Alternative therapeutic options for medical management of epilepsy in apes

Phenobarbital has been the primary antiepileptic drug used in primates, but the dosage required for seizure control is frequently associated with significant side effects. Newer antiepileptic drugs and adjunctive therapies currently being used in human medicine provide additional options for treatment of nonhuman primates. This report describes different drug regimes used for control of epileptic seizures in apes at the Milwaukee County Zoo (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.A.), including the addition of acetazolamide to phenobarbital, levetiracetam, carbamazepine, and the use of extended cycle oral contraceptives to assist seizure control in female apes with catamenial epilepsy.     

Invertase storage stability and sucrose hydrolysis in solids as affected by water activity and glass transition

Research continues to differentiate the impact of water activity (a(W)) and the glass transition temperature (T(g)) on chemical reactions. Invertase with and without sucrose was incorporated into low and high molecular weight poly(vinylpyrrolidone) model systems (PVP-LMW and PVP-K30, respectively). Invertase activity and sucrose hydrolysis were monitored during storage at a(W) = 0.32-0.75 and 30 degrees C. Pseudo-first-order rate constants for activity loss in PVP-K30 were not different, regardless of the system being glassy or rubbery. In PVP-LMW, invertase stability decreased with increasing a(W). An a(W) > 0.62 was required for sucrose hydrolysis to occur in PVP-LMW. PVP molecular weight appeared to affect invertase stability and reactivity. No dramatic change around T(g) was found in either invertase stability or sucrose hydrolysis, suggesting that T(g)-dictated mobility has a minimal effect on these reactions in amorphous solids.     

Low reproductive success of leatherback turtles, Dermochelys coriacea, is due to high embryonic mortality

We examined the mechanism responsible for low reproductive success in leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) at Playa Grande, Costa Rica: low egg fertilization versus high rates of embryonic death. Leatherbacks at this beach had a high rate of fertility (=93.3%±2.5%, n=819). We incubated 10 eggs from every clutch encountered of 19 females during 3 months of the 1998-1999 nesting season. Fertility rate of some females decreased during the nesting season, but overall was high. Detection of fertility was difficult using standard methods because fertility rates cannot be determined accurately from nests excavated after hatching because of egg decomposition. Removal and incubation of eggs from nests provided a better estimate. Embryonic death, particularly in the beginning of incubation before embryos are visible to the unaided eye, was the cause of low hatching success in this population. Hatching success increased with increasing fertility and differed between females, with some mothers having 71-81% success and others 23-32%. Embryonic death and not low egg fertility drives poor recruitment at Playa Grande. Improved conservation of this species at Playa Grande will require a better understanding of the mechanism behind embryonic death.     

Cloning and expression of desoxyhemigossypol-6-O-methyltransferase from cotton (Gossypium barbadense)

Terpenoids play an important role in defense against insects and pathogens in cotton. These terpenoids contain phenolic groups. Metabolites in which the phenolic group has been converted to a methoxy group are less toxic to most insects and pathogens and thus may alter resistance. Here is reported the cloning of a gene from Gossypium barbadense that encodes the enzyme that methylates the phenolic group of desoxyhemigossypol (dHG) exclusively at the 6-position, dHG-6-O-methyltransferase (dHG-6-OMT). Partial peptide sequences from digests of purified dHG-6-OMT were used to design primers for RT-PCR amplification of cDNA fragments from poly(A) mRNA. Fragments were extended to full length using 5' and 3' RACE. The resulting cDNA codes for a 365-residue polypeptide with a calculated molecular weight of 40.6 kDa, in agreement with the molecular mass of purified dHG-6-OMT. When expressed in Escherichia coli, the bacterial lysates showed a high specificity for the methylation of desoxyhemigossypol, differentiating the cloned gene from other pathogen-induced methyltransferases.     

Physiological and Morphological Responses of Locally Grown Malaysian Rice Cultivars (Oryza Sativa L.) to Different Ozone Concentrations

Malaysian rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars MR84 and MR185 were grown in greenhouse chambers and exposed to four different levels of ozone from 28th August, 2001 to 22nd January, 2002. Four ozone levels were selected in close relation to the Malaysian peri-urban ambient level (approximately 30 ppb, 8 hr mean), the Malaysian guideline level (approximately 60 ppb) and possible future higher ozone levels (approximately 90 ppb). Both morphological and physiological parameters showed distinctive impacts of ozone treatments. The plants treated with the highest ozone concentration showed different morphological development, probably induced by severe foliar injury and physiological adaptation of the plants to the ozone stress. The physiological measurements revealed a high sensitivity at the early and late vegetative stages. It was concluded that MR84, which was found to be physiologically sensitive, responded to ozone relatively quickly and altered its morphology to compensate for effects on growth and yield, while MR185, found to be physiologically insensitive, responded to ozone stress slowly which resulted in more severe impacts on growth and yield parameters. Slight growth stimulation was observed at the lowest (30 ppb) ozone level for MR185, whilst negative impacts on growth occurred at both of the higher ozone levels. The study provided useful insights into the earlier findings of an open-top chamber filtration study on the same cultivars in the field at a peri-urban site in Malaysia. The present study proved that yield could be reduced substantially when other parameters associated with grain yield were affected, which was accompanied by increasing yellowing of leaves and premature senescence.     

