CLASHES IN CONFINEMENT: MEN’S GENDERED EXPERIENCES WITH CONFLICT IN CANADIAN PRISONS

This dissertation presents the results of in-depth qualitative interviews with twenty-three formerly imprisoned men regarding their lived experience with prison conflict and the pain of incarceration. The results suggest that prison is a gendered ‘total institution’ (Goffman 1961). The pains that men experience in prison are uniquely gendered in that the deprivations imposed by incarceration– deprivation of autonomy, liberty, goods and services, heterosexual sex, and security (Sykes 1958) – in the reverse, define idealized masculinity as it is currently socially constructed: self-reliance, independence, toughness or invulnerability, material and economic success, and heterosexual prowess. From these shared deprivations emerges a gendered code of conduct that perpetuates a hierarchy among incarcerated men by constructing violent masculinity as a subcultural norm. The results suggest that the gender code in prison represents a set of rules that create opportunities for men to police each other’s gender performance and make claims to masculine statuses. Because status is inextricably tied to survival in this context, many men feel pressured to perform violent masculinities in prison despite privately subscribing to a non-violent sense of self-concept. The results suggest that violence is an expressive and instrumental resource for men in prison. A gender theory of prison violence, methodological findings, theoretical implications, ethical considerations and the short and long term aftermath of violent prison conflict are discussed.

Preliminary characterisation of the surface of cartilage following exposure to saturated and unsaturated synthetic lipids

Articular cartilage is covered by a microscopic structure known as surface amorphous layer. This surface structure is often the first victim of attack during cartilage degeneration, thereby resulting in a gross impairment in cartilage function such as lubrication and load bearing. We hypothesize that incubation of degraded cartilage in solutions of different species of synthetic surface active phospholipids (saturated and unsaturated species) can remodel this lost surface structure. To test this hypothesis, the structural configuration of the surface of articular cartilage was studied and characterised with the lipid filled surface amorphous layer intact using the AFM. The results were then compared with those obtained following a systematic removal (delipidization) and replacement (relipidization) of this layer. Our results show that the unsaturated surfactant partially restored the lost surface amorphous layer while the saturated surfactant specie settled on the surface due to its poor solubility in aqueous solution.

Continuum of police crime : an empirical study of court cases

The great majority of police officers are committed to honourable and competent public service and consistently demonstrate integrity and accountability in carrying out the often difficult, complex and sometimes dangerous, activities involved in policing by consent. However, in every police agency there exists an element of dishonesty, lack of professionalism and criminal behaviour. This article is based on archival research of criminal behaviour in the Norwegian police force. A total of 60 police employees were prosecuted in court because of misconduct and crime from 2005 to 2010. Court cases were coded as two potential predictors of court sentence in terms of imprisonment days, ie, type of deviance and level of deviance. Categories of police crime and levels were organised according to a conceptual framework developed for assessing and managing police deviance. Empirical findings support the hypothesis that as the seriousness of police crime increases in breadth and depth so also does the severity of the court sentence as measured by time in prison.

Reconfigurations of Penality: The Ongoing Case of Women's Imprisonment

Illustrating their arguments with empirical examples drawn from two recent research projects—one cross-European, the other Scottish—the authors argue that the new multi-layering of carceral forms in both prison and the community is one major, but under-explored, cause of continuing increases in women’s prison populations. Whether it is because sentencers believe the reintegration industry’s rhetoric about the effectiveness of in-prison programmes in ‘reintegrating’ ex-prisoners, or whether, conversely, it is because sentencers are reluctant to award transcarceral and over-demanding community sentences which set women up to fail, the result is the same—more women go to prison.

The Chidiac case : another miscarriage of justice?

On 25 March 1997 the Witness program on Channel 7 screened a story about the conviction of Neil Chidiac in February 1989 for conspiracy to import a trafficable quantity of heroin in NSW. The program questioned the justice of Chidiac's conviction and filmed his recent release from prison on parole after serving over eight years in prison, still protesting his innocence. Witness featured an interview with the chief Crown witness against Chidiac, Alfred Oti, in which Oti completely repudiated the testimony he gave at the trial and admitted to lying at the behest of the police in order to secure advantages for himself...

Genia und Guenter Nobel Haftbriefe.

