Associations of Conflict-Related Trauma and Ongoing Stressors with the Mental Health and Functioning of West Papuan Refugees in Port Moresby,Papua New Guinea (PNG)

Documentation is limited in relation to the mental health of the people of West Papua, a territory that has been exposed to decades-long political persecution. We examined associations of traumatic events (TEs) and current stressors with mental disorder and functioning, amongst 230 West Papuan refugees residing in six settlements in Port Morseby, Papua New Guinea (PNG). We used culturally adapted modules to assess exposure to TEs and mental disorders. Current stressors and functioning were assessed using modifications of measures developed by the World Health Organization (WHO). 129 of 230 respondents (56%) reported exposure to at least one traumatic event (TE), including: political upheaval (36.5%), witnessing or hearing about family members tortured and murdered (33.9%), and not being able to access medical care for family members (33%). One fifth of respondents (47, 20.4%) experienced exposure to high levels of TEs (16 to 23). 211 (91.7%) endorsed at least one or more ongoing stressors, including: exposure to illicit substance use in the community (91.7%), problems with safety and the protection of women (89.6%), no access to legal rights and citizenship (88.3%), and lack of adequate shelter and facilities (85.2%). A quarter (26.9%) met criteria for one or more current mental disorder, and 69.1% reported functional impairment ranging from mild to extreme. Mental disorder was associated with being male (adjusted odds ratio=2.00; 95% CI=1.01-3.97), and exposure to the highest category of ongoing stressors (AOR=2.89; 95% CI=1.08-7.72). The TE count showed a dose-response pattern in its relationship with functional impairment, the greatest risk (AOR=11.47; 95% CI=2.11-62.37) being for those experiencing the highest level of TE exposure (16-23 events). West Papuans living in settlements in Port Moresby reported a range of TEs, ongoing stressors and associated mental disorders characteristic of populations exposed to mass conflict and persecution, prolonged displacement, and ongoing conditions of extreme hardship.     

Background matching behaviour and pathogen acquisition: plant site preference does not predict the bacterial acquisition efficiency of vectors

Many insect-borne pathogens are heterogeneously distributed within their hosts: therefore, a vector’s within-plant distribution may be a predictor of its exposure to pathogens. In this study, we set out to quantify plant site preference, in the context of background matching, and investigated its effect on acquisition of a bacterial pathogen by its leafhopper vectors. The two green-coloured species, Graphocephala atropunctata and Draeculacephala minerva, preferred green plant tissue and artificial backgrounds whereas the brown-coloured Homalodisca vitripennis preferred brown stem tissue and backgrounds. Within-plant feeding site did not predict either the acquisition success or the number of plant-pathogenic Xylella fastidiosa cells acquired by the vectors; an 86% mortality for G. atropunctata was reported on the lignified stem tissue. Overall, H. vitripennis acquired significantly more cells than G. atropunctata. A novel artificial diet-based transmission system was used to further illustrate that the observed between-species difference in the number of cells acquired was independent of vector-host plant interactions. H. vitripennis, a less efficient vector of the bacterium X. fastidiosa on grapevines, acquired more bacterial cells than G. atropunctata, possibly due to its larger size. Contrary to previous assumptions, pathogen acquisition efficiency by the vectors did not explain their reported differences in inoculation. Vector interactions with the host during the inoculation stage should be evaluated as another determinant of X. fastidiosa transmission efficiency.     

How DNA travels between the separate polymerase and 3'-5'-exonuclease sites of DNA polymerase I (Klenow fragment)

The polymerase and 3'-5'-exonuclease activities of the Klenow fragment of DNA polymerase I are located on separate structural domains of the protein, separated by about 30 A. To determine whether a DNA primer terminus can move from one active site to the other without dissociation of the enzyme-DNA complex, we carried out reactions on a labeled DNA substrate in the presence of a large excess of unlabeled DNA, to limit observations to a single enzyme-DNA encounter. The results indicated that while Klenow fragment is capable of intramolecular shuttling of a DNA substrate between the two catalytic sites, the intermolecular pathway involving enzyme-DNA dissociation can also be used. Thus, there is nothing in the protein structure or the reaction mechanism that dictates a particular means of moving the DNA substrate. Instead, the use of the intermolecular or the intramolecular pathway is determined by the competition between the polymerase or exonuclease reaction and DNA dissociation. When the substrate has a mispaired primer terminus, DNA dissociation seems generally more rapid than exonucleolytic digestion. Thus, Klenow fragment edits its own polymerase errors by a predominantly intermolecular process, involving dissociation of the enzyme-DNA complex and reassociation of the DNA with the exonuclease site of a second molecule of Klenow fragment.     

