Embryonic and fetal globins are expressed in adult erythroid progenitor cells and in erythroid cell cultures

The understanding of human hemoglobin ontogeny during development is of biological and clinical importance. Molecular and immunocytological techniques were used to study the expression of embryonic zeta (ζ), epsilon (ε), and fetal gamma (γ) globin genes in newborn cord blood, peripheral blood from men, pregnant and non-pregnant women, and in vitro mononuclear cell cultures. We have shown that embryonic and fetal globin mRNA and peptides are expressed in cultured erythroid cells and in circulating blood cells from newborns, adult non-pregnant women and from men. The findings suggest that during erythroid cell differentiation in newborns and adults, there is a transient recapitulation of sequential globin chain expression as found during embryonic and fetal development. Furthermore, these findings underscore the need for caution in using embryonic and fetal globin chains as markers to identify erythroid cells of fetal origin in maternal circulation for prenatal diagnosis. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Species-specific attraction to pheromonal analogues in orchid bees

Male orchid bees (Euglossini) collect fragrances from flowers and other natural sources, a behaviour that has shaped the euglossine pollination syndrome. Males store such chemicals in hind leg pouches and later expose them during courtship display. In the present study, we show that complex bouquets of two sympatric species of Eulaema, E. meriana and E. bombiformis, are chemically distinct. When exposed during bioassays at display perches individual hind leg extracts rapidly and consistently attracted other males of the correct species, even if derived from males of disparate localities (French Guiana and Panama). Conspecific males as well as females of E. bombiformis arrived at natural perch sites only from downwind, and two copulations were observed. Our findings demonstrate that acquired odours mediate exclusive attraction within species and support the idea that such fragrances are pheromone analogues. Their role in acquiring matings and during male–male interaction is discussed.     

A European approach to increase innovative soil and groundwater remediation technology applications

The European Commission (EC) has recognized a need for strengthening innovation of environmental technologies in order to increase competitiveness of European technologies on a global market and to achieve a more sustainable development in Europe. In the area of soil and groundwater remediation, innovative technologies are principally available and have proven applicability and performance on demonstration scales, but market uptake is disappointing. Consequently, initiatives have been launched in order to promote application of these technologies and to investigate on the harmonization of applications. The European Co‐ordination Action for Demonstration of Efficient Soil and Groundwater Remediation (EURODEMO), an EC‐funded project, is one strategic initiative for supporting these goals. This article summarizes results obtained so far regarding the investigation of the European situation and some undertaken and envisaged measures to achieve better market uptake. The results of this research project may serve as prerequisites for a European Environmental Technologies Verification (ETV) process. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Local voices on renewable energy projects: the performative role of the regulatory process for major offshore infrastructure in England and Wales

There is currently a considerable emphasis on delivering major renewable energy infrastructure projects. Such projects will have impacts on local communities; some impacts may be perceived as positive but others will be viewed more negatively. Any just regulatory process for considering and permitting such infrastructure will need to heed the concerns that local communities voice. But what counts as a local voice? In this paper it is argued that the regulatory process plays a performative role, constructing what counts as a local voice. Furthermore, this has consequences for how regulatory deliberations proceed and the outcomes of regulatory processes. The empirical basis for this argument is a study of major offshore renewable energy infrastructure in England and Wales and the way that it is regulated through a specific regime – the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) regime established by the Planning Act 2008. Through a detailed study of eight projects that have passed through the regime, the analysis unfolds the way that the voices of local residents, local businesses, local NGOs and local authorities are constructed in the key boundary object of the Examining Authority’s report; it then draws out the implications for the mitigation measures that are negotiated. The research suggests that what counts as a local voice is constrained by how the performative role of the NSIPs regulatory regime differentiates between interests and suggests that new ways of giving voice to local people are required.     

Environmental dimensions of residential development and the implications for local planning practice

The purpose of this paper is to provide an account of the many dimensions of environmental assessment of residential development, so that planning policy may take substantive steps towards the environmental goal of sustainability in an urban context. It proceeds largely by literature review, drawing together research findings from a wide variety of sources originating in many different disciplines. The conclusion summarizes the analysis in terms of concrete suggestions for revised planning practice, emphasizing the important role that planning can play in this area as well as the constraints placed on planning by economic considerations.     

Uptake rates of thorium progeny in a semiarid environment

The release rates and transformation processes that influence the mobility, biological uptake, and transfer of radionuclides are essential to the assessment of the health effects in the food chain and ecosystem. This study examined concentrations of 222Th in both soil and vegetation at a closed military training site, Kirtland Air Force Base (KAFB), New Mexico. Brazilian sludge was intentionally introduced into the topsoil in the early 1960s to simulate nuclear weapon accidents. Soil (60) and vegetation (120) samples were collected from 1996 to 2000 and analyzed for radionuclides and progeny. High-resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy was used to determine radionuclide activities. The results indicate that the thorium progeny were the predominant contaminant in soil and vegetation. Concentration ratios (CRs) were calculated based on actinium levels.     

