Having Your Cake and Condemning It Too: When Asserting the Power of Eminent Domain Constitutes Breach of an Oil and Gas Lease

The rapid increase in urban drilling for oil and gas in Texas, especially the shale natural gas plays that have become major producers of energy in Texas and other parts of the United States, have created new concerns for surface owners who also own the related minerals. One question is, how can land and mineral owners limit or prohibit surface use while leasing the minerals to producers? The advent of horizontal drilling that permits exploitation of leased minerals from off-site drilling locations prompts this new concern. The following is a scenario that frequently occurs in the current development and production of oil and natural gas, especially where minerals that a landowner leases are associated with a surface that the landowner concurrently uses for residential or commercial purposes

Developing biodiversity indicators for african birds

Biodiversity indicators are essential for monitoring the impacts of pressures on the state of nature, determining the effectiveness of policy responses, and tracking progress towards biodiversity targets and sustainable development goals. Indicators based on trends in the abundance of birds are widely used for these purposes in Europe and have been identified as priorities for development elsewhere. To facilitate this we established bird population monitoring schemes in three African countries, based on citizen science approaches used in Europe, aiming to monitor population trends in common and widespread species. We recorded > 500 bird species from c. 450 2-km transects in Botswana, > 750 species from c. 120 transects in Uganda, and > 630 species from c. 90 transects in Kenya. Provisional Wild Bird Indices indicate a strong increase in bird populations in Botswana and a small decrease in Uganda. We also provide comparisons between trends of habitat generalists and specialists, of birds within and outside protected areas, and between Afro-Palearctic migrants and resident birds. Challenges encountered included recruiting, training and retaining volunteer surveyors, and securing long-term funding. However, we show that with technical support and modest investment (c. USD 30,000 per scheme per year), meaningful biodiversity indicators can be generated and used in African countries. Sustained resourcing for the existing schemes, and replication elsewhere, would be a cost-effective way to improve our understanding of biodiversity trends globally, and measure progress towards environmental goals

Neonatal Circumcision for HIV Prevention: Cost, Culture, and Behavioral Considerations

Seth Kalichman discusses a new study that finds neonatal circumcision in Rwanda to be a cost-saving HIV prevention strategy

Endogenous cholinergic inputs and local circuit mechanisms govern the phasic mesolimbic dopamine response to nicotine

Nicotine exerts its reinforcing action by stimulating nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) and boosting dopamine (DA) output from the ventral tegmental area (VTA). Recent data have led to a debate about the principal pathway of nicotine action: direct stimulation of the DAergic cells through nAChR activation, or disinhibition mediated through desensitization of nAChRs on GABAergic interneurons. We use a computational model of the VTA circuitry and nAChR function to shed light on this issue. Our model illustrates that the α4β2-containing nAChRs either on DA or GABA cells can mediate the acute effects of nicotine. We account for in vitro as well as in vivo data, and predict the conditions necessary for either direct stimulation or disinhibition to be at the origin of DA activity increases. We propose key experiments to disentangle the contribution of both mechanisms. We show that the rate of endogenous acetylcholine input crucially determines the evoked DA response for both mechanisms. Together our results delineate the mechanisms by which the VTA mediates the acute rewarding properties of nicotine and suggest an acetylcholine dependence hypothesis for nicotine reinforcement.Peer reviewe

The influence of the accessory genome on bacterial pathogen evolution

Bacterial pathogens exhibit significant variation in their genomic content of virulence factors. This reflects the abundance of strategies pathogens evolved to infect host organisms by suppressing host immunity. Molecular arms-races have been a strong driving force for the evolution of pathogenicity, with pathogens often encoding overlapping or redundant functions, such as type III protein secretion effectors and hosts encoding ever more sophisticated immune systems. The pathogens’ frequent exposure to other microbes, either in their host or in the environment, provides opportunities for the acquisition or interchange of mobile genetic elements. These DNA elements accessorise the core genome and can play major roles in shaping genome structure and altering the complement of virulence factors. Here, we review the different mobile genetic elements focusing on the more recent discoveries and highlighting their role in shaping bacterial pathogen evolution

