Sanfilippo D syndrome: Correction of glucosamine-6-sulphatase deficiency following fibroblast culture in chang's media

The de-O-sulphation of α-linked glucosamine-6-sulphate residues in heparan sulphate requires a specific sulphatase, glucosamine-6-sulphatase, which has been shown to be deficient in tissues of Sanfilippo D, or mucopolysaccharidosis type IIID (MPS IIID), patients. MPS IIID fibroblasts cultured in Basal Eagle's medium supplemented with either fetal calf serum or heat-inactivated fetal calf serum, MDCB or Ultraserg media had residual glucosarnine-6-sulphatase activities towards a heparin-derived trisaccharide substrate, O-(α-N-acetylglucosamine-6-sulphate)-(1→4)-L -O-(α-iduronic acid-2-sulphate)-(1→4)-D -O-2,5-anhydro [1-³H]mannitol-6-sulphate, GlcNAc6S-IdoA2S-anM6S, which were less than 1 per cent of the normal range for fibroblasts cultured in Basal Eagle's medium supplemented with fetal calf serum. However, the glucosamine-6-sulphatase activities of MPS IIID fibroblasts grown in Chang's medium were similar to the activities in normal control fibroblasts which were cultured in Basal Eagle's medium. These results indicate that caution is required for prenatal diagnosis of MPS IIID patients using chorionic villi or amniotic cells cultured in Chang's medium.     

TAXING NATURAL RESOURCE PROJECTS

A wide range of fiscal measures for natural resource based projects are analyzed in this paper. Maximizing government revenue involves taxing heavily any rents generated in the project while retaining the incentive to invest. Recovery efficiency must also be preserved. Based upon the principles of resource economics and project appraisai a series of tests are derived and applied to alternative tax schemes in order to assess their efficiency in maximizing the present value of government revenues. The tests indicate that of the ten schemes examined, the most likely to achieve revenue maximization is a progressive resource rent tax incorporating a safeguard tapering provision and superimposed upon normal corporate income tax. Many commonly applied taxes are demonstrated to have serious distortionary effects on the investment decision and to fail to capture a large proportion of rents generated. Cet article analyse une gamme variée de mesures fiscales applicables aux projets concernant les ressources naturelles. L'optimisation des recettes de l'Etat implique une lourde imposition des revenus provenant du projet tout en continuant à encourager les investissements. L'efficacité de la relance doit aussi être maintenue. Sur la base des principes de l'économie des ressources et de l'évaluation des projets, une série de tests a été conçue et appliquée à des systèmes fiscaux alternatifs afin de permettre l'évaluation de leur efficacité en ce qui concerne l'optimisation de la valeur actuelle des recettes de l'Etat. Les tests indiquent que sur les dix systèmes examinés, le plus susceptible d'optimiser les recettes semble être un impôt progressif sur les revenus provenant des ressources qui incorpore une clause de garantie dégressive et qui vient s'ajouter à l'impôt sur le revenu des sociétés habituel. L'article démontre que de nombreux impôts habituellement appliqués présentent de sérieux effets de distortion ayant un impact sur la décision d'investir et qu'une grande proportion des revenus de ces projets échappe à l'imposition. En este artículo se analiza una gama amplia de medidas fiscales sobre proyectos relacionados con recursos naturales. Maximizar los ingresos fiscales requiere imponer fuertes impuestos sobre las rentas generadas por el proyecto manteniendo al mismo tiempo el incentivo para la inversión. Debe mantenerse también la eficiencia en la recuperación de los recursos en cuestión. Basado en principios de la economía de recursos y de evaluación de proyectos se derivan una serie de pruebas sobre esquemas alternativos de aplicación de impuestos con el objeto de evaluar la eficiencia de dichos esquemas en la maximización del valor presente del ingreso del gobierno por concepto de impuestos. Las pruebas indican que de los diez esquemas examinados, el que con mayor probabilidad va a maximizar el ingreso del gobierno es el impuesto progresivo sobre la renta del recurso con un provisión de salvaguarda la reducción de dicho impuesto, más un impuesto simultáneo sobre el ingreso de la empresa. Muchos de los esquemas de imposición comúnmente aplicados tienen serios efectos distortionadores sobre las decisiones de inversión y consecuentamente impiden la colección de una gran parte de las rentas generadas.     

