) has effects on the expression of estrogen receptor α (ERα) and the central production of oxytocin observed in juveniles (at weaning, 21 days of age). The goal of this study was to determine whether the effects of neonatal manipulation of OT last into adulthood, and if the effects differ from those observed during the early postnatal period. On the first day of life, prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) received one of three doses of OT (High, 3 μg; Med, 0.3 μg; Low, 0.03 μg), an OT antagonist, or isotonic saline. Another group was handled, but not injected. Then as adults, brains were collected, sectioned, and stained for ERα or OT using immunocytochemistry.

Results
In females, treatment with OT increased the expression of ERα immunoreactivity in the ventral lateral septum (0.03 μg) and the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus and central amygdala (0.3 μg). In males, OT antagonist increased ERα expression in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. There was no apparent effect of OT on the number of cells producing OT in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus.

Conclusion
The current results suggest that neonatal manipulation of OT has long-term organizational effects on the expression of ERα in both males and females. The lack of effect on OT neurons in the paraventricular nucleus suggests that some developmental effects of OT previously observed in weanlings do not persist into adulthood. Developmental effects of OT on ERα patterns were sexually dimorphic, dose-dependent, and site-specific.
Ascending central canal dilation and progressive ependymal disruption in a contusion model of rodent chronic spinal cord injury
Authors: Radojicic Milan , Nistor Gabriel , Keirstead Hans S 
Published: September 2007

Abstract

Background
Chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) can lead to an insidious decline in motor and sensory function in individuals even years after the initial injury and is accompanied by a slow and progressive cytoarchitectural destruction. At present, no pathological mechanisms satisfactorily explain the ongoing degeneration.

Methods
Adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were anesthetized laminectomized at T10 and received spinal cord contusion injuries with a force of 250 kilodynes using an Infinite Horizon Impactor. Animals were randomly distributed into 5 groups and killed 1 (n = 4), 28 (n = 4), 120 (n = 4), 450 (n = 5), or 540 (n = 5) days after injury. Morphometric and immunohistochemical studies were then performed on 1 mm block sections, 6 mm cranial and 6 mm caudal to the lesion epicenter. The SPSS 11.5 t test was used to determine differences between quantitative measures.

Results
Here, we document the first report of an ascending central canal dilation and progressive ependymal disruption cranial to the epicenter of injury in a contusion model of chronic SCI, which was characterized by extensive dural fibrosis and intraparenchymal cystic cavitation. Expansion of the central canal lumen beyond a critical diameter corresponded with ependymal cell ciliary loss, an empirically predictable thinning of the ependymal region, and a decrease in cell proliferation in the ependymal region. Large, aneurysmal dilations of the central canal were accompanied by disruptions in the ependymal layer, periependymal edema and gliosis, and destruction of the adjacent neuropil.

Conclusion
Cells of the ependymal region play an important role in CSF homeostasis, cellular signaling and wound repair in the spinal cord. The possible effects of this ascending pathology on ependymal function are discussed. Our studies suggest central canal dilation and ependymal region disruption as steps in the pathogenesis of chronic SCI, identify central canal dilation as a marker of chronic SCI and provide novel targets for therapeutic intervention.
Experimental study of teaching critical thinking in civic education in Taiwanese junior high school
Authors: Yang Shu Ching , Chung Tung‐Yu 
Published: September 2007

BackgroundTo effectively respond to the need for greater CT (critical thinking) in the classroom, this study examines the effects of cultivating CT skills within civic education to maximize its potential. Despite realizing the importance of CT in education, schools do not tend to apply it. Furthermore, since students frequently do not raise questions or otherwise think critically, CT modules are incorporated into civic learning to encourage students to question facts, interpret and analyse evidence, make reasoned inferences regarding events, and independently develop informed opinions. These skills are fundamental to cultivating an informed and humane citizenry.AimsThis investigation examines how teaching critical thinking in civic education affects the CT skills and disposition of junior high school students.SampleThe participants were two classes of eighth grade students in southern Taiwan, and were distributed into experimental and control groups. Each group comprised 34 students, with the experimental group containing 16 boys and 18 girls and the control group containing 18 boys and 16 girls.MethodThe teaching experiment in this study was initiated and performed using equivalent pre‐test and post‐test group design. During the 10‐week experiment, the experimental group was taught using CT instruction in civic education, while the control group was not taught with any CT programme. The data analysis included: quantitative statistics of the two main sets of instruments for measuring the CT ability and disposition of experimental treatment, qualitative analysis of learning sheets, and surveys of student perceptions of instruction in CT.Results and conclusionsStatistical analysis showed that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group on the scales of CT skill and disposition, but did not perform well on certain subscales (e.g. recognition of assumptions and deductions, truth‐seeking, analyticity, and inquisitiveness). Notably however, when triangulating with qualitative analysis of learner transcripts and surveys, learners attempted to perform various dimensions of CT skill and disposition to various degrees. Student surveys indicated that the CT programme fostered their active listening and respect for different ideas, and moreover they learned to tolerate divergent views and examine their ideas for possible bias. The programme boosted student learning interest and sense of accomplishment, and nurtured their teamwork/communicative skills. Furthermore, a few students experienced improvements in their speaking skills and courage as their confidence and ability to express themselves improved. Finally, limitations of this investigation and implications for further research are discussed.
Protection or Attack? Young People Carrying Knives and Dangerous Implements
Authors: Brown Jac , Sutton Jeanna 
Published: September 2007

