A genetic assessment of a successful seagrass meadow (Posidonia australis) restoration trial

Seagrass meadows are in decline globally. Although numerous experimental methods have been implemented to restore meadows, few have been successful in the long term. Poor decisions on the sourcing of transplants from donor sites, including poor genetic integration and/or low genetic diversity, may impact on restoration success. However, despite evidence to suggest a positive association between genetic diversity and ecological resilience, there is usually little or no input from genetic data to inform on the genetic management of ecological restoration. Cockburn Sound has seen a 77% decline in seagrass cover since 1967. A transplant trial was conducted between 2004 and 2008 with sprigs of Posidonia australis being planted into a bare sand area. Survival was monitored annually, and in 2012, we compared genetic diversity in this transplant area with the original donor site. Genetic diversity in the restored meadow was very high and comparable to the donor site, with no genetic differentiation detected. The high level of genetic diversity and choice of site may have played an important role in the success of this restoration trial. The observed natural recruits around the site after establishment of transplants suggest that local restoration efforts may improve seafloor habitat and facilitate natural expansion of the meadow.     

Global transcriptional response of pig brain and lung to natural infection by Pseudorabies virus

Background  

Pseudorabies virus (PRV) is an alphaherpesviruses whose native host is pig. PRV infection mainly causes signs of central nervous system disorder in young pigs, and respiratory system diseases in the adult.     

Amiloride does not alter NaCl avoidance in Fischer-344 rats

Fischer-344 (F-344) rats differ from other common rat strains in that they fail to show any preference for NaCl at any concentration in two- bottle preference tests. Because 100 microM amiloride partially blocks the NaCl-evoked chorda tympani (CT) response in electrophysiological studies, we tested NaCl preference (0.068-0.273 M) in F-344 rats with and without 100 microM amiloride solution as the solvent. A third group was tested with unadulterated NaCl solutions following CT transection. Amiloride had no significant effect on the NaCl preference-aversion function, whereas CT transection significantly reduced NaCl avoidance. These results suggest that the amiloride-sensitive component of the NaCl response is not necessary for F-344 rats to display avoidance of NaCl, but the entire CT input is.      

A web server to locate periodicities in a sequence

Summary : FT is a tool written in C++, which implements the Fourier analysis method to locate periodicities in aminoacid or DNA sequences. It is provided for free public use on a WWW server with a Java interface. Availability : The server address is http://o2.db. uoa.gr/FT Contact : shamodr@atlas.uoa.gr      

On the mechanism of ATP-induced shape changes in the human erythrocyte membranes: the role of ATP

In the preceding paper (Sheetz, M. and S.J. Singer. 1977. J Cell Biol. 73:638-646) it was shown that erythrocyte ghosts undergo pronounced shape changes in the presence of mg-ATP. The biochemical effects of the action of ATP are herein examined. The biochemical effects of the action of ATP are herein examined. Phosphorylation by ATP of spectrin component 2 of the erythrocyte membrane is known to occur. We have shown that it is only membrane protein that is significantly phosphorylated under the conditions where the shape changes are produced. The extent of this phosphorylation rises with increasing ATP concentration, reaching nearly 1 mol phosphoryle group per mole of component 2 at 8mM ATP. Most of this phosphorylation appears to occur at a single site on the protein molecule, according to cyanogen bromide peptide cleavage experiments. The degree of phosphorylation of component 2 is apparently also regulated by a membrane-bound protein phosphatase. This activity can be demonstrated in erythrocyte ghosts prepared from intact cells prelabeled with [(32)P]phosphate. In addition to the phosphorylation of component 2, some phosphorylation of lipids, mainly of phosphatidylinositol, is also known to occur. The ghost shape changes are, however, shown to be correlated with the degree of phosphorylation of component 2. In such experiment, the incorporation of exogenous phosphatases into ghosts reversed the shape changes produced by ATP, or by the membrane-intercalating drug chlorpromazine. The results obtained in this and the preceding paper are consistent with the proposal that the erythrocyte membrane possesses kinase and phosphates activities which produce phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of a specific site on spectrin component 2 molecules; the steady-state level of this phosphorylation regulates the structural state of the spectrin complex on the cytoplasmic surface of the membrane, which in turn exerts an important control on the shape of the cell.     

