Visitor Perceptions of Nature Conservation at Helsinki Zoo

These days zoos often claim that their main objective is the promotion of nature conservation and that they strive to educate their visitors about animals and nature conservation. But how do zoo visitors themselves perceive this emphasis on conservation education? In order to determine how Helsinki Zoo visitors perceive nature conservation during their visit, we undertook a qualitative analysis of 75 structured situational interviews and five autoethnographical visits. Our results show that there was only a limited understanding of nature conservation among the zoo visitors. Their perception follows the typical framing of nature conservation in zoos: conservation projects that embrace captive breeding, in-situ conservation collaboration, and the reintroduction of those species. Moreover, in the Helsinki Zoo case these perceptions may have been influenced by the fact that the zoo did not give concrete advice on how the visitors themselves can contribute to conservation, except in terms of donating money. Framing nature conservation in such ways distances it from visitors’ everyday lives.     

Granule-bound starch synthase: structure, function, and phylogenetic utility

Interest in the use of low-copy nuclear genes for phylogenetic analyses of plants has grown rapidly, because highly repetitive genes such as those commonly used are limited in number. Furthermore, because low- copy genes are subject to different evolutionary processes than are plastid genes or highly repetitive nuclear markers, they provide a valuable source of independent phylogenetic evidence. The gene for granule-bound starch synthase (GBSSI or waxy) exists in a single copy in nearly all plants examined so far. Our study of GBSSI had three parts: (1) Amino acid sequences were compared across a broad taxonomic range, including grasses, four dicotyledons, and the microbial homologs of GBSSI. Inferred structural information was used to aid in the alignment of these very divergent sequences. The informed alignments highlight amino acids that are conserved across all sequences, and demonstrate that structural motifs can be highly conserved in spite of marked divergence in amino acid sequence. (2) Maximum-likelihood (ML) analyses were used to examine exon sequence evolution throughout grasses. Differences in probabilities among substitution types and marked among-site rate variation contributed to the observed pattern of variation. Of the parameters examined in our set of likelihood models, the inclusion of among-site rate variation following a gamma distribution caused the greatest improvement in likelihood score. (3) We performed cladistic parsimony analyses of GBSSI sequences throughout grasses, within tribes, and within genera to examine the phylogenetic utility of the gene. Introns provide useful information among very closely related species, but quickly become difficult to align among more divergent taxa. Exons are variable enough to provide extensive resolution within the family, but with low bootstrap support. The combined results of amino acid sequence comparisons, maximum-likelihood analyses, and phylogenetic studies underscore factors that might affect phylogenetic reconstruction. In this case, accommodation of the variable rate of evolution among sites might be the first step in maximizing the phylogenetic utility of GBSSI.      

Social Class,Social Mobility and Risk of Psychiatric Disorder - A Population-Based Longitudinal Study

Objectives

This study explored how adult social class and social mobility between parental and own adult social class is related to psychiatric disorder.

Material and Methods

In this prospective cohort study, over 1 million employed Swedes born in 1949-1959 were included. Information on parental class (1960) and own mid-life social class (1980 and 1990) was retrieved from the censuses and categorised as High Non-manual, Low Non-manual, High Manual, Low Manual and Self-employed. After identifying adult class, individuals were followed for psychiatric disorder by first admission of schizophrenia, alcoholism and drug dependency, affective psychosis and neurosis or personality disorder (N=24 659) from the Swedish Patient Register. We used Poisson regression analysis to estimate first admission rates of psychiatric disorder per 100 000 person-years and relative risks (RR) by adult social class (treated as a time-varying covariate). The RRs of psychiatric disorder among the Non-manual and Manual classes were also estimated by magnitude of social mobility.

Results

The rate of psychiatric disorder was significantly higher among individuals belonging to the Low manual class as compared with the High Non-manual class. Compared to High Non-manual class, the risk for psychiatric disorder ranged from 2.07 (Low Manual class) to 1.38 (Low Non-manual class). Parental class had a minor impact on these estimates. Among the Non-manual and Manual classes, downward mobility was associated with increased risk and upward mobility with decreased risk of psychiatric disorder. In addition, downward mobility was inversely associated with the magnitude of social mobility, independent of parental class.

Conclusions

Independently of parental social class, the risk of psychiatric disorder increases with increased downward social mobility and decreases with increased upward mobility.     

Genome-wide association study of multiple sclerosis confirms a novel locus at 5p13.1

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is the most common progressive and disabling neurological condition affecting young adults in the world today. From a genetic point of view, MS is a complex disorder resulting from the combination of genetic and non-genetic factors. We aimed to identify previously unidentified loci conducting a new GWAS of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in a sample of 296 MS cases and 801 controls from the Spanish population. Meta-analysis of our data in combination with previous GWAS was done. A total of 17 GWAS-significant SNPs, corresponding to three different loci were identified:HLA, IL2RA, and 5p13.1. All three have been previously reported as GWAS-significant. We confirmed our observation in 5p13.1 for rs9292777 using two additional independent Spanish samples to make a total of 4912 MS cases and 7498 controls (ORpooled = 0.84; 95%CI: 0.80-0.89; p = 1.36 × 10-9). This SNP differs from the one reported within this locus in a recent GWAS. Although it is unclear whether both signals are tapping the same genetic association, it seems clear that this locus plays an important role in the pathogenesis of MS.     