AbstractThe incidence and circumstances of young people carrying knives and dangerous implements was investigated through surveys conducted with 150 ‘street youth’ and 184 ‘school youth’ in Sydney. It was found that a significant proportion of both samples carry and use knives/dangerous implements and that these implements had been used within the last week by many respondents. These implements are most commonly carried by young people between the ages of 13 and 14 years. A significant proportion of the sample reported having been threatened with knives/dangerous implements in the past. Police involvement was reported for both samples, but there was a higher proportion reported for the street sample. Young people report carrying knives/dangerous implements for safety, pressures from within and outside themselves, and to exert power and control over others. The research suggests that more emphasis needs to be placed on making young people feel safer in the community in order to address this problem.
Understanding and Managing Eating Disorders in the School Setting
Authors: Hellings Bridie , Bowles Terry 
Published: September 2007

AbstractChildren and adolescents suffering from an eating disorder will typically experience the adverse impact of such a disorder upon their education. These sufferers are often forced to defer their education whilst seeking treatment. However, there are a number of signs educators and school psychologists can look for to identify a student who may be struggling with an eating disorder, so as early intervention can be made to assist these students in the best possible manner. Based on a summary of recent research and literature, this article explains how eating disorders may be manifested in a school setting, how educators and school psychologists can help a student suffering from an eating disorder, and how schools can intervene to prevent eating disorders in students. Possible directions for future research in this area will also be explored.
Worry, General Self-Efficacy and School Achievement: An Exploratory Study With Chinese Adolescents
Authors: Tang Natalia Yuen Yi , Westwood Peter 
Published: September 2007

AbstractThis study identified issues in school – and in life outside school – that caused significant worry for 120 Chinese adolescents (72 males, 48 females) attending a secondary school in Hong Kong. The study explored relationships existing among 3 variables comprising degree of worry, students' general self-efficacy, and their academic achievement. Findings indicated that the students' principal worries centred on school-related matters such as examinations, promotion to higher classes, and getting a job after graduation. Students also worried significantly about the health status of family members, and family finances. Differences in patterns of worry and in self-efficacy beliefs were found between lower- and higher-achieving students. No significant correlations were found among students' degree of worry, general self-efficacy, and achievement. Results are discussed from the perspective of Chinese culture, the Hong Kong education system, and support for students.
Runx1Protects Hematopoietic Stem/Progenitor Cells from Oncogenic Insult
Authors: Motoda Lena , Osato Motomi , Yamashita Namiko , Jacob Bindya , Chen Lynnette Q. , Yanagida Masatoshi , Ida Hiroshi , Wee Hee-Jun , Sun Alfred X. , Taniuchi Ichiro , Littman Dan , Ito Yoshiaki 
Published: September 2007

AbstractThe RUNX1/AML1 gene encodes a transcription factor essential for the generation of hematopoietic stem cells and is frequently targeted in human leukemia. In human RUNX1-related leukemias, the RAS pathway is often concurrently mutated, but the mechanism of the synergism remains elusive. Here, we found that inactivation of Runx1 in mouse bone marrow cells results in an increase in the stem/progenitor cell fraction due to suppression of apoptosis and elevated expression of the polycomb gene Bmi-1, which is important for stem cell self-renewal. Introduction of oncogenic N-RAS into wild-type cells, in contrast, reduced the stem/progenitor cell fraction because of senescence, apoptosis, and differentiation. Such detrimental events presumably occurred because of the cellular fail-safe program, although hyperproliferation was initially induced by an oncogenic stimulus. Runx1 insufficiency appears to impair such a fail-safe mechanism, particularly in the stem/progenitor cells, thereby supporting the clonal maintenance of leukemia-initiating cells expressing an activated oncogene.Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is found at the end of this article.
Pleiotrophin Enhances Clonal Growth and Long-Term Expansion of Human Embryonic Stem Cells
Authors: Soh Boon Seng , Song Chun Meng , Vallier Ludovic , Li Pin , Choong Cleo , Yeo Boon Huat , Lim Elaine Hsuen , Pedersen Roger A. , Yang Henry He , Rao Mahendra , Lim Bing 
Published: September 2007

Abstract
To identify additional growth factors for optimizing propagation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), we mined publicly available data sets for the transcriptomes of murine and human ESCs and feeder cells, thereby generating a list of growth factors and complementary receptors. We identified the major pathways previously reported to be important, as well as several new ones. One pathway is the Pleiotrophin (PTN)-Pleiotrophin receptor (PTPRZ1) axis. Murine fibroblasts secrete Ptn, whereas hESCs expressed PTPRZ1, which is downregulated upon differentiation. Depletion of PTPRZ1 resulted in decreased colony formation and lower recovery of hESCs. Supplementation of chemically defined medium for feeder-free propagation of hESCs with PTN allowed higher recovery of hESCs without loss of pluripotency. PTN-PTPRZ1 functions here predominantly via an antiapoptotic effect mediated in part by the activation of Akt. These findings reveal the underlying importance of PTN in hESC survival and its usefulness in the clonal manipulation and large-scale propagation of hESCs.
Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is found at the end of this article.