Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Rape
Kinds of Rape Terms modified by Rape Selected AbstractsAN ACOUSTIC REGISTER, TENACIOUS IMAGES, AND CONGOLESE SCENES OF RAPE AND REPETITIONCULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 2 2008NANCY ROSE HUNT ABSTRACT This article argues for the importance of rewriting the conventional atrocity narrative about violence in King Leopold's Congo Free State in relation to the present, the ongoing war-related humanitarianism and sexual violence in the DRC. The central idea is to push beyond the shock and tenacity of the visual, the ubiquitous mutilation photographs that tend to blot out all else; and instead seek weaker, more fragile acoustic traces in a diverse archive with Congolese words and sounds. This sensory, nonspectral mode of parsing the archive tells us something new about the immediacy of violence, its duration in memory, and the bodily and reproductive effects of sexually torturing women. The sound of twisted laughter convulsed around forms of sexual violence that were constitutive of reproductive ruination during the rubber regime in Leopold's Congo. The work of strategically tethering the past to the present should not be about forging historicist links across time but about locating repetitions and difference, including differences among humanitarian modes and strategies in the early 20th and the early 21st centuries. [source] APPLICATION OF STEPWISE AMMONIUM SULFATE PRECIPITATION AS CLEANUP TOOL FOR AN ENZYME-LINKED IMMUNOSORBENT ASSAY OF GLYPHOSATE OXIDOREDUCTASE IN GENETICALLY MODIFIED RAPE OF GT73JOURNAL OF FOOD BIOCHEMISTRY, Issue 5 2009WENTAO XU ABSTRACT The method of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay after stepwise ammonium sulfate (AS) purification (AS-ELISA) was developed and used to detect genetically modified (GM) rape of GT73 containing glyphosate oxidoreductase (Gox). Gox protein encoded by the Gox gene from Achromobacter sp. was highly expressed as inclusion bodies in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) and purified to homogeneity by Ni2+affinity chromatography. A simple and efficient extraction and purification procedure of Gox protein from the seeds and leaves of GM rape was developed by means of stepwise AS precipitation. Purified polyclonal antibodies against Gox was produced and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) procedures were established further on to measure the Gox protein. AS-ELISA allowed 5% GMOs to be detected in the seeds of GT73 and 0.5% GMOs to be detected in the leaves of GT73 rape, which makes this method an acceptable method to access Gox protein in GM rape of GT73. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Many GMOs containing Gox gene have been approved worldwide such as GT73 rape, 1,445 cotton and Mon832 maize. Protein based methods were more important than DNA based methods, because protein performs a specific and concrete function and is closely interconnected with crop traits. AS-ELISA method can be used in the screening of GM plant, Gox protein expression assay and quantitative detection for GMO labeling. AS-ELISA Gox detecting method was established in this paper and was being evaluated of Inter-laboratory Comparison in some of Chinese GMO detection and assessment centers. With the knowledge of ELISA, ELISA method will be the national standards and international and will be a beneficial supplement for the DNA based GMO detecting methods. [source] Forecasting the Adoption of Genetically Modified Oilseed Rape Prognosen hinsichtlich der Einführung von gentechnisch verändertem Raps Prévisions sur l'adoption de colza transgéniqueEUROCHOICES, Issue 2 2009Gunnar Breustedt Summary Forecasting the Adoption of Genetically Modified Oilseed Rape We explore farmers' willingness to adopt genetically modified oilseed rape prior to its commercial release and estimate the ,demand' for the new technology. The analysis is based upon experiments with arable farmers in Germany who were asked to choose among conventional and GM rapeseed varieties with different characteristics. Our analysis has shown that ex ante GM adoption decisions are driven by profit expectations and personal as well as farm characteristics. Monetary and technological determinants such as the gross margin advantage of GM oilseed rape varieties, expected liability from cross pollination and restricted flexibility in returning to conventional oilseed rape growing affect the willingness to adopt GM rape in the expected directions. The results further indicate that neighbourhood effects and public attitudes matter a lot, such that individual farmers may not feel entirely free in their technology choice. Our demand simulations suggest that monopolistic seed prices would be set at between ,50 and ,100 per hectare, leaving farmers with a small share of the GM rent. This raises the question as to whether the farmers surveyed would actually benefit from the approval of GM rape varieties if the technology were to be provided by a single firm. Nous explorons le consentement des agriculteurs à utiliser du colza transgénique avant sa mise en marché et estimons la demande de cette nouvelle technologie. L'analyse se fonde sur des expériences menées auprès de cultivateurs allemands à qui l'on