bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cystinuria and its treatment: 25 years experience at St. Bartholomew's hospital
Authors: Stephens A. D.
Published: June 2005

Cystinuria is an inherited condition affecting the active transport of the diamino acids cystine, ornithine, lysine and arginine across the renal tubule and the small intestine. The only clinical effect is the production of urinary tract stones and if these can be prevented the affected individuals can lead a normal life. In many people cystine stones can be dissolved and new stone formation prevented by a high fluid intake, but if this does not succeed regular treatment with penicillamine will do so. Although many side‐effects have been described with penicillamine treatment it is rare for them to be severe enough to prevent its use in patients with cystinuria. Since the clinical effects of cystinuria can be prevented by either a high fluid intake or by penicillamine it is important to make the diagnosis in affected individuals as soon as possible and cystinuria should therefore be considered in all people (regardless of age) who form urinary stones.
Neonatal pyruvate carboxylase deficiency with renal tubular acidosis and cystinuria
Authors: Oizumi J. , Shaw K. N. F. , Giudici T. A. , Carter M. , Donnell G. N. , Ng W. G.
Published: June 2005

This report concerns a patient with severe congenital lacticacidosis associated with proximal renal tubular acidosis and cystinuria. Enzyme studies with cultured skin fibroblasts obtained from the patient revealed zero pyruvate carboxylase activity, but propionyl‐CoA carboxylase activity was normal. Administration of various vitamins in large amounts did not improve the clinical condition. In contrast, the patient began to thrive when her diet was supplemented with aspartic acid, asparagine, glutamic acid, and glutamine. The particular dietary treatment used and the biochemical findings merit consideration for management of future cases.
Thermal activation of hexosaminidase A in a genetic compound with Tay‐Sachs disease
Authors: Ben‐Yoseph Y. , Baylerian M. S. , Momoi T. , Nadler H. L.
Published: June 2005

Increase in total hexosaminidase activity has been observed during heat treatment of serum and leukocyte specimens from a 1‐year‐old boy with cherry‐red spot and severe and progressive mental and motor deterioration. The activity increased 40% in the first 40–70 min of incubation at 50°C and pH 4.3, but declined thereafter and was only slightly above the initial activity in the final 2–3 h of incubation. Heat treatment of specimens from family members revealed very reduced rates of inactivation of hexosaminidase in the proband's father and some paternal relatives, whereas those of the mother and some maternal relatives were indistinguishable from those of Tay‐Sachs carriers. Mixing experiments with enzyme preparations from the proband, normal controls and patients with Tay‐Sachs disease resulted in additive values and did not support the possibility of inhibitor‐ or activator‐related defect. Fractionation of heat‐treated samples by ion exchange chromatography and electrophoresis, as well as examination of the separated fractions for their thermostability, have shown that hexosaminidase A is the activated component and hexosaminidases B, I1 and I2 are not affected. These findings suggest that the patient is a genetic compound and the apparent thermal activation is probably due to formation of hexosaminidase A from altered α‐subunits produced by the paternal mutant α‐allele and β‐subunits produced by the normal β‐alleles.
Physical and kinetic properties of β‐glucosidase in Gaucher disease
Authors: Karazeh A. , Carroll M.
Published: June 2005

Membrane‐bound ‘acid’ β‐glucosidase of human spleen was solubilized with either sodium cholate or ‘Cutscum’. The solubilized enzyme in type 1 (adult) Gaucher disease was less heat‐stable than the normal enzyme, and when precipitated by ammonium sulphate it had a higher apparent molecular weight than the corresponding normal enzyme. The normal β‐glucosidase was activated by taurocholate, whereas the Gaucher enzyme was inhibited. The decrease in ‘acid’ β‐glucosidase activity in Gaucher disease was associated with a profound deficiency of that form of the enzyme which bound to Concanavalin A. The results are consistent with faulty processing of newly synthesized ‘acid’ β‐glucosidase in type 1 Gaucher disease.
Problems of prenatal diagnosis of non‐ketotic hyperglycinaemia
Authors: Wendt L. V. , Similä S. , Ruokonen A. , Hartikainen‐Sorri A. ‐L.
Published: June 2005

Non‐ketotic hyperglycinaemia (NKH) is a rare disorder of amino acid metabolism, causing severe, frequently lethal neurological symptoms in the neonatal period. There is no curative therapy, and attempts at prenatal diagnosis have been unsuccessful.

In the present study the usefulness of the determination of the glycine/serine ratio in the prenatal diagnosis of NKH was studied. The glycine/serine ratio of the amniotic fluid of the last trimester of pregnancies with a fetus affected with NKH was higher (8.5 ± 3.3; mean ± SD) than in pregnancies of NKH‐heterozygote mothers with a healthy fetus (4.1 ± 1.7) or than in pregnancies of healthy mothers (4.3 ± 1.5). There is, however, overlapping of individual values, which limits the usefulness of this test for prenatal diagnosis of NKH.
Xanthine oxidase deficiency and ‘Dalmatian’ hypouricaemia: Incidence and effect of exercise
Authors: Harkness R. A. , Coade S. B. , Walton K. R. , Wright D.
Published: June 2005

