Actor-Network-Theory perspective on a forestry decision support system design

Use of decision support systems (DSS) has thus far been framed as a social process of adoption or technical process of usability. We analyze the development of a DSS as a process of institutionalization of new as well as drift of existing practices. We write an Actor-Network-Theory (ANT) account, i.e. an interpretive study, that follows the traces left by both human and non-human actors (e.g. technology, methodologies, etc.) to understand how a DSS development project institutionalizes DSS technology in several forest management organizations in the German state of Rheinland Pfalz. The research has an innovative value since it uses ANT in the design of a DSS, hence affecting it, while commonly ANT has been used to understand why networks work or do not. Moreover, we use a new technology (PREZI^TM, www.prezi.com) for the visualization of the whole actor network coherent to the ANT methodology, i.e. “keeping the social flat.” As a result, the development of the ANT account proposed in the present paper, even if still partial, supports the design of new technologies being introduced in current practice and generates an important learning effect thanks to the underpinning interpretative approach.     

Isotopic Record of Lead Contamination in Alluvial Soils and Tree Rings on Recent Floodplains (Southern Québec, Canada)

Current and past industrial pollution leaves many traces in the environment, in particular along rivers in industrial and urban areas. The isotopic analysis of the lead found in soils and tree rings offers a kind of environmental archive for presenting a portrait of the pollutant distribution in the environment in both spatial and temporal terms. This study is an attempt to identify and compare the source of contamination found in soils and tree rings located along two rivers affected by pollution over several years. Specifically, the focus is on the pattern of lead concentrations and lead isotopic signatures (206Pb/207Pb, 208Pb/206Pb, and 206Pb/204Pb) detected in soils and tree rings located on polluted floodplains. The concentration of Pb in overbank sediments does not rise with the increasing distance downstream from the point source (mining area), suggesting that significant fluvial transport of the pollutant particles over 80 km is involved. For the soil profiles, Pb concentration levels range between 12.32 and 149.13 mg/kg, with the highest concentrations found at the base of the profiles (>1 m). For the lead isotope ratios in the soil profiles, the values obtained range from 0.851 to 0.872 (206Pb/207Pb), 2.081 to 2.111 (208Pb/206Pb), and 0.547 to 0.562 (206Pb/204Pb). The tree ring analysis of red ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marsh.) shows average lead concentrations of 0.63 μg/g, and the lead values of all the tree specimens range between 0.03 and 11.38 μg/g. Pb concentrations varied greatly between the specimens in selected sites and lead isotope ratios in the tree rings showed a strong variability in the time series, particularly from 1945 to 1970. The greater number of variations in the lead concentration rates and isotopic ratios suggest that many more events associated with pollution and contamination have in fact occurred in this area. The study demonstrates the utility of combining stable isotope analyses (soils and tree rings) to examine the source and dispersion of contaminant Pb in fluvial systems by providing reliable and robust indicators for the detection of environmental changes on a local and regional scale.     

Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3): a new marker of canine monocytes-derived dendritic cells (cMo-DC)

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are a family of functionally important receptors for recognition of pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP) since they trigger the pro-inflammatory response and upregulation of costimulatory molecules, linking the rapid innate response to adaptative immunity. In human leukocytes, TLR3 has been found to be specifically expressed in dendritic cells (DC). This study examined the expression of TLR3 in canine monocytes-derived DC (cMo-DC) and PBMC using three new anti-TLR3 mAbs (619F7, 722E2 and 713E4 clones). The non-adherent cMo-DC generated after culture in canine IL-4 plus canine GM-CSF were labelled with the three anti-TLR3 clones by flow cytometry, with a strong expression shown for 619F7 and 722E2 clones. By contrast, TLR3 expression was low to moderate in canine monocytes and lymphocytes. These results were confirmed by Western blot using 619F7 and 722E2 clones and several polypeptide bands were observed, suggesting a possible cleavage of TLR3 molecule or different glycosylation states. In addition, TLR3 was detectable in immunocytochemistry by using 722E2 clone. In conclusion, this first approach to study canine TLR3 protein expression shows that three anti-TLR3 clones detect canine TLR3 and can be used to better characterize canine DC and the immune system of dogs.     

