Forest nitrogen sinks in large eastern U.S. watersheds: estimates from forest inventory and an ecosystem model

The eastern U.S. receives elevated rates of Ndeposition compared to preindustrial times, yetrelatively little of this N is exported indrainage waters. Net uptake of N into forestbiomass and soils could account for asubstantial portion of the difference between Ndeposition and solution exports. We quantifiedforest N sinks in biomass accumulation andharvest export for 16 large river basins in theeastern U.S. with two separate approaches: (1)using growth data from the USDA ForestService's Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA)program, and (2) using a model of forestnitrogen cycling (PnET-CN) linked to FIAinformation on forest age-class structure. Themodel was also used to quantify N sinks in soiland dead wood, and nitrate losses below therooting zone. Both methods agreed that netgrowth rates were highest in the relativelyyoung forests on the Schuylkill watershed, andlowest in the cool forests of northern Maine. Across the 16 watersheds, wood export removedan average of 2.7 kg N ha^–1 yr^–1(range: 1–5 kg N ha^–1 yr^–1), andstanding stocks increased by 4.0 kg N ha^–1yr^–1 (–3 to 8 kg N ha^–1 yr^–1). Together, these sinks for N in woody biomassamounted to a mean of 6.7 kg N ha^–1yr^–1 (2–9 kg N ha^–1 yr^–1), or73% (15–115%) of atmospheric N deposition. Modeled rates of net N sinks in dead wood andsoil were small; soils were only a significantnet sink for N during simulations ofreforestation of degraded agricultural sites. Predicted losses of nitrate depended on thecombined effects of N deposition, and bothshort- and long-term effects of disturbance. Linking the model with forest inventoryinformation on age-class structure provided auseful step toward incorporating realisticpatterns of forest disturbance status acrossthe landscape.     

Phase I trial of intravenous infusion of ex-vivo-activated autologous blood-derived macrophages in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer: Toxicity and immunomodulatory effects

Summary The purpose of this phase I study was to evaluate the toxicity and biological activity of autologous blood-derived macrophages activated ex-vivo with recombinant human interferon (rhuIFN) [monokine-activated killer (MAK) cells] and administered intravenously to 11 lung cancer patients once a week for 6 consecutive weeks. Peripheral blood monocytes were collected by leukapheresis and then purified by counterflow elutriation. The MAK cells were generated by culturing the purified monocytes in Teflon bags for 7 days and adding rhuIFN to the cultured cells for the last 18 h. These MAK cells expressed differentiation-associated surface antigen MAX1, and were cytotoxic in vitro against tumour cell line U937. The MAK cells were infused at dose levels from 1 × 10⁷ to 5 × 10⁸ on an intrapatient dose-escalating schedule. No severe adverse side-effects occurred. Toxicity was mild to moderate [primarly fever (75%) and chills (32%)], non-dose-dependent, and non-cumulative. No consistent change in haemostatic function, or liver or renal function was observed. Dose-limiting toxicity was not reached at 5 × 10⁸ cells (optimal dose reproduced for each patient). The maximum tolerated dose was not determined. The immunomodulatory activity of i.v. infused MAK cells was demonstrated both in vivo by significant increases in granulocyte count and neopterin level in the patients' peripheral blood postinfusion and in vitro by secretory products (IL-1. TNF, neopterin, and thromboplastin-like substance) in the culture supernatants. The in vivo traffic patterns of autologous MAK cells labelled ex-vivo with¹¹¹In oxine were studied in 7 patients. Gamma imaging showed an immediate but transient lung uptake (<24 h), and a progressive uptake of radioactivity in the liver and spleen was seen from 6 h to 72 h post-infusion. Our results indicate that the preparation of high numbers of autologous, blood-derived MAK cells is a feasible procedure, and their transfusion is safe for patients. This immunotherapeutic approach seems to be encouraging from the point of view of establishing an adjuvant therapeutic modality in cancer patients with minimal residual disease.This work was supported in part by a grant 6911 from the Association pour la Recherche contre le Cancer (ARC), grants from the Ligue Nationale contre le cancer and the Ligues Regionales (Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin) contre le cancer, and contract 891013 from the Institut National pour la Santé et la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), France     

Effect of handling on ATP utilization of cerebral Na,K-ATPase in rats with trimethyltin-induced neurodegeneration

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry - Previously it was shown that for reduction of anxiety and stress of experimental animals, preventive handling seems to be one of the most effective methods....     

