Effect of altitude on the lung function of high altitude residents of European ancestry

The forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV), and ratio of FEV to FVC (%FEV) of 161 male and 158 female youths of European ancestry who were born at high altitudes and who were residing in La Paz, Bolivia (average altitude of 3,600 m) were examined and compared with those for lowland Europeans and highland Aymara Amerindians. FVC and FEV were significantly larger (p less than .001) in the La Paz Europeans than in two lowland control samples of European ancestry, with the relative differences between samples varying from small (1.5-4.1%) to moderate (7.7-11.9%). It could not be determined whether the enhanced lung volumes of the La Paz European children were acquired through an accelerated development of lung volumes relative to stature during adolescence, as is the case for Amerindian highlanders. After controlling for body and chest size, FVC and FEV were significantly smaller in the La Paz Europeans than in highland Aymara (p less than .001), suggesting that the lung volumes of the Aymara are influenced by factors other than simply growth and development at high altitude. Finally, as found in Amerindians, chest size is an important determinant of intra-individual variation in lung function among highland Europeans.     

Radiolarian evidence of late cenozoic oceanic paleotemperatures,Ross sea,Antarctica

Radiolarian and paleomagnetic studies of 59 Antarctic piston cores reveal that since the middle Gauss ($\text{t ? 3}\text{m.y.}$) radiolarian faunas from the southern Ross Sea consistently have lacked certain species commonly found just to the north in the Southern Ocean. Common Antarctic species generally absent from southern Ross Sea sediments include: Spongopyle osculosus, Cenosphaera nagatai, Chromyechinus antarctica, Stylatractus neptumus, Diploplegma banzare, Prunopyle titan, and Desmospyris spongiosa. These species appear to have consistently preferred water slightly warmer than that of the southern Ross Sea. Their occurrence at intervals in cores from the northern Ross Sea and from north of the Ross Sea has been used as a quantitative paleoclimatic indicator. The resulting paleoclimatic curves reveal that the early Gauss was warmer than the late Gauss, the Matuyama and the Brunhes. Warm and cold periods during the Matuyama and the Brunhes appear to be of equal amplitude. Temperatures in the region since the early Gauss were never warmer by more than about 3°C than they are today. Radiolarian abundance and diversity appear to have been controlled primarily by changes in factors affecting their production.     

The Gran Poder Parade and the Social Movement of the Aymara Middle Class: A Video Essay

The parade for the patron saint of the parish of Gran Poder is the largest city-wide folklore event in La Paz, Bolivia, in which tens of thousands of indigenous Aymara and mestizo residents of the city participate in dances that tie them to the nation's indigenous past. The sequences of images discussed in this article focus on a dance fraternity composed of members of the prosperous urban Aymara middle class (or cholos ) who use their indigenous costumes and dance movements as vehicles in which they enter and display their modernity. Using harshly exaggerated masks that relate social subordination to racial difference, the performance of the Morenada by today's well-to-do Aymaras revisits the cultural marginalization and hardship they experienced in their own migration to La Paz from the rural countryside. Wearing a series of expensive outfits and ostentatious costumes, these dancers vividly flaunt their distinction from the Western-mestizo middle class, and its signs of well-being.     

Involvement of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Avo3p/Tsc11p in maintaining TOR complex 2 integrity and coupling to downstream signaling