Metallothionein in human oesophagus, Barrett's epithelium and adenocarcinoma

The potential of the metal-binding protein, metallothionein, in assessing the progression of normal oesophagus through Barrett's to adenocarcinoma was investigated. Metallothionein was quantitatively determined in resected tissues from patients undergoing oesophagectomy for high grade dysplasia/adenocarcinoma and in biopsies from patients with Barrett's syndrome. In 10 cancer patients, metallothionein concentrations in adenocarcinoma were not significantly different from normal oesophagus, although six had elevated metallothionein concentrations in the metaplastic tissue bordering the adenocarcinoma. In 17 out of 20 non-cancer patients with Barrett's epithelium, metallothionein was significantly increased by 108% (P<0.004). There was no association between the metallothionein levels in Barrett's epithelium and the presence of inflammatory cells, metaplasia or dysplasia. Metallothionein is a marker of progression from normal to Barrett's epithelium but is not increased in oesophageal adenocarcinoma

The association of Social Anxiety Disorder, Alcohol Use Disorder and reproduction: Results from four nationally representative samples of adults in the USA.

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) and Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) are highly prevalent and frequently co-occur. The results of population studies suggest that SAD tends to precede AUD, and the results of laboratory studies suggest that alcohol use facilitates social behaviors in socially anxious individuals. Therefore, we posited that, in a modern context, a tendency to consume alcohol may be positively selected for among socially anxious individuals by its effect on the likelihood of finding a partner and reproducing. We tested the hypothesis that a higher proportion of individuals with a lifetime diagnosis of SAD and AUD reproduce (i.e., have at least one child) relative to individuals with SAD absent AUD in an individual participant meta-analysis based on over 65,000 adults derived from four nationally representative cross-sectional samples. We then cross-validated these findings against the results of a 10-year follow up of one of these surveys. Lifetime history of SAD was not associated with reproduction whereas lifetime history of AUD was positively associated with reproduction. There was no statistically detectable difference in the proportion of individuals with a lifetime history of SAD with or without AUD who reproduced. There was considerable heterogeneity in all of the analyses involving SAD, suggesting that there are likely to be other pertinent variables relating to SAD and reproduction that should be delineated

Current drinking and health-risk behaviors among male high school students in central Thailand

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Alcohol drinking is frequently related to behavioral problems, which lead to a number of negative consequences. This study was to evaluate the characteristics of male high school students who drink, the drinking patterns among them, and the associations between current drinking and other health risk behaviors which focused on personal safety, violence-related behaviors, suicide and sexual behaviors.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>A cross-sectional study was conducted to explore current alcohol drinking and health-risk behaviors among male high school students in central Thailand. Five thousand one hundred and eighty four male students were classified into 2 groups according to drinking in the previous 30 days (yes = 631, no = 4,553). Data were collected by self-administered, anonymous questionnaire which consisted of 3 parts: socio-demographic factors, health-risk behaviors and alcohol drinking behavior during the past year from December 2007 to February 2008.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results showed that the percent of current drinking was 12.17. Most of them were 15-17 years (50.21%). Socio-demographic factors such as age, educational level, residence, cohabitants, grade point average (GPA), having a part time job and having family members with alcohol/drug problems were significantly associated with alcohol drinking (p < 0.05). Multiple logistic regression analysis, after adjusting for socio-demographic factors, revealed that health-risk behavioral factors were associated with current alcohol consumption: often drove after drinking alcohol (OR = 3.10, 95% CI = 1.88-5.12), often carried a weapon (OR = 3.51, 95% CI = 2.27-5.42), often got into a physical fight without injury (OR = 3.06, 95% CI = 1.99-4.70), dating violence (OR = 2.58, 95% CI = 1.79-3.71), seriously thought about suicide (OR = 2.07, 95% CI = 1.38-3.11), made a suicide plan (OR = 2.10, 95% CI = 1.43-3.08), ever had sexual intercourse (OR = 5.62, 95% CI = 4.33-7.29), alcohol or drug use before last sexual intercourse (OR = 2.55, 95% CI = 1.44-4.53), and got someone pregnant (OR = 3.99, 95% CI = 1.73-9.25).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>An increased risk of health-risk behaviors, including driving vehicles after drinking, violence-related behaviors, sad feelings and attempted suicide, and sexual behaviors was higher among drinking students that led to significant health problems. Effective intervention strategies (such as a campaign mentioning the adverse health effects and social consequences to the risk groups, and encouraging parental and community efforts to prevent drinking) among adolescents should be implemented to prevent underage drinking and adverse consequences.</p