Inhibitor regulation of tissue kallikrein activity in the synovial fluid of patients with rheumatoid athritis

Tissue kallikrein (TK) and 1-antitrypsin (AT)/TK complexes can be detected in SF from patients with RA if components of the fluids which interfere with the detection of TK are removed. 2-Macroglobulin (2-M) in SF was demonstrated to contain trapped proteases which were still active in amidase assays. Removal of 2-M from RA SF reduced their amidase activity. However, at least some of the remaining activity was due to TK because it was soya bean trypsin inhibitor resistant and trasylol sensitive and was partly removed by affinity chromatography on anti-TK sepharose. Removal of RF from the fluids reduced the values obtained for TK levels by ELISA. Addition of SF to human urinary kallikrein (HUK) considerably reduced the levels of TK detected suggesting the presence of a TK ELISA inhibitor in the fluids. Removal of components of >300 kDa from SF markedly reduced the TK ELISA inhibitory activity and increased the values for both the TK and l-AT/TK levels in fluids as measured by ELISA. It is considered this novel inhibitor does not bind to the active site of TK but rather binds to the site reactive with anti-TK antibodies

Population tobacco control interventions and their effects on social inequalities in smoking: systematic review

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of population tobacco control interventions on social inequalities in smoking. DATA SOURCES: Medical, nursing, psychological, social science and grey literature databases, bibliographies, hand-searches and contact with authors. STUDY SELECTION: Studies were included (n = 84) if they reported the effects of any population-level tobacco control intervention on smoking behaviour or attitudes in individuals or groups with different demographic or socioeconomic characteristics. DATA EXTRACTION: Data extraction and quality assessment for each study were conducted by one reviewer and checked by a second. DATA SYNTHESIS: Data were synthesised using graphical ("harvest plot") and narrative methods. No strong evidence of differential effects was found for smoking restrictions in workplaces and public places, although those in higher occupational groups may be more likely to change their attitudes or behaviour. Smoking restrictions in schools may be more effective in girls. Restrictions on sales to minors may be more effective in girls and younger children. Increasing the price of tobacco products may be more effective in reducing smoking among lower-income adults and those in manual occupations, although there was also some evidence to suggest that adults with higher levels of education may be more price-sensitive. Young people aged under 25 are also affected by price increases, with some evidence that boys and non-white young people may be more sensitive to price. CONCLUSIONS: Population-level tobacco control interventions have the potential to benefit more disadvantaged groups and thereby contribute to reducing health inequalities

Miocene Fossils Reveal Ancient Roots for New Zealand’s Endemic Mystacina (Chiroptera) and Its Rainforest Habitat

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.The New Zealand endemic bat family Mystacinidae comprises just two Recent species referred to a single genus, Mystacina. The family was once more diverse and widespread, with an additional six extinct taxa recorded from Australia and New Zealand. Here, a new mystacinid is described from the early Miocene (19–16 Ma) St Bathans Fauna of Central Otago, South Island, New Zealand. It is the first pre-Pleistocene record of the modern genus and it extends the evolutionary history of Mystacina back at least 16 million years. Extant Mystacina species occupy old-growth rainforest and are semi-terrestrial with an exceptionally broad omnivorous diet. The majority of the plants inhabited, pollinated, dispersed or eaten by modern Mystacina were well-established in southern New Zealand in the early Miocene, based on the fossil record from sites at or near where the bat fossils are found. Similarly, many of the arthropod prey of living Mystacina are recorded as fossils in the same area. Although none of the Miocene plant and arthropod species is extant, most are closely related to modern taxa, demonstrating potentially long-standing ecological associations with Mystacina

Women, know your limits: Cultural sexism in academia

Despite the considerable advances of the feminist movement across Western societies, in Universities women are less likely to be promoted, or paid as much as their male colleagues, or even get jobs in the first place. One way in which we can start to reflect on why this might be the case is through hearing the experiences of women academics themselves. Using feminist methodology, this article attempts to unpack and explore just some examples of ‘cultural sexism’ which characterise the working lives of many women in British academia.This article uses qualitative methods to describe and make sense of just some of those experiences. In so doing, the argument is also made that the activity of academia is profoundly gendered and this explicit acknowledgement may contribute to our understanding of the under-representation of women in senior positions

Temporal Variations of the Mole Fraction, Carbon, and Hydrogen Isotope Ratios of Atmospheric Methane in the Hudson Bay Lowlands, Canada