Target-of-rapamycin proteins (TORs) are Ser/Thr kinases serving a central role in cell growth control. TORs function in two conserved multiprotein complexes, TOR complex 1 (TORC1) and TORC2; the mechanisms underlying their actions and regulation are not fully elucidated. Saccharomyces TORC2, containing Tor2p, Avo1p, Avo2p, Avo3p/Tsc11p, Bit61p, and Lst8p, regulates cell integrity and actin organization. Two classes of avo3 temperature-sensitive (avo3(ts)) mutants that we previously identified display cell integrity and actin defects, yet one is suppressed by AVO1 while the other is suppressed by AVO2 or SLM1, defining two TORC2 downstream signaling mechanisms, one mediated by Avo1p and the other by Avo2p/Slm1p. Employing these mutants, we explored Avo3p functions in TORC2 structure and signaling. By observing binary protein interactions using coimmunoprecipitation, we discovered that the composition of TORC2 and its recruitment of the downstream effectors Slm1p and Slm2p were differentially affected in different avo3(ts) mutants. These molecular defects can be corrected only by expressing AVO3, not by expressing suppressors, highlighting the role of Avo3p as a structural and signaling scaffold for TORC2. Phenotypic modifications of avo3(ts) mutants by deletion of individual Rho1p-GTPase-activating proteins indicate that two TORC2 downstream signaling branches converge on Rho1p activation. Our results also suggest that Avo2p/Slm1p-mediated signaling, but not Avo1p-mediated signaling, links to Rho1p activation specifically through the Rho1p-guanine nucleotide exchange factor Tus1p.     

关于元谋人化石地质时代的讨论

根据对元谋组(广义)的岩石地层,古生物地层和磁性地层的重新认识,确认由广义的元谋组建立上新统沙沟组、下更新统元谋组(狭义)和中更新统上那蚌组的划分。 元谋人化石产出在上那蚌组,时代为中更新世,处在古地磁极性柱的布容正向期的底部,其时代应不超过73万年,即可能为距今50—60万年。     

HPRT Deficiency in Spain: What Have We Learned in the Past 30 Years (1984–2013)?

Since 1984, we have diagnosed at the La Paz University Hospital, Madrid, Spain, 41 patients with hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT) activity deficiency. These patients belonged to 34 families. We have also performed molecular and enzymatic diagnosis in three patients from India, one from Belgium, and three from Colombia. About 1/3 of these patients were followed up at La Paz University Hospital at least every year. This fact has allowed us to examine the complete spectrum of HPRT deficiency as well as to perform a more accurate diagnosis and treatment. In the present review, we also summarized our studies on the basis of physiopathology of the neurological manifestation of Lesch Nyhan disease (LND).     

柴达木盆地第四系介形类化石带与磁性柱

柴达木盆地东部晚上新世－全新世湖相沉积巨厚,无明显间断,微体化石丰富。区内已建厚度超过２０００ｍ的第四系磁性柱中,记录了布容、松山和高斯极性时带。由于有剖面上部的同位素测年数据和剖面中、下部的介形类化石带序列的对比成果配合验证,布容、松山极性时下限的确定和布拉克、莫纳、琵琶湖、奥尔杜威、马默思等亚极性时的鉴别依据充足可信。据此极性年表标定的晚上新世－第四纪介形类化石带序列中１２个标准化石的时限得以识别。古生态研究与壳体元素分析的资料表明,始见于距今３０５万年的Ｍｉｃｒｏｌｉｍｎｏｃｙｔｈｅｒｅｓｉｎｅｎｓｉｓ指示低温水体,该化石带的出现标志着中新世以来柴达木盆地古气候的首次明显变冷。     

