Substantial emission of gaseous monomethylmercury from contaminated water-sediment microcosms.

Emission rates of gaseous monomethylmercury (CH(3)Hg(II)), as well as elemental mercury (Hg(0)) and dimethylmercury [(CH(3))(2)Hg(II)], were determined in Hg-contaminated water-sediment microcosms (duplicates of three treatments) by gaseous species-specific isotope dilution analysis (SSIDA). Incubation of approximately 500 g (wet mass) of sediments containing 30 mumol of ambient Hg with an addition of 2.6 mumol of (201)Hg(II) tracer resulted in average (n = 6) gaseous emissions of 84 +/- 26, 100 +/- 37, and 830 +/- 380 pmol of ambient CH(3)Hg(II), CH(3)(201)Hg(II), and (201)Hg(0), respectively, during 108 days of incubation.

Glycine receptor expression in the forebrain of male AA/ANA rats.

Ethanol is known to directly interact with the glycine receptor (GlyR). GlyRs are membrane proteins and are constituted as either alpha-homomers or alpha-beta heteromers with a subunit stoichiometry of 2 alpha 3 beta. Previous studies by our group have suggested a role for GlyRs and its endogenous ligands glycine and taurine in the mesolimbic dopamine activating and reinforcing effects of ethanol.

Pharmacokinetics and dose requirements of factor VIII over the age range 3-74 years: a population analysis based on 50 patients with long-term prophylactic treatment for haemophilia A.

Purpose: The three aims of this investigation were (1) to develop a population pharmacokinetic (PK) model for factor VIII (FVIII) in haemophilia A patients, with estimates of inter-occasion and inter-individual variance, (2) to investigate whether appropriate dosing of FVIII for regular prophylaxis can be calculated according to patient characteristics, and (3) to present dosing recommendations for initiating prophylactic treatment.

Methods: A population PK model was developed using data from four PK studies on patients aged 7-74 years. The model was tested on sparse FVIII data from 42 outpatient visits by haemophilia prophylaxis patients aged 3-66 years.

Recurrent genomic gains in preinvasive lesions as a biomarker of risk for lung cancer.

Lung carcinoma development is accompanied by field changes that may have diagnostic significance. We have previously shown the importance of chromosomal aneusomy in lung cancer progression. Here, we tested whether genomic gains in six specific loci, TP63 on 3q28, EGFR on 7p12, MYC on 8q24, 5p15.

Transport and release of chemicals from plastics to the environment and to wildlife.

Plastics debris in the marine environment, including resin pellets, fragments and microscopic plastic fragments, contain organic contaminants, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, petroleum hydrocarbons, organochlorine pesticides (2,2'-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-1,1,1-trichloroethane, hexachlorinated hexanes), polybrominated diphenylethers, alkylphenols and bisphenol A, at concentrations from sub ng g(-1) to microg g(-1). Some of these compounds are added during plastics manufacture, while others adsorb from the surrounding seawater. Concentrations of hydrophobic contaminants adsorbed on plastics showed distinct spatial variations reflecting global pollution patterns.

Bayesian estimation of Hispanic fertility hazards from survey and population data.

Previous studies have demonstrated both large gains in efficiency and reductions in bias by incorporating population information in regression estimation with sample survey data. These studies, however, assumed that the population values are exact. This assumption is relaxed here through a Bayesian extension of constrained maximum likelihood estimation applied to U.

Sequence variants at the TERT-CLPTM1L locus associate with many cancer types.

The common sequence variants that have recently been associated with cancer risk are particular to a single cancer type or at most two. Following up on our genome-wide scan of basal cell carcinoma, we found that rs401681[C] on chromosome 5p15.33 satisfied our threshold for genome-wide significance (OR = 1.

A time-response model for analysis of drug transport and blood flow response during iontophoresis of acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside.

Background/aims: The analysis of blood flow responses to iontophoresis of vasoactive drugs is often limited to evaluation of maximum responses. In this study, a time-response model is proposed for the blood flow responses to vasoactive drugs applied by iontophoresis.

Methods: The microvascular bed is represented as a single compartment with a zero-order influx of the drugs from the electrode and a first-order clearance due to diffusion and blood flow.

The artiodactyl APOBEC3 innate immune repertoire shows evidence for a multi-functional domain organization that existed in the ancestor of placental mammals.

Background: APOBEC3 (A3) proteins deaminate DNA cytosines and block the replication of retroviruses and retrotransposons. Each A3 gene encodes a protein with one or two conserved zinc-coordinating motifs (Z1, Z2 or Z3). The presence of one A3 gene in mice (Z2-Z3) and seven in humans, A3A-H (Z1a, Z2a-Z1b, Z2b, Z2c-Z2d, Z2e-Z2f, Z2g-Z1c, Z3), suggests extraordinary evolutionary flexibility.

Estimation of cefuroxime dosage using pharmacodynamic targets, MIC distributions, and minimization of a risk function.

An approach for estimation of dosing strategies based on data-derived models and assessment of the risk associated with deviation from the treatment target is presented. The work is illustrated by establishing a dosing strategy to be used for a priori individualization on the basis of renal function for the antibiotic cefuroxime. Treatment involved exposing patients to concentrations above the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for 50% of the dosing interval.

