The Change of Prevalence of Xerophthalmia on Lombok, September 1977 - September 1983

Berdasarkan data "Survei Prevalensi Kebutaan Gizi" tahun 1977, Lombok, Nusa Tenggara Barat, dinyatakan sebagai wilayah tinggi prevalensi xeroftalmia. Sebagai suatu wilayah dengan prevalensi xeroftalmia paling tinggi di Indonesia, banyak faktor risiko yang diidentifikasi bagi daerah ini, termasuk kejadian kecacingan, kekurangan frekuensi pemberian ASI pada anak yang masih menyusu; kekurangan "kamar cuci" di dalam rumah; variasi diet yang terbatas, tidak ada variasi konsumsi bahan pokok selain beras; dan kecilnya konsumsi sumber-sumber protein. Faktor risiko khusus xeroftalmi-korneal berkaitan dengan riwayat penyakit yang baru diderita si anak (campak dan infestasi berat kecacingan) dan kurang kalori protein berat. Sejak tahun 1978, Pemerintah Indonesia telah mengembangkan berbagai macam pendekatan untuk mengawasi (kontrol) xeroftalmia; sampai tahun 1982 telah mencapai 80% sasaran (anak Balita) dan telah menghasilkan penurunan prevalensi xeroftalmia di wilayah ini. Penurunan prevalensi ini dicapai tanpa penurunan secara proporsional faktor-faktor risiko terkait

On the π\pi and KK as qqˉq \bar q Bound States and Approximate Nambu-Goldstone Bosons

We reconsider the two different facets of $\pi$ and $K$ mesons as $q \bar q$ bound states and approximate Nambu-Goldstone bosons. We address several topics, including masses, mass splittings between $\pi$ and $\rho$ and between $K$ and $K^*$, meson wavefunctions, charge radii, and the $K-\pi$ wavefunction overlap.Comment: 15 pages, late

Recommended Priorities for Research on Ecological Impacts of Ocean and Coastal Acidification in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic

The estuaries and continental shelf system of the United States Mid-Atlantic are subject to ocean acidification driven by atmospheric CO2, and coastal acidification caused by nearshore and land-sea interactions that include biological, chemical, and physical processes. These processes include freshwater and nutrient input from rivers and groundwater; tidally-driven outwelling of nutrients, inorganic carbon, alkalinity; high productivity and respiration; and hypoxia. Hence, these complex dynamic systems exhibit substantial daily, seasonal, and interannual variability that is not well captured by current acidification research on Mid-Atlantic organisms and ecosystems. We present recommendations for research priorities that target better understanding of the ecological impacts of acidification in the U. S. Mid-Atlantic region. Suggested priorities are: 1) Determining the impact of multiple stressors on our resource species as well as the magnitude of acidification; 2) Filling information gaps on major taxa and regionally important species in different life stages to improve understanding of their response to variable temporal scales and sources of acidification; 3) Improving experimental approaches to incorporate realistic environmental variability and gradients, include interactions with other environmental stressors, increase transferability to other systems or organisms, and evaluate community and ecosystem response; 4) Determining the capacity of important species to acclimate or adapt to changing ocean conditions; 5) Considering multi-disciplinary, ecosystem-level research that examines acidification impacts on biodiversity and biotic interactions; and 6) Connecting potential acidification-induced ecological impacts to ecosystem services and the economy. These recommendations, while developed for the Mid-Atlantic, can be applicable to other regions will help align research towards knowledge of potential larger-scale ecological and economic impacts

Nonabelian Phenomena on D-branes

A remarkable feature of D-branes is the appearance of a nonabelian gauge theory in the description of several (nearly) coincident branes. This nonabelian structure plays an important role in realizing various geometric effects with D-branes. In particular, the branes' transverse displacements are described by matrix-valued scalar fields and so noncommutative geometry naturally appears in this framework. I review the action governing this nonabelian theory, as well as various related physical phenomena such as the dielectric effect, giant gravitons and fuzzy funnels.Comment: Lecture at Leuven workshop on ``The quantum structure of spacetime and the geometrical nature of fundamental interactions'' (September 13-19, 2002); ref.'s adde

