bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Development of EST‐derived microsatellite markers for Arabidopsis lyrata subspecies petraea (L.)
Authors: WOODHEAD M. , RUSSELL J. , SQUIRRELL J. , HOLLINGSWORTH P. M. , CARDLE L. , GIBBY M. , POWELL W. 
Published: December 2006

AbstractA set of expressed sequence tag–simple sequence repeat (EST‐SSR) loci has been developed for Arabidopsis lyrata ssp. petraea. From 768 root cDNA clones, 126 microsatellites, including di‐, tri‐, tetra‐ and pentanucleotide repeat motifs were identified and primers were designed to 24 EST‐SSRs. Eleven loci were subsequently screened on 150 individuals sampled from five natural populations, which revealed three to nine alleles per locus (mean 5.36) and expected heterozygosity (HE) estimates ranging from 0.046 to 0.698. Significant deviations from random mating were observed at 10 EST‐SSR loci, likely due to inbreeding (global FIS = 0.151) and population structure (global FST = 0.246).
Is Alcohol Use Associated With Cavitary Disease in Tuberculosis?
Authors: Moran Ana , Harbour Deborah V. , Teeter Larry D. , Musser James M. , Graviss Edward A. 
Published: December 2006

Background: Alcohol mediates detrimental alterations in the immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The association between quantity and frequency of alcohol use and the prevalence of cavitary disease in tuberculosis (TB) has not been analyzed. To investigate the relationship of alcohol use and the prevalence of cavitary disease in a 6‐year population‐based data set of individuals with TB.Methods: We assessed quantity and frequency of alcohol use (daily alcohol use, years of alcohol use, and lifetime alcohol use) with a standardized questionnaire. The study group consisted of 1,250 patients analyzed for cavitary disease (HIV sero‐negative subjects that were 18 years or older). Significant covariates for cavitary disease were entered into multiple logistic regression models.Results: Although daily alcohol use, years of alcohol use, and alcohol use 30 days or 6 months before symptom onset were significant predictors of cavitary disease in univariate analysis, no independent associations were found between alcohol use and cavitary disease in the multivariate analysis. Only diabetes mellitus was independently associated with cavitary disease at any level or frequency of alcohol use.Conclusion: Alcohol use is not independently associated with increased prevalence of cavitary disease in adult patients with TB.
The Challenge of Decoupling Agricultural Support
Authors: Antón Jesús , Sckokai Paolo 
Published: December 2006

The Challenge of Decoupling Agricultural SupportDecoupling agricultural support has become a central feature of reforms in most OECD countries due to international and domestic constraints. There is evidence that this movement can reduce economic inefficiencies and contribute to improving policy design. Not all the characteristics, however, of recent new support programmes, reduce their impact on production. Moving from price support to area payments and granting more freedom in the use of the supported resources makes programmes more decoupled, but making payments counter‐cyclical based on current production or market variables tends to exacerbate the production response of risk averse farmers. When all the effects are taken into consideration ‐ relative prices, risk and dynamic effects ‐ all agricultural support programmes have some impact on production and thus the degree of decoupling needs to be estimated empirically. Recent studies have expanded our scarce knowledge of these issues. They confirm the partial decoupling of area payments, like those in the EU after 1992, as well as the larger degree of decoupling that results from more production freedom, as in the Production Flexibility Contract payments in the US and the recent Single Farm Payment in the EU. But the total magnitude of the production effects depends on policy design and ‘size’, since high levels of partially decoupled support can have potentially significant effects on production.
Coping with Crisis Risk in European Agriculture
Authors: Meuwissen Miranda P.M. , Van Asseldonk Marcel A.P.M. , Huirne Ruud B.M. 
Published: December 2006

