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Measurements of ozone and NO2 were carried out in the marine environment of the Bay of Bengal (BoB) during the winter months, December 2008-January 2009, as part of the second Integrated Campaign for Aerosols, gases and Radiation Budget conducted under the Geosphere Biosphere Programme of the Indian Space Research Organization. The ozone mixing ratio was found to be high in the head and the southeast BoB with a mean value of 61±7 ppb and 53±6 ppb, respectively. The mixing ratios of NO2 and CO were also relatively high in these regions. The spatial patterns were examined in the light of airflow patterns, air mass back trajectories and other meteorological conditions and satellite retrieved maps of tropospheric ozone, NO2, CO, and fire count in and around the region. The distribution of these gases was strongly associated with the transport from the adjoining land mass. The anthropogenic activities and forest fires/biomass burning over the Indo Gangetic Plains and other East Asian regions contribute to ozone and its precursors over the BoB. Similarity in the spatial pattern suggests that their source regions could be more or less the same. Most of the diurnal patterns showed decrease of the ozone mixing ratio during noon/afternoon followed by a nighttime increase and a morning high. Over this oceanic region, photochemical production of ozone involving NO2 was not very active. Water vapour played a major role in controlling the variation of ozone. An attempt is made to simulate ozone level over the north and south BoB using the photochemical box model (NCAR-MM). The present observed features were compared with those measured during the earlier cruises conducted in different seasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current proposal for a revised European Directive concerning the quality of bathing water significantly increases the demands for the control of wet-weather discharges. A densely urbanised combined catchment was modelled for a 19-year long rainfall series in order to assess the current situation and to evaluate the benefits of potential solutions. Storage and advanced physical-chemical treatment of stormwater in the STP may significantly contribute for the reduction of the overflow volumes but reductions of the spill frequency under 2.5 spill days per bathing season are hardly obtained. This study reveals the severe strains that the local rainfall pattern may place on the control of the frequency of wet-weather discharges, pointing to serious technical, social and economical implications, at the local and at the national level, if the current proposal for a revised European Directive on Bathing Water is enforced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low oxygen levels (hypoxia) play a role in clinical conditions such as stroke, chronic ischemia, and cancer. To better understand these diseases, it is crucial to study the responses of vertebrates to hypoxia. Among vertebrates, some teleosts have developed the ability to adapt to extremely low oxygen levels. We have studied long-term adaptive responses to hypoxia in adult zebrafish. We used zebrafish that survived severe hypoxic conditions lot 3 wk and showed adaptive behavioral and phenotypic changes. We used cDNA microarrays to investigate hypoxia-induced changes in expression of 15,532 genes in the respiratory organs (the gills). We have identified 367 differentially expressed genes of which 117 showed hypoxia-induced and 250 hypoxia reduced expressions. Metabolic depression was indicated by repression of genes in the TCA cycle in the electron transport chain and of genes involved in protein biosynthesis. We observed enhanced expression of the monocarboxylate transporter and of the oxygen transporter myoglobin. The hypoxia-induced group further included the genes for Niemann-Pick C disease and for Wolman disease [lysosomal acid lipase (LAL)]. Both diseases lead to a similar intraand extracellular accumulation of cholesterol and glycolipids. The Niemann-Pick C protein binds to cholesterol from internal lysosomal membranes and is involved in cholesterol trafficking. LAL is responsible for lysosomal cholesterol degradation. Our data suggest a novel adaptive mechanism to hypoxia, the induction of genes for lysosomal lipid trafficking and degradation. Studying physiological responses to hypoxia in species tolerant for extremely low oxygen levels can help identify novel regulatory genes, which may have important clinical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wet weather urban discharges are responsible for bathing water contamination. The proposal for a revised EU Directive concerning the quality of bathing water imposes significantly more stringent requirements for the management of bathing water quality, with particularly important repercussions on beaches subjected to short-term pollution incidents. The paper reviews the aspects from EU legislation most directly related to the problem of wet-weather discharges, placing special emphasis on the recent revision process of the Directive on bathing water quality, and evaluates the benefits of some potential solutions based on continuous modelling of a combined sewer system. Increasing the sewer system storage capacity or the STP hydraulic capacity may substantially reduce the untreated discharge volumes, but spill frequency reductions under 2 to 3 spill days per bathing season will hardly be achieved. Results show the severe strains that local rainfall patterns would place on compliance with the Commission's proposal for a revised Directive and highlight the importance of the changes introduced in the amended proposal recently approved by the Council, making it less prescriptive if adequate measures are adopted to prevent bathers' exposure to short-term pollution incidents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of environmental forcings on the fecal contamination dynamics in small coastal streams was investigated, using the Aljezur coastal stream (Portugal) as a test case. An integrated modeling approach, combining hydrological and coupled hydrodynamic-fecal indicator bacteria models, was applied to selected scenarios of relevant forcings, on the basis of previously calibrated and validated model applications. The forcings investigated included: tides, winds, waves, atmospheric pressure, bathymetry, river flow, and upstream fecal bacteria concentrations; this study targeted the characterization of the relative importance of these factors on the fecal contamination dynamics, to enhance our understanding of small coastal streams water quality dynamics. Results highlight distinct patterns for dry and wet periods. Fecal bacteria transport is mainly forced by tidal propagation, in dry periods; and by freshwater flows, during wet periods. The analysis reveals a complex hydraulic and water quality dynamic resulting from the interactions between the environmental forcings and strongly dependent on their relative strength. This analysis can be extrapolated for systems with a similar balance between the environmental factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wnt signaling is essential during animal development and also plays important roles in pathological conditions. Two mayor pathways have been described: the β-catenin-dependent canonical (or classical) pathway and the β-catenin-independent non-canonical Wnt pathway. Recent binding studies suggest links between the small PDZ protein TIP-1 (Tax-1 interacting protein) to components of both Wnt pathways. We have cloned and characterized the zebrafish tip-1 gene. Whole mount in situ hybridization and semiquantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) indicated that zebrafish tip-1 is present as a maternal RNA and is ubiquitously expressed during early development. After 24 h of development, tip-1 expression was high in the central nervous system (CNS) whereas only weak expression was detected in the caudal regions of the zebrafish embryo. Tip-1 knockdown using antisense morpholino oligonucleotides, as well as ectopic tip-1 expression, led to elongation defects in zebrafish embryos and larvae. Both knockdown and overexpression of tip-1 resulted in a widened goosecoid (gsc) expression domain in shield stage embryos, led to an abbreviated prechordal plate, and to reduced convergent extension movements during gastrulation. We constructed a green fluorescence protein (GFP)/TIP-1 fusion protein which, when expressed in cultured fibroblasts (ZF4-cells), induced filopodia growth. Our observations indicate a role for TIP-1 in gastrulation movements and in filopodia growth induction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article the authors discuss the misuse of neuroscience in national security. The authors stress on the validity and reliability of neuroscientific applications, particularly the utilization of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)-based lie detection. Furthermore, the authors are critical on Jonathan Marks' neuroskepticism towards the legitimacy of neuroscientific technologies and its capability to enhance interrogation techniques.