Vertical space utilization by urban birds and their relationship to electric poles and wires

Landscape and Ecological Engineering - Birds living in urban areas use various human-made structures. Many artificial structures such as houses, electric poles, and electric wires are used as...     

Occurrence of distinctive cells and effects of irradiance on vascular formation in leaves of shade-tolerant C4 grass Paspalum conjugatum

Journal of Plant Research - The denser leaf vasculature of C4 plants than of C3 plants may suit rapid export of assimilates associated with their higher photosynthetic rate. However, some C4...     

Transport of maternal transthyretin to the fetus in the viviparous teleost Neoditrema ransonnetii (Perciformes,Embiotocidae)

Journal of Comparative Physiology B - The molecular basis of viviparity in non-mammalian species has not been widely studied. Neoditrema ransonnetii, a surfperch, is a matrotrophic teleost whose...     

Site-directed mutagenesis establishes aspartic acids-227 and -342 as essential for enzyme activity in an isomalto-dextranase from Arthrobacter globiformis

Isomalto-dextranase, from Arthrobacter globiformis T6, is a member of the glycoside hydrolase family 27. However, the alignments of the whole amino acid sequence are distinct from other members of this family. The enzymes cleave the glycosidic bond of the substrate in two different manners: either retaining or inverting the anomeric configuration. We believe that a retaining enzyme is involved in a two-step, double-displacement mechanism utilizing active site carboxylic acids as the nucleophile and general acid/base catalysts in the hydrolytic reaction. The critical amino acid residues at the isomalto-dextranase active site that catalyzes the hydrolysis reaction of dextran have been identified and the roles of nine amino acid residues (D107, D163, D227, D295, D340, D342, D373, D396, and E420) in the isomalto-dextranase from A. globiformis analyzed by site-directed mutagenesis. Of 15 mutant enzymes that were prepared, eight had reduced activities for dextran hydrolysis. Aspartic acids-227 and -342, which are part of the apparent catalytic dyad, were essential for hydrolase activity toward dextran.     

Outbreak of central nervous system disease associated with hand,foot, and mouth disease in Japan during the summer of 2000: detection and molecular epidemiology of enterovirus 71

Few outbreaks of the serious enterovirus 71 (EV71) infections, which affect the central nervous system (CNS), had been reported in Japan before 2000. During June through August 2000, a patient died of pulmonary edema caused by brainstem encephalitis accompanied by EV71-induced hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD), and many patients complicated by serious CNS disease, including paralysis, were hospitalized in a restricted area in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan (K-area). During the same period, endemics of HFMD were reported in other areas in Hyogo Prefecture, where EV71 was isolated from HFMD patients, but few patients developed aseptic meningitis. The isolations of EV71 from K-area patients were difficult with the use of Vero cells, so the strains were isolated by use of GL37 cells; Vero cells, however, could isolate EV71 strains from other areas in Hyogo Prefecture. We sequenced VP4 coding regions of these EV71 isolates and found that the isolates from K-area had the same sequence, which, except for one isolate, was different from the sequences of EV71 strains isolated from other areas of Hyogo Prefecture. Although these results were not enough to state that EV71 from K-area was a virulent strain, it seemed reasonable to conclude that serious CNS diseases in K-area were caused by EV71 because it was the only infectious agent detected in the inpatients of K-area.     

Sensitive analytical method for the novel H1-receptor antagonist HSR-609 in human plasma and urine by high-performance liquid chromatography with pre-column fluorescent derivatization

A simple and sensitive method for quantitation of HSR-609 (I) in human plasma and urine was developed using HPLC with the fluorescence labelling reagent 4-(N,N-dimethylaminosulfonyl)-7-N-piperazino-2,1,3-benzoxadiazole (DBD-PZ). Compound I was extracted from human plasma and urine, and derivatized by reaction with DBD-PZ in the presence of Mukaiyama reagent A, an equimolar solution of 2,2′-dipyridyl disulfide (DPDS) and triphenylphosphine (TPP) in acetonitrile. The reaction mixture was cleaned up by liquid-liquid extraction following the derivatization. The conjugate was analyzed by ion-pair HPLC with fluorometric detection. The quantitation limits for I were 0.5 ng/ml in plasma and 5 ng/ml in urine. Using this method, plasma concentration and urinary excretion of I were studied after oral administration of I to human volunteers.     

Problems of public participation in the Ramsar CEPA programme at the Tana Delta,Kenya

This research examines the problems of public participation in conserving a Ramsar site at the Tana Delta in southeastern Kenya. Given no participation of the public in government initiatives so far, we attempted to find out what had prevented local people from cooperating with responsible government bodies. Using empirical evidence that we obtained from fieldworks, questionnaire surveys, and workshops, we found that the low participation was not mainly due to local people’s unwillingness to conserve natural resources. Instead, we found that they were strongly interested in wetland resources conservation as long as their customary rights to governing resources are sufficiently recognized. We also documented how these local people managed their resources. The Kenya Wildlife Service and the National Museum of Kenya are the main government bodies to promote public participation, but we found that these agencies had not done effective communication works among local people. Our survey then clarified what sources of information can be most effective in communicating with local people in the Tana Delta. Finally, we discuss how the problems of public participation can be solved or reduced.