Target of rapamycin complex 2 signals to downstream effector yeast protein kinase 2 (Ypk2) through adheres-voraciously-to-target-of-rapamycin-2 protein 1 (Avo1) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The conserved Ser/Thr kinase target of rapamycin (TOR) serves as a central regulator in controlling cell growth-related functions. There exist two distinct TOR complexes, TORC1 and TORC2, each coupling to specific downstream effectors and signaling pathways. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, TORC2 is involved in regulating actin organization and maintaining cell wall integrity. Ypk2 (yeast protein kinase 2), a member of the cAMP-dependent, cGMP-dependent, and PKC (AGC) kinase family, is a TORC2 substrate known to participate in actin and cell wall regulation. Employing avo3(ts) mutants with defects in TORC2 functions that are suppressible by active Ypk2, we investigated the molecular interactions involved in mediating TORC2 signaling to Ypk2. GST pulldown assays in yeast lysates demonstrated physical interactions between Ypk2 and components of TORC2. In vitro binding assays revealed that Avo1 directly binds to Ypk2. In avo3(ts) mutants, the TORC2-Ypk2 interaction was reduced and could be restored by AVO1 overexpression, highlighting the important role of Avo1 in coupling TORC2 to Ypk2. The interaction was mapped to an internal region (amino acids 600-840) of Avo1 and a C-terminal region of Ypk2. Ypk2(334-677), a truncated form of Ypk2 containing the Avo1-interacting region, was able to interfere with Avo1-Ypk2 interaction in vitro. Overexpressing Ypk2(334-677) in yeast cells resulted in a perturbation of TORC2 functions, causing defective cell wall integrity, aberrant actin organization, and diminished TORC2-dependent Ypk2 phosphorylation evidenced by the loss of an electrophoretic mobility shift. Together, our data support the conclusion that the direct Avo1-Ypk2 interaction is crucial for TORC2 signaling to the downstream Ypk2 pathway.     

Element Concentrations in Some Species of Seaweeds from La Paz Bay and La Paz Lagoon, South-Western Baja California, Mexico

La Paz Bay and La Paz Lagoon are water bodies of the Gulf of California that are influenced by waste water discharges from the City of La Paz and from activities of the phosphorite mining company “Rofomex”. Because seaweeds concentrate elements from the water and are used as effective indicators of contamination by metals, we investigated their usefulness in this region. Concentrations of certain major elements (Ca, Fe, K and Na) and trace elements (As, Ba, Co, Cr, Cs, Hf, Rb, Sb, Sc, Se, Sr, Ta, Th, U, Zn and Zr) were determined in 12 species of seaweeds from La Paz Bay and La Paz Lagoon using instrumental neutron activation analysis. The contents of trace elements of environmental importance (As, Co, Cr, Fe, Sb, Se and Zn) in all studied samples are within the range of typical levels for a pristine environment not subjected to anthropogenic impact. Somewhat higher concentrations of Cr (81mg kg⁻¹), Hf (4mg kg⁻¹), Rb (48mg kg⁻¹), Sc (6.3mg kg⁻¹), Ta (0.95mg kg⁻¹), Th (6.8mg kg⁻¹), U (33mg kg⁻¹) and Zn (90mg kg⁻¹) were found in the green seaweed species Ulva (formerly Enteromorpha) intestinalis, whereas such elements as As (77mg kg⁻¹), Sb (1.4mg kg⁻¹) and Se (1.8mg kg⁻¹) were mainly concentrated in the species Sargassum sinicola, Codium cuneatum and Padina mexicana respectively. Because of their higher abundance and heterogeneity in elemental composition the seaweeds species Ulva intestinalis and Caulerpa sertularioides seem to be more suitable for further biomonitoring of heavy metal pollution of the coastal waters in this zone.     

Not just vicariance: phylogeography of a Sonoran Desert euphorb indicates a major role of range expansion along the Baja peninsula

To examine the generality of population-level impacts of ancient vicariance identified for numerous arid-adapted animal taxa along the Baja peninsula, we tested phylogeographical hypotheses in a similarly distributed desert plant, Euphorbia lomelii (Euphorbiaceae). In light of fossil data indicating marked changes in the distributions of Baja floristic assemblages throughout the Holocene and earlier, we also examined evidence for range expansion over more recent temporal scales. Two classes of complementary analytical approaches — hypothesis-testing and hypothesis-generating — were used to exploit phylogeographical signal from chloroplast DNA sequence data and genotypic data from six codominant nuclear intron markers. Sequence data are consistent with a scenario of mid-peninsular vicariance originating c. 1 million years ago (Ma). Alternative vicariance scenarios representing earlier splitting events inferred for some animals (e.g. Isthmus of La Paz inundation, c. 3 Ma; Sea of Cortez formation, c. 5 Ma) were rejected. Nested clade phylo-geographical analysis corroborated coalescent simulation-based inferences. Nuclear markers broadened the temporal spectrum over which phylogeographical scenarios could be addressed, and provided strong evidence for recent range expansions along the north–south axis of the Baja peninsula. In contrast to previous plant studies in this region, however, the expansions do not appear to have been in a strictly northward direction. These findings contribute to a growing appreciation of the complexity of organismal responses to past climatic and geological changes — even when taxa have evolved in the same landscape context.     