Sequence Capture and Next Generation Resequencing of the MHC Region Highlights Potential Transplantation Determinants in HLA Identical Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

How cells coordinate the immune system activities is important for potentially life-saving organ or stem cell transplantations. Polymorphic immunoregulatory genes, many of them located in the human major histocompatibility complex, impact the process and assure the proper execution of tolerance-versus-activity mechanisms. In haematopoietic stem cell transplantation, on the basis of fully human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matched donor–recipient pairs, adverse effects like graft versus leukaemia and graft versus host are observed and difficult to handle. So far, high-resolution HLA typing was performed with Sanger sequencing, but for methodological reasons information on additional immunocompetent major histocompatibility complex loci has not been revealed. Now, we have used microarray sequence capture and targeted enrichment combined with next generation pyrosequencing for 3.5 million base pair human major histocompatibility complex resequencing in a clinical transplant setting and describe 3025 variant single nucleotide polymorphisms, insertions and deletions among recipient and donor in a single sequencing experiment. Taken together, the presented data show that sequence capture and massively parallel pyrosequencing can be used as a new tool for risk assessment in the setting of allogeneic stem cell transplantation.     

Resistance and susceptibility in human onchocerciasis--beyond Th1 vs. Th2

As research progress has led to programs for the elimination of onchocerciasis as a public health problem, research must now be intensified to protect elimination efforts. A profound understanding of the immunology in the human-parasite relationship is required for predicting the impacts of an altered immune response in a population post-microfilaricide treatment, and for the development of a vaccine against onchocerciasis, a highly desirable tool to guarantee sustained elimination success. This article summarizes the recent advancements in understanding the human immune mechanisms against onchocerciasis, and focuses on the new concept of T-cell suppressor responses as a major counterbalance mechanism for effector responses driven by T helper 1 and T helper 2 cells against the filarial worms.     

Foraging interactions between Wandering Albatrosses Diomedea exulans breeding on Marion Island and long-line fisheries in the southern Indian Ocean

Wandering Albatrosses Diomedea exulans are frequently killed when they attempt to scavenge baited hooks deployed by long-line fishing vessels. We studied the foraging ecology of Wandering Albatrosses breeding on Marion Island in order to assess the scale of interactions with known long-line fishing fleets. During incubation and late chick-rearing, birds foraged further away from the island, in warmer waters, and showed high spatial overlap with areas of intense tuna Thunnus spp. long-line fishing. During early chick-rearing, birds made shorter foraging trips and showed higher spatial overlap with the local Patagonian Toothfish Dissostichus eleginoides long-line fishery. Tracks of birds returning with offal from the Toothfish fishery showed a strong association with positions at which Toothfish long-lines were set and most diet samples taken during this stage contained fishery-related items. Independent of these seasonal differences, females foraged further from the islands and in warmer waters than males. Consequently, female distribution overlapped more with tuna long-line fisheries, whereas males interacted more with the Toothfish long-line fishery. These factors could lead to differences in the survival probabilities of males and females. Non-breeding birds foraged in warmer waters and showed the highest spatial overlap with tuna long-line fishing areas. The foraging distribution of Marion Island birds showed most spatial overlap with birds from the neighbouring Crozet Islands during the late chick-rearing and non-breeding periods. These areas of foraging overlap also coincided with areas of intense tuna long-line fishing south of Africa. As the population trends of Wandering Albatrosses at these two localities are very similar, it is possible that incidental mortality during the periods when these two populations show the highest spatial overlap could be driving these trends.     

Aquaporins and plant water balance

The impact of aquaporin function on plant water balance is discussed. The significance of these proteins for root water uptake, water conductance in the xylem, including embolism refilling and the role of plant aquaporins in leaf physiology, is described. Emphasis is placed on certain aspects of water stress reactions and the correlation of aquaporins to abscisic acid as well as on the relation of water and CO₂ permeability in leaves.     

Toward establishing structure–activity relationships for oxygenated coumarins as differentiation inducers of promonocytic leukemic cells

The presumption that some coumarins might be lead compounds in the search for new differentiation agents against leukemia is based on the fact that natural coumarins, 5-(3-methyl-2-butenyloxy)-6,7-methylenedioxycoumarin (C-2) and 5-methoxy-6,7-methylenedioxycoumarin (C-1) inhibit proliferation and induce differentiation in U-937 cells [Riveiro, M. E.; Shayo, C.; Monczor, F.; Fernandez, N.; Baldi, A.; De Kimpe, N.; Rossi, J.; Debenedetti, S.; Davio, C. Cancer Lett. 2004, 210, 179–188]. These promising findings prompted us to investigate the anti-leukemia activity of a broader range of related polyoxygenated coumarins. Twenty related natural or synthetically prepared coumarins, including a range of 5-substituted ayapin derivatives which have become easy accessible via newly developed synthesis methods, were evaluated, where treatments with 5-(2,3-dihydroxy-3-methylbutoxy)-6,7-methylenedioxycoumarin (D-3) and 5-(2-hydroxy-3-methoxy-3-methylbutoxy)-6,7-methylenedioxycoumarin (D-2) were able to inhibit the cell growth and induce the differentiation of U-937 cells after 48 h treatment. These results provide insight into the correlation between some structural properties of polyoxygenated coumarins and their in vitro leukemic differentiation activity.