Accommodating 'others'?: housing dispersed, forced migrants in the UK

Utilising insights from a qualitative study in the city of Leeds (UK), this paper considers issues related to the housing of dispersed forced migrants. The term 'dispersed forced migrants' is used here as a general label to include four groups of international migrants (i.e. refugees, asylum seekers, those with humanitarian protection status and failed asylum seekers) who have previously been dispersed, on a no choice basis, to a variety of locations across the UK under the requirements of the Immigration and Asylum Act (1999). The tiering of housing entitlement that exists within the generic population of dispersed forced migrants (a consequence of the particular socio-legal status assigned to individuals), and its role in rendering migrants susceptible to homelessness is outlined. The adequacy/standard of accommodation made available to forced migrants is also discussed. It is concluded that current arrangements fail to meet the basic housing needs of many forced migrants. Any future improvement in this situation will require a significant shift in government policy

Lead levels in fur of rats treated with inorganic lead measured by inductively coupled argon plasma mass spectrometry

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between continuous lead exposure and the concentration of this metal in fur. The two main questions we wanted to answer were: 1) Are the fur lead concentrations different according to exposure level? 2) Is the kinetics of lead concentration linear in different compartments

Phase transitions in biological membranes

Native membranes of biological cells display melting transitions of their lipids at a temperature of 10-20 degrees below body temperature. Such transitions can be observed in various bacterial cells, in nerves, in cancer cells, but also in lung surfactant. It seems as if the presence of transitions slightly below physiological temperature is a generic property of most cells. They are important because they influence many physical properties of the membranes. At the transition temperature, membranes display a larger permeability that is accompanied by ion-channel-like phenomena even in the complete absence of proteins. Membranes are softer, which implies that phenomena such as endocytosis and exocytosis are facilitated. Mechanical signal propagation phenomena related to nerve pulses are strongly enhanced. The position of transitions can be affected by changes in temperature, pressure, pH and salt concentration or by the presence of anesthetics. Thus, even at physiological temperature, these transitions are of relevance. There position and thereby the physical properties of the membrane can be controlled by changes in the intensive thermodynamic variables. Here, we review some of the experimental findings and the thermodynamics that describes the control of the membrane function.Comment: 23 pages, 15 figure

Separability of neural responses to standardised mechanical stimulation of limbs

Abstract Considerable scientific and technological efforts are currently being made towards the development of neural prostheses. Understanding how the peripheral nervous system responds to electro-mechanical stimulation of the limb, will help to inform the design of prostheses that can restore function or accelerate recovery from injury to the sensory motor system. However, due to differences in experimental protocols, it is difficult, if not impossible, to make meaningful comparisons between different peripheral nerve interfaces. Therefore, we developed a low-cost electronic system to standardise the mechanical stimulation of a rat’s hindpaw. Three types of mechanical stimulations, namely, proprioception, touch and nociception were delivered to the limb and the electroneurogram signals were recorded simultaneously from the sciatic nerve with a 16-contact cuff electrode. For the first time, results indicate separability of neural responses according to stimulus type as well as intensity. Statistical analysis reveal that cuff contacts placed circumferentially, rather than longitudinally, are more likely to lead to higher classification rates. This flexible setup may be readily adapted for systematic comparison of various electrodes and mechanical stimuli in rodents. Hence, we have made its electro-mechanical design and computer programme available onlin

Factor structure of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) in subjects who had suffered from the 2004 Niigata-Chuetsu Earthquake in Japan: a community-based study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Factor structure of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) was studied by a survey of subjects who had experienced the 2004 Niigata-Chuetsu earthquake (6.8 on the Richter scale) in Japan.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Psychological distress was measured at two years after the earthquake by using GHQ-12 in 2,107 subjects (99.0% response rate) who suffered the earthquake. GHQ-12 was scored by binary, chronic and Likert scoring method. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to reveal the factor structure of GHQ-12. Categorical regression analysis was performed to evaluate the relationships between various background factors and GHQ-12 scores.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the model consisting of the two factors and using chronic method gave the best goodness-of-fit among the various models for factor structure. Recovery in the scale for the factor 'social dysfunction' was remarkably impaired compared with that of the factor 'dysphoria'. Categorical regression analysis revealed that various factors, including advanced age, were associated with psychological distress. Advanced age affected the impaired recovery of factor 'social dysfunction' score as well as total GHQ score.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The two-factor structure of GHQ-12 was conserved between the survey at five month and that at two years after the earthquake. Impaired recovery in the ability to cope with daily problems in the subjects who had experienced the earthquake was remarkable even at two years after the earthquake.</p

Bayesian Model Selection Applied to the Analysis of Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy Data of Fluorescent Proteins in Vitro and in Vivo

Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) is a powerful technique to investigate molecular dynamics with single molecule sensitivity. In particular, in the life sciences it has found widespread application using fluorescent proteins as molecularly specific labels. However, FCS data analysis and interpretation using fluorescent proteins remains challenging due to typically low signal-to-noise ratio of FCS data and correlated noise in autocorrelated data sets. As a result, naive fitting procedures that ignore these important issues typically provide similarly good fits for multiple competing models without clear distinction of which model is preferred given the signal-to-noise ratio present in the data. Recently, we introduced a Bayesian model selection procedure to overcome this issue with FCS data analysis. The method accounts for the highly correlated noise that is present in FCS data sets and additionally penalizes model complexity to prevent over interpretation of FCS data. Here, we apply this procedure to evaluate FCS data from fluorescent proteins assayed in vitro and in vivo. Consistent with previous work, we demonstrate that model selection is strongly dependent on the signal-to-noise ratio of the measurement, namely, excitation intensity and measurement time, and is sensitive to saturation artifacts. Under fixed, low intensity excitation conditions, physical transport models can unambiguously be identified. However, at excitation intensities that are considered moderate in many studies, unwanted artifacts are introduced that result in nonphysical models to be preferred. We also determined the appropriate fitting models of a GFP tagged secreted signaling protein, Wnt3, in live zebrafish embryos, which is necessary for the investigation of Wnt3 expression and secretion in development. Bayes model selection therefore provides a robust procedure to determine appropriate transport and photophysical models for fluorescent proteins when appropriate models are provided, to help detect and eliminate experimental artifacts in solution, cells, and in living organisms.National Science Foundation (U.S.). Physics of Living Systems ProgramNational Institute of Mental Health (U.S.) (Award U01MH106011

Rare Species Support Vulnerable Functions in High-Diversity Ecosystems

Around the world, the human-induced collapses of populations and species have triggered a sixth mass extinction crisis, with rare species often being the first to disappear. Although the role of species diversity in the maintenance of ecosystem processes has been widely investigated, the role of rare species remains controversial. A critical issue is whether common species insure against the loss of functions supported by rare species. This issue is even more critical in species-rich ecosystems where high functional redundancy among species is likely and where it is thus often assumed that ecosystem functioning is buffered against species loss. Here, using extensive datasets of species occurrences and functional traits from three highly diverse ecosystems (846 coral reef fishes, 2,979 alpine plants, and 662 tropical trees), we demonstrate that the most distinct combinations of traits are supported predominantly by rare species both in terms of local abundance and regional occupancy. Moreover, species that have low functional redundancy and are likely to support the most vulnerable functions, with no other species carrying similar combinations of traits, are rarer than expected by chance in all three ecosystems. For instance, 63% and 98% of fish species that are likely to support highly vulnerable functions in coral reef ecosystems are locally and regionally rare, respectively. For alpine plants, 32% and 89% of such species are locally and regionally rare, respectively. Remarkably, 47% of fish species and 55% of tropical tree species that are likely to support highly vulnerable functions have only one individual per sample on average. Our results emphasize the importance of rare species conservation, even in highly diverse ecosystems, which are thought to exhibit high functional redundancy. Rare species offer more than aesthetic, cultural, or taxonomic diversity value; they disproportionately increase the potential breadth of functions provided by ecosystems across spatial scales. As such, they are likely to insure against future uncertainty arising from climate change and the ever-increasing anthropogenic pressures on ecosystems. Our results call for a more detailed understanding of the role of rarity and functional vulnerability in ecosystem functioning

Anomalous Diffusion Induced by Cristae Geometry in the Inner Mitochondrial Membrane

Diffusion of inner membrane proteins is a prerequisite for correct functionality of mitochondria. The complicated structure of tubular, vesicular or flat cristae and their small connections to the inner boundary membrane impose constraints on the mobility of proteins making their diffusion a very complicated process. Therefore we investigate the molecular transport along the main mitochondrial axis using highly accurate computational methods. Diffusion is modeled on a curvilinear surface reproducing the shape of mitochondrial inner membrane (IM). Monte Carlo simulations are carried out for topologies resembling both tubular and lamellar cristae, for a range of physiologically viable crista sizes and densities. Geometrical confinement induces up to several-fold reduction in apparent mobility. IM surface curvature per se generates transient anomalous diffusion (TAD), while finite and stable values of projected diffusion coefficients are recovered in a quasi-normal regime for short- and long-time limits. In both these cases, a simple area-scaling law is found sufficient to explain limiting diffusion coefficients for permeable cristae junctions, while asymmetric reduction of the junction permeability leads to strong but predictable variations in molecular motion rate. A geometry-based model is given as an illustration for the time-dependence of diffusivity when IM has tubular topology. Implications for experimental observations of diffusion along mitochondria using methods of optical microscopy are drawn out: a non-homogenous power law is proposed as a suitable approach to TAD. The data demonstrate that if not taken into account appropriately, geometrical effects lead to significant misinterpretation of molecular mobility measurements in cellular curvilinear membranes

Plasmodium falciparum Parasites Are Killed by a Transition State Analogue of Purine Nucleoside Phosphorylase in a Primate Animal Model

Plasmodium falciparum causes most of the one million annual deaths from malaria. Drug resistance is widespread and novel agents against new targets are needed to support combination-therapy approaches promoted by the World Health Organization. Plasmodium species are purine auxotrophs. Blocking purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) kills cultured parasites by purine starvation. DADMe-Immucillin-G (BCX4945) is a transition state analogue of human and Plasmodium PNPs, binding with picomolar affinity. Here, we test BCX4945 in Aotus primates, an animal model for Plasmodium falciparum infections. Oral administration of BCX4945 for seven days results in parasite clearance and recrudescence in otherwise lethal infections of P. falciparum in Aotus monkeys. The molecular action of BCX4945 is demonstrated in crystal structures of human and P. falciparum PNPs. Metabolite analysis demonstrates that PNP blockade inhibits purine salvage and polyamine synthesis in the parasites. The efficacy, oral availability, chemical stability, unique mechanism of action and low toxicity of BCX4945 demonstrate potential for combination therapies with this novel antimalarial agent