Parks, people, and conservation: A review of management issues in nepal's protected areas

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43480/1/11111_2005_Article_BF01254607.pd

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities 1,2 . This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity 3�6 . Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55 of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017�and more than 80 in some low- and middle-income regions�was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing�and in some countries reversal�of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories. © 2019, The Author(s)

Identification of the divergent calmodulin binding motif in yeast Ssb1/Hsp75 protein and in other HSP70 family members

Yeast soluble proteins were fractionated by calmodulin-agarose affinity chromatography and the Ca2+/calmodulin-binding proteins were analyzed by SDS-PAGE. One prominent protein of 66 kDa was excised from the gel, digested with trypsin and the masses of the resultant fragments were determined by MALDI/MS. Twenty-one of 38 monoisotopic peptide masses obtained after tryptic digestion were matched to the heat shock protein Ssb1/Hsp75, covering 37% of its sequence. Computational analysis of the primary structure of Ssb1/Hsp75 identified a unique potential amphipathic alpha-helix in its N-terminal ATPase domain with features of target regions for Ca2+/calmodulin binding. This region, which shares 89% similarity to the experimentally determined calmodulin-binding domain from mouse, Hsc70, is conserved in near half of the 113 members of the HSP70 family investigated, from yeast to plant and animals. Based on the sequence of this region, phylogenetic analysis grouped the HSP70s in three distinct branches. Two of them comprise the non-calmodulin binding Hsp70s BIP/GR78, a subfamily of eukaryotic HSP70 localized in the endoplasmic reticulum, and DnaK, a subfamily of prokaryotic HSP70. A third heterogeneous group is formed by eukaryotic cytosolic HSP70s containing the new calmodulin-binding motif and other cytosolic HSP70s whose sequences do not conform to those conserved motif, indicating that not all eukaryotic cytosolic Hsp70s are target for calmodulin regulation. Furthermore, the calmodulin-binding domain found in eukaryotic HSP70s is also the target for binding of Bag-1 - an enhancer of ADP/ATP exchange activity of Hsp70s. A model in which calmodulin displaces Bag-1 and modulates Ssb1/Hsp75 chaperone activity is discussed

Systemic and mucosal isotype-specific antibody responses in pigs to experimental influenza virus infection

The immunoglobulin isotype-specific responses in serum and at the respiratory mucosa of pigs after a primary infection with influenza virus were studied. To do this, we developed an aerosol challenge model for influenza in specified pathogen-free (SPF) pigs and isotype-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). Ten-week-old pigs were inoculated without anesthesia in the nostrils with an aerosol of the field isolate influenza A/swine/Neth/St. Oedenrode/96 (H3N2). The infection caused acute respiratory disease that closely resembled the disease observed in some outbreaks of influenza among finishing pigs, which were not complicated by bacterial infections. Pigs showed clinical signs characterized by fever, dyspnea, and anorexia. At necropsy on postinfection days 1 and 2, an exudative endobronchitis was observed throughout the lung. Viral antigen was present in the epithelial cells of the bronchi and bronchioli and virus was isolated from bronchioalveolar and nasal lavage fluids and from pharyngeal swabs until 5 days after infection. With the isotype-specific ELISAs, viral nucleoprotein specific immunoglobulin (Ig) M, IgG1, and IgA antibody responses were measured in serum and bronchioalveolar and nasal lavage fluids. To determine whether the antibodies were produced and secreted at the respiratory mucosa or were serum-derived, the specific activity (ie, the ratio of antibody titer to Ig concentration) was calculated for each isotype. The IgA and interestingly also a substantial part of the IgG1 antibody response in pigs upon infection with influenza virus was shown to be a mucosal response. Local production of specific IgA in the nasal mucosa, and of specific IgA and IgG1 in the lung was demonstrated. These results indicate that protective efficacy of vaccination can be improved by an immunization procedure that preferentially stimulates a mucosal immune response. The aerosol challenge model in SPF pigs and the isotype-specific ELISAs that we developed can be useful for evaluating various strategies to improve efficacy of porcine influenza vaccines and to study the immune mechanisms underlying the observed protection

Systemic and mucosal isotype-specific antibody responses in pigs to experimental influenza virus infection