Genotoxicity of melanoidin fractions derived from a standard glucose/glycine model

Genotoxic compounds can act at various levels in the cell (causing gene, chromosome, or genome mutations), necessitating the use of a range of genotoxicity assays designed to detect these different types of mutations. The production of melanoidins during the processing and cooking of foods is associated with changes in their nutritional character, and the discovery of mutagenic substances in pyrolyzed protein and amino acids has raised concern about the safety of these foods. The aim of this work was to test melanoidin fractions in three different in vitro assays (Ames test, Vitotox test, and micronucleus test). These melanoidin fractions were produced from the condensation of glucose with glycine and their separation was conducted by dialysis. The crude reaction mixture (before dialysis) and both the LMW and HMW fractions obtained by dialysis showed no genotoxicity in these assays, despite being tested at concentrations much higher than those naturally found in food products. The LMW fraction, however, showed toxicity at these high concentrations. The volatile fraction produced in this reaction showed genotoxicity only in the Vitotox test, at high concentrations.     

Vitamin C,provitamin A carotenoids,and other carotenoids in high-pressurized orange juice during refrigerated storage

Vitamin C, provitamin A carotenoids, and other carotenoids were measured in freshly squeezed juices from oranges (Citrus sinensis L. var. Valencia late) that were subjected to high-pressure (HP) treatment. Also, the stability of these compounds was studied during refrigerated storage at 4 degrees C. HP treatment is an alternative to heat preservation methods for foods; therefore, it is essential to assess the impact of HP on bioactive compounds. Several processes that combine HP treatment with heat treatment for various time periods were assayed: T0, fresh juice (without treatment); T1, 100 MPa/60 degrees C/5 min; T2, 350 MPa/30 degrees C/2.5 min; T3, 400 MPa/40 degrees C/1 min. Fresh and treated samples were kept refrigerated (4 degrees C) over 10 days. After application of HP and during the refrigeration period, the qualitative and quantitative determination of vitamin C, provitamin A carotenoids (beta- and alpha-carotene; beta- and alpha-cryptoxanthin), and the xanthophylls zeaxanthin and lutein was achieved by high-performance liquid chromatography. T1 and T3 juices showed a decrease in ascorbic acid and total vitamin C just after HP treatment (D0) compared with T0 juices. On the contrary, T2 juices, just after HP treatment (D0), had the same levels of both compounds compared to untreated juices. T1, T2, and T3 treatments led to an increase in the extraction of carotenoids and provitamin A carotenoids. Total carotenoid content after the 10-day refrigerated storage period resulted in no significant quantitative changes in T1 juices, whereas in T2 and T3 juices small losses were found at the end of the storage period (20.56 and 9.16%, respectively). These losses could be influenced by the depleted protection of vitamin C toward carotenoid oxidation during the same period. A similar trend was found in provitamin A carotenoids for the different treated juices.     

Structure of PTB bound to RNA: specific binding and implications for splicing regulation

The polypyrimidine tract binding protein (PTB) is a 58-kilodalton RNA binding protein involved in multiple aspects of messenger RNA metabolism, including the repression of alternative exons. We have determined the solution structures of the four RNA binding domains (RBDs) of PTB, each bound to a CUCUCU oligonucleotide. Each RBD binds RNA with a different binding specificity. RBD3 and RBD4 interact, resulting in an antiparallel orientation of their bound RNAs. Thus, PTB will induce RNA looping when bound to two separated pyrimidine tracts within the same RNA. This leads to structural models for how PTB functions as an alternative-splicing repressor.     

Predictive thresholds for plague in Kazakhstan

In Kazakhstan and elsewhere in central Asia, the bacterium Yersinia pestis circulates in natural populations of gerbils, which are the source of human cases of bubonic plague. Our analysis of field data collected between 1955 and 1996 shows that plague invades, fades out, and reinvades in response to fluctuations in the abundance of its main reservoir host, the great gerbil (Rhombomys opimus). This is a rare empirical example of the two types of abundance thresholds for infectious disease-invasion and persistence- operating in a single wildlife population. We parameterized predictive models that should reduce the costs of plague surveillance in central Asia and thereby encourage its continuance.     

Editing of CD1d-bound lipid antigens by endosomal lipid transfer proteins

It is now established that CD1 molecules present lipid antigens to T cells, although it is not clear how the exchange of lipids between membrane compartments and the CD1 binding groove is assisted. We report that mice deficient in prosaposin, the precursor to a family of endosomal lipid transfer proteins (LTP), exhibit specific defects in CD1d-mediated antigen presentation and lack Valpha14 NKT cells. In vitro, saposins extracted monomeric lipids from membranes and from CD1, thereby promoting the loading as well as the editing of lipids on CD1. Transient complexes between CD1, lipid, and LTP suggested a "tug-of-war" model in which lipid exchange between CD1 and LTP is on the basis of their respective affinities for lipids. LTPs constitute a previously unknown link between lipid metabolism and immunity and are likely to exert a profound influence on the repertoire of self, tumor, and microbial lipid antigens.