Collection of letters exchanged between Genia and Guenter Nobel during their imprisonment, compiled by the Gedenkstaette Deutscher Widerstand Berlin to accompany the permanent exhibit "Widerstand gegen den Nationalsozialismus"

"Miksi lehmät pitää tappaa?" : Etnografinen tutkimus 2000-luvun alun huumemarkkinoista Helsingissä

The present study focuses on the drug market in Helsinki in the early 2000s, mainly on the dealing in and use of amphetamines, cannabis and the pharmaceutical Subutex. The drug market is usually analysed into upper, middle and lower level markets. These levels are very different in terms of their operating practices, although there may be some mingling. The present study is mainly concerned with drug dealers and users in the lower and middle level markets. Operations also differ depending on whether the dealing involves just one drug or several. Dealing in and using Subutex is a very different business from dealing and using home grown cannabis, for instance: both the customers and the dealers are mostly quite different. The study material was mostly collected through ethnographical field work, including observations and interviews. Interviews with officials and minutes of pre-trial investigations concerning aggravated drug crimes are also included. The study discusses the roles of dealers on the various levels of the drug market in Helsinki and traces activities at various levels. Ethnographical methods are employed to observe day-to-day drug dealing and use and leisure pursuits in private homes and in public premises. The study takes note of the risks inherent in drug dealing and estimates what kind of drug dealers can last the longest on the market without the authorities intervening. At the same time, the study discusses how small groups on the middle and lower levels of the drug market avoid control measures undertaken by the authorities and how the authorities address these groups. Moreover, the study discusses what the drug market is like in prison from the perspective of a drug dealer sent to prison, what their everyday lives are like after release, and how much money dealers on various levels of the drug market make. The study demonstrates that drug dealing in Helsinki, whether we consider the very top or the very bottom of the pyramid, is a far from rational pursuit. The undertakings are not very systematic; they are more a reaction to intoxicant addiction( s) and other problems caused by other dealers, the dealers own actions and the actions of the police. The everyday lives of drug dealers are often chaos only alleviated by drug use in the company of buyers or alone. If a drug dealer uses drugs himself/herself, things become even more complicated and a vicious circle develops. At the same time, everyday life is certainly exciting, and a drug dealer often has a highly eventful if brief life. Drug dealing is a very masculine pursuit, and there is a sort of macho code governing it, although this does not nearly always work as it should. This macho code, typically for illegal activities, involves the threat of violence as a control measure. Hence the untranslatable slang expression Kill the cows : the Finnish word for calf has the slang meaning snitch or police informant . No more cows, no more calves. But informing on others to the authorities is a fact of life in the drug-dealing world. Contributing factors to being reported to the authorities are the dealer s own mistakes and the actions of other dealers and the police. A determined drug dealer will not be deterred from drug dealing by a prison sentence. However, following time in prison only few dealers manage to gain an income from drug dealing commensurate with its risks.

Relaciones amorosas de pareja en las trayectorias vitales de las mujeres encarceladas

[ES]La tesis doctoral analiza las experiencias amorosas de pareja de mujeres encarceladas, con el doble objetivo de visibilizar a las mujeres presas en el ámbito de las ciencias sociales y de introducir las especificidades de las mujeres encarceladas en los debates sociológicos y feministas acerca del amor. Las escasas aproximaciones al amor entre las mujeres presas han tendido a explicar sus relaciones de pareja desde el concepto de “dependencia emocional”, que, como se muestra en la tesis, presenta dos debilidades básicas, de un lado la tendencia a la psicologización y patologización de cuestiones de claro sustrato social; de otro la homogeneización de experiencias que presentan gran diversidad. Otra debilidad de ciertos análisis sobre las mujeres presas y aquellas excluidas socialmente, es que se han basado en concepciones sexistas acerca de las mujeres transgresoras como “malas mujeres”, por considerar que no cumplen con las expectativas culturales y sociales asociadas a los supuestos atributos de género. Esta tesis doctoral adopta una epistemología basada en la crítica feminista que busca modelos analíticos alejados de los estereotipos y la estigmatización de las mujeres transgresoras. Desde una perspectiva metodológica cualitativa, el trabajo de campo fue desarrollado en la cárcel de Nanclares de Oca (País Vasco) durante el 2008. Desarrollé un trabajo etnográfico de observación participante y entrevistas en profundidad semiestructuradas que elaboraban información sobre aspectos relativos a sus trayectorias de vida (familia de origen, vivienda, empleo, nivel educativo, situación penal y penitenciaria, estado de salud, etc.) y sus experiencias amorosas de pareja. En mi análisis, he rastreado la diversidad y variabilidad de las experiencias amorosas de las mujeres presas, el impacto del encarcelamiento en sus trayectorias amorosas y en la configuración de su intimidad, los elementos que hacen para estas mujeres del amor un “cautiverio”, y al mismo tiempo, las estrategias “liberadoras” que despliegan en sus desarrollos afectivos. El amor puede constituir un cautiverio para las mujeres ya que favorece la acomodación a unos roles de género que definen a las mujeres como dependientes y carentes de libertad. Al mismo tiempo, el amor se puede entender como una “estrategia emocional”, una forma de superar las consecuencias del encierro y de lograr ciertos estándares de “normalización” social, en un contexto en que se encuentran excluidas socialmente y fuertemente estigmatizadas.

