Evaluation of composted sewage sludge/straw for the reclamation of derelict land.

Imperial Users onl

The preparation and characterisation of novel microperoxidase biocatalysts

Microperoxidases are haem oligopeptides, derived from the proteolytic digestion of cytochrome c, possessing peroxidase activity. They are termed "microperoxidases" in contrast to other relatively large peroxidases such as horseradish peroxidase. This study investigates i) the preparation of microperoxidases, ii) some of the properties of microperoxidases including their pH profile and stability, temperature profile, and some of their reactions, iii) the immobilisation of microperoxidases. Throughout the study comparisons are drawn between the two different microperoxidases prepared in the study, a microperoxidase purchased from Sigma Chemicals Ltd, horseradish peroxidase, cytochrome c and haemoglobin

Identifying Determinants of Physical Activity in Maritime Union Members Using the Theory of Planned Behavior

This study examined the usefulness of the Theory of Planned Behavior to predict how attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and intention are associated with physical activity in longshoremen from the Hampton Roads Shipping Association-International Longshoreman\u27s Association (HRSA-ILA). The study was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, five focus groups were conducted to elicit information about the health behaviors of longshoremen. From the results of these focus groups, a 90-question, theory based, self-reported questionnaire was developed to identify beliefs, attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and intentions that contribute to longshoremen engaging in physical activity. In the second phase, the questionnaire was used in an observational cross-sectional survey design. A convenience sample of 687 longshoremen was invited to participate; 404 longshoremen completed the survey for a 59% response rate. The relationship of the theory constructs (direct and indirect attitudes, direct and indirect subjective norms, and direct and indirect perceived behavioral control) and relevant demographic variables to the dependent variable (physical activity, intention) was tested with multiple linear regression models. The model was a significant predictor of physical activity behavior with both active and retired members. The model was also a significant predictor of intention to exercise. When the demographic variables of age, gender, ethnicity, educational level, marital status, income, and years in the HRSA-ILA were added to the physical activity multiple linear regression model for active and retired members, the model was statistically significant. There was an increase in the total amount of variance, suggesting that even though demographic variables were not part of the theory, they provide important information for this group. Path analysis for physical activity for active male members was statistically significant with the path from direct perceived behavioral control and intention providing a direct effect. The results for retired male members were statistically significant with the path from direct subjective norm providing a direct effect. For intention, the results for active male members were significant with the path from direct attitudes, indirect attitudes, direct perceived behavioral control, and indirect perceived behavioral control providing a direct effect. Retired members were statistically significant with the path from direct attitudes, indirect subjective norm and direct perceived behavioral control achieving a significant relationship suggesting a direct effect. Direct perceived behavioral control provided a direct effect with 3 of the 4 groups with the exception of physical activity for retired members. These findings are consistent with the theory model. Many health risks can be mitigated if physical activity behaviors are adopted and maintained. Further research is needed to study strategies to assist members to move from behavioral intentions to targeted actions that improve the likelihood of engaging in physical activity. When health beliefs that influence behavior are known, disease prevention and health promotion information and activities can be targeted to the population to help promote healthier more active lifestyles

Presbyterian Imitation Practices in Zachary Boyd’s Nebuchadnezzars Fierie Furnace

The university administrator, preacher and poet Zachary Boyd (1585–1653) relied heavily on epithets and similes borrowed from Josuah Sylvester's poetry when composing his scriptural versifications Zion's Flowers(c. 1640?). The composition of Boyd's adaptation of Daniel 3, Nebuchadnezzars Fierie Furnace, provides an unusually lucid example of the reading and imitation practices of a mid-seventeenth-century Scottish Presbyterian in the years preceding civil war. This article begins by re-considering a manuscript transcription of Fierie Furnace held at the British Library previously described as an anonymous playtext from the early 1610s, then establishes the nature of Boyd's reliance on Sylvester by analyzing holograph manuscripts held at Glasgow University Library, a sermon Boyd wrote on the same theme, and the copy of Sylvester's Devine Weekes, and Workes that Boyd probably used.Arts and Humanities Research Counci