Coping with Crisis Risk in European AgricultureThis article summarizes the major findings of an international workshop on coping with crisis risk in European agriculture. The workshop took place as part of an EU sixth framework project entitled: Income stabilisation: Design and economic impact of risk management tools for European agriculture. The meeting focused on ex ante crisis risk, which is defined as a foreseeable and predictable risk that potentially hits many farms at the same time. More specifically, the workshop focused on technology risks ‐ such as food safety and livestock epidemic risks ‐ and weather risks. State of the art discussions pointed towards little attention being paid to crisis risk management in EU agriculture and the incompleteness of risk management instruments available. Proposed solutions, although not entirely agreed upon by all workshop participants, envision some form of public–private partnership. For technology risks, which are rather‘manageable’ by individual farmers, partnerships are recommended to be a mix of regulation, risk mitigation and non‐subsidised market instruments with a clear focus on incentives for risk prevention. For weather risks, these partnerships include financial aspects whereby governments offer free cover for the catastrophic part of losses. The Income Stabilisation project will integrate workshop recommendations with wider research project activities and will eventually advise on prospective risk management instruments for various farm types and regions throughout the European Union.
Enhanced trabecular-bone calcium deposition in female rats with a high physiological dose of prolactin diminishes after ovariectomy
Authors: Puntheeranurak Supaporn , Charoenphandhu Narattaphol , Krishnamra Nateetip 
Published: December 2006

Although an increase in trabecular-bone calcium deposition has been shown to be regulated by prolactin during lactation, the physiological significance of prolactin in bone calcium metabolism in nonlactating rats remains unclear. This investigation sought to demonstrate the effects of endogenous prolactin and a high physiological dose of exogenous prolactin on bone turnover and bone calcium deposition in normal female rats, using the45Ca-labeling technique. Our results showed that suppression of endogenous prolactin with 6 mg/kg bromocriptine for 15 days significantly enhanced bone formation, but not bone resorption, in primarily trabecular sites, resulting in a significant increase in calcium deposition in the sternum and vertebrae, from –0.20 ± 0.07 to 0.40 ± 0.09 (p < 0.05) and –0.07 ± 0.11 to 0.34 ± 0.06 (p < 0.05) mmol Ca·(g dry mass)–1, respectively. Similarly, 2.5 mg/kg prolactin, a high physiological dose, increased sternal and vertebral calcium deposition, from –0.20 ± 0.07 to 0.24 ± 0.09 (p < 0.05) and –0.07 ± 0.11 to 0.25 ± 0.18 (p < 0.05) mmol Ca·(g dry mass)–1, respectively, by increasing bone formation more than bone resorption. However, as expected, prolactin had no effect on the tibia or femur, which are primarily cortical sites. Because several actions of prolactin have been known to be estradiol-dependent, we further investigated the dependence of prolactin action on 17β-estradiol. We found that 2.5 mg/kg prolactin did not increase sternal calcium deposition in ovariectomized rats. However, 10 µg/kg 17β-estradiol supplementation restored the action of prolactin. Ovariectomized rats given 17β-estradiol plus prolactin also manifested slightly but significantly higher sternal total calcium content than sham-operated rats, (4.58 ± 0.12 vs. 4.36 ± 0.11 mmol Ca·(g dry mass)–1(p < 0.05)). We concluded that a high physiological dose of prolactin promoted calcium deposition in primarily trabecular sites of nonlactating rats. This effect was diminished after ovariectomy. In addition, we showed that basal endogenous prolactin played a role in the maintenance of normal trabecular-bone turnover.
Anti-fibrotic effects of tetrandrine on bile-duct ligated rats
Authors: Hsu Yi-Chao , Chiu Yung-Tsung , Lee Chang-Yin , Wu Ching-Fen , Huang Yi-Tsau 
Published: December 2006

Tetrandrine (Tet) (C38H42O8N2; molecular weight, 622), an alkaloid isolated from the Chinese medicinal herb Stephania tetrandra, has been shown to elicit anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic effects in pulmonary diseases, but the mechanism of action has yet to be investigated. In this study, we tested whether Tet exerts anti-fibrotic effects on rat hepatic fibrosis through anti-NFκB pathways. After bile-duct ligation, rats were given Tet (1 or 5 mg/kg) or silymarin (50 mg/kg, as a positive control) by gavage twice daily for 3 weeks. Liver sections were taken for Sirius red quantitative scoring, immunofluorescence double staining of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and NFκB, and for quantitative determinations of the mRNA expression levels of TGF-β1, α-SMA, collagen 1α2, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1), metallothionein, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and VEGF type II receptor (VEGFR2) genes. The results showed that both Tet and silymarin treatment significantly reduced the fibrosis scores and hepatic collagen content of BDL rats, compared with no treatment. Both Tet and silymarin treatments decreased the number of α-SMA- and NFκB-positive cells in fibrotic livers. Moreover, Tet and silymarin treatments attenuated the mRNA expression levels of TGF-β1,α-SMA, collagen 1α2, iNOS, ICAM-1, VEGF, and VEGFR2 genes, and induced the mRNA expression of the metallothionein gene. This study suggests that the anti-fibrotic effects of Tet were related to the reduction of fibrosis-related gene transcription, the attenuation of NFκB-activated pathways, and the induction of metallothionein gene transcription in the livers of BDL rats.
Therapeutic interactions between stathmin inhibition and chemotherapeutic agents in prostate cancer
Authors: Mistry Sucharita J. , Atweh George F. 
Published: December 2006

