The Prevalence of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Trypanosoma cruzi</Emphasis>, the Causal Agent of Chagas Disease,in Texas Rodent Populations

Rodent species were assessed as potential hosts of Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of Chagas disease, from five sites throughout Texas in sylvan and disturbed habitats. A total of 592 rodents were captured, resulting in a wide taxonomic representation of 11 genera and 15 species. Heart samples of 543 individuals were successfully analyzed by SybrGreen-based quantitative PCR (qPCR) targeting a 166 bp fragment of satellite DNA of T. cruzi. Eight rodents representing six species from six genera and two families were infected with T. cruzi. This is the first report of T. cruzi in the pygmy mouse (Baiomys taylori) and the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) for the USA. All infected rodents were from the southernmost site (Las Palomas Wildlife Management Area). No differences in pathogen prevalence existed between disturbed habitats (5 of 131 tested; 3.8%) and sylvan habitats (3 of 40 tested; 7.5%). Most positives (n = 6, 16% prevalence) were detected in late winter with single positives in both spring (3% prevalence) and fall (1% prevalence). Additionally, 30 Triatoma insects were collected opportunistically from sites in central Texas. Fifty percent of these insects, i.e., 13 T. gerstaeckeri (68%), and two T. lecticularia (100%) were positive for T. cruzi. Comparative sequence analyses of 18S rRNA of samples provided identical results with respect to detection of the presence or absence of T. cruzi and assigned T. cruzi from rodents collected in late winter to lineage TcI. T. cruzi from Triatoma sp. and rodents from subsequent collections in spring and fall were different, however, and could not be assigned to other lineages with certainty.     

Intermediate dosimetric quantities.

The transfer of energy from ionizing radiation to matter involves a series of steps. In wide ranges of their energy spectra photons and neutrons transfer energy to an irradiated medium almost exclusively by the production of charged particles which ionize and thereby produce electrons that can ionize in turn. The examination of these processes leads to a series of intermediate quantities. One of these is kerma, which has long been employed as a measure of the energy imparted in the first of the interactions. It depends only on the fluence of uncharged particles and is therefore--unlike absorbed dose and electron fluence--insensitive to local differences of receptor geometry and composition. An analogous quantity for charged-particle fields, cema (converted energy per unit mass), is defined, which quantifies the energy imparted in terms of the interactions of charged particles, disregarding energy dissipation by secondary electrons. Cema can be expressed as an integral over the fluence of ions times their stopping power. However, complications arise when the charged particles are electrons, and when their fluence cannot be separated from that of the secondaries. The resulting difficulty can be circumvented by the definition of reduced cema. This quantity corresponds largely to the concept employed in the cavity theory of Spencer and Attix. In reduced cema not all secondary electrons but all electrons below a chosen cutoff energy, delta, are considered to be absorbed locally. When the cutoff energy is reduced, cema approaches absorbed dose and thereby becomes sensitive to highly local differences in geometry or composition. With larger values of delta, reduced cema is a useful parameter to specify the dose-generating potential of a charged-particle field 'free in air' or in vacuo. It is nearly equal to the mean absorbed dose in a sphere with radius equal to the range of electrons of energy delta. Reduced cema is a function of the fluence at the specified location at and above the chosen cutoff energy. Its definition requires a modification of restricted linear collision stopping power, L delta, and it is recommended that the definition of L delta be so changed.     

Chemical Synthesis and Cloning of a Gene Coding for Bacillus Subjilis Hbsu Protein

Abstract

A gene coding for Bacillus subtilis non-specifically DNA-binding HBsu protein has been chemically synthesized and cloned. The gene was designed to permit expression of the encoded protein in several ways.     

Immunological probe of estrogen biosynthesis. Evidence for the 2 beta-hydroxylative pathway in aromatization of androgens

The terminal hydroxylation in placental estrogen biosynthesis from androgens is at the 2 beta position. The 2 beta-hydroxy-19-oxoandrogen derivative collapses nonenzymatically to estrogen and is therefore the proximate precursor of the female hormone. To establish the role of this pathway in biological aromatization, an immunological approach was employed in which an antibody was obtained which recognizes 2 beta-hydroxy-19-oxygenated androgens but not intermediates oxygenated at C-19 only. Binding of the 2 beta-hydroxy-19-oxo intermediate by the antibody stabilizes it so that its nonenzymatic transformation to estrogen is delayed and results in slower estrogen formation. When placental microsomes were incubated with [1,2-3H]androstenedione in the presence of the antibody antiserum, a 50% decrease in [3H]estradiol formation and 3H2O release was observed when compared with identical incubations containing normal rabbit serum alone. This inhibition is blocked when the antibody is inactivated by presaturation with 2 beta, 19-dihydroxyandrostenedione. Precipitation of immunoglobulins from the incubations followed by heating liberated the 2 beta-hydroxy-19-oxo intermediate (30%) from the antibody, and resulted in its nonenzymatic collapse to estrogen with concomitant release of 3H2O. Control normal rabbit serum or blocked antibody incubations did not show a similar increase in [3H]estradiol or 3H2O yields in the precipitate. Heat treatment (90 degrees C) of the antibody but not normal rabbit serum incubations resulted in a similar increase in [3H]estradiol and 3H2O yields. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the final and rate-determining hydroxylation in aromatization of androgens is at the 2 beta position and that this pathway is the dominant, if not the sole, route of estrogen biosynthesis by placental aromatase. The antibody probe also permits the characterization of aromatization mechanisms in tissues other than the placenta.     