Septin 7 forms a complex with CD2AP and nephrin and regulates glucose transporter trafficking

Podocytes are insulin-sensitive and take up glucose in response to insulin. This requires nephrin, which interacts with vesicle-associated membrane protein 2 (VAMP2) on GLUT4 storage vesicles (GSVs) and facilitates their fusion with the plasma membrane. In this paper, we show that the filament-forming GTPase septin 7 is expressed in podocytes and associates with CD2-associated protein (CD2AP) and nephrin, both essential for glomerular ultrafiltration. In addition, septin 7 coimmunoprecipitates with VAMP2. Subcellular fractionation of cultured podocytes revealed that septin 7 is found in both cytoplasmic and membrane fractions, and immunofluorescence microscopy showed that septin 7 is expressed in a filamentous pattern and is also found on vesicles and the plasma membrane. The filamentous localization of septin 7 depends on CD2AP and intact actin organization. A 2-deoxy-d-glucose uptake assay indicates that depletion of septin 7 by small interfering RNA or alteration of septin assembly by forchlorfenuron facilitates glucose uptake into cells and further, knockdown of septin 7 increased the interaction of VAMP2 with nephrin and syntaxin 4. The data indicate that septin 7 hinders GSV trafficking and further, the interaction of septin 7 with nephrin in glomeruli suggests that septin 7 may participate in the regulation of glucose transport in podocytes.     

Asexual reproduction in a population of a leafy hepatic species Lophozia silvicola Buch in central Norway

The seasonal pattern and degree of asexual reproduction of a boreal hepatic species, Lophozia silvicola Buch, were studied in a lowland population of the species in central Norway. Asexual reproduction was quantified as numbers of 1–2 -celled gemmae produced per individual shoot, with average production ranging from 1000 to 7000 gemmae per shoot. Despite a slightly increasing trend in early spring, average numbers of gemmae present on shoots were fairly constant during the growing season. Germinability of gemmae was high in early spring, but declined rapidly towards the end of the season, suggesting an increasing proportion of gemmae in the dormant stage in the diaspore bank. Despite repeated sampling, average shoot density remained fairly constant in L. silvicola colonies during the growth season. Gemma production did not correlate with shoot density. Local colonization efficiency was estimated as frequency of occupied substrate patches and proportion of substrate area occupied by L. silvicola in a 10×20 m plot. Colonizable substrates included decaying wood, bare soil and rock surfaces. Colonies of L. silvicola were small, and differences in colony sizes between the substrate types were not significant. Colonies were found in 38% of the substrate patches, but total cover was low, less than 0.1% of all colonizable substrate.     

Transition metal complexes of terminally protected peptides containing histidyl residues

Histidine-containing peptide fragments of prion protein are efficient ligands to bind various transition metal ions and they have high selectivity in metal binding. The metal ion affinity follows the order: Pd(II)>Cu(II)>Ni(II)Zn(II)>Cd(II) approximately Co(II)>Mn(II). The high selectivity of metal binding is connected to the involvement of both imidazole and amide nitrogen atoms in metal binding for Pd(II), Cu(II) and Ni(II), while only the monodentate N(im)-coordination is possible with the other metal ions. The stoichiometry and binding mode of palladium(II) complexes show great variety depending on the metal ion to ligand ratio, pH and especially the presence of coordinating donor atoms in the side chains of peptide fragments. It is also clear from our data that the peptide fragments containing histidine outside the octarepeat (His96, His111 and His187) are more efficient ligands than the monomer peptide fragments of the octarepeat domain.     

Effects of essential oil formulations on Ceratitis capitata Wied. (Dipt., Tephritidae) adult flies

The effects on adult Ceratitis capitata of the ingestion of formulations containing different concentrations of some essential oils were examined. The bioassays were carried out using groups of C. capitata adults fed for 3 days with formulations containing a known concentration (0.25%, 0.5%, 1.0%) of essential oils. The oils, of different chemical composition, were obtained by steam distillation from aromatic plants collected during the balmy period. The essential oils of Rosmarinus officinalis and Salvia officinalis , which are rich in monoterpenic hydrocarbons and monoterpenic ketones, respectively, showed poor activity, whereas the oils of Cinnamomum zeylanicum and Thymus sp. showed a marked toxic effects (over 90% mortality after 72 h). This could be explained by the activity of cinnamic aldehyde (about 80% of the Cinnamomum oil) and carvacrol (68% of Th. capitatus oil and about 45% of Th. herba barona oil). The first consequence of ingesting even small quantities of essential oils was a depressive effect on the nervous system. Dissection of dead flies showed marked differences compared with the controls and microscopic examination revealed anomalies in the gut region.     

Synthesis of functionalized amino acid derivatives as new pharmacophores for designing anticancer agents

A new series of functionalized amino acid derivatives N-substituted 1-N-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)-2,2-dimethyl-4-phenyl-5-oxazolidine carboxamide (1-17) and 1-N-substituted-3-amino-2-hydroxy-3-phenylpropane-1-carboxamide (18-34) were synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro cytotoxicity against human cancer cell lines. Compound 6 has shown interesting cytotoxicity (IC(50) = 5.67 microm) in ovarian cancer, while compound 10 exhibited promising cytotoxicity in ovarian (IC(50) = 6.1 microm) and oral (IC(50) = 4.17 microm) cancers. These compounds could be of use in designing new anti-cancer agents.