Abstract
Limitations of prostate cancer therapy may be overcome by combinations of chemotherapeutic agents with gene therapy directed against specific proteins critical for disease progression. Stathmin is overexpressed in many types of human cancer, including prostate cancer. Stathmin is one of the key regulators of the microtubule network and the mitotic spindle and provides an attractive therapeutic target in cancer therapy. We recently showed that adenovirus-mediated gene transfer of anti-stathmin ribozyme could suppress the malignant phenotype of prostate cancer cells in vitro. In the current studies, we asked whether the therapeutic effects of stathmin inhibition could be further enhanced by exposure to different chemotherapeutic agents. Exposure of uninfected LNCaP human prostate cancer cells or cells infected with a control adenovirus to Taxol, etoposide, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), or Adriamycin resulted in modest decrease in proliferation and clonogenicity. Interestingly, exposure of cells infected with an anti-stathmin adenovirus to Taxol or etoposide resulted in a complete loss of proliferation and clonogenicity, whereas exposure of the same cells to 5-FU or Adriamycin potentiated the growth-inhibitory effects of the anti-stathmin ribozyme, but the cells continued to proliferate. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase–mediated dUTP nick end labeling analysis of uninfected cells or cells infected with a control adenovirus showed modest induction of apoptosis in the presence of different drugs. In contrast, cells infected with the anti-stathmin adenovirus showed a marked increase in apoptosis on exposure to Taxol or etoposide and a modest increase on exposure to 5-FU or Adriamycin. Overall, the effects of combinations of anti-stathmin ribozyme with Taxol or etoposide were synergistic, whereas the effects of combinations of anti-stathmin ribozyme with 5-FU or Adriamycin were additive. Moreover, triple combination of anti-stathmin ribozyme with low noninhibitory concentrations of Taxol and etoposide resulted in a profound synergistic inhibition of proliferation, clonogenicity, and marked induction of apoptosis. This synergy might be very relevant for the treatment of prostate cancer because Taxol and etoposide are two of the most effective agents in this disease. Thus, this combination may provide a novel form of prostate cancer therapy that would avoid toxicities associated with the use of multiple chemotherapeutic agents at full therapeutic doses. [Mol Cancer Ther 2006;5(12):3248–57]
Granulocyte Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor Regulates Dendritic Cell Content of Atherosclerotic Lesions
Authors: Shaposhnik Zory , Wang Xuping , Weinstein Michael , Bennett Brian J. , Lusis Aldons J. 
Published: December 2006

Objective—Recent evidence suggests that dendritic cells may play an important role in atherosclerosis. Based primarily on previous in vitro studies, we hypothesized that granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF)-deficient mice would have decreased dendritic cells in lesions.Methods and Results—To test this, we characterized gene targeted GM-CSF−/−mice crossed to hypercholesterolemic low-density lipoprotein receptor null mice. Our results provide conclusive evidence that GM-CSF is a major regulator of dendritic cell formation in vivo. Aortic lesion sections in GM-CSF−/−low-density lipoprotein receptor null animals showed a dramatic 60% decrease in the content of dendritic cells as judged by CD11c staining but no change in the overall content of monocyte-derived cells. The GM-CSF–deficient mice exhibited a significant 20% to 50% decrease in the size of aortic lesions, depending on the location of the lesions. Other prominent changes in GM-CSF−/−mice were decreased lesional T cell content, decreased autoantibodies to oxidized lipids, and striking disruptions of the elastin fibers adjacent to the lesion.Conclusion—Given that GM-CSF is dramatically induced by oxidized lipids in endothelial cells, our data suggest that GM-CSF serves to regulate dendritic cell formation in lesions and that this, in turn, influences inflammation, plaque growth and possibly plaque stability.
The separation of clay mineral fractions with linear heavy liquid density gradient columns
Authors: Halma G. 
Published: December 2006