In order to study the effects of raising the hypoxanthine concentration in plasma on its metabolism and renal handling, the effects of intense exercise have been investigated in a patient with xanthine oxidase deficiency. Despite the 90‐fold increased concentration of hypoxanthine in plasma above resting levels in normal individuals, the intracellular concentration of the initial product of hypoxanthine in cells, IMP, was unaffected. Evolution may have stabilized intracellular nucleotide concentrations against the large fluctuations in plasma hypoxanthine which occur during exercise. The renal handling of hypoxanthine is consistent with ‘filtration’. In contrast, xanthine clearances may exceed those for creatinine and urinary concentrations do not correlate with those for creatinine; ‘secretion’ may be involved. Xanthine excretion may reflect guanine breakdown. A retrospective survey of urate concentrations in blood from 47 420 patients followed by further selected investigations detected 2 women with persistent marked hypouricaemia and high urinary urate clearances, ‘Dalmatian’ hypouricaemia. High pressure liquid chromatographic analysis of plasma extracts can distinguish xanthine oxidase deficiency from other causes of hypouricaemia.
Molecular genetics of PKU
Authors: Güttler F. , Woo S. L. C.
Published: June 2005

This review summarizes the isolation of rat phenylalanine hydroxylase mRNA and its use in the synthesis of its cDNA. As rat cDNA cross‐hybridized with human phenylalanine hydroxylase mRNA, the rat cDNA probe was used to screen a human liver cDNA library. A partial length cDNA human phenylalanine hydroxylase probe was obtained which showed restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) with 3 restriction enzymes and was successfully used to trace the transmission of the mutant gene in PKU families with one or more affected children. Recently the partial‐length cDNA probe has been used to isolate a full‐length cDNA probe for human phenylalanine hydroxylase. Gene transfer experiments with the full‐length cDNA have led to expression of human phenylalanine hydroxylase in eukaryotic cultured cells and in recombinant bacteria which normally do not express phenylalanine hydroxylase activity. The full‐length cDNA of human phenylalanine hydroxylase has been sequenced, uncovering the nucleic acid sequence of the exons of the human phenylalanine hydroxylase gene, as well as the most likely amino acid structure of the human phenylalanine hydroxylase enzyme. The full‐length cDNA probe has 10 identifiable binding sites for restriction enzymes that show RFLP. These additional RFLPs have enabled haplotype analyses of the normal and mutant phenylalanine hydroxylase genes in PKU families. Haplotype analyses in Danish PKU families revealed 12 different haplotypes. However, of 132 chromosomes analysed from 66 obligate heterozygotes, 59 out of 66 PKU genes were associated with only 4 haplotypes. Cosmid cloning and preliminary characterization of the human phenylalanine hydroxylase gene have identified 13 exons distributed across a gene that is more than 190 kb in length. In β‐thalassaemia, distinct mutations in the β‐globin locus are associated with specific RFLP haplotypes within a given population. As in thalassaemia such an association forms a strategy for cloning and sequence characterization of mutant phenylalanine hydroxylase genes derived from each haplotype. If the PKU genes in the Danish population are the result of mutiple mutations which occurred on chromosomes of the most common haplotypes, the same strategy is potentially applicable for the molecular characterization of the various types of phenylalanine hydroxylase deficiency.
Measuring quality of life in first-episode psychosis
Authors: Melle I. , Friis S. , Haahr U. , Johannesen J.O. , Larsen T.K. , Opjordsmoen S. , Roessberg J.I. , Rund B.R. , Simonsen E. , Vaglum P. , McGlashan T.
Published: June 2005

Quality of life (QoL) measures are increasingly recognized as necessary parts of outcome assessments in psychosis. The present paper is a comprehensive study of patients with first-episode psychosis where QoL is measured by the commonly used Lehman Quality of Life Interview (L-QoLI). The aim is to examine if the L-QoLI maintain its original structure when used in a group of patients with first-episode psychosis, and to investigate what determines global subjective QoL with a specific emphasis on premorbid adjustment, duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) and clinical symptoms. The study indicates that the psychometric properties of the L-QoLI do not change significantly when used in first-episode samples. The patients report subjective and objective QoL in the fair to good range, with only a moderate association between the objective and subjective measures. Poor global satisfaction is predicted by being single, abusing drugs, being depressed, having a diagnosis of psychotic affective disorder, having poor premorbid social adjustment and DUP over 10 weeks. The study supports the notion that patients with first-episode psychosis construct QoL in the same way as other groups, and that longer durations of compromised function at this stage produces poor satisfaction with life rather than a downward readjustment of expectations.
Do personality disorders predict negative treatment outcome in obsessive–compulsive disorders? A prospective 6-month follow-up study
Authors: Fricke Susanne , Moritz Steffen , Andresen Burghard , Jacobsen Dirk , Kloss Martin , Rufer Michael , Hand Iver
Published: June 2005

Background.

Comorbid personality disorders (PDs) are discussed as risk factors for a negative treatment outcome in obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). However, studies published so far have produced conflicting results. The present study examined whether PDs affect treatment outcome in patients with OCD.

Methods.

The treatment sample consisted of 55 patients with OCD who were consecutively referred to a Behaviour Therapy Unit for an in-patient or day-clinic treatment. Treatment consisted of an individualised and multimodal cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT, with or without antidepressive medication). Measurements were taken prior and after treatment and 6-month after admission.

Results.

A large percentage of patients benefited from treatment irrespective of the presence of a PD and were able to maintain their improvement at follow-up. Duration of treatment was not prolonged in OCD patients with concomitant Axis II disorders. However, some specific personality traits (schizotypal, passive–aggressive) were baseline determinants for later treatment failure at trend level.