Selective determination of acidic pharmaceuticals in wastewater using molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction.

The determination of acidic pharmaceuticals, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs NSAIDs and clofibric acid (metabolite of clofibrate), at low ngL(-1) levels in wastewater requires highly selective and sensitive analytical procedures. The removal of matrix components during sample preparation results in significant benefits towards reducing the matrix effects during LC-MS analysis. Therefore this work describes a simple method to enrich and clean up NSAIDs and clofibric acid from sewage water using molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction (MISPE).

Multivariate characterisation and quantitative structure-property relationship modelling of nitroaromatic compounds.

A multivariate model to characterise nitroaromatics and related compounds based on molecular descriptors was calculated. Descriptors were collected from literature and through empirical, semi-empirical and density functional theory-based calculations. Principal components were used to describe the distribution of the compounds in a multidimensional space.

Determination of 2,4,6-trichloroanisole and 2,4,6-tribromoanisole in wine using microextraction in packed syringe and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

A selective and fast method for the quantitative determination of 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA) and 2,4,6-tribromoanisole (TBA) in wine was developed. Microextraction in packed syringe (MEPS) was optimized for the extraction and preconcentration of the analytes using extremely small volume samples (0.1-1 mL).

[Lung cancer--review].

Lung cancer is the second most common cancer in Iceland and the most frequent cause of cancer related deaths. Smoking is by far the most important cause but familial factors also contribute. The symptoms of lung cancer are often subtle and the diagnosis, in about 70% of cases, is made when metastases have occurred.

A variant associated with nicotine dependence, lung cancer and peripheral arterial disease.

Smoking is a leading cause of preventable death, causing about 5 million premature deaths worldwide each year. Evidence for genetic influence on smoking behaviour and nicotine dependence (ND) has prompted a search for susceptibility genes. Furthermore, assessing the impact of sequence variants on smoking-related diseases is important to public health.

[Histology does not accurately predict the clinical behaviour of bronchopulmonary carcinoids - results from an Icelandic population-based study].

Background And Aims: Bronchopulmonary carcinoids (BPC) are rare tumors of neuroendocrine origin. These tumors are histologically classified into two distinctive forms, typical and the more malignant atypical BPC. We evaluated the epidemiology and results of treatment for BPC in Iceland with special emphasis on how atypical vs.

Differential substrate specificity and kinetic behavior of Escherichia coli YfdW and Oxalobacter formigenes formyl coenzyme A transferase.

The yfdXWUVE operon appears to encode proteins that enhance the ability of Escherichia coli MG1655 to survive under acidic conditions. Although the molecular mechanisms underlying this phenotypic behavior remain to be elucidated, findings from structural genomic studies have shown that the structure of YfdW, the protein encoded by the yfdW gene, is homologous to that of the enzyme that mediates oxalate catabolism in the obligate anaerobe Oxalobacter formigenes, O. formigenes formyl coenzyme A transferase (FRC).

Lessons from the past: familial aggregation analysis of fatal pandemic influenza (Spanish flu) in Iceland in 1918.

The pandemic influenza of 1918 (Spanish flu) killed 21-50 million people globally, including in Iceland, where the characteristics and spread of the epidemic were well documented. It has been postulated that genetic host factors may have contributed to this high mortality. We identified 455 individuals who died of the Spanish flu in Iceland during a 6-week period during the winter of 1918, representing >92% of all fatal domestic cases mentioned by historical accounts.

Pharmacogenetics of cyclosporine in children suggests an age-dependent influence of ABCB1 polymorphisms.

Objective: To evaluate whether variations in the ABCB1, ABCC2, SLCO1B1, CYP3A4, CYP3A5, or NR1I2 genes are associated with the pharmacokinetics of cyclosporine in pediatric renal transplant candidates, and whether the effects of these variants are related to age.

Methods: A total of 104 pediatric patients (aged 0.36-16.

Chromosomal aneusomy in bronchial high-grade lesions is associated with invasive lung cancer.

Rationale: The development of lung cancer (LC) is accompanied by field changes in the airway mucosa that may have prognostic importance.

Objectives: To compare patients with prevalent LC to control subjects regarding their histologic dysplasia scores and chromosomal aneusomy as measured by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH).

Methods: The most advanced bronchial histology lesion was assessed from each of 44 LC cases and 90 cancer-free control subjects using a four-color FISH probe set encompassing the chromosome 6 centromere, 5p15.

On the characterization of dynamic supramolecular systems: a general mathematical association model for linear supramolecular copolymers and application on a complex two-component hydrogen-bonding system.

A general mathematical model for the characterization of the dynamic (kinetically labile) association of supramolecular assemblies in solution is presented. It is an extension of the equal K (EK) model by the stringent use of linear algebra to allow for the simultaneous presence of an unlimited number of different units in the resulting assemblies. It allows for the analysis of highly complex dynamic equilibrium systems in solution, including both supramolecular homo- and copolymers without the recourse to extensive approximations, in a field in which other analytical methods are difficult.