a demandé de choisir entre des variétés de colza conventionnelles et transgéniques aux caractéristiques différentes. Notre analyse a montré que les décisions a priori concernant l'adoption de variétés transgéniques sont fonction des profits attendus et des caractéristiques de l'agriculteur et de l'exploitation. Les facteurs financiers et technologiques comme les avantages des variétés de colza transgénique en termes de marge brute, ainsi que les risques possibles de fertilisation croisée et les contraintes relatives au retour vers des cultures de colza conventionnelles ont les effets attendus sur le consentement à adopter des variétés transgéniques. Les résultats montrent également que les effets de voisinage et l'attitude du public comptent beaucoup, de sorte que les agriculteurs individuels pourraient ne pas se sentir complètement libres de choisir leur technologie. Nos simulations sur la demande semblent indiquer que les prix des semences en situation de monopole seraient fixés entre 50 et 100 , par hectare, ce qui laisserait aux agriculteurs une faible part de la rente transgénique. Cela soulève la question de savoir si les agriculteurs de l'enquête tireraient vraiment avantage de l'approbation de variétés de colza transgéniques si la technologie n'était fournie que par une seule compagnie. Wir untersuchen die Bereitschaft von Landwirten, gentechnisch veränderten Raps einzuführen, bevor dieser auf den Markt gebracht wird, und schätzen die ,Nachfrage' nach dieser neuen Technologie ein. Unsere Analyse stützt sich auf Versuche mit Ackerbauern in Deutschland, bei denen sich die Landwirte zwischen herkömmlichen und gentechnisch veränderten Rapssorten mit verschiedenen Eigenschaften entscheiden mussten. Unsere Analyse zeigt, dass ex ante die Entscheidungen über die Einführung von gentechnisch verändertem Raps aufgrund von Gewinnerwartungen sowie von persönlichen und betrieblichen Charakteristika getroffen werden. Monetäre und technologische Bestimmungsgrößen wie z.B. der Vorsprung des gentechnisch veränderten Raps beim Deckungsbeitrag, die erwartete Haftbarkeit bei Fremdbestäubung sowie die nur eingeschränkte Flexibilität, zum herkömmlichen Rapsanbau zurückkehren zu können, beeinflussen erwartungsgemäß die Bereitschaft, gentechnisch veränderten Raps anzubauen. Desweiteren zeigen die Ergebnisse, dass Nachbarschaftseffekte und öffentliche Meinungen eine große Rolle spielen, so dass sich einige Landwirte womöglich bei der Wahl der Technologie in ihrer Entscheidungsfreiheit eingeschränkt fühlen. Unsere Nachfragesimulationen deuten darauf hin, dass sich monopolistische Saatgutpreise zwischen EUR 50 und EUR 100 pro Hektar bewegen würden, so dass den Landwirten ein kleiner Teil der ökonomischen Rente der GV-Technologie verbliebe. Dies wirft die Frage auf, ob die betrachteten Landwirte überhaupt von der Zulassung der gentechnisch veränderten Rapssorten profitieren würden, wenn die Technologie nur von einem einzigen Unternehmen angeboten würde. [source] Effects of Clothing and Behavior on Perceptions Concerning an Alleged Date RapeFAMILY & CONSUMER SCIENCES RESEARCH JOURNAL, Issue 3 2000Kim K. P. Johnson The use of schemata in social cognition was the theoretical framework for this quasiexperimental study that investigated the relative effect of clothing, behavior, and participants' sex on perceptions surrounding an alleged date rape. A convenience sample of 368 individuals (men = 160, women = 208) read vignettes that manipulated the independent variables in a description of a date. After reading the vignettes, participants responded on Likert-type scales to questions measuring their perceptions, including whether or not a rape had occurred. Participants were asked to provide reasons for each of their responses. Data were analyzed by using multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs), analyses of variance (ANOVAs), and qualitative techniques. Although the victim's clothing did not result in significant differences, the victim's behavior and participant's sex were statistically significant influences on participants' perceptions. [source] The Perils of the Back Seat: Date Rape, Race and Gender in 1950s AmericaGENDER & HISTORY, Issue 1 2008Lisa Lindquist Dorr Dating among white American teenagers in the 1950s caused parents considerable concern, as it represented disturbing developments in sexual expectations. While the rhetoric surrounding marriage celebrated traditional gender roles and monogamy, Americans bemoaned social and moral decay, caused in part by women's encroachment on male prerogatives. Sexual experience for boys increasingly became a defining gender characteristic and a means of achieving manhood as well. Ideas about proper marital norms and studies of dating practices among young people naturalised male aggression as proof of masculinity, which made girls, even ,respectable ones', vulnerable to violence from their dates. As teens' acceptance of going steady became more widespread, older racialised narratives of sexual danger evolved to incorporate new dating trends. Whereas American, and especially southern white, women knew the dangers of the supposed ,black beast rapist', they learnt during the 1950s that a special danger could confront them in the back seat of cars, despite the presence of