bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Nitrogen and phosphorus transformations as affected by crop residue management practices and their influence on crop yield
Authors: Beri V. , Sidhu B.S. , Bahl G.S. , Bhat A.K. 
Published: February 2007

Abstract.A 15‐year field experiment investigated crop residue management practices, with crop residue removal, burning and incorporation as the main treatments and nitrogen levels as subtreatments. The effects of crop residue management practices on rice and wheat yield were measured for 11 years. Surface soil samples were taken to study nitrogen and phosphorus immobilization/adsorption and their release under laboratory conditions. The field experiment indicated that residue burning and residue removal resulted in greater grain yields of rice (5.57 and 5.53 t/ha, respectively) and wheat (4.12 and 4.02 t/ha, respectively) than residue incorporation (4.51 t/ha rice and 3.72 t/ha wheat). Laboratory experiments indicated that by the addition of crop residues nitrogen and phosphorus were converted to unavailable forms through immobilization and adsorption, respectively.Crop residue management practices were discontinued after 13 years and wheat and maize crops were grown in sequence. There were significantly greater yields of wheat (3.57 t/ha in 1992–93 and 3.6 t/ha in 1993–94) and of maize (2.1 t/ha in 1993) in plots where the residues had previously been incorporated than where the residues were previously either removed or burned. This is attributed to release of nitrogen and phosphorus from the incorporated residues.
Field assessment of crusting on a tilled sandy clay loam
Authors: Mellis D.A. , Bruneau P.M.C. , Twomlow S.J. , Morgan R.P.C. 
Published: February 2007

Abstract.Nine different techniques were used to record the initial change in the physical and hydrological properties of a freshly tilled soil surface following successive cycles of wetting and drying. The study was made in the field on a sandy clay loam soil ploughed and harrowed and then exposed to three simulated rainfall events of 76 mm/h for 15 minutes. Although the degradation of the soil surface increased with each successive rainfall, the most significant changes were observed after the first rainfall. Qualitative observations of clod size distribution and crust development provide a good indication of the early stages of soil surface degradation. Complementary physical data were quickly obtained using a hand held shear vane. These techniques are simple and robust enough that they can be used in on‐farm research programmes, where resources, both human and technical are at a premium. Tension infiltrometry provided hydrological information that complemented the physical information provided by the above techniques, but is not as simple.
Improving minority blood donation: anthropologic approach in a migrant community
Authors: Grassineau Dominique , Papa Kassim , Ducourneau Axel , Duboz Priscillia , Boëtsch Gilles , Chiaroni Jacques 
Published: February 2007

BACKGROUND:As a result of blood group polymorphism, distinctive blood types have evolved in populations around the world. In countries with large migrant populations, finding rare blood types for transfusion can be challenging. This is especially true for sub‐Saharan African immigrants living in countries with predominantly European populations. This problem is further compounded by hereditary disorders such as sickle cell disease and by traditional cultural values that discourage routine donation.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS:The purpose of this report is to describe the drive to recruit more safe rare blood type donors in a Comorian immigrant community living in Marseilles, France. With a culturally adapted message developed on an anthropologic approach and working in close collaboration with scientific and medical members of the Comorian community, it is proposed that this population be sensitized with the gift of blood.RESULTS:Targeted collection of specific sub‐Saharan African blood types was achieved. Taking into account the high rate of infectious markers among products collected in this targeted collection, however, it was decided to promote blood donation in this minority by addressing people directly toward our principal blood center site. Since setup of this adapted communication, regular donors present themselves spontaneously without community pressure. Infectious markers rate is then equal to general blood donor population's rate.CONCLUSION:The results of this drive demonstrate the utility of an anthropologic approach and cultural mediation in identifying donors with specific blood types in migrant communities and recruiting second‐generation donors. The techniques described in this study could also be applied to collection of other tissues including organs and peripheral blood progenitor cells in minorities.
Herbicide resistance and the adoption of integrated weed management by Western Australian grain growers
Authors: Llewellyn Rick S. , Lindner Robert K. , Pannell David J. , Powles Stephen B. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractExtension programs to encourage farmers to reduce reliance on herbicides by adopting integrated weed management (IWM) practices have met with limited success. Studies aiming to understand the factors that influence farmers' choices of integrated control practices have faced difficulties in variable specification, and have not achieved high explanatory power. Using data from grain growers in Western Australia, where herbicide resistance in major crop weeds is common, this study tests the applicability of a framework for the IWM adoption decision in which herbicide efficacy is assumed to be a potentially exhaustible resource. Farmers' perceptions of multiple techniques and other variables are aggregated using principal components, and used in logistic regressions to explain the intensity of use of IWM practices. Eighty‐six percent of growers were correctly classified according to use of multiple IWM practices. Herbicide resistance and expectations of the future availability of effective new herbicides were significant in explaining IWM adoption. IWM adoption and herbicide‐resistance management are shown to be information‐intensive and involving an intertemporal resource management decision.
Melatonin Effects on the Cytoskeletal Organization of MDCK and Neuroblastoma N1E‐115 Cells
Authors: Benítez‐King Gloria , Huerto‐Delgadillo Lourdes , Antón‐Tay Fernando 
Published: February 2007

