Secondary carcinogenesis in patients treated with radiation: a review of data on radiation-induced cancers in human, non-human primate, canine and rodent subjects

Concern for risk of radiation-induced cancer is growing with the increasing number of cancer patients surviving long term. This study examined data on radiation transformation of mammalian cells in vitro and on the risk of an increased cancer incidence after irradiation of mice, dogs, monkeys, atomic bomb survivors, occupationally exposed persons, and patients treated with radiation. Transformation of cells lines in vitro increased linearly with dose from approximately 1 to approximately 4-5 Gy. At <0.1 Gy, transformation was not increased in all studies. Dose-response relationships for cancer incidence varied with mouse strain, gender and tissue/organ. Risk of cancer in Macaca mulatta was not raised at 0.25-2.8 Gy. From the atomic bomb survivor study, risk is accepted as increasing linearly to 2 Sv for establishing exposure standards. In irradiated patients, risk of cancer increased significantly from 1 to 45 Gy (a low to a high dose level) for stomach and pancreas, but not for bladder and rectum (1-60 Gy) or kidney (1-15 Gy). Risk for several organs/tissues increased substantially at doses far above 2 Gy. There is great heterogeneity in risk of radiation-associated cancer between species, strains of a species, and organs within a species. At present, the heterogeneity between and within patient populations of virtually every parameter considered in risk estimation results in substantial uncertainty in quantification of a general risk factor. An implication of this review is that reduced risks of secondary cancer should be achieved by any technique that achieved a dose reduction down to approximately [corrected] 0.1 Gy, i.e. dose to tissues distant from the target. The proportionate gain should be greatest for dose decrement to less than 2 Gy.     

Toward reconstructing the evolution of advanced moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera: Ditrysia): an initial molecular study

Background

In the mega-diverse insect order Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths; 165,000 described species), deeper relationships are little understood within the clade Ditrysia, to which 98% of the species belong. To begin addressing this problem, we tested the ability of five protein-coding nuclear genes (6.7 kb total), and character subsets therein, to resolve relationships among 123 species representing 27 (of 33) superfamilies and 55 (of 100) families of Ditrysia under maximum likelihood analysis.

Results

Our trees show broad concordance with previous morphological hypotheses of ditrysian phylogeny, although most relationships among superfamilies are weakly supported. There are also notable surprises, such as a consistently closer relationship of Pyraloidea than of butterflies to most Macrolepidoptera. Monophyly is significantly rejected by one or more character sets for the putative clades Macrolepidoptera as currently defined (P < 0.05) and Macrolepidoptera excluding Noctuoidea and Bombycoidea sensu lato (P ≤ 0.005), and nearly so for the superfamily Drepanoidea as currently defined (P < 0.08). Superfamilies are typically recovered or nearly so, but usually without strong support. Relationships within superfamilies and families, however, are often robustly resolved. We provide some of the first strong molecular evidence on deeper splits within Pyraloidea, Tortricoidea, Geometroidea, Noctuoidea and others. Separate analyses of mostly synonymous versus non-synonymous character sets revealed notable differences (though not strong conflict), including a marked influence of compositional heterogeneity on apparent signal in the third codon position (nt3). As available model partitioning methods cannot correct for this variation, we assessed overall phylogeny resolution through separate examination of trees from each character set. Exploration of "tree space" with GARLI, using grid computing, showed that hundreds of searches are typically needed to find the best-feasible phylogeny estimate for these data.

Conclusion

Our results (a) corroborate the broad outlines of the current working phylogenetic hypothesis for Ditrysia, (b) demonstrate that some prominent features of that hypothesis, including the position of the butterflies, need revision, and (c) resolve the majority of family and subfamily relationships within superfamilies as thus far sampled. Much further gene and taxon sampling will be needed, however, to strongly resolve individual deeper nodes.     