Because of increased interest in mineralogical analysis of soils a rapid, generally applicable method to separate clay minerals is needed, and such a method is described here. The technique is a modification of the heavy liquid density gradient centrifugation method which is commonly applied in mineralogical practice. Modifications are:(1)The use of suitable surface active agents to overcome the flocculation problem.(2)The use of the ultra centrifuge at about 33,000 g to hasten sedimentation.(3)The use of a linear density gradient which supplies in addition a quick identification of the mineral composition.Preliminary experiments, evaluating different variables (e.g. cation form, ultrasonic treatment, influence of surfactant), reveal the scope and limitations of the procedure presented.Clay minerals of different density can be separated. However, if the clay minerals of a mixture have overlapping densities, or if they contain a series of mixed-layer minerals, only a broad fractionation is possible. This is shown by X-ray diffraction and electron microscope studies of isolated zones (or parts of them) which develop in the centrifuged density gradient columns containing various pre-treated natural clays or clay mixtures.
The Adsorption of Poly(Ethylene Glycols) on Clay Minerals
Authors: Parfitt R. L. , Greenland D. J. 
Published: December 2006

AbstractPoly(ethylene glycols) of molecular weights 200 to 20000 were strongly adsorbed on montmorillonite from aqueous solution. Free energies of adsorption calculated from the adsorption isotherms became more negative with increase in molecular weight and the entropy change became increasingly positive, probably due to a net desorption of water from the clay surface as the organic compound was adsorbed. The adsorption of the higher molecular weight polymers caused an increase in the interlamellar separation. The effect of the exchangeable cation on the adsorption followed the order Cs > Na > Ca > Al, indicating that the cation retained its hydration shell and did not form a direct association with the adsorbed organic molecules. Some evidence was obtained that 'water bridges' were formed between exchangeable calcium an aluminium ions and the ether groups of the polymers.
Clay Minerals Associated with the Precambrian Gowganda Formation of Ontario
Authors: Tank R. W. , McNeely L. 
Published: December 2006

AbstractX-ray analyses indicate that chlorite, illite and mixed-layer chloritesmectite are present in the < 2μ fraction of the Precambrian Gowganda Formation near Bruce Mines, Ontario. The mixed-layer material is restricted to the porous graywacke sandstones and is epigenetic in origin. The chlorite and illite are ubiquitous and may reflect high-grade diagenesis, low-grade metamorphism or a source rich in these minerals.
The rheological properties of dispersions of Laponite, a synthetic hectorite-like clay, in electrolyte solutions
Authors: Neumann B. S. , Sansom K. G. 
Published: December 2006

AbstractDispersions of Laponite clay in various electrolyte solutions have been studied. In the total absence of electrolyte the synthetic clay forms a sol at 2% concentration. All cations cause gelling and flocculation.It has been found that for any given clay concentration the yield value of the dispersions at equivalent flocculation level is the same for all electrolyte solutions, making it possible to study all types of dispersions at a standard level of flocculation.At standard level of flocculation, the yield values have been found to follow exponential relationships with clay concentration with a break in the curves occurring at about 1·6% clay concentration. It is postulated that the break in the yield value curve occurs when enough clay is present to form a card-house structure. The plastic viscosities show a linear relationship with concentration and indicate high effective dispersed volume fractions at low clay concentrations.When comparing the flocculating effects of different cations at fixed clay concentration, an empirical relationship has been found between cation concentration giving standard flocculation level, cation valency and radius.
The Coalgate Bentonite. A ferriferous-beidellite deposit from Canterbury, New Zealand
Authors: Carlson J. R. , Rodgers K. A. 
Published: December 2006