Crystallography Open Database (COD): an open-access collection of crystal structures and platform for world-wide collaboration

Using an open-access distribution model, the Crystallography Open Database (COD, http://www.crystallography.net) collects all known ‘small molecule / small to medium sized unit cell’ crystal structures and makes them available freely on the Internet. As of today, the COD has aggregated ∼150 000 structures, offering basic search capabilities and the possibility to download the whole database, or parts thereof using a variety of standard open communication protocols. A newly developed website provides capabilities for all registered users to deposit published and so far unpublished structures as personal communications or pre-publication depositions. Such a setup enables extension of the COD database by many users simultaneously. This increases the possibilities for growth of the COD database, and is the first step towards establishing a world wide Internet-based collaborative platform dedicated to the collection and curation of structural knowledge

Natural killer cells attenuate cytomegalovirus-induced hearing loss in mice

<div><p>Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is the most common non-hereditary cause of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) yet the mechanisms of hearing loss remain obscure. Natural Killer (NK) cells play a critical role in regulating murine CMV infection via NK cell recognition of the Ly49H cell surface receptor of the viral-encoded m157 ligand expressed at the infected cell surface. This Ly49H NK receptor/m157 ligand interaction has been found to mediate host resistance to CMV in the spleen, and lung, but is much less effective in the liver, so it is not known if this interaction is important in the context of SNHL. Using a murine model for CMV-induced labyrinthitis, we have demonstrated that the Ly49H/m157 interaction mediates host resistance in the temporal bone. BALB/c mice, which lack functional Ly49H, inoculated with mCMV at post-natal day 3 developed profound hearing loss and significant outer hair cell loss by 28 days of life. In contrast, C57BL/6 mice, competent for the Ly49H/m157 interaction, had minimal hearing loss and attenuated outer hair cell loss with the same mCMV dose. Administration of Ly49H blocking antibody or inoculation with a mCMV viral strain deleted for the m157 gene rendered the previously resistant C57BL/6 mouse strain susceptible to hearing loss to a similar extent as the BALB/c mouse strain indicating a direct role of the Ly49H/m157 interaction in mCMV-dependent hearing loss. Additionally, NK cell recruitment to sites of infection was evident in the temporal bone of inoculated susceptible mouse strains. These results demonstrate participation of NK cells in protection from CMV-induced labyrinthitis and SNHL in mice.</p></div

The Glanville fritillary genome retains ancient karyotype and reveals selective chromosomal fusions in Lepidoptera

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The Human Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone Type I Receptor Is a Functional Intracellular GPCR Expressed on the Nuclear Membrane

The mammalian type I gonadotropin releasing hormone receptor (GnRH-R) is a structurally unique G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) that lacks cytoplasmic tail sequences and displays inefficient plasma membrane expression (PME). Compared to its murine counterparts, the primate type I receptor is inefficiently folded and retained in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) leading to a further reduction in PME. The decrease in PME and concomitant increase in intracellular localization of the mammalian GnRH-RI led us to characterize the spatial distribution of the human and mouse GnRH receptors in two human cell lines, HEK 293 and HTR-8/SVneo. In both human cell lines we found the receptors were expressed in the cytoplasm and were associated with the ER and nuclear membrane. A molecular analysis of the receptor protein sequence led us to identify a putative monopartite nuclear localization sequence (NLS) in the first intracellular loop of GnRH-RI. Surprisingly, however, neither the deletion of the NLS nor the addition of the Xenopus GnRH-R cytoplasmic tail sequences to the human receptor altered its spatial distribution. Finally, we demonstrate that GnRH treatment of nuclei isolated from HEK 293 cells expressing exogenous GnRH-RI triggers a significant increase in the acetylation and phosphorylation of histone H3, thereby revealing that the nuclear-localized receptor is functional. Based on our findings, we conclude that the mammalian GnRH-RI is an intracellular GPCR that is expressed on the nuclear membrane. This major and novel discovery causes us to reassess the signaling potential of this physiologically and clinically important receptor