土荆芥的石油醚提取物及精油对冈比亚按蚊的杀虫活性

在室内条件下测试了土荆芥Chenopodium ambrosioides 叶片的石油醚提取物及精油对冈比亚按蚊Anopheles gambiae 0～2 d龄成虫和1～4龄幼虫的毒性。每一龄期各取30头幼虫分别接触50,100,250,500,750和1 000 mg/L提取物和精油,于24 h和48 h后记录死亡幼虫的数目。30头成虫在密封的长方形玻璃笼子中分别接触0.8,1.6,2.4 μL/L土荆芥精油蒸气, 24 h后记录死亡率。结果表明,测试的提取物和精油对冈比亚按蚊的各龄幼虫和成虫均具有毒性。48 h致死中浓度（LC50）的测试结果表明,石油醚提取物对1龄幼虫的毒性最强（14.89 mg/L）,其次是对4龄幼虫（18.90 mg/L）,对3龄幼虫的毒性最低（183.77 mg/L）; 精油对4龄幼虫毒性最强（36.62 mg/L）,其次是对1龄幼虫（90.75 mg/L）。推算的土荆芥精油对冈比亚按蚊的LC50为1.01 μL/L。本研究揭示了土荆芥对冈比亚按蚊的防治潜力。     

Patterns of island occupancy in bats: influences of area and isolation on insular incidence of volant mammals

Aim  The influence of landscape structure on the distribution patterns of bats remains poorly understood for many species. This study investigates the relationship between area and isolation of islands and the probability of occurrence of six bat species to determine whether persistence and immigration abilities vary among bat species and foraging guilds.
Location  Thirty-two islands in the Gulf of California near the Baja California peninsula in north-west Mexico.
Methods  Using logistic regression and Akaike information criterion (AIC) model selection, we compared five a priori models for each of six bat species to explain patterns of island occupancy, including random patterns, minimum area effects, maximum isolation effects, additive area and isolation effects and compensatory area and isolation effects.
Results  Five species of insectivorous bats ( Pipistrellus hesperus , Myotis californicus , Macrotus californicus , Antrozous pallidus and Mormoops megalophylla ) displayed minimum area thresholds on incidence. The probability of occurrence tended to decrease at moderate distances of isolation ( c . 10–15 km) for these species (excepting A. pallidus ). The distributions of two non-insectivorous species ( Leptonycteris curasoae and Myotis vivesi ) were not influenced by island size and isolation.
Main conclusions  Minimum area thresholds on incidence suggest that island occupancy by insectivorous bats may be limited by resource requirements. Islands smaller than 100 ha typically did not support occupancy or use by insectivorous bats, except at minimal isolation distances. Insectivorous bat species may also be more sensitive to moderate levels of habitat isolation in some landscape contexts than previously expected. Our results suggest that differences in foraging habits may have important implications for understanding the distribution patterns of bats.     

Purification, properties and possible gene assignment of an α1,3-fucosyltransferase expressed in human liver

1,3-Fucosyltransferase solubilized from human liver has been purified 40 000-fold to apparent homogeneity by a multistage process involving cation exchange chromatography on CM-Sephadex, hydrophobic interaction chromatography on Phenyl Sepharose, affinity chromatography on GDP-hexanolamine Sepharose and HPLC gel exclusion chromatography. The final step gave a major protein peak that co-chromatographed with 1,3-fucosyltransferase activity and had a specific activity of 5–6 µmol min^–1 mg^–1 and anM _r 44 000 deduced from SDS-PAGE and HPLC analysis. The purified enzyme readily utilized Gal1-4GlcNAc, NeuAc2-3Gal1-4GlcNAc and Fuc1-2Gal1-4GlcNAc, with a preference for sialylated and fucosylated Type 2 acceptors. Fuc1-2Gal1-4Glc and the Type 1 compound Gal1-3GlcNAc were very poor acceptors and no incorporation was observed with NeuAc2-6Gal1-4GlcNAc. A polyclonal antibody raised against the liver preparation reacted with the homologous enzyme and also with the blood group Lewis gene-associated 1,3/1,4-fucosyltransferase purified from the human A431 epidermoid carcinoma cell line. No cross reactivity was found with 1,3-fucosyltransferase(s) isolated from myeloid cells. Examination by Northern blot analysis of mRNA from normal liver and from the HepG2 cell line, together with a comparison of the specificity pattern of the purified enzyme with that reported for the enzyme expressed in mammalian cells transfected with theFuc-TVI cDNA, suggests a provisional identification ofFuc-TVI as the major 1,3-fucosyltransferase gene expressed in human liver.Died June, 1991     

Molecular cloning of alpha-amylase genes fromDrosophila melanogaster. III. An inversion at theAmy locus in an amylase-null strain