Despite the fact that many physiological and pharmacological actions of melatonin (MEL) have been described, its mechanism of action at the subcellular level remains unclear. It has been suggested that MEL has effects on cellular processes that involve microfilaments and microtubules. In the present study MEL effects on the cytoskel‐eton were evaluated in MDCK and N1E‐115 cells in which the microfilaments have been shown to participate in cell morphology and dome formation (MDCK) and the microtubules in neurite outgrowths.After one day of culture with 10‐11 ‐10‐7 M MEL MDCK cells showed an increase in the number of elongated cells. After four days with the hormone, an increase in the incidence of MDCK cells contacting neighboring cells through long cytoplasmic elongations was observed. Actin antibody stain showed the appearance of thicker fluorescent fibres beneath the cell membrane and over the nucleus in the MEL treated cells. An increase in dome formation in confluent cells was also observed. In N1E‐115 cells MEL (10‐3‐10‐5 M) induced an increase in cell with neurite processes. Neurite outgrowth is clearly seen at 24 h after plating. MEL‐treated cells grow in clusters with neurites forming intricate networks. Antitubulin antibody stain showed long fluorescent neurites in the N1E‐115 MEL‐treated cells. A decrease in N1E‐115 neurite formation was observed with either serotonin or 6‐hydroxymelatonin (6OH‐MEL). However, the number of MDCK cells with cytoplasmic elongations was decreased only after 6OH‐MEL. We conclude that MEL action at the cellular level involves a modification of the cytoskeletal organization.
Pinealocyte subsurface cisterns I: Cytologieal aspects including three‐dimensional structure
Authors: Lutter Ilse , Heinzeller Thomas , Aschauer Beate 
Published: February 2007

Tutter I, Heinzeller T, Aschauer B. Pinealocyte subsurface cisterns I: Cytological aspects including three‐dimensional structure. J Pineal Res 199 1 : 10:7&83.Abstract:Subsurface cisterns (ssc) in the pineal gland of Meriones unguiculatus have been characterized with transmission electron microscopy, freeze‐fracture, morphometry, and three‐dimensional reconstruction. Subsurface cisterns (which are observed only in pinealocytes and never in gliocytes) are cisterns of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) approaching the plasmalemma at a distance of 15–20 nm. Freeze‐fracture preparations show that except for some ribosomes at the cytoplasmic face, the cistern membranes as well as the related portions of the plasmalemma are free of special or specifically arranged particles or pores. All ssc have a lumen of 15–20 nm width and underlie 5.6% of the plasmalemma in a single layer; neither collapsed types nor stacks of ssc could be observed. As seen from reconstructions, large ssc are fenestrated and are situated preferentially in regions where the neighboring pinealocyte also bears large ssc. As a consequence, double‐sided ssc, which can be observed in sections of (mostly large) ssc, are not a random phenomenon. In regions of the large ssc, adhering junctions are also concentrated. Tubules of 20‐nm diameter link ssc with deeper parts of the ER, particularly with the perinuclear cistern and with the tubulo‐cisternal network at the trans‐side of the Golgi apparatus. Besides ssc proper, a lot of small endplates of ER‐tubules are seen close to the plasmalemma. It is suggested that ssc form by the widening and fusing of such ER‐tubules and decrease by retraction of ER‐tubules from the cell surface.
Normalization of the light/dark rhythm of melatonin after prolonged subcutaneous administration of interleukin‐2 in advanced small cell lung cancer patients
Authors: Viviani S. , Bidoli P. , Spinazzé S. , Rovelli F. , Lissoni P. 
Published: February 2007