their white, male date. Even with a white protector, white women remained vulnerable to violence on dates, whether from black men or from their white date. As dating conventions loosened, white women found that that the perils of the back seat only increased. [source] How Should We Look at Rape in Early America?HISTORY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 3 2006Sharon Block While rape may not have affected events associated with traditional linear histories, sexual assaults were regular features of early American life that affected individuals and society at large. But how should historians determine the influence of rape on early America? Based on nearly one thousand incidents of possible sexual coercion and hundreds of extra-legal commentaries on rape, this article explore how early Americans discussed rape and what impact it may have had on their lives. Attending to the micro and the macro influences of rape can help historians understand early Americans' worlds and relationships to one another. [source] Rape as an Essentially Contested ConceptHYPATIA, Issue 2 2001ERIC REITAN Because "rape" has such a powerful appraisive meaning, how one defines the term has normative significance. Those who define rape rigidly so as to exclude contemporary feminist understandings are therefore seeking to silence some moral perspectives "by definition." I argue that understanding rape as an essentially contested concept allows the concept sufficient flexibility to permit open moral discourse, while at the same time preserving a core meaning that can frame the discourse. [source] Foucault, Rape, and the Construction of the Feminine BodyHYPATIA, Issue 1 2000ANN J. CAHILL In 1977, Michel Foucault suggested that legal approaches to rape define it as merely an act of violence, not of sexuality, and therefore not distinct from other types of assaults. I argue that rape can not be considered merely an act of violence because it is instrumental in the construction of the distinctly feminine body. Insofar as the threat of rape is ineluctably, although not determinately, associated with the development of feminine bodily comportment, rape itself holds a host of bodily and sexually specific meanings. [source] Rape in the Eighteenth-Century Metropolis: Part 2JOURNAL FOR EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY STUDIES, Issue 1 2006Gregory Durston First page of article [source] Forecasting the Adoption of GM Oilseed Rape: Evidence from a Discrete Choice Experiment in GermanyJOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 2 2008Gunnar Breustedt C42; C81; Q12; Q16 Abstract This paper explores farmers' willingness to adopt genetically modified (GM) oilseed rape prior to its commercial release and estimates the ,demand' for the new technology. The analysis is based upon choice experiments with 202 German arable farmers. A multinomial probit estimation reveals that GM attributes such as gross margin, expected liability from cross pollination, or flexibility in returning to conventional oilseed rape significantly affect the likelihood of adoption. Neighbouring farmers' attitudes towards GM cropping and a number of farmer and farm characteristics were also found to be significant determinants of prospective adoption. Demand simulations suggest that adoption rates are very sensitive to the profit difference between GM and non-GM rape varieties. A monopolistic seed price would substantially reduce demand for the new technology. A monopolistic seed supplier would reap between 45% and 80% of the GM rent, and the deadweight loss of the monopoly would range between 15% and 30% of that rent. The remaining rent for farmers may be too small to outweigh possible producer price discounts resulting from the costs of segregating GM and non-GM oilseed rape along the supply chain. [source] Effects of 15N Split-application on Soil and Fertiliser N Uptake of Barley, Oilseed Rape and Wheat in Different Cropping SystemsJOURNAL OF AGRONOMY AND CROP SCIENCE, Issue 1 2007K. Sieling Abstract In intensive farming systems, farmers split up and apply the N fertilization to winter cereals and oilseed rape (OSR) at several dates to meet the need of the crop more precisely. Our objective was to determine how prior fertilizer N application as slurry and/or mineral N affects contributions of fertilizer- and soil-derived N to N uptake of barley (1997), oilseed rape (OSR; 1998) and wheat (1999). In addition, residual fertilizer N effects were observed in the subsequent crop. Since autumn 1991, slurry (none, slurry in autumn, in spring, in autumn plus in spring) and mineral N fertilizer (0, 12 and 24 g N m,2) were applied annually. Each year, the treatments were located on the same plots. In 1997,1999, the splitting rates of the mineral N fertilization were labelled with 15N. Non-fertilizer N uptake was estimated from the total N uptake and the fertilizer 15N uptake. All three crops utilized the splitting rates differently depending on the time of application. Uptake of N derived from the first N rate applied at the beginning of spring growth was poorer than that from the second splitting rate applied at stem elongation (cereals) or third splitting rate applied at ear emergence or bud formation (all three crops). In contrast, N applied