Participo que..: desvelando a punição intramuros

Este estudo objetiva refletir, a partir das perspectivas da Sociologia da Prisão e da Sociologia da Punição, sobre as práticas de serviço cotidianas dos agentes penitenciários lotados no Instituto Presídio Hélio Gomes, estabelecimento prisional da Secretaria de Administração Penitenciária do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. Do ponto de vista metodológico, optou-se por usar como fonte de dados primários as comunicações de ocorrências registradas pelos servidores prisionais no Livro de Comunicação de Ocorrências e no Livro de Partes Disciplinares, relativos ao ano de 2004. Em especial, pretende-se observar a) Como, quando e quais são os motivos que levam os servidores prisionais a redigir e aplicar uma sanção disciplinar; b) Como a noção de disciplina prisional é evocada em tais registros, ou seja, o que o agente penitenciário define como sendo um ato indisciplinar nessas comunicações e; c) Qual a funcionalidade do uso da parte disciplinar para a gestão do estabelecimento prisional. A partir dessas questões, e considerando ainda a relação da unidade prisional com o ambiente no qual se encontra inserido, se buscará refletir sobre aspectos contemporâneos do uso da pena de prisão na sociedade brasileira.

Escritas encarceradas: representações do universo prisional feminino nas páginas do jornal da Penitenciária Talavera Bruce

O jornal da Penitenciária Feminina Talavera Bruce, intitulado Só Isso!, produzido no período de 2004 a 2008, constitui objeto e fonte privilegiada nesta dissertação. Na análise do impresso, a metodologia de pesquisa esteve centrada na produção, circulação e recepção do referido jornal, buscando refletir sobre os possíveis sentidos constituídos nas escritas das apenadas, para uma melhor compreensão das práticas cotidianas dessas mulheres, principalmente, no que tange a uma realidade tão específica, fazendo emergir o registro de um modo de vida tão particular. Nesse sentido, busquei compreender o impresso pesquisado em seus destinos e representações mergulhando em nuances e particularidades que o tema comporta, buscando o universo de significados, isto é, a possibilidade de entendimento acerca das relações estabelecidas por esses sujeitos privados liberdade com a escrita na prisão, o que permitiu perceber quem são apenadas, como expressam suas sensibilidades e subjetividades, como vivem, por que escrevem e quais dificuldades enfrentam. Para analisar esse periódico, aproximei-me de fundamentos e de metodologia vinculados à História da Cultura Escrita e também de autores que auxiliaram a problematizar as questões voltadas para as vicissitudes do encarceramento feminino. Sendo assim, a interpretação desenvolvida está alicerçada em autores que apontam e problematizam a importância de compreender a escrita e o seu suporte, estudiosos que discutem as escritas em espaços de confinamento que, via de regra, procuram ocupar o tempo, experimentar a liberdade ou burlar a solidão, além de pesquisadores que ajudam a pensar a escrita de si e suas representações, e outros voltados para a História da Educação que pensam e discutem a importância do impresso enquanto fonte de pesquisa. Tendo em vista o fato desse tema ter uma fronteira tênue entre os campos de pesquisa, dialogo também com antropólogos e sociólogos que trazem dados sistematizados sobre o universo prisional e auxiliam na sua compreensão. O trabalho de pesquisa sobre jornal, representou, portanto, compreender um pouco mais sobre a realidade das mulheres privadas de liberdade, valorizando a escrita oriunda de um contexto em que os rigorosos meios de controle utilizados pela instituição penitenciária acabam por desumanizar os sujeitos apenados. Desta forma, o direito ao ato de escrita e leitura na prisão, torna-se revestido de uma função social e educativa fundamental para a sobrevivência no cárcere. A tentativa dessa pesquisa é, de alguma forma, trazer contribuições que possam refletir em garantia de direitos e oportunidades, possibilitando aos sujeitos encarcerados dignidade e melhores condições de vida.