Abstract: It has been demonstrated that antitumor immune response is an IL‐2‐dependent phenomenon. Moreover, experimental results suggest the existence of interactions between IL‐2 and the pineal gland, which also plays a role in the control of immunity and cancer growth.Alterations of both IL‐2 and melatonin secretion have been reported in cancer patients. To further investigate pineal/IL‐2 relationships in humans with cancer, we evaluated the melatonin rhythm in seven advanced small cell lung cancer patients, before and at weekly intervals during immunotherapy with IL‐2, given subcutaneously at a daily dose of 3 × 106 IU/m2 twice daily for 5 days/week for 4 weeks. Before IL‐2, no patient showed a light/dark rhythm of melatonin. IL‐2 administration induced a normalization of the melatonin circadian rhythm, with the appearance of a night time peak in 4/7 patients. This effect, however, disappeared with IL‐2 interruption in 3/4 patients. This preliminary study, by showing that IL‐2 may restore a normal melatonin rhythm, suggests that the anomalous pineal function in cancer may depend at least in part on the altered endogenous IL‐2 production.
Mode or inhibition or rat liver tryptophan 2,3‐dioxygenase by melatonin
Authors: Walsh H. A. , Daya S. , Whiteley C. G. 
Published: February 2007

Walsh HA, Daya S, Whiteley CG. Mode of inhibition of rat liver tryptophan 2,3‐dioxygenase by melatonin. J. Pineal Res. 1994:16:188–192.AbstractLiver tryptophan 2,3‐dioxygenase is a cytosolic enzyme that plays a crucial role in the regulation of circulating levels of tryptophan. Stimulation of the activity of this enzyme by heme enhances the catabolism of tryptophan, making less tryptophan available for uptake into the brain. Melatonin, the major hormone of the pineal gland, is shown to cause competitive inhibition of this enzyme (Ki = 2. 70 μM). This structural analog of the substrate L‐tryptophan is a negative homotropic cooperative modulator of the enzyme. The enzyme has a Km = 100 μM, and the substrate concentration required for optimum activity was found to be 2. 5 mM with substrate inhibition becoming a feature at higher levels of tryptophan.
Mode of action of inhibin‐like pineal antigonadotropin is different from melatonin during compensatory ovarian hypertrophy
Authors: Bhagat Lakshmi , Duraiswami S. , Muralidhar K. 
Published: February 2007

Bhagat L, Duraiswami S, Muralidhar K. Mode of action of inhibin‐like pineal antigonadotropin is different from melatonin during compensatory ovarian hypertrophy. J. Pineal Res. 1994:16:193–197.AbstractBoth melatonin and pineal antigonadotropic peptides have the same end effect, i. e., prevention of the hypertrophic response when tested in the conventional compensatory ovarian hypertrophy (COH) model. The present work was undertaken to study the effect of melatonin and a melatonin‐ and steroid‐free inhibin‐like ovine pineal antigonadotropin (PI) on serum follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and prolactin (PRL) following hemiovariec‐tomy in adult Holtzman rats and also to ascertain if any similarity exists in their mode of action during COH. While melatonin prevented the transient rise in FSH at 12 hr after unilateral ovariectomy (ULO), thus retaining the basal preoperative level, PI depressed basal levels of FSH too. In addition, melatonin suppressed PRL and LH levels at 12 hr and 120 hr after ULO, respectively. PI, on the other hand, had no effect on serum LH and PRL levels. In light of our earlier in vitro results, which showed a direct inhibitory effect of PI and not of melatonin on pituitary FSH synthesis and release, the present results indicate a dichotomy in the mode of action of PI and melatonin. PI acts directly at the level of the pituitary while melatonin may act at the level of the hypothalamus or higher brain centers to suppress the FSH surge and the ensuing compensatory response.
Changes in ovine pineal gland neuron‐specific enolase immunoreactivity following bilateral, but not unilateral, superior cervical ganglionectomy
Authors: Mockett Bruce G. , Lapwood Keith R. 
Published: February 2007

