New species of Fasciolaria

p. 301-303 : ill. ; 24 cm.Includes 1 bibliographical reference (p. 301)

Attitudes and perceptions about ecological resources and hazards of people living around the Savannah River Site

Although considerable attention is devoted to environmental monitoring and assessment with respect to both pollutants and the status of particular plant or animal populations, less attention is devoted to assessing people\u27s attitudes about the relative importance of ecological resources. In this paper we examine the attitudes and perceptions about ecological resources of people living around the Department of Energy\u27s Savannah River Site (SRS), in South Carolina. Our overall hypothesis is that people who are directly affected by the possible outcomes and consequences of a particular hazard (i.e., those people employed at SRS) will undervalue the risks and overvalue the potential benefits from future land uses that favour continued site activity, compared to people who live near but are not employed at SRS. We interviewed 286 people attending the Aiken Trials horse show on 14 March 1997. There were few gender differences, although men hunted and fished more than women, women ranked three environmental concerns as more severe than did men, and women were more concerned about the effect of SRS on property values. Maintenance of SRS as a National Environmental Research Park ranked first as a future land use; nuclear production ranked second, followed by hunting and hiking. Only residential development ranked very low as a future land use. There were many differences as a function of employment history at SRS: (1) people who work at SRS think that the federal government should spend funds to clean up all nuclear facilities, and they think less money should be spent on other environmental problems than did non-employees, (2) people who work at SRS ranked continued current uses of SRS higher than did people who never worked at SRS, and (3) people who work at SRS are less concerned about the storage of nuclear material or accidents at the site than are people who never worked at the site

Attitudes and perceptions about ecological resources and hazards of people living around the Savannah River Site

Although considerable attention is devoted to environmental monitoring and assessment with respect to both pollutants and the status of particular plant or animal populations, less attention is devoted to assessing people\u27s attitudes about the relative importance of ecological resources. In this paper we examine the attitudes and perceptions about ecological resources of people living around the Department of Energy\u27s Savannah River Site (SRS), in South Carolina. Our overall hypothesis is that people who are directly affected by the possible outcomes and consequences of a particular hazard (i.e., those people employed at SRS) will undervalue the risks and overvalue the potential benefits from future land uses that favour continued site activity, compared to people who live near but are not employed at SRS. We interviewed 286 people attending the Aiken Trials horse show on 14 March 1997. There were few gender differences, although men hunted and fished more than women, women ranked three environmental concerns as more severe than did men, and women were more concerned about the effect of SRS on property values. Maintenance of SRS as a National Environmental Research Park ranked first as a future land use; nuclear production ranked second, followed by hunting and hiking. Only residential development ranked very low as a future land use. There were many differences as a function of employment history at SRS: (1) people who work at SRS think that the federal government should spend funds to clean up all nuclear facilities, and they think less money should be spent on other environmental problems than did non-employees, (2) people who work at SRS ranked continued current uses of SRS higher than did people who never worked at SRS, and (3) people who work at SRS are less concerned about the storage of nuclear material or accidents at the site than are people who never worked at the site

Stress Granules and RNA Processing Bodies are Novel Autoantibody Targets in Systemic Sclerosis

Autoantibody profiles represent important patient stratification markers in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Here, we performed serum-immunoprecipitations with patient antibodies followed by mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to obtain an unbiased view of all possible autoantibody targets and their associated molecular complexes recognized by SSc

Biomarkers for ragwort poisoning in horses: identification of protein targets

BACKGROUND: Ingestion of the poisonous weed ragwort (Senecio jacobea) by horses leads to irreversible liver damage. The principal toxins of ragwort are the pyrrolizidine alkaloids that are rapidly metabolised to highly reactive and cytotoxic pyrroles, which can escape into the circulation and bind to proteins. In this study a non-invasive in vitro model system has been developed to investigate whether pyrrole toxins induce specific modifications of equine blood proteins that are detectable by proteomic methods. RESULTS: One dimensional gel electrophoresis revealed a significant alteration in the equine plasma protein profile following pyrrole exposure and the formation of a high molecular weight protein aggregate. Using mass spectrometry and confirmation by western blotting the major components of this aggregate were identified as fibrinogen, serum albumin and transferrin. CONCLUSION: These findings demonstrate that pyrrolic metabolites can modify equine plasma proteins. The high molecular weight aggregate may result from extensive inter- and intra-molecular cross-linking of fibrinogen with the pyrrole. This model has the potential to form the basis of a novel proteomic strategy aimed at identifying surrogate protein biomarkers of ragwort exposure in horses and other livestock