Cellobiose and lactulose coupled with mannitol and determined using ion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection,are reliable probes for investigation of intestinal permeability

Lactulose/mannitol and cellobiose/mannitol tests are currently used in the investigation of intestinal permeability (IP) in many gastrointestinal diseases. The aim of this study was to produce a good technique for the determination and comparison of the above-mentioned sugar probes to overcome the problem caused by the presence of significant glycosuria in patients affected by particular metabolic disorders such as diabetes mellitus. Tests were performed in 25 healthy volunteers, using either cellobiose (Ce) (5 g) and mannitol (Ma) (2 g), or lactulose (La) (5 g) and mannitol (2 g), given as oral isosmolar loads. Sugars were recovered in urine collected for 5 h. Analysis was carried out by using anion-exchange chromatography (AEC) with pulsed amperometric detection (PAD). Baseline separation of the above carbohydrates was achieved within 13 min by using a Carbopac PA-100 column and linear gradient elution. Carbohydrate quantification was performed by an internal standard method. The calibration curve for each sugar is linear to 40 mM. The limit of sugar detection is 0.01 mM. Recovery of sugar probes is between 98.2 and 100%.The %La, %Ce, %Ma in urine were evaluated and their ratios (Ce/Ma and La/Ma) were calculated. No significant difference in IP parameters were shown (La/Ma to Ce/Ma 0.018+/-0.014 vs. 0.012+/-0.007; the attendant probability of the null hypothesis being P=0.0714). Ce/Ma and/or La/Ma tests result similarly reliable in the clinical investigation of IP and the described new method is also helpful in urine even with high glucose concentration, without any interference.     

南海南部表层海水古温度估算与次表层海水特征变化

南海南部～2 MaBP以来的表层海水古温度估算表明,表层海水温度变化在更新世冰期旋回中波动比南海北部为小、保持比较温暖,但在长时间尺度上转换函数古水温仍然存在一定的变化趋势。转换函数古温度计算的低温时期并不与冰期相对应,表明南海南部具有独特的表层海洋演化特征,可能与次表层水体性质、上部水体结构等密切相关。过去2 MaBP以来的浮游有孔虫组合演化表明,南海南部海水温跃层呈现由氧同位素MIS79期向～53期相对变浅,自MIS 53期向布容／松山(B／M)古地磁界线附近变深,然后,自布容／松山界线以来又相对变浅的演化过程。     

Larval, prejuvenile and juvenile development of Eucinostomus currani

Larval and juvenile Eucinostomus currani are described based on pigmentation, meristics and morphometric characteristics of 198 specimens collected in Bahía de La Paz and Ensenada de La Paz, B.C.S., Mexico. Diagnostic characteristics are the presence of head melanophores and several punctuate melanophores scattered over the lateral surface of the gut from early stages, a tricolour pigment pattern forming on the dorsal fin in postflexion stage and black stripes on the flanks of prejuveniles and juveniles.     

Phospholipid composition of methane-utilizing bacteria.

The phospholipids of Methylococcus capsulatus, Methylosinus trichosporium, La Paz, and OBT were examined in relation to their qualitative and quantitative composition. M. capsulatus exhibited a phospholipid composition consisting of phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, cardiolipin, and phosphatidyl-choline. The esterified fatty acids were predominantly C16:0 and C16:1. M. trichosporium, La Paz, and OBT exhibited an essentially identical phospholipid composition consisting of phosphatidylmonomethylethanolamine, phosphatidyl-dimethylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine, and phosphatidylglycerol. Only trace amounts (less than 1%) of cardiolipin were found in these organisms. The major esterified fatty acid in these organisms was C18:1 (87 to 90%). The monounsaturated fatty acids from all four organisms consisted of both cis and trans isomers, each of which contained delta8, delta9, delta10, and delta11 double-bond positional isomers.     

