Succession in soil and vegetation caused by coastal embankment in southern Laizhou Bay, China-Flourish or degradation?

Coastal wetland degradation and loss caused by intensive human activities, such as land reclamation and embankment, is a serious environmental problem. In this paper, we studied the succession of soil and vegetation in a coastal wetland dominated by Chinese tamarisk (Tamarix chinensis) community after the construction of a seawall. When the intertidal wetland became supratidal wetland, soil salinity firstly decreased and the gradient from sea to land became weaker. Next, the area of vegetation and plant species diversity increased, and the phenomenon of plant zonation disappeared. We reasoned that the rooted cause of soil and vegetation succession was the change in hydrological environment. Moreover, a Drivers-Pressures-State-Impacts-Response (DPSIR) model was used to analyze the relationship between human activities and coastal wetland. Using this model, we presented the potential problems that might arise in this wetland and predicted that vegetation flourishing was only a short term phenomenon but wetland degradation was the final consequences due to excessive exploitation of groundwater. At last, we proposed a few of operable measures as responses to these potential problems from the perspective of coastal management. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Simultaneous determination of diphenylarsinic and phenylarsinic acids in amended soils by optimized solvent extraction coupled to HPLC-MS/MS

A solvent extraction method coupled to high-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry detection (HPLC-MS/MS) was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of soil diphenylarsinic acid (DPAA) and phenylarsinic acid (PAA). Several extraction solvents were evaluated with respect to the degree of soil extract-induced matrix effects and the recovery values for DPAA and PAA in the four studied soil matrices. Validation data showed that solvent extraction had a negligible impact on the accurate quantification of DPAA. In contrast, only with disodium hydrogen phosphate extraction did the method give both limited matrix effects (102-107%) with a coefficient of variation 74.03%) were obtained for both analytes. The results show that the proposed solvent extraction method coupled to HPLC-MS/MS analysis can provide accurate and reliable determinations of DPAA and PAA in soil samples. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Effects of bioturbation on the erodibility of cohesive versus non-cohesive sediments along a current-velocity gradient: A case study on cockles

Soft-bottom bioturbators are ecosystem engineers in the sense that they can have considerable effects on sediment erodibility and resuspension. The common cockle Cerastoderma edule is a bioturbating filter feeder that is widespread along the European Atlantic coastline. Its presence and activity can decrease sediment erosion thresholds in cohesive sediments but little is known about its effect on non-cohesive sediments. Using controlled annular flume experiments, we investigated the relative effects of different cockle densities on sediment re suspension in cohesive vs. non-cohesive sediments by assessing the following: (i) the mud and sand burrowing behavior of cockles, (ii) critical erosion thresholds, (iii) the mass of eroded sediment and (iv) erosion rates. Our results show that cackles were more active in non-cohesive sediment compared with cohesive sediment. Despite their lower activity, the presence of cockles in cohesive sediment increased sediment erodibility by reducing the critical erosion threshold (U-crit) and increasing both the mass of eroded sediment and erosion rate. In contrast, cockles had no effect on erodibility in non-cohesive sediment, especially on the eroded sediment mass and erosion rate. The mass eroded was not significantly different between cohesive and non-cohesive sediments when cockles were present. Our experiments show that the increased erodibility of cohesive sediment due to the. bioturbation by cockles is density dependent: higher cockle density results in stronger effects on erodibility. Moreover, this increase in cohesive sediment erosion due to cockle bioturbation was positively correlated with current velocity. In contrast, the erosion of non-cohesive sediment only depended on the current stress and was unaffected by cockle density. Considering the high abundance of C. edule, its widespread distribution and its extensive activities, the results of this study could be widely applicable to intertidal mud flats around the world.</p

Definitions and outcome measures for bullous pemphigoid: Recommendations by an international panel of experts

Our scientific knowledge of bullous pemphigoid (BP) has dramatically progressed in recent years. However, despite the availability of various therapeutic options for the treatment of inflammatory diseases, only a few multicenter controlled trials have helped to define effective therapies in BP. A major obstacle in sharing multicenter-based evidences for therapeutic efforts is the lack of generally accepted definitions for the clinical evaluation of patients with BP. Common terms and end points of BP are needed so that experts in the field can accurately measure and assess disease extent, activity, severity, and therapeutic response, and thus facilitate and advance clinical trials. These recommendations from the International Pemphigoid Committee represent 2 years of collaborative efforts to attain mutually acceptable common definitions for BP and proposes a disease extent score, the BP Disease Area Index. These items should assist in the development of consistent reporting of outcomes in future BP reports and studies. © 2011 by the American Academy of Dermatology, Inc

Accumulation capacity of ions in cabbage (Brassica oleracea L.) supplied with sea water

