Dissolved aluminium in the ocean conveyor of theWest Atlantic Ocean: Effects of the biological cycle, scavenging, sediment resuspension and hydrography

The concentrations of dissolved aluminium (dissolved Al) were studied along the West Atlantic GEOTRACESGA02 transect from 64°N to 50°S. Concentrations ranged from~0.5 nmol kg-1 in the high latitude surface watersto ~48 nmol kg-1 in surfacewaters around 25°N. Elevated surfacewater concentrations due to atmospheric dustloading have little influence on the deep water distribution. However, just belowthe thermocline, both Northernand Southern Hemisphere Subtropical Mode Waters are elevated in Al, most likely related to atmospheric dustdeposition in the respective source regions.In the deep ocean, high concentrations of up to 35 nmol kg-1 were observed in North Atlantic DeepWater as aresult of Al input via sediment resuspension. Comparatively lowdeepwater concentrationswere associatedwithwater masses of Antarctic origin. During water mass advection, Al loss by scavenging overrules input viaremineralisation and sediment resuspension at the basin wide scale. Nevertheless, sediment resuspension ismore important than previously realised for the deep ocean Al distribution and even more intensive samplingis needed in bottom waters to constrain the spatial heterogeneity in the global deep ocean.This thus far longest (17,500 km) full depth ocean section shows that the distribution of Al can be explained by itsinput sources and the combination of association with particles and release from those particles at depth, thelattermost likelywhen the particles remineralise. The association of Alwith particles can be due to incorporationof Al into biogenic silica or scavenging of Al onto biogenic particles. The interaction between Al and biogenicparticles can lead to the coupled cycling of Al and silicate that is observed in some ocean regions. However, inother regions this coupling is not observed due to (i) advective processes bringing in older water masses thatare depleted in Al, (ii) unfavourable scavenging conditions in the water column, (iii) low surface concentrationsof Al or (iv) additional Al sources, notably sediment resuspension

Doing referring in Murriny Patha conversation

Successful communication hinges on keeping track of who and what we are talking about. For this reason, person reference sits at the heart of the social sciences. Referring to persons is an interactional process where information is transferred from current speakers to the recipients of their talk. This dissertation concerns itself with the work that is achieved through this transfer of information. The interactional approach adopted is one that combines the “micro” of conversation analysis with the “macro” of genealogically grounded anthropological linguistics. Murriny Patha, a non-Pama-Nyungan language spoken in the north of Australia, is a highly complex polysynthetic language with kinship categories that are grammaticalized as verbal inflections. For referring to persons, as well as names, nicknames, kinterms, minimal descriptions and free pronouns, Murriny Patha speakers make extensive use of pronominal reference markers embedded within polysynthetic verbs. Murriny Patha does not have a formal “mother-in-law” register. There are however numerous taboos on naming kin in avoidance relationships, and on naming and their namesakes. Similarly, there are also taboos on naming the deceased and on naming their namesakes. As a result, for every speaker there is a multitude of people whose names should be avoided. At any one time, speakers of the language have a range of referential options. Speakers’ decisions about which category of reference forms to choose (names, kinterms etc.) are governed by conversational preferences that shape “referential design”. Six preferences – a preference for associating the referent to the co-present conversationalists, a preference for avoiding personal names, a preference for using recognitionals, a preference for being succinct, and a pair of opposed preferences relating to referential specificity – guide speakers towards choosing a name on one occasion, a kinterm on the next occasion and verbal cross-reference on yet another occasion. Different classes of expressions better satisfy particular conversational preferences. There is a systematicity to the referential choices that speakers make. The interactional objectives of interlocutors are enacted through the regular placement of particular forms in particular sequential environments. These objectives are then revealed through the turn-by-turn unfolding of conversational interaction

Characterization of a Novel Binding Protein for Fortilin/TCTP — Component of a Defense Mechanism against Viral Infection in Penaeus monodon

The Fortilin (also known as TCTP) in Penaeus monodon (PmFortilin) and Fortilin Binding Protein 1 (FBP1) have recently been shown to interact and to offer protection against the widespread White Spot Syndrome Virus infection. However, the mechanism is yet unknown. We investigated this interaction in detail by a number of in silico and in vitro analyses, including prediction of a binding site between PmFortilin/FBP1 and docking simulations. The basis of the modeling analyses was well-conserved PmFortilin orthologs, containing a Ca2+-binding domain at residues 76–110 representing a section of the helical domain, the translationally controlled tumor protein signature 1 and 2 (TCTP_1, TCTP_2) at residues 45–55 and 123–145, respectively. We found the pairs Cys59 and Cys76 formed a disulfide bond in the C-terminus of FBP1, which is a common structural feature in many exported proteins and the “x–G–K–K” pattern of the amidation site at the end of the C-terminus. This coincided with our previous work, where we found the “x–P–P–x” patterns of an antiviral peptide also to be located in the C-terminus of FBP1. The combined bioinformatics and in vitro results indicate that FBP1 is a transmembrane protein and FBP1 interact with N-terminal region of PmFortilin