Mockett BG, Lapwood KR. Changes in ovine pineal gland neuron‐specific enolase immunoreactivity following bilateral, but not unilateral, superior cervical ganglionectomy's. J. Pineal Res. 1994:16:202–209.AbstractPineal gland tissue from control and from unilaterally or bilaterally superior cervical ganglionectomized (SCGX) sheep was found to contain neuron‐specific enolase immunoreactive cells and nerve fibers. Morphological characteristics of pineal cells exhibiting immunoreactivity indicated that they were predominantly pinealocytes, while other cell types were nonimmunoreactive. Whereas bilateral SCGX resulted in a reduction in the size, and possibly number, of immunoreactive cells in the pineal, unilateral denervation did not result in any significant effects when compared with control pineals. Concomitant with the reduction in immunoreactivity in bilaterally denervated pineals was a significant increase in the volume of interstitial space, but not the number of nonimmunoreactive cells. These results suggest that sympathetic nerve fibers innervating the pineal of unilaterally sympathectomized sheep exhibited a degree of neural plasticity that resulted in denervated pinealocytes being reinnervated by remaining intact nerve terminals, thus preventing the occurrence of degenerative changes normally associated with complete loss of neural input through bilateral denervation. The fact that in unilaterally denervated sheep neither left nor right SCGX produced any discernible effects in either half of the pineal indicates that nerve fibers from each of the ganglia cross over to innervate the contra lateral as well as the ipsilateral pineal half. In the stalk of the pineal an extensive network of immunoreactive nerve fibers was found in both the caudal and habenular commissars, and occasionally these fibers were observed to enter the body of both intact and sympathetically denervated pineals. This latter result suggests that the sympathetic innervation enters the pineal over its surface and not via the stalk.
Melatonin production in an aerobic photosynthetic bacterium: An evolutionarily early association with darkness
Authors: Tilden Andrea R. , Becker Monika A. , Amma Lori L. , Arciniega Jacqueline , McGaw Anna K. 
Published: February 2007

Tilden AR, Becker MA, Amma LL, Arciniega J, McGaw AK. Melatonin production in an aerobic photosynthetic bacterium: An evolutionarily early association with darkness. J. Pineal Res. 1997; 22:102–106. © Munksgaard, CopenhagenAbstractMelatonin was measured in a species of aerobic photosynthetic bacteria, Erythrobacter longus, grown in either constant light or constant dark. A radioimmunoassay was used to quantify melatonin levels and thin‐layer chromatography to confirm the identity of melatonin immunoactivity. Melatonin levels were significantly higher (nearly 2.3‐fold) in the dark‐grown than in the light‐grown samples. Also, the homogenates of the dark‐grown bacteria retained melatonin‐producing enzymatic activity, whereas the light‐grown homogenates did not; melatonin levels extracted from the dark‐grown homogenates increased with increasing extraction time, reaching as high as 29.2 ng‐mg‐1 protein at 120 min. Removal of membrane fragments from homogenates did not influence melatonin levels in light‐grown homogenate, but this procedure increased melatonin levels in dark‐grown homogenate, indicating that at least some of the enzymes in the pathway of melatonin production are not membrane‐bound. This study is the second to demonstrate the presence of melatonin at the prokaryotic level, supporting the evidence that melatonin appeared very early in evolution. Its function in prokaryotes has not been determined, but may relate to its antioxidative actions.
Melatonin protects against gastric ischemia‐reperfusion injury in rats
Authors: De La Lastra Catalina Alarcón , Cabeza Juan , Motilva Virginia , Martin Maria J. 
Published: February 2007