A (im) possibilidade de ressocialização: representações sociais da ressocialização por meio do estudo da população carcerária masculina no Estado do Rio de Janeiro

A presente dissertação tem por objetivo identificar as representações sociais da ressocialização, por meio da escola, de prisioneiros masculinos de presídios situados no Rio de Janeiro. A legislação brasileira tem, entre seus princípios organizadores, o conceito de ressocialização de prisioneiros, ao estabelecer limites de duração da pena e impedir a pena de morte. Entretanto, ao analisarmos as condições carcerárias existentes neste ideário de ressocialização, verificamos que este ideário não possui e nem produz eficácia. A oferta de educação, para presidiários, ocorreu no Brasil a partir de 1967 e atualmente está em vigor a Lei n 12.433, de 29 de junho de 2011, que estabelece uma correlação entre a educação formal e a remição de pena. A dissertação trata de um breve histórico da educação no sistema penal brasileiro, considerando seus limites e potencialidades. O referencial teórico utilizado foi o da Teoria das Representações Sociais como apresentada por Serge Moscovici (1978) em sua pesquisa original sobre as representações sociais da psicanálise. O referencial teórico adotado permitiu a identificação desta espécie de pensamento social em um grupo de presidiários que frequenta a escola no presídio, priorizando a relação entre escola e ressocialização. Foram entrevistados 80 sujeitos do sexo masculino, em presídios da capital do estado do Rio de Janeiro, com a devida autorização do presídio, da Secretaria de Estado da Educação e com o rigor no cumprimento das normas éticas estabelecidas para pesquisa com humanos, especialmente a garantia de anonimato. A representação de comportamento no presídio resume-se ao conceito de enquadramento, que significa uma série de atitudes e de pensamento que permitem a sobrevivência no interior do presídio. A escola foi compreendida, pelos sujeitos, como instituição também determinada pelo enquadramento. Mesmo a escola tendo sido bem avaliada e apresentando perspectivas de futuro para a ressocialização, os sujeitos consideraram que a família é o principal agente de ressocialização à frente da escola. Consideramos que, para os presidiários, a escola pode representar possibilidades de ressocialização, entretanto deve aprimorar suas atividades para o mundo do trabalho e para a constituição de redes sociais de afinidade, com a família lato sensu dos prisioneiros, para que sua eficácia seja real e potente.

Uma etnografia visual da maternidade na Penitenciária Talavera Bruce

A partir de um estudo etnográfico, pretendemos investigar as representações sobre a gravidez e a maternidade em mulheres que são mães durante o cumprimento da pena na Penitenciária Talavera Bruce, no Rio de Janeiro. Estas mães, que convivem com seus filhos durante seis meses, têm os vínculos interrompidos após o período de amamentação. Todavia, os presídios não são designados para propiciar o vínculo familiar, pois, se pensarmos as prisões como instituições cujas práticas ocorrem à margem da lei e, mais do que isso, que geram atributos estigmatizantes aos sentenciados, é evidente que a presença dessas crianças produz um conflito entre o direito das mesmas ao convívio familiar e as funções punitivas das prisões.

A escola por trás dos muros da prisão: percepções de alunos detentos sobre educação, religião e vida cotidiana

Este estudo procura compreender como os detentos elaboram a vida cotidiana na prisão e, em que medida o acesso aos dispositivos da educação e da religião disponíveis no cárcere podem contribuir para a reintegração social do indivíduo recluso. A pesquisa foi desenvolvida na perspectiva de que a população carcerária é constituída majoritariamente de pessoas marcadas pela vulnerabilidade social e que não tiveram acesso aos direitos fundamentais ao exercício da cidadania. Para estes indivíduos, o espaço escolar é percebido como espaço de sociabilidade e também de oportunidade de mudança, uma vez que, possibilita vislumbrar caminhos alternativos à vida criminal. As observações foram realizadas em quatro escolas localizadas em unidades prisionais do Rio de Janeiro. Trata-se de um estudo de caráter etnográfico que utiliza a narrativa dos presidiários sobre educação e religião como recurso metodológico. Através de depoimentos e entrevistas, procura identificar experiências que produziram significados no contexto das escolas existentes no interior das prisões e que revelam formas de elaboração da vida cotidiana pelos alunos detentos.