later in the growing season was taken up more quickly, resulting in higher fertilizer N-use efficiency. Mineral N fertilization of 24 g N m,2 increased significantly non-fertilizer N uptake of barley and OSR at most of the sampling dates during the growing season. In cereals, slurry changed the contribution of non-fertilizer N to the grain N content only if applied in spring, while OSR utilized more autumn slurry N. In OSR and wheat, only small residual effects occurred. The results indicate that 7 years of varying N fertilization did not change the contribution of soil N to crop N uptake. [source] Effect of Timing and Nitrogen Fertilizer Application on Winter Oilseed Rape (Brassica napus L.). I. Growth Dynamics and Seed YieldJOURNAL OF AGRONOMY AND CROP SCIENCE, Issue 5 2004P. Bar Abstract The field experiments conducted on the grey-brown podzolic soil in the four growing seasons (1998,2001) at Krzeslice Farm, central-western Poland comprised seven fertilization variants: 80NF + 80CAN; 80CAN + 80CAN; 80AN + 80AN; 80NF + 50CAN + 30CN; 80CAN + 50CAN +30CN; 80AN + 50AN + 30CN (where NF , nitrofos NPK; CAN , calcium-ammonium nitrate; AN , ammonium nitrate; CN , calcium nitrate) and control (without N) applied in split rates at the beginning of spring regrowth (80 kg N ha,1), stem elongation (80 or 50) and flower buds visible stages (30). The yielding effect of tested fertilization variants was significant in comparison with the control (2.24 t ha,1). The highest mean seed yield (3.64 t ha,1) was collected from 80AN + 80AN and 80CAN + 80CAN variants. Mean values of 4 years indicate that the second N rate division (80 + 50 + 30) decreased yield, although not significantly in comparison with these two N treatments. Plants grown on these treatments have developed different patterns of growth to yield the seeds. These patterns were characterized by very high crop growth rate during flowering (above 21 g m,2 day,1) and negative at maturation (down to ,2.5 g m,2 day,1). Plants fertilized with ammonium nitrate (80AN + 80AN) reached maximum growth rate earlier (65 days), which lasted longer (20 days) than plants fertilized with calcium-ammonium nitrate (71 days lasting 17.5 days). Plants grown on the control treatment reached the highest crop growth rate within 79 days (14.8 g m,2 day,1), which lasted 15 days. [source] Attributions of Responsibility for Rape: Differences Across Familiarity of Situation, Gender, and Acceptance of Rape Myths,JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 7 2008Peter A. Newcombe In 2004 in Australia, controversy over the alleged involvement of elite footballers in incidents of sexual assault highlighted a tendency to denigrate the victims and excuse the perpetrators. To investigate whether rape myths were prevalent enough to explain this public response, 102 university students were surveyed for their beliefs and determinations of blame in rape situations. Although there was a gender difference in the rates of rape myth acceptance, with males more likely to accept these beliefs, these were not evident in decisions about victim blame or perpetrator blame. However, males and high rape myth acceptors were significantly more likely to minimize the seriousness of the rape situation. These effects increased with familiarity depicted in the situation. [source] The Effect of Victims' Social Support on Attributions of Blame in Female and Male RapeJOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 7 2005Irina Anderson The effects of perceived social support of the victim, victim gender, and participant gender on attributions of blame in rape were examined. The impact of attitudes toward gender roles was also investigated for their mediational role between participant gender and blame. Participants (N= 121) read a report of an incident of rape and evaluated the victim and the perpetrator. Two ANOVAs showed that social support and participant gender influenced blame attributed to the victim, while victim gender influenced blame attributed to the perpetrator. Socially supported victims were blamed less than were unsupported victims. Men were more blaming of rape victims than were women, but further analyses showed this was mediated by attitudes toward gender roles. Men held significantly more traditional attitudes toward gender roles than did women, and this accounted for the effect of participant gender on victim perceptions. The perpetrator of male rape was blamed less than the perpetrator of female rape. Findings are discussed in terms of the differential attributional mechanisms that may underpin men's and women's reasoning about different types of rape. [source] A Crime against Women: Calhoun on the Wrongness of RapeJOURNAL OF SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY, Issue 3 2000Keith Burgess-Jackson First page of article [source] Rape and Rape Avoidance in Ethno-National Conflicts: Sexual Violence in Liminalized StatesAMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Issue 1 2000Robert M. Hayden Mass rape is a common but not universal occurrence in ethnic or nationalist conflicts. Using South Asian and Bosnian data, in this article I argue that mass rape is likely when such conflicts take place during the partition of a territory and its population, when the state