Comparative study of the assay of Artemia salina L. and the estimate of the medium lethal dose (LD50 value) in mice, to determine oral acute toxicity of plant extracts

Artemia salina L. (Artemiidae), the brine shrimp larva, is an invertebrate used in the alternative test to determine toxicity of chemical and natural products. In this study the Medium Lethal Concentrations (LC50 value) of 20 plant extracts, Aloe vera (L.) Burm. F. (Aloeaceae), Artemisia absinthium L. (Asteraceae); Citrus aurantium L. (Rutaceae); Cymbopogon citratus (DC. Ex Nees) Stapf (Poaceae); Datura stramonium L. (Solanaceae); Justicia pectoralis Jacq. (Acanthaceae); Musa x paradisiaca L. (Musaceae); Ocimum basilicum L.; O. gratissimum L.; O. tenuiflorum L. (Lamiaceae); Pimenta dioica (L.) Merr. (Myrtaceae); Piper auritum Kunth (Piperaceae); Plantago major L. (Plantaginaceae); Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng. (Lamiaceae); Ruta graveolens L. (Rutaceae); Senna alata (L.) Roxb. (Fabaceae); Stachytarpheta jamaicensis (L.) Vahl (Verbenaceae); and Thuja occidentalis L. (Cupressaceae), were determined using Artemia salina L. (Artemiidae), with the objective of relating the results to the LD50 values reported in mice (tested at three concentrations: 10, 100, and 1000 microg/mL, for each extract). We found good correlation between the in vivo and the in vitro tests (r = 0.85 p < 0.05), and this method is a useful tool for predicting oral acute toxicity in plant extracts.     

Mechanical properties of mosquito nets in the context of hernia repair

The paper deals with issue of applying mosquito nets as implants in hernia repair, which have already been used in resource-poor developing countries. Uniaxial tensile tests have been conducted on polyester mosquito meshes in two orthogonal directions. Non-linear elastic constitutive laws parameters have been identified to be applied in dense net material models. Mechanical performance of tested mosquito nets has been compared with properties of commercial implants used in treatment of hernia and with properties of human tissue. This study contributes to mechanical knowledge of hernia repair issue by investigation of cheaper alternative to commercial implants.     

Involvement in DNA repair of the ruvA gene of Escherichia coli

Summary The ruv operon of Escherichia coli consists of two genes, orfl1 and ruv, which encode 22 and 37 kilodalton proteins, respectively, and are regulated by the SOS system. Although the distal gene, ruv, is known to be involved in DNA repair, the function of orf1 has not been studied. To examine whether orf1 is also involved in DNA repair, we constructed a strain with a deletion of the entire ruv operon. The strain was sensitive to UV even after introduction of low copy number plasmids carrying either orf1 or ruv, but UV resistance was restored by introduction of a plasmid carrying both orfl and ruv. These results suggest that orf1 as well as ruv is involved in DNA repair. Therefore, orf1 and ruv should be renamed ruvA and ruvB, respectively.     

Candidate tumour suppressor Fau regulates apoptosis in human cells: An essential role for Bcl-G

FAU, which encodes a ubiquitin-like protein (termed FUBI) with ribosomal protein S30 as a carboxy-terminal extension, has recently been identified as a pro-apoptotic regulatory gene. This activity may be mediated by Bcl-G (a pro-apoptotic member of the Bcl-2 family) which can be covalently modified by FUBI. FAU gene expression has been shown to be down-regulated in human breast, prostate and ovarian tumours, and this down-regulation is strongly associated with poor prognosis in breast cancer. We demonstrate here that ectopic FAU expression increases basal apoptosis in human T-cell lines and 293T/17 cells, whereas it has only a transient stimulatory effect on ultraviolet-C (UVC)-induced apoptosis. Conversely, siRNA-mediated silencing of FAU gene expression has no effect on basal apoptosis, but attenuates UV-induced apoptosis. Importantly, prior knockdown of Bcl-G expression ablates the stimulation of basal apoptosis by FAU, consistent with an essential downstream role for Bcl-G, itself a candidate tumour suppressor, in mediating the apoptosis regulatory role of FAU. In 293T/17 cells, Bcl-G knockdown also attenuates UV-induced apoptosis, so that Bcl-G may constitute a common factor in the pathways by which both FAU and UV-irradiation induce apoptosis. UV irradiation increases Bcl-G mRNA levels, providing an explanation for the transient nature of the effect of ectopic FAU expression on UV-induced apoptosis. Since failure of apoptosis is fundamental to the development of many cancers, the pro-apoptotic activity of the Fau/Bcl-G pathway offers an attractive explanation for the putative tumour suppressor role of FAU.     

Temporal response of stream benthic macroinvertebrate communities to the synergistic effects of anthropogenic acidification and natural drought events

1. We evaluated whether the surprisingly weak biological recovery associated with declines in acid deposition were related to drought‐induced re‐acidification of streams. We used test site analysis (TSA) to characterise temporal changes (1995–2003) in the degree and nature of impairments to stream benthic macroinvertebrate (BMI) communities influenced by acid deposition and drought. 2. The BMI communities in four historically impacted test streams were compared with communities in 30 minimally impacted reference streams. Six multivariate (e.g. ordination axes scores) and four traditional (e.g. % Diptera) summary metrics were used to describe BMI communities. Using all metrics simultaneously (i.e. Mahalanobis or generalised distance), the TSA provided a single probability that a test community was impaired. If a test community was significantly impaired, a further analysis was done to identify the metric(s) important in distinguishing the test community from reference condition. 3. Results of the TSAs indicated that the generalised distances between test communities and the reference condition were inversely related to stream water pH (n = 36). The TSAs also indicated ordination metrics based on BMI abundance were important in distinguishing significantly impaired communities from reference conditions. Temporal trends indicated that there has been short‐term recovery of these BMI communities, but that overall improvements have been hampered by acid or metal toxicity associated with drought‐induced re‐acidification of the streams. 4. Our use of a variety of summary metrics to obtain a single statistical test of significance within the context of the reference‐condition approach provided a simple and unambiguous framework for evaluating the biological condition of test sites.     