Interactions of pyrethroids with the voltage-gated sodium channel

Pyrethroid insecticides act on the voltage-gated sodium channel and mutations of the channel can confer resistance in many insect species. For example, the kdr (LI014F) mutation found in domain IIS6 and the super-kdr (M918T) mutation found in the IIS4-S5 linker of the insect Drosophila melanogaster para sodium channel reduces the sensitivity of the channel to pyrethroids. Two mutations found in different pyrethroid-resistant strains of Bemisia tabaci were incorporated individually into the para wild type sodium channel of Drosophila and expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes to investigate their effect on pyrethroid sensitivity. Voltage clamp assays showed that the M918V mutation conferred a 16-fold and a 800-fold reduction in para sensitivity to deltamethrin and permethrin respectively. The T929V mutation, caused a 2600-fold reduction in para channel sensitivity to deltamethrin. A T929M mutation, which at the equivalent residue position in the human skeletal muscle sodium channel causes Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis in humans, gave similar deltarnethrin insensitivity. All three mutations reduced the sensitivity of para channel populations by reducing the number of channels in the open state, to which deltamethrin and permethrin bind preferentially, and by reducing the affinity of the pyrethroid for the channel. The rat IIA voltage-gated sodium channel, which is approximately 4500-fold less sensitive to pyrethroids than the insect para sodium channel, has an isoleucine at the equivalent super-kdr residue. Replacement of this with either methionine or cysteine, increased the sensitivity of the channel to deltamethrin >80-fold and to pennethrin by 150-fold. These mutations highlight possible locations of pyrethroid binding sites and give insights into the mechanisms by which pyrethroids modify sodium channel behaviour. Kdr and super-kdr mutations are found in the housefly and a DNA diagnostic was used to show that the genotypes present in field populations reflected the selection pressure imposed by different insecticide regimes

Primary pulmonary hypertension is associated with reduced pulmonary vascular expression of type II bone morphogenetic protein receptor

BACKGROUND: Mutations in the type II receptor for bone morphogenetic protein (BMPR-II), a receptor member of the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) superfamily, underlie many familial and sporadic cases of primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH). METHODS AND RESULTS: Because the sites of expression of BMPR-II in the normal and hypertensive lung are unknown, we studied the cellular localization of BMPR-II and the related type I and II receptors for TGF-beta by immunohistochemistry in lung sections from patients undergoing heart-lung transplantation for PPH (n=11, including 3 familial cases) or secondary pulmonary hypertension (n=6) and from unused donor lungs (n=4). In situ hybridization was performed for BMPR-II mRNA. Patients were screened for the presence of mutations in BMPR2. In normal lungs, BMPR-II expression was prominent on vascular endothelium, with minimal expression in airway and arterial smooth muscle. In pulmonary hypertension cases, the intensity of BMPR-II immunostaining varied between lesions but involved endothelial and myofibroblast components. Image analysis confirmed that expression of BMPR-II was markedly reduced in the peripheral lung of PPH patients, especially in those harboring heterozygous BMPR2 mutations. A less marked reduction was also observed in patients with secondary pulmonary hypertension. In contrast, there was no difference in level of staining for TGF-betaRII or the endothelial marker CD31. CONCLUSIONS: The cellular localization of BMPR-II is consistent with a role in the formation of pulmonary vascular lesions in PPH, and reduced BMPR-II expression may contribute to the process of vascular obliteration in severe pulmonary hypertension

The Experience of the Automotive Industry in Industrial Policies of Selected Governments

We shall not define precisely industrial policy other than to note that the cases we intend to examine involve some form of general, integrated, economic policy that, among other things, includes industry-specific measures that have had direct or indirect consequences for other countries through trade or investment links. Many other characteristics, including program integration; abridgment of private business governance, perhaps involving varying degrees of compulsion or subsidy; non-market incentives; and subordination of the market mechanism, may or may not be present in the industrial policies discussed. Very often specific protection of favored industries is a major instrument of industrial policy; nearly always, the other measures employed also create changes in international competitiveness. Not all such factors, or objectives, need be present to constitute industrial policy for our purposes