瑞香狼毒（Stellera chamaejasme L.）对高寒草甸系统生长和非生长季节碳氮循环的影响及其花粉化感效应

瑞香狼毒（Stellera chamaejasme L.）是瑞香科（Thymelaeaceae）狼毒属的一种多年生野草，有毒。据调查，从20 世纪60 年代开始至今，狼毒在青藏高原东缘的高寒草甸上不断蔓延、密度不断变大，在一些地段甚至成为优势物种。有关狼毒在高寒草甸蔓延的生态系统效应的研究尚未见报道。本文从系统碳、氮循环的角度，分别研究狼毒在生长和非生长季节对高寒草甸生态系统的影响。同时，从花粉化感的角度，深入研究狼毒对当地同花期物种有性繁殖的影响。系统地研究高寒草甸生态系统物质循环过程，特别是非生长季节微生物和土壤碳氮库的动态变化，有助于揭示狼毒在系统物质循环方面的“物种效应”以及这种效应的季节变化，为丰富有关高海拔生态系统，特别是其非生长季的物质循环的科学理论做出贡献。同时，碳氮循环和花粉化感的研究还有助于深刻地理解狼毒作为一种入侵性很强的杂草的特殊的蔓延机制，从而为狼毒的有效防治、高寒草甸的科学管理提供依据。 针对狼毒在青藏高原高寒草甸上蔓延的生态系统碳氮循环方面的影响，开展以下2 方面的研究：（1）在生长季，研究松潘县尕米寺附近（北纬32°53'，东经103°40'，海拔3190 m）的两种地形（平地和阳坡）条件下狼毒对土壤碳氮循环影响及可能的原因。狼毒和其它几个主要物种（圆穗蓼（Polygonummacrophyllum D. Don var. Macrophyllum），草地早熟禾（Poa pretensis L.），四川嵩草（Kobresia setchwanensis Hand.-Maizz.），鹅绒委陵菜（Potentilla anserina L.var. anserine）和鳞叶龙胆（Gentiana squarrosa Ledeb.）的地上凋落物产量以及地上凋落物和根的化学组成被测量。在有-无狼毒斑块下，各种土壤的库（比如，铵态氮、硝态氮、无机磷和微生物生物量）和周转率（包括净矿化、净硝化、总硝化、反硝化和微生物呼吸速率）被测量和比较。（2）在非生长季节，尤其是春季冻融交替期，选取了两个研究地点——尕米寺和卡卡沟（北纬32°59'，东经103°41'，海拔3400 m），分别测定有狼毒和无狼毒斑块下土壤微生物生物量碳和氮、可溶性有机碳和氮以及铵态氮和硝态氮的动态变化。同时，分别在上述两个地点有-无狼毒的样地上，研究6 个主要物种（狼毒、圆穗蓼、草地早熟禾、四川嵩草、鹅绒委陵菜和鳞叶龙胆）从秋季开始、为期1 年的凋落物分解过程。 针对狼毒花粉化感对同花期其它物种可能的花粉化感作用开展以下工作：在实验室中，用一系列浓度的狼毒花粉水浸提液对与它同花期的其它物种以及自身花粉进行测试，测定花粉萌发率；在野外自然条件下的其它物种的柱头上施用上述浓度的狼毒花粉水浸提液，观测种子结实率，同时，观察狼毒花粉的种间花粉散布数量。 生长季节的研究结果表明，狼毒地上凋落物氮含量比其它几个主要物种更高，而木质素-总氮比更低。狼毒显著地增加其斑块下表层土壤中有机质的含量，而有-无狼毒的亚表层土壤在有机碳和总磷方面没有显著差异。狼毒表土中硝态氮含量在平地和阳坡比无狼毒土壤分别高113%和90%。狼毒表土中微生物生物量碳和氮量显著高于无狼毒表土。无论是平地还是阳坡，狼毒土壤的总硝化和微生物呼吸速率显著高于无狼毒土壤；而它们的反硝化速率只在平地有显著的差异。狼毒与其它物种间地上凋落物的产量和质量的差异可能是导致有-无狼毒土壤碳氮循环差异的原因。我们假设，狼毒可能通过增加贫氮生态系统土壤中的有效氮含量提高其入侵能力。 非生长季的研究结果表明，在青藏高原东缘的高寒草甸上，土壤微生物生3物量在11 月的秋-冬过渡期达到第一个峰值；在春季的冻融交替期，微生物生物量达到第二个峰值后又迅速降低。无机氮以及可溶性有机碳氮与微生物生物量有相似的变化过程。微生物碳氮比呈现显著的季节性变化。隆冬季节的微生物生物量碳氮比显著高于生长旺季的微生物碳氮比。这种变化可能暗示冬、夏季微生物的群落组成和对资源的利用有所不同。有-无狼毒斑块下土壤微生物和土壤碳、氮库一般只在秋-冬过渡期有显著差异，有狼毒土壤微生物生物量和土壤碳、氮库显著高于无狼毒土壤；而在之后的冬季和春季没有显著差异。所有6 个物种凋落物在非生长季分解率为24%-50%，均高于生长季的10%到30%。其中在秋-冬过渡期，凋落物开始埋藏的两周时间内，分解最快，达10%-20%。不同物种凋落物全年的分解率和分解过程有显著差异。圆穗蓼在全年的分解都较缓慢（非生长季26%，生长季15%），草地早熟禾和四川嵩草等全年的分解速率比较均匀（非生长季和生长季均为30%，非生长季略高），而狼毒在非生长季分解较快（约50%），而在接下来的生长季分解变得缓慢（约12%）。所有物种的凋落物氮含量在非生长季下降，而在随后的生长季上升。 实验室的花粉萌发试验证明，狼毒花粉对自身花粉萌发没有自毒作用，而其它受试的所有物种（圆穗蓼，秦艽（Gentiana macrophylla Pall. var. fetissowii），湿生扁蕾（Gentianopsis paludosa (Hook. f.) Ma var. paludosa），鳞叶龙胆，椭圆叶花锚（Halenia elliptica D. Don var. elliptica），蓝钟花（Cyananthus hookeri C. B.Cl. var. grandiflorus Marq.），小米草（Euphrasia pectinata Ten.），川西翠雀花（Delphinium tongolense Franch.），高原毛茛（Ranunculus tanguticus (Maxim.)Ovcz. var. tanguticus）和鹅绒委陵菜）的花粉萌发率随着狼毒花粉浸提液浓度的增加呈显著的非线性降低。大约3 个狼毒花粉的浸提液就可以抑制受试的多数物种的50%的花粉萌发。在鳞叶龙胆和小米草柱头上狼毒花粉的数量分别为5.76 个和3.35 个。狼毒花粉散布数量的差异最可能的原因在于是否有共同的传粉昆虫。花的形状（辐射对称VS 左右对称）、植株或花的密度以及花期重叠性可以部分解释这种差异。在野外试验中，我们发现6 个物种（秦艽、湿生扁蕾、鳞叶龙胆、椭圆叶花锚、蓝钟花和小米草）的种子结实率随狼毒花粉浸提液浓度的增加呈显著的非线性降低。鳞叶龙胆和小米草柱头上狼毒花粉的数量（分别是5.76 个和3.35 个）分别达到了抑制它们63%和55%种子结实率的水平。因此，狼毒对鳞叶龙胆和小米草可能存在明显的花粉化感抑制作用。狼毒周围的物种可能通过花期在季节或昼夜上的分异避免受到狼毒花粉化感的影响或者通过无性繁殖来维持种群繁衍，因此狼毒通过花粉化感作用对其周围物种繁殖的影响程度还需要进一步地研究。如果狼毒的花粉化感抑制作用确实存在，那么它可能成为一种自然选择压力，进而影响物种的进化。 Stellera chamaejasme L., a perennial toxic weed, has emerged and quicklydominated and spread in the high-frigid meadow on the eastern Tibetan Plateau ofChina since the 1960s. In the present study, effects of S. chamaejasme on carbon andnitrogen cycles on the high-frigid meadow on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau ingrowing and non-growing season, and its pollen allelopathic effects on the sympatricspecies were determined. The present study that focused on carbon and nitrogencycles, especially on microbial biomass and pools of carbon and nitrogen innon-growing season, could profoundly illuminate plant-species effects on carbon andnutrient cycles and its seasonal pattern and help to understand spread mechanism ofS. chamaejasme as an aggressive weed. The present study also contributed to furtherunderstand carbon and nutrient cycles on alpine regions in non-growing season andprovide a basis on weed control of S. chamaejasme