Benzodiazepine prescribing behaviour and attitudes: a survey among general practitioners practicing in northern Thailand

BACKGROUND: Over-prescribing of benzodiazepines appears common in many countries, a better understanding of prescribing practices and attitudes may help develop strategies to reduce prescribing. This study aimed to evaluate benzodiazepine prescribing behaviour and attitudes in general practitioners practising in Chiang Mai and Lampoon, Thailand. METHODS: Questionnaire survey of general practitioners in community hospitals, to estimate: i) use of benzodiazepines for anxiety/insomnia, panic disorder, depression, essential hypertension, and uncomplicated low back pain and ii) views on the optimal duration of benzodiazepine use. RESULTS: Fifty-five of 100 general practitioners returned the completed questionnaires. They reported use of benzodiazepines for anxiety/insomnia (n = 51, 93%), panic disorder (n = 43, 78%), depression (n = 26, 43%), essential hypertension (n = 15, 27 %) and uncomplicated low back pain (n = 10, 18%). Twenty-eight general practitioners would prescribe benzodiazepines for non-psychiatric conditions, 17 for use as muscle relaxants. Seventy-five per cent, 62% and 29% of the general practitioners agreed or totally agreed with the use of benzodiazepines for insomnia, anxiety and depression, respectively. Practitioners agreed that prescribing should be less than one week (80%); or from 1 week to 1 month (47%); or 1 to 4 months (16%); or 4 to 6 months (5%) or more than 6 months (2%). Twenty-five general practitioners (45%) accepted that they used benzodiazepines excessively in the past year. CONCLUSION: A considerable proportion of general practitioners in Chiang Mai and Lampoon, Thailand inappropriately use benzodiazepines for physical illnesses, especially essential hypertension and uncomplicated low back pain. However, almost half of them thought that they overused benzodiazepines. General practitioner's lack of time, knowledge and skills should be taken into account in improving prescribing behaviour and attitudes

The Effect of Aggressive Versus Conventional Lipid-lowering Therapy on Markers of Inflammatory and Oxidative Stress

Purpose Recent trial results are in favor of aggressive lipid lowering using high dose statins in patients needing secondary prevention. It is unclear whether these effects are solely due to more extensive lipid lowering or the result of the potentially anti-inflammatory properties of statins. We aimed to determine whether aggressive compared with conventional statin therapy is more effective in reducing systemic markers of inflammation and oxidative stress. Materials and methods This was a multi-centre, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Patients with previous cardiovascular disease, who did not achieve low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels <2.6 mmol/l on conventional statin therapy (simvastatin 40 mg) were randomized to continue with simvastatin 40 mg or to receive atorvastatin 40 mg for 8 weeks and thereafter atorvastatin 80 mg for the final 8 weeks (aggressive treatment). Lipids, C-reactive protein, soluble cellular adhesion molecules, neopterin, von Willebrand Factor, and antibodies against oxidized LDL were measured at baseline and after 16 weeks. Results Lipid levels decreased significantly in the aggressive treatment group (LDL-C reduction 20.8%; P <0.001), whereas a slight increase was observed in the conventional group (LDL-C increase 3.7%; P = 0.037). A significant reduction in antibodies against oxidized LDL was seen in the aggressive (13.4%; P <0.001) and the conventional (26.8%; P <0.001) group, but there was no difference between groups (P = 0.25). Furthermore, no significant differences in change in other biomarkers was observed between both groups. Conclusions This study does not support the hypothesis that a more profound reduction in inflammatory and oxidative stress contributes to the benefits of aggressive statin therapy

Interplant Communication of Tomato Plants through Underground Common Mycorrhizal Networks

Plants can defend themselves to pathogen and herbivore attack by responding to chemical signals that are emitted by attacked plants. It is well established that such signals can be transferred through the air. In theory, plants can also communicate with each other through underground common mycorrhizal networks (CMNs) that interconnect roots of multiple plants. However, until now research focused on plant-to-plant carbon nutrient movement and there is no evidence that defense signals can be exchanged through such mycorrhizal hyphal networks. Here, we show that CMNs mediate plant-plant communication between healthy plants and pathogen-infected tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.). After establishment of CMNs with the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus mosseae between tomato plants, inoculation of ‘donor’ plants with the pathogen Alternaria solani led to increases in disease resistance and activities of the putative defensive enzymes, peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase, chitinase, β-1,3-glucanase, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and lipoxygenase in healthy neighbouring ‘receiver’ plants. The uninfected ‘receiver’ plants also activated six defence-related genes when CMNs connected ‘donor’ plants challenged with A. solani. This finding indicates that CMNs may function as a plant-plant underground communication conduit whereby disease resistance and induced defence signals can be transferred between the healthy and pathogen-infected neighbouring plants, suggesting that plants can ‘eavesdrop’ on defence signals from the pathogen-challenged neighbours through CMNs to activate defences before being attacked themselves