Pliocene and early Pleistocene environments and climates of the western Snake River Plain, Idaho

Sedimentological, palynological, and magnetic susceptibility data provide paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic information from a 989 ft (301 m) core of sediments from the upper Glenns Ferry and Bruneau Formations from near the town of Bruneau in Owyhee County, Idaho. Chronology is based on stratigraphic position, paleomagnetism, and biostratigraphic data, which collectively suggest a late Gauss Normal-Polarity Chron age for the Glenns Ferry sediments and a middle Matuyama Reversed-Polarity Chron age for the Bruneau sediments. A deep lake was present on the western Snake River Plain during the portions of the time represented by the Glenns Ferry Formation, and the mudstones of the lower half of the core were apparently deposited in this lake. The terminal regression of the Glenns Ferry lake may be represented in the Bruneau core by sandy mudstones and sands that overlie the deep-water mudstones. A cobble layer present in the core between the Glenns Ferry lake beds and those of the overlying Bruneau Formation may indicate through-flow by the ancestral Snake River.Palynological data from the Glenns Ferry sediments in the Bruneau core reveal a pollen flora similar to the modern regional pollen flora, with very rare occurrences of now-extirpated taxa common earlier in the Tertiary. Palynological data from the Pliocene portion of this core indicate conditions more moist than today, with cooler summers and perhaps warmer winters. Quasi-periodic fluctuations in coniferous pollen (primarily Pinus) versus arid steppe taxa (primarily Chenopodiaceae/Amar-anthus) indicate significant variations in moisture through the lower two-thirds of the Glenns Ferry portion of the core. Shorter wave-length fluctuations in magnetic susceptibility and (inversely) Artemisia may reflect variations in temperature or other unidentified climatic variables. The pollen spectra from the Bruneau Formation sediments in the Bruneau core are dominated by Artemisia and resemble those of the Wisconsinan glacial period on the Snake River Plain, and hence indicate cold and dry conditions during some portion of the early Pleistocene.The deep-water Glenns Ferry lacustrine episode appears to date between approximately 3.5 to 3.3 and 2.5 Ma, and thus occurred during the middle Pliocene period of warmer-than-modern global temperatures. Similar sustained wetter-than-present conditions occurred in the same age range at sites across the western U.S.A. from southern California and Arizona to northern California and Idaho. This moist period was apparently followed by an interval of regional arid conditions that persisted for several hundred thousand years.     

Uranium-series ages of marine terraces,La Paz Peninsula,Baja California Sur,Mexico

Uranium-series dating of coral samples from raised marine terrace deposits between 1.5 and 10 m above sea level in the La Paz Peninsula area, Baja California Sur, yielded ages between 123 ka and 138 ka that are in agreement with previously reported results. The stratigraphy and ages of marine units near the El Coyote Arroyo indicate the presence of two high stands of the sea during the last interglacial or oxygen isotope substage 5e at about 140 ka and 123 ka. Accepting 5 m for the sea level during the last interglacial transgression, we calculate average uplift rates for the marine terraces of about 70 mm/ka and 40 mm/ka. These slow rates of uplift indicate a relative stability of the La Paz peninsula area for the past 140 000 years. In contrast, areas of Baja California affected by major faultf experienced higher rates of uplift. Rockwell et al. (1987) reported vertical uplift rates of 180 to 300 mm/ka at Punta Banda within the Aqua Blanea fault zone in northern Baja California.     