Commentary on issues in data quality analysis in life cycle assessment

Purpose  

For compliance with the ISO standard 14044, comparative life cycle assessments are required to address data quality for time-related coverage, geographic coverage, technology coverage, precision, completeness, representativeness, consistency, reproducibility, sources of the data and uncertainty of the information. As the community of practitioners and data developers grows, the purpose of this commentary is to initiate discussion of current issues and opportunities for improvement in data quality analysis.     

Circulatory galanin levels increase severalfold with intense orthostatic challenge in healthy humans.

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that plasma galanin concentration (pGal) is regularly increased in healthy humans with extensive orthostatic stress. Twenty-six test persons (14 men, 12 women) were brought to an orthostatic end point via a progressive cardiovascular stress (PCS) protocol consisting of 70 degrees head-up tilt plus increasing levels of lower body negative pressure until either hemodynamically defined presyncope or other signs of orthostatic intolerance occurred (nausea, clammy skin, excessive sweating, pallor of the skin). We further tested for possible gender, gravitational, and muscular training influences on plasma pGal responses: PCS was applied before and after 3 wk of daily vertical acceleration exposure training on a Human Powered Centrifuge. Test persons were randomly assigned to active (with bicycle work) or passive (without work) groups (seven men, six women in each group). Resting pGal was 26+/-3 pg/ml in men and 39+/-15 pg/ml in women (not significant); women had higher galanin responses (4.9-fold increase) than men (3.5-fold, P=0.017) to PCS exposure. Overall, PCS increased pGal to 186+/-5 pg/ml (P=0.0003), without significant differences between presyncope vs. orthostatic intolerance, pre- vs. postcentrifuge, or active vs. passive gravitational training. Increases in pGal were poorly related to synchronous elevations in plasma vasopressin. We conclude that galanin is regularly increased in healthy humans under conditions of presyncopal orthostatic stress, the response being independent of gravity training but larger in women than in men.     

Genetic architecture of growth and early life‐history transitions in anadromous and derived freshwater populations of steelhead

Heritabilities of growth, precocious maturation and smolting were measured in 75 families of juvenile steelhead or rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss , progeny of within and between line matings (crosses) of wild, anadromous steelhead and wild, resident (lake) rainbow trout originally derived from the same anadromous stock 70 years earlier. The tagged yearling progeny were combined by line in common freshwater rearing containers and graded into three categories: mature, smolt or rearing (undifferentiated) at age 2 years. Heritabilities of precocious male maturity, smolting and growth were moderate to high, and the genetic correlation between growth and smolting was low. Smolting and precocious male maturity were highly variable among families within lines and significantly different between lines. Each of the four lines produced significant numbers of smolts at age two. Smolting and maturation were negatively genetically correlated, which may explain the persistence of smolting in the lake population despite strong selection against lake smolts; balancing selection on male maturation age may help to maintain variation for smolting. The high heritability of smolting, coupled with the inability of smolts that leave the lake to return to it indicates that the genetic potential for smolting can lie dormant or be maintained through a dynamic interaction between smolting and early maturation for decades despite complete selection against the phenotype. The results have significant implications for the preservation of threatened anadromous stocks in fresh water and the inclusion of resident fish of formerly anadromous populations, currently trapped behind long‐standing barriers to migration, as one component of the same population.     

The salt relations of Dunaliella

Dunaliella tertiolecta (marine) and D. viridis (halophilic) were each trained by serial transfer to growth at salt concentrations previously regarded as the other's domain. D. viridis then had a salt optimum at 1.0–1.5 M sodium chloride whereas that for D. tertiolecta was less than 0–2 M. Nevertheless D. tertiolecta grew faster than the halophil at all salt concentrations up to 3.5 M, the highest at which they were compared.Both species accumulate glycerol, which is necessary for growth at elevated salinities and which responds in its content to water activity (a _w ) rather than specifically to salt concentration. Variation in glycerol content is a metabolic process which occurs in the dark from accumulated starch as well as photosynthetically. Regulation of glycerol content by a _w does not require protein synthesis. The NADP-specific glycerol dehydrogenase of each of the algae is likely to be directly involved in the regulation of glycerol content. Kinetic studies, together with those described in an earlier publication, show that the enzyme has regulatory properties, and that both glycerol and dihydroxyacetone act as effectors as well as reactants. A mechanism of the reaction is tentatively proposed.