Determining crystal structures through crowdsourcing and coursework

We show here that computer game players can build high-quality crystal structures. Introduction of a new feature into the computer game Foldit allows players to build and real-space refine structures into electron density maps. To assess the usefulness of this feature, we held a crystallographic model-building competition between trained crystallographers, undergraduate students, Foldit players and automatic model-building algorithms. After removal of disordered residues, a team of Foldit players achieved the most accurate structure. Analysing the target protein of the competition, YPL067C, uncovered a new family of histidine triad proteins apparently involved in the prevention of amyloid toxicity. From this study, we conclude that crystallographers can utilize crowdsourcing to interpret electron density information and to produce structure solutions of the highest quality

Histopathological study on the effects of Crocin on prevention of fatty liver disease in the rats fed with high fat diet

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is now recognized as the most common type of liver disease and might lead to an important public health problem. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the protective effects of Crocin on rat high fat diet-induced hepatic steatosis model. For this purpose male Wistar rats were given either control diet, high fat diet alone or high fat diet plus Crocin via gavage at different doses (25, 50 and 100 mg/kg) for 4 weeks in different experimental groups. Histopathological studies of the liver were conducted in all experimental rats at the end of experiment. Animals of the different groups were sacricified by cervical dislocation. Liver issue specimens were fixed in 10% buffered formalin and 5 micron thick sections were prepared using routine hitopathological techniques.The serum levels of aminotransferases, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were measured to determine hepatocyte injury. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and total bilirubin (TB) were measured to assess biliary function. Albumin (Alb) and total protein (TP) was measured to reflect liver synthetic function. Histopathology of the liver in high fat diet fed rats showed severe fatty change of hepatocytes. Crocin reduced accumulation of lipid droplets in the hepatocytes in a dose dependent manner. In the high fat diet fed rats, serum levels of ALT, AST, ALP and TB significantly (

Search and Rescue at Sea: Do New Challenges Require New Rules?

Search and rescue at sea (SAR) has been always carried out under principles of customary law of the sea obliging vessels and states to help persons whose ships are in distress at sea. International treaties define more detailed conditions and obligations to provide adequate SAR. The rationale of all these principles and rules, as well as of the associated duties affecting the obliged persons/states to carry out and organize SAR activities, was that of increasing safety at sea and taking care of seafarers and fishermen (or passengers onboard vessels) who were at sea mainly for the purpose of work. The safety of ships has increased enormously in recent decades. Therefore the number of classical SAR operations has become a minimal fraction of those actually carried out to rescue, for example, leisure yachts, migrants and cruise ship tourists that venture into dangerous waters (including the Arctic) in pursuit of adventure. Thus, the original SAR rationale has drastically changed. We need to consider whether the obligations set at the international level for rescuers and affected states should be updated to deal with current rescue missions. To deal with the migration problem in the Mediterranean, the normal SAR schemes \u2013 while not being abandoned \u2013 have been largely supplemented by other forms of international cooperation. This chapter investigates these new forms of cooperation and presents some proposals for updating the SAR international regime to meet the new challenges posed by persons venturing to sea. The Author wishes to thank Chiara Cellerino and Lorenzo Schiano di Pepe for valuable comments on the draft of this paper. Neither of them is, however, even partly responsible for any remaining mistake or inaccuracy