Conclusions.

Results are encouraging for therapists working with patients co-diagnosed with Axis II disorders since these patients are not necessarily non-responders. The results stress the importance of a specifically tailored treatment approach based on an individual case formulation in OCD patients with complex symptomatology and comorbid Axis II disorders.
Basal ganglia calcification and psychosis in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome
Authors: Sieberer M. , Haltenhof H. , Haubitz B. , Pabst B. , Miller K. , Garlipp P.
Published: June 2005

Intracerebral calcifications are a facultative symptom of hypoparathyreoidism in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22qDS). We describe a patient with 22qDS, basal ganglia calcification (BGC) and psychotic symptoms and discuss the etiological connection of BGC with psychiatric symptoms. Future work needs to determine the prevalence of BGC in 22qDS and psychiatric disorders.
Downregulation of Ski and SnoN co‐repressors by anisomycin
Authors: Vázquez-Macías Aleida , Ruíz-Mendoza Ana B. , Fonseca-Sánchez Miguel A. , Briones-Orta Marco A. , Macías-Silva Marina
Published: June 2005

Proteasome pathway regulates TGF‐β signaling; degradation of activated Smad2/3 and receptors turns TGF‐β signal off, while degradation of negative modulators such as Ski and SnoN maintains the signal. We have found that anisomycin is able to downregulate Ski and SnoN via proteasome as TGF‐β does, but through a mechanism independent of Smad activation. The mechanism used by anisomycin to downregulate Ski and SnoN is also independent of MAPK activation and protein synthesis inhibition. TGF‐β signal was the only pathway described causing Ski and SnoN degradation, thus this new effect of anisomycin on endogenous Ski and SnoN proteins suggests alternative processes to downregulate these negative modulators of TGF‐β signaling.
DNA‐binding proteins of the Whirly family in Arabidopsis thaliana are targeted to the organelles
Authors: Krause Kirsten , Kilbienski Isabell , Mulisch Maria , Rödiger Anja , Schäfer Anke , Krupinska Karin
Published: June 2005

Arabidopsis
thaliana contains three genes with high homology to potato p24 which was described as a member of the Whirly family of nuclear transcriptional activators. Computer‐based analysis revealed that all Arabidopsis Whirly (Why) proteins contain targeting sequences for either plastids or mitochondria. The functionality of these sequences was demonstrated by in vitro import assays into isolated organelles. Transient expression of GFP fusion proteins in protoplasts and onion epidermal cells confirmed the localisation of these proteins in plastids or mitochondria, respectively. The possession of organellar targeting sequences seems to be conserved among Why proteins of higher plant species, including potato p24.
Facilitated release of substrate protein from prefoldin by chaperonin
Authors: Zako Tamotsu , Iizuka Ryo , Okochi Mina , Nomura Tomoko , Ueno Taro , Tadakuma Hisashi , Yohda Masafumi , Funatsu Takashi
Published: June 2005

Prefoldin is a chaperone that captures a protein‐folding intermediate and transfers it to the group II chaperonin for correct folding. However, kinetics of interactions between prefoldin and substrate proteins have not been investigated. In this study, dissociation constants and dissociation rate constants of unfolded proteins with prefoldin were firstly measured using fluorescence microscopy. Our results suggest that binding and release of prefoldin from hyperthermophilic archaea with substrate proteins were in a dynamic equilibrium. Interestingly, the release of substrate proteins from prefoldin was facilitated when chaperonin was present, supporting a handoff mechanism of substrate proteins from prefoldin to the chaperonin.
Testing polyols’ compatibility with Gibbs energy of stabilization of proteins under conditions in which they behave as compatible osmolytes
Authors: Haque Inamul , Singh Rajendrakumar , Ahmad Faizan , Moosavi-Movahedi Ali Akbar
Published: June 2005

It is generally believed that compatible osmolytes stabilize proteins by shifting the denaturation equilibrium, native state ↔ denatured state toward the left. We show here that if osmolytes are compatible with the functional activity of the protein at a given pH and temperature, they should not significantly perturb this denaturation equilibrium under the same experimental conditions. This conclusion was reached from the measurements of the activity parameters (K
m and k
cat) and guanidinium chloride‐induced denaturations of lysozyme and ribonuclease‐A in the presence of five polyols (sorbitol, glycerol, mannitol, xylitol and adonitol) at pH 7.0 and 25 °C.
Sphingosine‐1‐phosphate induces a PDGFR‐dependent cell detachment via inhibiting β1 integrin in HEK293 cells
Authors: Zaslavsky Alexander , Li Song , Xu Yan
Published: June 2005

Several different types of interactions between sphingosine‐1‐phosphate (S1P) receptors and platelet‐derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR) have been revealed recently. In this work, we used HEK293 cells to further investigate the potential crosstalk. Interestingly, we observed that S1P specifically induced a PDGFR‐dependent cell detachment in HEK293 cells, which could be inhibited by AG1296, a specific inhibitor for PDGFR. EGFR on the other hand, did not have any effect on cell detachment. The detachment was extracellular matrix (ECM) protein specific, suggesting the involvement of specific integrin molecules. When β1 integrin was engaged into an active state, S1P‐induced cell detachment was blocked, suggesting that S1P induced an inside‐out inhibitory effect on β1 integrin. Gi protein and ERK activation were required for the cell detachment induced by S1P, suggesting an endogenous receptor for S1P is likely to be involved.
Metamorphic evolution and zircon geochronology of early Proterozoic granulites in the Aravalli Mountains of northwestern India
Authors: ROY A. B. , KRÖNER ALFRED , BHATTACHAYA P. K. , RATHORE SANJEEV
Published: June 2005

