An assessment of the bioaccumulation of estrone in Daphnia magna

The bioaccumulation of estrone by Daphnia magna was determined. Direct uptake via the aqueous medium occurred within the first 16 hours. A bioconcentration factor of 228 was established over all temporal periods. Ingestion via Chlorella vulgaris gave a partitioning factor of 24 which may approximate to a biomagnification factor assuming steady state conditions. These preliminary results indicate that the partitioning to Daphnia magna via the food source, Chorella vulgaris is less significant than bioconcentration

Study on the serum oxidative stress status in silicosis patients

To determine whether oxidative-stress damage play an important role in the mechanism of silicosis, the oxidative stress parameters were investigated in silicosis patients and controls group. 128 silicosis patients and 130 healthy controls were included. The serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and the levels of malonyldialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) were analyzed. The levels of GSH and MDA in silicosis patients were significantly higher than those of the controls group. SOD activity was higher in the silicosis group than that in the controls (p < 0.05) except for III stage. None of the 3 variables examined were associated with the age among both the controls and silicosis patients. The GSH level and SOD activity significantly declined over a prolonged disease period, while MDA levels remained largely unaffected by the disease duration. These results confirmed the role of oxidative stress in the mechanism of silicosis. Therefore, effective antioxidant therapy for inhibiting oxidative stress may be a therapeutic option in silicosis.Key words: Silica, silicosis, superoxide dismutase, glutathione, malondialdehyde

Overexpression Of Chd1l Is Positively Associated With Metastasis Of Lung Adenocarcinoma And Predicts Patients Poor Survival

CHD1L (chromodomain helicase/ATPase DNA binding protein 1-like gene) has been demonstrated as an oncogene in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), however, the role of CHD1L in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumorigenesis hasn't been elucidated. In this study, the expression and amplification status of CHD1L were examined by immunohistochemistry and fluorescence in situ hybridization respectively in 248 surgically resected NSCLCs. The associations between CHD1L expression and clinicopathologic features and the prognostic value of CHD1L were analyzed. Overexpression and amplification of CHD1L was found in 42.1% and 17.7% of NSCLCs, respectively. The frequency of CHD1L overexpression (53.2% vs. 28.1%, P = 0.002) and amplification (25.2% vs. 8.2%, P = 0.020) in adenocarcinoma (ADC), was much higher than that in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). CHD1L overexpression was associated closely with ascending pN status (P < 0.001), advanced clinical stage (P = 0.001) and tumor distant metastasis (P = 0.001) in ADCs, but not in SCCs. For the whole cohort and ADC patients, univariate survival analysis demonstrated a significant association of CHD1L overexpression with shortened survival; and in multivariate analysis, CHD1L overexpression was evaluated as a independent predictor for overall survival and distant metastasis free survival. These results suggested that overexpression of CHD1L is positively associated with tumor metastasis of lung ADC, and might serve as a novel prognostic biomarker and potential therapeutic target for lung ADC patients.published_or_final_versio

Additive opportunistic capture explains group hunting benefits in African wild dogs

African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) are described as highly collaborative endurance pursuit hunters based on observations derived primarily from the grass plains of East Africa. However, the remaining population of this endangered species mainly occupies mixed woodland savannah where hunting strategies appear to differ from those previously described. We used high-resolution GPS and inertial technology to record fine-scale movement of all members of a single pack of six adult African wild dogs in northern Botswana. The dogs used multiple short-distance hunting attempts with a low individual kill rate (15.5%), but high group feeding rate due to the sharing of prey. Use of high-level cooperative chase strategies (coordination and collaboration) was not recorded. In the mixed woodland habitats typical of their current range, simultaneous, opportunistic, short-distance chasing by dogs pursuing multiple prey (rather than long collaborative pursuits of single prey by multiple individuals) could be the key to their relative success in these habitats

The effect of biliary decompression on bacterial translocation in jaundiced rats

Patients with obstructive jaundice are prone to septic complications after biliary tract operations. Restoring bile flow to the intestine may help to decrease the complication rate. The present study is aimed at evaluating the effect of biliary decompression on bacterial translocation in jaundiced rats. Sixty-six male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly allocated to six groups subjected to common bile duct ligation (CBDL) and transection (groups 2-6) or sham operation (group 1). In groups 1 and 2 the incidence of enteric bacterial translocation was determined 2 weeks after sham operation or CBDL. In groups 3-6, biliary decompression was achieved by performing a choledochoduodenostomy after 2 weeks of biliary decompression. Bacterial translocation was then studied 1, 2, 3 and 5 weeks following biliary decompression. The rate of bacterial translocation to mesenteric lymph nodes in obstructive jaundice was significantly higher as compared with controls and decreased with time to nil three weeks following biliary decompression. The incidence of bacterial translocation was closely correlated (r = 0.844; p = 0.034) with serum alkaline phosphatase activity and seemed to fit with the morphological changes noted in the small intestine. The decrease in bacterial translocation, however, lags behind the recovery of liver function as measured by routine liver function tests and antipyrine clearance. Obstructive jaundice thus promotes bacterial translocation in the rat. Biliary decompression gradually decreases the rate of bacterial translocation

The nature of weather and climate impacts in the energy sector

The power sector’s meteorological information needs are diverse and cover many different distinct applications and users. Recognising this diversity, it is important to understand the general nature of how weather and climate influence the energy sector and the implications they have for quantitative impact modelling. Using conceptual examples and illustrations from recent research, this chapter argues that the traditional ‘transfer function’ approach that is common to many industrial applications of weather and climate science—whereby weather can be directly mapped to an energy impact—is inadequate for many important power system applications (such as price forecasting and system operations and planning). The chapter concludes by arguing that a deeper understanding of how meteorological impacts in the energy sector are modelled is required

Studying Townsend and glow modes in an atmospheric-pressure DBD using mass spectrometry

Ambient molecular beam mass spectrometry has been employed to examine the effects of the mode of operation and the excitation waveform on the ionic content of a helium-based atmospheric-pressure parallel plate dielectric barrier discharge. By applying 10 kHz microsecond voltage pulses with a nanosecond rise times and 10 kHz sinusoidal voltage waveforms, distinctly different glow and Townsend modes were produced, respectively. Results showed a significant difference in the dominant ion species between the two modes. In the Townsend mode, molecular oxygen ions, atomic oxygen anions and nitric oxide anions are the most abundant species, however, in the glow mode water clusters ions and hydrated nitric oxygen anions dominate. Several hypotheses are put forward to explain these differences, including low electron densities and energies in the Townsend mode, more efficient ionization of water molecules through penning ionization and charge exchange with other species in glow mode, and large temperature gradients due to the pulsed nature of the glow mode, leading to more favorable conditions for cluster formation