Overlapping clones of the structural gene region for alpha-amylase,Amy, were isolated from a lambda EMBL4 library containing genomic DNA fragments from an amylase-null strain ofDrosophila melanogaster. Southern blot analysis and restriction endonuclease mapping of the cloned region indicate that it contains anAmy gene duplication within an inverted repeat sequence as is characteristic of the genomic arrangement for this species. Spacing between the cloned gene copies is similar to that commonly found in other strains. Evidence is presented for the presence of an inversion 4 to 9 kb in length within the clonedAmy region of the null strain. We postulate a causal relationship between the presence of the inversion and the failure of individuals from the null strain to express amylase. A model is proposed that suggests the inversion may have arisen through intramolecular (or sister-strand) recombination mediated by homologous pairing of the inverted repeat sequences at theAmy locus.This research was supported by NIH Grant GM25255.     

The indole alkaloid,hypaphorine and Pterocarpus seed protection

L-Hypaphorine has been isolated as a major constituent of the seeds of Pterocarpus officinalis, seeds which are rejected as a food source by a wide variety of seed-eating rodents dwelling in the same habitat. Incorporation of the isolated hypaphorine into artificial diets of a small seed predator, Liomys salvini (a rodent) supports its role as a feeding deterrent.     

Records of a lake's life in time: the sediments

The evidence from analysis of cores from lake sediments is used to identify the influences which, acting through time, have brought about changes in the lakes of the English Lake District. These are: i. climatic changes, recorded mainly in microfossil assemblages ii. soil dynamics on catchments — the natural soil development of an interglacial cycle and its effect on water composition, and iii. perturbations of input resulting from activities of man.The present position of each of 14 lakes in a series of increasing eutrophication is shown to be the result of two processes of modification by man. The first was a significant reduction in volume of the hypolimnion of the shallow lakes, consequent on the accelerated rate of sediment accumulation which followed deforestation and cultivation of catchments in all the lakes — this did not affect the biology of the deep lakes. The second has been the introduction of human and animal wastes into some of the lakes during the last 120 years, which imposed on affected lakes a process of more rapid change which was more intense in the shallow lakes.     

Sexual agglutination factor from Chlamydomonas eugametos

Chlamydomonas eugametos gametes can sexually agglutinate via their flagellar surfaces whereas vegetative cells cannot. Therefore, flagellar glycoproteins, present in gamete cells but absent from vegetative cells, were investigated as prospective mt ^-agglutination factors. They were identified as periodic acid Schiff (PAS) stained bands separated in sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide electrophoresis gels. Gamete-specific bands were determined by comparison with equivalent gels of vegetative flagella and by immunological techniques using antisera raised against isolated mt ^- gamete flagella. Four high molecular weight flagellar glycoproteins proved to be gamete specific (PAS-1.2, PAS-1.3, PAS-3 and PAS-4). They were extracted from flagella by 3 M guanidine thiocyanate, separated in a column of Sepharose 2B, and tested for in vitro agglutination activity on mt ⁺ gametes. A single peak of activity was found to be correlated with the presence of the PAS-1.2 band. It is shown that mt ^- agglutination activity is related to the concentration of this glycoprotein in flagellar membranes.Abbreviations SDS sodium dodecyl sulphate - PAS periodic acid Schiff - GTC guanidine thiocyanate - mt ^-/+ mating type plus or minus     

Dosage compensation and dietary glucose repression of larval amylase activity inDrosophila miranda

The functional locus for alpha-amylase (Amy) in Drosophila miranda is in the evolutionarily new X2 chromosome. X2 evolved from an autosome in response to an ancestral autosome-Y translocation that gave rise to the "neo-Y" chromosome of this species. Y-linked Amy, if still present in the ancestrally translocated element, is unexpressed. Dosage compensation for amylase activity was examined in larvae of the S 204 strain. Since dietary glucose is known to repress Amy expression in Drosophila melanogaster, dosage compensation of amylase activity in male larvae of D. miranda was tested by rearing larvae of both sexes on yeast diets with or without a glucose supplement. The WT 10 strain of Drosophila persimilis, a sibling species in which Amy is autosomally linked, was used as a reference for tests of amylase activity differences between the sexes. On the diet with glucose, Amy expression was repressed in both WT 10 and S 204 larvae and male larvae of S 204 displayed dosage compensation for amylase activity. On the nonrepressing diet consisting of yeast alone, S 204 continued to display dosage compensation.