Granulites including a charnockite suite, mafic granulites, pelitic granulites, metanorite dykes and their retrograde varieties occur as discontinuous shear zone-bounded bodies within the Archaean basement comprising a granite gneiss–amphibolite–metasedimentary rock association in the central part of the Aravalli Mountains, northwest India. The entire suite, named the Sandmata Complex, preserves a complex history of tectonothermal evolution. Except for their strongly foliated margins, the granulite bodies are largely massive. Partial melting in the ‘country rocks’ led to the development of migmatite gneisses close to the contact of the granulite, a feature not as common in the rocks further away from the granulite contact. Geothermobarometry of massive granulites indicates Tmax>900°C and Pmax∼7.5 kbar. The retrograde granulites, which formed at lower amphibolite/upper greenschist-facies conditions, experienced channelized hydration reactions concomitant with shearing. These rocks locally appear as hornblende–biotite-bearing foliated granulite with or without Cpx or Opx. The rocks seem to have followed an inverse PTt path and have undergone an earlier phase of near-isobaric cooling. Our single zircon Pb–Pb ages indicate that the exhumation of granulites to the shallower amphibolite-facies levels with concomitant melting in the country rocks took place between 1690 Ma and 1621 Ma. Assuming that the granulite-facies metamorphism took place at around 1725 Ma, we relate the entire process of granulite metamorphism and exhumation covering an age range between 1725 and 1621 Ma to the rift basin opening stages of the Delhi Orogenic cycle that culminated at c. 1450 Ma.
Jellyfish abundance and climatic variation: contrasting responses in oceanographically distinct regions of the North Sea, and possible implications for fisheries
Authors: Lynam Christopher P. , Hay Stephen J. , Brierley Andrew S.
Published: June 2005

Jellyfish medusae prey on zooplankton and may impact fish recruitment both directly (top-down control) and indirectly (through competition). Abundances of Aurelia aurita, Cyanea lamarckii and Cyanea capillata medusae (Scyphozoa) in the North Sea appear to be linked to large-scale inter-annual climatic change, as quantified by the North Atlantic Oscillation Index (NAOI), the Barents Sea-Ice Index (BSII) and changes in the latitude of the Gulf Stream North Wall (GSNW). Hydroclimatic forcing may thus be an important factor influencing the abundance of gelatinous zooplankton and may modulate the scale of any ecosystem impact of jellyfish. The population responses are probably also affected by local variability in the environment manifested in intra-annual changes in temperature, salinity, current strength/direction and prey abundance. Aurelia aurita and C. lamarckii in the north-west and south-east North Sea exhibited contrasting relationships to change in the NAOI and BSII: north of Scotland, where the
North Sea borders the Atlantic, positive relationships were evident between the abundance of scyphomedusae (data from 1974 to 1986, except 1975) and the indices; whereas west of northern Denmark, a region much less affected by Atlantic inflow, negative relationships were found (data from 1973 to 1983, except 1974). Weaker negative relationships with the NAOI were also found in an intermediate region, east of Scotland, for the abundance of A. aurita and C. capillata medusae (1971 to 1982). East of Shetland, the abundance of jellyfish was not correlated directly with the NAOI but, in contrast to all other regions, the abundances of A. aurita and C. lamarckii (1971 to 1986, not 1984) were found to correlate negatively with changes in the GSNW, which itself was significantly positively correlated to the NAOI with a two year lag. On this evidence, we suggest that, for jellyfish, there exist three regions of the North Sea with distinct environmental processes governing species abundance: one north of Scotland,
another east of Shetland, and a more southerly group (i.e. east of Scotland and west of northern Denmark). Impacts by jellyfish are likely to vary regionally, and ecosystem management may benefit from considering this spatial variability.
Biodiversity in midwater cnidarians and ctenophores: submersible-based results from deep-water bays in the Japan Sea
and north-western Pacific
Authors: Lindsay Dhugal J. , Hunt James C.
Published: June 2005

Biodiversity of cnidarian and ctenophore forms in Toyama Bay, Japan Sea, was lower than that in Sagami Bay, north-western Pacific, according to all the indices investigated. Highest richness of forms occurred in the 400—600 m depth layer in Sagami Bay, while in Toyama Bay richness was low in most layers. New forms continued to occur with increasing depth in Sagami Bay but not in Toyama Bay and species composition differed remarkably between the two bays. Putative secondary deep-sea gelatinous forms were identified. Horizontal patchiness in normalized abundances was the rule rather than the exception and for accurate calculations of biodiversity indices incorporating evenness or equitability, the necessity for multiple submersible dives in a single area and survey period was noted. Vertical migration and predation were identified as possible factors contributing to the higher diversity in the 400—600 m depth layer in Sagami Bay.
Submersible observations on the daytime vertical distribution of Aequorea ?forskalea off the west coast of southern Africa
Authors: Sparks Conrad , Brierley Andrew S. , Buecher Emmanuelle , Boyer Dave , Axelsen Bjøern , Gibbons Mark J.
Published: June 2005