itself is liminal, both its territory and control over it uncertain. In conflicts in which the state is not itself threatened, and thus groups feel that they will continue to coexist, there is some evidence that rape is avoided, even when murder is accepted. However, such instances of rape avoidance are largely unstudied, in large part because of the focus on the violence of mass rape. Further, this focus on violence tends toward classifying all sexual relations between groups whose members have participated in mass rape as improper, thus depriving women who may not wish to rejoin their natal groups of agency, [rape, genocide, violence, India, Yugoslavia/Bosnia] [source] Sexual Violence and the Silent Reaction Rape: Implications for NursesNURSING FOR WOMENS HEALTH, Issue 2 2008CNS-C, FN-CSA, Mary L. Padden MSN First page of article [source] Factors associated with women's risk of rape in the military environment,AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, Issue 3 2003Anne G. Sadler R.N. Abstract Background Health hazards specific to women workers have not been adequately documented. This study assessed military environmental factors associated with rape occurring during military service, while controlling for pre-military trauma experiences. Methods A national cross-sectional survey of 558 women veterans serving in Vietnam or in subsequent eras was obtained through structured telephone interviews. Results Rape was reported by 28% (n,=,151) of participants, with consistent rates found across eras. Military environmental factors were associated with increased likelihood of rape, including: sexual harassment allowed by officers (P,<,0.0001), unwanted sexual advances on-duty (P,<,0.0001) and in sleeping quarters (P,<,0.0001). Conclusion Violence towards military women has identifiable risk factors. Work and living environments where unwanted sexual behaviors occurred were associated with increased odds of rape. Officer leadership played an important role in the military environment and safety of women. Assailant alcohol and/or drug abuse at time of rape was notable. Interventions and policies based on modifiable environmental risk factors are needed to increase protection for women in the workplace. Am. J. Ind. Med. 43:262,273, 2003. Published 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Titus Andronicus and the cultural politics of translation in early modern EnglandRENAISSANCE STUDIES, Issue 3 2005Liz Oakley-Brown This essay argues that the material invocation of Ovid's Metamorphoses in The Most Lamentable Roman Tragedie of Titus Andronicus (c. 1594) initiates an interrogation of the cultural politics of translation in early modern England. By comparing Shakespeare's play with Edward Ravenscroft's seventeenth-century revision, Titus Andronicus, or the Rape of Lavinia (first performed 1678, first published 1687), the discussion focuses on ways in which the processes and products of translation construct the gendered subject. [source] Framing Rape: An Examination of Public Relations Strategies in the Duke University Lacrosse CaseCOMMUNICATION, CULTURE & CRITIQUE, Issue 2 2008Barbara Barnett In Spring 2006, three White Duke University lacrosse players were charged with raping a Black female student from nearby North Carolina Central University at an off-campus party. Reports of the alleged crime captured news media attention, prompting a public relations campaign by Duke to maintain its image as an elite educational institution and an academic powerhouse. During the 15 months the charges were pending, the university framed its discussion in terms of reason versus emotion, with the university positioning itself as a calm voice amid diatribe and as a victim of unfair and untrue media reports. The charges ultimately were dropped. Although Duke was adept at speaking about its own integrity, it did little to discuss larger issues at play, such as sexual objectification of women, the risks of sexual violence on college campuses, and the perceptions of privilege in U.S. college athletics. In sum, Duke faced a public relations challenge that involved allegations of rape but spent little time actually discussing rape. [source] Rapes Without Rapists: Consent and Reasonable MistakeNOUS, Issue 2001Douglas N. Husak First page of article [source] Alcohol expectancies in convicted rapists and child molestersCRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR AND MENTAL HEALTH, Issue 2 2001Anu S. Aromäki PhD Background Previous findings suggest that cognitive factors and expectancies related to drinking can mediate subjective sexual arousal as well as aggression in men. Our aim was to investigate the drinking habits and alcohol-related expectancies that might predispose men to sexually aggress in two groups of sexual offenders. Method Men convicted of rape (n = 10) were compared with men convicted of child molesting (n = 10) and with control subjects (n = 31). Current drinking habits (while not in prison) were assessed by self-report, and the extent of alcohol abuse was mapped by the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST; Selzer, 1971). Cognitive expectancies related to alcohol use were explored by the standard Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire (AEQ; Brown et al., 