ApoCIII-Enriched LDL in Type 2 Diabetes Displays Altered Lipid Composition, Increased Susceptibility for Sphingomyelinase, and Increased Binding to Biglycan

Objective- Apolipoprotein CIII (apoCIII) is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease, but the molecular mechanisms involved are poorly understood. Here, we investigated potential proatherogenic properties of apoCIII-containing LDL from hypertriglyceridemic patients with type 2 diabetes. Research design and methods - LDL was isolated from controls and subjects with type 2 diabetes, and from apoB transgenic mice. LDL-biglycan binding was analyzed with a solid-phase assay using immunoplates coated with biglycan. Lipid composition was analyzed with mass spectrometry. Hydrolysis of LDL by sphingomyelinase was analyzed after labeling plasma LDL with [(3)H]sphingomyelin. ApoCIII isoforms were quantified after isoelectric focusing. Human aortic endothelial cells were incubated with desialylated apoCIII or with LDL enriched with specific apoCIII isoforms. Results- We showed that enriching LDL with apoCIII only induced a small increase in LDL-proteoglycan binding, and this effect was dependent on a functional Site A in apoB100. Our findings indicated that intrinsic characteristics of the diabetic LDL other than apoCIII per se are responsible for further increased proteoglycan binding of diabetic LDL with high endogenous apoCIII, and we showed alterations in the lipid composition of diabetic LDL with high apoCIII. We also demonstrated that high apoCIII increased susceptibility of LDL to hydrolysis and aggregation by SMase. In addition, we demonstrated that sialylation of apoCIII increased with increasing apoCIII content, and that sialylation of apoCIII was essential for its proinflammatory properties. Conclusions- We have demonstrated a number of features of apoCIII-containing LDL from hypertriglyceridemic patients with type 2 diabetes that could explain the proatherogenic role of apoCIII

Global Ocean Sediment Composition and Burial Flux in the Deep Sea

Quantitative knowledge about the burial of sedimentary components at the seafloor has wide-ranging implications in ocean science, from global climate to continental weathering. The use of 230Th-normalized fluxes reduces uncertainties that many prior studies faced by accounting for the effects of sediment redistribution by bottom currents and minimizing the impact of age model uncertainty. Here we employ a recently compiled global data set of 230Th-normalized fluxes with an updated database of seafloor surface sediment composition to derive atlases of the deep-sea burial flux of calcium carbonate, biogenic opal, total organic carbon (TOC), nonbiogenic material, iron, mercury, and excess barium (Baxs). The spatial patterns of major component burial are mainly consistent with prior work, but the new quantitative estimates allow evaluations of deep-sea budgets. Our integrated deep-sea burial fluxes are 136 Tg C/yr CaCO3, 153 Tg Si/yr opal, 20Tg C/yr TOC, 220 Mg Hg/yr, and 2.6 Tg Baxs/yr. This opal flux is roughly a factor of 2 increase over previous estimates, with important implications for the global Si cycle. Sedimentary Fe fluxes reflect a mixture of sources including lithogenic material, hydrothermal inputs and authigenic phases. The fluxes of some commonly used paleo-productivity proxies (TOC, biogenic opal, and Baxs) are not well-correlated geographically with satellite-based productivity estimates. Our new compilation of sedimentary fluxes provides detailed regional and global information, which will help refine the understanding of sediment preservation

Low Temperature-Dependent Salmonid Alphavirus Glycoprotein Processing and Recombinant Virus-Like Particle Formation

Pancreas disease (PD) and sleeping disease (SD) are important viral scourges in aquaculture of Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout. The etiological agent of PD and SD is salmonid alphavirus (SAV), an unusual member of the Togaviridae (genus Alphavirus). SAV replicates at lower temperatures in fish. Outbreaks of SAV are associated with large economic losses of ∼17 to 50 million $/year. Current control strategies rely on vaccination with inactivated virus formulations that are cumbersome to obtain and have intrinsic safety risks. In this research we were able to obtain non-infectious virus-like particles (VLPs) of SAV via expression of recombinant baculoviruses encoding SAV capsid protein and two major immunodominant viral glycoproteins, E1 and E2 in Spodoptera frugiperda Sf9 insect cells. However, this was only achieved when a temperature shift from 27°C to lower temperatures was applied. At 27°C, precursor E2 (PE2) was misfolded and not processed by host furin into mature E2. Hence, E2 was detected neither on the surface of infected cells nor as VLPs in the culture fluid. However, when temperatures during protein expression were lowered, PE2 was processed into mature E2 in a temperature-dependent manner and VLPs were abundantly produced. So, temperature shift-down during synthesis is a prerequisite for correct SAV glycoprotein processing and recombinant VLP production