The vertical distribution of the hydromedusa Aequorea ?forskalea was investigated using observations from the research submersible ‘Jago’ collected during 36 dives off the west coast of southern Africa during November 1997 and April 1999. The mean population depth of Aequorea ?forskalea deepened with increasing sea surface temperature. We suggest that this behaviour enables individuals to avoid offshore advection, to minimize spatial overlap with other large medusae and to maintain their position over the middle of the shelf.
Predation on pelagic coelenterates: a review
Authors: Arai Mary Needler
Published: June 2005

Coelenterates (cnidaria and ctenophores) are well recognized as predators in food webs of marine ecosystems but are less often considered as prey. This is partly because they are digested very rapidly. In studies based on predator stomach contents the measured masses of different prey organisms are rarely scaled by their relative rates of digestion. Predators that are frozen and thawed, or for which whole stomachs are placed in preservatives, may have already lost much of their coelenterate content when they are examined. There is also a tendency to assume that gelatinous organisms, with their high water and salt content relative to organic content, are poor food. However, given the high rates of digestion (and presumably of assimilation) coelenterates may provide sources of energy comparable to better recognized prey such as arthropods. It is already becoming well documented that a number of cnidaria and ctenophores as well as fish utilize gelatinous organisms as prey. Data is accumulating more slowly on predation by a wide range of other carnivores such as molluscs, arthropods, reptiles and birds.
Effect of starvation on the biochemical compositions and respiration rates of ctenophores Mnemiopsis leidyi and
Beroe ovata in the Black Sea
Authors: Anninsky B.E. , Finenko G.A. , Abolmasova G.I. , Hubareva E.S. , Svetlichny L.S. , Bat L. , Kideys A.E.
Published: June 2005

The proximate biochemical composition and metabolic rates of ctenophores Mnemiopsis leidyi and Beroe ovata from the Black Sea were examined with respect to starvation conditions. Although organic matter content in B. ovata was two times higher than that of M. leidyi (2.51 ±0.53 and 1.14 ±0.17 mg g-1 of wet weight, respectively), these species did not significantly differ in their biochemical composition. In both species protein formed about 80% of the total organic matter, lipids amounted to about 10%. Carbohydrate and amino acids measured separately made up less than 6.5% of the total organic matter. Under experimental starvation (18 days at 16—18°C for B. ovata and 8 days at 12.4°C for M. leidyi), wet weights of both ctenophore species were reduced by 9.4% and 9.3% d-1, respectively. The rate of organic matter decrease was nearly two times lower than that of wet weight being on average 5.9% d-1 in M. leidyi and 5.5% d-1 in B. ovata. There was no trend in percentage of the four major biochemical categories with starvation time. The glycogen content in polysaccharides reached maximum values in freshly collected ctenophores (76.0 ±7.9% in B. ovata, and 86.6% in M. leidyi), but it was reduced substantially (34.4 ±2.7% in B. ovata and 18.3—28.8% in M. leidyi) with starvation. Monosaccharide content, expressed as a percentage of total carbohydrate, decreased from 39.9% to 13.5% in B. ovata, and from 45.8% to 14.3—23.2% in M. leidyi. The relationship between respiration rate (R) and wet weight (W) of individuals during the starvation can be expressed by power function R = R1 Wk (r2=0.85—0.94; P>0.001) for both ctenophore species. On average, k values were 0.95 and 0.83 in B. ovata and in M. leidyi, respectively. By the end of the starvation, metabolic rate per unit wet weight decreased by 33% in B. ovata and 46% in M. leidyi. Organic matter utilization was almost totally explained by respiration of ctenophores in the experiments and exceeded metabolic requirements of studied species by 11% and 15%, correspondingly. As compared with Mnemiopsis, Beroe has better tolerance to starvation which explains to some extent the success of the species survival during prolonged periods of food shortage in the Black Sea conditions.
Genetic polymorphism of the adult medusae invading
an electric power station and wild polyps of Aurelia aurita
in Wakasa Bay, Japan
Authors: Matsumura Kiyotaka , Kamiya Kyoko , Yamashita Keiji , Hayashi Fumio , Watanabe Ikuo , Murao Yoichi , Miyasaka Hitoshi , Kamimura Naohiro , Nogami Makoto
Published: June 2005

A large quantity of the jellyfish, Aurelia aurita, invade cooling water systems and cause serious problems at several electric power stations in Japan. In the present study, we examined intra—species genetic variation of A. aurita in Wakasa Bay, Japan in order to estimate the original polyp habitat of the adult medusae invading electric power stations. Total DNA was extracted from the adult medusae and the wild polyps, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed using the specific primers for amplification of nuclear internal transcribed spacer one (ITS-1) and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase c subunit 1 (CO1). Then the DNA sequences of the PCR products were compared. The results showed genetic polymorphism of A. aurita in Wakasa Bay and locally specific frequency of each haplotype. The haplotype frequency, especially in CO1, of the adults collected at one of the power stations in Wakasa Bay was similar to that of the polyp colonies at harbours in the embayed area, not at another harbour in the western entrance of the bay. The polymorphic analysis is, therefore, thought to be useful for the determination of original polyp habitat as source of the adult medusae in relatively limited regions such as Wakasa Bay.
Effects of temperature on growth of north-east Pacific moon jellyfish ephyrae, Aurelia labiata (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa)
Authors: Widmer Chad L.
Published: June 2005