Current status and research on E-waste issues in Asia

Rapid economic growth in Asia and the increasing transboundary movement of secondary resources will increasingly require both 3R endeavors (reduce, reuse, recycle) in each country and appropriate control of international material cycles. Recently, managing electrical and electronic waste (E-waste) has become an important target for domestic and international material cycles from the viewpoints of environmental preservation and resource utilization efficiency. To understand the current status of E-waste issues in the context of international material cycles and to discuss the future tasks related to achieving 3R in the region, we organized the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) E-waste Workshop in December 2004. This article reviews past studies on E-waste and briefly describes the topics presented and discussions held at the workshop. The topics at the workshop included E-waste generation, recycling systems, international trade, and environmental impacts. In addition, we discussed various issues such as terminology, current environmental concerns, and possible solutions. Transboundary shipments of E-waste should be conducted taking into consideration the concept of sustainable development. The direction of future research and possible collaborations are also discussed.     

MODELING THE IMPACT OF MULTICOMPONENT VOCs ON GROUND WATER USING THE STEFAN‐MAXWELL EQUATION1

ABSTRACT: Computer programs that model the fate and transport of organic contaminants through porous media typically use Fick's first law to calculate vapor phase diffusion. Fick's first law, however, is limited to the case of a single, dilute species diffusing into a stagnant, high concentration, bulk vapor phase. When dealing with more than one diffusing species and at higher concentrations, the multicomponent coupling effects on vapor phase diffusion and advection of the various constituents become significant. VLEACH, a one‐dimensional finite difference model developed for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), is typical of the models using Fick's first law to model vapor‐phase diffusion. The VLEACH model was modified to accommodate up to 10 components and to calculate the binary diffusion coefficients for each of the components based on molecular weight, molecular volume, temperature and pressure, and to address the coupling effects on multiple component vapor phase diffusion and its impact on ground water. The resulting model was renamed MC‐CHEMSOIL. At low vapor phase concentrations, MC‐CHEMSOIL predicts identical ground water impacts (dissolved phase loading) to those from VLEACH 2.2a. At higher vapor phase concentrations, however, the relative difference between the models exceeded 20 percent.     

Effects of commercial diazinon and imidacloprid on microbial urease activity in soil and sod

Diazinon [O,O-diethyl O-2-isopropyl-6-methyl(pyrimidine-4-yl) phosphorothioate] and imidacloprid [1-(1-[6-chloro-3-pyridinyl]methyl)-N-nitro-2-imidazolidinimine] are applied to lawns for insect control simultaneously with nitrogenous fertilizers such as urea, but their potential effect on urease activity and nitrogen availability in turfgrass management has not been evaluated. Urease activity in enzyme assays, washed cell assays, and soil slurries was examined as a function of insecticide concentration. Intact cores from field sites were used to assess the effect of insecticide application on urease activity in creeping bentgrass (Agrostis palustris Huds.) and bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) sod. Bacterial urease from Bacillus pasteurii and plant urease from jack bean [Canavalia ensiformis (L.) DC.] were unaffected by the insecticides. Both insecticides inhibited the growth of Proteus vulgaris, a urease-producing bacterium, but only diazinon significantly reduced urease activity in washed cells; neither insecticide inhibited urease activity in sonicated cells. Neither diazinon nor imidacloprid inhibited urease activity in Woolper soil (fine, mixed, mesic Typic Argiudoll) slurries, but diazinon slightly inhibited urease activity in Maury soil (fine, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Paleudalf) slurries. Imidacloprid had no effect on urease activity in creeping bentgrass or bluegrass sod at up to 10 times the commercial application rate. Diazinon briefly, but significantly, reduced urease activity in bluegrass sod. Co-application of imidacloprid and urea appears to be benign with respect to urease activity in soil and sod. Diazinon, in contrast, appears to have a significant, short-term, inhibitory effect on the microbial urease-producing community, but that effect depends on soil type.     