The immunoglobulin isotype-specific responses in serum and at the respiratory mucosa of pigs after a primary infection with influenza virus were studied. To do this, we developed an aerosol challenge model for influenza in specified pathogen-free (SPF) pigs and isotype-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). Ten-week-old pigs were inoculated without anesthesia in the nostrils with an aerosol of the field isolate influenza A/swine/Neth/St. Oedenrode/96 (H3N2). The infection caused acute respiratory disease that closely resembled the disease observed in some outbreaks of influenza among finishing pigs, which were not complicated by bacterial infections. Pigs showed clinical signs characterized by fever, dyspnea, and anorexia. At necropsy on postinfection days 1 and 2, an exudative endobronchitis was observed throughout the lung. Viral antigen was present in the epithelial cells of the bronchi and bronchioli and virus was isolated from bronchioalveolar and nasal lavage fluids and from pharyngeal swabs until 5 days after infection. With the isotype-specific ELISAs, viral nucleoprotein specific immunoglobulin (Ig) M, IgG1, and IgA antibody responses were measured in serum and bronchioalveolar and nasal lavage fluids. To determine whether the antibodies were produced and secreted at the respiratory mucosa or were serum-derived, the specific activity (ie, the ratio of antibody titer to Ig concentration) was calculated for each isotype. The IgA and interestingly also a substantial part of the IgG1 antibody response in pigs upon infection with influenza virus was shown to be a mucosal response. Local production of specific IgA in the nasal mucosa, and of specific IgA and IgG1 in the lung was demonstrated. These results indicate that protective efficacy of vaccination can be improved by an immunization procedure that preferentially stimulates a mucosal immune response. The aerosol challenge model in SPF pigs and the isotype-specific ELISAs that we developed can be useful for evaluating various strategies to improve efficacy of porcine influenza vaccines and to study the immune mechanisms underlying the observed protection

In situ visualization of loading-dependent water effects in a stable metal–organic framework

Competitive water adsorption can have a significant impact on metal–organic framework performance properties, ranging from occupying active sites in catalytic reactions to co-adsorbing at the most favourable adsorption sites in gas separation and storage applications. In this study, we investigate, for a metal–organic framework that is stable after moisture exposure, what are the reversible, loading-dependent structural changes that occur during water adsorption. Herein, a combination of in situ synchrotron powder and single-crystal diffraction, infrared spectroscopy and molecular modelling analysis was used to understand the important role of loading-dependent water effects in a water stable metal–organic framework. Through this analysis, insights into changes in crystallographic lattice parameters, water siting information and water-induced defect structure as a response to water loading were obtained. This work shows that, even in stable metal–organic frameworks that maintain their porosity and crystallinity after moisture exposure, important molecular-level structural changes can still occur during water adsorption due to guest–host interactions such as water-induced bond rearrangements

Diversity and abundance of litter frogs at altitudinal sites at Serra do Japi, southeastern Brazil

It was sampled the litter frogs at altitudinal sites of a semideciduous mesophytic forest located at Sena do Japi (Jundiaí, São Paulo, 23º17'S, 47º00'W, 800-1300m altitude, 1500mm rain/year). Forty two plots of 8x8m were sampled in the dry/cold season of 1995: 21 at a Higher Site (HS) (1000m) and 21 at a Lower Site (LS) (850m). The plots were evenly located near, mid-distance, and far from the stream-bed. It was found a total of five species, three at each site. Eleutherodactylus guentheri comprised 83% of the individuals at HS and E. juipoca 67% at LS. The density of individuals was higher at HS and near the stream. The greater density at HS may be due to greater humidity there, provided by mist. The frogs may aggregate in wetter places (stream edges) in the dry/cold season. The studied sites represent harsh and early successional environments and both these factors may be acting together to produce the low observed diversity

Sedimentology of cherts in the Early Proterozoic Wishart Formation, Quebec–Newfoundland, Canada

The siliciclastic Wishart Formation of the Early Proterozic Labrador trough is high-energy shelf deposit. Wishart sandstones contain both interstitial chert with textures of void-filling cement and thin chert intercalations contaminated with siliciclastic mud. Although volumetrically minor, these cherts occur in several thin, areally extensive stratigraphic mud. Although volumetrically minor, these cherts occur in several thin, areally extensive stratigraphic intervals. The Wishart contains intraclasts of both the chertcemented sandstone and the impure chert layers (as well as several other types of chert sand and gravel). This suggests the cherts formed penecontemporaneously, which is consistent with the absence of any signs of replacement in all but one of the chert types and the clear-cut distinctions between chert types, even where they are side by side in a single thin section. The origin which appears to be most compatible with available evidence is that the cherts represent silica precipitated from thermal waters that rose through the sediments of the Wishart shelf and discharged precipitated from thermal waters that rose through the sediments of the Wishart shelf and discharged into suprajacent seawater. A biogenic origin is unlikely in view of the lack of appropriate organisms during the Early Proterozic and the rapidity with which the cements formed. A volcanogenic origin is likely because volcaniclastic tezxtures are plentiful in associated formations but absent from the Wishart. Precipitation induced by evaporative concentration in unlikely in view of the widespread evidence of tidal currents and the lack of evidence of desiccation in the Wishart. Finally, the cherts are not restricted to the lowest-energy faces, and therefore they presumably did not accumulate as a background sediment. Deposition of silica above the sediment/water interface was probably made possible by ambient concentrations of silica that were significantly higher than those of Phancrozoic seawater. Cherts with similar textures occur in other Early Proterozoic sediments, most notably arenitic or granular iron-formations