The effects of ten different water temperatures on the growth of newly released ephyrae of Aurelia labiata were explored. Ephyrae grown at 21°C showed the greatest growth, increasing in bell diameter from about 4.0 mm to 14.5 mm in 14 days and remained in good condition for the duration of the experiment. Ephyrae subjected to other temperatures grew at different rates. Ephyrae maintained at 8°C gradually decreased in size during the experiment, shrinking in bell diameter from about 4.0 mm to 3.8 mm by day 14, but remained in apparent good condition. Ephyrae reared at 22.5°C and above everted their bells, were in poor condition, and were unable to feed or swim effectively by about day ten. In this study the optimal temperature range for rearing A. labiata ephyrae was 12°C—21°C, which corresponds with the reported range for this species.
A novel mutualistic relationship between a doliolid and a cnidarian, Bythotiara dolioeques sp. nov.
Authors: Raskoff Kevin A. , Robison Bruce H.
Published: June 2005

A description of the first known mutualistic interaction between a cnidarian and a pelagic tunicate is presented. Calycopsid anthomedusan polyps, belonging in the genus Bythotiara, were discovered associated with individual zooids of a new doliopsid (Thaliacea: Doliolida: Doliopsidae) collected from the mesopelagic waters of Monterey Bay. One hundred and seventy five polyp-bearing doliopsid colonies have been observed and 43 were collected from 1995 to 2004. Colonies were observed in situ and then brought back to the laboratory and maintained in aquaria. More than 250 individual anthomedusan polyps were removed from positions at the buccal siphon of their doliopsid host zooids and maintained in the laboratory until they released medusae. The morphology and taxonomy of the polyps and medusae are described. A unique tentacle-based asexual reproduction strategy is discussed. The relationship between the doliopsid and the polyp appears to be mutualistic, with the doliolid obtaining both nutrition and protection from the anthomedusan polyps, while the polyps gain access to a mobile, food-rich substrate.
Adaptations for living deep: a new bathypelagic doliolid,
from the eastern North Pacific
Authors: Robison Bruce H. , Raskoff Kevin A. , Sherlock Rob E.
Published: June 2005

Adapting to the bathypelagic habitat imposes serious challenges for taxa that originate in shallower depths. We describe a new doliolid that has successfully made the transition into deep water. Nine specimens of Pseudusa bostigrinus have been found at depths between 1164 and 1890 m in three distinct regions of the eastern North Pacific. This new thaliacean has exchanged the typical doliolid body plan for one resembling a craspedote hydromedusa. This adaptation allows it to collect sinking particles by simply directing its large buccal opening upward. The development of a hydromedusa-like velum allows it to trap zooplankton prey and to propel itself with considerable force and control. While carnivory is not unknown in tunicates, this is the first report of a carnivorous doliolid. The endostyle of P. bostigrinus is greatly reduced, there are no ciliated bands, and there is no spiral gland; all evidence that mucus feeding filters have been abandoned by this species. Anatomy, diet, behaviour, and habitat distinguish this doliolid from all others described to date.
Five new subspecies of Mastigias (Scyphozoa: Rhizostomeae: Mastigiidae) from marine lakes, Palau, Micronesia
Authors: Dawson Michael N
Published: June 2005

Published behavioural, DNA sequence, and morphologic data on six populations of Mastigias, five from marine lakes and one from the lagoon, in Palau are summarized. Each marine lake population is distinguished from the lagoon population and from other lake populations by an unique suite of characteristics. Morphological differences among Mastigias populations in Palau are greater than those recorded between any previously described species of Mastigias, whereas molecular differences are far less (≤2.2% in COI and ITS1) than those found between medusae identified in the field as Mastigias papua (>6% in COI and ITS1). Thus, each marine lake population in Palau is described as a new subspecies of Mastigias cf. papua: remengesaui (in Uet era Ongael), nakamurai (in Goby Lake), etpisoni (in Ongeim'l Tketau), saliii (in Clear Lake), and remeliiki (in Uet era Ngermeuangel).
Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv: Different News from Israel (or, One More Step Toward Peace) — Three Contemporary Music Festivals
Authors: Seter Ronit
Published: June 2005

When a Western musician thinks of Israel, the immediate association is of incessant political conflict and terrorism, not the country's rich cultural life. Yet, for a state that has endured one terrorist outrage after another over the last four years, Israel's thriving contemporary music scene — a part of classical music events, blossoming with over 2,300 classical concerts a year — is an astounding feat. In March 2002, while biweekly suicide attacks ended the lives of over 120 Israeli civilians, concert halls were unbelievably full despite the fear, or perhaps just because of it, as a constructive escapism. A year later, still under shaky political and economic conditions, Avigail Arnheim, the director of music events at the Tel-Aviv Museum of Art, and Dan Yuhas, the newly-elected chair of the Israel Composers' League (and the music director of the Israel Contemporary Players) initiated preparations for three concurrent festivals of contemporary music in October 2004. A Western musician, not knowing the details, would think that they were planning events for Berlin and Munich audiences, and not for Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem listeners.
Peter Maxwell Davies new and classic
Authors: Venn Edward
Published: June 2005

MAXWELL DAVIES: Miss Donnithorne's Maggot; Eight Songs for a Mad King. Jane Manning (sop), Kelvin Thomas (bar), Psappha. PSA CS 1001