Conservation implications of physiological carry‐over effects in bats recovering from white‐nose syndrome

Although it is well documented that infectious diseases can pose threats to biodiversity, the potential long‐term consequences of pathogen exposure on individual fitness and its effects on population viability have rarely been studied. We tested the hypothesis that pathogen exposure causes physiological carry‐over effects with a pathogen that is uniquely suited to this question because the infection period is specific and time limited. The fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans causes white‐nose syndrome (WNS) in hibernating bats, which either die due to the infection while hibernating or recover following emergence from hibernation. The fungus infects all exposed individuals in an overwintering site simultaneously, and bats that survive infection during hibernation clear the pathogen within a few weeks following emergence. We quantified chronic stress during the active season, when bats are not infected, by measuring cortisol in bat claws. Free‐ranging Myotis lucifugus who survived previous exposure to P. destructans had significantly higher levels of claw cortisol than naïve individuals. Thus, cryptic physiological carry‐over effects of pathogen exposure may persist in asymptomatic, recovered individuals. If these effects result in reduced survival or reproductive success, they could also affect population viability and even act as a third stream in the extinction vortex. For example, significant increases in chronic stress, such as those indicated here, are correlated with reduced reproductive success in a number of species. Future research should directly explore the link between pathogen exposure and the viability of apparently recovered populations to improve understanding of the true impacts of infectious diseases on threatened populations.     

Effects of soil moisture depletion on vegetable crop uptake of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs)

Agricultural crops have a long history of being irrigated with recycled wastewater (RW). However, its use on vegetable crops has been of concern due to the potential prevalence of microcontaminants, such as pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in the latter, which represents a possible health hazard to consumers. We investigated the uptake of three PPCPs (atenolol, diclofenac, and ofloxacin), at three different concentrations in irrigation water (0.5, 5, and 25 μg L^?1) in relation to three varying volumetric soil moisture depletion levels of 14 % (?4.26 kPa), 10 % (?8.66 kPa), and 7 % (?18.37 kPa) by various vegetable crop species. Experiments were conducted in a split-split block completely randomized design. PPCPs were extracted using a developed method of accelerated solvent extraction and solid phase extraction and analyzed via liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LCMS). Results indicate that all treated crops were capable of PPCP uptake at nanogram per gram concentrations independent of the applied soil moisture depletion levels and PPCP concentrations. Ofloxacin was the chemical with the highest uptake amounts, followed by atenolol and then diclofenac. Although the results were not statistically significant, higher concentrations of PPCPs were detected in plants maintained under higher soil moisture levels of 14 % (?4.26 kPa).     

Plant blindness and the implications for plant conservation

Plant conservation initiatives lag behind and receive considerably less funding than animal conservation projects. We explored a potential reason for this bias: a tendency among humans to neither notice nor value plants in the environment. Experimental research and surveys have demonstrated higher preference for, superior recall of, and better visual detection of animals compared with plants. This bias has been attributed to perceptual factors such as lack of motion by plants and the tendency of plants to visually blend together but also to cultural factors such as a greater focus on animals in formal biological education. In contrast, ethnographic research reveals that many social groups have strong bonds with plants, including nonhierarchical kinship relationships. We argue that plant blindness is common, but not inevitable. If immersed in a plant‐affiliated culture, the individual will experience language and practices that enhance capacity to detect, recall, and value plants, something less likely to occur in zoocentric societies. Therefore, conservation programs can contribute to reducing this bias. We considered strategies that might reduce this bias and encourage plant conservation behavior. Psychological research demonstrates that people are more likely to support conservation of species that have human‐like characteristics and that support for conservation can be increased by encouraging people to practice empathy and anthropomorphism of nonhuman species. We argue that support for plant conservation may be garnered through strategies that promote identification and empathy with plants.