Alkali-stabilized Pt-OHx species catalyze low-temperature water-gas shift reactions

We report that alkali ions (sodium or potassium) added in small amounts activate platinum adsorbed on alumina or silica for the low-temperature water-gas shift (WGS) reaction (H(2)O + CO → H(2) + CO(2)) used for producing H(2). The alkali ion-associated surface OH groups are activated by CO at low temperatures (~100°C) in the presence of atomically dispersed platinum. Both experimental evidence and density functional theory calculations suggest that a partially oxidized Pt-alkali-O(x)(OH)(y) species is the active site for the low-temperature Pt-catalyzed WGS reaction. These findings are useful for the design of highly active and stable WGS catalysts that contain only trace amounts of a precious metal without the need for a reducible oxide support such as ceria.     

Effects of birth weight and postnatal nutrition on neonatal sheep: IV. Organ growth

This study investigated effects of birth weight and postnatal nutrition on organ growth in neonatal lambs. Suffolk x (Finnsheep x Dorset) low- (mean +/- SD 2.29 +/- 0.34 kg, n = 28) and high- (4.84 +/- 0.45 kg, n = 20) birth-weight male lambs were studied. Lambs within each birth weight category were allocated to be individually grown rapidly (ad libitum fed, ADG 337 g, n = 20) or slowly (ADG 150 g, n = 20) on a liquid diet to live weights up to approximately 20 kg. All organs weighed less at birth in small than in large newborns (P < 0.001), except the adrenals (P = 0.10). At birth, as a percentage of empty body weight (EBW), small newborns had larger testes (0.14 vs. 0.10%, P = 0.023) and smaller thymus (0.17 vs. 0.37%, P = 0.009), and tended to have a larger heart (0.85 vs. 0.75%, P = 0.060) and a smaller spleen (0.10 vs. 0.14%, P = 0.054) than large newborns. During the first 2 to 3 wk postpartum, small newborns had greater fractional growth rates of organs than large newborns, most notably spleen, thymus, and liver. Postnatal growth of organs was more closely associated with EBW than age, except for lungs, testes, and stomach. At completion of rearing to 20 kg of live weight, small newborns had a spleen approximately 30% heavier than large newborns (P < 0.001). Testes weights were 37% and 24% greater in small newborns reared slowly and rapidly, respectively, compared with their high-birth-weight counterparts (P = 0.034). It was also evident that postnatal nutrition altered the mass of individual organs at the conclusion of the rearing period without affecting the combined weight of dissected organs. Slowly reared lambs had a larger pancreas (+27%, P = 0.002), stomach complex (+83%, P < 0.001), large intestine (+39%, P < 0.001), entire gastrointestinal tract (+18%, P = 0.002), and testes (+54%, P = 0.016) and tended to have a larger heart (+6%, P = 0.068) than their rapidly reared counterparts at 20 kg of live weight. Rapidly reared lambs had a larger thymus (+61%, P = 0.003), liver (+34%, P < 0.001), kidneys (+33%, P < 0.001), and small intestine (+17%, P < 0.001) and tended to have a larger thyroid (+13%, P = 0.054) at 20 kg of live weight than slowly reared lambs. The functional significance of the smaller thymus at birth and increase in spleen and testes weights at 20 kg of live weight in low- compared with high-birth-weight lambs warrants further investigation. It also remains to be established whether these differences at 20 kg of live weight persist.     

Serodiagnosis of Lyme disease in UK dogs

Lyme disease is a chronic, multisystemic, inflammatory disorder of man and animals associated with infection by the tick-borne spirochaete, Borrelia burgdorferi. Lyme disease was recently reported for the first time in a dog in the UK (May and others 1990). Using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), we have performed a serological survey to investigate the prevalence of antibodies to B burgdorferi in UK dogs. The survey has shown that dogs from many areas in the UK have serum antibodies to B burgdorferi, that the presence of serum antibodies is associated with known exposure to ticks and that some dogs seropositive for B burgdorferi have clinical signs consistent with Lyme disease. High levels of serum anti-Borrelia antibodies are not diagnostic for canine Lyme disease, but, in association with appropriate clinical signs, they help to confirm the diagnosis in suspected cases.     

The ghosts of taste: food and the cultural politics of authenticity

We add a political culture dimension to the debate over the politics of food. Central to food politics is the cultural granting of authenticity, experienced through the conjuring of relational presences of authorship. These presences derive from the faces and the places of relationality, what we term the ghosts of taste, by which food narratives articulate claims of the authorship of food by people and environments, and thus claim of authenticity. In this paper, we trace the often-conflicting presences of authenticating ghosts in food along a prominent axis of current debate: the local versus the global. The three cases outlined here—Greek food, Thousand Island dressing, and wild rice—illustrate the recovery and suppression of the lingering spirits of both local and global faces and places in what we taste, and show the mutually interdependent consequence of culture and economics in food politics.