Curryvangsgaard3732

Water, sediment and biota (two fish and one shrimp species) samples were collected from rivers, ponds, mudflat and estuaries within the Mai Po Ramsar site in Hong Kong, China, to determine the concentrations of heavy metals/loid (HMs) cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), and arsenic (As). The mutagenicity and toxicity of water and sediment samples were evaluated using Ames test and Microtox® bioassay, respectively. Ecological risk assessments on water birds were also conducted based on HM concentrations in biota, sediment and water samples. In general, results showed that downstream of Shan Pui River and Ng Tung River had relatively higher HM concentrations (e.g. Cu 0.992-9.49 μg/L; As 0.342-5.83 μg/L) when compared with estuaries (Cu 0.400-3.69 μg/L; As 0.220-0.931 μg/L) and ponds (Cu 0.0402-2.41 μg/L; As 0.0501-2.10 μg/L), except Hg and Cd. On the other hand, sediment samples collected from Ng Tung River showed mutagenicity on Salmonella typhimurium tester strain TA100, while the mudflat samples had mutagenicity on tester strain TA98 used in the Ames tests. Microtox® bioassay indicated that only sediment of Ng Tung River showed acute toxicity with a 15 min half maximal effective concentration (EC50) value of 30.5%. Results of ecological risk assessments showed that grey heron (Ardea cinerea), which feeds on fish and shrimps at Shan Pui River and ponds were not at risk. However, common sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos), which feeds at ponds were subjected to a potential health risk due to its behavior of seeking food from the sediments, especially this bird species has a small body size. This indicates juvenile birds of other species may also be affected. Remediation should be implemented to relief the potential risk of Cu and Pb, to these water birds in the Mai Po Ramsar site.CO2-induced aquatic acidification is predicted to affect fish neuronal GABAA receptors leading to widespread behavioural alterations. However, the large variability in the magnitude and direction of behavioural responses suggests substantial species-specific CO2 threshold differences, life history and parental acclimation effects, experimental artifacts, or a combination of these factors. As an established model organism, zebrafish (Danio rerio) can be reared under stable conditions for multiple generations, which may help control for some of the variability observed in wild-caught fishes. Here, we used two standardized tests to investigate the effect of 1-week acclimatization to four pCO2 levels on zebrafish anxiety-like behaviour, exploratory behaviour, and locomotion. Fish acclimatized to 900 μatm CO2 demonstrated increased anxiety-like behaviour compared to control fish (~480 μatm), however, the behaviour of fish exposed to 2200 μatm CO2 was indistinguishable from that of controls. In addition, fish acclimatized to 4200 μatm CO2 had decreased anxiety-like behaviour; i.e. the opposite response than the 900 μatm CO2 treatment. On the other hand, exploratory behaviour did not differ among any of the pCO2 exposures that were tested. Thus, zebrafish behavioural responses to elevated pCO2 are not linear; with potential important implications for physiological, environmental, and aquatic acidification studies.

According to the latest reported data from the National Acute Stroke Israeli Survey (NASIS), around 18,000 strokes occur annually in Israel. Data regarding disparities in stroke care between the Jewish and the Arab populations in Israel are lacking.

We wished to compare demographics, comorbidities, stroke characteristics and outcomes between Jewish and Arab stroke patients in Israel that were acutely treated with intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) and/or endovascular thrombectomy (EVT), in order to test if there are disparities or any ethnic-specific parameters.

The National Acute Stroke Israeli registry of patients undergoing revascularization (NASIS-REVASC) prospectively enrolled patients in six comprehensive stroke centers between 1/2014 and 3/2016. In this observational research, we compared demographics, comorbidities, time metrics, stroke characteristics and outcomes between Jewish and Arab patients enrolled.

NASIS-REVASC included 1432 patients out of which 143 (10%) were of Arab ethnicity and 1289 (90%) of Jewish ethnicity. Arab patients were significantly younger (66±14 vs. 73±29, p=0·004), exhibited higher rates of smoking and diabetes (31% vs. 18% and 57% vs. 34%, p<0·001 for both), and were less often treated with systemic thrombolysis (48% vs. 59%, p=0·012). However, the rates of any interventional treatment with either intravenous thrombolysis or endovascular thrombectomy as well as the rates of favorable outcomes and mortality were comparable between groups.

Despite several baseline differences between Arab and Jewish Israeli stroke patients, treatment allocations, survival and functional outcomes were similar indicating lack of disparity in stroke care among patients treated acutely with IVT and/or EVT in Israel.

Full data is available following a formal request to the NASIS-REVASC registry at the Israeli Health Ministry.

Full data is available following a formal request to the NASIS-REVASC registry at the Israeli Health Ministry.Centromeres are chromosomal loci where kinetochores assemble to ensure faithful chromosome segregation during mitosis. CENP-A defines the loci by serving as an epigenetic marker that recruits other centromere components for a functional structure. selleck compound However, the mechanism that controls CENP-A regulation of centromeric chromatin integrity remains to be explored. Separate studies have shown that loss of CENP-A or the Cdk5 regulatory subunit associated protein 2 (Cdk5rap2), a key player in mitotic progression, triggers the occurrence of lagging chromosomes. This prompted us to investigate a potential link between CENP-A and Cdk5rap2 in the maintenance of centromeric chromatin integrity. Here, we demonstrate that loss of Cdk5rap2 causes reduced CENP-A expression while exogenous Cdk5rap2 expression in cells depleted of endogenous Cdk5rap2 restores CENP-A expression. Indeed, we show that Cdk5rap2 is a nuclear protein that acts as a positive transcriptional regulator of CENP-A. Cdk5rap2 interacts with the CENP-A promoter and upregulates CENP-A transcription.