1980). Results The majority of the men who committed rape (70%) but only a third of the men convicted of child molesting were diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. Alcohol abuse was common in men convicted of both rape and child molesting and the men convicted of rape expected significantly more positive effects from drinking than the control group. Both sex offender groups were the only groups to express significant alcohol-related cognitive expectancies linked to arousal and aggression. Expectancy patterns were directly linked to the antisocial personality characteristics. Conclusion Alcohol abuse is common in men who commit both rape and child molesting. Heavy drinking and the anticipation of alcohol effects such as sexual enhancement, arousal and aggression may facilitate sexual aggression in offenders with antisocial personality disorder. Copyright © 2001 Whurr Publishers Ltd. [source] Effects of resource availability and social parasite invasion on field colonies of Bombus terrestrisECOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 3 2008CLAIRE CARVELL Abstract 1.,The survival, growth and fecundity of bumblebee colonies are affected by the availability of food resources and presence of natural enemies. Social parasites (cuckoo bumblebees and other bumblebees) can invade colonies and reduce or halt successful reproduction; however, little is known about the frequency of invasion or what environmental factors determine their success in the field. 2.,We used 48 experimental colonies of the bumblebee Bombus terrestris, and manipulated both resource availability at the landscape scale and date of colony founding, to explore invasion rates of social parasites and their effect on the performance of host colonies. 3.,Proximity to abundant forage resources (fields of flowering oilseed rape) and early colony founding significantly increased the probability of parasite invasion and thus offset the potential positive effects of these factors on bumblebee colony performance. 4.,The study concludes that optimal colony location may be among intermediate levels of resources and supports schemes designed to increase the heterogeneity of forage resources for bumblebees across agricultural landscapes. [source] Mass flowering crops enhance pollinator densities at a landscape scaleECOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 11 2003Catrin Westphal Abstract To counteract the decline of pollinators in Europe, conservation strategies traditionally focus on enhancing the local availability of semi-natural habitats, as supported by the European Union's Common Agriculture Policy. In contrast, we show that densities of bumblebees, an important pollinator group in agroecosystems, were not determined by the proportion of semi-natural habitats in agricultural landscapes. Instead, bumblebee densities were positively related to the availability of highly rewarding mass flowering crops (i.e. oilseed rape) in the landscape. In addition, mass flowering crops were only effective determinants of bumblebee densities when grown extensively at the landscape scale, but not at smaller local scales. Therefore, future conservation measures should consider the importance of mass flowering crops and the need for management schemes at landscape level to sustain vital pollination services in agroecosystems. [source] Production of PHB from Crude GlycerolENGINEERING IN LIFE SCIENCES (ELECTRONIC), Issue 5 2007G. Mothes Abstract Crude glycerol , a by-product of the large scale production of diesel oil from rape , is examined for its possible use as a cheap feedstock for the biotechnological synthesis of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB). The glycerol samples of various manufacturers differ in their contamination with salts (NaCl or K2SO4), methanol or fatty acids. At high cell density fermentation these pollutants could possibly accumulate to inhibiting concentrations. The bacteria used were Paracoccus denitrificans and Cupriavidus necator JMP 134, which accumulate PHB from pure glycerol to a content of 70 % of cell dry mass. When using crude glycerol containing 5.5 % NaCl, a reduced PHB content of 48 % was observed at a bacterial dry mass of 50 g/L. Furthermore the PHB yield coefficient was reduced, obviously due to osmoregulation. The effect of glycerol contaminated with K2SO4 was less pronounced. The molecular weight of PHB produced with P. denitrificans or C. necator from crude glycerol varies between 620000 and 750000 g/mol which allows the processing by common techniques of the polymer industry. [source] Perspectives of multi-modal contribution of honeybee resources to our lifeENTOMOLOGICAL RESEARCH, Issue 2008Hidehiro HOSHIBA Abstract The European honeybee, Apis mellifera, has been introduced to all continents and their products like honey, propolis, royal jelly and beeswax are well known. However, its contribution is not restricted to such direct products but extends into a much wider area. For example, the economic value of seed production by pollination exceeds the above-mentioned bee products. The application of F1 hybrid is increased to as much as 70% of commercial crops and flowers in Japan and honeybees are important pollinators in the F1 seed production. Incorporation into the large-scale