Selenium and vascular health

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Free radical routes to functional fluorine-containing organic compounds

Free radical additions of functional hydrocarbons such as alcohols, aldehydes and ethers to the highly fluorinated alkenes 2H-pentafluoropropene and hexafluoropropene have been studied. In particular, reactions involving 2H-pentafluoropropene have given rise to a series of new fluorinated alcohols and ketones. For the purpose of synthesising the 1:1 adducts, γ-ray initiation was shown to provide a superior method to ultra violet radiation or peroxides. Competition reactions were carried out between homologous alcohols and between different species, viz alcohol, aldehyde, amine, ether. These reactions enabled reactivity series to be established. Chemistry of the derived polyfluorinated alcohols was investigated, and it has been shown that these compounds may be reacted with a broad spectrum of electrophiles to give new esters, carbonates, sulphonates and ethers, including the first reported such reactions with perfluorinated aromatic and heteroaromatic compounds as electrophiles. Interestingly, it was observed that tosylated polyfluoroalcohols would not undergo nucleophilic displacement, in contrast to the situation which exists with non-fluorinated analogues.2-(1,1,2,3,3,3- exafluoropropyl)oxolane was chlorinated selectively at the 5-position, and subsequently reacted with a range of different types of nucleophile. This study gave a number of novel compounds, and reasons were proposed for the variation in reactivity of nucleophiles under study. Direct chlorination of this ketone gave rise to the chloromethyl and dichloromethyl ketones, as did direct chlorination of 3,3,4,5,5,5- hexafluoropentan-2-ol. A pathway for the latter reaction is proposed, involving 1,1,1,2,3,3-hexafluoropentan-2-one as an intermediate

Weapon Size Versus Body Size as a Predictor of Winning in Fights Between Shore Crabs, Carcinus maenas (L.)

Relative body size (carapace width) and weapon size (chela length) were used as indicators of resource holding potential (RHP) in the agonistic behaviour of male shore crabs, Carcinus maenas (L.). Weapon size was found to be a more reliable predictor of the outcome of pairwise fights than body size. Crabs with longer chelae than their opponents were more likely to win fights than crabs with relatively larger bodies. Body size had less influence on the outcome of fights. Relative body and weapon size did not influence initiation of contests but did affect the likelihood of winning; however, this was significant only for weapon size. Winning crabs had heavier claws with greater surface area than losing crabs. There was no relationship between relative size and fight duration. The frequency of cheliped display increased with chela length and winners performed significantly more displays than losers

Differences in expenditure and amounts of fresh foods, fruits & vegetables and fish purchased in urban and rural Scotland

Acknowledgements Financial support: This work was supported by the Scottish Government’s Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services (RESAS) Division. RESAS had no role in the design, analysis or writing of this article. Conflict of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. Kantar Worldpanel had no role in study design or data analysis. Authorship: All authors contributed to the coding of the database. B.d.R., F.B. and S.W. contributed to the analyses in SPSS and Excel. All authors contributed to the writing of the manuscript. Ethics of human subject participation: Not applicable.Peer reviewedPostprin

Regular crabmeat consumers do not show increased urinary cadmium or beta-2-microglobulin levels compared to non-crabmeat consumers

Acknowledgements We acknowledge help from staff at Stromness surgery and Balfour hospital, NHS Orkney who collected and processed samples from the Orkney volunteers. We also gratefully acknowledge the contribution of the all volunteers who participated in the study. Financial Support This study was funded by grants from Orkney Fisherman’s Society Ltd and MacDuff Shellfish Ltd who themselves were awarded a grant from the UK Sea Fish Industry Authority’s (Seafish) Strategic Investment Programme 2015-2018. Neither Seafish, Orkney Fisherman’s Society Ltd nor MacDuff Shellfish Ltd had a role in the design, analysis, or writing of this study. The research of A.A.S. and S.B. is supported by Scottish Government’s Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division (RESAS).Peer reviewedPostprin

Agonistic Behaviour and Biogenic Amines in Shore Crabs Carcinus Maenas

To investigate the role of certain neurohormones in agonistic behaviour, fights were staged between pairs of size-matched male shore crabs Carcinus maenas, and blood samples were taken immediately after the contests had been resolved. Samples were also taken from these crabs at rest (before and after fighting) and after walking on a treadmill. A control group of crabs also had samples taken on each experimental day. Concentrations of tyramine, dopamine, octopamine, serotonin (5-HT) and norepinephrine were determined in each blood sample using a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS) system. Norepinephrine was not detectable in any of the samples, but the standards were recovered. Tyramine values were not significantly different between the control group and the fought group, so tyramine does not appear to be important in agonistic behaviour. A comparison between the control and fought groups shows that fighting had an effect on the concentrations of octopamine, dopamine and 5-HT, but exercise only had an effect on octopamine levels, which showed a reduction from resting values in both winners and losers. Resting and post-fight concentrations of octopamine, dopamine and 5-HT were higher in winners than in losers. 5-HT concentration increased in the blood of fought crabs from resting values, whereas dopamine concentration decreased. In winners, octopamine concentrations decreased from resting values, but in losers octopamine levels increased from resting concentrations. The escalatory behaviour or intensity of fighting performed by winners and losers was related to dopamine levels but not to those of octopamine or 5-HT. Therefore, there appears to be a link between relative concentrations of these three amines (dopamine, octopamine and 5-HT) and fighting ability; the effects are not simply a result of activity. The better competitors have higher concentrations of these three amines at rest and after fighting

Linking agroecosystems producing farmed seafood with food security and health status to better address the nutritional challenges in Bangladesh

Financial support: The authors wish to acknowledge funding from Immana to write this review. The research of B.d.R. and A.A.S. is supported by the Scottish Government’s Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division (RESAS). N.R. is funded by the University of Copenhagen, A.-A.M. is funded by Noakhali Science and Technology University Bangladesh, T.A. is funded by icddr,b (International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh), and F.M. and D.C.L. are funded by the University of Stirling. Funding agencies had no role in the design, analysis or writing of this article. Conflict of interest: None to report. Authorship: All authors contributed to the writing of the manuscript. Ethics of human subject participation: Not applicable.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Linkages of agroecosystems producing farmed seafood on food security, nutritional status and adolescent health in Bangladesh

Funding Information: We wish to acknowledge funding from Innovative Methods and Metrics for Agriculture and Nutrition Actions (IMMANA) to write this review. The research of BdR and AAS is supported by the Scottish Government's Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division (RESAS). NR is funded by the University of Copenhagen, AG and TA are funded by the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research Bangladesh, AAM is funded by Noakhali Science and Technology University Bangladesh and FM and DL are funded by the University of Stirling.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Anticancer effects of n-3 EPA and DHA and their endocannabinoid derivatives on breast cancer cell growth and invasion

Acknowledgements We would like to acknowledge NHS Grampian Endowment funds and TENOVUS Scotland for funding. JL was funded by a scholarship from Fraserburgh Moonlight Prowl and AAS was funded by the Scottish Government’s Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division (RESAS). We also thank Dr Raphael Mechoulam, University of Jerusalem, for the gift of the endocannabinoids.Peer reviewedPostprin

Genetic variants in selenoprotein genes modulate biomarkers of selenium status in response to Brazil nut supplementation (the SU.BRA.NUT study)

This work was supported by Brazilian grants from São Paulo Research Foundation to JLSD (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo-FAPESP processes: 2011/17720-0 and 2015/10146-8). Funding source had no involvement in study design, collection, analysis and interpretation of data from the present research.Peer reviewedPostprin