Targeted Metabolomics Analysis of Campylobacter coli VC167 Reveals Legionaminic Acid Derivatives as Novel Flagellar Glycans

Glycosylation of Campylobacter flagellin is required for the biogenesis of a functional flagella filament. Recently, we used a targeted metabolomics approach using mass spectrometry and NMR to identify changes in the metabolic profile of wild type and mutants in the flagellar glycosylation locus, characterize novel metabolites, and assign function to genes to define the pseudaminic acid biosynthetic pathway in Campylobacter jejuni 81-176 (McNally, D. J., Hui, J. P., Aubry, A. J., Mui, K. K., Guerry, P., Brisson, J. R., Logan, S. M., and Soo, E. C. (2006) J. Biol. Chem. 281, 18489-18498). In this study, we use a similar approach to further define the glycome and metabolomic complement of nucleotide-activated sugars in Campylobacter coli VC167. Herein we demonstrate that, in addition to CMP-pseudaminic acid, C. coli VC167 also produces two structurally distinct nucleotide-activated nonulosonate sugars that were observed as negative ions at m/z 637 and m/z 651 (CMP-315 and CMP-329). Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry yielded suitable amounts of the pure sugar nucleotides for NMR spectroscopy using a cold probe. Structural analysis in conjunction with molecular modeling identified the sugar moieties as acetamidino and N-methylacetimidoyl derivatives of legionaminic acid (Leg5Am7Ac and Leg5AmNMe7Ac). Targeted metabolomic analyses of isogenic mutants established a role for the ptmA-F genes and defined two new ptm genes in this locus as legionaminic acid biosynthetic enzymes. This is the first report of legionaminic acid in Campylobacter sp. and the first report of legionaminic acid derivatives as modifications on a protein

Correlation Between Aspartate Aminotransferase to Platelet Ratio Index Score and the Degree of Esophageal Varices with Liver Cirrhosis

Background: Esophageal varices is the most common complication in liver cirrhosis. Bleeding varices is a serious complication causing increased mortality rate. In anticipation of those complications, the role of screening test is essential. Endoscopy is the standard method for assessing esophageal varices, but it carries certain risks for patients if it is contraindicated. Moreover, it is an invasive, expensive and uncomfortable procedure. Accordingly, a non-invasive method, aspartat aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI) score, has been developed for evaluating esophageal varices. Method: An analytic cross-sectional observational study was conducted in patients with liver cirrhosis who underwent endoscopy between March 2011 and August 2012. Data were obtained from medical records of hospitalized patients in Mohammad Hoesin General Hospital. The degree of esophageal varices was assessed based on endoscopic findings and APRI score. Spearman test was performed to analyze the correlation between APRI score and the degree of esophageal varices.Results: There were 55 patients, 30 (54.5%) male and 25 (45.5%) female patients, with a range of age between 15-70 years and a mean value of age of 47.09 ± 12.8. APRI score < 0.5 was found in 21.81% subjects, APRI score of 0.5-1.5 was obtained in 41.81% subjects and APRI score > 1.5 was noted in 36.36% subjects with a mean value of 2.32 ± 3.92. There was a correlation between APRI score and degree of esophageal varices with p = 0.011 Conclusion: APRI score can indirectly predict esophageal varices in patients with liver cirrhosis

Biological, clinical and population relevance of 95 loci for blood lipids.

Plasma concentrations of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides are among the most important risk factors for coronary artery disease (CAD) and are targets for therapeutic intervention. We screened the genome for common variants associated with plasma lipids in >100,000 individuals of European ancestry. Here we report 95 significantly associated loci (P < 5 x 10(-8)), with 59 showing genome-wide significant association with lipid traits for the first time. The newly reported associations include single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) near known lipid regulators (for example, CYP7A1, NPC1L1 and SCARB1) as well as in scores of loci not previously implicated in lipoprotein metabolism. The 95 loci contribute not only to normal variation in lipid traits but also to extreme lipid phenotypes and have an impact on lipid traits in three non-European populations (East Asians, South Asians and African Americans). Our results identify several novel loci associated with plasma lipids that are also associated with CAD. Finally, we validated three of the novel genes-GALNT2, PPP1R3B and TTC39B-with experiments in mouse models. Taken together, our findings provide the foundation to develop a broader biological understanding of lipoprotein metabolism and to identify new therapeutic opportunities for the prevention of CAD