biodiesel fuel production system by culturing rape and sunflower seeds etc. is relied on because it is good to construct possible zero-emission systems that reduce carbon dioxide and increase the rich by-products like honey and royal jelly. Bees' higher brain function and sophisticated social system of the colony opens new perspectives as a model system. Their individual ability to recognize even abstract concepts is comparable to that of higher primates. Rats or mice have no such ability. High performance learning ability of bees associated with proboscis extension reflex can be used to detect drugs at the airport. Function of the colony, on the other hand, is an excellent model for social physiology or a self-organization system. After the whole genome of A. mellifera was read in 2006 by the world consortium, consisting of more than 90 institutions from all over the world, many molecular biologists are coming into bee world. Nobody has yet succeeded in the challenge to make transgenic honeybee, so far, because of the difficulty in controlling the reproductive system headed by the queen. However, if someone succeeded in a breakthrough we will have stingless honeybees and a disease-resistant strain in the future. [source] Pseudomonas community structure and antagonistic potential in the rhizosphere: insights gained by combining phylogenetic and functional gene-based analysesENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 9 2007Rodrigo Costa Summary The Pseudomonas community structure and antagonistic potential in the rhizospheres of strawberry and oilseed rape (host plants of the fungal phytopathogen Verticillium dahliae) were assessed. The use of a new PCR-DGGE system, designed to target Pseudomonas -specific gacA gene fragments in environmental DNA, circumvented common biases of 16S rRNA gene-based DGGE analyses and proved to be a reliable tool to unravel the diversity of uncultured Pseudomonas in bulk and rhizosphere soils. Pseudomonas -specific gacA fingerprints of total-community (TC) rhizosphere DNA were surprisingly diverse, plant-specific and differed markedly from those of the corresponding bulk soils. By combining multiple culture-dependent and independent surveys, a group of Pseudomonas isolates antagonistic towards V. dahliae was shown to be genotypically conserved, to carry the phlD biosynthetic locus (involved in the biosynthesis of 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol , 2,4-DAPG), and to correspond to a dominant and highly frequent Pseudomonas population in the rhizosphere of field-grown strawberries planted at three sites in Germany which have different land use histories. This population belongs to the Pseudomonas fluorescens phylogenetic lineage and showed closest relatedness to P. fluorescens strain F113 (97% gacA gene sequence identity in 492-bp sequences), a biocontrol agent and 2,4-DAPG producer. Partial gacA gene sequences derived from isolates, clones of the strawberry rhizosphere and DGGE bands retrieved in this study represent previously undescribed Pseudomonas gacA gene clusters as revealed by phylogenetic analysis. [source] Cultivation-independent analysis of Pseudomonas species in soil and in the rhizosphere of field-grown Verticillium dahliae host plantsENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 12 2006Rodrigo Costa Summary Despite their importance for rhizosphere functioning, rhizobacterial Pseudomonas spp. have been mainly studied in a cultivation-based manner. In this study a cultivation-independent method was used to determine to what extent the factors plant species, sampling site and year-to-year variation influence Pseudomonas community structure in bulk soil and in the rhizosphere of two Verticillium dahliae host plants, oilseed rape and strawberry. Community DNA was extracted from bulk and rhizosphere soil samples of flowering plants collected at three different sites in Germany in two consecutive years. Pseudomonas community structure and diversity were assessed using a polymerase chain reaction denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) system to fingerprint Pseudomonas -specific 16S rRNA gene fragments amplified from community DNA. Dominant and differentiating DGGE bands were excised from the gels, cloned and sequenced. The factors sampling site, plant species and year-to-year variation were shown to significantly influence the community structure of Pseudomonas in rhizosphere soils. The composition of Pseudomonas 16S rRNA gene fragments in the rhizosphere differed from that in the adjacent bulk soil and the rhizosphere effect tended to be plant-specific. The clone sequences of most dominant bands analysed belonged to the Pseudomonas fluorescens lineage and showed closest similarity to culturable Pseudomonas known for displaying antifungal properties. This report provides a better understanding of how different factors drive Pseudomonas community structure and diversity in bulk and rhizosphere soils. [source] Summary of findings from a participant country pollen beetle questionnaireEPPO BULLETIN, Issue 1 2008D. M. Richardson A questionnaire was sent to all participating countries to gain some background information on rape growing and on pollen beetle (Meligethes aeneus). Information was sought on the use of thresholds, the