Non-fatal suicidal behaviour in women - the role of spousal substance abuse and marital violence

Objective. To investigate the precipitants of non-fatal suicidal behaviour in women using a gender-based comparison.Design. A retrospective analysis of case records. Data were analysed using chi-square tests of significance.Subjects. One hundred men and 100 women admitted for non-fatal suicidal behaviour at a general hospital. Outcome measures. Subjects' biographical details and self reports of precipitating factors such as marital conflict, spousal extramarital affairs, alcohol abuse and marital violence.Results. Significantly more married women than men cited spousal extramarital affairs, spousal alcohol abuse and marital violence as precipitants of their self-destructive behaviours.Conclusion. The findings emphasise the role of spousal behaviour and resultant stress in precipitating non-fatal suicidal behaviour in women. Preventive efforts must focus on the psychological, social and economic empowerment of women

Cloning and characterization of a 9-lipoxygenase gene induced by pathogen attack from Nicotiana benthamiana for biotechnological application

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Plant lipoxygenases (LOXs) have been proposed to form biologically active compounds both during normal developmental stages such as germination or growth as well as during responses to environmental stress such as wounding or pathogen attack. In our previous study, we found that enzyme activity of endogenous 9-LOX in <it>Nicotiana benthamiana </it>was highly induced by agroinfiltration using a tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) based vector system.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A <it>LOX </it>gene which is expressed after treatment of the viral vectors was isolated from <it>Nicotiana benthamiana</it>. As the encoded LOX has a high amino acid identity to other 9-LOX proteins, the gene was named as <it>Nb-9-LOX</it>. It was heterologously expressed in yeast cells and its enzymatic activity was characterized. The yeast cells expressed large quantities of stable 9-LOX (0.9 U ml^-1cell cultures) which can oxygenate linoleic acid resulting in high yields (18 μmol ml^-1cell cultures) of hydroperoxy fatty acid. The product specificity of Nb-9-LOX was examined by incubation of linoleic acid and Nb-9-LOX in combination with a 13-hydroperoxide lyase from watermelon (Cl-13-HPL) or a 9/13-hydroperoxide lyase from melon (Cm-9/13-HPL) and by LC-MS analysis. The result showed that Nb-9-LOX possesses both 9- and 13-LOX specificity, with high predominance for the 9-LOX function. The combination of recombinant Nb-9-LOX and recombinant Cm-9/13-HPL produced large amounts of C₉-aldehydes (3.3 μmol mg^-1crude protein). The yield of C₉-aldehydes from linoleic acid was 64%.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The yeast expressed Nb-9-LOX can be used to produce C₉-aldehydes on a large scale in combination with a <it>HPL </it>gene with 9-HPL function, or to effectively produce 9-hydroxy-10(<it>E</it>),12(<it>Z</it>)-octadecadienoic acid in a biocatalytic process in combination with cysteine as a mild reducing agent.</p

Sediment source fingerprinting: benchmarking recent outputs, remaining challenges and emerging themes

Abstract: Purpose: This review of sediment source fingerprinting assesses the current state-of-the-art, remaining challenges and emerging themes. It combines inputs from international scientists either with track records in the approach or with expertise relevant to progressing the science. Methods: Web of Science and Google Scholar were used to review published papers spanning the period 2013–2019, inclusive, to confirm publication trends in quantities of papers by study area country and the types of tracers used. The most recent (2018–2019, inclusive) papers were also benchmarked using a methodological decision-tree published in 2017. Scope: Areas requiring further research and international consensus on methodological detail are reviewed, and these comprise spatial variability in tracers and corresponding sampling implications for end-members, temporal variability in tracers and sampling implications for end-members and target sediment, tracer conservation and knowledge-based pre-selection, the physico-chemical basis for source discrimination and dissemination of fingerprinting results to stakeholders. Emerging themes are also discussed: novel tracers, concentration-dependence for biomarkers, combining sediment fingerprinting and age-dating, applications to sediment-bound pollutants, incorporation of supportive spatial information to augment discrimination and modelling, aeolian sediment source fingerprinting, integration with process-based models and development of open-access software tools for data processing. Conclusions: The popularity of sediment source fingerprinting continues on an upward trend globally, but with this growth comes issues surrounding lack of standardisation and procedural diversity. Nonetheless, the last 2 years have also evidenced growing uptake of critical requirements for robust applications and this review is intended to signpost investigators, both old and new, towards these benchmarks and remaining research challenges for, and emerging options for different applications of, the fingerprinting approach

Sex allocation in a species with paternal genome elimination: the roles of crowding and female age in the mealybug Planococcus citri

Background: In species with paternal genome elimination, both sexes are diploid. However, in males the chromosomes inherited from the father are deactivated during early development and eliminated from the germ line. Sex allocation theory predicts that, all else being equal, females should bias their offspring sex ratio towards the sex that competes least with relatives. Organism: The mealybug Planococcus citri, a cosmopolitan pest on a wide range of agricultural and ornamental plant species. Hypothesis: In mealybugs, females compete locally for resources. To avoid competition among daughters, females should therefore produce a male-biased sex ratio when alone, ut a more equal sex ratio when together with other unrelated females. This will result in a rise of the number of female offspring with density. However, competition associated with population density might have different fitness effects for male and female offspring respectively, because females need more resources and have less opportunity to migrate compared with males, selecting for the opposite pattern of sex allocation. Methods: Measuring sex ratios in an experiment to manipulate the density a female experiences during two life stages. Results: Females that experienced high density as adults produced more male-biased sex ratios. In addition, the sex ratio females produced was strongly dependent on their age. Conclusion: Female mealybugs facultatively adjust their sex ratio, but in the direction opposite to that predicted by local resource competition, suggesting that sex-specific fitness consequences of density determine sex allocation in mealybugs. © 2010 Laura Ross