Cabbage seedlings were grown hydroponically to study the effects of different concentrations of seawater on the seedling growth, ion content under one-fourth strength Hoagland's nutrient solution in the greenhouse. The biomass of various organs of cabbage seedlings as well as the whole plants was significantly higher in the treatments with 1 g and 2 g sea salt/L than the no-salt control, but the treatments with 4, 5 or 6 g sea salt/L caused a decrease in growth. Root/shoot ratio remained at the level of control regardless of the sea salt treatment. Na+ and Cl- concentration in different parts of cabbage seedlings increased significantly, whereas K+ and Ca2+ concentration generally increased at low concentrations of sea salt and then decreased with increasing seawater concentration. Sodium and K+ concentrations were significantly higher in the stems than roots and leaves regardless of the sea salt treatment. The sea salt treatment increased Mg2+ concentration in stems and leaves of cabbage seedlings. An increase in Na+ and Cl- concentration in roots, stems and leaves of cabbage seedlings was the main contributor to declining ratios of K+/Na+, Ca2+/Na+ and Mg2+/Na+. The obtained data suggest that cabbage seedlings have strong ability to sustain seawater stress by the regulation of transport and distribution of ions

Experimental models for the autoimmune and inflammatory blistering disease, Bullous pemphigoid

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is a subepidermal skin blistering disease characterized immunohistologically by dermal-epidermal junction (DEJ) separation, an inflammatory cell infiltrate in the upper dermis, and autoantibodies targeted toward the hemidesmosomal proteins BP230 and BP180. Development of an IgG passive transfer mouse model of BP that reproduces these key features of human BP has demonstrated that subepidermal blistering is initiated by anti-BP180 antibodies and mediated by complement activation, mast cell degranulation, neutrophil infiltration, and proteinase secretion. This model is not compatible with study of human pathogenic antibodies, as the human and murine antigenic epitopes are not cross-reactive. The development of two novel humanized mouse models for the first time has enabled study of disease mechanisms caused by BP autoantibodies, and presents an ideal in vivo system to test novel therapeutic strategies for disease management

Linkage analysis of HLA and candidate genes for celiac disease in a North American family-based study

BACKGROUND: Celiac disease has a strong genetic association with HLA. However, this association only explains approximately half of the sibling risk for celiac disease. Therefore, other genes must be involved in susceptibility to celiac disease. We tested for linkage to genes or loci that could play a role in pathogenesis of celiac disease. METHODS: DNA samples, from members of 62 families with a minimum of two cases of celiac disease, were genotyped at HLA and at 13 candidate gene regions, including CD4, CTLA4, four T-cell receptor regions, and 7 insulin-dependent diabetes regions. Two-point and multipoint heterogeneity LOD (HLOD) scores were examined. RESULTS: The highest two-point and multipoint HLOD scores were obtained in the HLA region, with a two-point HLOD of 3.1 and a multipoint HLOD of 5.0. For the candidate genes, we found no evidence for linkage. CONCLUSIONS: Our significant evidence of linkage to HLA replicates the known linkage and association of HLA with CD. In our families, likely candidate genes did not explain the susceptibility to celiac disease

Transglutaminase 6: a protein associated with central nervous system development and motor function.

Transglutaminases (TG) form a family of enzymes that catalyse various post-translational modifications of glutamine residues in proteins and peptides including intra- and intermolecular isopeptide bond formation, esterification and deamidation. We have characterized a novel member of the mammalian TG family, TG6, which is expressed in a human carcinoma cell line with neuronal characteristics and in mouse brain. Besides full-length protein, alternative splicing results in a short variant lacking the second β-barrel domain in man and a variant with truncated β-sandwich domain in mouse. Biochemical data show that TG6 is allosterically regulated by Ca(2+) and guanine nucleotides. Molecular modelling indicates that TG6 could have Ca(2+) and GDP-binding sites related to those of TG3 and TG2, respectively. Localization of mRNA and protein in the mouse identified abundant expression of TG6 in the central nervous system. Analysis of its temporal and spatial pattern of induction in mouse development indicates an association with neurogenesis. Neuronal expression of TG6 was confirmed by double-labelling of mouse forebrain cells with cell type-specific markers. Induction of differentiation in mouse Neuro 2a cells with NGF or dibutyryl cAMP is associated with an upregulation of TG6 expression. Familial ataxia has recently been linked to mutations in the TGM6 gene. Autoantibodies to TG6 were identified in immune-mediated ataxia in patients with gluten sensitivity. These findings suggest a critical role for TG6 in cortical and cerebellar neurons

Should the Law Governing Maritime Areas in the Arctic Adapt to Changing Climatic Circumstances?

The legal regime of the Arctic maritime areas has for a long time remained on the backburner of international norm creating activities. This can primarily be explained by the inhospitable climate which created natural barriers for human activities and imposed limits on the usefulness of the available technology.At present, however, climate change seems to be responsible for a marked heating up, not only of the mere physical environment of the Arctic, but also of the political tensions concerning the exact legal regime to be applied in the region.This chapter provides a close examination of the present-day legal status of the Arctic. Since almost all territorial claims have been settled in the area, the present contribution will only focus on the Arctic water areas with a special emphasis on navigation. Starting from what seems to have finally become a generally accepted legal cornerstone for appreciating the legal status of these waters, namely the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the chapter will first examine how climate change impacts on this legal regime. Subsequently, the vulnerability as well as the adaptive capacity of the 1982 Convention will be examined. Before drawing some conclusions, ways and means will be looked at for this existing legal system to better meet the new challenges that climate change poses for Arctic waters