Learning lessons from the 2011 Van Earthquake to enhance healthcare surge capacity in Turkey

Historically, Turkey has adopted a reactive approach to natural hazards which resulted in significant losses. However, following the 1999 Kocaeli Earthquake, a more proactive approach has been adopted. This study aims to explore the way this new approach operates on the ground. A multinational and multidisciplinary team conducted a field investigation following the 2011 Van Earthquake to identify lessons to inform healthcare emergency planning in Turkey and elsewhere. The team interviewed selected stakeholders including, healthcare emergency responders, search and rescue services, ambulance services, and health authority representatives, in addition to conducting a focus group. Data were analysed according to an open coding process and SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat) analysis. The findings suggest that the approach succeeded in developing a single vision by consolidating official efforts in a more structured way, mobilising many governmental and non-governmental organisations, securing significant amounts of resources including physical and human, and increasing the resilience and flexibility of infrastructure to expand its capacity. However, more attention is required to the development of stronger management procedures and acquisition of further resources.     

Cornelia de Lange Syndrome in association with a balanced reciprocal translocation involving chromosomes 3 and 5

We present a case report on a fetus with multiple malformations, diagnosed by ultrasound at 20 weeks' gestation. From the combination of intrauterine growth retardation and limb abnormalities that were observed, the most likely diagnosis was considered to be Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS). Following counselling, the mother opted to terminate the pregnancy. Chromosome analysis of cultured amniotic fluid cells showed a karyotype of 46,XX,t(3;5)(q21;p13). Postmortem examination of the baby confirmed the presence of features consistent with a diagnosis of CdLS. This case provides a report of a definitive diagnosis of Cornelia de Lange Syndrome, suspected on the basis of ultrasound imaging and confirmed by amniocentesis findings. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Metabolism of 2-chloro-N-isopropylacetanilide (propachlor) in the rat.

Eleven urinary metabolites from [14C]propachlor were either identified or characterized by mass spectrometry. Those identified were 2-[S-(N-acetyl)cysteinyl]-N-isopropylacetanilide, 2-(methylsulfonyl)-acetanilide, 4'-hydroxy-2-(methylsulfonyl)-acetanilide, and 4'-hydroxyacetanilide. Those characterized were N-(1-hydroxyisopropyl)-2-(methylsulfonyl) acetanilide and its glucuronide, the glucuronides of 4'-hydroxy-N-isopropyl-2-(methylsulfonyl)acetanilide, N-(1-hydroxyisopropyl) aniline, 4'-hydroxy-2-(methylsulfonyl)acetanilide, and either N-(1-hydroxy-isopropyl) acetanilide or 2-hydroxy-N-isopropylacetanilide.     

Begging and provisioning in broods of asynchronously-hatched yellow-headed blackbird nestlings

Studies of begging have found a positive relationship between begging level and provisioning level. Studies of unequal nestlings, however, have found that small nestlings generally beg more but are fed less than their larger siblings. We manipulated the begging levels of yellow-headed blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) chicks to investigate how begging benefits individuals in broods of unequal siblings. Food-deprived chicks begged more and were fed more; satiated chicks begged less and were fed less. When we deprived each chick of a brood in turn, large and small chicks generally increased begging and received more provisioning. Small chicks, however, rarely received more food than their larger siblings even when they behged relatively more. Parent yellow-headed blackbirds increase provisioning to hungry begging chicks, but also allocate food based on relative offspring size.     

Omnivorous feeding behavior of the Antarctic krill Euphausia superba

Feeding experiments were conducted at Palmer Station from December 1985 to February 1986 to examine the potential role of copepod prey as an alternative food source for Euphausia superba. Copepod concentration, copepod size, phytoplankton concentration, the duration of krill starvation and the volume of experimental vessels were altered to determine effects on ingestion and clearance rates. Krill allowed to feed on phytoplankton and copepods in 50-litre tubs showed greatly increased feeding rates relative to animals feeding in the much smaller volumes of water traditionally used for krill-feeding studies. Clearance rates on copepods remained constant over the range of concentrations offered, but clearance rates on phytoplankton increased linearly with phytoplankton concentration. Feeding rates increased when larger copepods were offered and when krill were starved for two weeks prior to experiments. Clearance rates of krill feeding on copepods were higher than, but not correlated with, their clearance rates on phytoplankton in the same vessel. E. superba may have a distinct mechanism for capturing copepods, perhaps through mechanoreception. Although our observed clearance rate of 1055 ml krill^-1 h^-1 indicates that krill can feed very efficiently on copepod prey, such feeding would meet less than 10% of their minimum metabolic requirements at the typical copepod concentrations reported for Antarctic waters. However, substantial energy could be gained if krill fed on the patches of high copepod concentrations occasionally reported during the austral summer, or if krill and copepods were concentrated beneath the sea ice during the winter or spring months. Our results, indicating efficient feeding on zooplankton and higher clearance rates on phytoplankton than previously believed, represent a step towards balancing the energy budget of E. superba in Antarctic waters.     

Recycling plant wax constituents for chemical defense: hemi-biosynthesis of triterpene saponins from β-amyrin in a leaf beetle

Several species of Doryphorina leaf beetles from Central- and South America produce oleanane triterpene glycosides in their defensive glands. The presence of pentacyclic triterpenes in insects is intriguing since they lack the key enzymes necessary to synthesize these compounds. Since -amyrin is a common constituent of leaf waxes, we hypothesized that these leaf beetles use this compound as a precursor to their oleanane glycosides. To test this hypothesis we first confirmed the presence of -amyrin in Ipomoea batatas, the food plant of Platyphora kollari. Next, adults of P. kollari were fed for 10 days with I. batatas leaf disks painted with a solution of [2,2,3-²H₃]-amyrin ([2,2,3-²H₃]-1). The secretion from their defensive glands was collected and analyzed by HPLC-ESIMS. The results demonstrated that the secretion of beetles fed with an amount of [2,2,3-²H₃]-amyrin corresponding to the quantity of unlabeled (natural) -amyrin present in the leaf disks contained on average 5.1% of [2,2,3-²H₃]-3-O--d-glucopyranosyl-(1-->4)--d-glucuronopyranosyl-hederagenin ([2,2,3-²H₃]-2), whereas the secretions of beetles fed with 10 times this amount of [2,2,3-²H₃]-amyrin contained on average 23.9% of [2,2,3-²H₃]-2. In both series of experiments, the percentage of labeled versus unlabeled triterpene glycoside in the secretion was positively correlated with the amount of deuterated -amyrin ingested. These results demonstrate for the first time that some leaf beetles are able to metabolize a widespread triterpenic constituent of leaf wax into more complex glycosides that are stored in their defensive glands.     

Soybean production and conversion of tropical forest in the Brazilian Amazon: the case of Vilhena, Rondônia

The recent rise in Brazilian soybean production has generated concern among the environmental community and some authors that natural tropical environments of the Amazon Basin are being converted to soybean fields. Proponents of soybean production counter that soybeans represent a viable agricultural commodity for the region; environmental concern is unwarranted, because new soybean fields are replacing already deforested or otherwise transformed lands. Both arguments have been made without comprehensive study and measure of land-use/land-cover (LULC) in areas undergoing expansion of soybean production. This case study, conducted in the municipality of Vilhena, Rond?nia, Brazil, in the southwestern Amazon Basin, uses remote sensing to evaluate the LULC accompanying this municipality's large growth in soybean production from 1996 to 2001. Forests are being converted for soybean production, but most of the production increase appears attributable to slight expansion of already existing fields, conversion of already deforested land, and higher yields.