and scientific management in thehigh-frigid ecosystem. Effects of S. chamaejasme on carbon and nitrogen cycles on the high-frigidmeadow on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau were determined. The study couldbe divided into two parts. (1) In the growing season, we quantified the effects of S.chamaejasme on carbon and nitrogen cycles in two types of topographic habitats, theflat valley and the south-facing slope, where S. chamaejasme was favored to spreadlitter and root were measured to explain the likely effects of S. chamaejasme on soilcarbon and nutrient cycles. The sizes of various soil pools, e.g. nitrite, ammonium,inorganic phosphorus and microbial biomass, and turnover rates including netmineralization, gross nitrification, denitrification and microbial respiration weredetermined. (2) In the non-growing season study, microbial biomass carbon andnitrogen, soluble organic carbon and nitrogen, ammonium and nitrate weredetermined through the non-growing season, especially in the processes offreeze-thaw of spring in two high-frigid sites, i.e. Kaka valley and Gami temple, onthe eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Meanwhile, litter decomposition of six commonspecies, including Stellera chamaejasme L., Polygonum macrophyllum D. Don var.Macrophyllum, Poa pretensis L., Kobresia setchwanensis L., Potentilla anserina L.var. anserine and Gentiana squarrosa Ledeb., were also examined under theabove-mentioned experimental design through one whole-year, which began in theautumn in 2006. In the study of pollen allelopathy, several work, including in vitro study oneffects of extract of pollen from S. chamaejasme on sympatric species and pollenfrom itself, field experiments on effects of pollen extract with the same regime ofconcentrations on seed set and field observation on heterospecific pollen transfer ofS. chamaejasme to six of those sympatric species has been done. The results in the growing season showed that aboveground litter of S.chamaejasme had higher tissue nitrogen and lower lignin: nitrogen ratio than thoseco-occurring species. S. chamaejasme significantly increased topsoil organic matter,whereas no significant differences were found for organic C and total P in subsoilbetween under-Stellera and away-Stellera locations. The nitrate in Stellera topsoilwas 113% and 90% higher on the flat valley and on the south-facing slope,respectively. Both microbial biomass C and N were significantly higher in Stelleratopsoil. Gross nitrification and microbial respiration were significantly higher inStellera topsoil both on the flat valley and on the south-facing slope, whereassignificant differences of denitrification were found only on the flat valley. Thedifferences in the quantity and quality of aboveground litter are a likely mechanismresponsible for the changes of soil variables. We assumed that S. chamaejasme couldenhance their spread by increasing nutrient availability in N-deficient ecosystems. The results in the non-growing season showed that microbial biomass achievedthe first summit in late autumn and early winter on the eastern Qinghai-TibetanPlateau. In the stages of freeze-thaw of spring, microbial biomass firstly achieved thesecond summit and subsequently sharply decreased. Inorganic nitrogen, solubleorganic carbon and nitrogen had a similar dynamics with that of microbial biomass.Ratio of microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen had an obviously seasonal pattern.The highest microbial C: N were in the non-growing season, which weresignificantly higher than those in the growing season. The seasonal pattern inmicrobial biomass C: N suggested that large changes in composition of microbialpopulation and in resources those used by microbes between summer and winter.Generally, microbial biomass and pools size of carbon and nitrogen in Stellera soilwere significantly higher than those under adjacent locations in late autumn andearly winter, but there were not significant differences in winter and in spring. Litterof all the focal species (Stellera chamaejasme L., Polygonum macrophyllum D. Donvar. Macrophyllum, Poa pretensis L., Kobresia setchwanensis Hand.