MAXWELL DAVIES: Naxos Quartets Nos. 1 and 2. Maggini Quartet. Naxos 8.557396
Birmingham, CBSO Centre: ‘Invisible Cities’
Authors: Conway Paul
Published: June 2005

The Birmingham Contemporary Music Group opened their 2004–05 season on 19 September 2004 in typically adventurous, innovatory style with an evening of music — including no less than four world premieres — all centred on Italo Calvino's 1972 book Invisible Cities, in which traveller Marco Polo describes, in imaginary dialogues with Kublai Khan, fifty amazing cities, all of which turn out to be Venice.
Brun and Bloch
Authors: Palmer Peter
Published: June 2005

BRUN: Symphony No. 3 in D minor. Moscow Symphony Orchestra c. Adriano. Sterling CDS-1059-2.

BLOCH: Helvetia; Suite for viola and orchestra; Suite Hébraïque for viola and orchestra. Gérard Caussé, (vla), Orchestre de la Suisse Romande c. Lior Shambadal. Cascavelle RSR 6170.
Pēteris Vasks's Violin Concerto
Authors: Quinn Peter
Published: June 2005

PĒTERIS VASKS: Violin Concerto Distant Light; Musica dolorosa; Viatore. Katarina Andreasson (vln and leader), Swedish Chamber Orchestra. BIS-CD-1150.
Chinary Ung
Authors: Rickards Guy
Published: June 2005

CHINARY UNG: Spiral VI; Seven Mirrors; Grand Alap; Grand Spiral (‘Desert Flowers Bloom’). Quake, Gloria Cheng (pno), Walter Gray (vc), Rob Tucker (perc). La Jolla Symphony Orchestra c. Harvey Sollberger. New World 80619-2.
Regulation of pro-inflammatory signalling networks by ubiquitin: identification of novel targets for anti-inflammatory drugs
Authors: Evans Paul C.
Published: June 2005

Modification of cellular proteins with a small protein called ubiquitin has profound effects on their activities. Ubiquitin is covalently attached to lysine residues of acceptor proteins through the concerted action of E1 ubiquitin-activating enzyme, E2 ubiquitin-carrier proteins and E3 ligases. Mammalian cells contain a large number of E3 ligases, which determine the specificity of ubiquitination reactions. Recent studies have revealed that ubiquitination can be reversed by deubiquitinating enzymes that release ubiquitin monomers from modified proteins. Signalling networks that control inflammation are tightly regulated by a multitude of ubiquitination and deubiquitination reactions. This article begins by summarising current understanding of these pathways at a molecular level, and then focuses on the importance of ubiquitination and deubiquitination during the regulation of the pro-inflammatory transcription factor NF-κB. Finally, the potential for ubiquitin modifications to be targeted by novel classes of anti-inflammatory drugs is discussed.
Pathogenic viruses in drinking-water biofilms: a public health risk?
Authors: Skraber S. , Schijven J. , Gantzer C. , de Roda Husman A. M.
Published: June 2005

Biofilms in drinking-water distribution systems may accumulate human pathogenic viruses. Viruses that attach to biofilm are removed from the water phase improving the water quality. However, if released in slough, it may still present a risk of infection. This review describes the available data on the presence of pathogenic viruses in drinking-water biofilms. First, biofilms of distribution systems potentially contribute to viral contamination of tap water only if infectious viruses are present initially in the water, which has been shown in several recent studies. However, only one out of three field studies showed the presence of infectious enteroviruses in natural biofilms from drinking-water networks. The presence of pathogenic viruses in biofilms points to the ability of these viruses to attach to biofilms. This has also been shown in pilot-scale studies in which bacteriophages and vaccine poliovirus strains were spiked into water and could be eluted from artificial biofilms. Reported attachment rates vary greatly and may depend on many factors such as the biofilm characteristics, the virus strain and the efficiency of viral recovery from biofilms. One study reported biphasic viral inactivation in biofilms with rapid initial inactivation followed by slow inactivation, implying that some of the attached viruses are able to remain infectious for a longer time. In several laboratory experiments, virus attachment to biofilms has been reported under various conditions; however, although detachment of sloughs in distribution systems has been observed, the presence of viruses in these sloughs was not studied. Here, we discuss the possible presence of infectious pathogenic viruses in sloughs; the extent to which these will pose a health risk remains to be investigated.
Historical emissions of carbonaceous aerosols from biomass and fossil fuel burning for the period 1870–2000
Authors: Ito Akinori , Penner Joyce E.
Published: June 2005