Generation and characterization of a lipopolysaccharide-specific murine monoclonal antibody to <Emphasis Type="Italic">Proteus vulgaris</Emphasis> OX19

The three strains of non-pathogenic Proteus species namely, Proteus vulgaris OX2, P. vulgaris OX19 and Proteus mirabilis OXK used in the Weil–Felix test are the group-specific cross-reactive antigens for Rickettsia and Orientia species. Earlier studies have revealed that the group specific and cross-reactive antigens responsible for the Weil–Felix test lie mostly in the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) moiety of the bacterial cell wall [Amano et al. (1993a) Infect Immun 61:4350–4355, (1993b) Microbiol Immunol 37:927–933, (1998) Infect Immun 66:923–926]. The three Proteus strains (OX2, OX19 and OXK) were used to raise murine monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) by hybridoma technology. Several MAb-producing hybridomas could be stabilized following limiting dilution. Affinity and specificity of these MAbs were checked by indirect ELISA using a battery of homologous and heterologous antigens including LPS. Amongst these, one MAb was found to be specific for P. vulgaris OX19 LPS. Since the Weil–Felix reaction is based on the cross-reactivity between the LPS based epitopes, this MAb could be of potential use in mapping of epitopes on the cross-reactive LPS and may also be useful as a potential diagnostic reagent.     

豆大蓟马对寄主植物及挥发性化合物的趋性

为明确不同寄主和不同信息化合物对豆大蓟马的行为影响,本文应用"Y"型嗅觉仪测定了豆大蓟马雌成虫对两种寄主植物花和不同浓度(v/v)下11种化合物的趋向性反应,结果表明:豆大蓟马对豇豆花、10-4烟酸乙酯、10-6烟酸乙酯、10-2橙花醇、10-2芳樟醇、10-6邻茴香醛和10-23-苯丙醛、10-43-苯丙醛具有极显著的趋向反应;对四季豆花和10-4橙花醇具有显著的趋向反应;10-4β-香茅醇、10-6β-香茅醇和10-6苯甲醛对豆大蓟马具有显著的驱避反应。不同浓度同一化合物对豆大蓟马的吸引作用也存在显著差异。实验结果可为进一步开发利用信息化合物田间防治豆大蓟马提供参考。     

Effects of liming on the occurrence and abundance of fish populations in acidified Swedish lakes

Test fishing with multimesh gillnets was performed in 103 acidified Swedish lakes before and 2–4 years after liming. In a subset of 39 lakes additional test fishing was carried out 5–9 years after liming. Taking into account the sampling biases due to differences between water temperature and number of nets used on different sampling occasions, an increase of the total CPUE, the number of species caught and recruitment of dominating species was evident after liming. Decreased recruitment was found for perch (Perca fluviatilis) at a pH below 5.2 and for roach (Rutilus rutilus) at a pH below 6.1. During the acidification phase and 2–4 years after liming acid-tolerant perch dominated the lakes, but when a longer time had elapsed after liming species dominance shifted and acid-sensitive planktivorous species increased in CPUE while perch decreased.     

Red white and blue – bright light effects in a diurnal rodent model for seasonal affective disorder

Despite the common use of bright light exposure for treatment of seasonal affective disorder (SAD), the underlying biology of the therapeutic effect is not clear. Moreover, there is a debate regarding the most efficacious wavelength of light for treatment. Whereas according to the traditional approach full-spectrum light is used, recent studies suggest that the critical wavelengths are within the range of blue light (460 and 484 nm). Our previous work shows that when diurnal rodents are maintained under short photoperiod they develop depression- and anxiety-like behavioral phenotype that is ameliorated by treatment with wide-spectrum bright light exposure (2500 lux at the cage, 5000 K). Our current study compares the effect of bright wide-spectrum (3,000 lux, wavelength 420- 780 nm, 5487 K), blue (1,300 lux, wavelength 420-530 nm) and red light (1,300 lux, wavelength range 600-780 nm) exposure in the fat sand rat (Psammomys Obesus) model of SAD. We report results of experiments with six groups of sand rats that were kept under various photoperiods and light treatments, and subjected to behavioral tests related to emotions: forced swim test, elevated plus maze and social interactions. Exposure to either intense wide-spectrum white light or to blue light equally ameliorated depression-like behavior whereas red light had no effect. Bright wide-spectrum white light treatment had no effect on animals maintained under neutral photoperiod, meaning that light exposure was only effective in the pathological-like state. The resemblance between the effects of bright white light and blue light suggests that intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) are involved in the underlying biology of SAD and light therapy.     

多变点模型的检验和估计及其性质

对于可能含有多个变点的模型,本文讨论了关于变点的检验和估计问题,并给出了具体的检验和估计方法．我们还推导了估计的相合性．文中指出即使在总体分布未知的情况下,本文所给的检验和估计仍显示出较好的性质．