Local people value environmental services provided by forested parks

Garnering support from local people is critical for maintaining ecologically viable and functional protected areas. However, empirical data illustrating local people’s awareness of the importance of nature’s services is limited; hence possibly impeding effective ecosystem (environmental)-services based conservation efforts. Using data from five protected forests in four developing Southeast Asian countries, we provide evidence that local people living near parks value a wide range of environmental services, including cultural, provisioning, and regulating services, provided by the forests. Local people with longer residency valued environmental services more. Educated as well as poor people valued forest ecosystem services more. Conservation education has some influence on people’s environmental awareness. For conservation endeavors to be successful, large-scale transmigration programs should be avoided and local people must be provided with alternative sustenance opportunities and basic education in addition to environmental outreach to reduce their reliance on protected forests and to enhance conservation support.     

A ubiquitin‐10 promoter‐based vector set for fluorescent protein tagging facilitates temporal stability and native protein distribution in transient and stable expression studies

Fluorescent tagging of proteins and confocal imaging techniques have become methods of choice in analysing the distributions and dynamic characteristics of proteins at the subcellular level. In common use are a number of strategies for transient expression that greatly reduce the preparation time in advance of imaging, but their applications are limited in success outside a few tractable species and tissues. We previously developed a simple method to transiently express fluorescently‐tagged proteins in Arabidopsis root epidermis and root hairs. We describe here a set of Gateway‐compatable vectors with fluorescent tags incorporating the ubiqutin‐10 gene promoter (P_UBQ10) of Arabidopsis that gives prolonged expression of the fluorescently‐tagged proteins, both in tobacco and Arabidopsis tissues, after transient transformation, and is equally useful in generating stably transformed lines. As a proof of principle, we carried out transformations with fluorescent markers for the integral plasma membrane protein SYP121, a member of the SNARE family of vesicle‐trafficking proteins, and for DHAR1, a cytosolic protein that facilitates the scavenging of reactive oxygen species. We also carried out transformations with SYP121 and its interacting partner, the KC1 K⁺ channel, to demonstrate the utility of the methods in bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC). Transient transformations of Arabidopsis using Agrobacterium co‐cultivation methods yielded expression in all epidermal cells, including root hairs and guard cells. Comparative studies showed that the P_UBQ10 promoter gives similar levels of expression to that driven by the native SYP121 promoter, faithfully reproducing the characteristics of protein distributions at the subcellular level. Unlike the 35S‐driven construct, expression under the P_UBQ10 promoter remained elevated for periods in excess of 2 weeks after transient transformation. This toolbox of vectors and fluorescent tags promises significant advantages for the study of membrane dynamics and cellular development, as well as events associated with environmental stimuli in guard cells and nutrient acquisition in roots.     

Morroniside cinnamic acid conjugate as an anti-inflammatory agent

A morroniside cinnamic acid conjugate was prepared and evaluated on E-selectin mediated cell–cell adhesion as an important role in inflammatory processes. 7-O-Cinnamoylmorroniside exhibited excellent anti-inflammatory activity (IC₅₀ = 49.3 μM) by inhibiting the expression of E-selectin; further, it was more active than another cinnamic-acid-conjugated iridoid glycoside (harpagoside; IC₅₀ = 88.2 μM), 7-O-methylmorroniside, and morroniside itself. As a result, 7-O-cinnamoylmorroniside was observed to be a potent inhibitor of TNF-α-induced E-selectin expression.     

Accelerated hand bone mineral density loss is associated with progressive joint damage in hands and feet in recent-onset rheumatoid arthritis

Introduction

To investigate whether accelerated hand bone mineral density (BMD) loss is associated with progressive joint damage in hands and feet in the first year of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and whether it is an independent predictor of subsequent progressive total joint damage after 4 years.

Methods

In 256 recent-onset RA patients, baseline and 1-year hand BMD was measured in metacarpals 2-4 by digital X-ray radiogrammetry. Joint damage in hands and feet were scored in random order according to the Sharp-van der Heijde method at baseline and yearly up to 4 years.

Results

68% of the patients had accelerated hand BMD loss (>-0.003 g/cm²) in the first year of RA. Hand BMD loss was associated with progressive joint damage after 1 year both in hands and feet with odds ratios (OR) (95% confidence intervals [CI]) of 5.3 (1.3-20.9) and 3.1 (1.0-9.7). In univariate analysis, hand BMD loss in the first year was a predictor of subsequent progressive total joint damage after 4 years with an OR (95% CI) of 3.1 (1.3-7.6). Multivariate analysis showed that only progressive joint damage in the first year and anti-citrullinated protein antibody positivity were independent predictors of long-term progressive joint damage.

Conclusions

In the first year of RA, accelerated hand BMD loss is associated with progressive joint damage in both hands and feet. Hand BMD loss in the first year of recent-onset RA predicts subsequent progressive total joint damage, however not independent of progressive joint damage in the first year.     

Novel cationic vesicle platform derived from vernonia oil for efficient delivery of DNA through plant cuticle membranes

Novel cationic amphiphilic compounds were prepared from vernonia oil, a natural epoxidized triglyceride, and studied with respect to vesicle formation, encapsulation of biomaterials such as DNA, and their physical stability and transport through isolated plant cuticle membranes. The amphiphiles studied were a single-headed compound III (a quaternary ammonium head group with two alkyl chains) and a triple-headed compound IV, which is essentially three molecules of compound III bound together through a glycerol moiety. Vesicles of the two amphiphiles, prepared by sonication in water and solutions of uranyl acetate or the herbicide 2,4-D (2,4-dichloropenoxy acetic acid), were examined by TEM, SEM, AFM, and confocal laser systems and had a spherical shape which encapsulated the solutes with diameters between 40 and 110 nm. Vesicles from amphiphile IV could be made large enough to encapsulate a condensed 5.2kb DNA plasmid (pJD328). Vesicles of amphiphile IV were also shown to pass intact across isolated plant cuticle membranes and the rate of delivery of encapsulated radio-labeled 2,4-D through isolated plant cuticle membranes obtained with these vesicles was clearly greater in comparison to liposomes prepared from dipalmitopyl phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) and the control, nonencapsulated 2,4-D. Vesicles from amphiphiles III and IV were found to be more stable than those of liposomes from DPPC. The data indicate the potential of vesicles prepared from the novel amphiphile IV to be a relatively efficient nano-scale delivery system to transport DNA and other bioactive agents through plant biological barriers. This scientific approach may open the way for further development of efficient in vivo plant transformation systems.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Melanopsis</Emphasis> from Al-Qarn,Jordan Valley (Gastropoda: Cerithioidea)

Fossil species ofMelanopsis from a freshwater formation in the Jordan Valley (near Al-Qarn) were investigated and the deposits containing these species are formally described as Al-Qarn Formation. Four species were found:Melanopsis buccinoidea Olivier,M. tchernovi Heller & Sivan,M. costata Olivier andM. aaronsohni Blanckenhorn.Melanopsis costata was represented by two groups, “stepped” and “non-stepped”, the latter differing in its lower figurativity index. Intermediates were found betweenM. buccinoidea andM. tchernovi; they may be hybrids. TheMelanopsis assemblage bridges the faunal gap, in the Jordan Valley, between the 2 Ma lake of ‘Erq el Ahmar on the one hand and the 0.8–1.7 Ma lake of ‘Ubeidiya on the other. This suggests an early Pleistocene age of about 1.8 million years for the Al-Qarn Formation.