Modelling biome shifts and tree cover change for 2050 in West Africa

Aim Africa is expected to face severe changes in climatic conditions. Our objectives are: (1) to model trends and the extent of future biome shifts that may occur by 2050, (2) to model a trend in tree cover change, while accounting for human impact, and (3) to evaluate uncertainty in future climate projections. Location West Africa. Methods We modelled the potential future spatial distribution of desert, grassland, savanna, deciduous and evergreen forest in West Africa using six bioclimatic models. Future tree cover change was analysed with generalized additive models (GAMs). We used climate data from 17 general circulation models (GCMs) and included human population density and fire intensity to model tree cover. Consensus projections were derived via weighted averages to: (1) reduce inter‐model variability, and (2) describe trends extracted from different GCM projections. Results The strongest predicted effect of climate change was on desert and grasslands, where the bioclimatic envelope of grassland is projected to expand into the desert by an area of 2 million km². While savannas are predicted to contract in the south (by 54 ± 22 × 10⁴ km²), deciduous and evergreen forest biomes are expected to expand (64 ± 13 × 10⁴ km² and 77 ± 26 × 10⁴ km²). However, uncertainty due to different GCMs was particularly high for the grassland and the evergreen biome shift. Increasing tree cover (1–10%) was projected for large parts of Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo, but a decrease was projected for coastal areas (1–20%). Furthermore, human impact negatively affected tree cover and partly changed the direction of the projected change from increase to decrease. Main conclusions Considering climate change alone, the model results of potential vegetation (biomes) show a ‘greening’ trend by 2050. However, the modelled effects of human impact suggest future forest degradation. Thus, it is essential to consider both climate change and human impact in order to generate realistic future tree cover projections.     

Continuous-flow NMR culture system for mammalian cells

A continuous-flow NMR culture system for mammalian cells has been developed on which ³¹P-NMR experiments under complete and strictly physiologic conditions have been performed. Observations on the response of the cellular metabolism to stresses such as starvation, low temperature and changes in environmental pH monitored by ³¹P-NMR are reported. The response of the intracellular pH relative to the external pH of the growth medium is studied. We find that under the experimental conditions used there exists a ΔpH varying between less than 0.2 and more than 0.6 pH units. These results are compatible with those obtained using other techniques.     

Activation of potassium channels by hypoxia and reoxygenation in the human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549

Active oxygen species are generated in cells during pathophysiologic conditions such as illflammation and postischemic reperfusion. If oxygen radical scavengers are added before reperfusion, then the magnitude of injury is reduced. We inves-tigated whether free radicals generated following exposure to hypoxia and reoxygenation activate voltage-dependent K⁺ ion channels in tumor cells in vitro. Using the technique of whole cell voltage clamping, we recorded currents from two families of potassium (K⁺) channels that were activated following reoxygenation. One of these groups possessed the electrophysical characteristics of a tetraethylammonium (TEA)-sensitive delayed rectifier channel and the other possessed characteristics of a Tea-insensitive slow inactivating channel. We present evidence which suggests that K⁺ channels are activated following reoxygenation but not during the hypoxia phase. The K⁺ currents decayed with time following reoxygenation. The decay characteristics of the K⁺ currents depended on the duration and level of hypoxia to which the cells were exposed. To determine whether activation of K⁺ channels by reoxygenation was initiated by free radicals, we pretreated cells with N-Acetyl L-Cysteine (NAC), a free radical scavenger, and found that this pretreatment abolished the currents induced by reoxygenation. We also present evidence that free radicals do not directly act on the channel itself, but activate a protein kinase which, in turn, activates the K⁺ channels. Taken together, these results indicate that one of the early responses to oxidative stress is the activation of K⁺ currents. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Effect of glucose on human fetal pancreatic tissue in vitro

For investigating insulin secretion in vitro human fetal pancreatic slices prepared from women with a normal carbohydrate tolerance at a mean gestational age of 12 +/- 1 weeks were incubated in the presence of various secretagogues. Glucose concentration up to 20 mmol/l failed to enhance insulin secretion, whereas an increase of glucose up to 40 mmol/l, the addition of the phosphodiesterase inhibitor IBMX or a priming period of 30 min in the presence of 20 mmol/l glucose resulted in an enhancement of hormone release, calculated per microgram dry weight. For the first time the results demonstrates an intact secretory machinery of the B-cells under controlled conditions in an early stage of gestational development.