Selective inhibition of prostaglandin biosynthesis by gold salts and phenylbutazone

Gold salts and phenylbutazone selectively inhibit the synthesis of PGF_2α and PGE₂ respectively. Lowered production of one prostaglandin species is accompanied by an increased production of the other. Selective inhibition by these drugs was observed in the presence of adrenaline, reduced glutathione and copper sulphate under conditions when most anti-inflammatory compounds inhibited PGE₂ and PGF_2α syntheses equally. It is postulated that selective inhibitors may have a different mode of action and beneficial effects may be related to the endogenous ratio of PGE to PGF required for normal function.     

“Unblocking” Serum Activity <Emphasis Type="Italic">in vitro</Emphasis> in the Polyoma System may Correlate with Antitumour Effects of Antiserum <Emphasis Type="Italic">in vivo</Emphasis>

In a variety of tumour systems, individuals carrying progressively growing neoplasms have lymphoid cells with a specific cytotoxic effect on cultured tumour cells from the same individual^1–4. Since the sera of tumour-bearing individuals have been shown to prevent tumour cell destruction by immune lymphocytes in vitro^2,5–8 and since this serum blocking activity appears early in primary and transplant tumour development^5,7, it has been suggested that the appearance of this serum blocking activity might be responsible for the progressive growth of tumours in individuals having cytotoxic lymphocytes. Counteraction of this blocking activity would thus be of primary importance in facilitating the function of an already existing or bolstered cell-mediated immunity. The serum blocking activity might be inhibited in various ways, by preventing the formation of blocking antibody or by interfering with its action (“unblocking”), as demonstrated in Moloney sarcoma regressor sera⁹. This type of serum also has a therapeutic effect on Moloney sarcomas in vivo^10,11, which has been tentatively attributed to its unblocking activity^8,9 or, possibly, to a complement-dependent cytotoxicity¹⁰. Tumour growth in the Moloney sarcoma system, however, might be due in part to continuous recruitment of neoplastic cells by virus-induced transformation and so the therapeutic effect could be due to a virus-neutralizing serum activity^9,10.     

The effect on mental health of a large scale psychosocial intervention for survivors of mass violence: a quasi-experimental study in Rwanda

Background

War has serious and prolonged mental health consequences. It is argued that post-emergency mental health interventions should not only focus on psychological factors but also address the social environment. No controlled trials of such interventions exist. We studied the effect on mental health of a large scale psychosocial intervention primarily aimed at social bonding in post-genocide Rwanda. The programme is implemented at population level without diagnostic criteria for participation. It is open to any person older than 15 years, and enables participation of over 1500 individuals per year. We postulated that the mental health of programme participants would improve significantly relative to non-participants.

Methods and Findings

We used a prospective quasi-experimental study design with measurement points pre and post intervention and at 8 months follow-up. 100 adults from both sexes in the experimental condition entered the study; follow-up measurements were taken from 81. We selected a control group of 100 respondents with similar age, sex and symptom score distribution from a random community sample in the same region; of these, 73 completed the study. Mental health was assessed by use of the Self Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20), a twenty item instrument to detect common mental disorders in primary health care settings. Mean SRQ-20 scores decreased by 2.3 points in the experimental group and 0.8 in the control group (p = 0.033). Women in the experimental group scoring above cut-off at baseline improved with 4.8 points to below cut-off (p<0.001). Men scoring above cut-off at baseline showed a similar trend which was statistically non-significant. No adverse events were observed.

Conclusions

A large scale psychosocial intervention primarily aimed at social bonding caused a lasting improvement of mental health in survivors of mass violence in Rwanda. This approach may have a similar positive effect in other post-conflict settings.

Trial Registration

Nederlands Trial Register 1120