Turning gap acceptance decision-making: the impact of driver distraction

PROBLEM: A number of studies have found that use of in-car phones by drivers can interfere with the cognitive processing necessary for making appropriate and timely vehicle control decisions. However, the specific linkage between communication-based distraction and unsafe decision-making has not been sufficiently explored. METHOD: In a closed-course driving experiment, 39 subjects were exposed to approximately 100 gaps each in a circulating traffic stream of eight vehicles on an instrumented test track that was wet about half the time. The subjects were at the controls of an instrumented car, which was oriented in a typical left-turn configuration (traffic-crossing situation in North America) and with parking brake on and the transmission in neutral. The subjects were instructed to press on the accelerator pedal when they felt that a gap was safe to accept. Their performances were monitored and incentives were provided for balancing safe decision-making with expeditious completion of the task. For half of the gap exposures (randomly assigned), each subject was required to listen and respond to a complex verbal message. RESULTS: When not distracted, the subjects' gap acceptance judgment was found to be significantly influenced by their age, the gap size, the speed of the trailing vehicle, the level of "indecision," and the condition of the track surface. However, when distracted, the subjects did not factor pavement surface condition into the decision process. On wet pavement, the subjects were judged to have initiated twice the level of potential collisions when distracted by the messages that they did when not distracted. DISCUSSION: Listening/responding to verbal messages may reduce the capacity of drivers to process adequately all the important information necessary for safe decision-making. The effects of the messages in our study seemed to cause the subjects to misjudge gap size and speed information when operating under the additional disadvantage of adverse pavement condition. SUMMARY: Attention to complex messages while making decisions about turning through gaps in an on-coming vehicle stream was associated with significantly increased unsafe decision making by subjects in our experiment when the additional complexity of wet surface condition was introduced. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: While the results reflected a somewhat artificial situation where the measure was signaled intention to act rather than the act itself, nevertheless, they do strongly suggest a scenario in which mental distraction could contribute to crash risk. With the rapid proliferation of telematics in the vehicle market, even with the laudable objectives represented by the Intelligent Transportation Systems initiative, there is a danger of the primary task of the driver being subordinated to a perceived need to enhance information flow to/from the external "world." Industry and governments need to work together to ensure that apparently desirable in-vehicle communication improvements do not compromise safety.     

Regionale Klimatrends mit Hilfe der phänologischen Uhr, dargestellt am Beispiel Rheinland-Pfalz

Aims and Scope

Over recent decades, the climate has changed. Up to now this statement has been made predominantly for the global and/or continental area. What, however, is the situation regarding the climatic trend at the regional scale? Is it already possible to show effects of a climate change in small-scale landscape structures? These questions were addressed looking at the example of the situation in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany).

Methods

Phenological data of plants of the last 50 years from a total of 386 stations of the German Weather Service (DWD) were evaluated. The timing of the different plant phases, beginning of the foliation and plant senescence in autumn, flowering and the first ripening of the fruits had to be registered for different agricultural crops, wild plants, ornamental woods as well as fruit trees. The analysed data material was used to develop the threefold phenological clock (DPU).

Results

Summarising the findings of the DPU for the 15 evaluated nature districts of Rhineland-Palatinate according to individual seasons, which were defined in generic terms as spring, summer, autumn and winter, a tendency of a prematuring of the spring, a prolongation of the autumn as well as a shortening of the winter is evident. From a regional point of view, on the other hand, in individual nature districts such as the ‘Westerwald’ and the ‘Bergisch-Sauerländische Gebirge’, winter seasons are getting longer. Thus the effects of a climate change can differ considerably from region to region.

Outlook

The regionally quite different changes of the climatic situation in Rhineland-Palatinate will not remain without an effect on the ecosystems of this federal state. The currently existing biocoenosis will therefore change. The consequences for forestry, agriculture and nature conservation are of special interest in this context.     

In vivo measurements of the internal pH of Hediste (Nereis) diversicolor (Annelida, Polychaeta) exposed to ambient sulphidic conditions using pH microelectrodes

 The effect of different ambient sulphide concentrations on the internal pH regime of Hediste (Nereis) diversicolor was studied under in vivo conditions using liquid membrane pH microelectrodes, a method which is new to marine sciences. As a case study, the hypothesis was tested whether organisms exposed to ambient sulphidic conditions are able to lower their internal pH which, in effect, would reduce sulphide influx into the animals and thus could represent an effective detoxification mechanism. It was shown that a significant lowering of the internal pH occurred within only 20 min after adding sulphide. This pH lowering appeared to be dependent on the external sulphide concentration of the ambient medium and showed a saturation beyond a threshold level of about 130 μM. It is discussed whether this sulphide-induced pH drop is an active regulatory mechanism and acts as an effective protection mechanism against sulphide during short-term exposures. Received: 1 June 1999 / Accepted in revised form: 3 May 2000