Historical changes of black carbon (BC) and particulate organic matter (POM) emissions from biomass burning (BB) and fossil fuel (FF) burning are estimated from 1870 to 2000. A bottom‐up inventory for open vegetation (OV) burning is scaled by a top‐down estimate for the year 2000. Monthly and interannual variations are derived over the time period from 1979 to 2000 based on the TOMS satellite aerosol index (AI) and this global map. Prior to 1979, emissions are scaled to a CH4 emissions inventory based on land‐use change. Biofuel (BF) emissions from a recent inventory for developing countries are scaled forward and backward in time using population statistics and crop production statistics. In developed countries, wood consumption data together with emission factors for cooking and heating practices are used for biofuel estimates. For fossil fuel use, we use fuel consumption data and specific emission factors for different fuel use categories to develop an inventory over 1950–2000, and emissions are scaled to a CO2 inventory prior to that time. Technology changes for emissions from the diesel transport sector are included. During the last decade of this time period, the BC and POM emissions from biomass burning (i.e., OV + BF) contribute a significant amount to the primary sources of BC and POM and are larger than those from FF. Thus 59% of the NH BC emissions and 90% of the NH POM emissions are from BB in 2000. Fossil fuel consumption technologies are needed prior to 1990 in order to improve estimates of fossil fuel emissions during the twentieth century. These results suggest that the aerosol emissions from biomass burning need to be represented realistically in climate change assessments. The estimated emissions are available on a 1° × 1° grid for global climate modeling studies of climate changes.
Radiation, temperature, and leaf area explain ecosystem carbon fluxes in boreal and temperate European forests
Authors: van Dijk Albert I. J. M. , Dolman A. J. , Schulze Ernst‐Detlef
Published: June 2005

We analyzed measurements of net ecosystem exchange of CO2 (NEE) over 15 European forests (the EuroFlux data set) to investigate which climate and forest characteristics explain temporal and intersite variations in NEE and its components, gross primary production (GPP) and respiration (R). Informed stepwise regression was used to derive a parameter‐efficient, empirical model that was consistent with process knowledge. The resulting model required seven site‐specific parameters to describe flux behavior at different temporal scales as a function of radiation, temperature, and air humidity. The interpretation appeared robust despite method and data uncertainties, although the data set was probably biased toward well‐watered boreal and temperate European forests. Radiation, temperature, and leaf area (through forest assimilation capacity) appear to be the main drivers of the observed temporal and intersite variation in gross primary production, ecosystem respiration, and net ecosystem exchange.
Anthropogenic CO2 in the Southern Ocean: Distribution and inventory at the Indian‐Atlantic boundary (World Ocean Circulation Experiment line I6)
Authors: Lo Monaco Claire , Metzl Nicolas , Poisson Alain , Brunet Christian , Schauer Bernard
Published: June 2005

The Southern Ocean, where various water masses are formed (mode, intermediate, deep, and bottom waters), has a high potential to absorb anthropogenic CO2 (Cant). However, most data‐based and model estimates indicate low Cant inventories south of 50°S. In order to investigate this paradox, the distribution of Cant is estimated between South Africa and Antarctica (World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) line I6) based on a back‐calculation technique previously used in the North Atlantic (Körtzinger et al., 1998) and adapted here for application in the Southern Ocean. At midlatitudes (30°–50°S), formation and spreading of mode and intermediate waters results in a deep penetration of Cant (down to 2000 m). South of 50°S, significant concentrations of Cant were estimated in Circumpolar Deep Water (>10 μmol/kg) and Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) (20–25 μmol/kg). Higher concentrations are detected along the continental slope in AABW presumably formed in Prydz Bay compared to AABW of Weddell Sea origin. The distribution of Cant obtained north of 50°S compares well with previous data‐based and model estimates, but large disagreements are found in the south. However, although transient tracers are not used in the back‐calculation technique employed here, the distribution of Cant is remarkably well correlated with CFCs. We reevaluated the column inventories of Cant for the Southern Ocean and found higher values at high latitudes (70–90 mol/m2) compared to the subtropical/subantarctic region (40–80 mol/m2). These results support the idea that deep and bottom water formation in the Southern Ocean is a key process in the natural sequestration of anthropogenic CO2.
Angular and range interferometry to refine weather radar resolution
Authors: Zhang Guifu , Yu Tian‐You , Doviak Richard J.
Published: June 2005

A weather radar's resolution volume is generally determined by beam and pulse widths. Recently, a single‐antenna interferometric technique was developed to measure cross‐beam and radial wind using angular and range interferometry. Here it is shown that the interferometry technique can refine radar resolution. The technique for resolution refinement is based on the fact that the cross‐correlation function of signals from two resolution volumes is contributed only by scatterers in the shared volume. Therefore all the radar measureables derived from cross‐correlation estimates have a resolution of the shared volume size rather than a radar resolution volume size. The performance of the technique depends on the shape of beam/range‐weighting functions and relative sample error. A sharp change at the edges of the weighting function and low sidelobes are important for resolution refinement using weather radar interferometry.
Dyadic Green's function of an ideal hard surface circular waveguide with application to excitation and scattering problems
Authors: Klymko Victor A. , Yakovlev Alexander B. , Eshrah Islam A. , Kishk Ahmed A. , Glisson Allen W.
Published: June 2005

Green's function analysis of ideal hard surface circular waveguides is proposed with application to excitation and scattering problems. A decomposition of the hard surface waveguide into perfect electric conductor and perfect magnetic conductor waveguides allows the representation of dyadic Green's function in terms of transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) waveguide modes, respectively. In addition, a term corresponding to a transverse electromagnetic (TEM) mode is included in the representation of the Green's dyadic. The TEM term is extracted in closed form from the eigenmode expansion of TM and TE modes in the zero‐cutoff limit. The electric field distribution due to an arbitrarily oriented electric dipole source is illustrated for representative TM, TE, and TEM modes propagating in the ideal hard surface circular waveguide. The derived Green's function is used in the method of moments analysis of an ideal hard surface waveguide excited by a half‐wavelength strip dipole antenna. In addition, the scattering of the TEM mode by a thin strip is studied in the ideal hard surface circular waveguide.