De La Lastra CA, Cabeza J, Motilva V, Martin MJ. Melatonin protects against gastric ischemia‐reperfusion injury in rats. J. Pineal Res. 1997; 23:47–52. © Munksgaard, CopenhagenAbstractLipid peroxidation and active oxygen metabolites have been suggested to play an important role in the pathogenesis of acute gastric mucosal injury induced by ischemia‐reperfusion. The aim of this study was to examine the in vivo protective effects of melatonin on ischemia‐reperfusion induced gastric damage in rats. The peroxidation of lipids and changes in the activities of related enzymes such as glutathione peroxidase and myeloperoxidase, as a marker of neutrophil infiltration, were also studied. Our results show that gastric injury was significantly increased after 30 min ischemia induced by clamping the celiac artery and 60 min reperfusion. Intraperitoneal administration of melatonin prevented postishemic mucosal injury. The mean ulcer indices of rats treated with 5, 10, and 20 mg kg ‐1 were significantly lower (P<0.01, P<0.001) than that of control rats. These protective effects were likely in part related to a reduction of neutrophil infiltration (myeloperoxidase values). Lipid peroxidation in the stomach was increased by ischemia‐reperfusion injury and this increase was inhibited by the administration of melatonin. In addition, treatment with melatonin limited the decreased glutathione peroxidase activity. The results suggest that melatonin confers a marked protection against ischemia‐reperfusion gastric injury which could be due to melatonin's free radical scavenging activity and its ability to reduce neutrophil‐induced toxicity.
Nocturnal urinary 6‐sulfatoxymelatonin and proliferating cell nuclear antigen‐immunopositive tumor cells show strong positive correlations in patients with gastrointestinal and lung cancer
Authors: Bartsch Christian , Kvetnoy Igor , Kvetnaia Tatiana , Bartsch Hella , Molotkov Andrew , Franz Heiko , Raikhlin Nathan , Mecke Dieter 
Published: February 2007

Bartsch C, Kvetnoy I, Kvetnaia T, Bartsch H, Molotkov A, Franz H, Raikhlin N, Mecke D. Nocturnal urinary 6‐sulfatoxymelatonin and proliferating cell nuclear antigen‐immunopositive tumor cells show strong positive correlations in patients with gastrointestinal and lung cancer. J. Pineal Res. 1997; 23:90–96. © Munksgaard, CopenhagenAbstractThe hormone melatonin plays a key role in coordinating neuroendocrine signals involved in the control of biological rhythms and also appears to be involved in the regulation of cellular proliferation. In this study on patients with gastrointestinal and lung cancer the nocturnal urinary excretion of 6‐sulfatoxymelatonin (aMT6s) reflecting pineal melatonin production as well as immunohistochemically detectable proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and melatonin were measured in corresponding tumor specimens (6 colorectal, 8 stomach, and 12 lung cancers). Strong positive correlations were detected between aMT6s and PCNA for the different types of tumors analysed (1 ≥ Rs ≥ 0.736, P < 0.01–0.0001). These findings provide support to the concept of an involvement of the pineal gland in malignancy and suggest that aMT6s‐measurements may be considered as a non‐invasive tool to estimate tumor cell proliferation. Negative correlations found between urinary aMT6s and melatonin in tumor cells (‐0.735 ≥ Rs ≥ ‐0.928, P < 0.01–0.0025) could be interpreted as an effort of the pineal gland to secrete melatonin to compensate for the decrease in the number of melatonin‐immunopositive cells within tumor tissue where it may possess important regulatory functions.
The interaction of melatonin and its precursors with aluminium, cadmium, copper, iron, lead, and zinc: An adsorptive voltammetric study
Authors: Limson Janice , Nyokong Tebello , Daya Santy 
Published: February 2007

Limson J, Nyokong T, Day a S. The interaction of melatonin and its precursors with aluminium, cadmium, copper, iron, lead, and zinc: An adsorptive voltammetric study. J. Pineal Res. 1998; 24:15–21. © Munksgaard, CopenhagenAbstractMelatonin, a pineal secretory product, and its precursors, tryptophan and serotonin, were examined for their metal binding affinities for both essential and toxic metals: aluminium, cadmium, copper, iron, lead, and zinc. An electrochemical technique, adsorptive stripping voltammetry, showed the varying abilities of melatonin and its precursors to bind the metals in situ. The results show that the following metal complexes were formed: aluminium with melatonin, tryptophan, and serotonin; cadmium with melatonin and tryptophan; copper with melatonin and serotonin; iron(III) with melatonin and serotonin; lead with melatonin, tryptophan, and serotonin; and zinc with melatonin and tryptophan. Iron(II) showed the formation of an in situ complex with tryptophan only. These studies suggest a further role for melatonin in the reduction of free radical generation and metal detoxification, and they may explain the accumulation of aluminium in Alzheimer's disease.