We have conducted simultaneous measurements of the mole fraction and carbon and hydrogen isotope ratios (δ13C and δD) of atmospheric methane (CH4) at Churchill (58°44′N, 93°49′W) in the northern part of the Hudson Bay Lowlands (HBL), Canada, since 2007. Compared with the measurements at an Arctic baseline monitoring station, Ny‐Alesund, Svalbard (78°55′N, 11°56′E), CH4 mole fraction is generally higher and δ13C and δD are lower at Churchill due to regional biogenic CH4 emissions. Clear seasonal cycles in the CH4 mole fraction, δ13C, and δD are observable at Churchill, and their seasonal phases in summer are earlier by approximately 2 weeks than those at Ny‐Alesund. Using the one‐box model analysis, the phase difference is ascribed to the different seasonal influence of CH4 emissions from boreal wetlands on the two sites. Short‐term CH4 variations are also observed at Churchill throughout the year. The analysis of the observed isotopic signatures of atmospheric CH4 confirmed that the short‐term CH4 variations are mainly produced by biogenic CH4 released from the HBL wetlands in summer and by fossil fuel CH4 transported over the Arctic in winter. Forward simulations of an atmospheric chemistry‐transport model, with wetland CH4 fluxes prescribed by a process‐based model, show unrealistically high CH4 mole fractions at Churchill in summer, suggesting that CH4 emissions assigned to the HBL wetlands are overestimated. Our best estimate of the HBL CH4 emissions is 2.7 ± 0.3 Tg CH4 yr?1 as an average of 2007-2013, consistent with recent estimations by inverse modeling studies

An atmospheric perspective on North American carbon dioxide exchange: CarbonTracker

We present an estimate of net CO2 exchange between the terrestrial biosphere and the atmosphere across North America for every week in the period 2000 through 2005. This estimate is derived from a set of 28,000 CO2 mole fraction observations in the global atmosphere that are fed into a state-of-the-art data assimilation system for CO2 called CarbonTracker. By design, the surface fluxes produced in CarbonTracker are consistent with the recent history of CO2 in the atmosphere and provide constraints on the net carbon flux independent from national inventories derived from accounting efforts. We find the North American terrestrial biosphere to have absorbed –0.65 PgC/yr (1 petagram = 10^15 g; negative signs are used for carbon sinks) averaged over the period studied, partly offsetting the estimated 1.85 PgC/yr release by fossil fuel burning and cement manufacturing. Uncertainty on this estimate is derived from a set of sensitivity experiments and places the sink within a range of –0.4 to –1.0 PgC/yr. The estimated sink is located mainly in the deciduous forests along the East Coast (32%) and the boreal coniferous forests (22%). Terrestrial uptake fell to –0.32 PgC/yr during the large-scale drought of 2002, suggesting sensitivity of the contemporary carbon sinks to climate extremes. CarbonTracker results are in excellent agreement with a wide collection of carbon inventories that form the basis of the first North American State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR), to be released in 2007. All CarbonTracker results are freely available at http://carbontracker.noaa.gov

Open access resource for cellular-resolution analyses of corticocortical connectivity in the marmoset monkey

Understanding the principles of neuronal connectivity requires tools for efficient quantification and visualization of large datasets. The primate cortex is particularly challenging due to its complex mosaic of areas, which in many cases lack clear boundaries. Here, we introduce a resource that allows exploration of results of 143 retrograde tracer injections in the marmoset neocortex. Data obtained in different animals are registered to a common stereotaxic space using an algorithm guided by expert delineation of histological borders, allowing accurate assignment of connections to areas despite interindividual variability. The resource incorporates tools for analyses relative to cytoarchitectural areas, including statistical properties such as the fraction of labeled neurons and the percentage of supragranular neurons. It also provides purely spatial (parcellation-free) data, based on the stereotaxic coordinates of 2 million labeled neurons. This resource helps bridge the gap between high-density cellular connectivity studies in rodents and imaging-based analyses of human brains

The Calar Alto Deep Imaging Survey: K-band Galaxy Number Counts

We present K-band number counts for the faint galaxies in the Calar Alto Deep Imaging Survey (CADIS). We covered 4 CADIS fields, a total area of 0.2deg^2, in the broad band filters B, R and K. We detect about 4000 galaxies in the K-band images, with a completeness limit of K=19.75mag, and derive the K-band galaxy number counts in the range of 14.25 < K < 19.75mag. This is the largest medium deep K-band survey to date in this magnitude range. The B- and R-band number counts are also derived, down to completeness limits of B=24.75mag and R=23.25mag. The K-selected galaxies in this magnitude range are of particular interest, since some medium deep near-infrared surveys have identified breaks of both the slope of the K-band number counts and the mean B-K color at K=17\sim18mag. There is, however, a significant disagreement in the K-band number counts among the existing surveys. Our large near-infrared selected galaxy sample allows us to establish the presence of a clear break in the slope at K=17.0mag from dlogN/dm = 0.64 at brighter magnitudes to dlogN/dm = 0.36 at the fainter end. We construct no-evolution and passive evolution models, and find that the passive evolution model can simultaneously fit the B-, R- and K-band number counts well. The B-K colors show a clear trend to bluer colors for K > 18mag. We also find that most of the K=18-20mag galaxies have a B-K color bluer than the prediction of a no-evolution model for an L_* Sbc galaxy, implying either significant evolution, even for massive galaxies, or the existence of an extra population of small galaxies.Comment: Accepted for A&A, 10 pages, 7 figure