International Occupational Health Research on an Invisible Workforce

There are many professions in which employees are located in remote locations. International maritime workers make up one such occupation. They are a vulnerable, underserved and neglected population of approximately 1.2 million people with high rates of disease and injury. During their typical nine month deployments, they live in relative isolation with no health care professional on board. To understand the root causes of disease and injury among this remote workforce, strategies to collect information, analyze data, and report results and recommendations have been developed. These strategies, which include gathering of data through an alliance of companies involved in seafaring, have yielded initial results as to the predictors of serious illness and injury on board vessels requiring the repatriation of the employee. These same methods should be applicable to other isolated international workforces

Activity And Localization Of Maltodextrin Binding Site Mutants Of Glycogen Synthase In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae

Mentor: Wayne A. WilsonGlycogen is a glucose polymer formed by the enzyme glycogen synthase and is used in many organisms to store chemical energy. Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker’s yeast) was used to study the activity and localization of glycogen synthase. Genes GSY1 and GSY2 encode glycogen synthase. GSY2 is responsible for the formation of Gsy2p, whose action accounts for ~90% of glycogen synthase activity; the remainder of total glycogen synthase activity stems from Gsy1p. Because glycogen synthase binds to glycogen, it can be used to determine glycogen localization. Glycogen synthase can appear in distinct patterns throughout the cell. Gsy2p has been shown to be regulated by phosphorylation. Phosphorylation of Gsy2p leads to inactivation of the enzyme, a decrease in glycogen storage, and a more localized pattern of glycogen synthase. Conversely, lowering the phosphorylation state of Gsy2p results in increased glycogen production and delocalization of glycogen synthase throughout the cell. Glucose-6-P (glucose-6-phosphate) activates glycogen synthase regardless of its phosphorylation state. We obtained a set of plasmids from a collaborator, encoding Gsy2p mutated at sites believed to be involved with maltodextrin binding. Maltodextrin is a chain of 20 or fewer dextrose molecules with α (1→4) glycosidic bonds. A protein sequence involved in maltodextrin binding likely would also bind to glycogen. Our task was to discover the localization pattern shown by the maltodextrin binding site mutants of glycogen synthase using a GFP tag on GSY2. The goal of this study was to determine the 16 effects of Gsy2p maltodextrin binding mutants on glycogen synthase activity, localization, and glycogen accumulation

Planetary benchmarks

Design criteria and technology requirements for a system of radar reference devices to be fixed to the surfaces of the inner planets are discussed. Offshoot applications include the use of radar corner reflectors as landing beacons on the planetary surfaces and some deep space applications that may yield a greatly enhanced knowledge of the gravitational and electromagnetic structure of the solar system. Passive retroreflectors with dimensions of about 4 meters and weighing about 10 kg are feasible for use with orbiting radar at Venus and Mars. Earth-based observation of passive reflectors, however, would require very large and complex structures to be delivered to the surfaces. For Earth-based measurements, surface transponders offer a distinct advantage in accuracy over passive reflectors. A conceptual design for a high temperature transponder is presented. The design appears feasible for the Venus surface using existing electronics and power components