availability of active substances and on the year in which resistance, if present, had been observed. A summary of the main findings of the questionnaire are presented. In total 20 countries responded and resistance in pollen beetle was reported in 12 of those countries. Information presented shows the range of active substances and doses recommended, frequency of use of insecticides on rape, and year when resistance was reported. [source] Forecasting the Adoption of Genetically Modified Oilseed Rape Prognosen hinsichtlich der Einführung von gentechnisch verändertem Raps Prévisions sur l'adoption de colza transgéniqueEUROCHOICES, Issue 2 2009Gunnar Breustedt Summary Forecasting the Adoption of Genetically Modified Oilseed Rape We explore farmers' willingness to adopt genetically modified oilseed rape prior to its commercial release and estimate the ,demand' for the new technology. The analysis is based upon experiments with arable farmers in Germany who were asked to choose among conventional and GM rapeseed varieties with different characteristics. Our analysis has shown that ex ante GM adoption decisions are driven by profit expectations and personal as well as farm characteristics. Monetary and technological determinants such as the gross margin advantage of GM oilseed rape varieties, expected liability from cross pollination and restricted flexibility in returning to conventional oilseed rape growing affect the willingness to adopt GM rape in the expected directions. The results further indicate that neighbourhood effects and public attitudes matter a lot, such that individual farmers may not feel entirely free in their technology choice. Our demand simulations suggest that monopolistic seed prices would be set at between ,50 and ,100 per hectare, leaving farmers with a small share of the GM rent. This raises the question as to whether the farmers surveyed would actually benefit from the approval of GM rape varieties if the technology were to be provided by a single firm. Nous explorons le consentement des agriculteurs à utiliser du colza transgénique avant sa mise en marché et estimons la demande de cette nouvelle technologie. L'analyse se fonde sur des expériences menées auprès de cultivateurs allemands à qui l'on a demandé de choisir entre des variétés de colza conventionnelles et transgéniques aux caractéristiques différentes. Notre analyse a montré que les décisions a priori concernant l'adoption de variétés transgéniques sont fonction des profits attendus et des caractéristiques de l'agriculteur et de l'exploitation. Les facteurs financiers et technologiques comme les avantages des variétés de colza transgénique en termes de marge brute, ainsi que les risques possibles de fertilisation croisée et les contraintes relatives au retour vers des cultures de colza conventionnelles ont les effets attendus sur le consentement à adopter des variétés transgéniques. Les résultats montrent également que les effets de voisinage et l'attitude du public comptent beaucoup, de sorte que les agriculteurs individuels pourraient ne pas se sentir complètement libres de choisir leur technologie. Nos simulations sur la demande semblent indiquer que les prix des semences en situation de monopole seraient fixés entre 50 et 100 , par hectare, ce qui laisserait aux agriculteurs une faible part de la rente transgénique. Cela soulève la question de savoir si les agriculteurs de l'enquête tireraient vraiment avantage de l'approbation de variétés de colza transgéniques si la technologie n'était fournie que par une seule compagnie. Wir untersuchen die Bereitschaft von Landwirten, gentechnisch veränderten Raps einzuführen, bevor dieser auf den Markt gebracht wird, und schätzen die ,Nachfrage' nach dieser neuen Technologie ein. Unsere Analyse stützt sich auf Versuche mit Ackerbauern in Deutschland, bei denen sich die Landwirte zwischen herkömmlichen und gentechnisch veränderten Rapssorten mit verschiedenen Eigenschaften entscheiden mussten. Unsere Analyse zeigt, dass ex ante die Entscheidungen über die Einführung von gentechnisch verändertem Raps aufgrund von Gewinnerwartungen sowie von persönlichen und betrieblichen Charakteristika getroffen werden. Monetäre und technologische Bestimmungsgrößen wie z.B. der Vorsprung des gentechnisch veränderten Raps beim Deckungsbeitrag, die erwartete Haftbarkeit bei Fremdbestäubung sowie die nur eingeschränkte Flexibilität, zum herkömmlichen Rapsanbau zurückkehren zu können, beeinflussen erwartungsgemäß die Bereitschaft, gentechnisch veränderten Raps anzubauen. Desweiteren zeigen die Ergebnisse, dass Nachbarschaftseffekte und öffentliche Meinungen eine große Rolle spielen, so dass sich einige Landwirte womöglich bei der Wahl der Technologie in ihrer Entscheidungsfreiheit eingeschränkt fühlen. Unsere Nachfragesimulationen deuten darauf hin, dass sich monopolistische Saatgutpreise zwischen EUR 50 und EUR 100 pro Hektar bewegen würden, so dass den Landwirten ein kleiner Teil der ökonomischen Rente der GV-Technologie verbliebe. Dies wirft die Frage auf, ob die betrachteten Landwirte überhaupt von der Zulassung der gentechnisch veränderten Rapssorten profitieren würden, wenn die Technologie nur von einem einzigen Unternehmen angeboten würde. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||