-Maizz.,Potentilla anserina L. var. anserine and G. squarrosa Ledeb.) decomposed about24%-50% in the non-growing season, which were higher than those in the growingseason (ranged from 10% to 30%). Litter decomposed 10%-20% within the first twoweeks in late autumn and early winter. Significant differences in the whole-yeardecomposition rate and in the processes of decomposition were found among species.Polygonum macrophyllum decomposed slowly through the whole year (26% and15% in the non-growing season and in the growing season, respectively). Certainspecies, such as P. pretensis L. and K. setchwanensis, decomposed at a similar rate(30% both in the non-growing and in the growing season, slightly higher in the8growing season than those in the growing season), whereas S. chamaejasmedecomposed more rapidly (about 50%) in the non-growing season and subsequentlydecomposition became slow (about 12%) in the growing season. Litter nitrogencontents of all the focal species firstly decreased in the non-growing season and thenincreased in the growing season. In vitro experiments of pollen allelopathy, the results showed that pollen from S.chamaejasme was not autotoxic, whereas pollen germination in all the sympatricspecies (Polygonum macrophyllum D. Don var. Macrophyllum, Gentianamacrophylla Pall. var. fetissowii, Gentianopsis paludosa (Hook. f.) Ma var. paludosa,Gentiana squarrosa Ledeb., Halenia elliptica D. Don var. elliptica, Cyananthushookeri C. B. Cl. var. grandiflorus Marq., Euphrasia pectinata Ten., Delphiniumtongolense Franch., Ranunculus tanguticus (Maxim.) Ovcz. var. tanguticus andPotentilla anserina L. var. anserina) decreased nonlinearly as the increasingconcentrations of extract of pollen from S. chamaejasme. Pollen Extract of threepollens from S. chamaejasme generally inhibited 50% pollen germination of most ofthe focal species. 5.76 and 3.35 pollens from S. chamaejasme were observed in fieldon stigmas of G. squarrosa and E. pectinata, respectively. Differences inheterospecific pollen transfer of S. chamaejasme could be attributed to the primaryreason whether they shared common pollinators. Flower morphology (e.g.zygomorphic or actinomorphic), plant or floral density and concurrence in floweringphonologies could explain, in part, the differences in heterospecific pollen transfer.In field experiments, the results showed that seed set in six sympatric species(Gentiana macrophylla Pall. var. fetissowii, Gentianopsis paludosa (Hook. f.) Mavar. paludosa, Gentiana squarrosa Ledeb., Halenia elliptica D. Don var. elliptica,Cyananthus hookeri C. B. Cl. var. grandiflorus Marq. and Euphrasia pectinata Ten.)decreased nonlinearly as the increasing concentrations of extract of pollen from S.chamaejasme. According to the nonlinear curves, the amounts of pollens from S.chamaejasme on stigmas of G. squarrosa and of E. pectinata (i.e. 5.76 grains and3.35 grains, respectively) could reduce 63% and 55% seed set of G. squarrosa and ofE. pectinata, respectively. Thus, allelopathic effects of S. chamaejasme on G.squarrosa and E. pectinata could be realistic. The sympatric species of S.chamaejasme could avoid pollen allelopathy of S. chamaejasme to sustainthemselves. This highlights the need to study how much pollen allelopathy in S.chamaejasme influences the sympatric species through divergence in seasonal ordiurnal flowering phonologies or through asexual reproduction. If pollen allelopathyin S. chamaejasme was confirmed, it could be as a pressure of natural selection andthus play an important role in species evolution.