AbstractThe Coalgate Bentonite deposit has been formed by the alteration of cryptocrystalline basaltic ash erupted in Upper Miocene to Pliocene times and deposited in a freshwater lake on a land surface of earlier tholeiitic flows. Physical and chemical analysis shows the bentonite to consist essentially of non-swelling (Ca2+ and Mg2+) ferriferous-beidellite with minor ferriferous montmorillonite. The process of montmorillonitization probably involved a crystal chemical structural reorganization without solution or precipitation and occurred in a mildly alkaline environment in which initial reducing conditions become oxidizing.
Palygorskite—by direct precipitation from a hydrothermal solution
Authors: Furbish W. J. , Sando T. W. 
Published: December 2006

AbstractPalygorskite, associated with aragonite, occurs as a fracture filling in a dunite body that has been intruded by felsic pegmatites. The palygorskite formed by direct precipitation from solutions given off by the pegmatite. Aluminium, calcium and silicon were provided by the pegmatite solutions while magnesium was derived from the serpentinization of the dunite along the host fractures. No direct replacement took place.
Current and future trends in clay mineralogy—a review
Authors: Brindley G. W. 
Published: December 2006

AbstractProgress in science is not a linear function of time but resembles more closely a sigmoidal process in which new trends depend on the nucleation of new ideas and the re-activation of older studies. New and improved instruments, particularly electron microscopes and microprobes, infrared spectrometers and atomic absorption analysers have been the nucleating agents for many new lines of investigation. The interdisciplinary nature of clay mineralogy makes communication between different areas of study very important and the clay mineral societies have an important part to play in this respect.In the future, renewed efforts to obtain a convenient and reliable method of quantitative mineral analysis are likely to be made. Crystal structure analysis will be directed increasingly towards the study of order and disorder in cation distributions, layer charges, and layer stacking arrangements. Studies of domain structures in layer silicates will continue, and further refinements in mixed-layer structure analysis can be expected. Infrared spectroscopic analysis will increasingly become a major tool. The study of clay mineral synthesis and alteration in nature and in the laboratory shows signs of important re-activation. Clay-organic studies are developing in many directions.
A study of the birefringence exhibited by celadonite solutions subjected to electric fields
Authors: Baily E. D. 
Published: December 2006

AbstractThis paper reports an electric birefringence study on dilute solutions of the clay mineral, celadonite. The results show that celadonite particles in solution have the form of rectangular platelets and are characterized by a permanent dipole-moment perpendicular to the plane of the platelet and an induced dipole-moment in the plane of the platelet along the longest dimension. It is suggested that the permanent dipole-moment is an inherent property of the atomic structure of the platelet, whilst the induced dipole-moment is a consequence of the ion-atmosphere surrounding the celadonite particles. The paper also demonstrates the usefulness of electro-optic techniques in studying problems in clay minerology.
Clay mineral formation under lateritic weathering conditions
Authors: Harder Hermann 
Published: December 2006

AbstractAmorphous hydroxides of Al, Fe, Mn, Mg, Zn, Co, Ni, etc., are capable of coprecipitating SiO2even from very dilute (weathering) solutions. Silica minerals form only in those precipitates from solutions undersaturated with respect to amorphous silica (100 ppm SiO2at 20°C). With higher SiO2concentrations the precipitates remain amorphous. The size of the cations should allow 6-fold coordination and giving a brucite-like layer. Most suitably sized octahedral ions are Mg, Zn, Ni, Co and Fe2+(size 0·78–0·82 Å), and chemically pure three- and two-layer clay minerals with these ions are easily synthesized. With a relatively high content of silica in solution (60 ppm SiO2with 1–2·5 ppm metal) several smectite minerals could be synthesized. With a low content of silica in solution (5–20 ppm SiO2andca. 2 ppm metal) the serpentine minerals, could be synthesized.It is possible to crystallize the difficult to form Al-clay minerals in a solid solution with these more easily synthesized clay minerals.Clay minerals with the heavy metal ions of Ni, Co, Zn, and with Cu, Cr, etc., can be found in the weathering zone of Gossan and in the lateritic weathering crust of ultrabasic rocks.
Étude des produits d'altération fumerollienne et météorique a vulcano (Iles Éoliennes, Italie)
Authors: Monaco A. , Valette J. N. 
Published: December 2006

RésuméLes auteurs étudient les produits de l'altération fumerollienne et météorique de Vulcano, Iles Eoliennes, Italie. Ces produits sont étudiés par diffraction des rayons X, analyse chimique classique, microscopie électronique et microsonde.