Responses to temperature and salinity by White Mullet Mugil curema: Possible explanation for the population decrease in Baja California Sur

The white mullet Mugil curema is distributed along the Gulf of Mexico and Pacific coasts and constitutes an important food resource in Mexico. However, during recent years the capture of this mugilid has decreased considerably, especially in Bahía and Ensenada de La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico. The effects of different levels of temperature (22, 26, and 30°C) and salinity (15, 25, and 35) on the instantaneous growth rate, energy content, and condition factor of early juveniles of Mugil curema were evaluated. Fish showed a lower growth rate, lower body energy content, and a less condition factor when exposed to high salinity and temperature. On the basis to the results obtained and considering the unusual extreme temperatures and salinity registered in Ensenada de La Paz, it is expected low functional performance of juvenile mullets beyond the overfishing might contribute to the population decrease of this resource.     

Isozymic and metric variation in the Lutzomyia longipalpis complex

Abstract Male Lutzomyia longipalpis of two types from Bolivia were compared using isozyme electrophoresis and wing morphometry. One sample ( ex Chiflonkaka Cave, alt. 2800 m at Toro Toro, Charcas Province, Potosi Department) was 'two-spot' phenotype males (i.e. tergites III and IV with paired pale patches of pheromone glands), whereas two other locality samples (Apa Apa and Imanaco, Sud Yungas Province, La Paz Department) were one-spot male phenotype (only tergite IV with paired pale patches). Multilocus enzyme electrophoresis (using ACON, aGPD, GPI, IDH, MDH, ME, 6PGD, PGM, LAP and PEPB) found no difference between samples from adjacent hen houses at Apa Apa. Nei's standard genetic distance between one-spot samples from Apa Apa and Imanaco (5 km apart, 1500m alt.) was 0.001-0.002, whereas the two-spot males from Toro Toro (800 km away) showed a genetic distance of 0.081 from the one-spot males (Apa Apa and Imanaco). This genetic distance is commensurate with speciation, but may simply be intraspecific differentiation due to 'isolation by distance'.
For comparative wing morphometry, we included additional material of one-spot males from Bolivia (Guyabal, Sud Yungas, La Paz), Brazil, Colombia and Nicaragua. These three other country samples were assumed to be different sibling species in the complex Lutzomyia longipalpis (Lanzaro et al , 1993). Statistics were based on univariate and multivariate analysis. The comparison between size-in and size-free canonical variate analysis (CVA) indicated that the wing morphometric divergence between one-spot and two-spot Bolivian phenotypes was not size dependent and could have taxonomic significance.     

Paralytic shellfish toxins in the chocolata clam, Megapitaria squalida (Bivalvia: Veneridae), in Bahía de La Paz, Gulf of California

Occurrence and toxic profiles of paralytic shellfish toxins (PST) in the chocolata clam Megapitaria squalida were investigated. From December 2001 to December 2002, 25 clams were obtained monthly from Bahia de La Paz, Gulf of California. Additionally, net (20 microm) and bottle phytoplankton samples were also collected to identify toxic species. Toxins were analyzed by HPLC with post-column oxidation and fluorescence detection. Toxicity in the clam was low and varied from 0.14 to 5.46 microg/STXeq/100 g. Toxicity was detected in December, March, April, June, and August. Toxin profile was composed mainly by STX, GTX2, GTX3, dcGTX2, dcGTX3, C2, dcSTX and B1. Gymnodinium catenatum was the only PST-producing dinoflagellate identified in the phytoplankton samples throughout the study period. G. catenatum was observed mainly in net samples from December 2001 to December 2002; however, in bottle samples, G. catenatum was only observed in five months. Highest abundance (2600 cells l(-1)) was observed in March and the lowest (160 cells l(-1)) in June. G. catenatum mainly formed two-cell chains and rarely four or eight. The presence of PST in net phytoplankton samples support the fact that G. catenatum is the main source of PST in the clams. This study represents the first report of PST toxins in the chocolata clam from Bahia de La Paz.