Osteoarthritis of the hip: an occupational disease in farmers.

OBJECTIVE--To test the hypothesis that farmers are at high risk of hip osteoarthritis and to investigate possible causes for such a hazard. DESIGN--Cross sectional survey. SETTING--Five rural general practices. SUBJECTS--167 male farmers aged 60-76 and 83 controls from mainly sedentary jobs. All those without previous hip replacement underwent radiography of the hip. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Hip replacement for osteoarthritis or radiological evidence of hip osteoarthritis. RESULTS--Prevalence of hip osteoarthritis was higher in farmers than controls and especially in those who had farmed for over 10 years (odds ratio 9.3, 95% confidence interval 1.9 to 44.5). The excess could not be attributed to any one type of farming, and heavy lifting seems the likely explanation. CONCLUSIONS--Manual handling in agriculture should be limited where possible. Consideration should be given to making hip osteoarthritis a prescribed industrial disease in farmers. There may be wider implications for the prevention of hip osteoarthritis in the general population.     

Influence of oxytocin on human memory processes: Validation by a control study

An earlier report (1) of an adverse effect of high doses of oxytocin on human memory included results of studies on women receiving oxytocin as part of the treatment to induce 2nd trimester therapeutic abortion. These women served as their own controls. We have now been able to study a group of women who have been treated in all ways like the original group, with the exception that they did not receive oxytocin. The results from this external control corroborate the finding that oxytocin affected memory.     

Rapid electrocatalytic procedure for hydrogenase kinetic determination in the H2 evolution direction

The linear sweep voltammetric method is used as a new approach for kinetic determination with enzymes accepting reversible redox couples as cosubstrate. A monolayer of hydrogenase molecules is grafted onto a glassy carbon electrode which is both the support of the enzyme and the detector of the activity. Reduced viologen concentration in the enzyme microenvironment is controlled by the electrode potential. The catalytic current produced by the enzyme allows an easy kinetic constant determination without the classical constraints found in hydrogenase kinetic measurements.     

A high‐throughput method to quantify feeding rates in aquatic organisms: A case study with Daphnia

1. Food ingestion is one of the most basic features of all organisms. However, obtaining precise—and high‐throughput—estimates of feeding rates remains challenging, particularly for small, aquatic herbivores such as zooplankton, snails, and tadpoles. These animals typically consume low volumes of food that are time‐consuming to accurately measure.
2. We extend a standard high‐throughput fluorometry technique, which uses a microplate reader and 96‐well plates, as a practical tool for studies in ecology, evolution, and disease biology. We outline technical and methodological details to optimize quantification of individual feeding rates, improve accuracy, and minimize sampling error.
3. This high‐throughput assay offers several advantages over previous methods, including i) substantially reduced time allotments per sample to facilitate larger, more efficient experiments; ii) technical replicates; and iii) conversion of in vivo measurements to units (mL^‐1 hr^‐1 ind^‐1) which enables broad‐scale comparisons across an array of taxa and studies.
4. To evaluate the accuracy and feasibility of our approach, we use the zooplankton, Daphnia dentifera, as a case study. Our results indicate that this procedure accurately quantifies feeding rates and highlights differences among seven genotypes.
5. The method detailed here has broad applicability to a diverse array of aquatic taxa, their resources, environmental contaminants (e.g., plastics), and infectious agents. We discuss simple extensions to quantify epidemiologically relevant traits, such as pathogen exposure and transmission rates, for infectious agents with oral or trophic transmission.

     

β-Xylosidases from filamentous fungi: an overview

β-Xylosidases are hydrolytic enzymes which play an important role in xylan degradation, hydrolyzing xylobiose and xylooligosaccharides to xylose from the non-reducing end. Filamentous fungi are particularly interesting producers of this enzyme from an industrial point of view, due to the fact that they secrete β-xylosidases into the medium. Besides, fungal β-xylosidases are highly advantageous for their elevated activity levels and specificity. Interest in xylanolytic enzymes has been increasing, for their possible application in many biotechnological processes. This fact has driven the isolation, purification and characterization of several β-xylosidases. In this review, the mechanisms of action, substrate specificities, physicochemical characteristics, regulation at molecular level, molecular cloning and classification of filamentous fungal β-xylosidases are described. The potential industrial applications of fungal β-xylosidases will also be presented.     

Unraveling the importance of rice fields for waterbird populations in Europe

Rice fields are an alternative habitat for waterbirds and provide food and shelter for many avian species, but there is a lack of information about how the use of rice fields translates into population level effects. The aim of this study was to test the relationship between the use of rice fields by European waterbirds and trends in their populations. We tested this relationship during the autumn migration season and during the breeding season. Based on counts conducted over the last 23 years in natural marshes and areas of rice fields in Doñana (SW Spain), an index of rice field use was constructed for 76 bird species, which was then compared to these species’ European population trends obtained from the literature. A positive relationship was found between waterbird population trends and the use of rice fields during autumn migration season. Our study suggests that changes in the Common Agriculture Policy in Europe leading to reductions in areas of rice cultivation may have important effects on waterbirds. The restoration of former marsh areas and the maintenance of rice cultivation would seem to be more environmentally friendly approaches than the use of these areas to grow alternative crops or solar farms.     

Absolute configuration and conformation of the pure opioid antagonist (+)-2,9 alpha-dimethyl-5-(m-hydroxyphenyl)morphan.

(+)-2,9 alpha-Dimethyl-5-(m-hydroxyphenyl)morphan is the only phenylmorphan analog whose affinity for opioid kappa-receptors is greater than its affinity for opioid mu-receptors. Pharmacologically, the compound is a pure opioid antagonist devoid of agonist activity in in vivo assays of antinociception. The absolute configuration of the compound has been determined to be (1R,5S,9R) from an X-ray crystallographic study of the chloride salt. Thus, the absolute configuration corresponds to that of the atypical opioid agonist (-)-phenylmorphan while the weak atypical agonist (-)-2,9 alpha-dimethyl-5-(m- hydroxyphenyl)morphan corresponds to the potent morphine-like (+)-phenylmorphan. The preferred orientations of the phenyl ring for the two stereoisomers were determined using the molecular mechanics program MM2-87 and found to vary from that of the two parent compounds. The atypical properties of the two 9 alpha-methyl analogs is consistent with an opioid ligand model which proposes that morphine-like properties require a particular range of phenyl orientations. There was good agreement between the structure obtained from X-ray crystallography and computed with the MM2-87 program.