Androgens and breast cancer

We have recently demonstrated that physiological levels of androgens exert direct and potent inhibitory effects on the growth of human breast cancer ZR-75-1 cells in vivo in nude mice as well as in vitro under both basal and estrogen-stimulated conditions. The inhibitory effect of androgens has also been confirmed on the growth of dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA)-induced mammary carcinoma in the rat. Such observations are in close agreement with the clinical data showing that androgens and the androgenic compound medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) have beneficial effects in breast cancer in women comparable to other endocrine therapies, including tamoxifen. Although the inhibitory action of androgens on cell proliferation in estrogen-induced ZR-75-1 cells results, in part, from their suppressive effect on expression of the estrogen receptor, the androgens also exert a direct inhibitory effect independent of estrogens. Androgens cause a global slowing effect on the duration of the cell cycle. These observations support clinical data showing that androgenic compounds induce an objective remission after failure of antiestrogen therapy as well as those indicating that the antiproliferative action of androgens is additive to that of antiestrogens. We have also recently demonstrated in ZR-75-1 human breast cancer cells the antagonism between androgens and estrogens on the expression of GCDFP-15 and GCDFP-24 which are two major proteins secreted in human gross cystic disease fluid. The effects of androgens and estrogens as well as those of progestins and glucocorticoids on GCDFP-15 and GCDFP-24 mRNA levels and secretion are opposite to those induced by the same steroids on cell growth in ZR-75-1 cells.